Read Online Numbers Ignite by Rebecca Rode - Free Book Online Page A

inside. “Do you want to be an inventor?” I asked her.
    Maxim frowned. “Mandie’s training to play the violin. She’ll be a musician, like our mom. And it’ll be easy enough for her to find a husband, considering there are five boys for every girl her age.”
    I watched Mandie move to the next table, only half listening. “Do all the kids go to the same school here?”
    “School?” Maxim looked confused. “You mean a single place for everyone to get the same education? That’s an outdated way of thinking. Each child has different skills and interests, and those should be groomed in the home. Our parents taught us what we needed to know, right, Mandie?”
    His little sister nodded and put down the coil of metal rope she’d been holding.
    I bent over so we were the same height. Her cheeks were dotted with freckles, and her eyelashes were long and delicate. “Mandie, have your parents taught you how to read?”
    “This is ridiculous,” Maxim said. “Mandie, time to go.”
    “There’s so much I have to learn about your community,” I said, “but I’m wondering if that’s something I can help with. Seriously, Mandie. Did your parents teach you mathematics—geometry, calculus, trigonometry? And science—biology, chemistry, geology?”
    Mandie blinked at the onslaught, then shook her head. “I can read a little. But my mom taught me to play the violin. She said I’ll be good enough to present before I’m fifteen.”
    An idea had begun to form, and I felt excitement pulsing through my body. “That’s great.”
    Coltrane frowned, watching Maxim stride toward the door. “I’m not sure what all this is about, Amy. Intelligence isn’t a contribution. I’m sure you’ll find something that adds to the community.”
    I raised an eyebrow. Intelligence wasn’t important? Then what about all these inventions? What room was there for Mandie and her young friends, if they weren’t pushed to think?
    “If all else fails,” Maxim said, “you can sell us a few NORA secrets. That may be worth something. C’mon, Mandie.”
    I ignored Maxim and nodded to the girl as she followed her brother out. “Hope I get to hear you play the violin someday.” She beamed back at me.
    When the girl and her brother left, I handed the baglight to Coltrane. “I know what I’m going to do.”
    “What’s that?” Coltrane asked warily.
    “I want to be a teacher,” I said. “Let’s go talk to your mom.”

 
     
     
     

     
    “Good people of Blackfell, we thank you for your attendance at this momentous event,” Mills said into the handheld amplifier. His voice echoed off the valley walls as the crowd quieted. We stood on a makeshift platform that jutted out from the wall, then dropped ten feet as the ground sloped toward the swamp below. Even from this high, I could still smell it. “Many of you have waited long for this. Perhaps you struggle to survive each day, suffering greatly as you mourn the loss of dear ones. It is our hope that those who have passed and those who remain can finally find peace with the capture of this man. I will now read the charges brought forth by the people against Vance Hawking, son of Iron Belt Hawking.”
    Someone clapped and shouted, and then the audience joined in. I picked out a familiar face here and there. There were no chairs. The settlers stood, some holding young children or babies, all watching me with disgust or anger. There had to be hundreds of them, maybe even a thousand or more. Even the dirt trail was full of spectators. Ju-Long stood off to the side of the platform, watching me like a mountain lion eyes its prey.
    I was such an idiot. Ju-Long moved slowly, carefully, smoothly. Like a fighter. I should have seen it long before now.
    “The first charge brought to him is defection,” Mills said. “When his clan was attacked and incorporated into the New Order Republic of America, young Hawking chose to join them instead of fight.”
    “I did fight,” I growled.
    He