Mr. Fahrenheit by T. Michael Martin Read Free Book Online Page A

what I’m afraid of right now.”
    â€œHow would a drone shoot, like, an antigravity ray?”
    â€œScience, probably!”
    Ellie glanced at Benji, subtly rolled her eyes.
    â€œWhatever that was, wherever it’s from,” Benji said, “shooting it down is not something we can just forget. If I live to be a billion years old, I’ll never forget this. CR, that thing in the bottom of the lake could be the biggest thing to happen since . . . ever. Not just in Bedford Falls— anywhere .” Benji felt his hands shake and goose bumps shiver over his skin; he was not cold.“Guys, I’m freaked out, but don’t you see how amazing this is? How could you possibly want to walk away from that?”
    â€œWait,” Ellie said. Benji could actually see the adrenaline and shock draining from her face. “We might have just killed something. You might have just killed something. That’s seriously screwed up. That’s just serious. ”
    â€œThe saucer was coming toward us. I reacted.”
    â€œSo it was self-defense?”
    â€œI guess. I don’t know.” He felt a pang of guilt or uncertainty, but only fleetingly. “I don’t know if anything bad would have happened. But I felt like I had to. I’m sure it was the right thing to do. Anyway, I don’t think that’s the important thing, Ellie.”
    She frowned. “Then what is?”
    â€œThe future. We have to figure out how to handle this perfectly.” His stomach churning with nerves and excitement, his mind pinballed from one possibility to the next. Should they hold a press conference? Put it online themselves? ( Hashtag WTFlyingSaucer , he thought.) He had no idea. He was in a quarry filled with garbage, but he felt the touch of infinity. He had to live up to this.
    Ellie still looked upset. “Can we just slow this train down, please?”
    â€œThere is no choo-choo train here!” CR shouted. “We’re not going to tell anybody! For one thing, I’m drunk. And I’m trespassing. I’m a drunk trespasser! Do you even know how pissed my dad’ll be? If I’m lucky, best-case scenario, he murders me. Worst-case scenario, he won’t let me play in the game this week.”
    â€œI’m talking about the discovery of the millennium,” Benji said, exasperated but smiling, “and you’re worried about chucking a leather ball through the air. Dude, there might not even be a game. Probably won’t be. This thing could change the whole wor—”
    â€œDid I say I was done talking, Benji? ”
    Benji flinched. It wasn’t that CR had raised his voice. In fact, he had lowered it. But he hadn’t spoken so much as growled . It was his Quarterback Voice, engineered for express intimidation, and he’d never used it against Benji before.
    â€œThere’s going to be a game,” CR said, “because I said there’s going to be a game. We’re telling nobody about this. Do you understand that?”
    â€œHey, hey,” Zeeko said gently, “let’s not be a-holes to each other for a minute, okay?”
    Benji tried to catch Ellie’s gaze, but she walked a few feet away, hands tense on the back of her neck, obviously still trying to process what had happened.
    â€œI love that plan,” Benji said to CR.
    â€œWhat?” said CR.
    â€œYour plan: Don’t tell anyone about this until after the game on Friday.” Benji smacked himself on the forehead. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
    He had thought of it, of course.
    But there is this concept called “the Magician’s Force,” when the magician asks the spectator to pick a card, any card, from the deck, and then forces them, very subtly, to select the one card the magician wants. The magician directs their destiny, in other words, only if the audience believes they have free will.
    Smacking oneself on the forehead was