Epoch by Timothy Carter Page B

end, since he’d all but decided to skip today’s classes. A good education was important, or so he’d been told many times over by his parents, his teachers, and his brother. Right now, though, doing something about the end of the world seemed just a tad more urgent than math and geography.
    They reached the edge of the school’s football field and headed for the parking lot. Grimbowl pointed as a limo pulled into the lot, and Vincent watched as the school’s richest kid got out.
    “Barnaby Wilkins,” he said with a full dose of contempt.
    “You know him?” Grimbowl said. “Good. That’ll make things easier.”
    “You want me to beat him up?” Vincent asked hopefully, the memory of Big Tom’s bruises still fresh in his mind.
    “Nope,” Grimbowl said. “We want you to make friends with him.”
    “Oh come on!” Vincent said. “You want me to hang out with that jerk?”
    “Yes,” Grimbowl replied.
    “I won’t do it.”
    “Oh yes you will,” Grimbowl replied. “If you don’t want your head to explode, you’ll do exactly what I say.”
    Vincent grunted but made no further comment. The elf was right and he knew it.
    “I’m right,” Grimbowl said. “And you know it.”
    “Okay, fine, I’ll make friends with Barnaby,” Vincent said. “But why? What do you care about some rich kid?”
    “You remember my buddy Plimpton?” Grimbowl said. “He got a look at the science fair project Barnaby did, the one on government conspiracies. We think he might be on to something. You ever hear of the Portal Sites?”
    “Portal Sites?” Vincent said. “What are those?” If he admitted he knew about Portal Sites, Grimbowl would have wanted to know how, and Vincent didn’t want the elves knowing about his meeting with the pixies if he could help it. He had the feeling the two groups didn’t exactly get along.
    “So you think the government is hiding these Portal Sites?” Vincent said when Grimbowl had finished explaining.
    “That’s what you’re going to find out,” Grimbowl said. “Go make friends with him, find out where he got the idea for his project, then tell me what he knows. Got it?”
    “Sure, whatever,” Vincent said. “Why didn’t you stick a bug up his nose?”
    “Because … because we got you first,” the elf said. “Boy, you ask a lot of questions. You know what? No more questions, kid.”
    “But what … aarg!”
    “That’s right,” Grimbowl said. “That’s what you get. Now stop rolling around on the ground clutching your head and go make friends with Barnaby.”
    When he was able, Vincent got back up and headed for the school parking lot. Barnaby was still there, chatting away with his two bodyguards, Bruno and Boots.
    “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Vincent muttered as he approached his enemy. “Somehow, I’ve got to get that bug out of my nose.”
    Barnaby saw him coming, and immediately alerted his bodyguards to Vincent’s presence. Vincent thought hard, trying to think what to say. How, exactly, do you make friends with someone you hate? What would they possibly have to talk about?
    “Hey, Barnaby,” Vincent said, stopping two meters short of him. “What’s new?”
    Barnaby stared at him in momentary bewilderment. Vincent took that as a good sign and kept going.
    “Nice day, huh?” he said, trying to effect a genuine smile.
    “What,” Barnaby said, “do you want?”
    “Nothing,” Vincent said, eyeing the bodyguards. Their expressions were unreadable under their shades, but Vincent had the distinct impression they wanted to do him harm. All it would take was one word from Barnaby, and they’d be on him.
    “Get him,” Barnaby said.
    Okay, maybe two words.
    “Wait!” Vincent cried as Bruno grabbed him by his shirt and hefted him into the air. “I wanted to talk about your science fair project.”
    “What about it?” Barnaby asked, watching with amusement as his minder turned Vincent upside down and held him by his foot.
    “It was really