“Where’s Sri Lanka?”
“It’s an island in the Indian Ocean.”
“Would you use my communications program?” Eric asked.
Eric wasn’t talking about software he’d bought. It was what he had written.
“No,” I said. “I’m going to use MODEM7, because I’m familiar with it.”
“Couldn’t you say you used a communications program written by Eric Meyer, age twelve?” he asked. It wasn’t the worst twist in the world—good for the book, good for Eric, who, as a reporter’s son, showed a precocious public relations sense. “I won’t use it to reach Clarke,” I said, “but you can use it to send your file to me.”
“All right.”
“Read 2001,” I said.
Eric readily agreed.
“I remember the title,” he said later, “but I was out when one of the kids in my class gave a report on it.”