Power Play by Ridley Pearson

Author:Ridley Pearson [Pearson, Ridley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH

want me to stop it?

Tucked in behind the plywood wall, he waited. And waited. When no text came back, he decided the reception was bad. He had to make a decision. Too much time had passed since the system had been restarted. By now, Finn and Philby had either been blown out of the system or were safe.

But his job was to keep the trash system down. He could stop it again, hide amid the boxes, and see what happened.

He hit STOP.

* * *

As Philby and Finn left Data Operations, Philby noticed that the overhead rumble stopped.

“Maybeck,” he said.

“About time!” Finn said.

The two boys hurried back and reentered the trash system. They moved incredibly quickly this time, knowing exactly where they were going. Reaching the vertical pipe through which they’d entered, Philby knocked three times. The lid opened and Maybeck reached down a hand.

“Hurry!” he said into the dark.

He helped Philby up, then Finn.

“Oh, man!” Maybeck said. “You guys reek like diaper poo.”

“Nice to see you, too,” Finn said.

Minutes later, they were attracting unwanted attention on their way out. But thankfully, the state of their smell kept the curious at bay. They cut a wide swath as they walked out of the employee gate at the front of the Park.

Finn caught sight of the time and called his mother. The arrangement had been for them to be picked up in Downtown Disney, but they were already late. He was going to have to risk the truth, or something close to it.

“Good grief!” she said as they piled into the car, Maybeck riding shotgun, Finn and Philby relegated to the back. “You two look disgusting.”

“We went Dumpster diving,” Finn said.

“You what?!”

“I threw my wallet away by accident,” Philby said. “It was on this food tray, and I just dumped it in there by mistake, and by the time I realized it they’d already emptied the trash—”

“So they went Dumpster diving,” Maybeck said.

“And we found it,” Finn said.

“In the Magic Kingdom,” she said. “What happened to Downtown Disney?”

“Our plans changed.”

“You aren’t allowed in the Magic Kingdom without permission.” His mom didn’t miss much.

“Something came up,” Finn said.

An ominous silence overcame the car’s interior. His mother was clearly considering how far to push her son with the other boys in the car. “Well, at least it has a happy ending,” she said, letting Finn off the hook. For now.

She rolled down the window. “Can I just say, you stink?” She burst out laughing, as did the boys, though their laughter was faked.

Then she went through the typical mom stuff: “Did you have a good time?” “Did you see any friends?” “How much money did you spend?” It was like she was reading from the same script anytime Finn did anything with his friends.

“Willa’s mother called.” She dropped it like a bomb and checked the rearview mirror for impact. The thing about his mother: she could lay little traps that he would fall into before he knew it.

“She said you knew what it was about,” his mother continued.

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