"Huey Duck?" DASA director, J. Gander Hooter looked him over with a skeptical eye as he welcomed him into his office.

"Yes, sir." Huey shook his hand, smirking. I don't really look like a nerd, do I? "Thank you for meeting with me." He followed the little man and closed the door behind him.

"Jane spoke very highly of you. Although, I must be frank, I did a bit of research on you myself before agreeing to meet with you." J. Gander took a seat behind his desk. "I must say, your portfolio is impressive. Being Scrooge McDuck's nephew, there's no wonder why you've excelled in the world of exploration and research. And you've only just graduated high school?"

Huey swallowed hard, sitting across from him with his list of prepared questions… but it seemed that J. Gander had more real questions for him.

"I called your highschool. I wanted to make sure that this meeting would be productive for both of us." Director Hooter clasped his hands together on his desk. "They said you could have graduated two years early. Why on earth did you stay? From an academic standpoint, you're far beyond your years and have your pick of esteemed colleges."

Huey rubbed the back of his neck. Man, I didn't realize this was going to be a personal evaluation. I signed to interview him, not the other way around. He took a deep breath and straightened his chair. "Well, sir, I'm a triplet. Moving out of highschool before my brothers didn't feel right. We're a team." As often as they seem to forget that. "I didn't want to leave them behind."

"Ah, yes, very admirable indeed."

"Besides, the fast track was a little too fast for me. I had… other things to work on in highschool." He ran his hand through the curls that sprung up from his head. Taming these things enough to get noticed was one of them. He blew at the one curl that fell in front of his eyes.

"Well, I'm glad to see your interest has shifted to this field. It's much needed."

Huey nodded, barely listening as he looked down at his list of questions. "Mr. Hooter, I have a few questions for my research paper. I thought an interview from you would do wonders for a future research paper for college. I'm getting ahead of the game a little bit, but I didn't want to wait until I started classes and had a full schedule."

"Fire away, young man."

He proceeded with his interview questions, writing down the director's answers and, honestly, being thoroughly intrigued by his respondes. However, the older man didn't seem to be paying much attention to the questions.

While Huey jotted an answer down, Director Hooter spoke up. "You're going to Duckburg University?"

Huey's pen stuck to the paper. Uh oh… did he call them too? If that's the case then he'll know I didn't enroll. He'll wonder what this interview is for. "Uh, well, it's the main school that's been after me all these years. I mean, why not?" That's not a total lie. That college mail is relentless!

"I think you'll find your talents are wasted there."

Interest piqued, Huey set down his pad and paper. "What do you mean?"

"At thirteen years old your entries were published in the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook. You've won robotics awards and excelled at nearly everything you've put your mind to. From what I can tell, Duckburg University doesn't deserve you."

I mean, that's all true, but what's he getting at?

"What do you think about interning here at DASA over the school year?"

Huey's jaw dropped. He couldn't move. He just stared straight ahead, his heart pounding out of his chest. Did I hear that right? No. I must be dreaming. This is DASA we're talking about.

"I'm sure you'll be able to keep up with both your class work at DU and tasks here. I'd possibly be able to pay you. We'd have to take a closer look at your resume and check with accounting, but I think you'd make a great addition to our team. It'd give you lots of hands-on experience and we could use a resourceful young man like yourself picking our scientists' brains."

He couldn't talk, couldn't think straight.

"As you know, we don't normally offer internships out of the blue like this, but after researching your work, I'd be an idiot to pass up on the opportunity to claim you for DASA." The director smiled at him and chuckled. "I know it's a lot to take in. If you'd like to take some time to think about it, I completely understand."

Huey blinked. "I… erm… I…." Pull yourself together! Be professional. Taking a deep breath, he swallowed the lump in his throat and met eyes with the director. "Thank you for the offer, sir. You have no idea how much this opportunity means to me."

What do I say? I can't say yes, can I? I told Mom I wasn't going to college this year. But if I do the internship, I could stay in Duckburg and be close to Louie. His stomach churned. Ugh, but then I'd have to attend Duckburg University. J. Gander is right, their programs kinda suck. But… the opportunity to work at DASA? With rocket ships and space rovers?! I mean, seriously! How can I pass that up?!

But what if Dad really does work here? I wouldn't want to risk running into him every day. I could even get put on the same project as him. That would be awkward. "Hey, Dad, guess what? The son you abandoned and left forever is going to help you with your rocket ship plans." Worst. Reunion. Ever.

"Buuut?" J. Gander raised his brow.

Huey shook himself out of his thoughts and cleared his throat. "I'd like to take some time to think about it."

"Of course! I fully expected that. You're a young man planning for his future. My only hope is that you consider one with us." He smiled, folding his hands on his desk. "Now, can I answer any more questions for your paper?"

Huey rubbed the back of his neck and stared down at his list of crossed off questions. Ask him. Just ask him. If Dewey and Webby don't find that file, I'll regret keeping my mouth shut. "Actually, I do have one question."

"I'm all ears."

Huey leaned back in his chair, trying his best to play nonchalant like he didn't care what the answer to his next question was… even though his chest squeezed with anticipation. He cleared his throat. "Do you know of a… Samuel Duck? Is he one of your DASA scientists?" His heart rate skyrocketed as soon as the name was out of his mouth.

J. Gander rubbed his chin. "Hmm… Samuel Duck? I don't believe so. Whose that?"

Huey's heart dropped. Why am I disappointed? It's not like I wanted to find him anyway. He sighed. "Oh, he's no one important. I was under the impression that he worked for DASA. Apparently I was ill informed."

"I'm sorry, son. I don't believe I know anyone by that name."

"You and me both." Just another dead end to another dark family secret.