by Gary Paulsen
"Dr. Harrison. Dr. Mark Harrison, report to the second floor."
The voice continued to boom over the intercom.
Mark felt someone jostle his elbow. He looked up from his microscope. "What is it, Karen? Did you find something?"
The young lab assistant smiled. "They’re calling you again, Dr. Harrison." She pointed to the intercom.
Mark looked at his watch. "Oh, great. Looks like I’m late for the board meeting again. Get my briefcase, will you? And a copy of that data we were working on this morning."
"It’s all here." Karen handed him the case. "Don’t forget your tie."
Mark fumbled in his pocket for the wrinkled clip-on. "I hate these things."
"I know. But you are trying to make an impression."
Mark sighed. "Right. Maybe this time I’ll convince them." He headed for the door.
"Good luck, Doctor. We’re all rooting for you."
Mark waved and disappeared through the door.
A dark-haired young man in a white lab coat walked over. "Do you think he has a chance for the grant money?"
Karen shrugged. "I hope so. He’s obsessed with finding a cure. He’s already come up with several possible vaccines for the virus. But he has to convince the government that these diseases are a matter of global importance."
"He’s a strange one. Last night, when he did the final tests on the new Ebola virus inoculations, he looked at the ceiling and whispered, ’Megaan, this is for you,’ or something like that. I mean, what’s a megaan? Weird . . ."
"He’s all right," Karen said. "I think he just needs a break from work. Some friends of mine and I are planning a hike in the desert this weekend through the Magruder Missile Range. Maybe I’ll invite him to come along."
"The doc?"
"Yeah. Why not?"
"He’s such a bookworm. I doubt he’d last a day out there in the wild."
"I don’t know. I think he might surprise you. There’s something about him. Have you noticed? It’s a look he gets sometimes, almost like he’s . . ."
"What?"
"I can’t quite put my finger on it. But it’s like he’s . . . almost savage."
"Ha! The doc is as tame as they come. And if you decide to invite him to go, you guys had better take it real easy on him."
"He’ll be fine." Karen laughed. "It’s just a hike in the desert. What could happen?"
WANTED FOR WAR CRIMES DEAD OR ALIVE
THE WHITE FOX
The year is 2057. Endless wars have torn the USA apart and enslaved Americans to the evil CCR, the Confederation of Consolidated Republics. Growing up in wartime has made fourteen-year-old Cody Pierce wise in survival skills. Now he’s the White Fox, rebel leader of the children’s barracks in a CCR prison camp. Cody manages a terrifying escape and then plays cat and mouse with the CCR. Every day brings him closer to capture, but closer as well to his goal—to return and liberate the children he left behind.
Coming soon from Laurel-Leaf Books
GARY PAULSEN is the distinguished author of many critically acclaimed books for young people, including three Newbery Honor books: The Winter Room, Hatchet and Dogsong. His novel The Haymeadow received the Western Writers of America Golden Spur Award. Among his newest Delacorte Press books are My Life in Dog Years, Sarny: A Life Remembered (a companion to Nightjohn), The Schernoff Discoveries, Brian’s Winter (a companion to Hatchet), Father Water, Mother Woods: Essays on Fishing and Hunting in the North Woods, and the first three books about Francis Tucket’s adventures in the Old West. Gary Paulsen has also published fiction and nonfiction for adults. He and his wife, the painter Ruth Wright Paulsen, live in New Mexico and on the Pacific Ocean.
ALSO AVAILABLE IN LAUREL-LEAF BOOKS:
NIGHTJOHN, Gary Paulsen
SARNY: A LIFE REMEMBERED, Gary Paulsen
THE WINTER ROOM, Gary Paulsen
BRIAN’S WINTER, Gary Paulsen
THE RIVER, Gary Paulsen
A KILLING FROST, John Marsden
TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN, John Marsden
THE DEAD OF NIGHT, John Marsden
ANGELS ON THE ROOF, Martha Moore
BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE, Annette Curtis Klause
Published by
Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers
a division of
Random House, Inc.
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New York, New York 10036
Copyright © 1998 by Gary Paulsen
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted m any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. For information address Delacorte Press, New York, New York 10036
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RL: 5.6
November 1999
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eISBN: 978-0-307-43403-6
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