Astrid Maxxim and Her Amazing Hoverbike (3 page)

“
Cool
,”
said Toby.
 “
You can sit next to me in English
.
”

“
And you can meet us at the train station after school
,”
said Astrid.
 “
We usually walk home together
.
”

“
Okay
,”
said Austin, brightening up.
 “
I can tell you some of the stories my grandma told me yesterday.  She was a secretary back when they built this town.  She actually
knew
some of the Maxxims
.
”

“
Yep, tha
t’
s pretty cool
,”
said Christopher, elbowing Astrid.

“
Le
t’
s hurry up and eat
,”
she said.
 “
Our pasta bowls are getting cold
.
”

When the gang assembled at the school monorail station at 4:30, Austin Tretower was there with them.  It was program tw
o’
s week to clean up the school, so none of them had to stay late.

“
I think I might take a detour over to the lab and check on my battery
,”
said Astrid.

“
You ca
n’
t
,”
replied Denise.
 “
By the time we get home and finish our homework, it will be dinner time
.
”

“
Ever since your dad built you that laboratory
,”
said Toby
,“
all you want to do is hang out there and do mad science
.
”

“
I ca
n’
t believe yo
u’
re one of them
,”
said Austin.

“
I
t’
s just a name
.
”

“
No, yo
u’
re one of the Maxxims.  Wait till I tell you the stories my Grandma told me.  She told me all about Professor Maxxim and his boy genius son
.
”

“
That boy genius would be my dad
,”
said Astrid.

“
I know
!
”
 
Austin fairly trembled at the thought.
 “
I
t’
s so cool
!
”

“
Le
t’
s go home today
,”
said Valerie.
 “
W
e’
ll all go with you tomorrow.  You said your experiment wo
n’
t be over until then.  W
e’
ll all tell our parents and w
e’
ll all go with you
.
”

“
Promise
?
”

They all agreed.  When the next train arrived, they piled into the futuristic interior, along with hundreds of other students and made the short trip back to the Main Street Station in Maxxim City.

That evening, Astri
d’
s dad brought up the subject of her experiment again.

“
I checked the readings on your battery just after I came back from lunch
,”
he said.
 “
I think w
e’
re going to be surprised with the result
s—
surprised in a good way, I mean
.
”

“
I hope so
,”
replied Astrid.
 “
I
t’
s already performed beyond expectations at room temperature.  If we can produce a battery that increases the performance of other batteries tenfold, for the same price, and works at all temperature extremes, but is less toxic as well, the world will beat a path to our door
.
”

“
Let us hope
,”
said her mother.
 “
The battery industry will generate $64 billion in sales this year.  I would like a share of that
.
”

Tuesday at school was
n’
t all that different from Monday, with the exception that Astrid had a presentation to make in US History class.  Her subject was Robert E. Lee.  She was a little miffed that Mr. Hoffman gave her an A-, saying that she could have used more creativity in her PowerPoint. 

“
Substance is more important than style
,”
she said under her breath.

At lunch, which was Asian lettuce wraps with soy dipping sauce, vegetable stir-fry, steamed rice, and strawberries, Austin joined their table in the quad.  There was no trouble from Mark McGovern.

After school they all stepped into the monorail train traveling deeper into the Maxxim campus, rather than the train the other students took heading home.  It was
n’
t a straight shot to the R&D section.  The track stopped at the Business Offices Complex, before continuing on, following along the shores of Pearl Lake, through the Saguaro Cactus Park, and finally to the Research and Development Department.

“
So, I do
n’
t get it
,”
said Austin.
 “
If thousands of people are working all the time to make better batteries, how come it takes a fourteen year old girl to do it
?
”

“
I’
ll bet they do
n’
t want to make batteries better
,”
said Christopher.
 “
You make them last longer and you do
n’
t sell as many
.
”

“
I have an advantage over anyone else
,”
said Astrid.
 “
I have Astricite.  I
t’
s a relatively inexpensive, superconductive alloy that I developed when I was six.  W
e’
re already using it in our microprocessors
.
”

They arrived in the lab and Astrid examined the readings on her experiment.

“
I think this might make it till the week-end
.
”

“
Wha
t’
s in this box
?”
asked Toby, from across the room.
 “
Wha
t’
s  Project RG-7, and why is it top secret
?
”

“
I was going to show you guys next week
,”
said Astrid, leading the others to where Toby was standing beside the crate.
 “
I guess you can go ahead and take a look now
.
”

Reaching up, she flipped open a latch and opened the side of the crate.  Inside, packed with straw, was a metallic girl.  She had bright silver skin, but was otherwise quite human looking.  Her hair was the same metallic material as the rest of her, a solid hair-shaped mass rather than individual fibers, but she was wearing regular clothing.  She had on a pink jacket over a blue t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

“
Oh my gosh
!”
squealed Valerie.
 “
She looks like me
!
”

“
Yes, she does
,”
agreed Denise.

“
Tha
t’
s because I patterned her after you
,”
said Astrid.
 “
Sh
e’
s a Robot Girl 7
.
”

“
Wha
t’
s sh
e…
I mean it, for
?”
asked Austin.

“
Well, who would
n’
t want a robot
?”
wondered Astrid.
 “
She could be anything: friend, babysitter, maid
.
”

“
Why did you make her look like me
?”
asked Valerie.

“
Sh
e’
s just a prototype.  I thought you would be a good model for her
.
”
 
Astrid stepped over to a table and pulled back a sheet.
 “
What w
e’
re going to do is hook you up to her and w
e’
ll copy all the information from your brain into the robot.  It will be much faster than trying to program it with a computer
.
”

“
I do
n’
t kno
w
…”
 
Valerie took a step back.

“
I
t’
s perfectly safe
,”
Astrid assured her.

“
What if it sends my brain into her body?  What if I wake up and yo
u’
ve turned me into a robot
?
”

“
That ca
n’
t happen
,”
said Astrid.

“
That would be way cool
!”
exclaimed Austin.
 “
Make a boy robot and copy my brain
!
”

The rest of the week went by quickly.  Astrid spent most of her time after school polishing up the two papers that were due that Friday: one on
The Count of Monte Cristo
for her Independent Study class, and one on fungus for Biology.  She did have one opportunity for fun with her friends in the evening.  On Wednesday night her father had a barbecue and invited the Bundersmiths, the Browns, The Dia
z’
s, and the Harri
s’
s, and two other families.  Everyone ate heaps of ribs, chicken, and brisket and the kids spent hours in the pool.

Saturday morning, Astrid was back in her lab looking over the results of her battery experiment.  It had gone far better than expected.  She gave a quick call to Mr. Brown, Denis
e’
s father, who was in charge of model-making at Maxxim Industries, and asked him to create a line of mock-up batteries in all the popular sizes for her presentation the next week.  No sooner had she hung up the phone than Denise walked in the door, followed by Valerie. 

Toby and Christopher were
n’
t with them, but Astrid knew right where they were.  They were two of only a four freshmen at school who had their pilo
t’
s licenses, so they spent every other Saturday at the Maxxim Industries airfield, trying to get enough hours to qualify on the newest aircraft models.

“
Hey Guys
,”
said Astrid.
 “
Right on time
.
”

“
I’
m still not sure about this
,”
said Valerie.

“
Do
n’
t worry.  W
e’
re just programming the robot to be able to follow some basic input.  We want to be able to tell it to go here, or pick that up, or bring me that test tube.  Programming it by hand would take weeks.  This way, we can map out the entire command structure by copying the way your brain works.  I thought you would enjoy this, being a part of history
.
”

“
I guess i
t’
s alright
,”
said Valerie.
 “
Yo
u’
re not going to fry my brain or anything
?
”

“
Of course not
.
”

“
Do
n’
t worry
,”
said Denise.
 “
I wo
n’
t let her do any mad science stuff to you
.
”

“
What do I have to do
?
”

“
Just sit down here on the table by Robot Girl 7
,”
Astrid instructed.
 “I’
ll just put these sensors on your temples
.
”

She stuck a white circular sticky pad with a wire extending from it onto each side of Valeri
e’
s head. 

“
Now I just throw the switch
.
”
 
She flipped a switch on a nearby panel.
 “
Feel anything
?
”

“
No
,”
answered Valerie, a little shakily.

“
See?  Now just sit tight for about five minutes
.
”

Valerie sat, with Denise holding her hand.  After what seemed to her like far longer than five minutes, Astrid flipped the switch and then began removing the sensor pads.

“
Tha
t’
s it
?”
asked Valerie.