The man overseeing the work spots us and hurries over. He has a patch sewn onto his overalls that says: ‘Supervisor.’
“You’ve got to be kidding me! Davis, where are all these kids coming from?” the supervisor asks.
“Found them outside the power generation module,” our captor replies.
I look at Megan in surprise. What does he mean, ‘all these kids?’ How many other children have turned up on the oil rig today? Did the Orb bring them to help us complete our mission? If it did, we have to find them and find them as soon as possible.
“Stick them in accommodation with the other one. And be quick about it. You shouldn’t have brought them down here,” the supervisor says.
Davis apologises, and pushes us back the way we came.
“Wait, supervisor, you have to listen to me! You’re all in great danger,” I shout as I try to squirm out of Davis’ vice-like grip.
But the man ignores me and goes back to oversee the work.
“Quit fussing and get in,” Davis says as he shoves us into the elevator.
“Sir, please, you have to listen to us!” I beg as he closes the gate and thumbs the ‘up’ button.
“Look, every minute I spend with you two is a minute I’m not working and getting paid. So quit yapping,” Davis says.
The elevator goes up to the oil rig’s accommodation block. Davis opens the cage, takes us to a room, and unlocks the door.
“Get in.”
When we refuse to move, he picks us up and throws us into the room.
“You can’t lock us in here! We’ve got less than one hour to...” I squeak as I try to push past Davis.
“Enough already,” he says as he pushes me back and slams the door shut in my face. I hear his key in the lock, but I try the door handle anyway. As expected, it’s locked.
I pound on the door in frustration. I can’t believe this is happening. I was glad when I saw the grownups, but now I wish they weren’t here. They are a bigger problem than the Mechanical!
Megan grabs my arm. “What’s going to happen to the butterflies and Spidey, Brad? What if those men find them? What if they catch them or destroy them? I couldn’t bear it if any more of my butterflies are destroyed. It broke my heart when I lost those on the space station. The poor little things! And what about Spidey? How’s he going to survive out there without you? What are we going to do, Brad?”
“We’ve got bigger problems than the butterflies and Spidey, Megan. We can’t stop the Mechanical if we’re locked in here.”
“Maybe there’s another way out? Like an air conditioning duct or something?”
“Good thinking, Megan.”
I turn and examine the room. It is narrow, but long, with two double-bunks, four stand-up steel lockers, and a flimsy metal desk.
I am about to climb onto one of the top bunks but stop when I realise we’re not alone. There’s a boy lying on the bottom bunk on my left. He looks about my age and is watching us carefully.
“If you're lo-lo-lo-looking for another way out of – out of – out of the room, forget it. I already ch-ch-checked,” he says.
“Sorry, mate. I didn’t see you there. Hey, you must be the other kid the supervisor mentioned. I’m Brad, and this is Megan,” I reply. Wow, the poor kid sure has a stuttering problem.
The boy climbs out of the bunk and stands in front of me. He is my height but more solidly built, and has thick wavy blond hair.
“Don’t be d-d-d-daft, Brad,” he says grumpily.
“You know who I am?” I ask, surprised.
“Are you mo-mo-mocking me?” he asks, getting angrier.
“Oh, hi Robby,” Megan says as she comes over to join us. “Don’t mind Brad, he's lost his memory. He can’t remember our teacher, the kids in our class, even his family. He didn’t even remember his name until I told it to him. Can you believe it? I can’t imagine what it’s like. Well, maybe I can, now that I think about it. There was this time when I was seven – no, eight, no definitely seven – when I forgot the way home and I ended up wandering down this street I hadn’t seen before. I thought of trying to find a policeman to help me but I couldn’t find one –”
“Megan, we don’t have time for this,” I interrupt.
“Oh, that’s right. We have to find a way out of here so we can find where Spidey and the butterflies are,” she says as she nods thoughtfully.
“Well...yes, I guess so, but like I said before, getting out of here so we can find the Mechanical is our top priority.”
“But Brad.” She turns her face into a pout.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find them,” I assure her, even though I don’t feel certain.
“Okay,” she says and gives me a beaming smile.
“That’s the spirit!”
Chapter Four
“Did the Orb bring you here to help us, Robby?” I ask the boy.
“The what?”
“It’s a floating ball of pure energy.”
“Oh, is that – is that – is that what you ca-ca-ca-call that th-th-th-thing. An...” he stops, his mouth working silently as he tries to get out the next word.
“Orb. Yes, that’s it,” I say, finishing his sentence.
He scowls at me.
“Did the Orb tell you something when it brought you here?” I ask.
“It said that I – that I – that I have to help...” He’s struggling to get out the last word again.
“Me?” I suggest.
He nods, but his eyes are looking daggers at me now, like I’ve done something seriously wrong
“Did the Orb say how you are going to help me? Do you know where the Mechanical and the bomb are?” I ask quickly.
“I don’t kn-kn-know what you’re t-t-t-talking about,” he says.
“The Mechanical is an evil clockwork monster that looks like a giant lobster. It’s alive. I don’t know why or how. It just is. The Orb told us that the Mechanical is going to lower a nuclear bomb between two plates and trigger volcanoes in the Ring of Fire. What all this means, I have no idea,” I explain, feeling helpless.
“Tectonic plates,” Robby says.
“What?”
“The earth’s su-su-su-surface is made up of large p-p-p-plates, kind of like a huge ji-ji-ji-jigsaw puzzle. The Ring of Fire is a ring of – ring of – ring of volcanoes that encircle the Pa-pa-pacific Ocean.”
“How many volcanoes are we talking about, a dozen?” I ask.
“Over four...” he pauses and struggles to say the next word.
“Dozen?” I suggest.
“Hundred,” he corrects me.
“Over four hundred!”
“Yes.”
“Wow. The Mechanical’s trying to trigger them all plus cause earthquakes and tidal waves. That’s really bad!”
“If wh-wh-what you say is t-t-t-true, yes, it’s very bad,” Robby agrees.
“Hey, how come you know about all this stuff?” I ask.
“I read a l-l-l-lot of science journals and stuff l-l-l-like that.”
“Cool. Well, first thing we have to do is get out of this room, and quickly. We don’t have much time left,” I say as I run my hands through my hair.
“Brad,” Megan says.
“Yeah?”
“How is the Mechanical going to put the bomb in the well shaft with all those men here?”
“Good point,” I say. “It can’t. So we have to assume that the Mechanical will find a way to make the men abandon the oil rig.”
“How?”
“I have no idea. Now come on, help me search for another way out.”
“I to-to-told you, there is-is-is-isn’t one,” Robby says.
“Doesn’t hurt to check again,” I say. I give the room a quick examination, but come up empty. Robby’s right, there’s no other way out.
“Right, time to try Plan B.” I hurry over to the door. “I’m going to bang on the door until someone comes.”
“Let us out!” I shout as I kick and slap the door.
&n
bsp; I keep doing this until I think my voice is going to break. But five minutes later, we hear heavy footsteps on the walkway outside.
A key turns the lock and the door is yanked open. Davis stands there, and he doesn’t look happy.
“What do you want now?” he asks crossly.
“Mr. Davis, please, you have to listen to us,” I say as politely as I can. “Like I tried to tell you before, there is a clockwork monster called a Mechanical hiding on the oil rig, and it’s really bad news.”
“Is that right?” Davis mocks, crossing his massive arms.
“It’s almost as tall as you and about three times as long,” I explain.
“There’s one thing I can say about you, kid, you’ve got some imagination.” He laughs.
“No! I’m telling the truth. The Mechanical’s got a nuclear bomb and it’s planning on dropping it down your well shaft.”
“Now you’re just being silly,” Davis says and turns to go.
“Tell me, have you moved the oil rig recently?” I ask, trying a new approach.
“Why yes, we moved here two months ago.”
“Where exactly is ‘here?’ ”
“That information is strictly hush-hush, kiddo,” Davis declares gruffly.
Robby joins me. “You m-m-moved the rig right over the f-f-f-fault line between the P-p-p-pacific and North American te-te-te-tectonic plates, didn’t you?” he asks.
“What? How do you know that?” Davis demands, looking surprised.
“Don’t you think that’s a strange place to drill?” I ask.
“Absolutely not. We drill wherever we find deposits of oil.”
“And did you find oil here?”
“Of course!”
I look at the worrying expression darkening Davis's face, and follow another hunch. “The shaft you drilled, is it wider than normal?”
“Look, kid, how do you know so much about what we’re doing? This job is supposed to be top secret,” he growls.
“It’s a lot wider than normal, isn’t it? Wide enough to fit a bomb down, right?” I ask.
“No bomb I know of, and besides, you’re talking nonsense,” he says, but he doesn’t look convinced.
“Who told you to bring the rig here and drill such a wide shaft?” I demand.
“The new boss.”
“Right. I want to speak with him. Now, please.” Maybe the boss will listen to us.
“Out of the question,” Mr. Davis declares.
“Please, sir!”
He suddenly leans closer and whispers his answer. “Trust me; you don’t want to meet him.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s some kind of weirdo. He has to keep his skin covered because he’s got a skin disease that reacts badly to light. We’ve never even seen his face,” he explains.
“We still need to see him. Please tell him that we insist on meeting him right away,” I say.
“Fine! I’ll tell him, but don’t be surprised if he doesn’t come. Now excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”
He slams the door shut and locks it.
Chapter Five
Megan sits on the floor, leans against a bunk, and begins to sob. “My poor butterflies! What if they’re in trouble? What if they need me?”
I sit on the bunk beside her and pat her on the head. “I’m sure they’re okay, Megan. They’re clever little things.”
“Why does M-m-m-megan keep talking about bu-bu-bu-butterflies?” Robby asks.
“The butterflies are little clockwork creatures that Megan found on the space station. They follow her everywhere. They’re alive, too, by the way,” I explain.
“I thought you sa-sa-said Mechanicals are ev...are ev...”
“Are evil?” I suggest. “No, just the big lobster and some nasty little worms. Spidey and the butterflies are good. They’ve been helping us.”
“Stop f-f-f-finishing my s-s-s-sentences. It’s very annoying!” Robby says angrily as he takes a step toward me.
“Sorry, I didn’t know.” I hold up my hands in a sign of surrender.
“Yeah, ri-ri-right!”
“No, I really am sorry,” I assure him.
“You always t-t-t-tease and mo-mo-mo-mock me,” he accuses, sticking his face in mine.
“If I treated you like that in the past, I’m sorry for that too, but please believe me when I say I’m not like that anymore.”
“And what ha-ha-happens when you get – when you get – when you get your memory...” He pauses, struggling to get out the last word.
I so want to help him, but I remember what he said, so I bite my tongue and wait.
“...back,” he finally manages to say. “You’ll go back to being j-j-j-just as mean as you were be-be-be-before. I’ll never forget wh-wh-wh-what you said to me when I asked if I could – if I could – if I could be in your team in our first sports class this year.”
“I remember that day,” Megan says as she sniffs back her tears and turns to face us. “Brad said: ‘Y-y-y-you’ll be the l-l-l-l-last person I ever pick for my t-t-t-t-team. You’ll probably st-st-stutter with the b-b-b-ball.’ And then you walked off laughing.”
Suddenly, I feel like a heel. I can’t believe I used to be so mean.
“As I said, I’m sorry I was mean to you, Robby. And if that’s what I was like before, I never want my memory back.”
Our conversation is interrupted when we hear two pairs of heavy boots on the walkway outside. Keys jiggle and the door is thrust open.
Two men step into the room. One is Davis, and the other must be the boss. The boss’s appearance, however, is so unsettling that Robby and I jump back. Megan, however, stays where she is.
The boss is tall, even taller than Davis is. He’s wearing overalls that are spotlessly clean, black gloves, and a blue plastic mask that covers his whole head, including his face. We can’t even see his eyes, because he is wearing reflective sunglasses.
“Davis tells me you think there’s an evil clockwork lobster monster on the oil rig,” the boss says in a harsh voice.
I’m so shocked by the boss’ odd appearance that I can’t find my voice.
“Let me assure you that there is nothing to worry about because there is nothing like that here. I also want to tell you that as soon as I can get our comm. systems working again, I will contact the mainland and ask them to send over a chopper to take you kids back home to your parents. How does that sound?”
“How l-l-l-long do we have to – have to – have to wait? I wa-wa-want to go now,” Robby says.
“Can’t say for sure – as I said, we are experiencing interference with our comm. systems. But soon, I expect...”
As he is talking, the boss leans his left hand on the doorframe and starts tapping away with one finger.
At first I think this is strange, but the blood drains from my face when I realise he isn’t tapping randomly, but is tapping in Morse Code.
My mind goes into overdrive as I translate those taps into words. This time you will fail, Bradley Millner.
I stagger back in shock and bump into Robby. The boss is working for the Mechanical! But that doesn’t make sense – why would a human betray his own people by helping a Mechanical destroy the world?
The boss stops tapping and leans down until my distorted reflection fills his sunglasses. My face looks round and my nose is too big.
“Anyway,” he continues, “that’s what I came down to say. You will be going home as soon as we can get a helicopter over here. Until then, no more banging on the door and shouting like there is no tomorrow. We are trying to run an oil rig here. I will have Davis bring you some food and water in a moment.”
The boss hesitates after that, waiting for me to answer, but my mind is numb from shock, so I just nod.
The boss takes my nod as my agreement, so he grunts with satisfaction and leaves the room. Davis follows him out and locks the door again.
Strong emotions buffet me like the winds of a hurricane – this is not good!
Chapter Six
“Wh-wh-what’s with you, Br-br-br-brad? You look like – look like – look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Robby says.
“Did you notice that he was tapping on the door frame?” I ask.
“Yeah, so what?”
“He was tapping in Morse Code,” I say as I nervously pace the room.
“He was? Wh-wh-wh-what did he say?”
“He said, ‘This time you will fail, Bradley Millner.’ Do you know what that means?”
“No.”
“It means he knows what happened on the space station. Worse, it means he’s working for the Mechanical.”
“What space station?” Robby asks.
“You want to explain it to him, Megan?” I ask, but then I realise she isn’t behind me anymore. She’s over at the lockers, digging through their contents.
I turn back to Robby and explain about the space station. About how we were able to defeat the Mechanical and turn off the force field, and how the Mechanical had communicated to me in Morse Code.
“Look what I found in the lockers,” Megan says as she bounces back to us. She’s holding a really big pair of boots.
“Uh...workmen’s boots?”
“I know, but check them out. They’ve got steel toecaps! My dad’s a fitter-and-turner and he works in a factory making things out of metal. He wears boots just like these. They’re very heavy, but the workers have to wear them just in case they drop something heavy on their feet. If they didn’t have steel toecaps, they could break their toes. I wish they made shoes like this in kid’s sizes too, because sometimes I drop things on my feet and it hurts! I’d give anything for a pair of boots like these,” she says.
Megan suddenly drops the boots on the floor and runs for the door.
“My butterflies!” she shrieks with delight.
The butterflies have found us again. They are crawling through a narrow air vent above the door. They fly down and flit happily around Megan. I’ve never seen them this excited before.
Robby is watching them with his mouth open. “What are those th-th-things?” he finally asks.
“They’re my little clockwork butterflies. Aren’t they just the best? I found them on the space station. Since then they’ve followed me everywhere. They help me too. Did you know that when Brad and I had to go through an airlock and all the air was sucked out, the butterflies surrounded our faces to trap a pocket of air there so that we could breathe? How cool is that?” Megan explains excitedly.
Clockwork Mechanicals - the Complete Trilogy Page 5