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INVENTG  9' An inventor's daughter uses his inventions

"Michaela. Michaela, wake up." said her dad.

Michaela rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock. It was four
o'clock in the morning. Then she looked at her dad. He was still
wearing the clothes he wore at dinner.

"What's the matter, Daddy?" asked Michaela, "Is... is something
wrong?!"

"Yes, honey, it's a national emergency." he replied, "I've been
up all night making changes. You need to get dressed."

Michaela threw back the covers and swung her feet out of bed
asking, "Should I put on all my inventions?"

"No." he replied, "None of my inventions will work under water."

"Under water?!" exclaimed Michaela.

He handed her a rubber scuba divers suit saying, "Put this on.
I'll explain later. I'll see you on the lawn outside of my
workshop."

"What's going on?!" asked Michaela as she came out the back door
dressed in her full-length rubber suit.

"Enemy agents have invented a new torpedo." he replied as he
slipped a new pair of shoes onto Michaela's feet.

"A what?" asked Michaela.

"A torpedo is like a rocket that goes under water." he replied.

"Oh, I see." said Michaela, "What's so special about this new
torpedo?"

"Torpedoes usually have a bomb inside. This one has an E.M.P.
device in it." he replied as he put a new lens carefully into
Michaela's left eye.

"What's an E.M.P. device?" asked Michaela.

"It doesn't explode," he explained as he put an ear plug into
Michaela's left ear, "but it burns up all electricity within a
mile away. We have learned that enemy agents have this new
torpedo loaded into a submarine. They intend to sneak up on our
nuclear electric power plant and set off the device. When they
do, the power plant will be destroyed and our lights, our
televisions, our clocks, our refrigerators, any thing electric
for 20 million people will burn up."

Michaela asked, "Why can't I wear my charms and the other
inventions?"

"All those inventions are powered by electricity." he explained,
"When electrical devices touch sea water they stop working. It's
called a short circuit. But even if they did work under water,
your see-through camera can't see through sea water."

"I see." replied Michaela as she pointed to her left eye, "So,
this new lens CAN see through the sea water?"

"Yes." he replied, "Unfortunately, I didn't have time to give
you anything but "SEE THROUGH" and "TAKE ME THERE" functions.
You turn it on by touching the ear plug with your left hand."

Michaela touched the ear plug, then read the message on her left
eye lens, "All systems go, daddy."

"Good." he replied, "Your new helicopter shoes won't work in the
air. They won't turn on until they get wet. Once your inside the
submarine, they'll turn off automatically. Now remember, you
don't have any way of hiding or fighting back, you need to
destroy the torpedo quickly, then say "TAKE ME BACK".

"How do I destroy the new torpedo?" asked Michaela.

He handed her a small glass bottle that looked like it was half
full of black powder and replied, "With these."

Michaela shook the bottle, then smiled, "Nanobots!"

"Exactly!" he replied, "Just open the bottle and pour them on
the floor of the torpedo room. The nanobots will find all the
new torpedoes with E.M.P. devices and destroy them."

Michaela's dad showed her a drawing of the submarine and where
the torpedo room is, saying, "You'd better get going. The
submarine will be there any minute."

When Michaela commanded "Airplane view", the red "X" was already
pointing at the ocean next to the nuclear power plant.

She commanded, "Take me there."

Immediately, she disappeared from her back yard then reappeared
about six feet above the ocean waves. She let out a yelp when
she immediately fell into the cold ocean.

Immediately she could feel the vibration from her helicopter
shoes. A few seconds later the shoes lifted half of her body out
of the water.

Michaela looked down to find the submarine and commanded "See
through that". She could now see the fish and the rocks on the
bottom of the ocean, but she couldn't see the submarine. So she
leaned left and the shoes pushed her left as she looked for the
submarine. Unable to find it, she leaned right and the shoes
pushed her right as she looked for the submarine. But she still
couldn't find it.

"It must not be here yet." she said to herself.

Suddenly the big dark submarine moved silently under her like a
giant sea monster.

Michaela bowed at the waist and dived down, letting her shoes
push her down to the front end of the submarine. When her hands
were on it she could see through the steel walls of the
submarine. She waited for a moment while the enemy agents in the
torpedo room turned there backs.

Then she commanded, "Take me there."

Immediately she disappeared from the ocean and reappeared inside
the submarine's torpedo room. She quickly opened the tiny bottle
and dumped the nanobots on the floor next to the torpedo tubes.
Just as she did, one of the enemy agents turned and saw her.
When he slammed his hand against a big red button, red lights,
horns and sirens notified everyone on board the submarine that
an intruder was on board.

But it was too late. The torpedo tube nearest to the floor began
to smoke. The nanobots were already working.

As one of the enemy agents pointed his gun at Michaela, she
commanded "TAKE ME BACK".

Immediately, she disappeared from the submarine and reappeared
on the back lawn of her house. And she went back to bed. When
she awoke the next morning, there was a large bouquet of flowers
on her dresser. There was a small card attached to it that read:

"Thank you from a grateful nation." It was signed by the
president of the United States.

©2008 Bob Snook. Conditions for use:
This story is free. Pay no fees or royalties.
Do not sell this story or rewrite it.
You may reproduce and distribute this story freely,
but all copies must contain this copyright statement.
http://www.fea.net/bobsnook/kid  email: bobsnook@fea.net

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