Free Forever Begins Tomorrow by Bruce Coville Page B

thoughts circled back to Euterpe, and he found himself wondering how “the old bucket of bolts” was doing out in space.
    In its orbit 22,300 miles above the earth, the object of Roger’s curiosity was using its far-reaching sensors to gather information on the thousands of man-made satellites sharing the crowded Clarke Belt.
    Processing that information, Euterpe worked it into a harmonious pattern that could prevent collisions, near misses, and even the kind of close passes that often caused radio interference. The pattern would be enormously useful, if Dr. Weiskopf could ever get the owners of those satellites (which in recent years had come to include scores of private companies) to accept his calculations.
    Of course, Dr. Weiskopf knew that it was hardly likely the nations of the world would be willing to coordinate the orbits of the weapons satellites that were also jamming the skies.
    What he did not realize was that there was no need to get anyone to accept his calculations. Before his robot had been launched, the spy Ramon Korbuscek had planted a small but powerful device called the “Doomsday Module” inside the rocket.
    Given the right stimulation, that device could transform Euterpe’s calculations into digitized radio signals. Using a highly guarded technology recently developed by one of Eastern Europe’s top scientists, the module could then merge those signals with Euterpe’s broadcast and send messages that would override the control programs of the satellites being monitored—allowing Euterpe, or whoever controlled it , to direct the movement of nearly every piece of hardware in the heavens!
    The government that had hired Korbuscek to install the Doomsday Module had not yet learned that their agent had hurtled to his death while interfering with the first attempt to launch Euterpe. With Korbuscek dead and Anza-bora Island under a communications shield, they were not aware that their device had actually been installed and launched.
    So for the moment the Doomsday Module was inactive, quietly circling the world while it waited for someone to bring it to life.
    It would not have to wait much longer.
    The gang was still discussing the Gamma Ray’s report on Dr. Weiskopf’s new project—a method to increase the computer’s ability to receive and interpret sounds—when Wendy came strolling into the room. She had a sheaf of papers in her hand and an incredibly smug look on her face.
    â€œWell, I’m done for the year,” she said, dropping the papers onto the table.
    â€œDone with what?” asked Trip, against his better judgment.
    â€œMy homework —and my tests. See?”
    She fanned out the papers so the others could take a look.
    Roger picked up a set that she had clipped together. “Mathematics: Test One” said the heading on the first sheet in the pile. “Score: 100.” He flipped to the last page, which said, “Congratulations. You have completed the course in record time—and with a record high score.”
    He looked at the Wonderchild suspiciously. “How did you do this?”
    â€œI cannot tell a lie,” said Wendy, grinning from pigtail to pigtail. “I did it with my little computer. And some help from my big computer.”
    â€œYou used the mainframe to do your homework?” asked Ray in astonishment.
    â€œYep,” said Wendy, barely able to contain her laughter.
    â€œBut that was cheating!” said Rachel indignantly.
    â€œIt was not! It was just a creative use of resources.”
    â€œBut you didn’t learn anything.”
    â€œActually, that’s not true. I learned scads about the computer. It wasn’t easy making the thing do what I wanted it to. I haven’t worked that hard in months!”
    Hap chuckled. “You probably worked harder than if you had just learned the material and taken the tests.”
    Wendy shrugged. “Could be. But I’m set for