One Night - Night at the Museum

Thirteen: An Air and Space Adventure

"Now let's see if we can find these Einsteins of yours," Amelia said as they entered the building, Larry once again using the ID badge.

Nat was more of a history museum person herself, of course, but she had to admit Air and Space was pretty impressive.

Amelia beamed at all the aircraft surrounding them and began to wander around, looking excited.

As Nat and Larry were also making their way through the room in search of the Einsteins, a monkey who looked just like Dexter wearing a space suit came up to them.

"Oh, hey little space monkey," said Larry. The monkey pointed to his nametag which said 'Able'. "Right, Able, how are you doing?" Able saluted to them and then reached out his hand. "Oh, you're a polite little fella, aren't you?" Larry knelt down and shook his hand.

"Oh Mr. Daley, Miss Bentley! I found your Einsteins," Amelia called, waving them over.

"Whoa, he looked just like Dexter," commented Nat as they left Able.

"Yeah," agreed Larry. "Except in a spacesuit. And much friendlier."

They joined Amelia. "Gentlemen," she addressed the bobble-heads. "We're trying to crack the combination of this tablet doodad, and the writing here says we'll find it if we figure out the secret at the heart of pharaoh's tomb."

One of the bobble-heads hauled himself up onto the edge of the counter to address them. He chuckled. "Oh that's an easy one!"

"It is?" said Larry.

"Ja! The answer's in the question," he told them in a German accent.

"What does that mean?" Larry asked.

"'Figure out'," explained the Einstein. "It's a figure, i.e. a number. And the pharaoh's tomb, i.e. the pyramids." He drew a pyramid on the little notepad in his hand. They still looked confused. "Don't you get it kid? You're looking for the secret number at the heart of the pyramids!"

"I'm terrible with numbers," Nat admitted sheepishly. "Unless they're dates on a timeline."

Suddenly, Amelia snapped her fingers. "Well whistle me Dixie! The answer's pi!"

"Bingo!" cheered the Einstein. "3.14159265, to be exact!"

"Right, 3.1495265," tried Larry.

"No, no, no, no. 3.14159265," corrected Einstein.

"Right, well you know, we can't all be Einsteins-"

"I am!"

"He is!"

"We are!"

"Me too!" The bobble-heads began pointing to one another.

"Okay fine, but could you slow it down just a little, please?"

They sighed. "Fine! 3.14159265!" They sped up again a little towards the end out of excitement.

"Okay." Larry nodded. "So 3.14-"

"I've got it," cut in Amelia. "Thank you Mr. Einsteins."

"We've got about ten minutes to get back over there to Jed and the others," Larry said as they left the merry Einsteins to their numbers, looking at his watch.

"I say we make a pretty darn good team!" said Amelia with a chuckle.

Suddenly, there was commotion across the room. Ivan, Napoleon, Al Capone, and their guards had entered the building, no doubt in search of them.

"Come on!" They scurried up a staircase.

Amelia stopped, eyeing a plane hanging from the ceiling. "It'll have to do." She raced towards it.

This was met by a shared "what?!" from her companions.

"We can't fly that!" cried Larry in protest. "That's like the first plane ever made. It's made out of wood and paper!"

"It's made out of spruce and canvas and good old-fashioned American ingenuity!" corrected Amelia, stepping over the ledge railing and onto the wing.

The others still hesitated. "I'm really not a fan of heights," Nat put in.

"Are you coming or what?"

Seeing as they really had no choice, they joined Amelia on board, lying down on their stomachs. Amelia started the propellers. "Hold on, things are about to get interesting!" She moved the control stick and they lurched forward, breaking free from the wires suspending the plane from the ceiling. They were off!

"A lady pilot - preposterous!" cried a man from one of the exhibits below.

"Think again boys!" chimed Amelia with a grin.

Nat grabbed Larry's hand tightly as they swooped and swerved, gripping the wing with her other hand. They swooped low over Ivan, Capone, Napoleon, and the guards who dove to the ground to avoid being hit. Amelia beamed as they weaved in and out of other hanging displays, while Nat and Larry clung to the edge of the wing and to each other's hands for dear life.

Suddenly Amelia said, "uh oh."

"What? What uh oh?" demanded Larry.

"One of the wires is jammed, I'm going to have to loosen it," she explained. "Here, take the stick."

"What?! No!"

"I know you've got moxie in you yet."

"Moxie doesn't fly planes! People who have pilot's licences fly planes!"

"She's all yours - good luck!" She let go.

"What - no! Oh!" He grabbed the control stick, moving it up and down.

"You can do this," Nat called, but clung to the side of the plane even tighter. They swerved sharply this way and that. "Larry!" shrieked Nat, closing her eyes.

"Don't look now Mr. Daley, but you're flying an airplane!" called Amelia from where she was fixing the wire.

Larry focused on the path ahead. Beside him, Nat screamed as they narrowly missed hitting multiple hanging exhibits. Then suddenly, the room was ending, a large closed door up ahead.

"Able, the door!" cried Larry.

The space monkey, who had been scurrying below them, heard his call and at the last moment jumped up and pressed the button by the door, which began to open.

And then, they had suddenly left the chaos behind and were soaring over a peaceful night in Washington D.C. Amelia had fixed the wire and had taken over flying again. Nat had gotten over her initial fear and loosened her grip on the wing, peering down at the calm city lights below them. She liked the feeling of the wind in her hair. And what a view.

That was when she realized she was still holding Larry's hand. They met eyes and instead of letting go they held each other's hands tighter, sharing a smile.

(Aww! Sorry Amelia, but you're totally third-wheeling there ;) haha! Thanks so much for reading - we're nearing the end of part two (part three is my favourite!) And thank you so much for the 300+ reads!)