“And Black-Eyed Susan?”
“Bess?” Charlie said. “She’s kind of a mystery. No one really knows where she lives. Personally, I think she’s a runaway.”
“So what’s your story?”
Charlie grinned. “Mine’s pretty boring. Family I like. Good grades. No sociopathic tendencies. I’m just really good at playing the game.”
“Same here,” Josh said. “I guess we’re the token normals.”
They stopped in front of a subway entrance. “This is me,” she said. “Go home and read the manual. Com me if you have any questions. Clatter will let us know when the next game is.”
“Will do,” said Josh. “Oh, and thanks for inviting me to play. This is going to be fun.”
Charlie smiled. “It will be better than anything you could ever imagine,” she said.
8
Josh slipped the card into his reader and waited for it to load. Ever since he got home, he’d been dying to look at the manual, but first he’d had to sit through dinner with his family, and then he’d had to do his math homework. But now all that was done, and he could devote his attention to more interesting matters.
The first section was standard Torcher information, basically an outline of the Rules. Josh already knew these by heart, so he skipped ahead to the next section, which was a description of the various zones in the playing field. In addition to the underground area in the Docklands, Clatter had set up three or four smaller fields throughout the city. One of them used the maze of underground tunnels beneath the abandoned Central Station, another was laid out in the ruins of the Great Park at the northern tip of the city.
Josh pored over the different maps with growing excitement. He couldn’t believe Clatter’s operation was so extensive. This is going to be so cool, he thought as he tried to memorize as many details of the maps as he could. He wanted to impress the others the next time they played.
As he was looking at a map of the sewers that ran beneath the ship graveyard, the telecom sounded an incoming call. “Firecracker is calling,” the machine’s voice said. “Firecracker is calling.”
Josh went to his desk and hit the answer key. Firecracker’s face filled the screen. “How’s the paper going?” he asked.
Josh wracked his brain. “The paper,” he said, a sinking feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.
“Right,” Firecracker said. “Did you get your part done?”
“Just about,” Josh lied. “I’m still researching a couple of things, but I’m almost finished.”
“All right,” said Firecracker. “Make sure it’s good. My presentation is going to kick major butt, but it’s only half the grade. Don’t forget you have to submit the written report to Darjeeling by eight tomorrow. She’s going to have them graded before we do the presentations.”
“Don’t worry,” Josh said. “It’ll be done.”
“Okay,” Firecracker said. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Firecracker out.”
The screen went dark, and Josh groaned. He’d forgotten all about the paper. He looked at the clock. It was almost ten. Reluctantly he closed the manual he’d been reading and started to pull up information on Antarctica.
His computer beeped, signaling an incoming message. He opened it and saw a note from Charlie.
The next game is Saturday. Meet me at the park at 1400 hours. Study the maps for Location 4.
Saturday? That’s the day after tomorrow, Josh thought. That didn’t give him much time, especially since Friday night was family night, when he and Emily were forced to do something with their parents. You can’t show up unprepared, he told himself.
He started to pick up the manual again, then remembered the planetary geography paper. Paper first.
He worked quickly, locating the information he needed and cobbling it into something that resembled a paper. When he was done he read it through. It wasn’t his best work, but at least it was finished. Hopefully it was enough to get them a decent grade.
He glanced at the clock and was shocked to see that it was after one o’clock. He was exhausted, but he forced himself to open the manual file and start reading again. Location Four was also in the Docklands. It was an old amusement park called Happy Time that had been built along the boardwalk. Since the ocean around the city had become too polluted to swim in, nobody went there anymore, and like everything in that part of the city, the boardwalk—and Happy Time—had been left to slowly fall apart. Josh had never been there, although his parents had told him and Emily stories about going there when they were kids.
According to the manual, there were a number of buildings still standing at the park, as well as several underground tunnels that must have been used for maintenance purposes. They formed a complex maze that Josh found difficult to keep straight, so in order to memorize them he focused on one section at a time, taking in the details and then closing his eyes and trying to re-create the map in his mind.
The problem was that every time he closed his eyes, he felt himself drifting into sleep. Several times he woke with a jerk, having dozed off in the middle of trying to picture a stairwell or hallway. Then one time he closed his eyes and didn’t wake up.
Josh dreamed about trying to find his way out of a dank cellar. He’d lost his bearings and no longer knew where the stairs he’d come down were. Things were moving in the dark, and he couldn’t remember how to use his flamethrower. Hands were grabbing at him, and he felt cold breath on his face. The alarm clock jolted him awake.
He sat up and looked around his room, his heart racing. The dream had been so real. There was a knock on the door, and Emily looked in.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Sure,” said Josh. “Why?”
“You were yelling in your sleep,” his sister told him.
“Oh,” said Josh. “It was just a nightmare.”
Emily nodded. Then she noticed the reader lying next to Josh on the bed. She came in and picked it up. “What are you reading?”
“No!” Josh yelled, grabbing the reader from her.
“Ohhh,” Emily said, a grin spreading across her face. “You were looking at something naaauugh-ty!”
“I was not!” Josh countered. “It’s just something for school.”
“Okay,” Emily said, giving Josh an exaggerated wink. “Sure.”
“Get out of here,” said Josh. “I have to get dressed.”
Emily scurried out, laughing, and shut the door. Josh looked at the reader. It was still open to the map of Location Four. Close call. If Emily had seen the map, she definitely would have asked a lot of questions.
Twenty minutes later Josh was downstairs having breakfast. Emily looked at him from across the table and smiled sweetly. “Read any good books lately?” she asked.
Josh glowered at her.
“Don’t forget, tonight is family night,” his father said. “We’re going to go play mini golf.”
“Yay!” Emily said, genuinely excited by the news. Josh was a little excited too. Mini golf was super old-fashioned, but it was also kind of cool. He would never let his parents know, but secretly he was looking forward to it.
Fortunately for him, the mini golf news also made Emily forget all about the reader. On the train to school all she talked about was how much fun it was going to be. When she got off at her stop, she waved good-bye to Josh and ran to catch up with some of her friends who had been riding in the car ahead of theirs.
The rocking motion of the train almost lulled Josh back to sleep, and he was glad when he reached his stop and could get out into the cool air.
Firecracker caught up with him as Josh was opening his locker. “Did you get it done?” he asked.