Mike looked around the twisted, burning wreckage for any sign of the bots but saw he was still alone. The flames were getting closer to him and he couldn't move too far or too fast with his injuries. He pulled his t-shirt up from his jumpsuit and over his nose to help keep the smoke from bothering him. Using his uninjured arm Mike himself along the debris riddled ground, and used his uninjured leg to push himself away from the flames that were quickly creeping up on him.

As Mike's hand reached a bundle of crumpled wires and beams, he felt something move under his palm. "Gah!" Mike retracted his hand. "What the hell?"

The object moved again and slowly sat itself upright. "Ouch... my head! Mike? What you do this time?"

"Crow!" Mike had never been so happy to see the golden robot in his life. "You're alive!"

"So are you." Crow commented as he rubbed at his dented and charred head. The net on the back of his head was hanging loose, and his torn, burned sweater was resting on his body in ragged tatters. "So... this is Earth? Looks... interesting."

"Well... not all of it." Mike pulled himself closer to Crow. "Right now we need to get out of the satellite and away from the fire."

"Fire?!" Crow looked around. "AHH! Call the fire department!"

"They're here!" Mike yelled at Crow as he put the net back in place on Crow's head. "But they don't know we are, too!"

"Oh."

"Help me out! We need to get away from the fire and find the others."

"You mean it's just us? How miserable!"

"Cambot's okay, he flew off somewhere. I'm not sure why."

"Wuss!"

"Crow?!" Mike was already losing patience.

"What?"

"Help."

"What? Oh, right!" Crow noticed that Mike was banged up. "I'll find a way out!"

"Don't go too far, I don't want to lose you, too!"

"Awe..." Crow cooed playfully as he snuggled up to Mike. "I love you!"

Mike laughed as he pushed Crow away from him. "C'mon, move!"

"Right! I'll be back!" In a quick burst of speed Crow wove through the labyrinthine mess of wreckage to find an escape route.

Unable to bear the pain in his body any further, Mike decided to try and set the breaks in his arm and ankle. As soon as his hand touched the injuries he winced in pain and groaned. "Damn it..." Looking around at the bits and pieces laying all around him, Mike took a long piece of piping and set along his arm. He then took some loose wires and, poorly, tied them around his arm to finish the makeshift splint.

"Mike! Mike! Mike!" Crow came running back to the injured human. "Oh, there you are!"

Mike finished tying the wires and looked at the excited robot. "Did you find a way out?"

"Yes! AND... Servo!"

"Servo?"

"Yo!" The red robot hovered up from behind Crow and sat with Mike. Tom's dome was cracked from either the impact or the heat, one his inarticulate arms was missing and his hover skirt was dented. "There you are!"

"Where've you been?" Mike asked.

"I was wedged under the desk ,and the desk was wedged between the satellite and a big tree!"

"I'm glad you're okay."

"Wish I could say the same about you."

"Tell me about it..." Mike looked at his broken arm again. "So, that just leaves Gypsy."

From outside the ship, somewhere beyond the wall of fire they heard Gypsy's distinctive voice. "Guys? Did you call me?"

"Gypsy!" Mike happily called out. "You're okay, too!"

"Yup. Boy, you guys should really get outside of the ship. That fire is awfully big!"

Mike pulled himself upright and kneeled. "Crow, show us the way out."

"Follow me!" Crow eagerly led the way to the exit from the burning ship.

Mike limped slowly but steadily along the mangled passage that was once a high-tech and orbiting satellite that he and the bots used to call 'home'.


Joel made his way through the nature reserve, careful not cross the path of a ranger, firefighter or cop. He also wisely kept away from the clearings in case a circling helicopter spotted him while surveying the area. The thick smoke made it difficult for him to continue on at a brisk pace. The distant flickering flames acted as a beacon to guide his way to the downed satellite.

"Almost there..." He said aloud to himself, more or less to boost his own confidence and to keep the haunting ambience of the burning forest from lingering too long.

A loud, high pitched chirp caught his attention. Looking up he spotted a single hovering metallic sphere with what looked like a scope or camera lens attached to it.

"What the...?" Joel stared intently at the object trying to identify it.

The object, seemingly sensing Joel if not hearing him, hovered down to the lone human and spun around mid-air in front of him.

"Wait... Cambot?"

Cambot let out another high pitched chirp.

"That's right, you got an updated model after I left the Satellite of Love! I only caught of glimpse of you when I went back up to repair..." He trailed off. "the ship."

Cambot pressed his body against Joel's chest.

"I missed you too, buddy!" Joel wrapped his arms around the small damaged robot. "Where are the others?"

Cambot hovered from Joel's grip and turned his camera lens toward the fire.

"Still at the fire?"

Cambot nodded his body to say 'yes'.

"We better move it. Show me the way boy!"

With Cambot now acting as his guide Joel jogged after the metallic sphere glinting the afternoon sunlight and distant fire. The deeper into the reserve Joel walked the more charred the flora became. The thick air, heavy with smoke and falling ash made it difficult for Joel to breathe and see. Cambot slowed his pace to ensure that he and Joel didn't get separated in the fire.


"OUCH!" Mike whined as he reluctantly jumped from the burning satellite and landed on the hard ground below. "My leg!" He rolled onto his back and clutched at his broken ankle with his good hand.

"Oh, you big baby!" Crow commented. "My arm's broken and Servo's is completely gone, and you don't see us whining!"

"Crow..." Mike replied through gritted teeth as Tom hovered gently down and rested next to him on the grass. "You don't feel pain!"

"Oh." Crow looked over at Tom. "I forgot."

"Idiot..." Tom responded flatly.

Gypsy approached her shipmates joyously. "Thank goodness you got out of there!" Gypsy's light was cracked and her jaw was hanging loose from its hinges. There were also numerous dents and holes in her black tube-like body. "Mike! You're hurt!"

"But I'm alive!" Mike emphasized as a means to calm her. "The only one missing now is Cambot.

"I saw Cambot fly off earlier, but I'm not sure where he went." Gypsy recalled.

"Me neither Gypsy." Mike commented and then coughed. "We need... we need to get away from the fire."

"But where?" Gypsy asked curiously.

"I don't... know." Mike confessed. "I don't think I will even be able to move, let alone-" A single bright, yellow light suddenly shined on the group of satellite occupants. "Da' hell is that?" Mike protectively put his hand up to shield his eyes.

Crow, Tom and Gypsy all froze in place and stared directly into the light.

An unknown, male voice echoing through a megaphone addressed them: "DON'T MOVE. WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED."

...to be continued...