Hal Spacejock 7: Big Bang

by Simon Haynes

  * * *

  With Hal's cry still ringing in his ears, Clunk faced an impossible decision. Should he teleport to safety with Amy, leaving Hal to his own devices? Or should he try and get Amy to the cars in the middle of the cavern, where they could all try and escape together? Or —

  Crack!

  Clunk felt the noise as much as he heard it, and he turned to see a huge jet of water pouring into the cavern, spurting around the flooded digger on all sides. There was no time for emotion, he decided. No, it was time for dispassionate logic. First, he had to save everyone from immediate danger. Afterwards, when the dust cleared, he'd do his best to gather the humans up again.

  Without pausing to explain, Clunk pushed Amy into the teleporter. Working at top speed, he raced through the addresses in the control panel. At first, he was worried he might despatch Amy to the same location Hal had used for the zeedeg, but then he realised it didn't matter. That teleporter would have vanished in the explosion, and the address wouldn't work.

  After a split second's hesitation, Clunk hit the Go button to send Amy on her way. He didn't allow himself to think about the destination, or whether she'd survive such a long jump. Act now, worry later.

  Amy vanished, and the flash was still fading when Clunk turned for the cars, running towards them at full speed. On the way, he raised his voice to maximum and shouted at Hal. "Mr Spacejock! Into the vehicle!"

  Clunk vaulted into the nearest car, switched it on and glanced round to see where Hal had got to. Instead of heading for the same car, he saw the human twenty metres away, sitting in the other vehicle.

  "What?" Hal looked most aggrieved. "You always get to drive."

  Clunk realised there was no time to argue. The digger was sliding out of the tunnel, pushed steadily into the cavern by the water backed up behind it. When it came loose, armageddon would be unleashed. So, he gripped the steering column and planted his foot.

  The motor spun up and the vehicle leapt forwards, wheels spinning with an ear-splitting shriek. As Clunk steered for the shadowy mouth of the tunnel, desperately trying to get the skittish vehicle under control, he glanced back to see Hal's car burst through the cloud of tyre smoke, the human hunched over the controls with an intent look on his face.

  Then - whoosh! Clunk was inside the tunnel, and he was so busy avoiding the walls there was no time to look back.

  Which was a pity, really, because had he done so he probably would have stopped.

  Chapter 27

  Amy materialised with a flash, one arm still stretched out towards Clunk as she tried to stop him hitting the Go button. However, Clunk was no longer there, and neither was the underground cavern, Hal Spacejock, planet Chiseley, or even her home galaxy.

  Amy stood there, shocked, trying to still her jangling senses. The teleporter journey felt like it had taken forever, although she guessed it had only been a few seconds, and her insides felt like they hadn't quite arrived with the rest of her.

  Gradually the feeling passed, and Amy looked around to find out where Clunk had sent her.

  The teleporter was underground, at the rear of what looked like a cellar - or an unnaturally regular cave. The wall opposite the teleporter was a matted curtain of creepers with thick stems and green leaves, and Amy noticed light filtering through. Fresh air too, which meant she had to be very close to the surface. As her eyes adjusted, she saw the walls were brick, with cracks in the mortar where roots had broken through.

  Cautiously, Amy approached the matted undergrowth and parted the vegetation. Through the gap she could see a woodland slope, with lush vegetation and sturdy trees. There were large boulders too, most of them badly weathered and half-buried in the soil. There was no sign of any people, or aliens, or even large carnivores for that matter. Neither was there any sign the planet was inhabited.

  Amy hesitated, one eye on the teleporter. Clunk might come through at any minute, and he'd probably bring the circus act with him. Once they arrived, she'd have to stand around listening to them arguing while nothing useful got done. On the other hand, just the other side of the creepers was a brand new, unexplored alien world.

  Waiting for the others was the sensible thing to do, but Amy had done the sensible thing all her life and it had led to a safe but - she had to admit - ultimately boring existence.

  Then she heard something, a noise which made her turn towards the matted creepers in shock. That noise … it was a child's laugh! A very young child, laughing with delight.

  Amy hesitated. A new galaxy, an unexplored alien world … what if some vicious predator had a cry like a laughing human child? Another one of Nature's cruel jokes, and one which could cost her life.

  Then she heard the sound again, and she knew her first instinct was right. That was a child, and she was prepared to bet her life on it.

  Carefully, Amy parted the matted curtain, making the hole bigger. She spotted movement, and saw two children with their backs to her, maybe four and six years old. They had long dark hair, and were wearing grass skirts and cute little vests made from the skins of cute little animals. One of the children had her hand up, and there was a brilliant blue butterfly perched on her finger. The other was pointing at it, giggling with glee.

  Amy watched, entranced. She often saw similar scenes at school, where kids were delighted by the smallest things, and it melted her heart to see this pair playing so innocently. There'd been a knot of fear in her stomach since arriving on the alien planet, but now, for the first time, it began to unwind. Surely there couldn't be any danger here, not when children this young could wander off to play by themselves?

  Amy moved to get a better view, and as the creeper shifted there was the tiniest creak. Instantly, the two children turned to look, and Amy bit off a cry of delight as she saw their beautiful faces. Huge dark eyes, cute button noses, twitchy pointed ears and - on either side of their foreheads - tiny little buds. They were humanoid, sure, but they looked like they'd evolved from the cutest little deer the galaxy - or universe - had ever known.

  Amy froze, trying not to breath as the children stared intently towards her hiding place. She hoped they'd lose interest, go back to the butterfly, but when one of them took a step towards the creepers she realised discovery was inevitable. She only hoped they didn't scream and run at the sight of her, because their parents might not be as cute when they heard about the ugly monster living in the woods.

  At that moment there was a distant blast on a horn, and the kids vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving the startled butterfly fluttering in mid-air. There were two more blasts, long mournful notes, and then silence.

  Amy frowned. That noise … it didn't sound like a school siren, bringing the kids back to class. No, it was more like a danger signal. For a split second she wondered whether the alarm was her fault, but she dismissed the idea immediately. It couldn't be, unless the kids were telepaths. No, it had to be something else.

  Amy felt a familiar, nagging worry, and it was several seconds before she identified the reason. She wasn't concerned about her own safety, she was worried about the doe-like children. What was the horn, and why had they run off so quickly? Was there a threat, and if so, could she do anything to help?

  Amy glanced over her shoulder. The teleporter was empty, with no sign of Clunk and no hint as to whether he'd ever follow her through. If she went off on a rescue mission, the robot would be smart enough to track her down. Anyway, she wasn't planning to go far.

  Decision made, Amy struggled with the creepers, trying to get through without ripping the matted growth apart. If she had to hide from danger this was the ideal spot, but it wouldn't be much use if she tore a giant hole through the undergrowth.

  Eventually she got through, and after shaking off stray leaves and twigs, Amy set off through the woods in the same direction the children had taken. On the way she picked up a stout branch, breaking off all the loose twigs before swishing it back and forth. It wasn't much of a weapon, but it would do in a pinch.

  * * *<
br />
  Hal's eyes were streaming tears from the acrid tyre smoke, and he could only just see Clunk ahead of him. The robot was really caning it, and his buggy shot into the tunnel with only centimetres to spare on either side.

  Hal risked a glance back, and he saw the digger moving inexorably into the cavern. More and more water poured in around it, and once the vehicle came loose it would release all the pent-up pressure building behind it. Hal had no intention of sticking around to watch the disaster, and he urged his own buggy forward until it was hurtling along at breakneck speed.

  At that point, Hal discovered two things. First, he wasn't quite aiming for the centre of the tunnel. And second, he should have checked the controls over before he set off, because he had no idea where the brakes were. The little buggy only had one pedal, and that was already jammed to the floor.

  Hal twisted the control column and the buggy slewed sideways, still racing towards the tunnel. The tyres squealed as the car slid on all four wheels, and there was a terrific crash as the rear end slammed into the tunnel wall. The force of the blow hurled the back of the car back across the tunnel, and there was another sickening crunch as it collided with the opposite side.

  Bang - crash - bang - crash … the buggy travelled along the tunnel in a series of gentler and gentler collisions, until finally coming to a halt with the front and rear jammed between the tunnel walls.

  Hal shook his head to clear the fuzziness, then pushed and pulled everything in reach as he tried to reverse out, levitate, or maybe convert the buggy into a boat and sail away from danger. Unfortunately the control column and the dash were both dead, and hitting them with his fist just caused sparking, crackling sounds.

  Hal leapt from the vehicle and peered down the tunnel. "Hello? Clunk?"

  There was no reply.

  How typical of the robot to abandon him, thought Hal. First in the basement, and now in this underground alien deathtrap. Then he heard groans and creaks from further up the tunnel, and he decided to save the blame game for later. Right now he needed to save himself.

  His first instinct was to run down the tunnel after Clunk, but he suspected the water would quickly overtake him. It was already lapping around the stricken vehicle, and before long it would probably float away too. Then Hal remembered the crates, and his neat idea of using one as a canoe, and seconds later he was splashing back up the tunnel to the chamber.

  When he got there, he found most of the crates bobbing around in the flood waters. He ran from one to the next until he spotted the one full of burgers, and then he clambered in and pulled the lid down. He wasn't sure how long before the flood waters carried him to safety, but he had no intention of starving to death in the meantime.

  Hal unwrapped a burger, but before he could take a single bite there was a shriek of tortured metal and a sound like fifty water mains exploding simultaneously. He dropped the burger in a hurry, using his arms and legs to brace himself against the sides of the crate as he prepared for the impact.

  Chapter 28

  Clunk was blissfully unaware of the perils facing the two humans. Instead, he was rather enjoying himself. The little buggy was a joy to drive, and he flicked the controls expertly at every curve in the tunnel, sending the car round the corners at precisely the right angle before straightening up with an efficient little wiggle. Unfortunately, the serpentine tunnel meant he couldn't spot Mr Spacejock following behind him, but he was confident the human wouldn't be too far back. Certainly not as far away as Amy, who could literally be anywhere.

  Clunk frowned, his mood instantly sombre. Never mind playing at rally driving … he had to find the nearest teleporter and get Amy back.

  A few minutes later he saw an offshoot. Clunk slowed the buggy, and a satisfied smile creased his face as he spotted the familiar mirror-finish of an alien teleporter. He stopped the motor, jumped down and approached the teleporter at a run. All he had to do was program the jump to Amy's location, then flag down Mr Spacejock before the human drove full-speed into Clunk's parked car.

  That's when he heard - and felt - a distant rumble. He knew what it was immediately - the digger had broken free, and the floodwaters were on the way. There was no time to lose … he had to get the teleporter ready so they could both leave the second Hal arrived.

  Clunk reached for the mirror-finish wall, then stopped. The teleporter's control panel would only activate to a human's touch! Or rather, that of a living being, and whatever his thoughts on the subject of robot rights, Clunk knew he wouldn't be able to debate the matter with a piece of alien hardware.

  Then a thought occurred to him. It was doubtful the alien builders had programmed their control panel for the benefit of the human race, so it was unlikely the system was analysing DNA or scanning irises. Fingerprints weren't logical either, since the aliens wouldn't have Hal and Amy's on record. What else could it be?

  Clunk inspected his hand. Four fingers, an opposable thumb, a palm … they were all humanlike. He didn't have fingernails, but the machine couldn't register those. So what was the one thing he was lacking?

  An idea came to him with a rush: could it be body heat? Clunk's fans and pumps kept his temperature in the low twenties, whereas humans usually maintained their systems in the mid-thirties. He wasn't sure it could be so simple, but there was one way to find out.

  A little apprehensively, Clunk stilled his cooling fans, switched off his heat exchangers, and powered down his pumps. His internal temperature started to rise immediately, and a cacophony of warnings beeped, flashed and wailed to attract his attention.

  Twenty-seven degrees. Twenty-eight.

  At twenty-nine, Clunk felt his head go light, and his legs and arms felt weak. At thirty, he wondered whether the damage would be permanent. At thirty-one, he feared he'd never get the temperature back down again … and he still had four or five degrees to go.

  Wait … was thirty enough?

  With an effort, Clunk raised his hand. His fingers were shaking, hard to control, and there were little puffs of heat haze coming out of the joints. He managed to place his palm on the wonderfully cold wall, and then he swept his arm wildly as he tried to activate the control panel. Nothing.

  Thirty-two degrees. Thirty-three.

  Clunk's vision began to fail, splitting and blurring like a badly-tuned video signal. The ground was shaking too, and he had no idea whether it was his imagination, or a genuine earthquake caused by the oncoming floods.

  Thirty-four degrees. Thirty-five.

  Ping!

  The control panel lit up under his searching hand, and Clunk breathed a sigh of relief. At least, he tried to, but with his fans sitting idle he couldn't even raise a wheeze.

  His fans! In a flash he'd restarted everything, but despite the airflow his temperature kept rising. Thirty-seven degrees. Thirty-eight.

  Clunk swallowed. He'd heard of robots going critical when their fans were turned off, reaching a point where it was impossible to bring their temperature down again. His batteries carried enough stored energy to blow a large crater in the floor, and the blast would certainly destroy the teleporter. Should he give up trying to save Amy, and instead run further down the tunnel before he exploded?

  Never!

  Clunk increased the power to his fans, overboosted his heat exchangers past the safe maximum, and ran his pumps so fast the speed threatened to burn the bearings to cinders. His temperature steadied, then slowly began to drop, and Clunk grinned with triumph. He'd beaten it! No exploding batteries for him.

  Whoosh!

  Clunk spun round at the noise, and he gaped at the water flooding past the teleporter. Fortunately the base was raised, but despite that the water still managed to spread across the mirror-finish floor. He stared at it in concern, and then it hit him … if the water was here, where was Mr Spacejock?

  The rate of flow increased, and the teleporter began to flood in earnest. Clunk's temperature plummeted as the flood rose around his ankles, and he hastily reset the cooling fans and exchang
ers to minimum. Then he leant out of the teleporter to look back up the tunnel, but there was no sign of the second buggy … or Mr Spacejock.

  Now he faced a terrible choice. There was a good chance the teleporter would fail once the water rose high enough. Should he leave now, to retrieve Amy from wherever he'd sent her? Or should he abandon Amy to her fate, and brave the floodwaters to go back and rescue Mr Spacejock?

  * * *

  Amy slowed her pace as she approached the edge of the forest. She'd nearly reached the top of a small hill, where the trees were much smaller, and the undergrowth had thinned out so much there was barely any cover.

  Apprehensively, she eyed the crest of the hill. It was only metres away, and she had no idea what she'd find on the other side. Amy glanced back the way she'd come, and she wondered whether it had been such a great idea to leave the teleporter. Then again, if those gorgeous little children were in danger … well, she just had to help.

  A little further on the trees gave way to small shrubs and bushes, which were growing in unnaturally straight lines. Amy stared at them, puzzled, and then she cursed her idiocy. Of course they were growing in lines - they weren't undergrowth, they were someone's crops.

  She noticed an acrid smell, and stopped to sniff the air. There was definitely something burning, and not too far away. Then she heard a shout, and she ducked her head and crept towards a large, fern-like plant. As quietly as she could, she parted the leaves and peered through.

  Below, in the valley, was a settlement of rough timber huts around a big fire pit. And in between the huts, Amy could see graceful humanoids running back and forth, fetching and carrying things from one hut to another. The creatures were almost human, except their legs were reverse jointed and the adults had antlers growing out of their foreheads, from tiny little horns to impressive spreads which, Amy thought idly, must have been hell on their neck muscles. They also had glossy fur, with colours ranging from sandy yellow to rich dark browns.