Forever Begins Tomorrow Read Online Free Page B

trying to burn through one of the links.
    Seconds after Trip disappeared beneath the surface, Wendy spotted a new danger.
    â€œShark!” she screamed. “Hap, there’s a shark behind you!”
    Spinning in the water, Hap shouted in horror at the sight of the huge black fin bearing down on him and Ray.
    Then the heavens opened up as the rain began for real, falling in sheets from the iron-gray sky. Within seconds the three kids in the boat were as wet as the ones in the water.
    The Merry Wanderer was thrown from wave to wave. Leaning over the edge, Wendy craned her neck and tried to shield her eyes from the pounding rain.
    It was useless; she had lost sight of the boys—and the shark.
    Underwater, unaware of either shark or storm, Trip had a shock of his own: The transmitter chain was being retracted! Whatever it was anchored into was slowly drawing the transmitter—and with it the three of them—toward the bottom of the sea.
    Hap, clutching the still unconscious Gamma Ray in his arms as he fought the waves, felt himself being pulled down. Fighting back a surge of fear, he slipped his air tube between his lips, then clamped one hand over Ray’s nose and mouth. He cursed the around-the-neck design that kept him from sharing his hose with Ray as he tried to pry his friend’s arms from the metal ball. It was no use; Ray was clutching it as if his life depended on it. But the truth was, his life depended on his letting go of it!
    Come on, Trip , Hap thought desperately. Get us out of this mess!
    Several feet below him, Trip was trying to do just that. Glancing up from the link he was trying to sever, he saw that the slowly retracting chain had pulled his friends beneath the rain-spattered ocean surface.
    Angrily he redoubled his efforts with the torch. He had to get them loose!
    â€œThey’re under again!” cried Wendy, who had spotted Hap just in time to see him disappear beneath the waves.
    â€œHold your course, Rachel!” yelled Roger. “We’ve got to get over to them!”
    â€œI can’t!” cried his twin. “It’s too—”
    Rachel’s words were cut off by a huge wave washing over the side of the boat.
    Rachel clung to the wheel.
    Roger clung to Rachel.
    Wendy had nothing to cling to. When the wave was gone, so was she.
    Four of the gang were in the water now. The storm continued to rage, the waves growing higher and higher.
    And as the transmitter pulled him deeper into the water, Hap Swenson looked up to see the enormous shark circling overhead.
    I’ve heard of being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea , he thought bitterly, but this is ridiculous .
    His conviction that things could not possibly get worse was proved wrong when a panel slid aside on the front of the transmitter Ray was clutching so tenaciously.
    Beneath the panel was a glowing time display.
    Its numbers were changing, counting down from 60.
    When they hit 55 the transmitter itself began to glow.
    Hap’s stomach tightened into a painful knot. Black Glove’s transmitters had a habit of self-destructing once discovered. He had a sudden, terrible feeling that this one was about to do the same thing.
    Only this time it was going to happen in a very big way.
    And Ray was still clutching the bomb as tightly as ever.

    Â 
    Missing in Action
    Several miles from the life-and-death struggles of the A.I. Gang a short woman slipped quietly into the office of Project Alpha’s director, Dr. Hwa.
    Though she had long ago memorized the location of every one of the sixteen secret alarms hidden in the room, the woman was still nervous as she made her way toward the scientist’s desk. The reason was simple: She had no right to be here. At least , she thought, not at this time, or under these circumstances .
    Still, she had a job to do, and she was willing to take whatever risks were necessary to do it right.
    Circling to the back of the large mahogany desk that