Read Online Robot Trouble by Bruce Coville - Free Book Online

“How would you like to let Roger be your brother for a week or so? I’d like to try being an only child for a while.”
    Hap Swenson squeezed a tiny drop of oil into the hole in Rin Tin Stainless Steel’s belly, then glanced at his watch. He wished the others would get here. He was eager to get started for the day.
    More than that, he wanted to tell them about the strange thing he had seen that morning.
    He turned the mechanical dog back onto its feet and walked to the computer console.
    â€œGood morning, Hap,” said Sherlock, when he had punched in his identification code. “How are you today?”
    Hap smiled. Though he has been skeptical when Roger had suggested that they give their terminal a British accent, it really did make the machine seem more real somehow; friendly, almost.
    I wonder if it really will be friendly if it ever becomes truly conscious? thought Hap.
    It wasn’t the first time Hap had fretted about what success for the project would actually mean, not only for them, but for the rest of the world. He wondered if his own father even knew the real purpose of the Anza-bora Island project. The gang had figured it out from clues the others had picked up from their parents, who were actively working on the project. But Mr. Swenson was only here to keep the island’s machines running. So he might never have been informed of the project’s true goal.
    Hap frowned. Even though his father had explained several times why they had not left with the others when the Air Force pulled out, it still seemed strange.
    Like the rest of the gang, Hap was unwilling to believe that one of his parents might actually be Black Glove. But each of them had had at least one parent at that orientation meeting. So each of them, himself included, had at least one parent who was open to suspicion.
    Hap’s gloomy thoughts were interrupted by Wendy Wendell storming into the room. She was sputtering like a power cable that had fallen into a mud puddle.
    â€œHave I got news for you guys!” she cried.

    Â 
    The Trap
    â€œSend the men in, Sergeant Brody,” said Bridget McGrory, speaking into the intercom on her desk. “But let’s keep this short, all right?”
    She snapped off the intercom, then sighed. Brody’s insistence on doing everything precisely by the book would drive her out of her mind yet.
    Dr. Hwa stepped out of his office. Bridget went to his side. Together they watched as Sergeant Brody and his eight new guards filed into the room.
    Ramon Korbuscek was third in line.
    Those two would make good bookends, thought Korbuscek as he walked past the observers.
    Indeed, with their short, jet-black hair and diminutive stature (neither stood more than a few inches above five feet) Dr. Hwa and Bridget McGrory did look like a matched set. Most of the island staff felt that they made a good pair in more ways than one. The feisty Irishwoman was notorious for shielding her softhearted boss from people who wanted too much of his time. Dr. Hwa, in turn, seemed to be the only person who could keep McGrory from removing someone’s head once her temper had been aroused.
    â€œStaff Sergeant Brody reporting, sir,” said Brody, snapping off a salute.
    Dr. Hwa gave him a gentle nod in return.
    Korbuscek’s gaze circled the room, taking in every detail. If he had to make a midnight visit it would be helpful to know the location of the desks, the chairs, the wall sockets, even the wastebasket.
    Moreover, he could discern a great deal about someone’s personality by the way he or she kept a room. This woman McGrory, for instance, was highly efficient and intolerant of intrusions. Comfort for visitors was almost nonexistent. Yet there were touches—the flower on her desk, the green silk scarf on the coatrack—that spoke of a softer side. That, too, was good to know.
    The spy’s brow furrowed momentarily. Other signs, even more subtle, indicated something