{"product_id":"swift-and-hawk-undercover-isbn-9781536242041","title":"Swift and Hawk: Undercover","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Chock-full of appeal for spy thriller fans.\" —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn what should be a routine mission to stop a hack at a tech company, young spies Caleb Swift and Zen Rafiq—code names Swift and Hawk—discover out-of-control weaponized robots threatening to escape into the street. With help from Caleb’s AI companion, Sam, they avoid catastrophe. But this isn’t a one-time incident: a dangerous organization is behind the attack, and now they’re plotting something even more sinister. Fortunately, Zen is the perfect candidate to infiltrate the group. Caleb thinks it’s too dangerous, but who else can climb, fight, and build microbots as well as Zen? Plus, she’ll have Caleb’s incredible tech skills behind her, not to mention the support of the ARC Institute’s elite Möbius Program. Going undercover is a big risk, but with lives on the line, it’s one Swift and Hawk will have to take. Packed with high-octane chases, epic cyber-battles, and the latest gadgets, the second adventure in this exciting series is an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride.The next generation of superspies. I loved it. High tech, high spec, and high adventure. My new favorite adventure series!\u003cbr\u003e—Eoin Colfer, author of the #1 best-selling Artemis Fowl\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTalented kids infiltrate a ring of pacifist fanatics and go for a rematch with shadowy evildoers in this brisk sequel . . . . Chock-full of appeal for spy thriller fans.\u003cbr\u003e—Kirkus Reviews\u003cb\u003eLogan Macx\u003c\/b\u003e is the pen name of Edward Docx and Matthew Plampin. Edward Docx is an award-winning novelist and journalist. Matthew Plampin is the author of several historical novels and lectures in nineteenth-century art and architecture. They live in London.\u003cb\u003e1\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eSwift and Hawk to the Rescue\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This was an emergency. Caleb Quinn and Zen Rafiq—code-named Swift and Hawk—were strapped into the seats of a specially converted Aston Martin, watching the British countryside race by at close to one hundred miles per hour. They were heading for a research facility in Cambridge, owned by the American robotics company SolTec. Some kind of cybersecurity breach had occurred, and their mission—as Professor Clay had explained to them back in London—was “to stop an embarrassing mess from turning into a very public disaster.”\u003cbr\u003e   Caleb and Zen both went to a special computing and technology school called the ARC Institute, which stood for AI, Robotics, and Cybertech. A few months earlier, they’d been recruited into the Möbius Program—a secretive organization run by Professor Clay, the ARC’s deputy principal, that used the unique skills of the ARC’s pupils to solve high-tech spy problems. Today, Clay had personally taken them out of their morning classes and scrambled them into one of the ARC’s prototype electric cars.\u003cbr\u003e   “Why are we helping SolTec, exactly?” Caleb had asked.\u003cbr\u003e   “It’s a favor,” Clay had replied. “Call for backup if you need it. Mr. Mitchell will get you there.”\u003cbr\u003e   And it was Lance Mitchell who was now at the wheel of the car—weaving in and out of the regular highway traffic with incredible precision, anticipating gaps and accelerating into empty lanes—all at heart-stopping speed. Mitch, as everyone called him, was the new head of security at the ARC Institute. Six foot four, white, with a square jaw and short dark hair, he’d been a US Navy SEAL and then a special agent with the CIA, before going freelance at the age of forty-seven.\u003cbr\u003e   The tires squealed as the car flew across three lanes, racing down the hard shoulder. Caleb could not stop himself from wincing and grabbing at the dashboard. He glanced in the rearview mirror; Zen was reading the briefing Clay had given them at the ARC, completely unconcerned.\u003cbr\u003e   “You know,” he said, “I think it would be way better if this was a self-driving car.”\u003cbr\u003e   Mitch grinned as he eased back into the middle lane between two tractor trailers. “Welcome to old-school ops, kid. Back in the day, we solved all our problems with gasoline and guns.” He stood hard on the accelerator. “Let’s give this baby some gas.”\u003cbr\u003e   “It’s an electric car, Mitch,” Caleb said. “There is no gas.”\u003cbr\u003e   “And your generation didn’t solve any problems,” said Zen from the back seat, without looking up. “You just made everything ten times worse.”\u003cbr\u003e   Mitch shook his head. “You ARC kids . . . you’re too smart for your own good.”\u003cbr\u003e   He yanked at the wheel and dragged them down the outside of a luxury bus. The gap between it and the barrier was almost too tight—but they shot through before it could close any farther.\u003cbr\u003e   “If this is how you handle our security,” Caleb said, “I’d hate to see you on a reckless streak.”\u003cbr\u003e   An even, synthesized voice spoke through the car’s speakers. “Our journey would be seventeen minutes faster if we exited at the next police ramp.”\u003cbr\u003e   It was Sam, Caleb’s artificial intelligence program. The name was short for Simulated Autonomous Medic; Sam had originally been coded by Caleb’s dad, Patrick, as a medical AI. After his dad passed away two years ago, Caleb had significantly upgraded and expanded the program. Sam mostly interacted with the world via a special handset Caleb had made, which he called the Flex.\u003cbr\u003e   “This route leads through the back of a farm,” Sam continued, “and then along some very minor roads. But we would avoid a considerable amount of congestion ahead.”\u003cbr\u003e   “Let’s do it,” Caleb said. “We need all the time we can get.”\u003cbr\u003e   Mitch was now tailgating a plumber’s van with some intensity. “Please don’t tell me that we’re going to let that Alexa thing of yours give us directions.”\u003cbr\u003e   “Be nice, Mitch,” Caleb said. “Sam is a thousand times more sophisticated than Alexa and Siri put together.”\u003cbr\u003e   “The ramp is five hundred feet ahead,” the AI said. “Just off the hard shoulder.”\u003cbr\u003e   The car cut through a gap in the traffic, picking up speed.\u003cbr\u003e   “Given the weight of this car and its occupants,” Sam said, “we will need to hit the ramp at an angle of twenty degrees off center and a velocity of seventy-nine miles per hour to clear the fence and land safely on the track on the far side.”\u003cbr\u003e    \u003ci\u003e“What?”\u003c\/i\u003e Mitch exclaimed. “Who said anything about jumping a\u003ci\u003e fence?\u003c\/i\u003e”\u003cbr\u003e   “Come on, Mitch,” said Zen, putting the Möbius briefing aside. “I thought we were doing this old school.”\u003cbr\u003e   “You guys have no idea what it takes to pull off a car jump so that we don’t roll and crash,” said Mitch through gritted teeth.\u003ci\u003e “No idea.”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “You are quite heavy for your height and age, Mr. Mitchell,” said Sam. “We will need to accelerate if we are to clear the fence and make the track.”\u003cbr\u003e   “I won’t take that personally,” Mitch said. “OK, hold on. Here we go.”\u003cbr\u003e   Caleb was pushed back into his seat as the car sped toward the small ramp of the police-only vantage point, off to the side of the hard shoulder. They soared into the air, flying over the low fence at the edge of the highway. Caleb gripped the ceiling handle above his head—the car was surely going to crash into the field beyond. But then a farm track appeared, and half a second later they were bumping down again, bouncing forward, careening from side to side.\u003cbr\u003e   Mitch hit the accelerator and fought with the wheel, trying to bring the car under some kind of control without sliding into a nearby ditch.\u003cbr\u003e   “Nice!” Caleb cried.\u003cbr\u003e   “You’ve got some serious driving skills, Mitch!” said Zen.\u003cbr\u003e   “I’m getting too old for this,” muttered the security chief. “Now what, Sam?”\u003cbr\u003e   “Proceed straight past those trees ahead,” the AI replied. “Then follow the dirt track to the right—among the farm buildings that you will see in roughly thirty seconds’ time.”\u003cbr\u003e   The sleek black car shot by a copse and jolted over a cattle grid into a farmyard. Just as they rounded the corner of a barn, however, a tractor appeared, driving directly toward them with prongs lowered. Caleb ducked in his seat, certain they were going to be impaled. Somehow, though, Mitch was already executing a hand-brake turn—sending them sliding through a towering heap of . . . horse manure.\u003cbr\u003e   For a moment, everything went dark—then the wipers came on, clearing wide crescents in the muck. Caleb looked out through the one-way glass. The farmer was gazing down from his tractor with pure astonishment at what must have looked to him like a cross between a stealth bomber and some of the fastest-traveling horse dung in the world.\u003cbr\u003e   “Great route, Sam,” said Mitch. “Really great.”\u003cbr\u003e    “Is that sarcasm, Mr. Mitchell? Should I engage my sarcasm-learning subroutine, Caleb?”\u003cbr\u003e   “Not right now,” Caleb said. “We need some new directions.”\u003cbr\u003e   The AI guided them out of the farmyard and along a series of narrow, twisty lanes. They reached a main road heading into the center of Cambridge. Mitch accelerated again, tearing along before swerving deftly across a busy rotary, to a chorus of angry horns. Shortly afterward, the car was racing alongside a perimeter fence.\u003cbr\u003e   “I think this is the SolTec facility,” said Zen, peering through her filth-splattered window.\u003cbr\u003e   “That is correct, Zen,” said Sam. “The entry road is on the left. I am detecting a security gate. Should I—”\u003cbr\u003e   “Hack it, Sam,” Caleb told him, gripping the dashboard as Mitch threw them into a screeching left-hand turn. “Get us in.”\u003cbr\u003e   They whizzed along a short driveway as the gate slid open up ahead. The gap was only just wide enough, but Mitch squeezed them through without slowing down. A large white-and-blue sign flashed by, saying, S\u003ci\u003eoltec: Robotics for Tomorrow.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   Caleb saw Zen roll her eyes. “Nice slogan,” she said. “Totally original.”\u003cbr\u003e   “More sarcasm there, Sam,” Mitch said with a grin. “You’re going to have to learn it someday. Might be the defining human characteristic.”\u003cbr\u003e   The manure-plastered car skidded to a halt in front of the compound’s main building, reflected in the dark, mirrored glass that covered its facade. A sandy-haired man with a goatee, rimless glasses, and a shiny black SolTec shirt was standing by the front entrance. He’d been talking into a smartphone but was now staring at them in utter mystification.\u003cbr\u003e   “I’m guessing he’s the welcoming committee,” said Caleb.\u003cbr\u003e   “Facial scans indicate that he is Dr. Aiden Lennox,” said Sam, “the director of this facility.”\u003cbr\u003e   Mitch turned off the engine, straightened his black tie, and adjusted the holster under his jacket. “Stay close, you two,” he said. “Let me handle this.”","brand":"Walker Books US","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304744308965,"sku":"NP9781536242041","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781536242041.jpg?v=1767737678","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/swift-and-hawk-undercover-isbn-9781536242041","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}