Copyright 2008 Carole Marsh/ Gallopade International All rights reserved. First Edition Ebook edition Copyright 2011

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2 Copyright 2008 Carole Marsh/ Gallopade International All rights reserved. First Edition Ebook edition Copyright 2011 Carole Marsh Mysteries and its skull colophon and Masters of Disasters are the property of Carole Marsh and Gallopade International. Published by Gallopade International/Carole Marsh Books. Printed in the United States of America. Managing Editor: Sherry Moss Senior Editor: Janice Baker Assistant Editor: Mike Kelly Cover Design & Illustrations: John Kovaleski ( Content Design: Darryl Lilly, Outreach Graphics The Weather Channel is a U.S. federally registered mark of The Weather Channel, Inc. Gallopade International is introducing SAT words that kids need to know in each new book that we publish. The SAT words are bold in the story. Look for this special logo beside each word in the glossary. Happy Learning! Gallopade is proud to be a member and supporter of these educational organizations and associations: American Booksellers Association American Library Association International Reading Association National Association for Gifted Children The National School Supply and Equipment Association The National Council for the Social Studies Museum Store Association Association of Partners for Public Lands Association of Booksellers for Children This book is a complete work of fiction. All attractions, product names, or other works mentioned in this book are trademarks of their respective owners and the names and images used in this book are strictly for editorial purposes; no commercial claims to their use is claimed by the author or publisher. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. Your support of the author s rights is appreciated.

3 CHAPTER ONE: Fire in the Hole Ready? Nick Masters shouted. Fire in the hole! WHOOSSHH! The small air cannon launched the temperature probe into the air. A thin wire attached to the back end of the probe trailed it dutifully. As it reached its apex in the sky, it arched back toward the ground two miles downrange. After unpacking the snow around it, Curie Masters, Nick s older sister, removed the wire spool from the launcher and attached it to the test box.

4 2 The BEHEMOTH BLIZZARD Mystery Six down, one to go, Curie said. Here s the last one. Nick grabbed the probe and set it into the snow next to the launcher. He reset the launcher for its final blast of the day. He was sending the probes two miles out and spacing them two miles apart in a complete circle around the mountain. Curie, 11, hovered over her brother, who was only eight years old but tall for his age. Nick picked up the probe, opened a small curved door on its body, and flipped a tiny switch inside. A red light started to blink, letting Nick know that the probe was activated. He closed the door, set it in the launch tube, and attached its wire spool to the side of the launcher. Fire in the hole! Nick shouted again. WHOOSSHH! The final probe hurled itself downrange. Its nose, almost as pointed as a spear, penetrated the snow about a foot. Curie

5 Fire in the Hole 5 quickly attached the last wire spool to the test box. Let s get inside the van, Curie said, slowly feeding out the wire spools as she backed toward the van. I m getting cold. Nick opened the van s door for his sister. She quickly sat at her desk, removing each wire from its spool and attaching it to pre-labeled test leads on the control panel. The kids heard a commotion at the back of the van. Their father, Artemis Masters, suddenly appeared, carrying one of his newly designed SABER Sensors. Nick had thought of the acronym. SABER stood for Snow And Blizzard Early Response Sensor. Artemis was a scientist who invented devices to help detect natural disasters. With his wild red hair and round glasses perched on the end of his nose, Artemis looked more like a mad scientist than the brilliant one he was. How are things coming? he asked the kids. Before either of them could answer, he continued, Have either of you seen my

6 6 The BEHEMOTH BLIZZARD Mystery favorite pen? I seem to have misplaced it. He laid the sensor on Curie s desk and began to dig into the pockets of his white, oversized lab coat. It s in your shirt pocket, Dad, Nick said. Artemis looked down at his shirt. Well, I ll be a monkey s uncle, he said. It was right under my nose all this time. We re almost ready to take the readings Nick said. No, Curie said, as she tightened the last lead down and connected the test box to her laptop. She quickly booted up the custom software program that Artemis and the kids had written. Nick recorded the information from the computer s digital indicators into another program. Okay, Dad, he said. We ve got our baseline readings. Great! Artemis answered, as he sniffled. He pulled out a hanky and wiped his

7 Fire in the Hole 7 nose. I hope I m not getting a cold. You know how I detest colds. Artemis scanned the faces of his two extremely intelligent children. Nick was named for Nicolaus Copernicus, the first person to propose that the sun is the center of the universe. Curie got her name from Marie Curie, who was famous for her work on radioactivity and a two-time Nobel Prize winner. Although they were young, they were scientists in their own right. Let s head down to the bed and breakfast hotel and get settled in, Artemis said, wiping his leaky nose again. We ll get some dinner, and then start setting up the SABER sensors first thing in the morning. AHH CHOO! Artemis let out a loud sneeze. I sure hope I m not coming down with something, he added, pushing back a lock of the wild mop of red hair ringing the sides of his head.