Dr. Franklin's Island
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Dr. Franklin's Island is a science-fiction book for young adults by Ann Halam. It is narrated in the first person, by Semi. Loosely based on H.G. Wells' novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau, it tells the story of three teenagers who end up on an island owned by a man (Dr. Franklin) who wants to use them as specimens for his experiments.
[edit] Plot
Semi, the narrator of this story, is on her way to Ecuador with the British Planet Savers club when the plane she is on crashes. She is one of only three children that survive the crash. She and the two other kids- Miranda, a brave and headstrong girl, and Arnie, a sarcastic and annoying boy- begin to live their lives on an island they find, doing normal household things like making shelters and finding food. They live on the island for eleven days before Arnie disappears. When the girls go looking for him, they meet Dr. Franklin, a 'mad scientist' who uses a new type of genetic engineering to turn Semi into a manta ray "the size of a flattened teenager" and Miranda into a part-girl, part-eagle through an excruciating process- making them into transgenic humans. The two girls become best friends during the experiment, relying upon each other for emotional support.
After the change, the scientists see that Dr. Franklin's experiment has added too many animal characteristics to the humans and failed, and Semi and Miranda are placed in what Semi calls the 'freak zoo,' a sort of park filled with cages containing all of Franklin's previous failed experiments (all of them.)
The two changed humans are under observation by the scientists; Dr. Franklin wishes to study not only how their physical forms changed through the experiment's progress, but how their minds react to their new existence. Semi and Miranda, are able to communicate through tiny radio chips implanted in their brains. The channel is supposedly private, but both the girls can sense a presence eavesdropping on them.
They examine this and it turns out to be none other than the absent Arnie, who is also a prisoner. He has been spying on them and reporting their conversations to the scientists. Arnie tells the two girls that there is a 'cure' to their condition and that the scientists have it. "I don't think there's anything crueler he could have said," quotes Semi, Subsequently, Miranda- who doesn't trust Arnie and thinks he's just lying to spite them- attacks Arnie through the radio telepathy and makes him promise that he had told them the truth. Arnie reassures her and says that he will try to help them by obtaining the antidote.
Soon small containers of the antidote begin appearing next to Semi's pool. Miranda opens them and administers the cure to Semi over the course of many days. However, Miranda is gradually losing her grip on reality; the scientists fit her with a radio tag and allow her to fly 'free,' not restricted to the confines of her cage. Semi realizes that Miranda is gradually losing her human mind.
Semi then resolves to escape once and for all. Dr. Skinner, a colleague of Dr. Franklin's, visits Semi, speaking to her, asking if she can really understand him or if she is just a 'dumb animal' after the experiment. Skinner confesses that the experiments make him very uneasy and that he would feel awful if he had hurt a living, thinking human, who could understand what had happened to her. Semi demonstrates her comprehension by swimming in unusual patterns and performing a mathematical task of counting pebbles, proving to him that she is still sentient. Skinner is greatly startled- even horrified- and flees.
Semi devotes herself to finding a method of escape. She discovers a water vent that lets water out of her pool, down a big pipe to the sea, and is able to open the cover with a stick. She bides her time and plans, thinking about whether she could fit down the pipe.
Meanwhile, Miranda is becoming more and more distant. Finally, Semi calls to her through the radio telepathy and Miranda is unreachable; she has lost her human mind. "I was alone, totally alone," Semi says. "Miranda had left me behind, she'd gone ahead on the last stage of our terrible adventure..." Later Miranda flies away, and does not return for several days. Dr. Franklin visits and says that she is becoming part of the island's 'unique wildlife.'
Skinner visits Semi again, and Semi realizes that he's the one who has been getting the doses of antidote to her. He gives Semi the final dose and asks her if she's found the escape from her pool. Semi debates over whether to trust him, but finally answers yes by moving pebbles into a "check". Skinner outlines an escape plan for her and heads back to the lab, leaving Semi in a state of anxious indecision.
Finally Semi decides to escape, and hope that Skinner and Franklin aren't just concocting another cruel test to measure her intelligence after the experiment. Semi levers open the outflow pipe and swims into it. She travels down the pipe and ends in the shallow waters off the island's coast. Even though the genetic change is taking place again, it is much easier this time, and Semi feels little sensation of it. She swims towards the scheduled rendezvous point, the antidote transforming her into a human as she travels. Semi reaches Skinner's boat as almost a full human, just without hair and with barely visible gills on her neck.
She boards the boat only to be confronted by Dr. Franklin- who is very pleased with her actions. Just as Semi had suspected, Franklin knew all about what was happening, even though Skinner thought he was prepared. "You've done very, very well, Semi!" exclaims Franklin. "Many congratulations! I'm delighted with your performance in Dr. Skinner's little 'escape attempt' exercise, hahaha! I only wish I'd thought of it myself!" Semi is given a tranquilizer injection and blacks out.
When she awakens again, she is back in the cage by the pool- imprisoned in a wheelchair and a straitjacket. Franklin is there, telling Semi that he can't wait to vivisect her and Miranda in the lab- "There are years of work!" he laughs. Then Franklin and Skinner use a computer to fake Semi's radio-telepathy call sign, trying to call in Miranda so that she can be subjected to Franklin's tortures too.
Miranda arrives, but Semi uses her own radio call to warn her. Miranda lands in the cage, and proceeds to remove the radio tag that Franklin had on her- proving not only that she is independent and resents the scientists, but that she is still Miranda and still herself, a sentient human mind. Miranda promptly lunges for Dr. Franklin, attacking with him with beak and claw; seconds later, the rest of the 'freak zoo' animals appear, having fled their tanks after Miranda released them. In all the pandemonium, Skinner frees Semi of the straitjacket and informs her that the speedboat is still at the rendezvous point before joining Franklin's men, chasing the escaped animals.
Instead of heading to the escape launch, however, Semi runs for the lab building. She immediately locates the lab's storage room, and finds Miranda's antidote box, labeled with an M. Then something strange catches her eye- an antidote box labeled with an A. Simultaneously she receives a radio-telepathy call from Arnie.
Semi suspects another trap but still goes in search of the source of the call. She finally discovers a locked ward door that opens after she shuts of the security. In the ward, held prisoner and with many electrodes and wires taped to its head, is a colossal snake. Semi's view: "I saw something limbless and gleaming... it was as thick as my waist, and folded up in a figure of eight. It looked huge. It had a pattern of scales along the sides of its pale body, and a cap of wires strapped to its head... The snake was writhing furiously, fighting against heavy-duty flexible bands that held it down. Its large golden eyes stared at me, the pupils slits of fury. Its mouth, a reptilian line without lips or teeth, was gaping, a choked hissing sound came from its throat. There was nothing, nothing, that I could recognize. You couldn't tell it had ever been human..."
Nevertheless, Semi listens to Arnie's mental instructions and frees him. Arnie then destroys the ward, and he and Semi race to escape the island compound. Nearly to the gate, they are recaptured by Franklin's men, who also have Miranda trapped in a net. The trio feel hopeless, standing and staring blankly as Franklin tells them they must go back to the ward, all their work for nothing. Then, as one, the three attack in a desperate last stand. "To go out in a blaze of glory," Semi calls it. Semi frees Miranda while Arnie batters at Franklin's forces. Outgunned and outnumbered, the trio has no hope of surviving.
Then, as Franklin levels a tranquilizer dart gun to shoot Miranda, Arnie bashes him a blow strong enough to knock him into the air. Miranda swoops down to snatch the dart gun, changing Franklin's trajectory, and the scientist smashes into the electric fence. The voltage kills Franklin almost instantly.
With that, the 'soldiers' and Skinner stop fighting and take no more notice of the three escapees. Semi, Miranda and Arnie get to the boat and are soon headed away from the hateful island, back to safety and civilization.
Their cover story goes like this: The Planet Savers plane went down in the middle of the ocean. Semi, Miranda and Arnie were in a life raft that carried them to an outlying atoll, where they lived for months until they were rescued by a boat from Dr. Franklin's research station. The trio 'borrowed' a boat to get them to the mainland, where they were cared for by kindly nuns and sent to a city where they could contact their parents.
So now the story seems resolved. However, there are still... things. "Once you're made transgenic, you stay that way," Semi explains. "The different DNA is lurking in your cells." Arnie's hypothesis is that there were meant to be two types of transgenics- those that stay changed for just a few weeks and those for which the change was permanent, and the people subjected to it able to switch back and forth, human to trans, although Semi and the others don't know how. "I haven't said anything to the others, but I think salt water is my key," confides Semi. "They haven't said anything to me, but I think Miranda and Arnie know the triggers that will change them."
Then the three head off into civilization, safe at last.
But there is always the possibility of changing back. Even in her human form, Semi still longs to swim through the ocean's 'beautiful music.' Miranda still remembers flying. And they dream of a place where someday, someday, they can be "free together, with no bars between us, and be the wonderful creatures that we become." Someday...
[edit] References
- Halam, Ann, 2001. Dr. Franklin's Pen-Island. London: Orion/Dolphin, 2001. ISBN 1-85881-396-4
