CHAPTER FORTY FIVE

XLV
Mischa and Rupert had wasted another week or so searching for a laboratory where they’d be able to carry out their new plan. The idea of cloning themselves had seemed very good at the time, but it turned out to be a bit harder to get done than either of them had anticipated. After many tedious searches through phone books and the internet, they found what they were looking for on a library computer: a stem cell research clinic.

There was, however, a catch. There’s always a catch. This clinic, unlike most clinics, just so happened to be located in the middle of an active volcano, which created quite a problem, what with the lava.

“I do not think we will be able to get to this clinic, Comrade,” said Mischa sadly. “How would we get into an active volcano? It seems impossible.”

“Simple!” replied Rupert. “With these.”

He held out his hand and – very slowly, to build suspense – opened it, revealing two ordinary-looking metal spheres. Mischa looked at them for a while, then turned back to Rupert, puzzled.

“What are these, Comrade?” asked Mischa. “They appear to be ordinary spheres. I do like spheres, but I fail to see how these could help us.”

“These aren’t just any spheres, Mischa. These are high-powered explosives,” said Rupert, “strong enough to punch a hole through ten feet of solid titanium.”

“Wow, that is impressive! But, how will these help us get into clinic?” questioned Mischa.

“We’ll throw these down into the volcano. The resulting explosion is almost guaranteed to trigger an eruption,” explained Rupert calmly.

“Wouldn’t the eruption just melt the clinic, though?” asked Mischa.

“What? Hm, I suppose it would. I don’t know why I thought that would work. Oh well, I’m fresh out of ideas. Wake me up if you think of something, Mischa” said Rupert, lying down on the library floor.

“Why are you going to sleep, Comrade? It is only 3:00 PM,” asked Mischa.

“I’m well aware.”

And with that, Rupert was asleep, leaving Mischa all alone for the time being. He stood up and started pacing around the library. Pacing always helped him think.

He knew that in order to raise an army, he and Rupert would need to clone themselves. He knew that in order to reach the stem cell research clinic, they would need to get into that active volcano. And he knew that in order to get into the active volcano, they would need a plan.

Unfortunately, he had no idea how to go about making one. Mischa had been trained to follow orders his entire life: first from his parents, then Josiah, then John. But now he was the leader, and he was confused.

“I’ve got it!” he shouted. “I’ll just use my freeze ray! Hey, Rupert, wake up! We have a volcano-located stem cell research clinic to enter!”

Rupert woke up, and the two ran out of the library, stealing as many books as they could carry, for no reason at all. They searched around for planes departing soon, and a mere two days later they set off for the airport.

The volcano containing the clinic was located on a remote island off the coast of South America, so it would be a rather long flight – and expensive. Mischa and Rupert couldn’t afford a ticket, so they had to think of a way to get on that plane.

“Let us pretend that we are pilots, Comrade!” suggested Mischa. “That way, we will be able to get onto the plane without purchasing a ticket.”

“But neither of us knows how to fly a plane, Mischa. Won’t that be a problem?”

“No, it won’t.”