Uncertainties

Brains's satellite phone rang at his workbench, but the engineer was trying to direct Gordon and Virgil in assembling the pieces that comprised the Firefly's new turret operator's shield. So engrossed was he in the details that it took Gordon to nudge him and say, "Phone," before he realized that it was ringing.

"Oh, ah, er," he stammered. "B-Be right b-back." He climbed down from the fire equipment, and hurried over to his worktable. By the time he reached it, the phone had stopped playing the bit of "Pomp and Circumstance" that signaled Fermat was calling, so Brains opened the device and speed-dialed his son.

In the warm, stuffy van, Fermat jumped a little as his phone sounded off, the tune "Powerhouse" ringing a little too loudly in the close confines. A couple of his drowsing teammates stirred; Atif gave him a dirty look, and Fermat shrugged apologetically. He answered the call, selecting "voice only".

"H-Hi, Dad," he said quietly.

"H-Hey, son!" Brains replied, smiling widely. "H-How did the m-meet go?"

"We w-w-w... were victorious." Fermat's excited pride was evident in his tone.

"T-T-T... That's great, son!" Brains's smile became a grin. "H-How did you d-do?"

"I did f-fine, Dad. Didn't miss a qu-question."

"Wow! I'm i-impressed! I'm sure the c-competition was p-pretty fierce."

"It was! Th-The other team had a f-fabulous g-guy for h-history. B-But our t-team still kicked b-butt."

"That's wonderful, F-Fermat!" Brains glanced back to see how Virgil and Gordon were doing, and frowned. "Listen, s-son. I want to t-talk to you about Wh-Wharton and what we're going to d-do in light of r-recent events, b-but I'm in the middle of a pr-project and..."

"And you c-can't talk now." Fermat finished his father's sentence. "I understand, Dad. Besides, I'm in the school b-b-b... van, and it's not e-exactly private. C-Call me later?"

"I w-will, son," Brains promised. "Right now I'd b-better go. Love you, Fermat."

Unaccountably, Fermat blushed. He glanced around at the other boys, then replied, "S-Same here, Dad. T-Talk to you soon."

"Soon, son." Brains was beginning to sound more and more distracted. "Bye f-for now."

"B-Bye, Dad."

The call ended, and Brains hurried back to his work. "B-Be careful, Virgil! That's too sharp an a-angle!"

Fermat sighed as he closed up his phone and put it back in his pocket. He thought briefly about calling Alan, but he wanted to get back to campus and tell his story to his friend in person. So he settled back and looked out the window, watching the trees flash by, the occasional stand of birches, gray-white in the dark, keeping his mind alert enough to stay awake.

Alan walked back toward the dorms with Qaeshon and Xavion. "We're on for tomorrow, right?" he asked. "When do you want to meet, and where?"

Xavion thought for a moment, then said, "Kay and I will come by and pick you up around eleven. The stores will all be open by then and we can eat lunch off campus."

"It'll be my treat," Alan insisted. "As a thank you for providing the ride."

Zave put his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I won't argue. I never pass up free food."

The three of them laughed, then Qaeshon said, "Wonder where A.J. was tonight. I hope he didn't think he needed the Brain with him to eat with us. He's part of the gang now."

Alan frowned a bit. "Yeah. You'd think he'd have sat with us. I mean, we haven't done or said anything to offend him, have we?"

The trio was quiet for a few minutes, then Kay said, "I can't think of anything." He shrugged. "Maybe we'll see him in the morning for breakfast."

"If we get up for it," Alan said with a snort. "Though I'm going to be up and hauling what I can over to Dom's room before 11." He paused, then added, "You should plan on picking me up there, at Dom's room." A thought struck him. "Hey! This means we'll all be in the same dorm! How cool is that?"

Zave groaned, shaking his head. "Man, I should have thought of that before... maybe I could have convinced Bertoli to say 'no'."

Qaeshon and Alan both laughed. "Not a problem, Zave," Kay said with a grin, hooking a thumb at his own shoulder. "Between us, we can keep Pinky in line."

Alan raised an eyebrow, giving Kay a challenging look. "You sure about that?"

"Oh yeah, Pinky," Zave said, nodding his head. "We're sure." He held his hand out to his brother, and they shook, their hands sliding down after the shake, until they had reached the fingertips, and snapped their fingers by using the other's hand.

Alan looked on and asked, "Where did you learn that again?"

"Cousins from West Africa," Xavion said. "We'll see them again next summer."

By this time, they'd reached the front of Chetwood, and Alan looked over at the window where his room was. A light was on, and he sighed. Zave noticed and motioned with his head. "You want us to come with you?"

Alan shook his head. "Nah. Gotta face him sometime."

"But you don't have to face him alone," Zave said.

Kay shook his head. "Or at all, Pinky, not if you really don't want to. In fact, you can crash in one of our rooms tonight." He glanced over at the window himself. "Or ask Dom if you could come a bit early - maybe move your stuff over, even if you don't sleep there..." He shrugged. "We'd be happy to give you a hand."

Alan thought about it for a moment. It was tempting; he'd much rather keep his contact with Lee to the bare minimum. "Okay," he said. "Let's go ask Dom if I can start moving tonight, instead of tomorrow."

"C'mon," Zave said. He waved the younger boys to follow, setting a quick pace with his long legs. Alan grinned and caught up, then pulled ahead, turning the walk into a jog, then a run, making the short distance between dorms into an impromptu race. Zave smiled, and did the same, pounding up the walkway, weaving between the few students that populated the sidewalks. He reached the granite steps first, taking them two at at time, continuing up to the front doors, and slamming through to the lobby, Alan on his heels.

"Gotcha there, Pinky!" Zave crowed, panting just a bit at the unexpected exertion.

Alan grinned. "Wait until the rematch," he promised. They both turned as Qaeshon entered, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

"Next time you two decide to have a friendly little race, let me know, huh?" he said. "I'd like to at least try to keep up."

Zave clapped his hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "You couldn't catch us in a month of Sundays."

"Who said anything about 'catching'?" Kay snorted. "I said, keep up. Can't do that if you jackrabbits get a head start."

While the sibling wrangling was going on, Alan edged toward the hallway, waiting for his friends to stop their good-natured arguing. Finally, his impatience overcame his politeness and he called, "Guys? Sometime tonight, please?"

The brothers both turned to him, and Xavion lightly smacked his brother on the upper arm with the back of his hand, then motioned in Alan's direction with his head. "Pinky's been patient," he said. "Let's go give him a hand."

"Which one does he want?" Qaeshon quipped as they headed down the hall toward Dom's room.

"Both," Alan riposted.

"Oh no!" Kay put a hand dramatically to his forehead. "I'll never be able to play the violin again!"

"It was always debatable whether or not you could play it at all," Zave responded with a wry, teasing tone.

"Hey! Don't you diss my instrument!" Kay replied, slamming his body into his brother's.

Xavion pushed back, and Qaeshon caromed into Alan. "Guys!" Alan complained. "Can we cut the comedy for just a few?"

"What?" Qaeshon asked. "You nervous or something?"

"Well, yeah," Alan admitted. "I don't want to sound like I'm begging or anything."

"Dom is cool," Kay said. "Just ask. Worst he can do is say, 'Wait until tomorrow'."

The trio pulled up in front of Dom's door, and Alan pressed the buzzer. There was a thud inside, then a jumbled banging sound, then the door opened, and Dom stood there, looking surprised. "Alan!" he said. "What's up?"

"Uh, can we come in?" Alan asked. "I need to ask you a question."

"Oh, sure." Dom moved out of the way, and the three young men entered the room. Alan looked around. The walls held a few posters, mostly of old movies, with a couple of sports figures mixed in. But what really surprised Alan were the boxes, half full of what seemed to be Dom's belongings, sitting on the floor.

He motioned to the containers. "What's this all about?" he asked.

Dom made a face. "My parents will be here tomorrow. My mother has told me to be ready to go when they get here."

The school van pulled up outside the student center. The drowsy quiz team members had been stirring ever since they had passed through the front gates, and now the sounds of groans and yawns filled the close confines. Mr. Feng pulled a small data pad out of the glove compartment, and used a stylus to add their arrival time and the mileage to the file, then initialed it and saved the information. Then he turned and grinned at his team members.

"Gentlemen, you did fine work this evening. I'm very proud of you. Now, collect your uniforms and make sure you have someone to walk back to your dorm with. You should have about fifteen minutes before our earlier curfew but some time to relax in your dorms until lights out." He paused, then added, "And have a good weekend. I'll see you all at practice Tuesday afternoon."

There was a general chorus of "Goodnight", "Have a good weekend", "Talk to you later" and "Goodbye" from the boys as they began to climb out. Mr. Feng opened the back of the van, and started handing out the jackets and ties that had been hung up there.

"Fermat." Devdan put a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "I will be helping Mr. Feng to put away our equipment. You should find someone else to walk you back to your dorm."

Fermat looked confused for a moment, then pointed toward Chetwood. "I'll go to A-Alan's room. I want t-to t-tell him about the m-meet anyway."

"You should still walk with someone," Devdan insisted. He called to Mikal. "Mikal, you live in Chetwood, do you not?"

"Yeah, I do," Mikal said, approaching the two other boys. He assessed the situation, and made the correct assumption. "You need someone to walk with, Fermat?"

"I'm g-going to see my f-friend, Alan," Fermat explained. "And y-yeah... if you d-don't mind."

"No skin off my nose," Mikal said with a laugh, stroking the length of his rather prominent proboscis. "Get your gear."

"Th-Thanks," Fermat said with a smile. He retrieved his jacket, slung it over his good shoulder, and followed Mikal toward Chetwood, pausing only to turn and call, "Goodnight, Dev!"

"Man, the weather has gotten cold pretty quickly this year," Mikal said as they strode along. He gave Fermat a speculative look. "How do you cope with the cold at this time of year? I'd think it'd be hard to go from fall and winter here to fall and winter when you got home."

"It's n-not that b-bad," Fermat said. "I g-get spring here, which is g-great. Besides, where I live it's p-pretty tr-tropical year round." He grinned. "I get to go h-home and th-thaw out over Ch-Christmas."

Mikal laughed. "Sounds good to me. I could use a bit of sun at that time of year."

By this time, they were in the lobby of Chetwood. Mikal headed for the elevator. "Are you coming?"

"A-Alan's room is th-this way." Fermat gestured to the hallway.

"Okay. Talk to you later, then, Fermat."

"You, t-too, Mikal. And th-thanks."

Mikal waved, and Fermat headed off toward Alan's room. He started forming in his head the things he would tell his friend about the evening's activities. He'll be so chuffed when he hears we won, but I doubt it will actually surprise him, Fermat realized. He stopped in front of the door and pressed the buzzer button.

A voice sounded inside, indistinct and vaguely angry, and suddenly the door opened and Fermat's eyes widened.

"What the hell do you want, Hackenbacker?" Lee Sugimoto growled.

Taken aback by Sugi's angry face and voice, Fermat stuttered, "A-A-A-Alan!" He calmed a little, then asked, "I want Alan. Is h-he h-here?"

"No, your special friend isn't here," Sugi sneered. "And he can go to hell for all I care. Now go away and stop bothering me!"

The door shut in Fermat's face, and he stepped back a bit. Shaking his head over the abrupt and angry outburst, he started moving down the hall, retracing his steps. Where could Alan be? he wondered. Then, something that he'd seen just over Lee's shoulder registered with him, and he stopped in his tracks. The top bunk was stripped to bare mattress! Could that mean...? He smiled. I bet I know where Alan is. But I don't know where Dom lives. Another moment's thought gave him the answer. Kay will know; I'm sure of it.

There were only a couple of boys in Chetwood's lobby, and Fermat didn't feel like asking someone he didn't know for an escort to the next dorm over. As long as look like I confident, I should be okay. After all, it's only one building over.

So thinking, Fermat walked out the front doors of Chetwood. Three out of the four dorms had back doors opened to the less frequented, and poorly lit, service drive, while Chetwood's back door faced the playing fields. Not a bad short cut during the daylight hours, but not to be considered at night, especially now. I wonder if the latest victim was walking along the service drive when he got attacked, Fermat reasoned. Hm. I'll have to ask Dom and Kay about that when I see them again. It might be an important clue.

He strode up the walk, the chill night breeze making his jacket flap behind him a little. He tightened his grip on the hangar's hook and slowed a little. There was hardly anyone around; even though it was a Friday night, the snack shop and the games room had closed early, sending boys would usually have stayed out later, back to their dorms early. Fermat kept his eyes fastened on his goal and increased his stride, trying to ignore a growing sense of unease. He had nearly reached the steps when someone behind him shouted, "Hey!"

Startled, he turned toward the sound of the voice, ready to bolt up the stairs if necessary. Then he relaxed as he saw the familiar faces of Qaeshon and Alan.

"You two g-g-g... startled m-me," Fermat said as they came up to him.

"I thought that was you, Fermat," Alan said. He frowned thoughtfully. "You said you'd call me after the meet."

Fermat sighed. "I w-would have, but most of the g-guys were sleepy and... well, I w-wanted to t-tell you f-face-to-face."

They had climbed the steps and entered the lobby. "How'd you know to come here?" Alan asked.

"I d-didn't. I th-thought Kay would know where D-Dom lived."

"But you realized he'd moved out?" Qaeshon exchanged confused glances with Alan.

Fermat grinned. "Y-Yeah. A b-bit of detective work on m-my part. I tried your old r-r-r... quarters, and before S-Sugi could shut the d-door in my face, I n-noticed the bare mattress." He draped his jacket over his cast and tapped his temple with one finger and dropped his voice in an attempt to imitate the cartoon character. "I am th-the Brain... remember?"

Alan and Qaeshon both laughed. "Yeah, you're the Brain all right," Kay said. He picked up his pace down the hallway, and glanced over a shoulder, waving his friends to join him. "C'mon. We've got Pinky's stuff moved over while you were gone, but he's got to get it organized."

Fermat followed Alan and Kay down to Dom's room, where they found Zave, and a recently recruited Jason, trying to help Dom – who was most likely behind the closed bathroom door – by taking down posters.

"Boy, there's not enough room to swing a cat in here now," Jason complained. His face brightened when he saw Fermat joining them. "So? Well?" he asked.

"Huh?" Fermat replied, looking puzzled.

"How. Did. You. Do?" Jason enunciated every word as if speaking to a dolt.

Alan rolled his eyes, and Qaeshon reached out to smack Jason on the upper arm. Dom came out of the bathroom, wiping his moist hands on his jeans for good measure. "Hi, Fermat," he said, giving the younger boy a small smile. "Did you win?"

"Yeah," Fermat replied, a wide, proud grin spreading across his face. "We won." Before he could say anything more, the strains of "Powerhouse" sounded from one of his pockets. "Uh, it's my d-dad," he said, coloring a little. "I need to t-talk to him."

"And it's getting late – curfew's soon," Jason added. He glanced at the clock. "Damn! I'd forgotten it was earlier. C'mon, Fermat. I'll carry your jacket, and walk you up to Maplewood. We'll have to make it a quick trip."

"Th-Thanks, Jase," the younger boy said. "See you all, l-later!" Jason was already in the hall, and Fermat opened the phone as he left the room. "Dad... can you c-call back in f-five?" Calls of "Congrats, Fermat!", "Way to go, Brain!", and "Wharton geeks rule!" followed the pair down the hall, then they disappeared into the lobby.

In the sudden quiet, Alan glanced at his friends and new roommate. "This feels really weird."

Qaeshon laughed. "Only you, Pinky." He dusted off his hands. "I think I'd better head upstairs. My roomie's going to wonder where I am."

"How come you two don't share a room?" Alan asked, a confused frown on his face.

The Lewis boys glanced at each other, then back at Alan and said, in unison, "So we won't kill each other."

Alan thought it over for a moment, and the image of Gordon and him sharing a room in their younger days rose to mind. He nodded. "Yeah, I can totally see that."

The brothers chuckled, and Zave got up. "I'll head upstairs, too." He speared a long finger in Alan's direction. "See you at eleven."

"Eleven," Alan echoed. "Right."

Qaeshon and Xavion left, leaving the new roommates looking at each other, feeling like strangers – which in a way, they still were.

Dom broke the silence. "Can you help me stack the boxes over here, out of the way?"

"Sure," Alan said. He picked up a box, making sure he used his knees to lift as Scott had taught him. "I hope the hall monitor will go easy on us tomorrow." He looked around. "This place won't be perfect, that's for sure."

"I'm sure he will," Dom said softly, as he shoved another box toward the growing stack.

Alan lifted that one, too, then gave Dom a questioning glance. "Uh, Dom?"

"Yeah?"

"You're from Florida, right?"

Dom raised an eyebrow at Alan. "Yeah. So?"

"You say that your parents are overprotective because of your asthma, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Then why are you here? At Wharton? It's a long, long way from Florida." Alan shrugged. "I guess my dad would want me close to home if I had some kind of medical problem that he was worried about."

"Ah, I see," Dom said, his face clearing. He sat in his desk chair, leaning his arms, one atop the other, on the back. "You see, it's my mom that's overprotective. She's the one who had to make the hospital trips and learn all about my condition. Dad, well, he was always working, brokering deals and all. He's the one who wanted me here; it's prestigious, y'see. And truthfully, I wanted to come. My mom could be really smothering at times, y'know. I wanted to show her that I wasn't made of glass or anything." He shrugged. "They must have gotten into a doozy of an argument for Dad to actually agree to come up and get me this time. Sometimes my mom gets really adamant, and makes Dad's life hell until he does things her way." He huffed out a little laugh. "I love them both, and I know they love me. They even love each other! But in this case, I wish they'd leave well enough alone."

Alan had sat back down on the floor, and rested his elbows on his upraised knees, dangling his arms between them. "Do you have brothers or sisters?"

"Yeah. Two sisters, both older. It sucks being the baby of the family, and having a chronic medical condition to boot."

Alan chuckled. "I know all about the 'baby of the family' thing. Try four older brothers, all over-achievers." He shrugged in an off-handed way. "I guess that's why I'm glad to be staying. Last year, I would have jumped at the chance to go home and maybe be educated there." He shook his head. "Not this year. I feel... different, more at home here. Exciting things are happening." When Dom looked askance at him, he waved a dismissive hand. "I don't mean the attacks. Those are on a level all their own. I mean track, and meeting new people... like you. Building a group of cool friends, actually feeling like I'm a part of Wharton." He paused, then added more softly, "Being my own person, instead of my father's son, or my brothers' pest."

" 'Being my own person'." Dom nodded slowly. "Yeah. That sums it up pretty well." He grinned at Alan. "Now, can you tell that to my parents tomorrow?"

"Sure thing! I said I'd use my famous Tracy charm on them." Alan paused again, then grinned. "Hey, maybe if he knows that," here he put up the fore and middle finger of each hand, crooking them, " 'the son of famous astronaut and billionaire, Jeff Tracy' is staying, your dad might reconsider."

"Hmm." Dom considered the thought. "Might work."

"Then that's what I'll tell them. When do you expect them to show up?"

"No earlier than six, according to my mom. Dad's flying them to Springfield, then renting a car there."

"Okay, I should be back by then." Alan looked around the room. "I guess we'd better finish clearing up this mess before lights out."

"Right." Dom offered Alan an hand up. "And thanks."

Alan took the hand and climbed to his feet. "Don't thank me yet. We still have to convince them both."

Jason walked Fermat to the front steps of Maplewood, said a hurried goodnight, and sprinted for his own dorm. Fermat took the steps two at a time, and sighed with relief once inside.

"Cutting it fine, Hackenbacker," said the hall monitor in charge of locking the doors that night.

"Y-Yeah," Fermat acknowledged. "B-But I bet I won't be th-the only l-l-l... tardy one." He smiled. "And I wasn't even l-late."

Shouldering his jacket once more, he headed for the elevator and took it up to the third floor. The upper hall was noisier than usual at this time of night, mostly because more boys were inside for the earlier curfew. Fermat greeted a few of his hall mates, then clumsily draped the jacket over his cast so he could open the door with his free hand.

"Hmm." The room was dark, which surprised him. He had fully expected to find A.J. at home, reading or maybe checking out something on the computer. Turning on the lights, he saw that the room was in order; nothing was missing. A.J.'s backpack was lying on the chair before his desk, and it seemed that he'd changed out of his uniform. Fermat hung his uniform jacket up, and followed it with his outer coat. Then he went looking for his roommate.

When a search of the common rooms on each floor yielded no sign of A.J., Fermat went over to the hall monitor who was waiting for the stragglers, ready to unlock the dormitory doors - and take names for later demerits.

"H-Has Andrew Tr-Trumbull come in?" he asked.

"Your roommate?" the older boy said. When Fermat nodded, he asked, "He's not here already?" He shook his head. "No, not yet."

"Th-Thanks," Fermat said. He headed back up to his floor, a touch of worry added to the frustration of mystery. As he sat in his desk chair, he couldn't shake the feeling that A.J. could be the next victim of whoever was attacking students. But before he could go any further with that train of thought, his phone rang again. He picked it up from the desk where he'd laid it, plugged in his earphone, and answered the call.

"Hey, son!" Brains said with a smile. "G-Good to finally s-s-s-see you! Are you b-back in your room?"

"Y-Yeah, Dad," Fermat replied. "Curfew was p-pushed up a half hour, but I have the s-same b-bedtime."

"G-Good! It will g-give us time to t-talk." Brains frowned a little. "What's wr-wrong, son?"

"A.J. hasn't c-come in y-yet, and I'm w-w-w... concerned."

"I can understand th-that. He's b-b-become a friend, hasn't h-he?"

Fermat nodded. "Yeah, and I d-don't w-want to see him get h-hurt."

"I know you d-don't." Brains tried to give his son an encouraging smile. "We'll have to h-hope he c-comes in s-s-s... presently." He moistened his lips. "But we have s-something im-important to t-t-t... discuss."

The reminder made Fermat squirm. "I know." He paused, then decided it would be best to be frank. "D-Dad, I d-don't want to l-leave! Please d-don't make me!"

Brains waited for a moment, letting his son's words and, more importantly, his tone sink in. Then he sighed. "I thought this m-might be your r-r-reaction." Resettling himself in his chair, he paused to find the best way to present his arguments. "I know how you f-feel, son, but it's n-not necessarily what's b-best for you... or for me e-either."

"For you?" Fermat asked, frowning in confusion. "I don't understand. H-How?"

His father took off his glasses and cleaned them with a handkerchief, then put them on again. "I m-must admit, I w-would worry l-less if you w-were here. You are a p-perfect target of these h-hooligans, m-more so since you d-disrupted their attack on y-your friend. And though A-Alan is staying, h-he is st-stronger, and more a-agile... and he d-doesn't have a b-broken arm." His voice softened. "Beyond worry, I w-would find your p-presence in the l-lab very w-welcome. You often inspire m-me, and we c-complement each o-other's intellect." He cleared his throat, but his voice was still rough. "To be b-blunt, son, I've m-missed you."

Fermat blinked hard to clear his eyes of sudden tears. "I-I've missed you, t-too, Dad." He sniffed once, and again, then took a calming breath. "But... I'd miss so much n-not b-being here, too." He swallowed. "I wish you could h-have seen the c-competition. It w-was awesome! I've n-never been with s-such smart kids b-before. They're like m-me. I can t-talk to them and they understand me, and wh-what it's like to be so s-s-smart. Even A-Alan doesn't understand that. I'm learning to r-rely on myself more, e-e-even with the br-broken arm. And... it's c-cold."

"It's c-cold?" Brains looked surprised.

"Yeah. C-Cold." Fermat grinned. "I w-was talking to M-Mikal – he's one of the u-upperclassmen on the t-team – about it t-today. Cold is d-different from wh-what I'm u-used to. It m-makes me appreciate it f-for its own s-sake and it m-makes me appreciate the i-island when I c-come home." He paused. "I love to s-see snow. D-Don't much like slogging around in it, but it's p-pretty. I w-want to s-see it this y-year." He paused, then softly added, "I c-can't see it at home."

"W-We could go somewhere," Brains c-countered. "Australia... New Zealand... they have snow."

"B-But in J-June or July, Dad," Fermat reminded him. "And be h-honest, would we go? There's always s-something urgent to be done at w-work, always a new e-experiment." He shook his head. "When is the l-last time we went away t-together?"

Brains stopped for a moment to think, then he smiled. "When we b-brought you to sc-school."

"That d-doesn't count, Dad," Fermat retorted, rolling his eyes.

There was a long moment of silence between them, then Brains asked, "You really w-want to stay?"

"Yeah, Dad, I d-do."

"Okay, you c-can stay."

Fermat's face lit up with delight, but Brains held up a finger. "There are c-conditions." That sobered the boy up quickly, and he nodded. "One, you f-follow the suggestions that the p-police have given. I have an email of them here. B-Be especially careful at n-night; always have someone to w-walk with. Observe your c-curfew stringently. And call to ch-check in every night."

"Every n-night?" Fermat asked. "Why?"

"So I kn-know you're safe," Brains said. He smiled softly. "And so m-maybe I won't m-miss you so m-much." He raised an eyebrow, giving Fermat an inquisitive look. "Do we have a d-deal?"

"D-Deal, Dad," the boy replied, grinning. "Are you st-still coming n-next weekend?"

"W-Wild horses c-couldn't keep me away."

"Daaaaaad," Fermat said. "There are no w-wild horses on the island."

"So?" Brains grinned. "They c-couldn't keep me away if th-they were here."

The door to Fermat's room opened, and he glanced toward it, seeing his roommate enter. A.J. gave him a half-hearted wave; Fermat returned it with a hesitant one of his own, then he turned back to his father.

"A.J. just came in, D-Dad. I'd b-better go."

"R-Right, son. T-Talk to you t-tomorrow night. Oh, send me an email t-telling some more details of th-the meet. V-Virgil's want to know about the qu-questions they asked."

"Okay, D-Dad. Talk to you later."

"Love you, son."

Here, in the privacy of his room, Fermat felt he could reciprocate. "Love you, t-too, Dad. Bye."

The phone call ended, and Fermat paused for a moment before putting his equipment away. Once he had things tucked in his drawer, he turned to A.J. "Hey, what's up? You're k-kinda late."

"I know." A.J. was lying on his bed, his stockinged feet flat on its surface, the heels of his hands covering his eyes.

Fermat waited a moment, then asked, "You want to t-talk about it?"

"Not much to say. My dad, for the first time in recorded history, came to visit me at school. He took me out to dinner, and we had a long 'discussion' about Wharton and the dangers here." A.J. pulled his hands away from his eyes, and gazed at Fermat, who could see the puffy, reddened lids. "The upshot of it is that my father will be finding me another school, and you'll soon have a room to yourself."