“You don’t seem to be very happy to be going home,” Christopher told her that evening at dinner. “I had a great time these past few weeks, but I’m not ashamed to say that I miss my mom and dad, and my room, and my own bed.”

“I miss my parents too,” said Astrid. “I miss Toby… and um, all the gang. It’s just that there’s so much going on and it’s all coming to a head so quickly.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Paige.

“She’s talking about Maxxim Industries,” explained Christopher.

“Well, you just have to trust your parents to take care of that.”

“Letting other people take care of things isn’t the Astrid Maxxim way,” he replied. “Or haven’t you been paying attention these past eight or nine years.”

“You aren’t going to get yourself into trouble, are you Astrid?” asked Paige.

“Again,” said Christopher. “Have you been paying attention?”

“My father always say decide what you do, then do,” said Océane. “He say do not worry. It does not help.”

“That’s good advice,” said Astrid. “And it sounds just like something Dr. Feuillée would say.”

When they returned to their rooms, Astrid searched through her luggage and found her cell phone. The battery was completely dead, so she plugged it in through her travel voltage converter. As soon as she did, it rang, startling her.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Astrid.”

“Hi, Mom. Shouldn’t you still be in bed there?”

“No, it’s morning here, very early morning.”

“Oh, okay. Well it’s good to hear your voice. I’m looking forward to getting home.”

“I’m sure you are,” said her mother, taking a tone that usually meant Astrid was in some kind of trouble. “I just received a call from the campus main gate. They have a Captain David Bonnefoy there, saying that you invited him to see you in your lab. I told them I didn’t know anything about it, because I don’t.”

“Oh, well I did sort of invite him,” said Astrid. “I didn’t set a specific day though. I thought I would contact him when I got back.”

“Why exactly is he here and why are you contacting grown men to come and visit you?”

“He’s just there to help me with an experiment. Can you arrange for him to stay at the Maxxim City Hotel for a few days? I’m sure he won’t mind staying over. He probably has his wife and his sister with him too, so maybe a suite.”

“I’m not very happy about this young lady. I have a great deal on my plate right now and I don’t have time to clean up after an absent-minded girl genius.”