The Forgetting Machine by Pete Hautman

Author:Pete Hautman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

21

Acrophobia

You know that uncomfortable feeling you get going up in a fast elevator? Multiply that by a thousand. You know that scary floating-stomach feeling you get when the elevator stops? Multiply it by a million.

The drone stopped abruptly, almost throwing me off. I think I screamed again, but I couldn’t hear myself over the roar of my pounding pulse.

Remember when I said I wasn’t acrophobic? I changed my mind. Looking down at Billy’s tiny face eighty feet below me, I was in an utter panic. So I screamed some more.

“Hang on!” Billy shouted. “Don’t fall!”

“STOP SAYING THAT!” I yelled. At least the drone wasn’t moving.

“That was Gilly trying to regain control of the AG-3601.” Billy’s voice was coming from the phone he’d taped to the bottom of the drone. “I’ve got him locked out now. Just don’t fa— I mean, I’ll have you down in a minute.”

“GENTLY!” I was still scared, but not too scared to look out over Ernest Rausch’s little farm. Behind the barn was a newer building—a large shed with a steel roof and several cables running into it. Brazie the bull had moved over by a stack of hay bales and was glaring up at me.

The drone began to descend.

“Billy.”

“What?”

“Do you have this thing under control now?”

“Of course.”

“I mean, really under control?” I was only about ten feet up, close enough to the ground that I figured I could survive a fall.

“I think so.”

I would have preferred Yes, absolutely, without question!

“Can you make it go where you want now?”

The drone jerked to my left.

“Slowly!” I yelled. The drone slowed to a gentle walking pace. Billy guided it in a figure eight, lowered it a couple of feet, then raised it back up. It felt solid, not tippy at all. I got my knees up on the disk and arranged myself in a sitting, cross-legged position, but I didn’t let go of the edges. It was a nice sensation, like riding a magic carpet. Billy sent me drifting along the outside of the fence, then back.

“Can you see through the phone camera?” I asked.

“Not very well. It’s hanging kind of crooked.”

“There’s an odd-looking building behind the barn. Can you ease me over there so I can get a closer look?”

“You sure?”

I wasn’t sure at all, but I said, “Yes.”

“You’re going to have to direct me. Once you’re on the other side of the barn I won’t be able to see you.”

“Okay, but no more deadly heights, please. I don’t want to go any higher than I am right now.”

“Got it. Three meters maximum altitude. You ready?”

“Let’s go.”

The drone drifted toward the building. It was a peculiar sensation. The antigravity disk was completely silent and rock solid. I could lean to either side to look down, and the disk didn’t tip at all. As I passed the barn, I caught a glimpse of several stainless steel cages through the window. The disk passed over the haystack. Brazie was on the other side, watching me. He seemed more puzzled than angry.

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