Sneak (Swipe Series)

being in the cafeteria hall at her old school: lots of voices here and there, but still easy enough to listen to any specific conversation over the din of the rest.
    “Neat,” Hailey said, smiling at Hans politely. But just as she was about to lose interest, one particular voice on the airwaves caught her ears.
    “Testing,” it said. “Testing, one, two. Is it on? The light’s not blinking.”
    “It’s on, it’s on—go ahead!” said another, fainter voice.
    “Uh . . . well . . .” The first speaker cleared her throat nervously. “Hello there, New Chicago. Uh . . . if you’re Markless . . . then, um . . . well . . . then I guess this broadcast goes out to you . . .”
    The fainter voice in the background said, “That’s good, that’s good. Go on—you’re doing great.”
    “Um. Okay. Well. This is day two. Of our . . . experiment. For any of you listening, welcome to . . . well, your new favorite radio program! It’s . . . a news show . . . New Chicago news . . . weather today is . . . cold, I guess . . .”
    “Keep talking!”
    “And . . . listen . . . Hailey . . . if you’re out there . . .”
    The woman on the radio broke into a terrible coughing fit.
    “Anyway, you get the idea,” Hans said, moving to turn the radio off.
    “ Don’t touch it! ” Hailey yelled. And that’s when Hans and Tabby noticed the expression on their guests’ faces. Slack-jawed, all three of them.
    8
    For dinner that night the Dust ate roasted duck with orange sauce.
    “So who wants to go for a drive after we eat?” Winston asked.
    “A drive ?” Eddie said.
    “Yeah. I do it all the time out on these old roads. I can teach you if you’d like.”
    “I’m sorry,” Eddie asked. “A drive in what ?”
    Winston laughed. “A car, obviously.”
    The Dust were all speechless.
    “We have a car,” Mrs. Rathbone said finally, a little shy about it. Even in the context of a house like this, everyone was perfectly aware of what a rare luxury that was.
    “Wait a second. You’re kidding, right?” Blake asked.
    “Not at all. See for yourself. Go on. Take a look,” Mr. Rathbone said.
    Blake stood up from the table, walking tentatively to the window.
    “He’s right,” Blake said. “They really do have a car.”
    “Runs off oil,” Mr. Rathbone said. “Early pre-Unity model. Can’t buy anything like it. Not for a century. And even if you did, where would you get the fuel?” He laughed. “It’s not like those modern models. Nothing electric about it. That’s a combustion engine, through and through.”
    “Where’d you get it?” Eddie asked. “ How’d you get it?”
    But again this question was met with shuffling feet and averted eyes.
    “After dinner,” Winston said, “I’ll take you for a spin.”

    Eddie fidgeted nervously in the passenger seat while Winston revved the engine and put the car into gear. “See how that works?” he said. “It’s very easy.”
    “Yeah,” Eddie said. “Thanks for, uh, thanks for taking me out in this. I’ve never been in a car before.”
    “You must be wondering about my parents,” Winston said, getting right to the point.
    Eddie cleared his throat, unsure of what to say.
    “Have you ever heard of diplomatic immunity?” Winston asked.
    “Not really . . .”
    Winston nodded. “And what do you know about the European Union?”
    Eddie shrugged. “I know Cylis is the chancellor. I know the merger happened just after the Total War . . .”
    “Indeed,” Winston said. “And have you ever learned about the politics of that merger?”
    Winston was driving now, weaving slowly down the mansion’s long driveway.
    “No,” Eddie said. “Or if I did, I don’t remember much . . .”
    “Notice how the pedals work on this. See how I only use one foot for both the gas and the brakes?” Winston was driving faster now, having turned onto the highway. He zigzagged between the potholes and the wide cracks in the pavement.
    “I, uh . . . yeah. Neat.”
    “Well, anyway, most countries, they fell in line right away. Everyone was bloody miserable after the war, and Cylis’s promise of peace and Unity was more than enough to start the coalition.” Winston smiled. “But not the British, though. The United Kingdom wanted nothing to do with Cylis’s new deal at first. Whoops! Sorry,” Winston said quickly as they lurched over a jagged bump in the road.
    “No problem,” Eddie said, though his knuckles were white as he gripped the door handle beside him.
    “My