Jason Bradbury - Atomic Swarm (Dot Robot)

For Mum

PUFFIN BOOKS

Published by the Penguin Group

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First published 2010

Copyright Jason Bradbury, 2010

All rights reserved

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

ISBN: 978-0-14-194379-4

PUFFIN BOOKS

Jason Bradbury likes gadgets a lot! He has scoured the globe to find them and rarely stops talking and writing about them.He also likes computer games perhaps even loves them. The first computer game he ever played consisted of nothing more thantwo dots and a straight line, but it was enough to ignite a lifelong passion for the (pixellated) pastime and, despite havingreal human children and a robot called Vernon to look after, Jason still finds time for more game playing than is wise.

He is best known as host of Fives The Gadget Show, on which he swims with sharks, rides rocket-powered bicycles and jumps off bridges but before his TV career took off hehas been a comedian, a script writer and a breakdancer.

Jason lives in London, where he cruises the streets on various electric vehicles and newfangled types of skateboard.

The science and technology in the Dot.Robot series is real and Jason has witnessed much of it first hand including a tripin a self-driving robotic car in Las Vegas, a flying robot test flight and a look at an invisible jacket if you can lookat something thats invisible.

To find out what Jason is up to, go to his website www.jasonbradbury.com

Books by Jason Bradbury

Dot.Robot

Dot.Robot: Atomic Swarm

PROLOGUE

Paraguay

Asuncin, the capital of Paraguay, wasnt called the cheapest city in the world for nothing. But that didnt mean that Fabie,the fifteen-year-old waiter at the Cafe Cassava, could afford to eat more than one main meal a day. If the tourists tipped,then he might be able to pick up a burger and Coke for one US dollar on the way home to Barrio San Pablo.

It had been a hot day, even by Paraguayan standards, hot enough to turn the asphalt sticky, and this meant Cafe Cassava hadbeen busy all day. The ice machine had broken down, as was the case every other week, and Fabie had added hourly trips tofind ice to his already hectic day. Consequently, Fabie missed the tips from several customers.

Fabie was thankful at least for the impressive tower of the hospital that overshadowed the whole piazza. It made Cassava thecitys coolest place to eat and drink when the sun was at its most merciless. The soaring structure also provided a steady flow of Paraguays richest citizens,two of whom had just sat down in Fabies section.

Good morning, gentlemen, Fabie said. He could tell immediately that the two men were English speakers. Would you like tostart with a cold drink?

You betcha, said one of the men, a bronzed American with a thick neck and large biceps bulging beneath his T-shirt. Illhave a cold beer and a large bottle of mineral water. And make sure its the real deal. Not tap water and superglue!

The man was referring to the practice adopted in bars and cafes throughout the city of filling old plastic bottles with tapwater, then glueing their tops back on and selling them to tourists as new. The shelves in Cafe Cassavas own kitchen werestocked with hundreds of the counterfeit bottles.

That doesnt happen here, sir, Fabie lied.

And for you, sir? he continued, turning to the most smartly dressed customer he had seen all week. Something about the manwas familiar. The man was dressed in a cream-coloured suit. He wore a pale-blue shirt with a crisp collar and a white-and-goldstriped tie. It was knotted almost up to his neck a quintessentially English style of dress and quite something in thisheat.

He looked up at the young waiter from beneath the brim of a panama hat and asked for a yerba mat in perfect Spanish.

Fabie was taken aback. Not only did the Englishman speak excellent Spanish but he had asked for a drink usually only orderedby locals. Interesting.

As Fabie added hot water to the powdery mixture of brewed herbs the Englishman had ordered, he suddenly remembered when hedseen the customer before. It must have been about a year ago. For several weeks hed been a regular customer. But it wasntthe mans face Fabie remembered because most of that had been conspicuously concealed behind bandages. (Fabie had assumedthis was the result of plastic surgery treatment, for which the hospital was famous throughout South America.) No, it wasthe mans dapper dress and flamboyant mannerisms that had initially jogged his memory. But what Fabie now gleefully recalledabove all those things was that the man had been the most generous tipper he, or any of the other waiters, had ever met.

Fabie let out a yelp of excitement. Hed be eating burgers all week!

While the American examined his water bottles plastic lid for signs of tampering, the Englishman took a sip from the metalstraw poking out from the bowl of hot, dark liquid that Fabie had placed in front of him.

Bueno! he exclaimed.

Fabie glowed at the compliment. This was surely a good sign. Its hot to be drinking mat, Fabie added chattily, hoping to increase his chances of a generous tip. It was strange talking to someone whose face youcouldnt see, though. The mans hat covered most of his forehead and beneath that was a large pair of black sunglasses.

There is a theory that Indians drink hot tea on a hot day to cool themselves down, the Englishman replied, looking up athim. Something to do with the dilation of blood vessels. Personally, I chose your delicious infusion because I like the taste.

Fabie just stopped himself in time from taking a sharp intake of breath. The mans skin ran in deep ripples across his face,almost as if it had been melted. Fabie wondered for a moment what might have happened to him he couldnt imagine this hadbeen the work of any plastic surgeons that hed heard mentioned by the wealthy people around here. But really this was noneof his business. His concern was getting that tip. So, instead, Fabie politely enquired after the mens intention to stayfor lunch. The beef soup is excellent today.