Beasties, page 17
“That’s pretty sucky,” Dylan said. “But what does it have to do with us?”
“Let me begin by saying, first, we think we can program Proteus to control which animal you become,” Gould replied, “And second, we have decided on total secrecy about the Proteus Project—crucially, no one beyond this table. As you know, Chester Peebles and Walter Buttz are in jail. They will keep quiet if they know what’s good for them. And no one will believe them if they don’t. So that leaves just us.”
“Is there a third part?” I asked.
Gould clicked to an image of a tiny motherboard with a complicated array of chips and pin lights. “For years our spy operations have infiltrated enemy governments. But even the best spies risk exposure, torture, and worse. The bad ones can turn on us, put the lives of our citizens in danger, so we rely more and more on tech. Nano, AI, miniature recording devices, pinhead cameras. Safer than risking human resources.”
As the image of the motherboard exploded, Ms. Twombley said, “Alas, even the best devices are far from perfect. They can be detected and disabled.”
Silas Gould put his knuckles on the table and leaned in. “But no one,” he said, “will ever suspect a living creature that is . . . not human.”
A brief silence hung in the room, like a bad smell.
“Are you suggesting,” Dad said, “that our children—minors—”
“This is unthinkable!” Sara’s mom said.
“Please, hear us out,” Ms. Twombley insisted.
The slides changed one by one: An image of a mouse looking out from a hole into a board room. A cockroach in a wall sconce. A squirrel in an open window. A collie curled up in a corner. A caption appeared: “Turn to Page 3.”
My hands were shaking. Page 3 was full of tiny type: Safety protocols . . . camouflage aids . . . rescue commitments . . . and a heading that read in part “PROPOSAL SUBMITTED/APPROVED BY POTUS.”
“P-P-POTUS?” I said, “As in . . . ?”
“The one and only,” Gould replied, as he clicked to a short video clip of the president of the United States, all smiles.
“Riley, Kate, Mason, Sara, and Dylan, and families,” came the voice we’d been hearing every day on the news. “I look forward to welcoming you all to the White House. What we have in mind is simply this: the most elite spy organization in the history of the known world. With the full force and support of the most powerful government on earth. It will be the ultimate opportunity to serve your country the way no one ever has before. We have sophisticated safety protocols, fail-safes, and procedures, all of which I hope I can discuss with you. Because none of this—I repeat, none—happens without your consent. I hope you’ll agree to meet with me—and have a wonderful day.”
As the image faded, I think my jaw dropped to the table.
“WOWOWOW!” Mason said, pumping his fist in the air. “Yes!”
“Why is my name always last?” Dylan grumbled.
The grown-ups were all talking at once. Arguing. Shouting. Gould, Ms. Twombley, and Bruno sat there watching. Hopefully.
I felt a little confused. Us? Us, total nobodies, Loeser Loser kids? Us, international spies? As animals?
I’d hated being a rat. But Gould had just said they could control which animal we became. Maybe being another Beastie would be cooler. Like a wolverine. Or a vampire bat. Swoop in, hide out, help your country, be a hero . . .
“Sorry,” Sara said under her breath, “but this sounds possibly very amazing.”
“I like it,” Mason said. “Dude, I like it.”
“I call being the leader!” Dylan announced.
Kate gave me a look. Did she think this was as impossible as I did?
Did she think this was as awesome as I did?
“Cawww, cawwww,” she said softly.
Yeah. I knew it.
She did.
About the Author
Photo by Joseph Lerangis
PETER LERANGIS is the author of more than one hundred seventy books, which have sold more than six-and-a-half million copies and been translated into thirty-five languages. These include the five books in the New York Times bestselling Seven Wonders series (The Colossus Rises, Lost in Babylon, The Tomb of Shadows, The Curse of the King, and The Legend of the Rift), two books in the 39 Clues series, and the Max Tilt and Throwback trilogies. He lives in New York City with his family. Visit him online at peterlerangis.com.
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Books by Peter Lerangis
Seven Wonders
The Colossus Rises
Lost in Babylon
The Tomb of Shadows
The Curse of the King
The Legend of the Rift
Max Tilt
Fire the Depths
80 Days or Die
Enter the Core
Throwback
Throwback
Out of Time
The Chaos Loop
Copyright
BEASTIES. Copyright © 2025 by Peter Lerangis. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover art © 2025 by Alessandro D’Urso
Cover design by Stephanie Hays
Library of Congress Control Number: 2024950108
Digital Edition APRIL 2025 ISBN: 978-0-06-328540-8
Print ISBN 978-0-06-328538-5
FIRST EDITION
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Peter Lerangis, Beasties
