***
Dr. Rackenfauz parked the truck by the archway with its Historic Hot Springs sign. He, Star, and Iridium piled out of the cab.
“Ah ... good time for a break,” Rackenfauz said, stretching out his scrawny limbs. “I sure as hell wasn’t born to be no truck driver!”
He headed toward the entrance.
“You stay out here and guard the truck, Iridium,” he said.
“Sure thing, Papa.”
Star leaned down to the great canine and spoke in a low voice.
“Keep an eye on us inside, too,” she said. “If you hear any kind of strange music, or you see me acting weird, start howling right away.”
Iridium looked baffled. “Alright.”
“Really,” Star said. “Make all the racket you can – look fierce. And if I won’t come out on my own, drag me out.”
“You got it, Star,” Iridium said. “I’ll raise the roof for you if need be.”
“Well, young lady, let’s proceed,” Dr. Rackenfauz said.
“Certainly,” Star said.
She followed Rackenfauz inside, glancing back at Iridium who had posted himself under the archway with an equal view of the truck and of the hot spring pond. She gave him a little wave.
I hope I’m not making a big mistake here, she thought.
They halted by the bathing platform.
“This is quite a place,” Dr. Rackenfauz said. “I should take a soak, be good for my arthritis.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, just yet,” Star said. “Let’s see if I can summon them first.”
She lay prone on the rocky shore and splashed her arms vigorously in the water.
“I’m back!” she called.
She stuck her face beneath the surface and hummed a long high note. She splashed some more.
“Maybe our aquatic friends are not at home,” Dr. Rackenfauz said.
Star looked up. “Oh, they have to be here. Unless ...”
A frightening thought barged into her mind. What if the Squish Girls had committed suicide? Their hearts had been broken when Star took Winston away, maybe they just couldn’t keep going. Maybe they dragged themselves up one of the derelict amusement park rides and then jumped.
She remembered Winston talking about an ancient Greek play, Antigone. The king had walled up a young maiden in a tomb, then he changed his mind and decided to let her out. But by the time he got there, Antigone had killed herself.
She thought of Jerry Che back at the RDC, bitter and angry at the way she’d used him. She thought of the old Iridium blasted to pieces – he’d still be safe in Mech City if she hadn’t brought him on the expedition. Of course, he’d chosen to come, but ... It was all so confusing!
Oh, can’t I do anything besides harm others?
Three mermaids suddenly broke the surface by the bathing platform, and Star’s world brightened again.
“Well, look at that!” Dr. Rackenfauz exclaimed.
Star got warily to her feet. The Squish Girls beamed with joy at the sight of her. They scrambled onto the bathing platform and held out their arms. They began their siren song.
Star thrust out a warning hand. “Stop that!”
The mermaids’ big, sensuous optics registered surprise. They halted their song. Star pointed toward the entrance where Iridium stood growling.
“Keep quiet, or you’ll have to deal with him,” she said.
The mermaids clung together fearfully and nodded understanding. They looked toward Dr. Rackenfauz.
“Aren’t they something!” Rackenfauz said. “I think I see the work of Jerry Che here.”
He moved toward the platform.
“Hello, girls,” he said.
The mermaids smiled and tittered.
“I need to see your merman,” Dr. Rackenfauz said. “Bring him up here.”
They looked back at him, uncomprehending. Dr. Rackenfauz pointed to the water and mimed pulling something to the surface.
Comprehension dawned on the Squish Girls. They tittered joyfully, then dove into the water.
“This should be interesting, to say the least,” Rackenfauz said.
A few minutes later, the merman was lying on the shore. He was about the size of an average human male and exceedingly handsome with dark hair and fine, chiseled features. His arms and chest were robust, and male genitalia could be seen tucked neatly within his fishtail lower quarters. The girls hovered in the water, wide-eyed and hopeful.
Rackenfauz rolled the merman over so as to access the back panel.
“Ah, just as I thought,” he said. “This is Jerry’s design.”
He indicated a small metal placard bearing the robot’s serial number and activation date. Beneath this info, Dr. Che’s signature was etched in, along with his personal motto:
Make the world Che
“That sound just like him,” Rackenfauz observed.
After swabbing the merman dry with a towel, Rackenfauz opened the back panel and examined the interior workings.
“It’s not hard to figure out what happened,” Rackenfauz said. “He’s taken a bullet, right in the main power core. I’d imagine the bastards who wrecked the amusement park also took a shot at him.”
“Ohhh, can he be fixed?” Star said.
“The power core is standard issue,” Rackenfauz said, “no problem with switching it out. There doesn’t seem to be any peripheral damage, but it would take a full lab analysis to know for sure.”
He opened the cranium access panel.
“Ah, here’s some good news! The brain unit appears to have full integrity.”
“That’s wonderful!” Star said.
Dr. Rackenfauz closed the access panel and rolled the merman onto his back again.
“The brain unit is the most important component.” Rackenfauz gestured toward the merman’s male apparatus. “That and the other thing, of course.”
“We can take him with us, then?” Star said.
“Absolutely,” Rackenfauz said. “I wouldn’t miss a chance to poke around in one of Jerry’s creations. That guy is a true genius.”
He stood up amid cracking noises in his knees. “Oh, my arthritis!”
“What about the mermaids?” Star said. “Can we take them, too?”
The Squish Girls had pulled themselves out of the water and were stroking their pearly hands along Dr. Rackenfauz’s lab coat, crooning seductively. He seemed oblivious to their charms.
“Sure,” Rackenfauz said, “I don’t know where they could stay, though.”
“They’re turning the bomb crater into an artificial lake,” Star said. “There’ll be lots of room, for all of them.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Rackenfauz said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for my dip.”
He rapidly stripped down, revealing his pale, scrawny body to Star’s astonished gaze.
“Uh ... I’ll just wait outside,” she said.
“No, stay here.” Rackenfauz pointed to the grenades and the submachine gun resting atop his pile of clothes. “Keep any eye on the arsenal for me.”
“All right, Professor.”
Rackenfauz dashed across the shore and leaped out over the water.
“Yee Haaa!”
He hit with a resounding splash. The mermaids scrambled in after him.
“He certainly is one of a kind,” Star said.