The old geezer spoke up"Okay boys,we'e going to do a test to see if you've got the smarts we need on our team.I'm going to hand you two pieces of paper.One has a variation of an ancient ballad penned by yours truly"at which point the old guy seemed to swell in his lab coat with pride "and the other has the code you'll need to read the secret message contained in the verse.You'll have 10 minutes to find the message.Good Luck!"
The old fellow handed John and Nathan two pieces of paper,two pencils and then pulled out a stopwatch and pressed the button.
tick
tick
tick
The boys looked at the first paper
The Ballad of Flamebearer
by Dr J Hartmann
Near Budles Bay
There once lay
A dragon of great fame
Quite a rake
Though not a drake
Flamebearer was her name
In ancient times
From colder climes
King Ida came ashore
Though they called him a saint
They would surely faint
For what he knew was war
For a hundred miles west
They tried their best
But could not stop his wagon
The rumours spread
Amidst the dead
Surely this man is a dragon
Called Flamebringer the Bad
And thought mightily mad
Over the years he did mellow
Twas Queen Glenda the Good
Who up to him stood
Ida gave in with nary a bellow
They had a child
Both naughty and wild
Her name was MaryBeth
The Queen moms womb
Nearly became the Princes tomb
Ida blamed him for her death
They held a mass
Let ten years pass
Prince began to hate his father slightly
They stood around
On her burial ground
And held their hands tightly .....
Then the two boys looked at the second sheet of paper which contained a series of numbers
"1/10 1/12 1/13
2/2 2/3 2/10 6/2 8/6
10/1 10/3
10/7 10/8 10/9
10/24 11/18 15/4 16/3
16/15 18/5 18/9 19/5 19/15 21/12 "
Being a bright boy,Nathan figured out the code almost immediately,and began circling letters on the first sheet of paper
S A Y H E L L O TO T H E N I C E A L I E N S
John spoke up"say hello to the nice aliens"
"whats that supposed to mean"
nathan made a sick noise,he was pointing his finger at one of the walls
The old geezer was grinning from ear to ear
The flourescent lights were beginning to dim
The white walls were begiining to turn clear
They were being observed by THEM. And her.John 's mind began to spin.<What the $#@!$%^%^ is she doing here>Then his mind blacked out and he fainted.