The Super Jerk Trilogy (Now 3-in-1)

5. bad idea

{Sarah}

Nothing notable happens the week after the spat in the robotics lab. The rivalry between Zach and Cam obviously extends beyond me or beyond any of us. It's something that they have to battle out themselves and leave the rest of us out of it. Especially now that we know it has to do with their dads and happened before any of us were here.

   I go to see Trevor and Zach there anyway, at the end of the week when classes end. They've still got the dismantled Wasp scattered over the table, but seem to have made no progress beyond that. But the second I enter, Trevor jumps up and comes over to me.

   "Any new developments?" I ask as we stand over the table.

   "Let's see," Zach says, pointing at each part as he lists it. "Camera, camera, propeller, weird piece of plastic that no one can identify, and all these electronic parts. But so far, nothing."

   "How about that chip?" I ask, thinking back to Pink holding it out towards him.

   "You know..." Zach scratches his head. "That never occurred to me. Should we try it?"

   "Worth a shot." I shrug.

   Trevor and I clear a spot as Zach pulls his laptop from his backpack and sets it on the table. He flips it open, types in his password, and then inserts the chip. For a second, nothing happens. Then he hisses "What!" and hits the spacebar a couple times, with no result.

   "What?" Trevor and I say in unison.

   "This." He turns the computer around, and there, in the middle of a black screen, are two words in light gray type: Access Denied.

   "Merlin's mother's knickers." Trevor scowls. "So all that work was for nothing?"

   "Unless you have the administrative password hidden around here somewhere," Zach says, yanking the chip out and then leaning back in his chair, fingers laced behind his head. "Looks like we're stuck again."

   Then the thought occurs to me. It's a wild one, and would definitely get us hurt, will break some rules, and worst-case scenario, could get us killed. But I think it's at least worth a shot. The only way to get an idea of what we're up against is to go directly to it.

   "Looks like you're thinking something deep or dangerous, Campbell," Trevor says, noticing my expression. "What's going on in that brain of yours?"

   "I think we need to go see what this HECKL really looks like," I say.

   Silence. Neither Trevor nor Zach say anything, only exchange a glance and then turn back to me.

   "Keep enemies closer?" I shrug, already regretting even opening my mouth. The expression on Zach's face is enough for me to want to take back everything.

   "No," Zach says finally. "That's a bad idea and you know it. You both know it. Trev, you're a super too, tell her."

   Trevor's eye twitches at the nickname, but then he looks over at me. "Are you sure, Campbell? There's a lot of things that can go wrong there. Not including running into a super who may want to bring destruction on all the supers that exist."

   "We can't just plan for that?" I ask. "You guys are supers, you deal with things going wrong all the time."

   "Okay, fair enough," Zach says before Trevor can speak. "This is different, Sarah. My dad's there all the time. He practically runs it when he's not supposed to be playing the mayor. So you can't just walk in there and expect him not to know. And especially if there's a super on the premises. He'll have his guards on you like white on rice, trust me."