Free The Subatomic Kid by George Earl Parker Page B

went wrong it could possibly scar him for life.
    He wished he were grown up, because it occurred to him that grownups didn’t seem to have these kinds of problems. In fact, come to think about it, that’s why they were boring; they never seemed to have any problems…they just kept pointing out the problems everyone else had!
    He looked at the truck again as the driver disappeared through a door into the back. The fact nobody got out of it was a bad sign; it meant he wasn’t imagining things. He wondered if he should give himself up, just walk out there and say, “I’m the one you’re looking for, stop the search.”
    But then what would happen, what would they do to him? Or even worse, what would he have to do for them? No, they were the bad guys. What they were doing had caused all of this madness to happen in the first place. The Subatomic Masters had told him that the bad guys’ preoccupation with restructuring matter could end everything. The world, the universe, the solar system, the whole freaking thing that had taken billions of years to build!
    The situation was extremely heavy, and he was only thirteen. If it’s this weird now, how much weirder is it likely to get ? It’s a very bad sign when the answers to questions are questions.
    ***
    Tex Roberts knew he had inherited good looks, an athletic build, and the talent to throw a football from almost any distance and land it on a dime. In his world these talents were the only currency he needed. He wasn’t clever in an academic sense; he didn’t need to be. On the football field he was a general, running ever-changing, complex strategies to achieve his goal, and he succeeded more often than he failed.
    Cal Burton had the same inherited good looks, a lanky, athletic build, and he was blessed with the ability to hit a baseball so far and so often that it was taken for granted he would one day be a major league player. As friends the two were perfectly matched, and they pursued their craft in different arenas, which gave them the added bonus of never having to compete. They were the top of the food chain, and they made sure everyone knew it all of the time.
    “This is no date!” Tex griped, so exasperated the words growled in the back of his throat. “Whoever heard of a date starting at nine o’clock in the morning?”
    “Of course, it’s a date,” Cal laughed. “A date starts when it starts; as long as it starts, it’s a date.”
    Tex was annoyed at having to get up so early for this charade. He had already lost money, and now he knew he was about to lose more. “Well, there’d better be kissing and stuff, or it’s not a date,” he grumbled.
    “Aw, come on,” groaned Cal. “You can’t change the rules now. You never said anything about kissing and stuff; you just said a date!”
    “Well, I don’t like that kid, there’s a dweebiness about him.”
    “A dweebiness?” Cal repeated with a laugh. “What on earth is a dweebiness?”
    “He’s shifty, he’s weak, and he’s a show-off,” Tex fired back. “He’s the kind of kid who’s always trying to be someone he’s not, and if he’s not careful he’s gonna get his ass kicked!”
    “Why?” Cal asked, astounded at his friends aggression.
    Tex pondered the question for a moment. “Just because he has an ass,” he smiled.
    They both laughed; pointing out the foibles in others was what they lived for. It was an invaluable service, and the devotion of their extremely precious time to its pursuit demonstrated how much they cared about the welfare of their fellow human beings.
    ***
    Steve sat in the back of the truck staring at the array of snooping equipment they had onboard, and wondered exactly what it was they were doing. He knew they were looking for a teenage boy because Mr. Hunter had taped a picture of him just below one of the monitors, but what bugged him was that he didn’t know why.
    It was a feeling he’d gotten used to while working with Mr. Hunter. Everything was always a