a large yellow carryall — the diver would be coming back for it, she imagined, but Ruby couldn’t wait. She had promised Mrs. Digby that she would not be late for school, and a promise in spit was a promise to be kept.
Ruby made it into school just seconds before the bell sounded, dashed into her classroom, and slid into her seat, smiling at Mrs. Drisco, who scowled back. She looked for Clancy, but he wasn’t there. He was never late for class, so she guessed he must be off sick, or (more likely) was still faking it.
Still freaked out?
she wondered.
Or avoiding something?
It didn’t take her long to figure it out.
The bell rang, and Ruby spilled out of her homeroom with all the other kids. She made her way to physics, and as she turned the corner, heard a familiar voice shouting.
“Hey, Redfort, are you planning on showing for swim practice this evening?”
Ruby turned to see Del Lasco, tall, sporty, and kind of in your face, coming down the main stairway.
“I said I would, didn’t I?” replied Ruby.
“Yeah, well, you say a lotta things, and I haven’t seen you show for practice once this season.”
Ruby had been kind of busy with Spectrum, and it was true she had simply not had time for Junior High commitments.
“I did the swimathon, didn’t I?”
“Sure. And got beaten by Clancy Crew. He isn’t even on the swim team! You need to train. Sharpen up.”
“I’ll be there tonight,
OK
?” assured Ruby as she made for the door.
“I notice Crew’s skipping off today too, which is just swell.”
“And how is that my fault, buster?” called Ruby, disappearing into class.
If you didn’t know it, you might imagine that Ruby Redfort and Del Lasco weren’t even friends at all — but they were. Good friends in fact. Del Lasco had a mouth on her, that was for sure, but she was also very loyal. No one could deny that if the chips were down, you could count on Del to wade in and punch someone on your behalf, even if you didn’t want them punched.
Mr. Endell was talking about white noise today. Which was pretty interesting, as it turned out, and sort of helpful given what Ruby was investigating for Spectrum. White noise, according to Mr. Endell, was a kind of noise produced by combining every frequency together, from high to low — like someone playing every key on a piano at the same time.
What was interesting to Ruby was that white noise could be used to
mask
other sounds, including voices. This was because the ear was so busy dealing with so many different notes and tones, all sounding at once, that it couldn’t manage to tune in to just one voice.
Mr. Endell demonstrated this by turning on his desk fan, which he pointed out produced a kind of white noise, and then speaking at a normal volume.
He said, “ .”
“What?” chorused the class.
“I was saying,” said Mr. Endell, turning off the fan, “that spies and secret agents have actually manufactured white-noise machines to stop other spies and secret agents from listening in to their conversations. Think of white noise as thousands of voices all talking at the same moment. It’s possible to tune in to one voice in a group of chatting people. But there’s no way you can tune into one voice in a crowd of a thousand.”
Kinda fascinating,
thought Ruby. Could someone be using something like this to block Mayday calls and cargo signals and reroute shipping? There was a good chance.
It was three o’clock, and Ruby grabbed her swim bag out of her locker and hurried out to the waiting bus. Swim practice was going to be at the municipal pool due to the Dillon Flannagon Twinford Junior High pool incident. Ruby went to get changed, stuffed her bag in the locker, and walked toward the Olympic-size pool. She could hear Coach Newhart shouting instructions and generally bossing the team into shape.
Ruby got into the water and did a couple of lengths to warm up. She had her swimming goggles on and couldn’t see too well, but
Ruby made it into school just seconds before the bell sounded, dashed into her classroom, and slid into her seat, smiling at Mrs. Drisco, who scowled back. She looked for Clancy, but he wasn’t there. He was never late for class, so she guessed he must be off sick, or (more likely) was still faking it.
Still freaked out?
she wondered.
Or avoiding something?
It didn’t take her long to figure it out.
The bell rang, and Ruby spilled out of her homeroom with all the other kids. She made her way to physics, and as she turned the corner, heard a familiar voice shouting.
“Hey, Redfort, are you planning on showing for swim practice this evening?”
Ruby turned to see Del Lasco, tall, sporty, and kind of in your face, coming down the main stairway.
“I said I would, didn’t I?” replied Ruby.
“Yeah, well, you say a lotta things, and I haven’t seen you show for practice once this season.”
Ruby had been kind of busy with Spectrum, and it was true she had simply not had time for Junior High commitments.
“I did the swimathon, didn’t I?”
“Sure. And got beaten by Clancy Crew. He isn’t even on the swim team! You need to train. Sharpen up.”
“I’ll be there tonight,
OK
?” assured Ruby as she made for the door.
“I notice Crew’s skipping off today too, which is just swell.”
“And how is that my fault, buster?” called Ruby, disappearing into class.
If you didn’t know it, you might imagine that Ruby Redfort and Del Lasco weren’t even friends at all — but they were. Good friends in fact. Del Lasco had a mouth on her, that was for sure, but she was also very loyal. No one could deny that if the chips were down, you could count on Del to wade in and punch someone on your behalf, even if you didn’t want them punched.
Mr. Endell was talking about white noise today. Which was pretty interesting, as it turned out, and sort of helpful given what Ruby was investigating for Spectrum. White noise, according to Mr. Endell, was a kind of noise produced by combining every frequency together, from high to low — like someone playing every key on a piano at the same time.
What was interesting to Ruby was that white noise could be used to
mask
other sounds, including voices. This was because the ear was so busy dealing with so many different notes and tones, all sounding at once, that it couldn’t manage to tune in to just one voice.
Mr. Endell demonstrated this by turning on his desk fan, which he pointed out produced a kind of white noise, and then speaking at a normal volume.
He said, “ .”
“What?” chorused the class.
“I was saying,” said Mr. Endell, turning off the fan, “that spies and secret agents have actually manufactured white-noise machines to stop other spies and secret agents from listening in to their conversations. Think of white noise as thousands of voices all talking at the same moment. It’s possible to tune in to one voice in a group of chatting people. But there’s no way you can tune into one voice in a crowd of a thousand.”
Kinda fascinating,
thought Ruby. Could someone be using something like this to block Mayday calls and cargo signals and reroute shipping? There was a good chance.
It was three o’clock, and Ruby grabbed her swim bag out of her locker and hurried out to the waiting bus. Swim practice was going to be at the municipal pool due to the Dillon Flannagon Twinford Junior High pool incident. Ruby went to get changed, stuffed her bag in the locker, and walked toward the Olympic-size pool. She could hear Coach Newhart shouting instructions and generally bossing the team into shape.
Ruby got into the water and did a couple of lengths to warm up. She had her swimming goggles on and couldn’t see too well, but
Similar Books
