“You’re the only one with a way to record anything,” she said. “Let’s start with lithium.”
“Um, yeah, lithium,” said Carter. “Li. Number 3.”
“Silicon for the glove,” said Beck.
“Silicon. Si, 14,” said Carter.
“The bone. Calcium?”
“Ca, 20.”
They quickly worked out the rest.
Earring—Silver—Ag—47
Foil—Aluminum—Al—13
The empty jar—
“Oxygen,” Carter and Adi said simultaneously, followed by a giggle from Carter and an annoyed huff from Adi.
“Oxygen is O—8,” said Carter.
“That gives us ten digits,” said Adi. “We need two more.”
“Maybe it’s the jars themselves?” said Carter. “They’re glass, right? Glass is made of sand. Um . . . that doesn’t seem right.”
Carter continued to ramble nervously as Sierra ran her finger down the lab notes on the clipboard, which had yet to be used. She was missing a clue.
“The sign!” said Beck. “Neon is an element, isn’t it?”
“Wait . . . yes,” said Carter. “Neon—Ne—10!”
“Ne,” Adi said thoughtfully. “It feels like these letters are supposed to mean something.”
“Don’t worry about the letters,” Sierra said. “We have our twelve digits. That’s our code.”
“But how do we know what order to put them in?” said Beck.
A silence followed.
“Twelve digits,” said Carter. “That’s over four thousand combinations. We already took out some of the guesswork, given the multiple double-digit combos, but even if you consider there are only seven numbers to put in order, there are still hundreds of possible answers—”
“What about the lab notes?” said Beck.
Sierra studied her notes. “Was there aJin any of those element abbreviations? Or aK?”
“Nope,” said Adi.
Sierra tapped her clipboard. The solutions, the experiment numbers, the results . . .
“Colors,” she whispered. “Carter, the elements on the periodic table. Are they all different colors?”
“Not all of them,” she said. “But the elements are grouped into various colors. It explains in this sidebar that the elements are often color-coded by specific properties, such as the metalloids and non-metals, or something about electronegativity—”
“Yes, fine,” Sierra interrupted. “But are the elements we have all different colors? Like—forest green or violet purple?”
“Yeah. Silicon is in the dark green section, and calcium is purple.”
