Carter Anthony Lewis his mom said why exactly were you using your phone in the bathroom Because if I use it anywhere else one of the teachers will take it away from me he said And I needed to text Matt about something hysterical that happened in gym Well this time no one is laughing his father said And no new cell phone unless you pay for it yourself The next morning Carter was on his bike heading toward his uncle’s house He hoped the job required him to work far away from his cousin Carter could still hear his dad’s patented responsibility lecture ringing in his ears as he turned into Uncle Dan’s drive He hopped off and wheeled the bike behind the little corral that held his uncle’s garbage cans Uncle Dan insisted that they always keep their bikes from prying eyes Dizzy Izzy’s blue and silver bike already leaned against the back of the corral 8
As soon as Carter’s knuckles hit the door it fl ew open Uncle Dan stood smiling at him He was wearing a moldy orange life vest and a fl oppy hat decorated with fi shing lures Come in he bellowed cheerfully We’re making new fi shing lures Sure Carter yelled back I love fi shing He followed his uncle through the door Uncle Dan swept the hat off his head revealing close-cropped brown hair in the exact same shade as Carter’s longer mop His uncle tossed the hat on the bench just inside the door The life vest followed it Where’d you get the hat Carter asked Flea market Don’t touch it It bites Carter started to suggest that maybe it shouldn’t be left on a bench where people sit but then he pictured Izzy plopping down on it and smiled At that moment Izzy peered over the fi rst fl oor landing her long straight hair hanging around her thin face her mouth pinched Carter thought she looked like she 9
might be about to hurl over the railing so he stepped carefully to one side About time you got here she snapped Carter ignored her and followed Uncle Dan upstairs What’s the job he asked New project Uncle Dan said It’s going to revolutionize bookstores Bookstores Carter echoed Your top secret project is something for bookstores I thought it would be some cool government thing Uncle Dan laughed as he headed into the kitchen to grab sodas for everyone Carter’s uncle believed sugar and caffeine helped your brain work faster He believed a lot of weird stuff That’s one of the things Carter liked about him You never knew what to expect Books are the seeds that grow worlds and topple governments Come on down to the lab where I’ll introduce you to the future Uncle Dan said Uncle Dan’s basement looked different 10
every time Carter visited but you always saw computers lots of computers and lots of monitors Some of the screens showed views of the yard from cameras keeping watch over the whole property But at least one monitor always had lines and lines of computer code Today Uncle Dan walked by all of them and opened the door to his basement storage room Now the small room was almost empty except for two space suits hanging suspended from the ceiling from dozens of thin wires They looked like giant space marionettes You’re making puppets Carter asked Don’t be a dope Izzy whispered fi ercely Then she turned to their uncle and sweetly asked Are you doing something for NASA No puppets and no NASA Uncle Dan said pushing his glasses up on his nose proudly You’re looking at the new way to read a book Carter and Izzy exchanged a look Carter wondered if their uncle had fi nally lost it 11
