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Chapter 17: Moving the Air Patroller

Most of the pups raced to go find their vehicles, excited at the prospect of being able to use them once again. Only three of the canines remained in the room. Gizmo's work already had absorbed his full attention, and Rocky was still getting over his shock at Gizmo's apparent apathy over safety. Everest was heading out when she noticed Rocky still there.

"Rocky? You good?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, I'm good," the mixed breed replied, snapping out of it. "I'll go get the maglev discs Gizmo mentioned," he said as he started out of the room. "I saw those earlier. They should do pretty well. Assuming they don't explode or something 'minor' like that…" he mumbled as he padded down the hallway.

Everest watched him go, then turned back to Gizmo. "Hey, Gizmo, are you sure you don't want some company?" She waited for an answer, but he didn't respond. 'He must have not heard me,' she reasoned, so she spoke again, "Gizmo?"

"Yes?" He paused, replaying what she had just said in his head again, preventing her from repeating her question. "Yeah, I'm sure I don't want company. I prefer being alone."

"You're sure?" Everest asked, her muzzle twisted down in a frown of concern. In his saying that, he reminded her of someone, and it worried her. "It's not good to be alone all the time."

Gizmo looked away from his work, staring directly at her. The husky noticed a striking intensity in his copper brown eyes. "I'm fine. Please. You should go." the Lab's stare softened. "After all, they're going to need your offroad skills to get back to the beach since Tracker is helping at the hanger."

The mountain pup raised her eyebrows. "How did you know I was good at offroading?"

Gizmo smiled slightly before turning back to his work. "Simple. I watched you as you followed me. I could tell the only reason you got lost was because it was dark. Now please go."

"Alright…" Everest resigned as she headed out the door. She reflected on the situation the Labrador was in. She liked the pup, but knew she couldn't force him to interact with them. On the other paw, she also knew that if he closed himself off, then that would be detrimental. Knowing there was nothing she could do, she went to go search for her snow cat.

An hour later, Everest, Rubble, Chase, Zuma, and Rocky all arrived back at the beach with their new silver vehicles. They found Ryder leaning on his crutch Marshall had given him while listening to Skye tell him all that had happened within the past two hours. They had agreed she should go ahead of them and fill their leader in on the events of the morning. When the pups saw the boy, they all ran over to him, tails wagging.

"Perfect timing, pups! Skye just finished telling me your escape plan!"

Chase sighed, "Well, it was more Gizmo's escape plan than anything else…"

Ryder bent over and scratched him on the head. "That's alright! It's a good plan, and I'm sure you pups will do great at executing it!"

"Thanks, Ryder!" Rocky grinned. "I need to go put these discs on the Air Patroller so we can get it back to the city." The recycling pup raced over to the crashed craft and started attaching a number of magnets to it.

Ryder scratched his head. "How are those supposed to help?" the boy asked the rest of the pups.

"Rocky explained them to us on the way here," Zuma replied, proud to be able to remember. "He said that they were made using biomagnetic stuff, the principle of periscopic percussion, and supercapacitors!"

Ryder laughed, "I think you're close on those, but not quite right! Try diamagnetism, gyroscopic precession, and superconductors."

"Oh, yeah," the water dog chuckled with everyone else. "That stuff."

Ryder nodded his head, "So you're going to turn it into a hovercraft of sorts! That's pretty ingenious! I guess it makes sense, seeing that Gizmo designed all your gear after all. He's quite an amazing pup."

All the pups barked their agreement, but Everest stayed silent. She couldn't help but be worried. Ryder noticed her lack of enthusiasm, but decided to keep it to himself and ask her what was troubling her later.

Rocky returned to the group. "I finished attaching the magneto-discs to the skeleton. It's ready to be turned on and go. Ready?"

"Yeah! Let's dive in!" Zuma shouted, the other pups cheering their approval as well.

"Hey, Everest," Ryder called out as the dogs ran to their vehicles. The snow pup stopped and turned back. "Can I ride back with you? It means you'll have to go slower to not jar my leg."

"Sure!" she exclaimed excitedly. "The others should be able to move it back on their own with Skye to lead them. Let's start going while they work out how to move that thing."

Meanwhile, while Everest helped Ryder get situated, Rocky helped Skye attack her hook to the Air Patroller. "Are you sure this is going to work?" Skye shouted down. "I don't see how I'll be able to lift this up."

"You don't have to lift it up. You'll be pulling it while we make sure it stays floating. Alright, Rubble, help me lift it out of the sand and I'll activate the discs."

"Rubble on the double!" the bulldog shouted as he pulled his rig up against the side of the aircraft. Digging under the sand with the shovel, he prepared his vehicle for lifting the Air Patroller up. Rocky did the same on the other side, getting his forklifts under the wing.

"Ready? Three, two, one, lift!" Rocky shouted as he activated the magnetic levitation devices. With them on, and with the added help of Rocky and Rubble pulling up, the crashed plane easily rose out of the sand. "Wow those discs are strong! Let's see if they really can hold it up on its own."

Rubble and Rocky both backed their vehicles away from the floating aircraft. "Wow, it's working!" Chase gasped. Indeed, thanks to the help of the levitating discs, the craft was floating about three feet off the ground.

"Alright, Skye! Go ahead and start pulling!"

"Alright, here goes!" the pink-clad pup replied as she started her helicopter towards the forest. Though the plane took a few seconds to accelerate, once it gained momentum it became easier, especially since there was no friction on the ground whatsoever.

Suddenly Rubble noticed a flaw in their plan. "Um, Skye…? You might want to stop!"

"Stop? Okay, but why?" the cockapoo asked as she brought her helicopter to a halt. She couldn't see what was about to happen, but everyone else did.

CRUNCH

Everyone winced as the Air Patroller rammed into the trees at the forest line. One of them fell over, leaning on the trees in front of it. "That's not gonna buff out…" Rocky winced.

"On the bright side, it didn't do too much additional damage," Zuma offered, trying to brighten the mood.

"Well, looks like we're going to have to get it up above the trees," Rocky sighed. "Gizmo's notes in that room said he was able to use the discs to float on the treetops," he explained. "Don't ask me how it works because I don't know."

Skye shouted down to them, "So how are we going to get it above the trees? I can't lift it up."

"Well," Rubble mused, "If we knock over more trees like how that one is, we could use them to build a ramp up to the treetops!"

"Great idea!" Chase exclaimed. "Let's all get to work!"

Ryder sat in the back of Everest's silver snow cat, or at least he tried. It was difficult with a leg in a cast, even with the makeshift harness they had fashioned. Everest was taking it slowly; avoiding as many bumps and branches as possible. The first few minutes they rode in silence before Ryder decided to ask the husky what was on her mind.

"Everest, is everything alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Everything's fine. I'm just quiet because I'm concentrating."

The boy shook his head. "I wasn't talking about that. Back at the beach I could tell you were worried about something. What is it?"

Everest's face fell. "Oh, yeah… That…"

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm worried about Gizmo."

"Oh? How come?"

"Well, he's been living alone for three years, and doesn't remember ever talking to anyone before. I'm surprised he's even able to hold a conversation at all, but it's clear that it wears him down fast. He yelled at us at one point when I offered a way he could leave the island, and I kind of feel bad for suggesting it. I don't think he's ready to leave. He said he prefers being alone, but I can tell what he really needs right now are friends. I don't know what to do."

Ryder smiled. "Well, if you can tell he needs a friend, then that's exactly what you should do. Be his friend. Help him when he's having a hard time. Offer to be there for him, but respect his personal space, boundaries, and limits."

Everest relaxed at hearing his answer. She knew he was right; that was the best thing she could do at this time. He would open up to them more given the chance. She just hoped it would be before their preparations were finished and they had to leave. "Thanks, Ryder. You always know just what to say!"

"No problem!" Ryder laughed, "It's what I'm here for."

I found this chapter to be a good one to set up the older sister - younger brother relationship that Gizmo and Everest share. They have the most in common, so it makes sense they'd be good friends. I've also dropped a couple of things to foreshadow some relations down the road. Ryder has also rejoined the group. At this point the story ramps up in pace a bit more; there aren't near as many mysteries to solve, so most of it from here on out will be either character development or working on tasks to help them escape.