Under the radar, p.9
Under the Radar, page 9
“Shrimp,” she said. “That’s lame.”
Yvonne Williams laughed. “It really doesn’t get any lower than that, Tom,” she said.
I grinned. “Hey, where’s Dad?”
“I just saw him heading outside,” said Mom. “I heard he has a visitor.”
“Cool. I’ll go check it out,” I said.
“Yeah, run, you coward,” said Philly. She and Sandy snickered like insane teenage girls as I walked away. Which, of course, is exactly what they were.
Outside, in front of the tower, I saw Dad standing in the drop-off circle, leaning into a black limousine. I strolled over and found him talking to Randall Foger. Dad turned and smiled at me.
“Hey, son,” he said. “Randall just dropped by to thank us for helping Andy clear his name.”
I almost snorted. But then I said, “Well, Andy did most of the work. We just tried to keep his spirits up.”
Randall Foger actually chuckled at this. “Look, Tom, I don’t have any illusions about my son. But he did take some initiative in contacting you about my predicament. I appreciate that you, uh, well . . . that you didn’t just toss him out on his ear.”
“Honestly, sir,” I said, “we couldn’t have done it without him.”
Mr. Foger nodded. “Well, be that as it may, I guess I have to congratulate you on winning the Department of Energy bid,” he said to Dad. “As I no longer have an entry in the competition, your Mega-Worm wins by default.”
Dad got a look on his face. I knew the look. It’s one of my favorite looks, actually.
He said, “You know, Randall . . . your Mole performed remarkably well yesterday.”
“Oh, did it?” said Mr. Foger.
“Yes,” replied Dad. “And this contract will be a big, big project. We may need to subcontract a lot of the component work . . . perhaps as much as half the contract. Maybe we could work out some sort of—”
But Mr. Foger cut him off. “No thanks, Tom,” he said with a dark smile. “We’d just come to blows eventually.”
Dad grinned at that. “Okay. But the offer stands.”
“We’ve got a couple of defense contracts that look good for us,” said Mr. Foger. “We’ll get back on our feet. Then I can get back to crushing you and your puny company.”
“I look forward to it,” said Dad.
Mr. Foger nodded to him, then to me. He reached out and pulled the limo door shut with a solid thunk! The long car veered around the drop-off circle and headed out to the road.
Dad just stood there shaking his head.
“Somewhere inside that dark beast is a beating heart,” he said.
“I know you guys were business partners,” I said. “But were you friends, too?”
Dad nodded. “I think so. Of course, Randall would never admit that.”
We strolled back into the lobby. The band was just swinging into a Thelonious Monk tune.
“That’s good jazz,” he said, his eyes lighting up. “I love that stuff.”
We stood together for a few seconds listening to the music. I knew that the moment wouldn’t last long. People would soon come up and chat, ask how we were, how it all went down yesterday, and so forth. It was a party, after all.
But just for a moment, I had the urge to throw a big Chameleon Cloak over both of us so we could disappear from the world. Then we could just stand there awhile, listening to our favorite music together.
Maybe I could run a few new ideas past my mentor.
You see, I’d been thinking about adding a nano-coating of sound dampeners to the camouflage fabric . . .
Don’t Miss Tom’s Other Adventures!
1: Into the Abyss
2: The Robot Olympics
3: The Space Hotel
4: Rocket Racers
5: On Top of the World
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
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Designed by Lisa Vega
The text of this book was set in Weiss.
First Aladdin Paperbacks edition October 2007
Library of Congress Control Number 2007922547
ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-3644-2
ISBN-10: 1-4169-3644-0
ISBN-13: 978-1-4814-0274-3 (eBook)
Victor Appleton, Under the Radar
