Meanwhile, Flailing Grade tried to use its flail to right itself. Jamal and his team tried their best but they couldn’t make it happen. They finally shook their heads in defeat.
“Winner by incapacitation!” Mrs. Scott’s voice boomed over the PA system. “The Choppa moves on to the next round!”
The crowd applauded and cheered louder.
“Yes!” Sam shouted.
“Woo-hoo!” yelled Amy.
Noah and I bumped fists. He grinned widely. “You forgetting something?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Not at all.” I pressed a button on my controller.
“Get to za Choppa! Get to za Choppa!” sounded from our robot. It was barely audible over the cheering crowd.
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Restricted Access
by
Victor Appleton
The Interrogation Frustration
I PADDED DOWN THE STAIRS as quietly as possible. I slid one hand down the handrail with the other steadying the backpack slung over my shoulder. I tried to keep my school supplies from rattling, a sound that might give away my position. Luckily, school was already out for the day, and I didn’t run into any other students along the way. I’m sure I looked as if I was up to something—which I was, of course.
When I reached the first floor, I peeked into the main hallway. Only a few students were in sight. A couple milled by lockers and one shuffled toward the front door. There was no sign of him, though.
I took a deep breath and stepped out. I kept a brisk but quiet pace as I made my way to the center of the building. Once at the main intersection, I could turn left toward the front entrance or I could turn right and head out through the back door. My plan, such as it was, was to take a right.
I mentally kicked myself for not coming up with a real plan. Instead of waiting behind in Engineering class, it would’ve been so much easier to leave after the final bell rang. Then I could simply blend in with the crowd of exiting students. Now I was out in the open, exposed.
As I neared the main junction, I could see into the hallway leading to the front entrance. I skidded to a stop.
There he was. Inside the school.
The tall man wore a dark blue blazer and jeans. His back was to me as he peered into the chess team’s trophy case.
I exhaled and slowly began moving again. I shuffled down the corridor toward him. If I could just make it to the junction without being spotted, I could turn right and duck out through the back doors. Unfortunately, he must have spotted my reflection in the glass case. The man spun around as soon as I was near.
“Tom!” He held up a hand. His gray-speckled beard stretched across his face as he grinned.
I nodded and sighed. I hitched up my backpack, gave a weak smile, and walked over to him.
“Sorry.” I jutted a thumb back down the hall. “I was just . . . uh . . .”
“It doesn’t matter, you’re here now,” said Mr. Kavner. He ushered me toward the front door. “Let’s sit on the front steps. Get some air.”
Steven Kavner was a friend of my father’s. Normally, not someone I’d want to avoid. But he was also a journalist who wanted to interview me for a story. That was something that I wish I could avoid.
Mr. Kavner and I sat on one of the long cement steps. “State your name, please,” he said.
I cocked my head a little. “But . . . you already know my name.”
Mr. Kavner grinned. He tapped the tiny body cam poking out of the front pocket on his blue blazer. “Yeah, but just for the record.”
I sighed. “Tom Swift Junior.”
“Great,” said Mr. Kavner. “And where do you go to school?”
I glanced up at the school’s name stretching across the building above us. He just pointed to the small camera again.
“The Swift Academy of Science and Technology,” I replied.
Mr. Kavner nodded. “Tell me a little about your school.”
I squirmed a bit and sighed again. “Well, it’s a special school where we get to learn advanced subjects, create our own inventions, and go on cool field trips. Stuff like that.”
I knew I was really underselling it. The academy was way more than that. Advanced subjects? How about aerodynamics and engineering to go along with algebra and history. Create our own inventions? It wouldn’t be unusual to see robots or drones zipping through the halls. I would know; I piloted some of them. And as far as cool field trips were concerned, last year the eighth graders had a lock-in at the Wesley Observatory. Shandra Watts even discovered a comet.
Yeah, I knew my description didn’t do the school justice, and Mr. Kavner knew it too. He rolled his eyes.
“Gee, Tom,” he said with a wide grin. “I couldn’t help but notice that you and your school share the same name.”
I rubbed the back of my neck and shifted a bit on the hard step. “Yeah, my dad founded the school with the profits from his company, Swift Enterprises.”
Of course, Mr. Kavner was well aware of this, too. After all, he and my father had gone to college together. They had even worked on some inventions together. But I guess somewhere along the way, Mr. Kavner’s interests had changed. The only reason I had agreed to the interview was because he was a friend of my father’s.
The thing is, I wasn’t too thrilled sharing my name with the school. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of my father and his accomplishments, especially the school. But all I’ve ever wanted was to be treated like any other student. And now I was the subject of a news story that would do the exact opposite.
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Restricted Access
Victor Appleton
Read all the books in the
TOM SWIFT INVENTORS’
ACADEMY series!
The Drone Pursuit
The Sonic Breach
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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First Aladdin paperback edition July 2019
Text copyright © 2019 by Victor Appleton
Cover illustration copyright © 2019 by Kevin Keele
TOM SWIFT and related marks are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Also available in an Aladdin hardcover edition.
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Cover designed by Heather Palisi-Reyes
Interior designed by Mike Rosamilia
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Names: Appleton, Victor, author.
Title: The sonic breach / by Victor Appleton.
Description: First Aladdin hardcover/paperback edition. | New York : Aladdin, 2019. | Series: Tom Swift Inventors’ Academy ; #2 | Summary: When someone steals an “app” that Amy wrote and profits from it, Tom and his friends use a robot to help catch the thief.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018036998 (print) | LCCN 2018042126 (eBook) | ISBN 9781534436350 (eBook) | ISBN 9781534436336 (pbk) | ISBN 9781534436343 (hc)
Subjects: | CYAC: Inventors—Fiction. | Hackers—Fiction. | Stealing—Fiction. | Robots—Fiction. | Sch
ools—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Science fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.A652 (eBook) | LCC PZ7.A652 Mos 2019 (print) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018036998
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