FROM RUSSIA WITH LUNCH
A Chet Gecko Mystery
An excerpt from Chapter 1 - All Booked Up
A woodchuck in a white lab coat stepped out from behind the mysterious thingamabob. She was as stiff as a grasshopper popsicle. Her furry cheeks were full and sleek, and her blue eyes were colder than a Siberian snowball.
"A girl inventor?" I blurted.
"Da," said Dr. Lightov.
Shirley Chameleon poked me in the back. "Girls can do anything boys can, but better."
"If you're talking about spreading cooties at lightspeed," I said, "you're right."
This earned me another, harder poke.
"Settle down," Mr. Zero growled. "Your class will be the first to see this new invention because Dr. Lightov is the aunt of your classmate, Pete Moss."
"Peter, dahling," said Dr. Lightov, "vould you kindly help me?"
The little brown groundhog shrugged. He looked like he'd rather perform dental surgery on a grizzly bear, but he shuffled forward.
His aunt told us, "Zhis machine vill automate all ze vork in ze library. Storytime, book selection, checkout — everyzhing."
Bitty Chu's hand shot up. "But what about our librarian, Cool Beans?" she asked. "What will
he do?"
Principal Zero cleared his throat. "He will be, ah, leaving us."
"Leaving?" I said. "No way!"
I turned to the huge possum leaning up against a bookshelf. He offered a sleepy smile. "Cool your jets, Jackson," said the librarian.
No more Cool Beans?
Before I could protest, Dr. Lightov whipped the sheet off of her invention. "Behold," she said, "ze amazing Bibliomalgamator!"
"Ooh!" went my classmates.
The gleaming contraption sported a bank of lights and switches and monitors. The doctor pressed a red button. Everything lit up and whirred.
I hated to admit it, but it was pretty slick.
"Ve insert ze books here," the woodchuck said. She and Pete lugged armloads of novels from a nearby shelf and slipped them one by one into a wide hole.
