Chapter Four
"C'mon, wake up," Finn said, gently nudging the magenta sportscar at his feet. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at him. "We get to go to a safer place. Does that sound fun?" She blinked, but she followed him out of the room anyway. They took the elevator to the lobby, where Finn paid his tab, and then drove out into the deserted streets of midnight London.
They turned onto Fifth Avenue, and Finn began scanning the numbers for fourteen seventy, which he found to the left. He tapped on the door, and Zundapp answered, allowing them entry. The magenta sportscar spotted her older dark green counterpart waiting patiently for something in the corner of the foyer, and she raised an eyelid.
Finn, Zundapp, and Shorts met in a side room and began to talk in low voices. "We have six hours before the rest of the facility staff is around to know what's going on, and by then Montgomery will have rallied the troops to hunt for us in every corner of London," Finn said. "We can't stay here; we have to be gone by morning."
"Where to next?" Shorts asked, giving Finn a flat, condescending look.
"Radiator Springs."
"Well, that makes sense. This time of year there are few tourists," Zundapp added.
"I've hidden a famous racer there with only that minor complication to his stay."
"Can you guarantee that she won't be found?" Zundapp asked, looking at Finn.
"I guarnatee nothing, but if I were a betting car, I'd bet that they wouldn't look for her there."
"What do we do with the other one?" Shorts asked.
"Zundapp, keep him with you, in case someone in your circle needs a new engine, for whatever reason. I have my concerns, which I'm sure you know well. I want to have every confidence that they will be addressed." Shorts glanced at Zundapp, who seemed as calm and indifferent as ever, and Finn continued, "Now that that's settled, I have to call a plane about a flight, and Zundapp, I believe you have to do the same thing."
"And I need to talk to a train about getting me to my hometown in Germany," Zundapp replied.
"I expect you'll stay in touch?" Zundapp nodded. "Excellent. I'll call that plane, and then we'll pack up and part ways." Shorts and Zundapp nodded.
CARS
The girl kept close to Finn throughout the flight, and as they prepared to land, he said, "I wouldn't try to go to Los Angeles if I were you."
"Why should I?" Shorts replied. "I'll get arrested again, and then they might ship me back to that freakshow. Not a hope in hell am I gonna let that happen."
"Alright, try to get to Toronto, and if you see a royal blue Mustang, tell him I sent you. He'll understand."
"Got it."
"We're touching down," Siddeley said over the intercom.
"Thank you, Siddeley."
Siddeley dropped his loading ramp, and Shorts, Finn, and the girl deplaned. "Get to Toronto, and if you can, find that Mustang, and tell him I sent you." Shorts nodded and drove off down Route Sixty-Six, toward Chicago, Finn noted ans he turned to the girl. "Let's find you somewhere to live where you won't attract attention."
She drove out across the desert to the road, moving along slowly, keeping close to the shoulder line. Finn drove next to her, keeping pace with her and watching out for traffic. They reached Radiator Springs to find a few of the residents gathered at the V8 Diner, Holley and Mater included. Holley rushed forward on sight. "Thank the Manufacturer you're alive," she cried.
"Not for long, if I'm found," Finn replied. "I'm here to find a good family for this little girl." He gestured to the small magenta sportscar.
"Shoot, Lightning 'n' Sally'll take her," Mater said.
"Yeah, of course we will," Sally said, rolling forward. "I'll have to go through the legal process, of course, but I think we can handle that tomorrow."
"Thank you, so much," Finn said.
"Not a problem at all. It's a pleasure."
Finn gently nudged the sportscar forward, whispering words of encouragement, and said, "Take good care of her. Some very bad cars want her dead."
"What?"
"Hopefully you will never have to meet them, but I have to tell you on the off chance that you do meet them. I want you to understand that it could get very, very dangerous."
"Okay," Sally said after a moment spent looking around and blinking uncertainly.
"I've got to be off. I can't stay in one place for very long, especially now."
"See ya 'round, Finn," Mater said.
Finn nodded and drove back toward where he left Siddeley.
CARS
Zundapp settled into his chair and looked out the window as the train zipped by through the German countryside. The car's phone rang, and he pressed a button. "Ja?" he asked.
"Professor, I don't mean to call you so late, but it's an emergency," Tubbs Pacer said on the other end of the line. "My grandnephew's seriously sick, and the doctors are sayin' they can't fix it."
"Describe to me the nature of his illness."
"Engine infection. It's real bad. The thing needs replacing or he'll die."
"How old is your grandnephew?"
"About four."
Zundapp glanced at the green sportscar he shared the car with. "Where is he now?"
"At a hospital whose name I can't say to save my life."
"Can you give me its address?" With a little pronunciation help on his part, Zundapp got an address out of the Pacer. "I'm on my way."
"I can't thank you enough, Professor."
"Tell him to try to sleep, and don't ask about my methods. Do you understand?"
"Absolutely, Professor."
"Good." Zundapp hung up and said over the intercom, "Change of plans," and then gave the address.
"You've got it," the train replied.
Zundapp rolled out of his chair and approached the sportscar, who watched with a curious, slightly nervous expression. "Open the hood," he said, and the car complied. Zundapp studied the engine, comparing it to his mental image of a Pacer engine. "Vundervagen," he whispered. From a nearby cabinet, he removed a series of instruments, and he set to work.
CARS
Zundapp and a trio of forklifts, two supporting a small engine between them, drove into the hospital's waiting room, where Tubbs could be seen breathing a sigh of relief. The third forklift asked for the Pacer's hospital room, and they turned left down the hall and into the room. A four-year-old aquamarine Pacer with tan patches along the hood, front side panels, and front bumper slept in the bed, and Zundapp gestured to the two forklifts who supported the engine. He opened the hood and began the replacement process.
The seriously infected engine was placed in the nearest biohazard container, and none of the four operators were fully willing to touch it, or thought it would be possible to do so safely as it was largely covered in patches of light yellow that hardly seemed natural.
He put the new engine into the Pacer, making any necessary last minute modifications, of which there were few, and then closed the hood and gestured for the forklifts to leave. He drove back to the waiting room. "He'll be alright," he said.
"Thanks, Professor," Tubbs replied.
"Not a problem. Though I would like to ask you, what brings you to Germany?"
"Inter-family business."
"With the Hugos?"
"Yeah."
"Ah."
"Thanks again, Professor. Really."
"Not a problem. Now, I'd like to return to my hometown."
"Okay. No problem, no problem. None at all."
Zundapp nodded and drove out of the hospital.
