Robots and Moon Rockets
Page 10
CHAPTER 10
DARKNESS ATTRACTS DARKNESS
When the moon tiles in the chamber beneath Kidney Reef went dark, Larry had to find his way out from memory alone. Fortunately, everything was laid out in neat rows with the water exit at one end. As he lowered himself into the frigid water he could hear the black towers humming like beehives behind him, the lights within still twinkling like tiny, luminescent fireflies.
As he swam down the dark tunnel from the chamber he tried to make sense of what he had seen. Discovering the ancient chamber with metal arms and the moon tile wall that could be made to look down from the clouds was astounding. Learning that Golden Turtles were machines powered by lightening was startling and prompted a whole string of questions for which he had no answers.
He had only just passed through the rectangular opening in the reef wall when a rock door thudded into place behind him sealing shut the opening so perfectly it could no longer be distinguished from the surrounding rock. The noise caught him of guard and he spun round in fright, eyes wide. Unfamiliar words and diagrams flooded into his mind like water under pressure.
Robot (coined in 1921 by Czech writer, Karel Čapek): a mechanical device that sometimes resembles an animal and is capable of performing a variety of complex tasks on command or by being programmed in advance…
Golden Turtles were robots! And 1921 was a Machine Age date, he had learned that at school. So, the ancient humans had made robots, and therefore the chamber that kept them running. It wasn’t the owls after all. Robots were continuing to repair robots even through the humans were gone.
The reef wall stood massively above him as he swam to the surface. Except for the beat of his heart, it was utterly silent. A curious shark flashed overhead catching him by surprise. It was so close he could see row upon row of razor sharp teeth.
Shark teeth: The teeth of a shark are embedded in its gums rather than being affixed to its jaw as they are in other animals. They are constantly replaced throughout the shark’s life, new ones marching forward after teeth are lost during feeding. Some sharks lose 30,000 or more teeth in their lifetime...
He was starting to welcome the strange memory revelations following a fright as they were usually helpful but learning that sharks went through 30,000 teeth in a lifetime was something he would have preferred not to know because it made him wonder how many victims that many lost teeth represented. If he was unlucky he could be next.
When Larry burst breathlessly from the dark ocean he was alone. Thankfully, no sharks were circling. Fog rested on the water like a heavy blanket and no stars were visible above. The sound of waves breaking on Kidney Reef was a diffuse murmur, indefinitely distant. The wreck of the Interloper would be nearby but he couldn’t see it through the fog.
He treaded water on the gentle swell while he caught his breath. He would swim back to the wreck and to find his way he would need to listen carefully to the shallow waves breaking on the reef. If he got too close, they might dump him on sharp coral and rock. If he swam too wide, he might miss the wreck altogether and drown. There were also sharks to worry about.
Larry swam along the surface. He should be able to slip aboard the wreck unnoticed without too much difficulty. General Snake, as he now called himself, would be far too busy preparing the Fat Crab to miss a twelve year old monkey. He didn’t like the big snake and after what he’d said about Flossy, he certainly didn’t trust him. It would be best not to attract attention. People might want to know where he had been.
A huge hairy hand grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and lifted him powerfully out of the water, dripping.
‘Look what I caught, General Snake,’ said a pleased-sounding, muscle-bound gorilla leaning over the side of a boat.
Dark and curious faces crowded around as Larry was dropped unceremoniously on the Fat Crab’s deck.
‘What kind of fish are you?’ said a rhino with bad breath, sniggering. He turned his large head and glared at him with one beady eye. His horns were as long as Larry’s forearms.
The head of a big snake pushed the others aside so that they stumbled. The boat rocked alarmingly as the centre of gravity shifted and water sloshed over the side. A forked red tongue flashed in the pale light as it tasted the air.
Larry was silent under the scrutiny of Iscariot’s unblinking onyx eyes. His eyes darted nervously left and right and his heart raced.
Titanboa (meaning giant boa): a genus of snake that lived on the South American continent during the Paleocene epoch, 60-58 million years ago. Fossils suggest that the snake could weigh as much as 2,500 pounds and grow up to fifty feet long making it the largest of all known snakes…
‘I know this one,’ said Iscariot with an evil smile. ‘This is Larry Monkey, the human’s faithful sidekick. It was he who signalled to the Hammer, and I quote: “fast speed east, no stop, safe channel through reef”. It was he who wrecked the Hammer.’
Iscariot drew so close to Larry he could smell the snake’s foul breath and see up his nostrils. ‘Now, who is able to tell me whether Mr Monkey unknowingly relayed the human’s instructions to wreck the Hammer or whether he conceived of the treacherous plan himself? If the first, he is singularly responsible, by wilful intention or unhappy accident, for the worst maritime disaster in the history of the Port Isabel Navy. If the second, he is a traitor and a pirate, or at least a pirate-sympathiser, and should receive the full weight of penalty for his heinous crimes.’
‘I think he did it,’ said the glaring rhinoceros with the long horn. The others chorused their agreement, white eyes flashing.
‘Mmmm,’ pondered the snake, his lidless black eyes deadly in the wan light. ‘Then we shouldn’t be surprised to find him hidden under the cover of fog in the dead of night attempting to escape justice. Darkness attracts darkness, my friends. It is a guilty conscience that would compel anyone to prefer the certainty of death by drowning in this inky sea over the risk of condemnation in a courtroom of his peers. What say you in your own defence, Mr Monkey?’
Larry sat silently, shivering and dripping wet. He had been plucked from the ocean and accused of collusion, stupidity or treachery. He knew in his heart he had no defence. He should have seen through the pirate’s deception. He should have tested it was Flossy sending the message he so blithely relayed to the other boats. It was his fault that the Hammer was wrecked on the reef. He deserved their scorn and their condemnation so he hugged his knees and tucked in his head to make himself as small as possible. In the silence of their angry glares Larry spiralled into self-imposed darkness and misery.
‘You see, he has no defence and so is found guilty as charged,’ pronounced Iscariot Snake. ‘He is the instigator, witless agent or wilful collaborator of the human’s piratical treachery. Bind his wrists and ankles tightly. We will deal with him when we arrive back in Port Isabel.’
Strong hands took hold of Larry and threw him roughly to the deck.