Operation Sherlock by Bruce Coville Read Free Book Online Page B

as each others’ parents were introduced, of course. But there were seventeen adults in all—the twelve scientists plus Ray’s mother, Trip’s father, Dr. Hwa’s assistant, and the two other men. So the names and faces inevitably become a blur to everyone save Rachel. With her help, the others were able to sort out the crowd later—though it took some time before they were always sure they were matching the right name to the right face.
    In addition to their parents there was:
    Dr. Celia Clark, whom they had met earlier that morning; tall and hawk-nosed, she was distinguished by her long chestnut braid…
    Dr. Leonard Weiskopf, the funny little bald man with the huge hands and a shiny metal tube sticking out of his pocket…
    Dr. Marion Fontana, a short, pipe-smoking woman who radiated strength and confidence…
    Dr. Stanley Remov, a serious looking older man whose face had more freckles per square inch than any they had ever seen…
    Dr. Armand Mercury, who matched the planet that was his namesake by being the smallest (and roundest) in the group…
    And last but not least, Dr. Bai’ Ling, whose striking beauty Ray would later describe as “indescribable!”
    Besides the scientists there were three other staff people at the meeting. One was the formidable Bridget McGrory, Dr. Hwa’s secretary/aide—she of the deadly eyes and the laughing voice. The second was Sergeant Artemus P. Brody, who was in charge of security for the project. The third—the muscular man in the sports coat—was Henry Swenson, head of maintenance for the facility.
    Of the three, only Brody spoke, making a presentation that was so astonishingly dull Wendy nearly fell asleep on her feet even though it only lasted ten minutes. The one interesting item she gathered from Brody’s comments was the surprising (to her, at least) statement that with maintenance, support and security staff, the total island population was close to 120—down from the nearly fifteen hundred that had been here when the base was at full strength, but still more than she had expected.
    â€œNow for our tour of Anza-bora!” exclaimed Dr. Hwa when Brody was finally finished. He sounded relieved. Wendy guessed it was because most of the group was still awake.
    Rachel Phillips found herself wedged between her father and Dr. Weiskopf in the backseat of a Jeep driven by Bridget McGrory. While they were waiting to start, the little scientist winked at her. Then he extracted the metal tube Rachel had noticed earlier from his pocket.
    Rachel smiled. She had been speculating about what the tube was, and had finally decided it must be some sophisticated technical measuring device.
    Her guess had been wrong. It was a pennywhistle.
    â€œMay I play you a tune?” asked Dr. Weiskopf. A sea breeze rustled through the fringe of graying hair that made a half circle around his mostly bald head.
    â€œMy brother’s the classical music lover,” said Rachel. “I prefer robot rock.”
    A wistful look crossed Dr. Weiskopfs face. With a shrug he said, “Perhaps some other time,” and began tucking the whistle back into his pocket.
    â€œOn the other hand,” said Rachel quickly, “being on an island like this puts me in the mood for a sea song.”
    Dr. Weiskopf beamed as he whipped the whistle out of his pocket and raised it to his lips.
    Rachel’s father smiled at her gratefully.
    Though she was skeptical that the old man’s sausage-like fingers could manipulate the whistle at all, Rachel’s tolerance turned to pleasant surprise when Dr. Weiskopf began to play. Starting with a soft, pure trill, he coaxed more music out of the simple instrument than she would have thought possible.
    The song did indeed have the sound of the sea in it, and Rachel began to feel dreamy and far away. She was actually disappointed when the Jeep lurched forward and Dr. Weiskopf put the whistle away so