The Scarecrow of OZ

by S. D. Stuart

  “Cats were not meant to fly.”

  She pointed to a unit mounted between the two jets.

  “This internal gyrostabilizer here guarantees you will always land on your feet.”

  He was about to say something he probably would’ve regretted when a door opened and one of the her guards interrupted them.

  “Excuse me, ma’am, but you asked me to inform you when she was ready.”

  The Southern Marshal pushed the armor into Caleb’s hands while addressing her guard.

  “Excellent. I will be right there.”

  The guard bowed low and closed the door as he left. Caleb was still staring at the armored jet pack in his hands when the Southern Marshal pointed to the rest of the armor in the wardrobe.

  “Put the armor on and be ready to leave in an hour.”

  She rushed out of the room leaving him standing there, holding what had to be the most terrifying articles of protective clothing known to man, and animal alike. Toto growled quietly as the Tin Man turned to face Caleb. His modulated, metallic voice echoed from a speaker mounted on the front of his chest.

  “Don’t just stand there, put it on.”

  Caleb inspected the jet pack in his hands and looked up into the single amber eye of the Tin Man. It was like staring into the eye of some hideous metallic Cyclops, but he wasn’t going to let that deter him from pleading his case.

  “I don’t think you fully understand the risk…”

  With a whir of gears, the Tin Man pointed his mounted machine gun directly at Caleb. “Please.”

  Reluctantly, Caleb donned the suit of armor. It was much lighter, and thinner, than he had expected. It was also a lot more flexible than he thought the armor should be. Even the helmet molded its shape to fit comfortably on his head. The suit covered most of him, but he did not feel protected. It was too light and flexible. He pressed on the chest plate with a finger and the armor depressed enough he could feel the pressure of his finger directly on his chest. What was this? The armor looked impressive from a distance, but this wasn’t even going to stop a rock thrown at him by a small child from leaving a bruise. “I’d be better off wearing a thick leather coat than this deceptive piece of pig excrement.”

  The sound of gears whirring and metal crunching drew his eyes to the Tin Man who had stepped away from the wall, turned to face him, and pointed the large machine gun directly at his chest. He barely had time to raise his hands and protest when the Tin Man shot him.

  Chapter 13

  The world around him slowed to a snail’s crawl as his brain went into overdrive. He had seen what a bullet from this gun could do to a man. The soldiers earlier had been nearly cut in half from the kinetic force unleashed by this terrible weapon. Now, a bullet from that same machine gun had slammed into him at full velocity before he had time to reflect on his past sins.

  He was knocked off his feet and skidded across the room on his back until he collided with the far wall. If he hadn’t been wearing the helmet, his head would’ve cracked open upon impact.

  He took a sudden breath of air, surprised he wasn’t dead. In fact, despite being knocked off his feet and hitting his head on the wall, he hadn’t really felt either impact. He must be in shock from the bullet ripping his heart and lungs to shreds. He realized he hadn’t felt the bullet pierce his body or his head crack into the wall.

  He sat up; and found he could sit up. Not wanting to look, he quickly probed his chest and stomach area with a hand. Instead of feeling a gaping hole where his insides should be spilling out, his hand rubbed against the armor breastplate, and found it was still intact.

  He glanced down, letting his eyes confirm that the bullet had not even left a scratch in the armor.

  The Tin Man’s metallic voice echoed in the room. “Your armor is manufactured from a shear thickening material. The greater the force on the suit, the stronger it becomes. This material provides the maximum protection to the wearer, while still maintaining comfort and flexibility. Another brilliant invention from Professor Gale.”

  Caleb started to stand up, and was in a half crouch, when the door burst open and guards flooded the room, drawn by the sound of gunfire. Some of them spotted Caleb against the far wall and pointed their rifles at him while shouting commands. He instinctively raised his hands and, at the same time, the Tin Man yelled, “No!”

  The jets on his back erupted and he shot up into the air, slamming against the ceiling. Instead of falling back to the ground, the jets kept thrusting and dragged him across the ceiling until he smacked into the wall above the door; and the guards.

  The jets cut out and he fell like a stone onto the stunned guards, scattering them in all directions. The guards were back on their feet just as quickly as he was and, in a panic, began firing at him. He was knocked around in what seemed like every direction at once under the barrage of gunfire, his body jerking uncontrollably.

  A mechanical voice, amplified louder than the gunfire, shouted, “Cease fire!”

  The guards stopped firing and Caleb collapsed forward to his hands and knees. By all rights, he should be dead. He leaned forward on his knees, unharmed, and vomited.

  The Tin Man gripped Caleb’s arm in a three-fingered claw and lifted him to his feet. “The suit’s jet pack is activated by crouching and raising your arms above your head. I suggest waiting until you’re outside to do that again.”

  Caleb wiped the bile from his lips. “I thought the whatzit rejiggering bopper in the suit was supposed to land me on my feet.”

  “It’s physics, not magic. The room was too small to give the gyrostabilizer time to correct. Like I said, try that again outside and I’m sure you’ll have a much better experience.”

  “What the devil happened in here?”

  They turned to see the Southern Marshal gawking at the damage to the room. “I can’t leave you two alone for five minutes?”

  The Tin Man stepped forward before anybody else could speak. “I was showing Caleb the properties of his new suit. Your guards were assisting me in demonstrating the suit’s anti-ballistics effectiveness.”

  A piece of wall, damaged by the numerous rounds that had pelted it, took that precise moment to collapse to the floor in a cloud of dust. The Southern Marshal shook her head. “Next time, take it outside.”

  She motioned to Caleb. “Come with me.”

  The suit stiffened when he tried to run, almost as if it resisted him. The same thing that gave the suit its hardness must also get activated when he moved too quickly. He soon developed a smooth rhythm, and was able to catch up with the Southern Marshal. “What magical gift are you going to bestow upon me next?”

  “Nothing. I’m presenting you before the Council of Elders.”

  “The Council of Elders? Why?”

  She continued walking at a fast pace. “Despite what it looks like, I’m not in charge here. I use my status as the Marshal over the Southern Territories to do what the Council tells me.”

  “They told you to dress me up in this monkey suit and parade me around in front of them?”

  She stopped sharply. “No. That was my idea. They told me to pack my things and be ready to run with the rest of the hybrids.”

  “Run?”

  She slammed a balled fist on his chest plate, the suit absorbing the impact so well, he didn’t feel the slightest vibration.

  “We have a chance, actually have a chance, to change our destiny. And do you know what those idiots want us to do? They want us to run with our tails firmly between our legs. I’m taking you in front of them to prove we don’t have to run anymore. This suit, the Tin Man, even Toto, gives us a fighting chance to get the Brahmastra before the humans do. And I say we take that chance.”

  Her words had an unexpected effect on him. She had finally voiced the plight of the hybrids, and she was right. It was time they took charge of their own destiny and stopped letting the humans push them around, or force them to live behind barriers and walls, just to feel safe.

  He stood up s
traighter and looked the Southern Marshal squarely in the eye. “What do you need from me?”

  A smile spread across her lips. “You’ve just given it. If I can convince you, together we can convince the Council.”

  He felt good about this new plan of action. Maybe it was time for him to take his rightful place as leader of the hybrids. The Council had done what they could to hide them and protect them. Now that there was a direct threat to their very existence, hiding was no longer an option. And it looked like it was up to him to lead his people through the dawn of a new era.

  The Southern Marshal clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go tell those old geezers…”

  An explosion echoed in the distance moments before the ground rumbled under their feet. Dust filtered down from the newly formed cracks in the ceiling. The Southern Marshal ran over to a speaker mounted on the wall and pushed down on the button next to it. “Report!”

  A voice crackled through the speaker. “The castle is under attack, ma’am.”

  “Establish a defense perimeter. Nobody gets into the castle. Is that understood?”

  “Yes ma’am!”

  She released the button on the speaker and gripped Caleb’s shoulders with a huge smile on her face. “This couldn’t have come at a better time. You get out there, stop whoever’s attacking the castle, and prove to the Council of Elders that you are the one.”

  Caleb tried to swallow, but his mouth had dried up. His silence told the Southern Marshal more than he ever could with words. She patted his shoulder reassuringly.

  “It would’ve been nice to properly train you on how to use the suit, rather than force you to learn it as you go. Don’t worry, the Tin Man will help you.”

  As if on cue, the Tin Man bounded down the hallway, if bounded was the right word for the massive metallic beast that moved swiftly toward them, moving much faster than his squat and bulbous shape should allow.

  Explosions continued to bellow and shake the ground under their feet. The Southern Marshal jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. “Get out there before they reduce my castle to rubble.”

  The Tin Man pointed his machine gun at the far wall and fired a single shot. The wall exploded outward from the solitary round. Caleb gawked at the Tin Man, whose metallic voice echoed in the small hallway.

  “I have three types of rounds for my gun. One of them explodes on impact. I’m afraid you only have standard ammunition for your suit gun.”

  Caleb looked down at his suit. He didn’t see any gun mounted on the underside of either arm. The forearm pieces of his suit were a bit bulky along the inside of his arms, but no gun anywhere.

  “My suit gun?”

  “Make a fist with your right hand and crook your index finger out slightly.”

  Caleb balled his hand into a fist and then poked his index finger out slightly. A gun barrel snapped out from the armor along the top of his hand and a trigger sprang out to rest against his index finger. The gun was integrated into the suit of armor. He opened his hand and everything receded back into the suit. He rolled his left hand into a fist and a double-edged sword, as long as his forearm, sprang out along the top of his hand. He opened his hand, and it retracted just as quickly.

  This suit was more than just defensive protection. It was combat ready.

  The Southern Marshal slapped a hand on his back. He heard it rather than felt it.

  “You learn quickly, Caleb. Now get out there and show those bastards that the hybrids are no longer going to roll over and take it.”

  The Tin Man was the first through the hole in the wall. Caleb followed him through the castle wall and out into the blinding sun.

  All around him, portions of the castle were on fire, columns of black and gray smoke billowing into the clear blue sky.

  The Tin Man was scanning the skies. “I don’t see the airship.”

  Caleb looked up and saw only blue sky and columns of dark smoke.

  “It’s camouflaged. If we get somewhere high, we can look for the shadow it casts on the ground.”

  “Excellent idea. Follow me.”

  The Tin Man half-crouched and raised his arms in the air. Plumes of flame shot out from his back and he vaulted into the air and onto the roof of the nearest building. He used the height of that building to jump again to the roof of the next tallest tower. And then he was out of sight.

  The Tin Man made it look so easy. But Caleb remembered what happened inside the room. He had never felt so out of control in his life. The first time hadn’t given him a chance to get a feel for the suit, other than the feeling of sheer panic. Now he was expected to repel an attacking force with it?

  An explosion directly above blew chunks of stone away from the top of a castle tower. He instinctively ducked while raising his arms to protect his head from the falling debris.

  The jets activated on his unintentional command. He shot into the air and his stomach flipped upside down.

  To the casual observer, he flew off into the air with a battle cry. But he was actually screaming in terror as the ground fell away.

  He flailed his arms and legs, trying to stay upright, but it was not needed. As promised, the suit maintained a steady course as he descended to the rooftop of the nearest building. He settled onto the roof with no more effort than hopping down from the bottom rung of a ladder.

  The Tin Man landed on a roof several buildings away and jumped again. Caleb looked in the direction the Tin Man was headed. There it was. The long airship-shaped shadow crawled across the rooftops just ahead of the Tin Man.

  A puff of smoke erupted in the middle of the clear blue sky. The Tin Man angled sideways and narrowly avoided the cannonball fired at him. His jets pushed him higher until he crashed into a piece of the sky itself. He clung to the sky with a three-fingered claw and tore away a section with his other claw to reveal the airship.

  Now that they had a target, cannons on the ground began firing, and hitting, the airship.

  The Tin Man let go and dropped out of sight between two buildings.

  Once the airship was targetable, it turned tail and fled out of range of the castle’s defenses.

  The Tin Man landed on the roof next to him. “Excellent work, Caleb. They will think twice before trying that again”

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “I will be glad to have you join our quest.”

  Caleb just shook his head.

  Caleb stood in the center of a large circular chamber next to the Tin Man and the Southern Marshal. The three of them faced the nine members of the Council of Elders. The Eldest sat at the center with four younger, but not by much, elders seated on either side of him. It was obvious he did not like hearing the words that were coming out of his own mouth.

  “The votes have been cast and the Council has decided, on a vote of five to four I might add, to allow your little expedition to retrieve the Brahmastra. Now before you congratulate each other on your little victory here today, let me add that this is the first time the counsel has been divided on an issue of this magnitude. Since the window of time to succeed with such a far-fetched plan is so small, the Council has wisely decided to continue with plans to leave OZ and find a new home; beyond the reach of humans.”

  The Southern Marshal leaned over and whispered to Caleb. “I bet I can guess which way the Eldest voted.”

  The Eldest slammed his fist on the table and stood abruptly. “Do not make a mockery of me, or of the Council. The only reason we even voted on your scheme in the first place is because the stakes are so high. And, so help me, it pains me to admit that the future of all hybrids might actually rest squarely on your misguided shoulders.

  “Look at yourselves. You, Madam Marshal. You’re just barely a hybrid. You could live comfortably among the humans unnoticed and unharmed. I applaud your strength of conviction when it comes to the plight of our people.

  “But look who you selected as the heroes of your quest. A leader, who has spent so much time among humans, he refuses to take his place
as the leader of our people. And a robot. Need I say more?”

  The youngest elder was the first to reply. “No. You don’t.”

  The Eldest turned on him. “Excuse me?”

  “You made your statement when you voted. The last thing these brave souls need to hear is that we don’t believe in them, because we do.”

  “Only half of us do.”

  “No. I believe the vote revealed that more than half did.”

  The Eldest laugh. “By one vote.”

  “One vote was all it took. But do not berate those who would come to our defense because that one vote went against how you voted.”

  The Eldest raised his voice. “You do not know how I voted. They are cast in secret.”

  “Oh please. Your speech, given in front of the only ones willing to stand up to the humans, told me your vote. And since I was willing to speak out against your tirade, everyone knows how I voted. The rest of the votes can remain a secret.” He faced the three standing at the center of the room. “But I want you to know that you have my full support.”

  The Eldest banged his gavel and stared distastefully at the three of them in the center of the room.

  “This special meeting of the Council is adjourned. We will convene again in one week’s time. The location depends upon your actions. And, for the record, a house divided cannot stand. While you did not get my vote, you still get my support.”

  One by one, the rest of the elders in the Council also replied, “And my support.”

  The Southern Marshal spoke up. “Thank you, all of you. My team will depart immediately and, let me assure you, we will win.”

  The Eldest’s shoulders dropped as he looked sadly at the three of them. “Let’s hope, for all our sakes, you are right.”

  The Southern Marshal spun around and exited the chamber, Caleb and the Tin Man following right behind. As soon as they were outside the council chamber, she spoke quickly.

  “We were lucky they decided to attack the castle like they did. It means they gave up their head start. We have an excellent chance of getting there twenty-four hours ahead of them, even if they push their airship to its top speed.”