by Axel Lewis
Come on, Jimmy. Pull yourself together, he told himself.
Once the racers were positioned on the grid, the mechanics swarmed over their vehicles once more to perform final checks while the competitors prepared themselves for the race. Horace Pelly came over, sneering his usual sneer, but now dressed in a specially-made white racing outfit with a red stripe down the arms and legs.
Jimmy looked down at his own racing outfit: jeans, a T-shirt and a battered helmet that was probably decades old. He swallowed hard.
“I see you’re admiring my outfit,” sneered Horace. “My dad had it invented specially. It’s lightweight, titanium-lined Cryothonix™. Fireproof and crashproof. My dad says I’m too precious to risk anything less. You’re going with those tatty jeans and grubby T-shirt, I suppose?”
“Well, I’m not planning on crashing or catching fire,” muttered Jimmy. He hated how Horace always made him feel. He might have beaten him in the qualifiers, but Horace still treated him like a joke.
“And what modifications have you made to ... to...”
“Cabbie?” said Jimmy.
“Yes, that old rust-bucket of yours,” said Horace. “It’s a tough terrain here. I hope you’ve prepared him for it. My NASA engineers—”
Jimmy turned away and tried to stop listening, but he couldn’t help noticing that all of the other drivers were wearing custom-made racing outfits too. Jimmy looked more like he was going for a stroll in the park.
“Anyway,” said Horace, interrupting Jimmy’s thoughts, “I’ve wasted enough time talking to you. I must go and be interviewed by the press.” Horace strode over to a group of reporters. Cameras started flashing as he posed and grinned.
Jimmy climbed into Cabbie’s driver’s seat and strapped himself in, before looking nervously at the expensive robot racers around him.
Zoom’s black paintwork shone in the sunshine.
Dug reached out his huge hydraulic arm to high-five people in the crowd.
Towering above the others, Monster was blowing exhaust fumes high into the air.
Maximus the hover-bot revved his fan engines menacingly.
And right next to Jimmy and Cabbie was Princess Kako aboard her robocycle, Lightning, practising some moves. Lightning transformed at top speed from motorbike to robo-rocket and back to motorbike again.
Jimmy noticed that all of the other racers had the names of sponsors splashed across their sides. Zoom and Horace were supported by Gleam Toothpaste – For a Winning Smile! Lightning had the words Tokyo.Pro.Robo.Co – by Royal Appointment printed on his mudguards. Chip and Dug were sponsored by Luke’s Lasers – the Brightest and Best. The words Cairo Construction were splashed on the roof of Maximus; and Missy and Monster sported the title Robotron Rocket Boots – Footwear that Flies!
Grandpa had phoned Total Taxis to see if they wanted to sponsor Cabbie. They had said they would think about it and call Grandpa back – but they hadn’t.
What am I doing here? Jimmy thought. I haven’t got a hope of winning this race.
“All right, my boy?” said Grandpa, appearing from underneath Cabbie, where he had been making some final adjustments.
Jimmy stared sadly at the other racers.
“All right, Jimmy lad?” repeated Grandpa, louder this time.
“Yeah, fine,” Jimmy replied quietly.
“They might look better than Cabbie,” said Grandpa softly, “but they haven’t got you at the wheel, my boy. Don’t tell him I said this,” Grandpa whispered, “but I know Cabbie’s not the best-looking racer.”
“I heard that,” Cabbie said indignantly.
“But looks aren’t everything, though.” Grandpa continued, grinning so much that his moustache wobbled. “You wait till you’re out there on the track. You’ll see.”
Jimmy nodded. He hoped Grandpa was right.
“Right!” said Grandpa patted Cabbie’s bonnet. “I’m off to the first pit stop to get myself ready. I’ll see you there!”
Jimmy watched Grandpa disappear into the crowd.
“Racers!” boomed a voice from the loudspeakers. “Take your positions!”
Chapter 10 - And They’re Off!
“This is it,” said Cabbie, giving himself a pep talk. “The big one. Time to make it count. When it really matters. Everything to play for...”
Jimmy chewed on his fingernails as he looked through Cabbie’s windscreen down the start line.
“Cabbie looks like he’s been in a fight with a garbage truck,” he heard Horace shouting to Chip.
“It’s a race, not a beauty contest,” Chip yelled back.
In the blue sky above them Leadpipe’s airship hovered. As they watched, Lord Leadpipe’s jolly face appeared on an giant screen on its side, peering down at the contestants through his monocle.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, his big red face beaming and his voice ringing around the Canyon, “it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the first-ever Robot Races for under-sixteens. Today’s race will see our drivers taking on the challenges of the incredible Grand Canyon and battling for the lead in the Robot Races Championship.”
“Look at them all,” said Jimmy sadly as Lord Leadpipe continued to warm up the crowd. “Dug and Monster and Lightning ... they all look so ... good.”
“Yeah. Let’s just give up and go home,” said Cabbie.
“What?” Jimmy spluttered. “But ... it’s the Robot Races! We can’t quit now! I’ve wanted to do this my whole life...” He trailed off as he realized what Cabbie was trying to do.
“Exactly. Now, come on, Jimmy!” Cabbie yelled. “We’re in this race, and we’ll show those fancy, shiny robots how it’s done.”
“You’re right.” Jimmy gripped the steering wheel. “Let’s show them what we can do.”
Jimmy jumped as Grandpa’s voice crackled out of a little radio on Cabbie’s dashboard.
“Everything OK, Jimmy?”
“Everything’s fine, Grandpa,” Jimmy said nervously.
“Everything’s just peachy, Wilf,” said Cabbie. “A-OK. Ticketyboo. Hunky dory. Couldn’t be better. So let’s get this show on the road.”
“ON YOUR MARKS...!” yelled Lord Leadpipe suddenly.
Jimmy looked for the ignition button. Then looked again. A cold shudder ran through him and he desperately started searching the panel in front of him.
“It’s gone!” he cried.
“What’s gone?” said Grandpa and Cabbie together.
“The big red ignition button. The thing that makes us go! Where is it?” Jimmy said, starting to sweat.
“GET SET!” Lord Leadpipe’s voice echoed around the racetrack. The other racers’ engines filled the air with a rumbling roar.
“Oh,” said Grandpa, as though he had just remembered something. “Sorry, lad, I meant to tell you. I did move some of the gadgets around. One or two last-minute, ahem” – he coughed – “adjustments.”
“I’ve got it!” shrieked Jimmy, pressing a red button on Cabbie’s ceiling.
“GO!” Leadpipe bellowed.
With a click and a rush of air, a hatch in Cabbie’s roof flew open and an enormous magnet on a length of chain shot up to the sky. It came clattering down about thirty metres from the car, narrowly missing an elderly spectator and his dog.
Zoom, Dug, Monster, Lightning and Maximus all roared into the distance, covering Cabbie’s windscreen with a cloud of dust.
“I think that’s the wrong button,” Grandpa said helpfully.
“What do I do? What do I do?” said Jimmy.
“Don’t panic!” Cabbie said. “I’m making the ignition button flash.”
Jimmy stared around frantically, and finally found the big red button at the side of the steering wheel.
“OK,” he said firmly. He pressed the flashing red button and Cabbie’s engine roared into life.
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“A little revving for show,” said Cabbie, gunning his engine, then reeling in the magnet as fast as he could, “and here we go! We’re off...!”
Jimmy jammed his foot down on the accelerator and they burst out onto the winding track on a ridge high inside the Grand Canyon.
“Don’t look down, Jimmy,” Cabbie warned.
“Why not?” answered Jimmy, looking down – and immediately regretting it. He saw a sheer drop to the thin silver line of the river about a mile below.
His heart climbed into his throat and he gripped the steering wheel like he was hanging on for his life. Then he focused on the road ahead, steering steadily between the cliff face to their left and the drop to their right, aiming for the dust cloud thrown up by the racers ahead.
“We’ve got to catch them up,” he said through gritted teeth. “But I can’t even see them.”
“I can help with that,” Cabbie said. “Push the windscreen zoom.” A little purple button popped up on the windscreen and started to flash. Jimmy pressed it, and a corner of the windscreen magnified the glass so it felt like Jimmy was peering through a pair of binoculars.
In the distance, Horace and Zoom were trying to edge past Monster’s huge wheels, but the road wasn’t wide enough for them both. As Jimmy watched, Zoom did a daring overtake on the winding lane and edged past Missy and Monster. Jimmy had to admit that Horace and Zoom made a pretty good team.
“Come on, Cabbie, we mustn’t lose them!” he said determinedly.
“We’re gaining on them,” Cabbie replied as they shot past a blur of cliff face and sand. “If we can keep this speed up, we’ll catch them in...” He paused for less than a second to calculate. “...just under three minutes and seven seconds.”
“Let’s go, then!” cried Jimmy. He was still sweating and his heart was beating a million times a second, but that feeling of excitement and concentration was taking over the nerves. He had a job to do, and that was to get Cabbie to the finish line as fast as possible.
“Bend in the road ahead,” warned Cabbie.
Jimmy remembered a similar winding cliff-top track in one of the races he’d watched last year. Big Al and Crusher had taken it too fast and crashed. He eased off the pedal slightly and took the corner smoothly, before hitting the accelerator once again.
“Nice driving,” said Cabbie. They rounded the bend and Cabbie speeded up as they hit a straight section of track. They could see the other racers ahead in a distant cloud of dust. Jimmy scanned the buttons in front of him for something that could help.
“Hit the rocket-boosters, Jimmy!” cried Cabbie.
“Maybe we should save them,” Jimmy replied. “We might need a boost later on.” Then he noticed something on the zoom screen. Far ahead, the other racers were being called into a pit stop by their teams.
Chip and Dug got there first, skidding towards the waiting mechanics, who leaped on the racer and went to work. Kako and Lightning were right behind them. Maximus and Zoom bashed into each other, sparks flying, as they crashed into their spaces. In front of Cabbie, Missy and Monster were slowing down for a stop too.
In the last space there was a little figure with wild white hair waving. It was Grandpa.
“First pit stop coming up,” crackled Grandpa’s voice over the intercom. “Get ready to pull in, Jimmy.”
“This is our chance!” Jimmy gasped. “Cabbie, do we really need to stop?”
“Well...” said Cabbie, doing a quick check of his functions. “Front offside tyre is a little worn, engine might need a little tune-up, spot of oil ... and I need water. And fuel.”
“Grandpa?” said Jimmy into the intercom. “Can Cabbie divert water from his water cannon and take fuel from the rocket-boosters?”
“Erm, I don’t know, Jimmy. I’ve never tried it,” Grandpa’s voice crackled over the intercom.
“Already done it,” said Cabbie.
“Brilliant!” cried Jimmy. “We’re going on!”
Grandpa stood open-mouthed as they sailed past him, past all the other racers, and went into the lead. In his mirror, Jimmy could see the small white-haired figure, bouncing up and down and punching the air.
Over the intercom came Grandpa’s voice. “Go, Jimmy, go!”
Jimmy cheered – and then panicked. He’d never seen a robot racer miss a pit stop before. What if it was the wrong thing to do?
“How far is it to the next pit stop?” he asked anxiously.
“Forty-two kilometres,” said Cabbie.
“Will we make it all right?”
“Make it?” cried Cabbie. “Of course we’ll make it! There are bits of me that spent twenty years on the taxi circuit! Those other racers might need their fancy paintwork touched up and their wheels massaged, but with enough water and fuel we can keep going for ever!”
Jimmy grinned as Cabbie switched on the zoom screen to show the view behind them. He was sure the other racers would catch up soon, but for the moment, they were actually winning!
Chapter 11 - Dirty Tricks
The road started to climb and Cabbie accelerated. They snaked left, then right, then left again, Jimmy growing in confidence all the time. The road began to narrow until the ledge they were driving on was only slightly wider than Cabbie’s bonnet. Jimmy glanced over at the sheer drop on their right and his stomach did a couple of nervous somersaults.
“No one can overtake us here!” shouted Cabbie, just as the other robot racers appeared in their mirrors. They were gaining fast.
“Whoa!” yelled Jimmy as they rounded a bend and Cabbie’s back end swung out over the edge of the cliff. “Let’s keep all four wheels on the road, Cabbie.”
As the taxi found its grip again, Jimmy heard a faint cheer from the crowd watching from the canyon’s edge. Jimmy surged forwards before guiding Cabbie into another right-hand corner.
“Look out!” cried Jimmy, slamming on the brakes as he saw that the road ahead was completely blocked by a huge rockslide. But the racer was still skidding towards the mountain of rocks and boulders ... Jimmy stiffened, bracing himself for the impact.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this all under control,” said Cabbie calmly, hitting the retro-rockets, which fired instantly, bringing them to a stop just in front of the rockslide. As Jimmy peered through the windscreen he could see Cabbie’s front tyres smoking, and a cloud of dust had flown up all around them.
Next to them the cliff dropped down to the river below, a tumbling slope of red rocks and dust.
“I didn’t see this from the airship,” Jimmy complained.
“It wasn’t there before,” Cabbie confirmed. “I think this is the first challenge of the race. You know there are always obstacles on each track.”
Jimmy glanced nervously at the vertical rock face on his left, at the sheer drop down into the canyon on his right, and at the rock pile ahead. “Can we get over it?” Jimmy thought out loud. “Or through it? Or under it?”
“The others are gaining on us,” said Cabbie. “Whatever we do, we need to do it fast!”
“OK,” said Jimmy. “How do we get over it?”
“We...” Cabbie paused and thought, his computer whirring. “We fire the pogo-thruster. The button’s flashing blue now.”
“The pogo-thruster?” repeated Jimmy nervously. “What does it do?”
“Rockets us into the sky,” said Cabbie. “We’ll land on the other side of the landslide and we’ll be away.”
“But it’s a windy day. What if we don’t land on the other side?” asked Jimmy. “What if it rockets us into the sky and we’re blown down into the Canyon?”
“Good point,” said Cabbie.
“So can we get round it?” asked Jimmy.
“There’s a ledge about thirty centimetres wide at the edge of the landslide,” said Cabbie. “We reverse, get up to 150 k.p.h., go up on two wheels and—”
&n
bsp; “And crash over the edge,” finished Jimmy. “Or crash into the landslide. Have you got any suggestions that don’t involve us crashing?”
Cabbie thought for a moment. “No,” he said.
“Let’s back up and get a proper look at it,” said Jimmy.
Cabbie quickly reversed. But as he did so, Lightning appeared from nowhere and zipped round him, heading straight for the landslide. At the last moment, steel ropes and grappling hooks flew from Lightning’s front shield, grabbed hold of the rock face and pulled Princess Kako and her robobike up and over the mound of fallen rocks like a giant spider.
“We need to do something. Here comes Monster!” said Jimmy, looking in the rear-view display screen. But it was too late. Missy and her enormous monster-truck racer swerved round them. The truck’s front grille dropped down and out came a vast drill bit the size of a robo-rocket, spinning into a blur. Dust and rocks and splinters flew up as the drill burrowed into the ground and Monster disappeared down the tunnel she had dug beneath the landslide.
“Now’s our chance,” cried Jimmy, stamping on the accelerator. “Let’s follow them!”
Cabbie’s engine roared, and they flew backwards.
“Oops,” said Cabbie. “Still in reverse!”
Jimmy flicked the gear paddle into first gear, but before he could power forwards, Sammy and his hoverbot Maximus had barged in front of them and skimmed into the darkness of the tunnel.
“Come on!” cried Jimmy as Zoom, then Dug, hurtled past and headed for the opening.
“Fire the jet-thrusters and let’s get going!” yelled Cabbie.
Jimmy was reaching for the flashing green button when they heard a screech of tyres at the entrance to the tunnel.
Zoom had stopped and Jimmy could see Horace pressing all sorts of buttons on the roof of the sports car.
“What’s he doing?” Jimmy cried. “He’s blocking the way!”