Switching Gears by Ryder Windham

Author:Ryder Windham [WINDHAM, RYDER/FRY, JASON]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction / Readers - Beginner, Juvenile Fiction / Media Tie-In, Juvenile Fiction / Toys, Dolls, Puppets, Juvenile Fiction / Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780316203289
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2012-05-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

TRAFFIC JAM

Still traveling under the stars in his battered-SUV mode, Gears carried Kevin over a stretch of the Veterans Memorial Highway that snaked through a mountain pass, heading toward the town of Hawthorne, Nevada. As they rounded a bend in the highway, they saw the lights of the base in the distance. The town was virtually surrounded by the Hawthorne Army Depot, which consisted of a web of roads linking bunkers and testing grounds that sprawled across the desert. Signs warned travelers not to leave the road because of the danger posed by unexploded munitions left over from decades of Army testing.

“Uh-oh,” Kevin said as he saw a long line of taillights ahead.

Gears said, “Is there an automobile accident in front of us?”

“No. A roadblock.”

Gears slowed to a stop behind the car in front of them. Kevin unbuckled his seat belt, scooted over quickly to get behind the steering wheel, and buckled himself into the driver’s seat. He tried to look casual, as if twelve-year-olds drove all the time. When traffic started moving, Gears edged forward until Kevin could see the armed soldiers up ahead, shining their flashlights into car windows.

“Do it now,” Kevin said. “Do the hologram thing.”

“Very well,” Gears said. “I will make you look like a soldier.”

“No! That won’t work. They’ll ask for an ID!”

They rolled forward a few feet. The soldiers were now just several cars ahead. Gears said, “What if I make you appear to be an officer?”

“It won’t matter without ID,” Kevin insisted. “And I don’t know the base well enough to answer their questions correctly.”

“We should have discussed this before,” Gears said as they rolled forward again.

“It’s too late! Make me a man.”

“What does that mean?”

Kevin saw a soldier walking toward them, flashlight held loosely in one hand. “An older version of me!” Kevin blurted out. “Quick!”

He glanced in the mirror mounted outside the driver-side window. The mirror reflected the wrinkled face of an old man with a wild white beard covering his chin. “Not that old!” Kevin protested. “Make me five or six years older… a teenager!”

Kevin heard the soldier’s boots on the gravel and saw the beam from the flashlight traveling closer. He rolled down the window as the soldier stepped to his door.

“That’s funny,” the soldier said, blinking his eyes. “A moment ago, you looked… different.” He played the light across the passenger seat as he looked around the cab.

Kevin’s heart hammered in his chest as he lowered his voice and said, “Different? What do you mean?”

“Never mind,” the soldier said, shaking his head. “Must’ve been the lights reflected on your windshield. This area is closed to all nonessential traffic.”

“But… I have to see my brother. He works at the depot.”

“We’re on lockdown, along with about half of Nevada,” the soldier said. “No visitors.”

Thinking fast, Kevin said, “But I’m not going to the depot itself. My brother and I are supposed to meet in town.”

The soldier gave Kevin a skeptical look. Kevin wondered how long Gears could maintain the hologram that concealed his true appearance.

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