Chapter 9: Robot-Scouts
After fiddling with the wristwatch for a while, Bobbie managed to figure out how it worked. When he pressed one of the buttons, the watch made him turn invisible but for short periods of time before it had to recharge. As the clouds started to part overhead, Bobbie saw a small light further down the mountain slope and ran towards it.
###
"It's almost dawn," Brian said as he watched the mountain sides from behind a large boulder while further down Gerald and the other Engineers were gathered around a small campfire. "I don't think Bobbie's going to show."
"Darn," Finley said as he slumped his shoulders. "We should've gone back for him."
"And risked getting ourselves killed by those Cyborgs?" Theron responded bitterly. "There was nothing we could've done for him."
"Are you sure about that?" Kinley asked. "Seems to me like you just didn't want to put up with him anymore."
"Watch yer tongue, boy!" Theron said threatening to hit Kinley.
In response, Finley got up and shielded Kinley. "There's no need to get violent, Theron. But if you touch my brother, then I will."
"Then let's settle this Texas style," Theron said cracking his knuckles.
"You will do no such thing," Gerald said sternly. "Not while I'm here."
"Like you're the one to talk," Theron glared at Gerald intensely. "You dragged the poor string-bean out of his cozy home in Harvest and hoped he'd somehow be of use to us. Now we've lost him, and it's all your fault!"
There was a brief period of silence as Theron walked over to the boulder and put his head in his hand.
"Without our Scout, there's no way we can get past Pyro," Neylan said checking his Pistol.
"He's right," Olan agreed. "We're not nearly as fast as Scouts and the fourteen of us are no match against one Giant Robot."
"But we have Gerald with us, boys," Theron said assuredly to Olan. "With him, we're practically unstoppable!"
"Not quite," Gerald stated abruptly. "Though I am a powerful Medic in my own right, there are limits to what I can do."
"Then we might as well call the whole thing off," Braze said munching on a piece of jerky.
"And go where?" Blaze demanded. "This Mission is too important. We can't abandon it now!"
"So we march onto Thunder Mountain without a Scout?" Baize chuckled. "If nothing else kills us first, then the Giant Robot will do us in for sure."
"We'll worry about that when we get there," Theron said urgently. "Put out the fire and cover your footprints. I want to be off this mountain before those Cyborgs catch up."
"Hey," Bobbie said suddenly appearing in front of the fire. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"
"Bobbie!" Gerald exclaimed.
"Where in Sam Hill did you come from?" Brian asked. "I didn't even see ya."
"Allow me to explain," Bobbie said holding up the wristwatch. "This watch allows me to temporarily become invisible. I took it from the Bird-Headed men's nest back in Granary."
While the Engineers looked confused, Bobbie gave them a demonstration by pushing a button which made him vanish. For several seconds, the Engineers panicked until Bobbie reappeared once more.
"Hoowee! Would you look at that?" Finley exasperated.
"Looks like you stumbled onto a magical artifact, son," Oage said wide-eyed.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, Oage, but the watch is not magical," Gerald responded. "Members of the Spy Class wore such watches before the Machine Wars, and I believe some of them still do to this day."
"Do you know what they're called?" Olan asked. "The watches, I mean."
"Invis Watches," Gerald answered. "For obvious reasons."
Theron's eyebrows furrowed. "If that's the case, my grandpappy must've hired one who got killed at the Double Cross incident and then the Bird-Headed folk took the watch from his body afterward."
Gerald nodded in response. "A very likely scenario, given how wealthy your grandfather was."
The sudden sound of metal clanking got everyone's attention.
"That sounds like Robot Scouts," Gerald said urgently. "Quick, into the trees!"
Without questioning him, Bobbie and the Engineers ran into the nearby pine trees and hid underneath the branches. They all sat perfectly still as the metal clanking got louder until they could see shapes moving down below them. The Robot Scouts were easily recognized by their slender bodies and bat-shaped weapons.
"Fire looks fresh," one of the Robot Scouts said. "Someone was here not too long ago."
"Or several people, judging by the large number of footprints," another Robot Scout replied.
"They can't have gotten very far," said a voice that was much deeper in tone than the Robot Scouts' voices.
From around the giant boulder appeared a much bigger robot who wore a helmet on its head and a blue military uniform.
"Alclad," Theron muttered quietly.
The bigger robot suddenly looked up, causing Theron to avert his eyes.
"What is it, Alclad?" The first Robot Scout asked.
"Nothing, Bolt," said the bigger robot. "I want you and the other Scouts to examine this entire area from top to bottom."
"Gotcha!" the Robot Scout called Bolt said and signaled the other Scouts to run elsewhere.
As Bobbie and the Engineers sat nervously in their trees, Gerald reached for a sleeping dove located in an upper branch. Once he grabbed it, the dove woke up angrily but Gerald whispered something in its ear. The dove was immediately silenced and flew off.
Alclad noticed the flying dove and waved Bolt over. "Did you see where that bird came from?"
"One of the trees," Bolt guessed, pointing to the tree Gerald was hiding in. "That one, I believe."
"Odd," Alclad observed. "Most birds tend to sleep during the night. Either something disturbed it, or there's a Spy in that tree. In either case, we can't be too careful."
"Yeah, I got it," Bolt said, picking up a Force-a-Nature gun and aiming it at the retreating dove.
Before Bolt had the chance to fire, a bolt of lightning suddenly leapt from one of the trees toward him. He quickly dodged the lightning bolt, and re-aimed his gun. Unfortunately, the dove was gone and Alclad seemed disappointed.
"It wasn't my fault," Bolt complained. "That lightning came out of nowhere and almost hit me. Good thing I got quick reflexes, though."
"That's no excuse," Alclad said firmly. "If there is a Spy in one of these trees, you just let him signal for help. Now we must find the Spy and find out who he's working for before reinforcements arrive. So retrieve the others, Bolt, and make it snappy!"
Without saying a thing, Bolt left Alclad's side.
To be continued…
