Read Online Maxwell Huxley's Demon by Michael Conn - Free Book Online
Authors: Michael Conn
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port on his laptop and he flashes the SIM card again.
“Max,” Virginia says . “Are you doing OK ?”
“I’m alright.” Strength and weakness. Happiness and sadness. Intelligence and stupidity. Reliability and insanity. We all have our thing . Some people paint. Some people clean. Some people talk. Some people run. Me . . . I get people to do things for me and then I feel bad.
The phone re boots a nd my code runs on it. S uccess!
Chapter 6 –Naomi
Agent Pirelli waits in his car. He watches the RCMP officers working the roadblock. The traffic is mostly logging trucks with an occasional service vehicle sprinkled in the mix. Pirelli stares blindly at the line of trucks , d reaming of getting back home. H e knows this won’t happen soon, i f it were just four kids then maybe, but t his was fo u r assets from the MGA facility , including the one that has them all nervous . He ’d be here all day , maybe through the night, and then doing paperwork after that.
A bread truck pulls in to the line of backed up traffic . Maybe if I do this right , I can get out of this forsake n country of mountains and snow and trees . When Tolkien imagined Mordor , I bet he was thinking of northern British Columbia. He steps from his car and leans on the hood. A slow moving line of trucks rolls past him, m ost held a nnoyed or angry drivers . He observes one driver on his cell phone, driving a white panel van with an electrician’s logo on the side and tools visible in the back. Distracted driving laws don’t seem to apply out here.
His eyes follow a hawk circling near him. I t swoops down at some unseen prey and it draws his gaze to the pullout. A bread truck is pulled off the road, and the rear doors open. An officer hop s in the back and comes out in less than a minute giving the all clear signal. Pirelli wonders . . . MGA kids . . . smart creative kids. He whistles at the officers to hold the truck , t hen walks over and hops into the back of the bread truck.
---
Naomi slows her breathing, staying as still as she can. Someone just got off the truck , and she expected the door to close. Now it sounds like someone else got on. They know. They must know. Why else would a second person get on? Well, I did what I could. I hope it’s enough to keep them happy. Footsteps approach. I need to see Sarah again. She must have passed her exams. If I could just talk to her. She never says much but when she does come up with something it always seem s bang on.
The footsteps stop. She hears little shuffling sounds. Turning around? Or looking closer at something? Good thing I worked most of my sneezes out before the truck stopped. Oh snap! I shouldn’t have thought of sneezing. Go away mister, shoo. The footsteps continue deeper into the truck. What would happen if they found us ? I guess Virginia, the rabid wolverine, would attack. I can’t understand why Max keeps her around. I mean I understand how she can bring him back from his fits or whatever they are. But the rest of the time, nothing but criticism.
Naomi squeezes her nose shut, hoping the desire to sneeze will go away. Hurry up mister. This is going to be embarrassing. She closes her eyes tight, curls her toes, and fights the sneeze. The more she fights , the more it insists on getting out. The man turn s and walks out of the van, says som ething, and the doors close .
Naomi sneezes.
---
With the truck moving again , everyone pushes their way out from hiding. They find spots to sit and get as comfortable as possible in the back of a brea d truck . Max works at hacking the SIM card ID on the cell phone. Naomi meditates. Virginia practices her I’ m— watching - you look on Naomi .
Walker sets his laptop on a bread rack and codes . We’ve got electrons, protons, and neutrons created and spreading. I’ve been through the periodic table and created the first one hundred elements . Max hinted at creating DNA , but first we need some simple molecules and then some
“Max,” Virginia says . “Are you doing OK ?”
“I’m alright.” Strength and weakness. Happiness and sadness. Intelligence and stupidity. Reliability and insanity. We all have our thing . Some people paint. Some people clean. Some people talk. Some people run. Me . . . I get people to do things for me and then I feel bad.
The phone re boots a nd my code runs on it. S uccess!
Chapter 6 –Naomi
Agent Pirelli waits in his car. He watches the RCMP officers working the roadblock. The traffic is mostly logging trucks with an occasional service vehicle sprinkled in the mix. Pirelli stares blindly at the line of trucks , d reaming of getting back home. H e knows this won’t happen soon, i f it were just four kids then maybe, but t his was fo u r assets from the MGA facility , including the one that has them all nervous . He ’d be here all day , maybe through the night, and then doing paperwork after that.
A bread truck pulls in to the line of backed up traffic . Maybe if I do this right , I can get out of this forsake n country of mountains and snow and trees . When Tolkien imagined Mordor , I bet he was thinking of northern British Columbia. He steps from his car and leans on the hood. A slow moving line of trucks rolls past him, m ost held a nnoyed or angry drivers . He observes one driver on his cell phone, driving a white panel van with an electrician’s logo on the side and tools visible in the back. Distracted driving laws don’t seem to apply out here.
His eyes follow a hawk circling near him. I t swoops down at some unseen prey and it draws his gaze to the pullout. A bread truck is pulled off the road, and the rear doors open. An officer hop s in the back and comes out in less than a minute giving the all clear signal. Pirelli wonders . . . MGA kids . . . smart creative kids. He whistles at the officers to hold the truck , t hen walks over and hops into the back of the bread truck.
---
Naomi slows her breathing, staying as still as she can. Someone just got off the truck , and she expected the door to close. Now it sounds like someone else got on. They know. They must know. Why else would a second person get on? Well, I did what I could. I hope it’s enough to keep them happy. Footsteps approach. I need to see Sarah again. She must have passed her exams. If I could just talk to her. She never says much but when she does come up with something it always seem s bang on.
The footsteps stop. She hears little shuffling sounds. Turning around? Or looking closer at something? Good thing I worked most of my sneezes out before the truck stopped. Oh snap! I shouldn’t have thought of sneezing. Go away mister, shoo. The footsteps continue deeper into the truck. What would happen if they found us ? I guess Virginia, the rabid wolverine, would attack. I can’t understand why Max keeps her around. I mean I understand how she can bring him back from his fits or whatever they are. But the rest of the time, nothing but criticism.
Naomi squeezes her nose shut, hoping the desire to sneeze will go away. Hurry up mister. This is going to be embarrassing. She closes her eyes tight, curls her toes, and fights the sneeze. The more she fights , the more it insists on getting out. The man turn s and walks out of the van, says som ething, and the doors close .
Naomi sneezes.
---
With the truck moving again , everyone pushes their way out from hiding. They find spots to sit and get as comfortable as possible in the back of a brea d truck . Max works at hacking the SIM card ID on the cell phone. Naomi meditates. Virginia practices her I’ m— watching - you look on Naomi .
Walker sets his laptop on a bread rack and codes . We’ve got electrons, protons, and neutrons created and spreading. I’ve been through the periodic table and created the first one hundred elements . Max hinted at creating DNA , but first we need some simple molecules and then some
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