Read Online Omega City by Diana Peterfreund - Free Book Online Page A

other part of the riddle had to do with his biography: his twin, Pluto; Solar Park . . . If the truth was out there, there was no one on Earth better suited to finding it than my dad.
    We just had to get to him before Fiona did.
    WHEN SAVANNAH, ERIC, and I pulled our bikes up to the house that evening, we found Dad in the yard, airing out our pup tents.
    â€œYou going camping?” Savannah asked.
    â€œGills,” Eric whispered, stricken. “Do something.”
    I wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted me to do. If Dad had decided to take us all off grid, it wasn’t like I could change his mind. Maybe he’d noticed that the strand ofmy hair I’d so carefully trimmed down to appropriate Dad length and placed back in the Underberg file wasn’t his, despite them both being brown. Maybe Fiona had done something else we didn’t know about.
    On the other hand, Dad wouldn’t be spreading out our brightly colored tents on the lawn where they could be seen by everyone from nosy neighbors to passing spy satellites if he was afraid they were watching. But then, what was he up to with this very public display?
    I put the kickstand down and approached. “Hey, Dad,” I said, taking care to keep my voice light. “Are we going camping?”
    â€œNah, just making sure everything’s in working order before I store it for the season,” he said. I looked at my brother, who had slumped against the porch railing in relief. “Hello, Savannah. Are you staying for dinner?”
    Savannah looked scared. I didn’t blame her. “No thanks, Dr. S.”
    â€œGillian, honey, can you grab that corner over there and pull tight?”
    As I knelt to help Dad check the seams on the tent, he called to Eric. “Son, can you check the batteries on the head lamps?”
    â€œSure thing!” Eric called, happy to help now that he was sure he wouldn’t be dragged away from his precious video games. He started unloading the flashlights andhead lamps from the box on the porch steps, clicking each on and off. Savannah sat on the porch and wrapped an arm around the railing, watching us. She jerked her head in Dad’s direction. “Ask him about the ice thing,” she hissed at me.
    Fine. “It’s too bad we all lost out on Dr. Underberg’s batteries, huh, Dad?” I said, trying to keep my tone as casual as possible. “We’d never have to worry about replacing them.”
    â€œTrue,” Dad said, working his way down the long side of the tent. “It’s a sad statement, isn’t it? How much humanity as a whole loses out when scientists and . . . other people are silenced by their enemies.”
    â€œThat’s so true, Dr. S,” said Savannah. “Like when that scientist, um . . . got iced?”
    Really, Sav? That’s your best shot?
    Dad gave her a quizzical look, then chuckled. “Iced? You watch too many cop shows, Savannah.”
    I sneaked another look at Eric, who was giving me a warning shake of his head. But I was well beyond warnings. I’d already messed with the security on Dad’s filing cabinets, and recruited Savannah and Howard into this treasure hunt. If there was something to find out there, I needed a few hints.
    â€œIs there anything else he invented?” I asked carefully. The birth of ice, the birth of ice . .  . “Some kind of cool . . .refrigerator? Or what is it called when you freeze people and then bring them back to life?”
    â€œCryogenic freezing?” Dad sat back on his heels, a wistful look on his face. “Who knows, sweetheart? Who knows what we lost when we lost him? Dr. Underberg was a brilliant man, dedicated to the betterment of the human race. He fought to end the nuclear arms race, to create clean, renewable energies, technologies that would help humans live with fewer resources or in places we never thought we could: deserts, under the sea, even in outer space . .