Chapter Seventeen
Evelyn’s Infiltration
Maria and Sara continued leaning forward, drawn in by the hypnotizing effect of this astonishing tale. The fine hairs on their arms and the napes of their necks were beginning to stand up. Evelyn’s words were mesmerizing, her passion electric and infectious.
“Thus, there is a vast disparity between the official records and the personal journal of Magellan,” Evelyn explained. “There are two reasons for this: First, like Marco Polo, Magellan feared that much of what he saw would not be believed by others. He might have very well been deemed a madman, driven loopy by too many days at sea and not enough access to fresh fruits and vegetables, his brain fried beneath the unrelenting sun.
“Second, he gained knowledge of things that he felt could not be shared with the King of Spain or any ruling authority. These things that he learned of were too powerful, and they might very well be too easily abused for wrongdoing.
“Being the explorer that he was, however, Magellan could not simply let the wonders he had witnessed go undocumented. Therefore, he began his journal, written in a complex code that could only be unscrambled with the aid of his cipher, which is a decoding device. Magellan never made it back home, and these two precious items – the journal and the corresponding cipher – were entrusted to his closest crew member, Juan Sebastian Elcano.
“Magellan’s second in command, Elcano completed the expedition when Magellan perished in the Philippines. Having experienced the same wonders and perils, side by side, the two of them had forged a strong, immovable bond. True to his word, Elcano ensured that the journal and cipher reached Magellan’s sons.”
“And… are you the one who now possesses these items?” Maria asked.
“Indeed,” Evelyn said with a smile. “I’m pleased to say that I am. And the things that my ancestor wrote of… they are not the fantasies of a sailor suffering from sunstroke and malnutrition. They are true, for I have seen many of them myself. Using his journal, I have been able to retrace his footsteps to many of the locations he visited.”
“Gears and sprockets,” Sara whispered, her voice so faint that it could barely be heard over the cries of the circling seagulls that soared outside the window. “This is unbelievable.”
“I realize it must seem so,” Evelyn admitted. “It’s a lot to absorb at once, I imagine.”
“But how did you come to be entangled with the Black Hats?” Maria asked.
“Hah!” Evelyn laughed dismissively at the notion. “They did not entangle me. It was I who approached them!”
Sara raised her eyebrows. “What on earth compelled you to do that?”
“Several years ago, the Black Hats drew my attention when they began digging about at a location that would have been… the best way to put it is… well, it was a dig site that would have been best left undisturbed.”
“And this was one of the places that Magellan had documented in his journal?” Sara asked.
“Precisely. I felt I had no choice but to get closer, to see what was occurring. When I realized what they were unearthing, I felt my best option was to infiltrate their ranks, in order to determine what exactly they were in the process of doing, and how far along they were in their project.”
“But they’re extremely distrustful,” Maria pointed out. “How did you manage to convince them?”
“Under most circumstances, I believe it would be nearly impossible to gain access to the Black Hats, for their circle is very tight. It wasn’t easy… but when I explained my relationship to Ferdinand Magellan, and the knowledge that I was in possession of, thanks to the legacy that had been passed on to me… they came to see me as a valuable asset. In order to fully earn their trust, of course, I had to reveal some of the family’s secrets, but that was the price I reluctantly agreed to pay.”
“What good does that do?” Maria asked.
“I may have had to give up some valuable secrets, but in return, I’ve gained priceless information about the Black Hats’ motives and abilities. Whatever else they might be, their group is a most formidable one. Though they certainly have their flaws, we absolutely cannot afford to underestimate them. They are simply too capable, and too driven.
“Among their number are some of the very greatest minds on the planet, united in conducting their nefarious deeds. For the past several years, they’ve been relatively harmless… but this week, things have changed, and they’ve adopted an urgency I’ve never seen before. I was content to simply keep tabs on them, but now it seems as if something else is afoot… something very big.”
“I’ll be gob-smacked,” Maria said. “This is quite a can of worms we’ve opened up, isn’t it?”
Evelyn removed her hands from her hips and abandoned her pose beside the portrait. “Well, then. I suppose we should get on with it, eh? My cover’s been blown, and it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the Black Hats realize that I can’t be trusted. I could really use your assistance, if you’re up to it… what do you say?”
The sisters quickly shook off their sensation of being overwhelmed by the odd scenario that had befallen them. In recent weeks, they had gained unfathomable amounts of experience when it came to adventuring, investigating, and delving into all matters weird and wonderful. They were well suited to adapting to any situation, no matter its strangeness.
Their emotions had undergone rapid transformations in the past handful of minutes. They had experienced trepidation, anxiety, surprise, and awe. Now, those feelings were quickly giving way to new ones: those of excitement and eagerness for what lay ahead. No matter what occurred next, they were quite sure that it would by no means be ordinary. This outing, they realized, was shaping up to be one heck of a field trip.
The curator certainly had not earned their complete trust, for they remained apprehensive of what her true motives might be. But the sisters were ready to embrace whatever odd story was unfolding before them.
Besides – how could they possibly resist the opportunity to learn more from the descendent of Magellan? None of the Beans were particularly well known for their appreciation of caution. But as far as curiosity and adventuring went… those were things that were right up their alley, elements that constructed the very cores of their personalities.
Nonetheless, they were hoping for a bit more proof that they could wholeheartedly trust the curator, without fear of betrayal. This desire prompted them to ask further questions.
“Look, your story is extraordinary, there’s no doubt about it. And again, we really appreciate you tossing Jasper down a trapdoor,” Sara said. She marveled that this unconventional disposal of the janitor had happened but a few moments ago, an event that would have single-handedly made this a most bizarre day, even without all the revelations that had occurred since. “That really tickled my fancy. But you did admit to being a member of the Black Hats, you know. And you’ve got the tattoo to prove it. Soooo… why exactly would you expect us to trust you, even if everything you’ve told us about the line of Magellan is true?”
“Which is still a bit of a stretch, as awesome as it might be,” Maria added.
“Ah! An excellent question,” Evelyn admitted. “I understand you have your reservations, and rightfully so. I should hope that sending Jasper for such a well deserved trip through the trapdoor has bought me some amount of goodwill, but I don’t think that this alone would be enough to make you blindly follow me about. After all, this is the dicey world of espionage and weird science, is it not? You can’t just spend your days moseying about, placing your trust in anybody with a fantastic story about adventuring and exploration, can you?”
“Okay, so give us a compelling reason. Why should we trust you?” Maria asked.
Evelyn spread her hands wide in a placating gesture. “Look, I realize there’s no way that I can completely earn your trust, and that’s understandable. All I can tell you is that something extremely weird is going on here, and it somehow pertains to the two of you, plus two others ?
?? your friends, Neil and Jack.”
Maria looked completely baffled by these words. “How is that possible?”
“I don’t know what on earth you did to get under the skin of the Black Hats, but you’ve really ticked them off. They’ve got something big in the works, and they want you to be here, so that they can stomp you out in the process. That’s the whole reason this field trip was so hastily put together. It wasn’t a gesture of goodwill on behalf of the museum – far from it. It was a ruse, designed to get the four of you inside this building.”
“Those doorknobs are unbelievable!” Maria exclaimed.
“Well, we did hand a rather embarrassing defeat to Jasper and Ebenezer a few days ago. They seemed to take it pretty bad,” Sara said, as she exchanged a knowing glance with her sister.
“Who is this Ebenezer character?” Evelyn asked.
“Ebenezer Widget-Bocker,” Sara elaborated. “You know, the leader of the Black Hats! Who did you think we were talking about?”
Evelyn looked confused. “Ebenezer Widget-Bocker… I’ve never heard of him before. For as long as I’ve been with the Black Hats, Mr. Weatherbee has been their leader. He’s the man you saw posing as the assistant curator when we were touring the museum.”
“Hmm… this is very curious,” Maria said, as she tapped at her chin in thought. “If this is true, it seems as though they’ve kept quite a bit hidden from you.”
“In recent days, there’s been a flurry of activity, as the Black Hats have been preparing for something big. They haven’t let me in on all the details, but when they made it clear that part of the plan was to squash a bunch of middle graders… well, I decided it was time to part ways with these maniacs, no matter the consequences,” Evelyn explained.
“The man we told you about, Ebenezer… a few days ago, he stole a very powerful piece of technology from a friend of ours,” Sara said.
Evelyn’s green eyes grew wide behind her nickel-plated glasses. “And… what does this technology do, exactly?”
“It’s called SunTech,” Sara told her. “A power cell that contains the raw, undiluted energy of the sun. According to Lefty – he’s our friend, the scientist who created it – SunTech is going to transform the world!”
“By the compass of Columbus,” Evelyn whispered. “I think I know what they’re planning.”