Riddler's Battleship Blitz

Riddler's Battleship Blitz — page 3 — and Asia said Robin as they zoomed through the woods That much I know The Axis powers were Germany Japan and Italy The Allies were mostly everyone else including Robin ticked the names of the countries off on his gloved fingers Poland England France and eventually the United States the Soviet Union He ended up on his thumb again And China Good Robin said Batman Those are the basic facts There were a lot of shifting sides in the war which lasted from 1939 to 1945 It’s all extremely complicated But I’m glad to hear you listened to a little of your history lesson Hey I listened to all of it protested Robin Remembering is the tricky part Batman smiled Let’s work on the riddle inside he said I’m hungry after our night on patrol I hope Alfred has breakfast ready Indeed I do said his butler Alfred over the Batmobile’s radio The Batmobile blazed toward a cliff wall covered in leafy bushes The self-driving car didn’t slow down Collision with the cliff seemed impossible to avoid CHOOM At the last moment a wide trapdoor opened at the base of the cliff Inside was a ramp heading underground which the Batmobile roared down smoothly The trapdoor closed behind them It only took a few minutes for the Batmobile to rumble down the tunnel to the main section of the Batcave The Batmobile parked in a big garage between the Batcycle and Robin’s Redbird motorcycle After exiting the Batmobile Robin peered into a scanner on a panel beside a vault door The scanner analyzed his eyeball The steel door slid aside letting Batman and Robin into their secret headquarters Alfred waited for them on the other side Efficient patrol tonight sirs he asked Yes Alfred replied Batman Mostly petty crimes One minor rescue of a woman trapped in an elevator Then on the way home we spotted the Riddler’s riddle added Robin Yes I saw the Morse code recording on the computer link said Alfred A most perplexing brainteaser I set up breakfast by the Batcomputer’s central workstation so you may continue solving the puzzle Thank you Alfred said Batman Alfred bowed and led them to a changing area There Batman and Robin swapped

Riddler's Battleship Blitz — page 4 — their uniforms for comfy lounge wear slippers and warm robes The cavernous Batcave was chilly deep under the ground Dressed in their casual morning clothes Batman and Robin preferred to think of themselves as their true identities Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake Bruce headed through another set of steel sliding vault doors into the main cavern of the Batcave The enormous stone chamber had been carved out by an underground stream over many centuries Against the cavern’s far wall were souvenirs from Batman and Robin’s adventures The keepsakes included a giant Lincoln penny a huge joker playing card and a life-size robotic Tyrannosaurus rex In the middle of the cavern loomed a huge freestanding media tower covered in monitors The screens showed Bruce video feeds from around Gotham City and the world beyond A ring of control panels around a hi-tech chair made up Batman’s command center From there he could run his incredibly powerful Batcomputer On Bruce’s right Tim had his own computer terminal set up as a long desk with no chairs Tim preferred to stand so he could be active while interacting with the system While Bruce ate breakfast he called up the riddle on his main screen It floated in green letters in front of him The war of the world had come again and gone but its brains were as important as its brawn What have I stolen to switch on Bruce had already figured out the first part that was World War II But he wasn’t sure what the Riddler meant by the second line What or whose brains were famous at that time he asked Albert Einstein guessed Tim He was alive then but not directly involved in the fighting said Bruce tapping his lips Perhaps J Robert Oppenheimer who helped develop the atomic bomb Kaboom and kablooie Bruce said Tim almost choking on a waffle You don’t think the Riddler stole a nuke do you If that’s what he’s going to switch on Don’t panic said Bruce I would have heard if a nuclear device had been stolen And an atomic bomb isn’t the Riddler’s style So what’s he talking about then asked Tim

Riddler's Battleship Blitz — page 5 — Hmm said Bruce Batcomputer make a list of important brains of World War II The Batcomputer beeped Bruce scrolled through the list of results He passed by listings for scholars political thinkers and writers Then he read the name Alan Turing Ah said Bruce Alan Turing asked Tim Oh he kind of invented the computer Turing was a British mathematician said Bruce A personal hero of mine said Alfred in his English accent His computer science theories led him to create an electromagnetic thinking machine Alfred typed on a keyboard at a workstation calling up more information Here it is the butler continued He used that machine to decipher supposedly unbreakable messages known as ciphers from the Germans during the war By doing so Turing helped end the war and saved millions of lives Interesting said Bruce Alfred tell Tim the name of the German cipher system I believe the Germans used a device called the Enigma Machine replied Alfred Yes said Bruce Tim what is the Riddler’s real name Um Edward Nygma said Tim He used to work at Wayne Enterprises as a scientist himself back before he went bonkers E Nygma Bruce pointed out Too close to Enigma be a coincidence I think Wow said Tim So you think the Riddler stole an Enigma Machine Maybe answered Bruce We do have one in Gotham City It’s on the old battleship USS New Jersey The ship was turned into a military museum in the harbor I’m looking up the USS New Jersey museum now said Tim Maybe their website has more info about the Enigma Machine After pulling up the Gotham Military Museum’s home page Tim clicked World War II Look they have a section about codes and ciphers he said He clicked on the link for ENIGMA MACHINE The Batcomputer beeped in alarm Then all the monitors went black blinked and the giggling face of the Riddler appeared on the dozens of screens

Riddler's Battleship Blitz — page 6 — HA HA HA HA HA

5

PAGE 5 OF 44

›

The only kids' eBook subscription service that offers thousands of high-quality books from well known publishers like HarperCollins, National Geographic and others.

JavaScript Required

Whoops! We're sorry but Epic doesn't work properly without JavaScript enabled. Check your web browser's settings to make sure it's enabled.