Desert Disaster

by Axel Lewis

  “We can do this, Cabbie!” said Jimmy confidently. “We could finish the race with our head held high!”

  “That’s the spirit!” cried Cabbie. “Yee-haa! Team Jimmy, on the road again!”

  The three robots climbed to the top of a sand dune and Jimmy could see in the distance the unmistakable plume of dust and sand coming from Lightning, and the silhouette of a hovercraft – it was Maximus.

  “Sammy must have found a map,” Jimmy yelled into the Cabcom, feeling happy that his friend was still in the race. “And, look! He’s heading towards the finish— Oh, no. Is that Zoom ahead of him?” Jimmy’s heart sank. He could hear a crunching sound coming from somewhere, and could have sworn that it was Missy grinding her teeth.

  The three of them raced across the sand towards the oasis. Jimmy knew they’d all be going flat out for the win from here on in. Horace, Kako and Sammy were dead ahead of them, kicking up clouds of dust.

  Through the periscope, Jimmy could see the crowds gathered around the finish line. The trees looked tall and green, set around a natural watering hole. Just behind the lake were marquees and Bedouin tents, with giant screens hung between cacti and palm trees, for the crowd to watch the race on.

  “We’re making great time, Jimmy!” said Cabbie.

  “Good,” Jimmy replied. “Because I want to make sure we beat Horace!”

  “But he’s miles in front!” said Cabbie.

  Jimmy shook his head and pressed his foot hard on the accelerator. “We’re faster than Zoom on this sand. He’s cheated us all out of points once – we can’t let it happen again!”

  Jimmy chased after Missy, whizzing through the sand, Chip following after him. They sped down a slope and they were soon back on track, just a few metres behind Sammy and Princess Kako!

  Poor Princess Kako looked tired, as though she might give up at any second. Lightning’s two fat tyres still didn’t make great desert wheels, and the sun was beating down on her exposed back, making her racing suit steam. Missy and Jimmy passed her easily, closely followed by Chip.

  “Almost there!” Jimmy shouted encouragingly as they drove by.

  Kako shook her head, and Jimmy could tell she was running out of energy. There was no way she was going to win this race now. It almost looked like she was driving through treacle. Every metre travelled seemed like a huge effort.

  All the other robots were gunning for the finish line, jostling for position. Behind Cabbie, Chip and Dug began to lag behind in the difficult conditions.

  But Cabbie was having his own problems...

  “Engine reaching maximum temperature!” the robot shouted. Jimmy gasped as he saw steam rising from his bonnet. He frantically looked around at the masses of buttons in front of him, but he couldn’t see any other engine-cooling gadgets.

  “Do something!” cried Cabbie. “Or the engine might melt!”

  “Melt?” The word struck Jimmy and he had an idea. “Cabbie – can you use the ice-cream machine to cool down your engine?”

  “Great idea, Jimmy!” A grinding sound came from Cabbie’s engine and then he beeped happily. “Press the ice-cream button, Jimmy,” he called.

  Jimmy hit the button, and gallons of ice cream went glugging under the bonnet with a satisfying hiss, cooling the engine down quickly.

  “Ah! That’s better!” sighed Cabbie. “Ooh, and raspberry ripple flavour? My favourite!”

  “Come on, Cabbie!” called Jimmy. “We can make this! Together!”

  “I’m trying, Jimmy,” said Cabbie, straining. “But it’s just too far. Unless...”

  “What?”

  “There is a shorter route.”

  As Cabbie said it, Jimmy saw the giant sand dune that rose up to their right.

  “What do you think, Jimmy? It’s all or nothing up that way...”

  Jimmy hesitated for just a second. Twice they’d ended up in trouble during this race because they’d taken risks. Then he pictured Horace’s sneering face mocking him for coming last. There was no way he was going to give up on the win when there was a chance of beating that cheater.

  “Let’s do it!” he shouted, and turned Cabbie sharply to the right.

  Zoom took the low path around the dune and the rest of the robots followed. All except Cabbie, who roared up the dune away from the others...

  Sand started to slip and slide under his tracks. Jimmy concentrated on steering while Cabbie’s engine creaked and groaned as he applied more and more power to get himself up the mountainous slope. Jimmy hit the windscreen wipers as sand streamed across the glass, making it tricky to see. They were nearing the top of the dune now, the wind battering Cabbie.

  Jimmy kept encouraging Cabbie as they reached the top of the dune. “Not far now, buddy! After this last bit, it’s all downhill.”

  Looking down, Jimmy could see Zoom and Missy racing ahead, inching closer and closer to the finish line. Jimmy shook his head, suddenly feeling like he’d made a massive mistake. They were still so far from the finish and they’d used up gallons of fuel pushing themselves up a massive sand dune. “We’ll have to go down the dune at full speed,” he said. “Are you ready?”

  “Actually, Jimmy,” said Cabbie with mischief in his voice, “I’ve got a better idea...”

  Chapter 14 - Finish Line!

  Jimmy frowned as the dashboard buttons flashed and bleeped. He felt a clang and a jolt as something moved underneath him. He checked his seat belt and gripped the steering wheel.

  “Cabbie, what are you up to?” he shouted. The din got louder as the whole chassis underneath him shook.

  “Have you ever been skiing, Jimmy?” Cabbie replied. It was only then that Jimmy worked it out. Underneath the robot, the caterpillar tracks had transformed into smooth sheets, with no grip at all. They would be useless for climbing up sand dunes ... but for sliding down them—

  “Cabbie, we’ve got skis!” yelled Jimmy.

  “Yep! So hold onto your hat, my friend, this is going to be one heck of a ride!”

  “Woooo-hoooo!” they both screamed as they whipped down the steep slope. Jimmy could barely see where they were going as the desert around him flew past in a blur, but as he had no way of steering, he guessed it didn’t matter. If he was going to hit something, there was no way he could stop.

  They approached the bottom of the dune and Jimmy saw two racers in front – Missy and Horace. They were just a few centimetres apart, each of them eager for that first place title. They were pushing their robots to the limit, and Jimmy felt the heat from their engines as he reached the bottom of the sand dune, a cloud of sand following him. They were driving as hard as they could, but Jimmy had built up enough speed from skiing down the sand dune that he was catching them up. For a few moments he felt he could do it. He could see Zoom’s back bumper, and he urged Cabbie on. He was desperate to beat Horace!

  He held his breath as they got closer and closer to the finish. Cabbie was sliding across the sand at an impressive rate, and Jimmy crossed his fingers.

  Time seemed to slow in those last few seconds of the race...

  He felt the burst of cheers and applause from the crowd...

  He heard the squeal of Zoom’s tyres...

  He felt the heat of Monster’s massive engine...

  He just needed a few more metres ... had the finish line come too soon?

  They whizzed over the finish line in a blur.

  Jimmy hit a button and Cabbie skidded to a stop in the shadow of the great grandstand. He jumped out and looked up pleadingly at the scoreboard.

  “Come on, hurry up,” he grumbled as the screen remained blank.

  Then the results popped up on the screen:

  1ST PLACE: MISSY AND MONSTER

  2ND PLACE: JIMMY AND CABBIE

  3RD PLACE: HORACE AND ZOOM

  A rush of energy coursed through Jimmy like somebody had
given him a shot of electricity.

  “We did it, Cabbie! We beat Horace!”

  But he couldn’t hear the robot’s reply over the screaming of the crowd. There were banners with his face on and thousands of people cheering for him. He waved his arms high above his head and then pumped his fists in excitement.

  Through the racket of the screaming fans, Jimmy heard the unmistakable sound of Dug’s diesel engines crossing the line. He turned to see the tired but happy face of Chip waving from his cab. He got out and his name popped up in fourth place at the leaderboard. Jimmy gave him a thumbs-up, and he looked to see who would come in next.

  Next was Sammy. Maximus was jumping across the finish line, the rear propellers of the hovercraft full of sand and barely turning.

  Moments later, a miserable Princess Kako stumbled into the finishing paddock on Lightning. The poor robot, who normally looked like a futuristic superbike, now seemed more like a rusty old tin can on wheels.

  Lightning mumbled something as he passed. Jimmy didn’t speak any Japanese, but he would bet that it meant, “get me out of here!” Kako looked ready to drop, her pristine silver jumpsuit covered in sand. Her technicians hurried over to help her.

  They all gathered around the cool oasis as the leaderboard flashed up the final names and scores.

  Jimmy went over to give Missy a high-five. She had a smile on her face wider than the Outback! She had ten points for the win. Jimmy had eight points for coming in second, and Horace had six for his third place. Horace stood apart from the rest of the group, his arms crossed in annoyance at losing out on first place. Jimmy moved on to congratulate Chip, who had managed to walk away with four points. Sammy was happy with his two points, and Princess Kako didn’t get anything for her last place, but the crowd gave her a huge round of applause for managing to finish.

  Then Missy climbed on the podium and received her sash for first place, and a bottle of fizzy juice. While it was tradition to shake it up and spray the crowd and her fellow racers, Missy had her own way of celebrating.

  “There’s no way I’m wasting this!” she shouted. She stood and drank half the bottle in one go, burped loudly and tipped the rest over her own head. The crowd and her competitors laughed and cheered. “Ah, that’s better!” she boomed.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Jimmy could see a sulky Horace storming away from the podium towards Monster. Horace frowned at the colossal machine, and angrily kicked one of her massive tyres.

  “Ooowww!” he screamed, hopping up and down as he stubbed his toe on one of the gigantic wheels. Jimmy could see his mouth moving rapidly as he hurled insults at Missy’s robot racer, shouting rude words that thankfully couldn’t be heard over the cheers for Missy.

  Jimmy chuckled as Horace gritted his teeth and held his toe.

  ”Stupid robot!” Horace hissed.

  In reply, Monster unleashed a cheeky jet of compressed air from her exhaust, and sent Horace flying high into the air! He landed in the calm blue water of the oasis, and sat up, coughing and spluttering in outrage.

  “That should cool him off!” Jimmy said with a grin.

  Chapter 15 - Fan Mail

  As he stood on the second-place spot on the podium, waving to the crowds, Jimmy saw a head of white hair pushing its way towards him.

  “Well done, Jimmy! I knew you could do it!” Grandpa shouted as he reached his grandson. Jimmy leaped off the podium and down into the crowd where Grandpa gathered him up in a hug. They moved away from the pack of journalists so they could talk.

  “Thanks, Grandpa. It wasn’t the same without being able to talk to you. It was so scary not being able to ask you for advice.”

  “But you did it, didn’t you? That’s my boy!” said Grandpa, ruffling Jimmy’s hair. “What happened at the start today? You all went off in totally the wrong direction for an hour!”

  Jimmy told him about the faulty compasses and his suspicion that Horace had tampered with them. “Which reminds me...” Jimmy said, telling Grandpa what he’d overheard outside Horace’s tent.

  “Why, that no-good, dirty Pelly family! I’ll see that they never race again! They should have points docked! I’ll make sure—”

  “But Grandpa, we’ve no proof!” Jimmy interrupted. “Horace and Mr Pelly are too sly, anyway. They’ll have covered their tracks.” Jimmy was sure that the Pellys would deny it if they were asked about it, and they had probably already thrown the device away to cover themselves. They were not great racers, but they were really good at cheating.

  “We’ve got to do something,” Grandpa said angrily. “It’s unfair! It’s unjust! It’s an outrage!”

  “Well we could always tell Lord Leadpipe...” Jimmy suggested.

  “That buffoon! He couldn’t fix a problem with a toolkit the size of Cabbie—”

  Grandpa was interrupted by a huge fanfare announcing the arrival of Lord Leadpipe.

  “Here we go,” said Grandpa, rolling his eyes. “Let His Highness speak!”

  “Dear fellow Robot Races enthusiasts!” said Lord Leadpipe, his voice bellowing around the oasis through the stacks of amplifiers. “I must extend congratulations to Missy McGovern and her robot Monster for a well-fought battle over the last two days, and a well-deserved first place!”

  Everyone applauded, except for the Pelly family.

  “And well done to all our competitors, who shall enjoy a good rest aboard my luxury airship before reaching new heights in the next leg of the competition!”

  Jimmy frowned. Was that a clue? he wondered.

  Lord Leadpipe busied himself with interviews, his arm around a grinning Missy.

  “Look at him!” said Grandpa. “Did I ever tell you about how he nicked my life’s work? And how he made off with my best clipboard...?”

  Jimmy hid a grin. “Anyway, what about the Pellys?” he asked.

  “They are no good rotten scoundrels, those two,” said Grandpa indignantly. “We might not be able to change the results, but you beat them fair and square. And don’t you worry, my boy. They’ll get their comeuppance. Cheaters never prosper—” Grandpa stopped talking suddenly and his cheeks went bright red. Then he muttered, “Um, anyway, better go and check Cabbie’s radiator temperature.” And with a nervous glance over Jimmy’s shoulder he started to hurry off.

  Jimmy turned to see what his grandpa was looking at, and saw Bet Bristle cutting through the crowd of journalists. No wonder he’s gone red! thought Jimmy. Grandpa’s always had a little crush on Bet!

  “Good day, Mr Roberts!” said Bet, calling after Grandpa.

  Grandpa blushed again and stammered a reply. “G-good day, Ms Bristle. I’m, er, just needed elsewhere. Time to hose Cabbie down and get him ready for his photocall. He hates looking dirty for the cameras!” Grandpa disappeared, leaving Bet looking confused.

  “Jimmy! Well done on another fantastic race!” she said, pushing a microphone under his nose. Her cameraman stood behind her, zooming in to Jimmy’s face.

  “Thanks, Bet. I was beginning to wonder if we’d make it back at all.”

  “Tell me, Jimmy, how did you cope with the heat and the sand? Have you learned anything for the next race?”

  “I think we’ll all be glad to see the back of the desert!” He laughed. “The next race? I’m just going to make sure we pack plenty of ice cream.”

  “Ah-ha! Of course!” laughed Bet. “I’ve always described you as the underdog, but that’s not really the case now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve done so well that you’re now one of the favourites to win the competition!” said Bet, her smile widening. “You’re now top of the leaderboard, and your fan ratings have gone through the roof! Surely you know all this? We’ve had hundreds of enquiries from companies asking if you are looking for new sponsorship.”

  Jimmy shook his head. He thought that it looked as though he was bein
g modest, but it was true. He’d never really thought about having fans before.

  “We’re cooped up in that airship all week. We don’t really get to see that side of the races,” he said.

  “Ah, yes, that reminds me!” said Bet. She stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly like an army sergeant. “We’ve got something for you.”

  A Robo TV employee came running, dragging a large sack behind him.

  “As the fans can’t get hold of you while you’re up on the airship all week, they send all their fan mail to us at Robo TV. This sack is just one week’s worth, and doesn’t include all the messages we get on our website.”

  Jimmy was astonished. He picked out a few letters and opened them to find out what people could possibly be writing to him for. There were letters from teenagers, drawings from kids in primary schools, photos of fans with banners they had made. There was even one from an elderly lady who said watching the races was the highlight of her week. The letters were from all over the world!

  “This is incredible!” he said. “Thanks, everyone! I’ll make sure I read every letter.”

  Just then there was another fanfare and Bet was forced to cut their interview short as Lord Leadpipe took to the stage again.

  “My dear friends! I couldn’t let the opportunity go by to get you all to take part in one last race here in the desert.”

  Jimmy couldn’t believe it. Another race? Cabbie wouldn’t be ready to race again just yet.

  “But fear not! You won’t be needing your trusty mechanical mates this time. No, I shall provide your transport. This shall be very special. Very special, indeed!” Lord Leadpipe giggled like a schoolboy. “I am proud to announce the very first Leadpipe Industries’ Camel Derby!”

  Chapter 16 - Horace Gets the Hump

  The course that Lord Leadpipe had prepared was a simple one. Once around the oasis, grab a flag from a post 400 metres out in the desert, and back again. First across the finish line was the winner, and would receive a brand-new, top-of-the-range 3D gamer phone from Leadpipe Industries.