by Axel Lewis
“Look out!” yelled Cabbie.
Jimmy jerked the steering wheel to the left to stop himself from being crushed as Monster fell with the sand. But Cabbie wasn’t in the clear yet. The blanket of sand swept over them, covering the bonnet and windscreen, pushing Cabbie back down the hill. The roar was deafening and the vibrations made Cabbie shudder.
Finally they slumped to a stop and the sand settled.
Jimmy checked himself over. He flexed his fingers and wiggled his toes and shook his head to clear the ringing in his ears.
“Cabbie? Are you OK?”
“I’m fine. But that was some trip!”
Jimmy couldn’t see out of his windscreen to tell if they were upside down, facing front or back.
After a moment he faintly heard Missy shouting above him on the slope, “Monster! Hurry up and get us out of this mess!” A second later there was a deep roaring noise as Monster’s huge engine burst back to life.
Jimmy had his own robot to worry about. He shifted into reverse and tried to move, but Cabbie was well and truly stuck.
“The sand on the bonnet is too heavy!” said Cabbie.
Jimmy couldn’t even climb out to dig them clear with his hands. If a safetybot arrived now, he would be rescued – which meant he and Cabbie would be out of the race. Jimmy took a deep breath. He needed to stay calm. Grandpa always said that no one ever got themselves out of a mess by losing their heads. And then suddenly a thought hit him.
“Cabbie, open up the bonnet, and give it some welly!”
“Okey-dokey, Jimmy!”
Cabbie released the latch keeping the bonnet down, and the whole front section sprang up, sending a spray of sand everywhere. It did the trick, shoving off most of the sand on the front half of the car. He tried to reverse again, and it was easier this time. Finally Cabbie wiggled free from the sand and Jimmy looked around him.
Monster was heading back down the slope to help Kako, who’d also been caught in the landslide – Lightning was now buried deep in the sand, just one rear wheel exposed.
The princess sat up and removed her helmet. A pile of sand fell out. She shook her head rapidly to get the bits out of her sleek black hair.
“Crikey! You OK, Kako?” shouted Missy. “Here, we’ll have you out of this in a jiffy.”
Jimmy looked around the hot, bleak desert as Cabbie slammed his bonnet shut again. “Oh no, the others are getting away,” he said. Down below, Chip, Horace and Sammy had veered left to go round the dune altogether. “I guess they saw what happened and thought they’d try a safer route,” he added.
Jimmy turned back to see Missy do the right thing and hook a winch round Lightning’s exposed wheel. She whistled to Monster, who slowly pulled the superbike from the desert.
“Sorry about that!” said Missy. “I guess Monster doesn’t know her own weight!”
Missy and Jimmy stayed with Kako until she was safely back on Lightning. But once she had started her robobike up again, they all threw their racers into gear.
“You gonna be all right going up the dune?” asked Missy out of the high window of her monster truck.
“No, I think I will go around the hill this time. I will be faster on the flat ground,” said Kako.
“Fair enough.” Missy replied. “Happy travelling!”
“What do you think, Jimmy?” asked Cabbie. “Stay on the flat, or give the dune another go?”
Jimmy weighed up his options, staring up at the dune. “Let’s go for it again. It should still be quicker this way.”
Cabbie and Jimmy climbed carefully up the dune. Halfway up he glanced over to see Monster trundling alongside, so he hit the Cabcom.
“G’day, Jimmy! Glad to see you’re taking the riskier route,” said Missy, once the screen had cleared.
“I’m just keen to get ahead,” replied Jimmy.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep my distance this time.” Missy grinned. “I’ll try not to drag you down with me if Monster here causes another sandslide!”
They concentrated on speeding up the slope, but kept the com link open. Jimmy liked Missy, and she was always cheery and easy to talk to.
They reached the top of the dune, and Jimmy saw how high he was. He could see the desert spreading out below him, with Dug, Maximus and Zoom making their way toward the next checkpoint. If Jimmy squinted, he could just make out the revolving ‘L’ of the Leadpipe Industries logo, gleaming in the sunshine.
Monster appeared on the top of the dune, and Missy peered into the Cabcom’s tiny camera. “What are ya waiting for, Jimmy? Last one to the bottom is a soppy koala!” She whooped with joy as she pushed Monster over the edge and began to streak down the dune.
Jimmy laughed. “You’re on!” he shouted. “Hold onto your bonnet, Cabbie!”
“Okay-dokay!” said the robot. Jimmy edged them over the top of the dune and felt his stomach lurch as they skidded down the sand. “Geronimo!”
Jimmy turned out to be the soppy koala. As soon as they hit the bottom Missy fired her engine and they swept away in a cloud of sand. Jimmy sped along after her, trying to avoid the dust cloud she was leaving in her wake. He kept his foot hard to the floor as they both skidded up to the checkpoint.
Missy ground to a stop just centimetres from the checkpoint marker, her tyres sending a puff of sand high into the air. Jimmy hopped out to see what clues Lord Leadpipe had set for them. He removed his helmet just in time to see Sammy and Chip jogging back to their robots.
“See you at the overnight stop!” shouted Sammy.
Jimmy found four envelopes attached to the pole, each one with the name of a racer on it. He snatched up the one with jimmy written on it and headed back towards Cabbie. As he climbed into the cockpit he ran a finger under the seal of the envelope and tore it open, eager to take a look inside. He pulled out another piece of ancient-looking papyrus. It was from Lord Leadpipe!
Dear Racers,
Congratulations on making it to the second checkpoint. You have done well to make it this far, but the hardest part still lies ahead. So here’s a thought to help you on your way:
Chinese prophecy says that humans have been given two ears and one mouth for a very important reason, so that one can listen twice as much as one speaks. If you have been listening carefully to those wiser than you, perhaps you’ll find these questions a doddle.
Yours,
Ludwick
Under the message were two multiple choice questions.
The largest desert on earth is...
a) the Sahara
b) the Kalahari
c) Antarctica
But as Jimmy glanced at this first question, his mind went completely blank...
Chapter 8 - Checkpoint Quiz
Next to Jimmy, Missy was already putting Monster into gear, setting off after Chip and Sammy without even looking inside her envelope.
“I don’t like to waste time hanging about,” she yelled over to him. “I’ll do my thinking on the go!”
Next to each answer there was a numbers. A light bulb went off in Jimmy’s head and he dashed back to his seat to get the papyrus map they had been given.
“The answers have map co-ordinates next to them,” he said.
“So as long as we get both the right answers, we get the right co-ordinates, and we can find our way to the overnight rest stop?” asked Cabbie.
“Yep,” said Jimmy. “Now, where have I heard the answer to this one?”
His thoughts wandered back to the classroom on the Leadpipe airship. He remembered Sir Rupert telling them all that the largest desert in the world was...
“Got it!” he said aloud. “It’s Antarctica.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely! Sir Rupert was giving us the answers in that lesson all along.” Jimmy traced his finger next to the answer and saw the number fifteen. He n
oted down the first co-ordinate.
Just then, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was Horace, sitting ten metres away on the bonnet of Zoom. He was staring at his piece of papyrus, but he didn’t look like his normal, smooth self. He had taken off his helmet and his hair was sticking up in different directions like a radio mast. He was red in the face, but Jimmy didn’t think it was all down to the desert heat. Jimmy saw the familiar frown that he recognized from sharing a class with Horace for years. He was trying to work out the clues, and if Jimmy remembered correctly, Horace had been using his mouth much more than his ears in the classroom. Now he puzzled over the questions, grimacing like a gorilla with toothache.
“OK, hit me with the next one!” said Cabbie.
The paper was slippery in Jimmy’s sweaty hands now, and he could feel a trickle of perspiration running down his back from the uncomfortable heat. But he forced himself to turn his attention back to the paper and concentrate on the second question:
How much rainfall, on average, do deserts get each year?
Is it less than:
a) 25 centimetres
b) 250 centimetres
c) 2,500 centimetres
“Oooh, I’d say a?” guessed Cabbie. “No, b. Although, c could be right...”
Jimmy racked his brain for the answer. He remembered Sir Rupert talking about deserts. He’d said that deserts could contain ice and snow as well as sand, because a desert meant that there was very little water, not that it was hot. And hadn’t Sir Rupert said something about rain...?
“Got it! It’s less than twenty-five centimetres!” he said as the memory became clear in his head. “Definitely! Thank you, Sir Rupert!”
He quickly checked the co-ordinates matched to the answers he’d chosen and used them to take a reading on the map. Then he ran back around to Cabbie’s driver’s seat. He was about to pull the door shut when he heard the roar of an engine and Zoom surged forwards, skidding right in front of Cabbie. Jimmy’s path was blocked.
Horace leaped out and grabbed Cabbie’s door, keeping it open. “Not so fast, Jimmy!” said Horace.
Jimmy couldn’t tell at first what was wrong. Something was different. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. “Horace, are you smiling?” he said at last.
And he was. Horace was smiling from ear to ear, but not in his usual ‘I’m better than you’ way. This was more like an ‘I want to be your friend’ smile, and Jimmy didn’t like it one bit.
“Hmm? Oh, don’t be silly, Jimmy, old mate!” he said. “Hey, remember back in Smedingham how you used to let me look at your homework answers?”
“No,” said Jimmy, trying to close the door. “I remember you stealing my school bag, ripping my homework out of the exercise book and handing it in as your own.”
“All right, all right!” said Horace, the creepy smile dropping from his face. “I tried being nice. Now give me the co-ordinates!”
Jimmy laughed. He was almost glad to see Horace acting grumpy again – “friendly” hadn’t suited him.
“Come on, Roberts!” Horace exploded. “I’ll give you something. How about a turbo air-blaster? It’s great for blowing sand out of your way. We could take it off Zoom now and strap it on Cabbie!”
“You’ll do no such thing!” said Cabbie.
“All right – what about my robotic repair kit? It sits inside the bonnet, and then fixes a puncture in less than a second when you get one! If you’d had it in the last race you might not have come last.”
“I might not have come last if you hadn’t nearly caused an avalanche!” Jimmy said angrily.
“And we’re using caterpillar tracks today, if you hadn’t noticed!” snapped Cabbie.
“You haven’t got anything that I want.” Jimmy added. “Cabbie’s perfect just how he is.”
Horace scowled. “What? This piece of junk?”
“Charming!” said Cabbie.
“Horace, I’d rather have Grandpa’s gadgets than your NASA stuff any day. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got a race to run!”
Jimmy slammed the door shut and Horace looked madder than ever. In frustration he picked up a fistful of sand and flung it at Cabbie. Zoom revved menacingly.
“Fine!” Horace shouted. “Then I’ll just follow you to the next checkpoint!”
Jimmy revved the engine. “Not if I can help it.” He reversed quickly back, then shot past Zoom as fast as he could.
In his rear-view mirror he saw Horace scramble into Zoom and whizz after them. Jimmy had planned on that, and he quickly swerved behind a sand dune.
“Why are we stopping?” asked Cabbie.
Zoom went past them at speed, cruising along the sand towards the horizon.
“Because,” said Jimmy, smiling, “the overnight stop is that way.” He pointed behind him. Zoom and Horace were going at top speed in the wrong direction!
* * *
The race was easy going for a while. It was mid-afternoon now and the sun was finally becoming less fierce. Jimmy was enjoying the drive – he didn’t have to worry about Horace, and the terrain had flattened out so that he could almost drive at full speed.
“Robots in sight, Jimmy!” announced Cabbie. Jimmy leaned forward in his seat and could just make out the shimmering shapes of the other racers in the distance.
“It’s about time we caught them up,” said Jimmy.
Slowly but surely they drew level with them. Jimmy noticed that the desert was changing as he moved across it – the dunes here were even steeper than before, making them too treacherous to climb. This meant that all the robots were avoiding the sandy slopes, and were forced into the deep valleys between peaks. Jimmy and Cabbie closed right up behind the leaders, bobbing and weaving as the path between the dunes became narrower.
“Careful!” said Cabbie. “There won’t be enough room for all of us!”
“Stop worrying!” said Jimmy. “We need to get ahead!”
“You always say that it’s a marathon, not a sprint!” warned Cabbie. “We’ve got a way to go until the stop point. Take your time.”
But Jimmy increased his speed instead and nudged his way between Dug and Maximus. Suddenly they were driving all in a line!
“This doesn’t feel very safe,” said Cabbie, as the two huge robots towered either side of them.
“It’s fine, Cabbie,” said Jimmy. “Stop being such a scaredy-bot.”
“Have you forgotten the pile-up in the Arctic?” Cabbie worried.
“I know, I know, but we can’t afford to come last again,” Jimmy said. “We need to take a few chances. And it’s not like Horace and Zoom are here to cause problems this time.”
Missy gunned her engines and stretched away, sprinting forward to take the lead by a small distance. “See you at the rest stop, boys!” she gloated over the Cabcom.
A split-second later there was a sickening grinding noise. Jimmy whipped his head round to see what it was, and found the source immediately.
Maximus was going haywire! Something was definitely wrong with the hoverbot as it weaved from side to side across the sand, and Jimmy could see Sammy struggling with the controls. Then there was a thud as Maximus spun into Dug’s path and Cabbie, hitting both the other racers hard.
Cabbie was sent careering up the treacherous bank of the dune!
“Watch out!” Cabbie yelled, and then everything turned upside down as he flipped over. Blood rushed to Jimmy’s head and he could hear Cabbie yelling.
“Brace yourself!” Cabbie shouted.
Then everything turned black.
Chapter 9 - In The Dark
Jimmy was confused. Was he unconscious? Had he been knocked out by the collision?
Then a light appeared in front of him. He had heard about this on the TV. He would wake any moment in a hospital surrounded by doctors and nurses. He’d get better,
but he’d lose the championship.
Then through his confusion he heard ... a beep. And the familiar sound of Cabbie’s circuits rebooting filled his ears. What was going on?
“Cabbie?” he said.
“Super custard fish finger escapades,” Cabbie’s voice came out of the darkness.
“What?” Jimmy said woozily.
“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”
“Eh?”
“Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer dooooo...” Cabbie sang.
Jimmy was worried. “Cabbie! Are you all right?”
There were a few beeps, some more lights lit up on the dashboard and Cabbie was suddenly back to normal.
“Phew, sorry about that! I must’ve gone offline for a second. Just running through a few setup protocols! Are you OK?”
“I think so,” said Jimmy. “Why is it so dark?”
“Oh, that’s our air bubble,” replied Cabbie.
“Our what?” Jimmy asked.
“Our air bubble. It’s like an air bag but it wraps itself around my bodywork rather than inflating inside the car. Hold on a second, I’ll deflate it.”
There was a beep and a hiss, and several jets of air blew into the driver’s seat from outside. Slowly, light came back inside the cab and Jimmy could see what had happened. They had been cocooned inside a giant rubber balloon!
“Pete and your grandpa fitted it before Pete left for Texas. Didn’t they mention it?” said Cabbie.
Jimmy stared at the hissing rubber material outside.
“So when it looks like we’re going to crash—”
“Woomph!” said Cabbie proudly. “Wilf calls it the bounce-buster!”
Jimmy could see the desert around him now. They had rolled to a stop about 20 metres away from Dug and Maximus.
“Give me a damage report, Cabbie,” Jimmy said as the last of the air bubble disappeared back under the robot’s chassis.
