Crow - The Awakening Read Online Free PDF Page A

tucked away in there. "Well, I might be able to part with four pounds. But I'm really pushing it."
    "Deal!" The Russian beamed. They always haggled like this and it was a game they both enjoyed. While most of his customers needed a virus cleaned or a repair, Steven really pushed the limits of his resources for the computer project he was working on. Grinning, Steven bagged up four bottles of his honey in a sewn canvas sack and pushed it toward him. "Don't forget to bring the bottles and bag back when you're done."
    "You bet." He grabbed the bag and looked at the delicious honey. His wife will be so pleased. "How close are you?"
    "I got it to boot up a couple days ago! I just need to get the wireless working and I'm in business." Steven beamed. He'd built his computer from scrounged pieces that used to be from several laptops and ordered what he couldn't find from scraps to fill in the holes. "The new bootloader I wrote works great, but I'm having trouble getting the wireless driver to work. I think the chip is buggy and the manufacturer hacked it to work, so I just need to back trace their fix and make it work on my system."
    Dmitri was about to pursue that line of thought when a couple of men in their young twenties stepped up to the booth. By their appearance, Steven guessed they were from Seattle or some other major metropolitan area. More chefs, he hoped. They usually took at least half of his cases. One was carrying a few canvas bags of produce and mushrooms. Steven could tell some came from Jonah's booth. Definitely a chef, Steven thought to himself. As they looked at the display, picking up a jar of honey and looking at it in the light, Steven grabbed a gallon jar of his honey and put it next to his display and grabbed his sample jar and a pair of fresh spoons. Dmitri moved over to let them shop the booth. He wanted to pick Steven's brains a bit more about his little project so he waited patiently. It's not every day a kid as young as Steven writes his own operating system.
    "So you're the young beekeeper everyone is talking about," the chef beamed, admiring the display of golden joy. "Shawn from Palm Kitchen wouldn't stop talking about you so I had to come see for myself." He took a sample and tasted it, closing his eyes. "Oh yeah. That will work great. I'll take that gallon." He looked at the display for a second. "And this." He held up a block of wax. "My wife makes lotions and soaps." His friend tried a sample, too, and nodded. "Wow. There's nothing quite like real honey."
    "I remember Shawn. He was here last weekend." Steven smiled widely. It was great to have chefs talk to each other and make the trip to get his honey. He grabbed another canvas bag and sacked up the honey and the wax. "If your wife likes the wax, I've got a lot more as well as propolis and pollen." He held the handles of the bag up for the customers. "And let me know what your customers think of the honey. There's lots more where that came from."
    The chef's friend leaned in. "I heard you talking some serious computer talk. We have summer camps and intern programs you might be interested in." He handed him a business card for a tech company in Seattle. He was a recruiting executive, always on the lookout for new and budding talent.
    Steven looked over at his godparents to make sure they weren't overhearing the conversation as he pocketed the business card. His computer project was getting more attention than he was comfortable with. "Thanks. Yeah, well, I dabble." He wrote out a receipt for the chef, hoping the conversation wouldn't continue. Dmitri was familiar with his godparent's anti-computer stance, but the customers were not.
    "Dabble? Writing an operating system at your age?" Dmitri was particularly proud since he was Steven's computer mentor, though now Steven was moving beyond even his own capabilities. There were a lot of geeks vying for jobs but not many with such natural talent and drive. "I used to teach him, but he teaches me