The Ship was Made Fifty Years from Now!

An Excerpt from The 25^th Hour (Book One in The Adventures of Mackenzie Mortimer):

The nine-year-old showed her the wooden ship in a bottle he was perusing. “It’s the ship Mac gave me.”

“The one he got the night we were at the Lobster Shack?”

Zigs nodded. “He knew I collected them.”

“That was nice of Mac. He’s a sweet boy. I hope you thanked him.”

“Of course I did.” Zigs studied the ship. “I like him better than the other guys you’ve gone out with.”

Vanessa chuckled. “That’s because he’s the only one to give you presents.”

“No, I’d still like him if he hadn’t given me the ship. He’s into lots of cool stuff and he’s really smart. He doesn’t treat me like a pest, like some of your friends do. He’s got cool friends, too, like Marlene.”

“The tomboy? I can see where you two would have a lot in common.”

Zigs nodded. “She likes models and role-playing games, and she doesn’t wear girly dresses.”

Vanessa chuckled. “When you’re older, you’ll find those girly dresses much more attractive.”

“Yuck.” He made a gagging motion and returned to examining the ship. “This one’s different from any in my collection. I found out something about it. I left it on the windowsill in the sunlight all day yesterday and now look at it.” Zigs passed his hand over the bottle and the portholes inside the ship lit up.

“It must have solar powered cells inside. Leaving it in the sunlight charged its batteries.”

Zigs frowned. “But how does it work? How does it know to light up when I pass my hand over it?”

Vanessa shrugged. “Sensors, I guess, like the food cases at the supermarket.”

“That’s what makes it so cool. I know every bottled ship out there, and there’s nothing like this on the market.”

“I’m sure you can find some online. Did you look up the manufacturer?”

“The company’s name is stamped on the bottom of the stand, but when I searched for it, there was no record of the company on the Internet. It’s like it doesn’t exist.”

“That’s impossible. Every business is on the Internet.”

“I know, but not this one. That’s not the only weird thing. It has a patent number, but the date is all funny.”

“What do you mean, ‘funny’?”

He turned the bottle upside down, pointing the stand at his sister. “According to this, the ship was made fifty years from now.”

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Time is running out… fortunately, Mackenzie Mortimer has a few more minutes than anyone else!