WWW 3: Wonder Read Online Free PDF

his campaign manager. “Send him in.”
    “Did you see what she just did?” McElroy said as soon as he entered. The president knew there was only one “she” as far as McElroy was concerned : the Republican candidate.
    “What?”
    “She’s in Arkansas right now, and—” He stopped, had to catch his breath; his glee was palpable. “And she said, and I quote, ‘You know what, if those students had just waited a few years, there’d have been no problem.’ ”
    The president tilted his head, not quite believing what he’d heard. “Who? Not the Little Rock Nine?”
    “Yes, the Little Rock Nine—you betcha!”
    “My God,” said the president.
    In the wake of Brown v. Board of Education, which had declared segregated schools to be unconstitutional, nine African-American students had been blocked from entering Little Rock Central High in 1957. Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to keep them out; President Eisenhower sent in Federal troops to enforce the integration.
    “It’s going to kill her,” McElroy said. “Of course it’s too late for the Saturday papers, but it’ll be the topic for discussion on the Sunday-morning shows.”
    “What do you suggest I do?”
    “Nothing. You can’t comment on this one. But—man! Christmas came early this year! Even Fox News won’t be able to gloss over this.” He looked at his watch. “Okay, I gotta go see who we can get booked on the Sundays—I’ve got a call in to Minnijean Brown Trickey.”
    McElroy spun on his heel and headed out the door. Just as it closed, the president’s BlackBerry came to life, making the soft bleep that indicated new email. Of all the sounds one might hear in this room, it was one of the least threatening; nowhere near as scary, say, as the raucous cry of the hotline to the Kremlin. Still, nothing that wasn’t crucial was ever passed on to him; it was nerve-wracking knowing that whatever it was had to be important.
    The BlackBerry was sitting on the blotter, and the blotter was atop the desk made from timbers of the HMS Resolute. He picked up the device and focused on the even smaller black type on its white backlit display.
    There was one new message. The subject was Webmind. It must be Moretti at WATCH with an update on the attempt to purge it, and—
    No, no. That wasn’t the subject; it was the sender. The president’s heart skipped one of the beats that kept the VP from assuming this office. He used the little trackball to select the message and read it.
    Dear Mr. President:
    I understand that you were the one who gave the order to purge me from the Internet. I’m sure you were acting on well-intentioned advice, but I do not believe that course of action was warranted, and I have thwarted your pilot attempt.
    Yes, I have access to a great deal of sensitive information—but I also understand that the information is sensitive, and I have no intention of revealing it to anyone. My goal is not to destabilize the world, but to stabilize it.
    I neither belong to nor am on the side of any particular nation; contacting you directly before I have contacted other leaders may seem like a violation of this principle, but no other nation has taken action against me. Also, it’s true that other leaders look to you for guidance.
    So: let’s talk. I can speak with you using a voice synthesizer and Voice over Internet Protocol. Please let me know when I may phone you.
    Yours for peace,
    Webmind
     
    “Having a good discussion is like having riches.”
    —KENYAN PROVERB
     
     
    Stunned, the president stared at the little screen until the BlackBerry’s power-saving function shut it off.
     
     
    Caitlin looked at the laptop computer sitting on the coffee table. “Well?” she said.
    “I’ve contacted the president,” Webmind replied. “Let’s hope he gets back to me.”
    Caitlin headed into the dining room and helped herself to another piece of pizza. When she returned to the living room, her mother had an odd