Chapter 9: Acceptance

Friday, two days since Alex had announced his acceptance of Professor Peter Peach's offer to the Eppes brothers, and both had tried their best to dissuade him. But Alex was adamant in his decision. There was something wrong with Peach and Munchie, and he wanted to find it, to see it through.

So, at lunch, Alex went to Peach's office to tell her about accepting the study offer. Alex arrived at the office door only to find it locked and looking in through the windowed door, he say Peach and her assistant deep in conversation.

Quickly, Alex ducked back, not wanting to be seen. He took out the mobile phone Smithers had given him almost two weeks ago, and pointed the antennae at the door. Alex switched to the MP3 component, and started to eavesdrop.

They were talking in German.

"We're low on test subjects Peter."

"So we're just going to stock up on them. Who's next?"

"Frank Willows."

"Ah, yes. The fat kid," Peach said.

Alex could imagine her nodding thoughtfully.

Then, footsteps. Getting louder. Conversation stopped. The abrupt lack of speech was unnerving.

Suddenly, out of the blue.

"Scabbing."

It was spoken with such roughness, that Alex was thrown off balance. There was something seriously wrong. It sounded as if the speaker was neither Peach nor Munchie, but they were alone. It had to be one of them. Besides, how did scabbing relate to being low on test subjects?

Whoosh! Peach's office door was suddenly wrenched open. Munchie's head appeared around the corner, and Alex, startled out of his musings, had no time to put his phone away. So he did the only thing possible. Alex pretended to listen to the MP3 music files.

"What do you want?" Munchie asked Alex gruffly.

"Um… Is Professor Peach in?" Alex replied, taking out his headphones.

"Professor, Alex Rider is here to see you," Munchie told the Professor, who was sitting behind her desk.

"Come in Alex," Peach called.

Alex entered the office, it was set up rather like Charlie's, minus the organized chaos that Charlie had set his movable items in, but neat and tidy – everything had its place. There was a bookshelf or rather two separate ones lining the back wall, and files and piles of work were stacked neatly on the desks.

"Professor, he was listening to MP3 music," Munchie told Peach in German.

"So?"

"He has a hearing aid."

"The hearing aid helps him to hear the music."

"As you say Professor." Munchie walked out of the office.

"Yes Alex?" Peach turned to him, speaking in English now.

"Ah, yes. Professor Peach, I'd like to take your Chemistry classes, but for every second day, beginning next Tuesday," Alex replied.

"I must be dreaming. Never got a kid as a student before. Good for experiments. He'll be a willing subject," Peach muttered to herself in German, forgetting Alex's presence in the room.

Alex politely waited for her to finish.

Finally, Peach turned around.

"Yes Alex, that's a very good arrangement."

Alex returned to Charlie's office only to hear Larry talking to Charlie, while he was working on the dispersion formula.

"Chemicals can travel through the bloodstream and the lymphatic system and act on neurotransmitters or just the neurons themselves. They have to enter the body some way, the most obvious method is though the mouth, but it can also be absorbed through the pores of the skin. Each different chemical has different rates of affecting the body," Larry was saying. "That looks like what you're working on Charles."

"You aren't happening to be talking about me are you?" Alex interrupted.

Charlie turned around and said "No!" a little too quickly.

That evening, over dinner, Don had been talking once again about the case.

"Something else fellas," he said as he sat down. "Surprise, surprise. There's another one missing. Yet, again."

Quickly Don filled Charlie and Alex in on the details, whilst Charlie added in and changed a few of the variables, and at the same time, performing that marvellous trick of eating rapidly, but politely.

Alex was silent all through the exchange and Alan noticed.

"How was your day Alex?" he asked.

"Great, got some things done very well, Alan," Alex replied casually, thinking of Peach.

"That's good," Alan added.

Charlie looked up.

"Yeah, Alex is going really well on the subject. I'm planning to begin on judgement of force. How much you may need to leap from one place the next, how much for to break the object, and the estimation of force by feel and sight," Charlie said, completely misinterpreting Alex.

"That'll definitely come in handy," Alex muttered more to himself.

Dinner ended and each went their own ways: Charlie to the garage; Alan to the kitchen, packing up; Don and Alex to Alex's bedroom. It was "Report Time".

Alex closed the door behind Don and himself as they entered the squared shaped room, which Alex was occupying during his term as an exchange student. There was a single bed in the centre, leaning against the wall opposite the door. A reddish brown, birch wood desk stood in the corner, covered with pieces of paper scattered all over the place, and Alex's laptop sat on top of it.

Ignoring all of this Don sat on the chair and Alex on the bed.

Don started. "There hasn't been much progress lately. Nothing new with Peach, but then again, there's no way David could be seen around her office most of the time. And you've just heard about Frank Willows' disappearance. How are you going?"

"I, on the other hand, have had more luck. Peach has accepted me into her Chemistry class today, of course – seeing that she was the one who asked – and so, I'll be in her classes every second day, beginning on Tuesday," Alex recounted. "There's something else. When I was outside her office, waiting to see her, I overheard something rather interesting."

Don leant forward. Curiosity peaked.

"Go on."

"Using the eavesdropping equipment that Smithers gave me, I was able to listen to an exchange between Peach and Munchie. They were speaking in German, as usual, about being low on test subjects. They also mentioned Frank Willows. Then some rather weird voice said 'scabbing'. And when I was finally admitted into the office, and I told Peach of my decision, she ended up going on about willing subjects."

"Whoa. Slow down. You mean, Frank Willows, the kid that disappeared, was mentioned by them?"

"Yeah. They're really weird. Better keep an eye on them."

"We've now got some very good leads, thanks to you Alex," Don said. "So, when are you going to tell Charlie about your new classes?"

"Tomorrow," Alex answered.

Don left, and Alex went to join Charlie in his garage, where all four walls were completely covered with chalkboards that Charlie had set up, hanging on the walls. There, Alex found Charlie rapidly scribbling across a one of them. Charlie looked up, and saw Alex, then on an impulse, started explaining.

Once Charlie had finished. Alex pitched in and gave a suggestion.

There was a look of astonishment that flashed across Charlie's face.

"It could work!" he exclaimed, and hurriedly changed some equations here, a symbol there, and went ahead to solve the problem, with Alex watching.

They had made some real progress.