Science Fair (14 page)

“Ten percent,” said Micah.

“Okay,” said Sternabite. “Pay attention, because this is where it can get tricky.” As Sternabite continued to give Micah instructions for operating the reactor, Toby edged behind his back and looked around for a place to put his cantaloupe. He settled on a cluttered shelf behind the counter, where there was an opening between an accordion and what looked like either a clump of moss or a very old sandwich. Toby tiptoed over, keeping an eye on Sternabite, and set the cantaloupe on the shelf, with the lens pointing outward. From there the camera would take in most of what happened in the store, and the microphone would pick up whatever was said in the vicinity of the counter. Toby edged away from the cantaloupe.

“Whatever you do,” Sternabite was saying, “don’t let this meter read higher than forty thousand. Dial it back closer to five percent if you see it approaching forty K.”

“What happens if it goes past forty?” said Tamara.

Sternabite aimed his dark glasses at her.

“Have you ever seen lightning strike?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said.

“Inside a gymnasium?” he said.

“Oh,” she said.

Sternabite turned back to Micah. “Okay,” he said. “Take this stuff and get out. I have other customers coming.” He put the reactor back into its Slurpee box. “And make sure you bring this back after the science fair.”

“Okay,” said Micah. Then he frowned and said, “Can I ask you a question?”

“What?” said Sternabite impatiently.

“How come you’re letting me use this thing for free?”

Sternabite stared at him for a long moment. Then he said, “Two reasons. Mainly, I think it’s high time there was some real competition in the science fair.”

“You mean for the ME kids,” said Tamara.

“Exactly,” said Sternabite.

“But don’t you
help
them?” said Toby. Sternabite turned toward him. Several seconds passed. Toby worried that he’d gone too far.

Final y Sternabite spoke. “Maybe I do,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m on their side.”

“What’s the other reason?” said Micah.

Sternabite turned back to Micah. “This wil serve as an excel ent field test for the reactor.”

“Test?” said Micah.

“Field test,” said Sternabite.

“So you’re saying it’s never actual y been tested?” said Micah.

Sternabite studied Micah for a moment.

“Just do what I told you, Frog Boy,” he said, “and you’l be fine.”

Micah started to say something, but Tamara, looking out into the mal concourse, interrupted. “The ME kids are coming,” she said.

“Let’s go,” said Toby. “Come on, Micah.” He handed Micah one of the boxes and grabbed the other.

“But…” said Micah.

“Come on,” said Toby, dragging Micah out of the store after Tamara. They turned right on the concourse, heading away from the approaching ME kids. Toby glanced back into the Science Nook to make sure the webcam cantaloupe was stil in position. Sternabite was facing him, his eyes unreadable behind his dark glasses.

Toby quickly turned away and fol owed his friends.

D
RMTSI AND VRSK LOVED
al the TV channels at the Shady Inn Motor Court, except for the one with the scary judge lady. But their favorite channel, the one they kept returning to, was the shopping network. Such excel ent merchandise! Such friendly hosts! It was as if they were talking to Drmtsi and Vrsk personal y, wanting so much to make their lives better by giving them an opportunity to own these wonderful products.

No matter what the friendly hosts were sel ing—exercise equipment, jewelry, clothing, cookware, home beekeeping equipment—Drmtsi and Vrsk found that they wanted to buy it.

Drmtsi was especial y smitten with a smiling blond woman who was sel ing a cappuccino machine for only $489, which you could pay for in three convenient instal ments. After watching her explain the benefits of this machine for twenty minutes, with Vrsk translating, Drmtsi could contain himself no longer. He ordered Vrsk to cal the tol -free number.

Vrsk cal ed. A nice lady told him that the shopping network did not take purds or gold; only credit cards. Vrsk said he did not have a credit card. The nice lady said this was not a problem; she’d be happy to take an application for the official shopping-network credit card. In half an hour, both Drmtsi and Vrsk had been approved. The cards would not arrive for a day or so, but they would be given special account numbers that they could use right now. They could begin shopping immediately!

Drmtsi and Vrsk could hardly believe it. Such a generous country! So trusting! Drmtsi returned his attention to the smiling blond woman on the TV screen. Vrsk translated what she was saying: the cappuccino machine had been reduced to just $419! An amazing price, according to the smiling woman. But there were only a few left! Drmtsi ordered Vrsk to buy one

—no,
two
—cappuccino machines. Vrsk picked up the phone again, and in minutes the order was placed. They paid extra to have the machines delivered to the Shady Inn Motor Court by overnight delivery. It was $80 more, but Drmtsi decided it was worth it.

Vrsk hung up the phone and gave Drmtsi the good news. They shared a smile of accomplishment. The mission was going wel . Two cappuccino machines! Neither Drmtsi or Vrsk knew what cappuccino was, but they were sure it was a good thing.

They turned back to the TV. The smiling blond woman had been replaced by two new hosts who were sel ing a large, miracle rubber bal that could be used for many purposes, including toning the thighs. It was only $49.95! Drmtsi leaned forward with interest, his eyes on the screen, his ears taking in Vrsk’s running translation. He was tempted to order the miracle bal right away, but his instinct told him that if he waited, the price might drop. So he held off, biding his time, waiting for just the right moment to strike. He could feel the pressure.

But he was an agent in the field; pressure was his business.

T
OBY, TAMARA, AND MICAH
set up Micah’s laptop on a table in a deserted corner of the mal food court. They hoped it was close enough to the Science Nook to get a decent signal from the Cantaloupe Cam. Micah booted up the laptop, worked the keyboard for a few moments, then said, “There.” The image on the laptop screen was a little dark, but clear enough. Standing at the Science Nook counter, facing the camera, were four ME kids: Haley Hess, Harmonee Prescott, Jason Niles, and Farrel “The Ferret” Plinkett. Sternabite was also visible, his back to the camera. He finished placing some cardboard boxes on the counter and some larger ones on a hand truck. Then he opened and looked into some envelopes, which appeared to contain cash.

“Can we get sound?” asked Toby.

Micah increased the volume. There were some rustling noises as Sternabite finished checking the envelopes. Then his voice came through the laptop speakers, surprisingly loud and clear.

“Okay, it’s al here,” he said.

“So how do we, like, set the projects up?” said Haley.

“The instructions are inside the boxes,” said Sternabite. “Nothing complicated.”

“Al right,” said Haley. She turned to Jason and The Ferret. “You guys carry the heavy ones, okay?”

“It might be a couple of trips,” said Jason, eyeing the boxes.

“Whatever,” said Haley. “Just get started.” She and the others began picking up boxes.

“Hold on a minute,” said Sternabite.

The ME kids looked at him.

“Is this important?” said Harmonee. “Because
Celebrity Cage Fight
is on in a half hour.” Indicating the boxes, Sternabite said, “These components…some of them are very…sophisticated.”

“You told us that already,” said Jason Niles.

Sternabite nodded. “And I’ve been thinking more about it,” he said. “There’s a potential situation that concerns me about these projects.”

“Are you saying they won’t work?” said Haley.

“No,” said Sternabite. “They work. I built them.”

“Then what’s the problem?” said Jason.

Sternabite paused, then said, “I’d like to talk to whoever designed these plans—whoever gave them to you.”

“We told you,” said Haley. “We don’t know.”

“What difference does it make who gave them to us?” said Jason. “We bring you the stuff, we
pay
you, and you make the projects. Same as always.”

“No,” said Sternabite. “It’s not the same as always. The others I’ve done…those were always separate, very different projects. They didn’t relate to each other. But these”—he gestured at the boxes—“there’s a possibility…the combination. It’s…troubling.”

“Troubling, why?” said Haley.

Sternabite paused. “I…can’t…say exactly,” he final y muttered, sounding as though it caused him physical pain to speak these words. His voice returned to normal. “I haven’t worked it out yet. Not completely. But I wil . I’m just worried that in the meantime, should these technologies be used in combination, it could be…interesting. Potential y
very
dangerous.”

“Potential y,” said Haley. “
If
it’s used wrong. But it won’t be. It’s just for the science fair.”

“I stil don’t like it,” said Sternabite. “I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t even…”

“Listen,” interrupted Jason. “We need these projects. You can’t back out now.”

“Yeah,” said The Ferret. “You took our money.”

“That’s right,” said Haley. “You took our money.
And
you told us to bring you al the classified stuff.”

“I didn’t tel you to bring it,” said Sternabite. “Whoever designed these did.
You’re
the ones who brought
me
lists.”

“That’s
your
story,” said Haley. “The four of us might remember it differently, if, say, the police got interested. It could look very bad, an adult tricking innocent kids into getting him dangerous classified technology.” She turned to the other three. “Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right,” said The Ferret.

“Yeah,” said Jason.

“What are we talking about?” said Harmonee.

Haley sighed and turned back to Sternabite. “I think,” she said, “that the best thing for everyone would be if you just forgot about your little worries. When the science fair is over we’l return everything and it’l al be fine. Okay?”

There was a long pause. Then Sternabite nodded reluctantly.

“Okay!” said Haley brightly. “Bye!”

The ME kids moved the boxes out of the Science Nook and out of range of the Cantaloupe Cam. Sternabite was motionless for a few seconds, then left, apparently going to the back room.

Toby, Tamara, and Micah continued staring at Micah’s computer screen. Tamara broke the silence.

“Wow,” she said.

“Micah,” said Toby, “did you by any chance record that?”

“No,” said Micah. “Was I supposed to?”

Toby shook his head rueful y and said, “I should’ve thought of it before. This is unbelievable. They’re using
classified
technology.”

“Dangerous, classified technology,” said Tamara. “Potential y very dangerous. What do you think he meant by that?”

“I dunno,” said Toby. “But we have to tel somebody about this.”

“Who?” said Micah.

“The FBI?” said Toby.

“Oh, sure!” said Tamara. She held an imaginary phone to her ear. “Hel o, FBI? I want to report that the guy in a shopping-mal science store used classified technology to make something very dangerous.…No, I don’t know what it is, but I saw the whole thing on a camera hidden inside a cantaloupe.…Hel o? FBI? Hel o?”

“Okay, so maybe not the FBI,” said Toby.

“Then who?” said Micah.

Toby thought. “The Hornet,” he said.

“Are you
insane
?” said Tamara. “No, let me rephrase that. You
are
insane.”

“Listen,” said Toby. “She loves the school. She would never let anything bad happen there. Plus, she’s a human rottweiler. If I can convince her that Sternabite knows something, she
will
make him tel .”

“How’re you going to convince her?” said Micah. “She already thinks you’re a lying cheater.”

“Right,” said Toby. “But she doesn’t think
you
are.”

“You want
us
to tel The Hornet,” said Tamara.

“Just tel her what you saw and heard on the computer,” said Toby. “She’l have to check it out. I’l back you up.”