The Compound by S.A. Bodeen Read Free Book Online Page B

Dad let her get away with it. Perhaps he thought it was a waste of time nurturing the other areas. Most likely Lexie just got her way with him, once again.
    I spread my books out on the table, wondering what it would actually be like to have to study in a room full of people, to only have a small allotted space. Not the entire room, as I did. I never had to tell anyone to pipe down so I could concentrate, that’s for sure.
    A word problem in calculus was totally confusing me, so I finally gave in and decided to ask Dad for some help. His office was set apart from the rest of the rooms down a private alcove, and always locked up tight whenever he wasn’t there. I’d never been inside.
    I reached his office and knocked on the door. It clicked open. He must not have shut it tight. He’d likely just stepped out for a moment, knowing none of us were usually around his office that time of day.
    “Dad?”
    No answer.
    I pushed the door a bit with my foot. I took another glance down the hallway to make sure it was empty, and then stepped onto the threshold. The smell of pipe tobacco hit my nose as my quick gaze absorbed the décor.
    A rush of déjà vu flooded me as I realized the office wasidentical to Dad’s office in our house in Seattle. A thicker coating of dust on the stack of old
National Geographies
was the only thing that was different. A huge chair on wheels still sat behind the richly polished paneled desk. Three separate flat-monitor computers, a wall of clocks with several time zones, and his favorite Seattle Seahawks football phone. Everything almost nearly the same. Except for the padlocked door on the far side of the room.
    “Eli?”
    I’m sure I looked guilty when I twisted toward him, but I tried to be casual. “Dad, hey, I need to ask you something.”
    “What the hell are you doing in here?” His frown was fierce.
    My words stammered out. “I—I wasn’t doing anything.”
    He looked beyond me, into the office, like he was making sure everything was still there. “You’re not allowed in here.”
    I took a breath, and then stated in an even tone, “I wasn’t in your office, Dad. I just need your help.” I held up a notebook, revealing scribbled equations.
    “Oh.” He waited for me to pass by him, into the hallway. Better than anyone else, Dad understood the need for me to not be touched. Not that he’d ever really been the touchy-feely type, anyway. He shut the office door behind him, tight this time. “Let’s take a look.”
    Back in the computer lab I explained how I’d tried to solve the problem, unsuccessfully.
    Dad rubbed his chin and squinted at my writing. “Did you convert it to math?”
    I held out my notes. “That’s what I’m trying to do. The quantities aren’t fixed.”
    “Did you name them by a variable?”
    I shook my head. “Didn’t get that far.”
    “Let’s try a similar one.” He jotted down a complicated equation. His mind seemed to work so fast that his fingers couldn’t keep up.
    I tried to solve for
x
, but couldn’t figure it out. Dad being so close made me nervous, not able to think straight.
    “Come on, Eli. Think.” He solved it as I watched. “You can do this.”
    The answer dawned on me and I smacked my forehead with one hand. “Stupid. That was one of my first ideas but it didn’t seem right.”
    Dad shrugged. “You should have gone with your first instinct. It’s usually right.” He stood. “I need to get back to work.”
    A FTER D AD LEFT , I HAD TROUBLE CONCENTRATING ON THE rest of my studies. Why was Dad so freaked about me being in his office? Before we came here, if he was working on new software or a new computer design, he was doubly cautious about security. But why would he be paranoid down here? Who was I going to tell? And what was behind that locked door? Other than the room behind the yellow door, I’d toured the entire Compound so many times I knew every room. Or so I thought.
    At first I’d assumed our close proximity over