When the Wills family departed from the jet at the US Missions Base, they were astonished by what they saw. The US Missions Base wasn’t what anyone had expected. It looked like the Empire State Building, except shorter and fatter. It had ninety-five floors, and could comfortably hold at least five hundred people.
“Wow!” Matt says, the first thing he had said the entire ride to the base. “This place is ginormous! I hope they have a room that I can play video games in,” he says, looking around skeptically.
“I think they will, sweetie,” says Mary, obviously tired from the plane ride.
“Let’s go meet Charles Duncan and see what he needs us to do,” says Christopher.
As the family makes their way through the base and all of its ninety-five-floor glory, they saw lots of different kinds of people. People that looked like secret agents, people that looked like they belonged painting in an art museum, and people who looked like genetically mutated giants- and in fact, they were genetically mutated giants. The scientists that stayed at the Missions Base had been performing experiments on which kinds of substances best wipe out the villains that people like the Wills family would be fighting. From the outcomes, it didn’t look like finding the right substance had happened yet.
Finally, the family arrived at the door to Mr. Duncan’s office. The door looked like it was made out of steel, almost as if it was a door to a vault in a bank. Hesitantly, Mary stepped forward and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” responded a booming voice that belonged to Charles Duncan. The family pushed open the door and entered the massive office.
“Ah, you’re here!” Charles exclaimed, standing up from his desk so he could meet the Wills family.
“How was the jet?” Charles asked. “I hope you didn’t have too much trouble getting here,” he said.
“No, the jet was fine,” says Christopher. “The kids really enjoyed the movie selection on the TV’s,” Christopher said, with a chuckle.
“That’s good,” Mr. Duncan said, bending down to greet the Wills children.
“And who might you be?” Mr. Duncan asked Daniel, with a sparkle in his eye.
“Daniel Wills, sir,” Daniel said, standing up straight and saluting Mr. Duncan
. “On our way up here, I tried to find where you keep the video games, but I couldn’t find any,” Daniel says.
“You do have video games, don’t you?” Daniel asked, a little bit skeptical of the bald man that was standing in front of him.
“Of course we have video games, Daniel! What mission’s base would we be if we didn’t have video games?” Mr. Duncan said with a laugh.
“I’m sure we can find the video games later, Daniel,” said Christopher.
“Mr. Duncan, these are my other children, Daniel, Lillian, Matt, and Sierra,” Christopher says, gesturing to each one as he says their name.
“And this is my wonderful wife, Mary,” says Christopher, reaching around to put an arm around his wife.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Wills,” says Mr. Duncan, shaking Mary’s hand.
“Nice to meet you as well, Mr. Duncan,” says Mary.
“Now, tell us about this necklace that we need to save, Mr. Duncan,” says Christopher.
“Right,” says Mr. Duncan.
“Please, take a seat, everyone,” Mr. Duncan says, gesturing to the conference table in the corner of the office.
Mr. Duncan and the family sit down, and Mr. Duncan proceeds to pull up a power-point on the projector in front of them. A picture of the necklace that Mr. Duncan described on the phone pops up on the wall.
“This is the necklace that I told you about, Mr. Wills,” says Mr. Duncan, gesturing to the picture projected on the wall.
“And this is where we think it is located,” says Mr. Duncan, flipping to the next slide.
“We haven’t been able to send anyone down there to confirm a location, mostly because we don’t have the crew to do it,” says Mr. Duncan.
“It’s sad, not a lot of people want to save the day these days,”
“They would much rather sit in their comfortable recliners and be couch potatoes,” says Mr. Duncan, shaking his head.
“Well we are more than happy to do the job, sir,” says Mary.
“I’m very glad to hear you say that,” says. Mr. Duncan.
“There are just a few more details that we need to go over,” Mr. Duncan says, pausing for a moment to look for some papers that he had set down inadvertently.
“The US Missions Base and I have already set up an agreement with the children’s schools, and arranged to have them homeschooled until you return from your mission,” says Mr. Duncan. The children groan, disappointed that they weren’t missing school.
Mary, Christopher, and Mr. Duncan chuckle, observing their faces which clearly showed disappointment.
“Abiding by our rules, all of you must be trained for three months before you can start the mission and go in the submarine.
“What kinds of training will we be doing?” asks Sierra, clearly annoyed at the fact of even having to be here.
“You will be trained to endure pressure on your lungs when you are submerged in water in the submarine, how to manually operate the submarine in case anything should happen while you are in the submarine, and how to live your typical life on the submarine- things will be just a little bit different,” says Mr. Duncan, ticking off each thing on his fingers as he goes.
“The submarine is robotically operated at all times- you will just need to know what to do in case of an emergency,” added Mr. Duncan.
“We understand,” says Christopher.
“When will we start training, Mr. Duncan?” Mary asks.
“It is currently Tuesday, so let’s say you will start training on Friday,” Mr. Duncan says.
“That should give you time to return home and retrieve any belongings you want for the training session and the month in the submarine,” Mr. Duncan ads.
“Until tomorrow, when you can return home for your belongings, we have reserved two rooms in the hotel across the street for you,” Mr. Duncan says, motioning for an office worker to come help the Wills family with their bags.
“We cannot thank you enough for your hospitality,” says Mary, before she leaves the room with the rest of her family.
“It is our pleasure,” replies Mr. Duncan, shutting the door after the Wills family.
As the family left the room, they all wondered, “What if this is all just a big trick, and we’re going to be trapped in a submarine for the rest of our lives?”
“Wow!” Matt says, the first thing he had said the entire ride to the base. “This place is ginormous! I hope they have a room that I can play video games in,” he says, looking around skeptically.
“I think they will, sweetie,” says Mary, obviously tired from the plane ride.
“Let’s go meet Charles Duncan and see what he needs us to do,” says Christopher.
As the family makes their way through the base and all of its ninety-five-floor glory, they saw lots of different kinds of people. People that looked like secret agents, people that looked like they belonged painting in an art museum, and people who looked like genetically mutated giants- and in fact, they were genetically mutated giants. The scientists that stayed at the Missions Base had been performing experiments on which kinds of substances best wipe out the villains that people like the Wills family would be fighting. From the outcomes, it didn’t look like finding the right substance had happened yet.
Finally, the family arrived at the door to Mr. Duncan’s office. The door looked like it was made out of steel, almost as if it was a door to a vault in a bank. Hesitantly, Mary stepped forward and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” responded a booming voice that belonged to Charles Duncan. The family pushed open the door and entered the massive office.
“Ah, you’re here!” Charles exclaimed, standing up from his desk so he could meet the Wills family.
“How was the jet?” Charles asked. “I hope you didn’t have too much trouble getting here,” he said.
“No, the jet was fine,” says Christopher. “The kids really enjoyed the movie selection on the TV’s,” Christopher said, with a chuckle.
“That’s good,” Mr. Duncan said, bending down to greet the Wills children.
“And who might you be?” Mr. Duncan asked Daniel, with a sparkle in his eye.
“Daniel Wills, sir,” Daniel said, standing up straight and saluting Mr. Duncan
. “On our way up here, I tried to find where you keep the video games, but I couldn’t find any,” Daniel says.
“You do have video games, don’t you?” Daniel asked, a little bit skeptical of the bald man that was standing in front of him.
“Of course we have video games, Daniel! What mission’s base would we be if we didn’t have video games?” Mr. Duncan said with a laugh.
“I’m sure we can find the video games later, Daniel,” said Christopher.
“Mr. Duncan, these are my other children, Daniel, Lillian, Matt, and Sierra,” Christopher says, gesturing to each one as he says their name.
“And this is my wonderful wife, Mary,” says Christopher, reaching around to put an arm around his wife.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Wills,” says Mr. Duncan, shaking Mary’s hand.
“Nice to meet you as well, Mr. Duncan,” says Mary.
“Now, tell us about this necklace that we need to save, Mr. Duncan,” says Christopher.
“Right,” says Mr. Duncan.
“Please, take a seat, everyone,” Mr. Duncan says, gesturing to the conference table in the corner of the office.
Mr. Duncan and the family sit down, and Mr. Duncan proceeds to pull up a power-point on the projector in front of them. A picture of the necklace that Mr. Duncan described on the phone pops up on the wall.
“This is the necklace that I told you about, Mr. Wills,” says Mr. Duncan, gesturing to the picture projected on the wall.
“And this is where we think it is located,” says Mr. Duncan, flipping to the next slide.
“We haven’t been able to send anyone down there to confirm a location, mostly because we don’t have the crew to do it,” says Mr. Duncan.
“It’s sad, not a lot of people want to save the day these days,”
“They would much rather sit in their comfortable recliners and be couch potatoes,” says Mr. Duncan, shaking his head.
“Well we are more than happy to do the job, sir,” says Mary.
“I’m very glad to hear you say that,” says. Mr. Duncan.
“There are just a few more details that we need to go over,” Mr. Duncan says, pausing for a moment to look for some papers that he had set down inadvertently.
“The US Missions Base and I have already set up an agreement with the children’s schools, and arranged to have them homeschooled until you return from your mission,” says Mr. Duncan. The children groan, disappointed that they weren’t missing school.
Mary, Christopher, and Mr. Duncan chuckle, observing their faces which clearly showed disappointment.
“Abiding by our rules, all of you must be trained for three months before you can start the mission and go in the submarine.
“What kinds of training will we be doing?” asks Sierra, clearly annoyed at the fact of even having to be here.
“You will be trained to endure pressure on your lungs when you are submerged in water in the submarine, how to manually operate the submarine in case anything should happen while you are in the submarine, and how to live your typical life on the submarine- things will be just a little bit different,” says Mr. Duncan, ticking off each thing on his fingers as he goes.
“The submarine is robotically operated at all times- you will just need to know what to do in case of an emergency,” added Mr. Duncan.
“We understand,” says Christopher.
“When will we start training, Mr. Duncan?” Mary asks.
“It is currently Tuesday, so let’s say you will start training on Friday,” Mr. Duncan says.
“That should give you time to return home and retrieve any belongings you want for the training session and the month in the submarine,” Mr. Duncan ads.
“Until tomorrow, when you can return home for your belongings, we have reserved two rooms in the hotel across the street for you,” Mr. Duncan says, motioning for an office worker to come help the Wills family with their bags.
“We cannot thank you enough for your hospitality,” says Mary, before she leaves the room with the rest of her family.
“It is our pleasure,” replies Mr. Duncan, shutting the door after the Wills family.
As the family left the room, they all wondered, “What if this is all just a big trick, and we’re going to be trapped in a submarine for the rest of our lives?”