* * *
Sonic stormed back and forth across the cavern where the other Freedom Fighters were grouped around Sally's computer. Except for Sonic's relentless pacing, no one moved. Horror gripped them all.
"He's in West cellblock 3B," said Sally, breaking the silence.
"Great! Good!" said Sonic, turning to look at Nicole, which displayed plans of the prison on its screen. "If we act fast they won't have time to hurt him."
No one said the word "robotize". It was as if speaking it would make it happen, and they would never see Tails again, except as a mindless worker bot with two tails.
Sally looked at the faces of her friends--Bunnie Rabbot, Antoine, Rotor, and Sonic. They were the Freedom Fighters, and they could not afford to lose one member. "Fifteen minutes," she said. "Sonic and I will go alone. No, Bunnie," she said as the half-robotized rabbit opened her mouth, "This is a speed mission. I need you to stay here and ... and look after things."
Antoine, a coyote in a royal blue Guard uniform, laid a hand on Sally's shoulder. "I don't think you should go," he said in a heavy French accent. "You should let Sonic go alone."
"No, Ant," said Sally, standing up. "I let Tails go in there, and I'm going after him."
Antoine shot a jealous look at Sonic, but Sonic ignored him. The hedgehog was too upset to think about anyone but Tails. "Good, great, let's go," said Sonic, jogging in place. "The sooner the better. C'mon, Sal!"
Sally clipped Nicole to her boot, and ran up the steps to the surface entrance. She and Sonic climbed out through the stump into the warm, open air, and Sonic picked her up and ran, back to Robotropolis, back into the summer heat.
* * *
Snively was soaking in a jacuzzi in the old staffroom that he had often looked at but never had a chance to use. It was bliss in this hot weather. He closed his eyes and imagined himself on a tropical beach somewhere, instead of chained to Robotropolis as effectively as a worker bot. If he left, Robotnik would hunt him down and kill him because he knew too much. If he stayed, he would be overworked until he died. But in the meantime, one free day was heaven.
His work phone rang on the table beside the Jacuzzi. It figured. A whole day off was unheard of in this job. At least he had had a few hours to himself. He picked up his phone. "Yes sir?"
"Snively, I have an idea," said Robotnik. He sounded amiable enough. "What do you think of exchanging hostages--Sonic in exchange for the fox?"
Snively thought about it. It sounded good in theory, but he knew how resourceful Sonic was. He would escape in the first five minutes, and both hostages would be gone. But telling his uncle that his idea would fail was a tricky business. Snively took the most diplomatic route he could. "Of course, sir, that's an excellent idea. It's much better than my own."
"Oh? You had an idea?" said Robotnik.
"It was nothing, really," said Snively. "It would be a distraction for the Freedom Fighters as you moved in the logging units..."
"Yes? What?" said Robotnik, his curiosity aroused.
Snively leaned back in the hot tub and allowed himself an inner smile. For once he had sounded out his uncle and had got him interested. "A race, sir. Your new speed-robot against Sonic, and the reward is the hostage. Of course, Sonic will not be allowed to survive such a race."
Robotnik was silent a long moment, then breathed, "Yes." Snively could hear him smiling. "Yes, I like it. I shall want you at the control room early tomorrow morning to coordinate plans." There was a click as he hung up.
Snively couldn't believe his luck. Not only had Robotnik liked his idea, but he also let Snively have the full day to himself! It probably wouldn't last, Snively reminded himself, but he would enjoy himself while he could. He sank down in the bubbling water and imagined himself on a tropical beach somewhere...
* * *
Sonic dropped off Sally two blocks from the West Cellblock and raced the rest of the way by himself. The plan was for him to destroy all opposition, and she would come along once the dust settled and hack the doorlocks. It was a haphazard plan, but Sally was too shaken to plan more thoroughly.
Sonic was standing at a corner, peering at the robots on guard duty around the squat prison entrance and calculating the quickest way to flatten them, when Sally said through his communicator, "Sonic!"
He lifted his com to his mouth and whispered, "Yeah Sal?"
"Sonic, we've been detected. Get out of--"
The signal cut out, and Robotnik's deep voice rasped through the speaker. "Perhaps you had better reconsider, Sonic. SWAT-bots aren't as cheap as you think they are."
"Buttnik!" exclaimed Sonic in horror. He had thought that the communicator frequency was too low to be tapped. The hedgehog backed from the sight of the SWATbots and crouched in the shadow of an alley mouth. If Robotnik could hack their com channel, he could trace Sonic and Sally's locations.
"What do you want?" came Sally's voice. She sounded calm and collected. He slipped out of hiding and sprinted back to where he had left her. It wouldn't do to lose both Sally and Tails in the same day.
"It seems I have something you want," came Robotnik's purr. "Something quite dear to you."
Sally said nothing, and Sonic bit back a savage retort. Expressing rage would show the enemy how much power he held over them.
After a moment, Robotnik went on, "As a slave, the fox is well-nigh useless to me. He is too small and too young. But as a hostage, well, perhaps we can come to an agreement."
Sonic rounded a corner and found Sally where he had left her, leaning against a brick wall with a haunted look in her eyes. She glanced at Sonic and motioned for him to keep quiet. He shut off his communicator and drew near to listen.
Sally's voice was firm. "There will be no exchange of hostages."
"I was not suggesting an exchange," said Robotnik, and evil amusement crept into his voice. "All I ask in return for the fox is a favor."
Sally and Sonic exchanged glances, and Sally said, "What sort of favor?"
"I have a robot prototype that needs extensive testing," said Robotnik, the amusement in his voice becoming more pronounced. "Its speed theoretically matches that of Sonic's. However, field-testing has proved inconclusive. I would prefer to test it against Sonic himself."
"What, race?" said Sonic before Sally could stop him.
"Race. Exactly," said Robotnik. "A ten-mile track during which the two of you match speeds. If you win, I release the fox to you. If I win, the fox is mine to do with as I please."
"It's a trick," whispered Sally.
Sonic looked at the ground, doing some quick thinking. He took the communicator from Sally's hand and said, "I agree on two conditions."
"Oh?" said Robotnik.
"Number one," said Sonic, "I select the course. Number two, Tails is present at the race."
"Is that all?" asked Robotnik. "Those conditions are easily met. I want course plans by this time tomorrow. The race itself will be held the day after."
Sonic handed the communicator to Sally as Robotnik relayed instructions about where to send the race plans, and the two began to sneak away from their position. They were too familiar with Robotnik's treacherous dealings, and managed to slip past an incoming squad of SWAT-bots without being seen. Then Sally shut off the communicator, Sonic picked her up, and they fled Robotropolis at several hundred miles an hour.
***
Tails knew his eyes had been open for some time, but he did not know when he became aware of it. He blinked. His mouth was dry, and his head felt furry inside. Where was he? What had happened? It was nearly pitch black, with a thin thread of light coming from a crack along the ceiling.
He slowly sat up, wishing for a drink. Was it night already? He remembered running through Robotropolis, and feeling the splinter-sting of a tranquilizer dart in his back, but surely he hadn't been captured. Sonic wouldn't have let it happen. He reached down and rubbed the spot where the dart had struck him. He hadn't known the SWAT-bots used darts ... he would tell Sally.
He felt around, wondering where he was. He was in a box-like room, and the only light came from a tiny crack along the ceiling. Moving about helped his head to clear, and he remembered his ultra-watch. It had been a digital watch, but he had commandeered some of Rotor's tools and built a compass, a calculator and a light into it. He turned on his light and shone it around his tiny prison. This place wasn't in Knothole.
That meant ... he had been captured.
Tails slumped against the wall and flicked his light off. He felt like crying. "I've been captured!" He had never seen the robotizer, but he had heard it described many times. A tall glass tube in the middle of a circular room filled with computers. Would they robotize him? Or just kill him? He didn't want to be killed or robotized--right now he just wanted to see Sonic.
And he wanted a drink of water.
***
"You do know he'll try to kill you?"
Sonic faced Sally across a map of the Great Forest. "Duh, Sal. My brain didn't fall out of my head on the way home."
"It didn't?" said Sally, eyes flaming. "Then why DID you agree?"
"Do you have a better idea about rescuing Tails?" said the blue hedgehog, resting a clenched fist on the table. "He's gone. He might still be safe, if Robotnik meant what he said. And this race might be a good chance for you guys to rescue him."
"Sonic, if we lose you the Freedom Fighters are doomed." Sally was trembling and tried not to show it. "We need you."
Sonic looked at her a long moment, then dropped his eyes to the map. "I can take the old highway for four miles, go along the ridge for a mile, and take this sideroad back to the highway for the last five." He looked up at her. "Nice and straight."
They had already discussed the racecourse itself, and laying it out had been easy. There were many roads leading south, through the ruins of outlying towns that Robotnik had wiped out. Many of the roads had fallen into disrepair, but the highway was still maintained for the big trucks that hauled supplies and materials into Robotropolis twice a week.
Sally did not object to the course, but to the idea of a race at all. She had lost Tails that day, and seeing Sonic rush headlong into a suicidal scheme was more than she could handle. She placed her palms flat on the table to steady herself. "It may be nice and straight on paper, Sonic. But Robotnik plays crooked."
Sonic gave her the ghost of his old grin. "You do think my brain fell out of my head. I know! That's why the whole thing is so open, so I can get away if he pulls anything."
Sally said nothing, but she was thinking about robots, land mines, turrets, anything that their enemy might use.
Sonic read her face. "Sal, I hate this as much as you do, but it's safer for me, and you, and Tails. Who knows, I might come out alive." He smiled.
"Carry a gun."
"Anything to oblige, Princess." Sonic turned away. "I think I'd better go practice. You never know when you might have to run a little." He climbed the ladder and left the cave with Sally staring at the map, biting her lower lip.
Sonic stormed back and forth across the cavern where the other Freedom Fighters were grouped around Sally's computer. Except for Sonic's relentless pacing, no one moved. Horror gripped them all.
"He's in West cellblock 3B," said Sally, breaking the silence.
"Great! Good!" said Sonic, turning to look at Nicole, which displayed plans of the prison on its screen. "If we act fast they won't have time to hurt him."
No one said the word "robotize". It was as if speaking it would make it happen, and they would never see Tails again, except as a mindless worker bot with two tails.
Sally looked at the faces of her friends--Bunnie Rabbot, Antoine, Rotor, and Sonic. They were the Freedom Fighters, and they could not afford to lose one member. "Fifteen minutes," she said. "Sonic and I will go alone. No, Bunnie," she said as the half-robotized rabbit opened her mouth, "This is a speed mission. I need you to stay here and ... and look after things."
Antoine, a coyote in a royal blue Guard uniform, laid a hand on Sally's shoulder. "I don't think you should go," he said in a heavy French accent. "You should let Sonic go alone."
"No, Ant," said Sally, standing up. "I let Tails go in there, and I'm going after him."
Antoine shot a jealous look at Sonic, but Sonic ignored him. The hedgehog was too upset to think about anyone but Tails. "Good, great, let's go," said Sonic, jogging in place. "The sooner the better. C'mon, Sal!"
Sally clipped Nicole to her boot, and ran up the steps to the surface entrance. She and Sonic climbed out through the stump into the warm, open air, and Sonic picked her up and ran, back to Robotropolis, back into the summer heat.
* * *
Snively was soaking in a jacuzzi in the old staffroom that he had often looked at but never had a chance to use. It was bliss in this hot weather. He closed his eyes and imagined himself on a tropical beach somewhere, instead of chained to Robotropolis as effectively as a worker bot. If he left, Robotnik would hunt him down and kill him because he knew too much. If he stayed, he would be overworked until he died. But in the meantime, one free day was heaven.
His work phone rang on the table beside the Jacuzzi. It figured. A whole day off was unheard of in this job. At least he had had a few hours to himself. He picked up his phone. "Yes sir?"
"Snively, I have an idea," said Robotnik. He sounded amiable enough. "What do you think of exchanging hostages--Sonic in exchange for the fox?"
Snively thought about it. It sounded good in theory, but he knew how resourceful Sonic was. He would escape in the first five minutes, and both hostages would be gone. But telling his uncle that his idea would fail was a tricky business. Snively took the most diplomatic route he could. "Of course, sir, that's an excellent idea. It's much better than my own."
"Oh? You had an idea?" said Robotnik.
"It was nothing, really," said Snively. "It would be a distraction for the Freedom Fighters as you moved in the logging units..."
"Yes? What?" said Robotnik, his curiosity aroused.
Snively leaned back in the hot tub and allowed himself an inner smile. For once he had sounded out his uncle and had got him interested. "A race, sir. Your new speed-robot against Sonic, and the reward is the hostage. Of course, Sonic will not be allowed to survive such a race."
Robotnik was silent a long moment, then breathed, "Yes." Snively could hear him smiling. "Yes, I like it. I shall want you at the control room early tomorrow morning to coordinate plans." There was a click as he hung up.
Snively couldn't believe his luck. Not only had Robotnik liked his idea, but he also let Snively have the full day to himself! It probably wouldn't last, Snively reminded himself, but he would enjoy himself while he could. He sank down in the bubbling water and imagined himself on a tropical beach somewhere...
* * *
Sonic dropped off Sally two blocks from the West Cellblock and raced the rest of the way by himself. The plan was for him to destroy all opposition, and she would come along once the dust settled and hack the doorlocks. It was a haphazard plan, but Sally was too shaken to plan more thoroughly.
Sonic was standing at a corner, peering at the robots on guard duty around the squat prison entrance and calculating the quickest way to flatten them, when Sally said through his communicator, "Sonic!"
He lifted his com to his mouth and whispered, "Yeah Sal?"
"Sonic, we've been detected. Get out of--"
The signal cut out, and Robotnik's deep voice rasped through the speaker. "Perhaps you had better reconsider, Sonic. SWAT-bots aren't as cheap as you think they are."
"Buttnik!" exclaimed Sonic in horror. He had thought that the communicator frequency was too low to be tapped. The hedgehog backed from the sight of the SWATbots and crouched in the shadow of an alley mouth. If Robotnik could hack their com channel, he could trace Sonic and Sally's locations.
"What do you want?" came Sally's voice. She sounded calm and collected. He slipped out of hiding and sprinted back to where he had left her. It wouldn't do to lose both Sally and Tails in the same day.
"It seems I have something you want," came Robotnik's purr. "Something quite dear to you."
Sally said nothing, and Sonic bit back a savage retort. Expressing rage would show the enemy how much power he held over them.
After a moment, Robotnik went on, "As a slave, the fox is well-nigh useless to me. He is too small and too young. But as a hostage, well, perhaps we can come to an agreement."
Sonic rounded a corner and found Sally where he had left her, leaning against a brick wall with a haunted look in her eyes. She glanced at Sonic and motioned for him to keep quiet. He shut off his communicator and drew near to listen.
Sally's voice was firm. "There will be no exchange of hostages."
"I was not suggesting an exchange," said Robotnik, and evil amusement crept into his voice. "All I ask in return for the fox is a favor."
Sally and Sonic exchanged glances, and Sally said, "What sort of favor?"
"I have a robot prototype that needs extensive testing," said Robotnik, the amusement in his voice becoming more pronounced. "Its speed theoretically matches that of Sonic's. However, field-testing has proved inconclusive. I would prefer to test it against Sonic himself."
"What, race?" said Sonic before Sally could stop him.
"Race. Exactly," said Robotnik. "A ten-mile track during which the two of you match speeds. If you win, I release the fox to you. If I win, the fox is mine to do with as I please."
"It's a trick," whispered Sally.
Sonic looked at the ground, doing some quick thinking. He took the communicator from Sally's hand and said, "I agree on two conditions."
"Oh?" said Robotnik.
"Number one," said Sonic, "I select the course. Number two, Tails is present at the race."
"Is that all?" asked Robotnik. "Those conditions are easily met. I want course plans by this time tomorrow. The race itself will be held the day after."
Sonic handed the communicator to Sally as Robotnik relayed instructions about where to send the race plans, and the two began to sneak away from their position. They were too familiar with Robotnik's treacherous dealings, and managed to slip past an incoming squad of SWAT-bots without being seen. Then Sally shut off the communicator, Sonic picked her up, and they fled Robotropolis at several hundred miles an hour.
***
Tails knew his eyes had been open for some time, but he did not know when he became aware of it. He blinked. His mouth was dry, and his head felt furry inside. Where was he? What had happened? It was nearly pitch black, with a thin thread of light coming from a crack along the ceiling.
He slowly sat up, wishing for a drink. Was it night already? He remembered running through Robotropolis, and feeling the splinter-sting of a tranquilizer dart in his back, but surely he hadn't been captured. Sonic wouldn't have let it happen. He reached down and rubbed the spot where the dart had struck him. He hadn't known the SWAT-bots used darts ... he would tell Sally.
He felt around, wondering where he was. He was in a box-like room, and the only light came from a tiny crack along the ceiling. Moving about helped his head to clear, and he remembered his ultra-watch. It had been a digital watch, but he had commandeered some of Rotor's tools and built a compass, a calculator and a light into it. He turned on his light and shone it around his tiny prison. This place wasn't in Knothole.
That meant ... he had been captured.
Tails slumped against the wall and flicked his light off. He felt like crying. "I've been captured!" He had never seen the robotizer, but he had heard it described many times. A tall glass tube in the middle of a circular room filled with computers. Would they robotize him? Or just kill him? He didn't want to be killed or robotized--right now he just wanted to see Sonic.
And he wanted a drink of water.
***
"You do know he'll try to kill you?"
Sonic faced Sally across a map of the Great Forest. "Duh, Sal. My brain didn't fall out of my head on the way home."
"It didn't?" said Sally, eyes flaming. "Then why DID you agree?"
"Do you have a better idea about rescuing Tails?" said the blue hedgehog, resting a clenched fist on the table. "He's gone. He might still be safe, if Robotnik meant what he said. And this race might be a good chance for you guys to rescue him."
"Sonic, if we lose you the Freedom Fighters are doomed." Sally was trembling and tried not to show it. "We need you."
Sonic looked at her a long moment, then dropped his eyes to the map. "I can take the old highway for four miles, go along the ridge for a mile, and take this sideroad back to the highway for the last five." He looked up at her. "Nice and straight."
They had already discussed the racecourse itself, and laying it out had been easy. There were many roads leading south, through the ruins of outlying towns that Robotnik had wiped out. Many of the roads had fallen into disrepair, but the highway was still maintained for the big trucks that hauled supplies and materials into Robotropolis twice a week.
Sally did not object to the course, but to the idea of a race at all. She had lost Tails that day, and seeing Sonic rush headlong into a suicidal scheme was more than she could handle. She placed her palms flat on the table to steady herself. "It may be nice and straight on paper, Sonic. But Robotnik plays crooked."
Sonic gave her the ghost of his old grin. "You do think my brain fell out of my head. I know! That's why the whole thing is so open, so I can get away if he pulls anything."
Sally said nothing, but she was thinking about robots, land mines, turrets, anything that their enemy might use.
Sonic read her face. "Sal, I hate this as much as you do, but it's safer for me, and you, and Tails. Who knows, I might come out alive." He smiled.
"Carry a gun."
"Anything to oblige, Princess." Sonic turned away. "I think I'd better go practice. You never know when you might have to run a little." He climbed the ladder and left the cave with Sally staring at the map, biting her lower lip.