Argent Glass

Chapter 6 - Dissemble - Andrew

"How was your after-school suspension?" Evan sat in his car in front of the school as Andrew walked out.

"Suck it."

"Swallow it."

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"No, I kiss your mother with this mouth."

"Ha, ha, ha. You're hilarious." Andrew shook his head and pointed at the car. "Linda's home, huh?"

"Yep. Did you know Vegas isn't any fun if you run out of money?"

"Go figure."

"Whatever. I have my car back."

"Hide the keys."

Evan grabbed the trash container to haul back to the side of the garage after he parked in Andrew's driveway.

"Your mom should pay me."

"She pays you the same amount she pays me." Andrew pulled the front pocket of his jeans inside out. Silence greeted him when he unlocked the front door and stepped inside. He dropped his bag on the stairs as he passed through to the kitchen. Evan tagged along and took a seat on a kitchen stool while Andrew made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

"Okay, so look. I did some research. Here's the deal." Evan took the sandwich Andrew held out and took a bite. "Milk?"

Andrew reached into a cupboard, handed a glass to Evan, and spun to pull a jug of milk from the fridge.

"Military bases and oil fields and all kinds of stuff around the world are censored on maps like Google and MapQuest. They're the same places that have no-fly zones. Follow me?" He took a long drink. "Nobody's allowed to show these places even though the satellites they rent or whatever can take snapshots from 1,200 miles up."

"But we know where the military bases are. Those aren't really secret."

"True. But the government doesn't want us to see what's there. National security is on the line."

"Blackstar and Stealths." Andrew raised his hand and flew it down to his sandwich for another bite.

"Well, yeah. And whatever else they're making these days. Drones probably." Andrew nodded. The peanut butter was sticking to the roof of his mouth, and Evan took advantage of his silence to continue in a low conspiratorial voice. "On Google Maps these places look like giant pixelated Minecraft scenes, but without the trees and cows and zombies that are trying to kill you. Of course. And it's not just military bases."

"It's not?"

"Nope. In some places, you move the cursor around to slide the maps back and forth and the area on the map is just gone. Blind spots."

"Blind spots."

Evan nodded. "We have to call them something. There are 23 blind spots on the chain of Hawaiian islands and a whopping 276 of them in Alaska. Ready for this?"

Andrew stopped chewing and stared at Evan. "Uh huh."

"One of those spots is right here in New Mexico. Where's your laptop?"

Andrew put the last big bite of sandwich in his mouth and pointed toward the hallway. Evan set his sandwich on the counter and when he came back with the laptop, he set it in front of Andrew. He opened the lid and picked up his sandwich for another bite.

"Jesus. Are you serious?" Evan set his sandwich down.

"What?" Andrew ran his finger over the biometric scanner on the laptop to log in.