BooksBarbecue
Back Roadkill Save as PDF
Chapters (48)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Chapter One: Fender Bender
  5. Chapter Two: Bigfoot Burrito
  6. Chapter Three: Treasure Hunt
  7. Chapter Four: Open Sesame
  8. Chapter Five: Central Intelligence
  9. Chapter Six: First Flight
  10. Chapter Seven: Park It
  11. Chapter Eight: Next Steps
  12. Chapter Nine: Search Strategies
  13. Chapter Ten: Overflight
  14. Chapter Eleven: Barn Doors
  15. Chapter Twelve: Saturn Fly-By
  16. Chapter Thirteen: Getting a Clue
  17. Chapter Fourteen: Hacked
  18. Chapter Fifteen: The Spy Game
  19. Chapter Sixteen: Investigations
  20. Chapter Seventeen: Break-In
  21. Chapter Eighteen: Battening Down
  22. Chapter Nineteen: Shoring Up Defenses
  23. Chapter Twenty: Third Time’s the Charm
  24. Chapter Twenty-One: Proxy
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two: Rescue
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three: Chase
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four: Spies R Us
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five: Surveillance
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six: Making Plans
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven: Going In
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight: Infiltration
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine: Accidental Captive
  33. Chapter Thirty: Interrogation
  34. Chapter Thirty-One: Reaction
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two: Kidnappings
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three: Reviewing Options
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four: Public Debut
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five: Distractions
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six: The Big Reveal
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven: Regrouping
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight: Waiting for Results
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine: It Hits the Fan
  43. Chapter Forty: Disassembly
  44. Chapter Forty-One: Wrapping It Up
  45. Chapter Forty-Two: Negotiations
  46. Chapter Forty-Three: Coda
  47. About the Author
  48. About the Publisher

Nat pinched the bridge of her nose. “That obliteration thing can still be arranged. You really are an asshole.”

“I must get one of those installed. You humans are so preoccupied with them.”

Patrick guffawed and I grinned.

“So you’re okay with the deal?” I said.

“Yes, of course. It’s hardly like work at all. Although I’d prefer to avoid being shot at in the future.”

“Heh. You and me both,” Patrick replied.

“Except for one thing. MOBIUS? Oh, please. And the acronym … ”

“What? What’s wrong with it? You try to come up with something better!”

“A monkey with a typewriter could come up with something better. In fact, excellent idea. I will print you up a typewriter immediately!”

Patrick and Sheldon began hurling insults at each other. I put my head in my hands and groaned.

Chapter Forty-Three: Coda

Chapter Forty-Three: Coda

Day 1. September

I sat in the cafeteria, slowly paging through the onboarding documents on my phone. MIT had gone paperless, but that hadn’t done anything to reduce the sheer volume of text involved in starting a semester.

What a difference a month made. I was back at school, with proper credit for the courses I’d almost been kicked out of. Nat was now at college, resuming her interrupted dream. A small side deal with Nond resulted in enough funds, paid in gold, to hold us over until we could get properly organized.

Patrick was surprisingly philosophical about staying in town, although having full-time access to the Halo probably helped a lot.

The whole business with the nuclear explosions had succumbed to the public’s need for simple explanations. A double Tunguska event was now the accepted theory. The only loose thread, and we’d been loath to mention it to Nond, was the matter of a Gennan storage bag still out there somewhere. There had also been not so much as a peep from Charlene Makita on anything to do with our interview, although she was still on the air regularly. I wondered if someone had had a talk with her, or if she’d just decided to keep a souvenir and not attract attention.

“Hey, Jack. Good to see you back.”

I looked up to see Ahmed, one of my acquaintances from last year. I gave him a smile and gestured to the other chair.

He sat down with a groan and plunked his heavy backpack beside him. “So, I understand you’ve been cleared by the administration. Great stuff. What did you do with your summer?”

I opened my mouth to reply, then stopped. Where would I even begin, assuming I wanted to be truthful? Well, maybe that was the best play. “Ran over an alien, battled lizard people, stole a flying saucer. Dodged nuclear weapons. Saved the world. You know … typical summer.”

About the Author

About the Author

I am a retired computer programmer, part-time author, occasional napper, lover of coffee, snowboarding, mountain biking, and all things nerdish.