Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

125

Westfield, England

The regional director of this School looked over the tops of his glasses. "Holloway? What's that noise outside?"

His assistant moved to a window. A look of alarm passed over his face. "It seems to be some kind of demonstration, sir," he said.

"Demonstration? What the devil do you mean?" The regional director moved to the window. What he saw made his mouth open in astonishment. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people were protesting outside the School's gates. They were...they looked almost like children. But that didn't make sense.

"Is this some antinuclear demonstration?" he asked Holloway. "Do they have signs? Perhaps we should call security."

Holloway listened at the window. The roars outside became more distinct. "Save the flock! Destroy Itex! Save the world! Destroy Itex!"

The two men stared at each other. "How could they possibly know we're an arm of Itex?" the regional director asked.

Crash! A softball-sized rock flew through their window, showering them with glass shards.

Now they could hear the chanting clearly:

"We want...what's ours!

"You belong...behind bars!

"Itex is an evil giant!

"Us kids ain't buyin' it!"

The regional director looked at Holloway, who had several scratches from flying glass. "Call security."

Martinslijn, Netherlands

Edda Engels looked up from her lab bench and listened. Odd sounds were coming in the window. She went to investigate, only to dodge a heavy glass bottle, tipped with a burning rag. Wha? Was that a Molotov cocktail?

Boom! It exploded just as Edda dove beneath her desk. What was going on? Outside, it sounded like hundreds, maybe more, were surrounding her lab. What were they saying?

"You've ruined our water and our air!

"You're evil and you just don't care!

"Fang is right: the time has come

"For us kids to claim our home!"

Who was Fang? Edda wondered. And more important, how could she get out of here? The fire was spreading.

Woetens, Australia

"What's all that dust, then?" The chief operating officer of the Australian branch of DelaneyMinker peered out the window. Miles and miles of desert stretched away as far as she could see. On the horizon, a wide, low dust storm was coming at them.

"Hand me those binoculars, would you, Sam?" she asked her assistant.

Sam handed her the binoculars.

"Is it...School Day?" asked the COO. "Are we expecting field trips?"

Sam looked at her. "We don't get field trips here. It's a top-secret facility. Why?"

"Well, it looks like...children! On motorscooters, apparently. And some of those four-wheel thingies."

"ATVs?" asked Sam. He took the binoculars and looked.

A line of small vehicles stretched for at least a mile. It did look like children. Was this some sort of nature club? He squinted and adjusted the focus slightly. They were carrying signs. He could almost make one out...