The Treasure of El Patron (7 page)

But there’s something strange about the town. The people all dress and act alike. Everyone’s
too
polite. And they’re all eerily obedient to the bosses at Folsum Labs.

Though he has been warned not to leave town, Jim wanders into the nearby mountains looking for excitement.
There he meets Maria, a mountain girl with a shocking secret that involves Folsum Laboratories, a dangerous mind control experiment, and—most frightening of all—Jim’s family.

Skydive!

Jesse Rodriguez has a pretty exciting job for a thirteen-year-old, working for his friend Buck at a small flight and skydiving school near Seattle. But he still can’t wait to turn sixteen and finally be old enough to make his first jump. Buck has been like a father to him ever since Jesse’s dad died, and has made sure Jesse picks up all he needs to know about skydiving while he does odd jobs around the airport.

But Jesse and his friend Robin Waterford have also learned something very disturbing. Someone’s been using the airport for an illegal transportation operation, and Jesse’s worried that Buck’s involved. Jesse and Robin are soon in the middle of a dangerous international situation, forced to make their first jumps sooner than they ever expected!

The Seventh Crystal

Each day at exactly three
P.M
., Chris Masters faces two great challenges. First he races home, trying to avoid the school bullies who have made a career of beating him up. Then, once he’s safely back in his bedroom, he takes on another opponent—a computer game called The Seventh Crystal.

The high-tech game arrived mysteriously in the mail one day, without a return address or a letter from the sender. Chris doesn’t even know who created it, but he does know The Seventh Crystal is the most challenging computer game he has ever faced. Chris becomes obsessed with mastering the game. So obsessed that the game seems
real
—and then Chris has something much bigger than bullies to worry about.