Free Maxwell Huxley's Demon by Michael Conn Page A

smoothly into the al l ey. He looks forward and stops—the distance has to be right.
    “Max!” Virginia screams. T his time he hears her. “Keep running!”
    The car angles across the alley, blocking his exit . Max waits halfway between the car and the wall where Virginia is still screaming at him to run.
    Think. Tick .
    Looking back , Max sees the car door open. A large man in a suit steps out . W hy did they send a football player in a suit ? The man stands and smiles. “It’s all over kids, stop running .”
    Think.
    Ten metres t o Virginia and ten metres to the football player . Electrons always move; they transmit data/energy when they change state. How w ill I call the electrons though ? H ow will I seed the programs? The n e utrons will know me, but there’ s no boot strap yet.
    Max runs. I only need to mak e it three metres . The football-player-in-a-suit runs. Naomi sneezes .
    Tock.
    One step. Think. Two steps. Momentum. Three steps. Max looks at the garbage bin closer to him than Virginia is . Four steps. Mr . Football M an gets up t o speed fast. Five steps. Not too soon, wait. Six steps. Wait. Seven steps. Look back , turn toward the garbage bin . Eight steps. A large hand reaches for Max. Max drops to the ground , curling into a ball .
    Max is sma ll, he stops quickly. P hysics kick s in for the football player . His hand over shoots Max. Instinct keeps him from stepping on the boy, instead, he trips .
    Max looks u p at the airborne man.
    Tick.
    ‘ e=mc 2 ’
    ‘ k=dc 2 ’
    ‘ Knowledge = Da ta process x Clock tick squared ’
    He has a gun.
    ‘ D = Information/Process ’
    ‘ K= ICt /p . . . I have to tell Walker this. ’
    Approximately when Max thinks about Walker , the man’s skull collides with the garbage bin . The bin makes a sound like a church bell .
    Tock.
    Virginia arrives and picks Max up off the ground . I believe she has wings. S he pushes him up the wall, while Walker reac hes down grabbing Max’s wrists . The last thing Max sees , as his friends push and pull him over the wall , is the football player looking as if he is having a seizure .
    ---
    Virginia and Naomi pull Max and Walker out the other end of the alley onto a small d owntown street lined with independent shops and restaurants. “F ind us a school , Walker , ” Max says. “ W e’ve got about a minute before they come down this street.”
    Walker pulls them all into the first restaurant he can find. The hostess raises an eyebrow. “ Can I help you?”
    With t ears brimming in her eyes , Virginia says, “We’re on a school tri p. We got separated. We’ re supposed to be at the school already. We’ re in so much trouble. Are we close to a school ? If we are, we should—”
    “ Shh . . . Y es , you ’re close to one . You start by . . .” The hostess gives them directions.
    B ack outside, “Guys, ” Max says. “We have to stop running. We saw them bec ause they didn’t fit in. They’ ll see us unless we fit in.”
    Naomi clutches Max’s arm and poi nts left and up the street. A large black car glides around the corner.
    “ It’s OK . W e only have to make it four block s , ” Max says . “They’ re looking for four of us, split up, follow adults like those kids across the street are doing. M eet at the school.”
    ---
    The car moves slowly along, i ts driver scanning the street and sidewalk for any sign of the kids . He looks over his shoulder at his partner in the back seat, who has blood streaming from a gash on his head.
    He touches the radio. “ MGA unit 011-43 reporting.”
    “Go ahead,” says a voice from the radio .
    “ Made contact with Canadian 1A target s , one agent injured and on board , still in pursuit, last seen heading toward Columbia Avenue, any further instructions? ”
    He listens to static for a minute, then, “ Nothing further . . . m aintain pursuit . ”
    ---
    They split up. It’s lunch time so there are numerous parents on the road heading to school to pick up or drop kids