Free Forever Begins Tomorrow by Bruce Coville Page A

island—and the end of worrying about those annoying kids!
    In just one evening I’ve gotten past all that , thought the spy.
    Much remained to be done. But the first link had been forged. Now, slowly, step by step, Black Glove would be able to bind the computer to his will as securely as a slave is bound to its master. The spy paused at the door to the secret room, halted by an astonishing thought. I might not even need G.H.O.S.T. anymore .
    That was when the awesome truth struck home.
    With the power I’ll have when this computer is completely in my control, I won’t need anyone. The entire world will be at my command!

    Â 
    The Doomsday Module
    The next several days passed in relative peace and quiet. The gang continued to work on Sherlock, pouring information into the machine as fast as they were able.
    â€œDo you suppose we’re getting any closer to the Breakthrough Point?” asked Hap wearily after one particularly long and tiring session.
    Roger shrugged. “Who knows? The whole thing is only a theory, after all.”
    â€œYou mean we might be doing all this for nothing?” yelped Hap. “The computer might never break through to consciousness?”
    â€œThat’s the way science works,” said Rachel calmly. She took a sip of her coffee. “If you’re trying to do something that’s never been done before, how can you possibly be sure it’s going to work?”
    â€œI think I like motors better,” said Hap. “They do what they’re supposed to. Treat them right, they work right. Something goes wrong, you know where to fix it. No surprises.”
    â€œSure,” said Roger. “No surprises—and no excitement. Not to mention that the guys who figured out how to make motors work in the first place went through just this kind of process. Now, if we actually do hit the Breakthrough—”
    He was interrupted by the Gamma Ray bursting into the room. “I just ran into Dr. Weiskopf!” he shouted. “Wait till you hear what he’s working on now!”
    â€œI don’t want to know,” said Hap. “After what we went through to get Euterpe into space, I don’t care if I ever hear about one of his inventions again.”
    Euterpe was a robot. Dr. Weiskopf had designed it to calculate and coordinate the movements of satellites around the earth. Launching it had nearly cost Hap, Roger, and Rachel their lives.
    Recalling that project, Roger was reminded of his occasional fear that Dr. Weiskopf might actually be Black Glove. Trying to sound casual, he said, “Did you guys ever wonder about Dr. Weiskopf?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” asked Rachel defensively.
    Roger shrugged. “What if he tricked us into launching Euterpe just so he could get a transmitter into space?”
    Rachel snorted. “If that had been the case, he wouldn’t have had to wait until the last minute to try to sneak it on board the way Black Glove did. Besides, he doesn’t have black hair. Heck, he hardly has any hair at all!”
    â€œAnd he couldn’t begin to squeeze those hands of his into that black glove Wendy’s mother found,” added Hap.
    â€œI know, I know,” sighed Roger. He shook his head. “This thing is making me so paranoid that sometimes I feel like we have to wonder about everyone —even the people who don’t match the clues! But you’re right; it couldn’t be Dr. Weiskopf.”
    He didn’t add that the main reason he couldn’t convince himself that Dr. Weiskopf was Black Glove had nothing to do with their clues. The real reason was that he simply liked the man too much.
    That’s the problem with you, Phillips , he thought crankily. You’re too sentimental. If you like all the suspects, how are you ever going to finger one of them?
    He shook his head. It was a question he had been wrestling with for months, without finding a satisfactory answer.
    His