Josh Kain in:
Let's Ride the Jet Scooter!
"KAIN! KAIN YOU IDIOT! SLOW THIS THING DOWN AT ONCE!" Hugh yelled for the fourth or fifth time. The engine was a little loud, but he didn't need to yell like that.
"Relax kid," I said for the second time. "Driving this thing be as easy as… your momma's cherry pie. Now you go and sit yourself back in your seat there."
Hugh ignored me. "Is anyone else here sane? Anyone at all?? This moron is gonna crash and kill us all!" he said hysterically.
"Hmmm…" Rudo said. "This thing is a little loud. I wonder if it will hold up."
"Hello! I was just saying that!" Hugh reminded him.
"Well what did you expect? We got it for free!" Rolf said gleefully.
I smiled. "Or maybe we done stole it from them hobos in Roron."
"Nonsense," Rolf assured me. "You read that note, didn't you. The Rorons gave it to us as a gift."
Rolf didn't understand what had happened. But I did. "You ever wonder how that note got there?"
Rolf's expression told me that maybe he had known, but didn't want to admit it. You see, we needed the jet scooter, but Rolf didn't want to resort to stealing. We had once swam to a town called Piata once… it wasn't pretty. We barely got out with our lives. We were joined by the thief by Shir Gold there. She had planted that note on the jet scooter to fool Rolf. Rolf isn't easily fooled though. He knew we needed it to get to Uzo Island.
After receiving no response, Hugh tried again. "I thought you said you could drive this thing! Do you even know where you're going?"
Hugh is a biologist. And a prissy sissy if you ask me. I'd wager he was feeling seasick, though the others weren't worried so much. Rudo sat in the co-pilot's seat next to me, while Anna, Hugh, and Rolf were scrunched together in the back. I suppose the jet scooter was designed to sit four comfortably, though Rolf decided five of us were needed for this mission. It took some convincing, but Nei agreed to stay behind with Doctor Amy and Shir Gold, who disappeared recently.
She was probably stealing something as we spoke.
Hugh piped up again, "Kain! Algo to Kain! Do you even know where we are?"
"I've read a lot about Uzo island," Rolf cut in. "Mount Uzo is an active volcano. Because of the soot, the maurera plant grows only near the top. Looks like we'll be doing some hiking. But Uzo's shores are sandy. I don't think any impact into the island will kill us. Well, unless we hit a cliff that is," he added, smiling toward Hugh.
"Did you say …'cliff'?" Hugh asked in disbelief.
"Or unless we hit a patch of rocks," Rudo added with a laugh.
"Thanks a lot. Now I know I'm gonna die," Hugh sighed. "And you… Kain! You never answered me. Do you know where you're going? We've been moving for a while now."
I was charged with piloting the jet scooter. None of us had any real experience driving one before, but I volunteered cause I'm good with machines. Or bad with machines. Depends on how you see things, I guess. The jet scooter was really easy to steer though, once you got it going.
"I never said I could drive this… thing, boy," I said. I can tell Hugh hates it when I call him "boy" or "kid". "I just said that my skills be the best suited for such a job. And I never said I knew where I be. Rolf here done said we headed the right way, so I thinks he be right. Now relax. Don't be such a… what they call it? A worry-warf."
Rolf, Rudo, and Anna muttered some agreements. I guess Hugh finally realized he was alone in his fear of the "high speeds" of the jet scooter. "Well… You're still an idiot in my book, Kain."
More agreements were sputtered from the back seat. I laughed. I embrace a challenge of insults from Hugh. "You can call me an idiot if you like, but you're momma calls me big…"
"Hey! On the horizon!" Rolf exclaimed tapping my shoulder.
The tip of the mountain began to take shape over the water in the distance. I could see the island was a little dark because of the soot in the air. Yup. We were almost there.
"Now will you tell him to slow down?" Hugh wondered.
I didn't slow down. I knew that Rolf wanted to get this done quickly. We barely gave ourselves time to rest. He wanted this monster situation to end as soon as possible and so did I. Our landing on the island's shore was… slightly rough.
The jet scooter jerked violently. "Aahh! I think my arm's broken! He broke my arm!" Hugh exclaimed.
Anna let out a sigh full of anxiety and impatience and who knows what else is bubbling inside of that woman?
As soon as we were all out at the foot of the massive mountain and assured Hugh his arm was fine, Rolf addressed us. "Four of us are going up. One of us needs to stay with the jet scooter. The last thing we need is for the bio-monsters to destroy it."
"I'm not staying," Hugh said stubbornly. "I want to see the creatures here and whatever is at the top of this mountain."
"Should we draw straws?" Rudo suggested.
"No, that won't be necessary friends," I said. "I'll stay with the jet scooter. I'll just cruise round the island till you folks show up here again. Them critters won't be bothering us." I'm not so good at fighting bio-monsters anyway.
Rolf nodded in agreement. He was probably thinking this all along. "Rudo. Anna. Hugh. With me."
"You're going to leave him in charge of that? Well… there goes our ride back," Hugh muttered.
They walked off like the noble soldiers they are. I hopped in the driver's seat and clutched the steering wheel. Some monster mosquitoes had noticed me and were approaching now.
"YEEEEE-HAW!" I exclaimed as I tore away at full speed and splattered their guts against the windshield.