Astrid Maxxim and the Antarctic Expedition Read online

Late that afternoon, Astrid sat on the flowery couch in the Diaz family living room watching the financial news. The two Valeries flanked her on either side. The blond female news anchor on TV continued with her narration.

  “We continue to receive details of the Board of Directors shake-up at Maxxim Industries. Out are business leaders Saul Smith, Marisela Elisandro, long-time Maxxim advisor Gertrude Cuttyhunk, and family member Lauren Maxxim. Replacing them are engineer Martin Bundersmith, Maxxim design director Dennis Brown, investment banker Maxwell Bauer, and teen inventor Astrid Maxxim, who has been named Co-Chairman of the Board, alongside her mother Kate Maxxim who is keeping her spot as Chairman and CEO. Also retaining their board seats are Roy Dillanson, former U.S. Senator Charles Bentlemore, Carl Maxxim, and Penelope Maxxim. For additional details we now go to Mike Stephens. Mike, it seems like the element in all this that has everyone’s attention is Astrid Maxxim.”

  “That’s right Connie,” said the dark-haired, dark-eyed reporter replacing the blond woman on the screen. “The girl genius, recently famous for the invention of the Maxxim hoverbike now becomes the youngest board member of a major corporation, and sources tell me she will have a major voice in the company restructuring that will be announced soon.”

  The TV clicked off and Astrid looked up to see Valerie’s mother with the remote in her hand.

  “Always causing trouble,” she said. “First you turn my daughter into a robot and now all of this.”

  “It’s not Astrid’s fault,” said Valerie.

  “I didn’t turn your daughter into a robot either,” said Astrid. “You do remember you used to only have one kid, right?” But Mrs. Diaz had already returned to the kitchen.

  “It’s all right,” said Robot Valerie. “I like being a robot now sometimes.”

  “Why am I even over here?” wondered the girl inventor.

  “Because you’re afraid to go home,” said Regular Valerie. “I don’t blame you either. If I had broken our multi-national corporation, I would be on restriction for a year.”

  “I guess I better get going,” said Astrid.

  “We’ll walk you home,” said Robot Valerie.

  “We’re walking Astrid home,” Regular Valerie called to her mother.

  “Hurry back for dinner.”

  It only took about fifteen minutes to reach the Maxxim home, despite the fact that it was marginally an uphill walk. The two Valeries said goodbye and then started back. Astrid quietly opened the front door and stepped inside. Walking through the dining room and into the kitchen, she found her mother bending over and peering into the oven.

  “What’s for dinner?” she asked.

  “Quiche,” replied Mrs. Maxxim. She closed the oven door, turned and took two quick strides toward her daughter, and then wrapped her up in a hug. “Why don’t you make the salad?”

  Chapter Sixteen: The Press Event

  The next week was so normal that Astrid almost forgot about all the adventures of the previous month. She spent time with her friends, flying their hoverbikes, swimming, and playing video games, and spent relatively little time in her laboratory. On Thursday they went to Joyland and Astrid finally got to see the tyrannosaurus in all his frightening glory as they traversed the new queue line for the Screaming Pterodactyl.

  At home things were almost the same as always. Her parents treated her the same as they always had, except that she and her mother talked far more about business than they ever had in the past. Mrs. Maxxim brought home copious notes on the restructuring plan of the corporation and asked Astrid’s opinion about many of the details.

  Friday night however, while Océane spent the evening at Denise’s, there occurred in the Maxxim home an event unparalleled in Astrid’s entire life when Uncle Carl, Aunt Lauren, and Gloria came to dinner. It was beyond weird. It was like living in the Twilight Zone, or that episode of the original Star Trek where Mr. Spock was evil and had a beard. Here sat Astrid at the dinner table, along with her parents, face to face with their evil counterparts. Well, to be fair, she wasn’t sure that Uncle Carl was evil. In fact, within a few minutes of his arrival, he and Astrid’s father seemed to have patched up most of their differences and were laughing and trading stories of their youth. The girl inventor marveled at their descriptions of a world without cell phones, computers, or broadband. How could a person have survived in that kind of wilderness? Gloria seemed to be listening too, in a bored sort of way. Aunt Lauren didn’t say or do much of anything and seemed not to really want to be there.

  “Want to play a game of Toad Town?” Astrid asked her cousin, after their ice cream dessert.

  Gloria looked at her for a long moment. “Okay. Can we go out and get our feet wet?”

  They went out the back door, doffed their shoes, and sat down on the lip of the swimming pool, dangling their feet into the heated water. Pulling out their MX-360s, they tapped the application and selected their characters. Astrid as usual, picked Tugboat. Gloria picked Tiffaberry.

  “My dad’s pretty happy with how things turned out,” she said, not looking up from the screen.

  “I’m glad,” said Astrid. “I think my dad’s pretty happy that he has his brother to hang out with again. How’s your mom?”

  “She’s kind of upset. My dad’s pretty mad at her, but he’ll get over it. They love each other and stuff.”

  “That’s good.”

  “We’re not best friends or anything all of a sudden,” said Gloria. “You’re still just a sophomore and a nerd. We’re not going to hang out all the time.”

  “Fine,” said Astrid, annoyed. “I’ve got my own friends.”

  “But we are moving back to Maxxim City. Dad needs to be closer now, and besides my mother says graduating from Rachel Carson High will help me get into a better college.”

  “Oh, I doubt you’ll have much problem getting into wherever you want to go,” said Astrid.

  “I know.” Gloria paused as she switched lily pads in the game. “Aunt Penny is moving back here too, you know.”

  “I didn’t know,” said Astrid. “I haven’t talked to her since Monday. Is she going to live in our house?”

  “I think she’s buying a condo,” replied Gloria. “Anyway, what I was saying was you’re a sophomore and a nerd…”

  “Yes, you said that bit already,” Astrid interrupted curtly.

  “Yes, but… You’re not a total freak, so maybe we could do something together… you know, you, me, and Aunt Penny.”

  “Well that must have been difficult to say,” said Astrid. “I’m glad you didn’t hurt yourself.” She tapped the screen on her MX-360. “There, I have toad school, toad hall, and toad statue. I win.”

  The Maxxim August Press Event began the following Tuesday. It was a big conference held every year in which all the new Maxxim products were featured. This year’s conference was bigger than ever with more than one thousand news reporters, commentators, and bloggers in attendance. Every hotel room in Maxxim City and the nearby towns was full. At the large auditorium in the Business Offices Complex, Astrid watched as her mother gave the keynote address. Afterwards was a large party, which she thought she might attend. But when she went, she was so mobbed by members of the press, and others too, bombarding her with questions, that Toby whisked her away. They took the monorail to the picnic area beside Pearl Lake and spent the remainder of the evening just watching the stars.

  Wednesday though, she was back at the auditorium. She had a part to play in three of the subsequent presentations. Uncle Carl presented Maxxim’s transportation division plans, and as part of that presentation, Astrid was called on stage twice. The first time was to demonstrate her hoverbike, which many had already seen in action, but which was still only a few months old. The second time was to discuss the use of her advanced batteries in the hoverbike and in possible future vehicles. She showed the full-sized model of her racecar that Mr. Brown had built, and when he returned to the stage, Uncle Carl promised that it, as well as a few surprises, would be on display a
t the Detroit Auto Show in January.

  The Thursday presentation was on Materials and Construction and the main presenter was Mr. Bundersmith. Astrid stepped on stage to describe some of the many possible uses for ground Astridium, including its use to safely clean up oil spills. Afterwards she sat down to watch the remainder of the presentation from behind the stage. She felt someone beside her and turned to find her Aunt Penelope sitting, her eyes fixed on the TV monitor.

  “He’s so wonderful,” said Penelope.

  “Yes, he’s a very good presenter,” said Astrid. “I always liked it when he substituted in Advanced Calculus. You can tell he knows what he’s talking about, but he still makes it entertaining.”

  “He gets that little twinkle in his eye.”

  Astrid turned to her aunt.

  “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!”

  “What?” said Penelope.

  “When we were in Hawaii, in the club, you said you liked an older guy. Oh my gosh! You have a crush on Martin Bundersmith!”

  “No. No I… don’t?”

  At that moment Astrid heard her name called on stage and the auditorium rumbled with applause. She looked from Aunt Penelope to the TV monitor and back again.

  “Are you back there, Astrid?” called Mr. Bundersmith from beyond the curtain. “I know you want to come out and talk about your undersea dome.”

  Astrid quickly strode out from behind the curtain and onto the stage, taking the microphone from Toby’s father. She spoke about the undersea dome she had built in Hawaii and talked about the other places it could be used, even on land or in space. When she returned to her spot behind the stage to listen to the end of the presentation, Penelope was gone. Astrid didn’t see her the rest of the week.

  Friday was the busiest of the presentation days for Astrid, because it spotlighted the Electronics division, and she had been instrumental in so many of the electronic devices Maxxim produced. She had written code for the MX-360. She had designed the wearable wrist computer. And her superconductive Astricite was in the circuits and computer chips of everything. Although Dr. Maxxim was the primary speaker at the presentation and showed off the new MXPhone, he was actually on stage less than Astrid who demonstrated the wearable technology, or Dennis Brown who acquainted the audience with Maxxim’s new line of desktop and notebook computers and digital tablets.

  Finally, Astrid called Captain Bonnefoy up onto the stage. The two of them demonstrated the robotic arm to the stunned observers, and the captain described the sensations of touch and temperature that he felt through the sensors in the device.

  “The problem with such technology is that it’s very expensive,” Astrid told the audience. “Almost none of our wounded warriors and few accident victims would ever be able to afford it. It’s also beyond the limits of most health insurance plans. That’s why I’ve created a charity to subsidize the cost of Maxxim robotic replacement limbs. Captain David Bonnefoy will serve as the president of AFA, Arms for All. To fund the organization, Maxxim Industries is donating $10 billion, and Mr. Maxwell Bauer has put together a group of wonderful philanthropists to match that pledge. We would also like to ask the American public to donate whatever they can to the cause. Together, we really can make the world a better place.”

  By the time she got home that night, Astrid was exhausted, and she was extremely happy that the press event had only one more day to go, and Saturday she wasn’t presenting anything at all.

  Chapter Seventeen: Measure for Measure

  Astrid had just finished breakfast the next morning when there was a knock at the door. Opening it, she found Austin on her step, his helmet still on his head. His hoverbike was parked neatly just off the sidewalk.

  “Good morning,” said Astrid. “You’re up awfully early this morning.”

  “I hardly got any sleep last night. I can’t believe we actually get to see a rocket launch today!”

  “I’m pretty excited myself.” she said. “I’ve only seen one before and that was when I was only six. My dad took me to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.”

  “That must have been awesome.”

  “Come on in, Austin.” She opened the door wide and the boy stepped inside. “The presentation doesn’t start for another couple of hours and the launch won’t be until after that. We can hang out here for a while.”

  Austin followed Astrid through the dining room and breakfast room into the family room. There they found Océane, who was watching Bugs Bunny cartoons.

  “Bonjour,” said Austin.

  “Bonjour,” said Océane.

  “Guess what, Océane. I’m taking French this year.”

  “I thought you took Spanish last year,” said Astrid.

  “I did, but I decided to change to French.”

  “Was that because of Océane?” asked Astrid slyly.

  Austin blushed. “No. You know we had to register for classes before the end of last year.”

  “So it was for Valerie?”

  “Ixnay on the irlsgay,” said Austin. He sat down next to Océane on the couch. “This is one of my favorite cartoons. Yosemite Sam gets shot in the face 27 times in this one. Do you have Bugs Bunny in France? Oh, I’ll bet you just have Pepe Le Pew.”

  “Who is this Pepe Le Pew?” wondered Océane.

  “He’s this French skunk who always falls in love with these cats, see? He falls in love with them but they don’t like him because he smells. He smells because he’s a skunk, not because he’s French, um… do you know what a skunk is?” He looked at Astrid. “What’s the French word for skunk?”

  “Skunk,” said Astrid.

  “Yes, skunk.”

  “The French word for skunk is skunk,” said Astrid.

  “I’m going to put my helmet on my hoverbike,” said Austin, hurrying from the room.

  “He is so funny!” laughed Océane.

  “Yup, he’s a riot,” agreed Astrid.

  Austin returned, having taken far longer than was necessary just to put away his helmet. Astrid assumed he was trying to get over his embarrassment at having implied that French people like Océane might be smelly. Then again, Austin often paid even less attention to what he said than others did. He sat back down without a word.

  “So, you’re taking French?” said Astrid.

  Austin gave her a withering look.

  “I was just wondering what else you’re taking. Maybe we have a class together.”

  The boy sighed and counted off with his fingers. “French, Orchestra, Art, Algebra II, English II, American Lit and Outdoor Survival.”

  “Hey, we’ll have the last two classes together,” she observed. “I’ve got American Lit and Outdoor Survival too. That’s pretty cool.”

  “Yeah, that’s pretty cool. I just wish you were in my Geometry class. I’ll probably need some help with it.”

  “I can still help you,” said Astrid. “I remember it pretty well, even though I took it back in fourth grade.”

  Austin looked at Océane and rolled his eyes.

  “Austin,” said the French girl. “Would you teach me how to play Ms. Pacman?”

  “Sure.”

  Astrid leaned over and pressed her mouth next to the French girl’s ear. “You already know how to play. You beat me the other day.” Océane just giggled. So Astrid left the two of them alone as, for the next hour, they ate pixelated dots and avoided digital ghosts. Instead she read on her tablet some of the news she had missed during the previous month. At last her father joined them.

  “Just about time to go,” he said.

  “Are you going to the presentation with us, Austin?” Astrid asked.

  “I wasn’t actually planning to go to that. I was going in later just to watch the rocket launch.”

  “Why don’t you come with us? We have really good seats at the launch, and you might learn something about aeronautics at the presentation.”

  “All right. I guess it can’t kill me.”

  The three teens piled into Dr. Maxxim’s car as he took
his spot behind the steering wheel. It was a short drive through town and then to the gate of the Maxxim Industries Campus. It was just about as far from there to the Business Offices Complex. As with the previous three days, the presentation was being held in the large auditorium. After Astrid’s father had parked the car in the lot, they all walked in the front door of the large building. Dr. Maxxim, who was the primary speaker, waved to them and walked to the stage entrance. Astrid led her two friends into the great hall and they took three seats in the back center of the audience. The seats were already mostly filled, especially those up front.

  They hadn’t been seated long when Dr. Maxxim walked out onto the stage to be met by thunderous applause. He introduced himself and began talking about Maxxim aerospace technology. Behind him, a twenty-foot high video screen displayed images of aircraft and rocket components as he spoke. He talked about Maxxim’s history in the aerospace field and the various aircraft that the company produced. Then he began to outline a plan for a private manned space program, which could first ferry astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station, and then to construct other stations in orbit, and expand to land men and women on the moon and Mars. The audience was held in rapt attention. Even Austin was interested. As Dr. Maxxim began to describe possible future orbital colonies though, the boy began to squirm a bit in his seat.

  “I have to go to the restroom. Is it that door that guy just came out of?” Austin asked, pointing behind them and to the right.

  “No,” said Astrid. “Go out the way we came in. It’s down the hall on the left.”

  As Austin got up and made his way down the row to the aisle, Astrid turned and looked at the man he had pointed out a moment before. He was a short man with reddish hair and a close-cropped goatee. Something about him looked shifty, though Astrid couldn’t say just what it was. Telling Océane that she would be right back, she got up and started toward the man, who had been leaning against the back wall. Now however, he began walking slowly toward the main entrance.