“They’re setting it up like they’re going to spray fertilizer over crops,” Kasha whispered.
“Or death over Black Water,” Bobby whispered somberly.
When the job was finished, the two pilots stood at attention in front of their new viceroy.
“You must fly into the wind,” Timber instructed. “Come in close to the rim of the canyon, drop down low, and release the chemical. One pass will be enough. Do not circle back or you will meet the same fate as the savages below. Understood?”
“Yes. Understood,” the pilots answered.
Timber continued, “Once you have passed over Black Water, set your sights on the gars that are traveling toward the mountains.” Timber chuckled and added, “They think they have saved themselves by fleeing from Leeandra, but all they’ve done is separate themselves from the klees so we can cut them down more efficiently.”
The klees chuckled at the irony. Timber held out a map. Seegen’s map. “The mountain range is vast” he instructed. “Follow this map precisely or you’ll miss your target.”
The copilot took Seegen’s map and said, “Don’t worry, Viceroy. I’ll get us there.” He folded the map and put it inside his tunic.
“After your mission, you will forever be heroes in the minds of klees everywhere,” Timber said. “I thank you, and your fellow klees thank you.”
“The light is high enough,” the commander said. “We can fly right away.”
“Not yet,” Saint Dane said. “We want to make sure that most of the gars have reached the killing ground.”
Bobby felt his stomach tighten. They were talking about mass murder as casually as if they were discussing sports.
“Be ready,” Saint Dane said as he turned to leave. “I will return to send you off momentarily.” The other klee followed him out, leaving the pilots alone. The two pilots relaxed and smiled.
“We’re going to be heroes!” the copilot shouted with giddy enthusiasm. “Will we get medals?”
“Don’t start writing any speeches yet,” the commander said as he climbed aboard the gig. He sat in the left-hand, pilot’s seat. “Let’s fly the mission first.” He toggled three switches and shouted, “Clear!”
The copilot took a step back from the gig. With a low whine, the three overhead rotors began to turn. In no time they were up to speed and whirring softly. Bobby was surprised at how quiet they were. They sounded more like powerful fans than the helicopters back home.
“Now’s our chance,” Kasha said as she crept forward.
“Whoa, to do what?” Bobby asked.
“To steal the gig, of course,” she said, and tossed her lasso at Bobby. “Take out the copilot,” she ordered, and sprang from their hiding place. Bobby caught the lasso awkwardly and followed her.
“Take out the copilot?” he said to himself quickly. “Yeah, right.”
As Kasha ran, she reached into her belt pouch to retrieve her lethal disks. The klees had no idea what was coming. Kasha silently flung the first disk, hitting the commander square in the shoulder. He screamed and looked around with surprise.
Bobby ran for the copilot, having no idea what he was going to do. He had never thrown a lasso in his life. He clutched the rope near the three balls. The confused copilot was turning to look back at what all the screaming was about. Bobby figured this was his one shot at catching him by surprise. He flung the lasso. The three balls flew toward the copilot, catching him on the legs and tripping him up. It was the best Bobby could have hoped for.
Kasha quickly threw another disk at the commander and caught him in the other shoulder. The stunned klee struggled to power up the gig, but he was too late. Kasha pounced. She yanked him out of the craft and threw him to the ground.
Bobby didn’t know what to do next. He grabbed one end of the lasso and tried to run around the copilot in a desperate attempt to tie up his legs. It was a lame effort. The copilot quickly got his wits back and lashed at Bobby with his claws. Bobby dove away, barely missing being sliced. He was helpless against this deadly cat.
Kasha scrambled into the gig. She was halfway in and already throttling up. The rotors hummed faster, blasting wind across the platform.
“Stop her!” the injured commander shouted.
The copilot forgot about Bobby and leaped for Kasha.
“Kasha, look out!” Bobby yelled.
Too late. Kasha’s attention was on the gig controls. She wasn’t prepared for the attack. The copilot yanked her out of the seat and with a mighty heave, sent her spiraling backward toward the edge of the platform.
Bobby grabbed the lasso and bolted for her. On the run, he tossed the balls.
“Kasha!” he yelled.
Kasha grabbed wildly at the lasso as the balls flew past her and caught the rope. Bobby planted and held on to the other end, ready to be yanked, praying he could hold on. The rope went tight and Bobby dug his heels in. Kasha pulled back and was saved only two steps before tumbling over the edge. Bobby pulled her back onto the platform, safe. They were instantly hit with a blast of wind. They both looked up in time to see the gig lifting off, with the copilot at the controls. The side rotors that had been parallel to the ground, rotated until they became perpendicular. They whined to life, and the gig shot forward, right for Bobby and Kasha. The two dove for the deck as the gig shot over their heads, barely clearing them. The small helicopter sailed out over the city of Leeandra, throttled up, and was gone.
Kasha and Bobby lay together on the platform, out of breath, staring at the little helicopter as it grew smaller in the distance.
Kasha said, “Do you think the others will make it in time?”
“I don’t know,” was Bobby’s honest answer.
Kasha looked back at the rows of gigs. Bobby saw her eyes sparkle, as if she were hit with an idea.
“Pull a gig out here now!” she ordered while getting to her feet.
“What? Why?” Bobby asked.
“We’re going after him.”
Bobby didn’t allow himself to think of all the reasons why this was a bad idea. He ran to the first gig he saw, a green one. He made sure its crystals were intact, then rolled it out onto the platform. When he got near the edge, he saw that Kasha had tied the klee commander up with her lasso.
“Why, Kasha?” the pilot asked. “This is treason!”
“Killing the gars will mean killing off Eelong,” Kasha answered. “Timber knows it—that’s why he wants to wipe them out.” She looked to Bobby and ordered, “Get in.”
Bobby obediently sat in the right, copilot seat. Kasha settled into the pilot’s seat and toggled the power switches. The overhead rotors began to turn.
“That’s insane. Why would he do that?” the klee commander asked.
“Because he’s a monster,” Kasha answered. “I swear to you, it’s true.”
The rotors whined faster and the little craft shook.
“How do you know?” the klee asked.
“I’ve been to Black Water,” she answered. “The gars can save Eelong, but only if I can stop the poison from being dropped.”
“Can you?” Bobby asked.
“We’ll find out, won’t we?” Kasha said, and grabbed the joystick between the two seats. She twisted the handle, the rotors whined, and with a slight bump, the gig lifted off. Bobby instinctively held on to the side for support. The craft hovered a few feet above the platform. Kasha toggled a switch and Bobby looked down to see the side rotors rotate into position. Bobby realized that the overhead rotors gave the gig lift, but the side rotors moved them forward.
“Ready?” Kasha asked.
“Always,” Bobby answered.
Kasha pushed the joystick forward and the gig shot off the platform, high over Leeandra, in pursuit of the killer gig.
EELONG
(CONTINUED)
The sunbelt had cleared the horizon. It was full daylight on Eelong.
The riders bringing the antidote tanks to Black Water were close to the end of their journey. They had made
it to the rocky, switchback trail that snaked up the side of the steep mountain. Gunny was still in the lead, followed by Boon and Mark, then Courtney and Spader. They were nearly at the crevice that would lead them to the crater of waterfalls. Every rider was exhausted, sore, and still terrified that another tang would attack, but the higher they climbed the more they felt as if Spader was right—they had made it. Looking back down into the barren valley they had just galloped through, they could see the beginnings of the first wave of gars that were still far behind, hours from Black Water.
“We’re nearly there,” Gunny called back to the others. “It’s time to think about what we’re going to do once we arrive.”
“How about a Jacuzzi?” Courtney shouted. “My butt’s killing me.”
Nobody laughed.
“Just kidding,” she added.
“Boon, stay close to me,” Gunny said. “They don’t trust klees.”
“Understood,” Boon said.
Gunny was first to arrive at the split in the rock that led to the narrow fissure in the mountain.
“This is it!” Gunny exclaimed. “Stay in single file. We’ll talk on the other end.”
Gunny entered the crevice. Boon and Mark were right behind. But as they entered the fissure, something spooked Boon’s zenzen. The animal reared up on its hind legs, whinnying out a complaint. Mark grabbed tight around Boon’s middle, or he would have fallen off.
“Whoa! Easy there!” Boon coaxed.
“What’s the matter with him?” Mark asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t like tight spaces.”
Boon regained control and steered his zenzen into the crevice. Courtney followed, then Spader. They traveled along the tight corridor, trying their best not to scrape their knees against the rocky walls. Boon was having a tough time keeping his zenzen under control. The animal kept shying, not wanting to go farther.
“This is making me nervous,” Mark said.
Courtney started to have problems with her zenzen as well. The animal stopped dead in its tracks, refusing to take another step. “C’mon!” she commanded. “Giddyap. Let’s go.” The animal didn’t budge.
Boon and Mark kept moving. Spader stopped behind Courtney and said, “They might be tired. We’ve been riding them pretty hard.”
“I’m tired too,” Courtney said. “You don’t see me resting. C’mon, zenzen, we’re almost there!” She gave the animal a kick, but the zenzen stood firm.
Mark turned around to see they were leaving Spader and Courtney behind. He called back, “Maybe if you got off and walked him, he would follow—”
Something hit Mark on the top of his head. It didn’t hurt, it was only a small pebble that had fallen from above. But it was enough to make him look up to see where it came from. What he saw nearly made him fall off the zenzen.
Looking down on them from high above was a band of tangs. At first Mark was so stunned, he couldn’t speak. But when he saw the tangs pushing large boulders close to the edge, his brain kicked back into gear.
“TANGS!” he shouted.
The tangs pushed the boulders over.
Everybody looked up to see an avalanche bouncing down the steep walls toward them. One boulder careened right for Mark. He leaned forward into Boon and the boulder barely missed hitting him in the head, but it bashed into the tank strapped to his back, knocking him off balance. He started to fall off the zenzen, but Boon grabbed him.
Gunny shouted, “Move!” He kicked his zenzen and galloped through the narrow crevice to escape the rockslide. Boon and Mark shot after him. Their zenzen took off so fast that Mark nearly fell off again. More boulders crashed down. Courtney didn’t know what to do. If her zenzen decided to go forward, they’d be crushed by the avalanche. But there was no reverse on a zenzen. She was trapped.
“Jump off!” Spader ordered.
Too late. The boulders hit the ground in front of them, causing Courtney’s zenzen to rear up. Courtney wasn’t ready for that, and she tumbled off the animal, hitting the ground, tank first. The hard tank dug into her back, making her squeal with pain. Spader jumped off to help her scramble away from the tumbling boulders.
The tangs continued pushing heavy stones down on them, but that wasn’t the worst problem. Courtney’s zenzen was out of control. It kept rearing up in the narrow space, whinnying and stomping in fear as the boulders crashed down in front of it. Courtney and Spader were in way more danger of being stomped by the frantic zenzen than hit by a boulder. The animal reared up, twisted its body, and came down facing Spader and Courtney.
“Get up!” Spader yelled, and pulled Courtney to her feet. The zenzen charged, desperate to escape from the avalanche. Spader pushed Courtney roughly to the side. They flattened themselves against the rock wall, bracing to be slammed by the rampaging zenzen. The animal brushed by them and ran straight into Spader’s zenzen! Both animals wrestled and whinnied. Spader’s zenzen went up on its back legs, using its front legs to defend itself. Spader and Courtney were trapped between two huge boxing animals on one side, and an avalanche of boulders on the other.
Courtney’s zenzen would not be denied. It fought through Spader’s zenzen, knocking the poor animal onto its back, and galloped back toward the entrance of the crevice. Spader’s zenzen kicked frantically at the air. It finally rolled over onto its feet, with its head pointed toward the entrance. Once the animal realized it was back in control, it took off, leaving Spader and Courtney alone in the crevice . . . with more boulders thundering down on them. Dust was everywhere, making it hard to see.
“We have to move!” Spader shouted over the roar of falling rocks. Courtney nodded. She had her wits back. She and Spader backed off, away from the danger zone, out of harm’s way. Moments later it was over. The thunderous, grinding sound stopped. Spader and Courtney, bruised and cut, stood still, waiting for the thick cloud of dust to settle.
“It was a trap,” Courtney said, coughing. “They were waiting to drop those rocks on us!”
“No worries,” Spader announced. “They missed.”
The dust settled, revealing a sight that was hard for even Spader to put a positive spin on.
“Yeah, they missed all right,” Courtney said in a shaky voice. “But I don’t think they were trying to hit us.”
So many boulders had fallen, the crevice was completely sealed off. There was no way Courtney and Spader could follow the others. Black Water had been cut off from the rest of Eelong.
“Now what do we do?” Courtney asked.
That’s when they heard one more sound. It was as if one more boulder had fallen. But this one was behind them.
“Uh-oh,” Courtney said. “Are they gonna try to trap us in—”
Courtney and Spader slowly turned around to see that it wasn’t a boulder that had fallen. It was a tang. It stood with its teeth bared, blocking the way out.
• • •
Gunny pulled his zenzen to a stop, still inside the crevice. Boon and Mark stopped right behind him.
“It was the t-tangs!” Mark gasped. “If I hadn’t looked up . . .” He let the thought trail. They all knew what would have happened. It would have been ugly. They all looked back into the crevice, expecting Spader and Courtney to ride up.
Gunny jumped down from his zenzen and said, “Wait here.” He squeezed past Boon’s zenzen and jogged back the way they had come. It didn’t take long for him to arrive at the dead end that had been created by the avalanche. He knew there was no getting past, so he hurried back to the others.
“Wh-Where are they?” Mark asked.
“The crevice is sealed off,” Gunny answered.
Mark’s panic was rising. “A-Are they okay?” he squealed. “Courtney’s zenzen wouldn’t move! She could have been—”
“I don’t know what happened, Mark,” Gunny said firmly. “I think there’s a good chance they’re okay, but stuck on the other side.”
“You know what that means?” Boon said nervously.
“Yes,” Gunny s
aid as he remounted his zenzen. “It means we’re down to only one tank of the antidote and it’s not doing any good out here. Let’s go!”
Gunny gave his zenzen a kick and trotted toward the crater of waterfalls.
Boon looked back to Mark and said, “Guard that tank with your life.”
Mark was faced with a frightening truth. The future of Eelong and quite possibly of Halla, was strapped to his back. His stomach did a flip.
• • •
Bobby and Kasha quickly gained altitude as they flew out of Leeandra. Bobby had a flashback to the last time he was in the air. It was with the pilot Jinx Olsen on First Earth, in her rickety Coast Guard seaplane. He was happy that the gig was actually a lot more comfortable than his last flying experience. The rotors overhead whirred, but it was a pleasant sound, like a fan. It was nothing like bouncing under the seaplane engine of 1937 Earth. He and Jinx had to scream at each other to be heard over that monster. By comparison, the gig was like hovering along in a skilift gondola. He saw that as Kasha moved the joystick, all five rotors moved slightly. The positioning of the rotors is what steered the gig. In all, it was a very pleasant experience . . . except for the fact they were in pursuit of another gig that held enough poison to destroy a territory.
Bobby hadn’t said much since they took off. He wanted Kasha to concentrate on flying. But now that they were under way, things needed to be said.
“You remember the route to Black Water?” Bobby asked.
“No problem,” Kasha answered.
Bobby nodded. He really didn’t want to ask the next question.
“What are we going to do when we catch up?”
Kasha made a few adjustments and checked over the side to see if they were on course. Bobby wasn’t sure if she was busy, or didn’t have an answer. Or didn’t want to give the answer she had.
“You did your job, Pendragon,” Kasha finally said.
“What do you mean?” Bobby asked.
“I mean you convinced me. It took a while, but I get it. I know we have to stop Saint Dane.”
“That’s good. So . . . how do we do it?”
Kasha cleared her throat. While still looking ahead she said, “I’m going to catch that gig and crash it. The poison will do whatever damage it does to the jungle, but at least it won’t be used on Black Water.”