by Alex McCall
As he proved in the next minute when the chicken darted forward, chest opening. It obviously didn’t want to be drawn into an extended fight. It looked as if it had been partially repaired, but not fully finished. It didn’t move with quite the same agility as before. It was fast, but Cody was just as fast, if not faster; he must have been training with Percy. He swayed to the side, rolling away and lashing out with his baton at the same time. There was a sharp crack and I thought I saw the chicken stagger, then Percy came bounding in.
“Go for the chest, Percy,” Blake barked out, moving in as well. “Just like we planned.”
Percy grunted and launched himself at the chicken’s open chest cavity. It tried to close the hatch but Percy was in the way. He sent punch after punch pounding into its insides and the chicken rocked.
It back-pedalled, its feet skittering about as it struggled to regain its balance. It managed to shake off Percy and snap its chest shut. It steadied itself, about to move forward, but Blake took some ball bearings from his pouch and threw them in its path. The chicken hit them and skidded, struggling to stay on its feet. Percy surged forward and punched it a couple more times.
I held my breath. If we kept attacking and didn’t let it recover, we might actually be able to beat the Chickenator. We might win.
The Chickenator obviously realised that too. It turned and leapt, soaring over the desk and landing on the other side. Papers scattered everywhere. I thought I heard a squeak and my thoughts turned to Hazel. She’d been working on the laser just over there. Had she managed to get out? Then I saw a small hand poking out from beneath the desk. No, she was still there, hiding.
Ignore her, I silently commanded the chicken. She’s not a threat. Let her be. “Shore up, guys,” I murmured. “Let’s take this slowly and carefully.”
The chicken paused for a while, maybe planning its next move. I savoured the brief respite and regained my breath.
“Well?” Cody asked. “Are we having a tea break?”
“I’ll bring the biscuits,” Percy replied and Blake barked out a laugh. I didn’t respond, just watched the Chickenator’s eyes. They glimmered and the bird looked furious but it stayed still, maybe trying to stare us out.
But we couldn’t just stand there forever. We edged forward, keeping Cody in the centre of the group. The chicken let us come and I felt a flash of misgiving.
Then it bounded forward and the fight was on.
It headed for Blake this time, which was a surprise. We’d all been expecting the first move to be against Cody but obviously we were wrong. Maybe that was what it was counting on. We were slower to react and Blake only just managed to duck a buffeting wing. I moved to Blake’s side as Percy moved to the other. The chicken’s body seemed to shiver as it dodged a few of Percy’s punches and moved further away from me and Blake. Then it spun round and darted for Cody. Instead of rolling out of the way again he just dropped down to his knees. The chicken flew straight over his head and almost crashed into the opposite wall. We advanced behind it, Percy in the centre, Blake to the left, me to the right and Cody getting to his feet behind us. The chicken jinked and tried to get past us but Percy punched it again and it bobbed back down.
“Keep it contained, guys. Slow and steady,” Blake told us.
Then it broke to the side, skirting round Blake and hitting him with a flap of its wing. He took it on the shoulder and spun round, landing on the ground but still conscious. I ran towards the chicken, shock-stick blazing but it accepted the hit and pushed past me. As I stumbled I saw Percy move forward, Cody a little behind. The chicken threw out another wing, but instead of dodging it Percy caught it and held tight. Sparks flared along the wing tip as the chicken tried to flap away, but Percy wouldn’t budge.
“Now, Blake,” he called and Blake rose up behind the chicken. Taking his shock-stick in both hands, he swung it with all his might at the back of the chicken’s head.
There was a bright disorientating flash as his stick connected and broke, and electricity streaked across the chicken’s body. It gave a shriek and Percy was forced to let go.
I looked down, backing away and blinking rapidly, trying to regain focus. I heard a grunt and looked up, hardly daring to hope.
But there was no point. The chicken was still standing. It moved slower than before, but it hadn’t been knocked out like we’d hoped it would be.
“OK. That didn’t work.” Blake grabbed another shock-stick from a rack in the corner, snapping it on with a faint hiss. “Plan B.”
As far as I was aware, we didn’t have a Plan B.
The Chickenator threw a kick at Percy, which sent him spinning into Blake as it stalked towards Cody. The chicken had the measure of the fight now, and it brimmed with confidence.
Cody backed towards the desk, ball bearings clacking together under his feet. The chicken suddenly darted round, getting between him and the desk. Cody instinctively hurled himself away from it and into a wall.
I ran forward but it felt like I was moving through treacle. I wouldn’t get there in time. The Chickenator would gobble up Cody then fall backwards through the window and glide away. There was no way we’d get Cody back.
Then a figure moved behind the chicken and there was a sudden smell of ozone. It arched its back, sparks crawling across its body. After a second they shut off and the Chickenator crashed to the floor. The lights in it eyes stopped glowing and it lay still.
I looked up at the figure, and Hazel looked back at me, smiling slightly.
“How?” I asked.
She held up a cable, which had been intended to power the room’s laser.
“I plugged it into the mains.”
I rushed to her and was about to give her a hug when there was a sudden yell from outside and a laser burst lit up the night sky. A dark shape loomed up and I had to pull Hazel away from the enraged Catcher that suddenly smashed its head through the window.
There was a blur of black as the back of the Chickenator popped open and the chicken inside darted across the room and into the Catcher’s throat. With a squawk it fell backwards and flew away.
“Plug that laser in, Hazel,” I said, a cold feeling creeping through my bones. “They’re coming.”
“But we haven’t tried transmitting anything yet,” Cody said, clambering back to his feet.
“That’s not what they’re after. The C-800 is taken everywhere by at least five Catchers. They don’t want to lose the prototype.” As Hazel explained, I gave the empty Chickenator a kick.
Then we heard more yelling, and flashes lit up the window behind me as the Catchers appeared.
“They won’t stop until they’ve got it back,” Hazel finished.
Everyone seemed to freeze in panic for a moment before Cody snapped into action.
“We can’t let them have it back,” he said simply. “Retreat to the safe room on the ground floor and take that thing with us. Hazel, keep on that laser until we’re out of the room, then come and join us. Percy, grab the Chickenator and we’ll drag it downstairs with us. Rayna and Blake, power up the lasers on the floors below. We’re three floors up, people, and we need to get down. Let’s move out.”
Everyone scrambled into action, Hazel firing at any Catchers that got too near. I darted down the stairs with Blake while Cody helped Percy with the Chickenator.
The stairs seemed to fly by beneath me as I hurried down them, bouncing off the wall at the bottom and straight through the door of the second-floor flat. I could see the laser positioned by the window.
I got to it and flicked the switch, turning it on. Above me I could hear Hazel blasting away and see the long red beam of her weapon.
“Are you OK here?” Blake asked and I nodded.
“Yeah, go start up the laser downstairs. The more guns we’ve got firing the better.”
He clapped me on the shoulder and was away.
Even though the building was covered with lasers there weren’t that many people about to fire them. Yet again, the Chicken
ator must have taken out all the guards before heading inside to attack us. The Catchers were flying round the building, dark shapes flitting here and there. The one that had taken the Chickenator pilot seemed to have disappeared. Hazel had hit another, clipping its wing and sending it spiralling to the ground. But that still left three.
It was down to two by the time Hazel appeared at my shoulder. Blake’s beam had shot out from the first floor, catching one of the chickens by surprise. After losing a leg, it turned round and got out of there.
“Rayna, time to go. Down another floor.”
I sent a last shot winging at a chicken then turned and sprinted out of the apartment. Hazel by my side, we flashed down the stairs. I reached the ground-floor laser just in time to shoot up at a Catcher that was diving for Blake.
That left one. I had it in my sights and pulled the trigger. I just missed but it flew away anyway. It must have given up.
I sighed, happy that we’d driven them back, and my exhausted hand slipped from the laser gun.
Which, of course, was when the Catcher rose in front of me and cannoned through the window.
Hazel and I were thrown back, sprawled on the floor. The Catcher Hazel had hit at the start of the fight loomed above us. Its wing was hanging off and it didn’t look like it could fly. I looked around desperately, searching for an escape route. But the chicken was too close; we’d never be able to outrun it.
Shakily I got to my feet. If I was going to be pecked up I wanted to be standing tall, looking the chicken right in its beak.
It grinned at me, cockily assured of its victory. I pulled the shock-stick from my belt, gave it an experimental swing or two.
“Come get me, you walking pillow.”
I took a deep breath and the world slowed down. The chicken’s eyes gleamed evilly. Its open mouth glinted and I thought I could see all the way down its throat.
Then Hazel charged into me, knocking me out of the way.
I landed heavily, the shock-stick spinning from my hand. I was defenceless.
“What are you doing?” I yelled.
“Getting you out of the way,” she muttered.
The chicken turned towards us, slightly confused but greedily anticipating being able to eat two of us. Then with a flash of red light its left leg disappeared. It fell to the ground, flapping in surprise. Another flash and a wing fell off, the hinge connecting it to the body melting away under the laser.
A figure appeared round the side of the chicken, my fallen laser in his hand. He spun, long coat flapping behind him, raking a long gash in the chicken’s side and taking off the other leg in the process. Then he raised the laser to the immobilised chicken’s head.
“Time to fry,” he called and I felt my heart leap.
There was a clattering as the Catcher’s head fell off. It rolled towards the hole in the window and something blasted off. The chicken inside must have activated the emergency ejector.
But I didn’t care. My attention was on the person in front of me. He dropped the laser with a loud clank and turned towards me. For the first time, I looked up at him instead of down as he stood over me and offered his hand.
“Hiya, Rayna,” Jesse said, grin in its usual position on his face. “Sorry I’m late.”
CHAPTER 20
I stared up at Jesse for a moment, trying to make sense of the situation.
Jesse shouldn’t be here. Jesse was off somewhere in Aberdeenshire. He’d been captured.
“Rayna?” he asked, concerned. “Are you OK?”
Slowly, I walked towards him, mouth slightly open. He smiled at me as I raised my hand…
…and punched him in the arm as hard as I could.
He stumbled backwards, smile fading. “Ow, that hurt. What was that for?”
I followed him, trying to get close enough to hit him again, but he kept retreating. “What for? What for? I thought you’d been captured. I thought I’d never see you again. And yet you turn up here…” I took a deep breath. Hazel was trying to get between us. “Why didn’t you radio me? I’ve been worried sick.”
“How worried?”
“She broke into the Brotherhood’s warehouse in the middle of the night,” Hazel chimed in.
Jesse looked impressed. “That’s worried.”
“Jesse!”
“It wasn’t my fault.” He pulled out his walkie-talkie and tossed it to me. I caught it automatically. “It ran out of charge and there’s no power out there. I couldn’t recharge it.”
“Oh.” That made sense. I hadn’t thought of that. “Sorry for punching you.”
“Don’t mention it. It’s nice to know you care…” he rubbed his arm, “…I think. Hey, if you broke into their warehouse did you find anything… interesting?”
“Yes, I know about Clucky,” I told him. “I’ve not decided what to do about him yet.”
“Don’t do anything,” Hazel and Jesse both said at the same time. I looked at them, eyebrows raised.
“Trust me,” Jesse said.
“Fine.”
“Cool. So have I missed much around here? Have you caught the spy yet?”
I shook my head then nodded deeper into the tenement. “Not yet. Look, we’d better go report back to Cody, see if they’re OK. And you’d better tell them what you’ve learned.”
“Alright.” We walked off, Jesse trailing behind me, asking questions.
“So did the thing that took Sally come bawk?”
I ignored the chicken sound. “Yes, actually. Turns out it’s a specialist kidnapper robot. It pursues its target, smashing through all resistance until it gets it.”
“Huh. Sounds scary. What did you call it?”
“The Chickenator.”
“Nice.”
“Thought you’d appreciate it.”
“So who did it take?” Jesse tried to sound casual as he asked, but I could hear the tension in his voice.
“Jeremy first, then Glen. Noah got taken a few days ago.”
“Oh.” Jesse paused for a moment and, looking back, I saw his shoulders slump. “Do we have a plan for dealing with it?”
“Already done. It came for Cody, and Hazel managed to take it out. That’s why all those Catchers were attacking. They were trying to get it back. Hopefully they didn’t manage to.”
“Good. Wait, if Sally, Glen, Noah and Jeremy have all been taken then who’s on the council now?”
“No one really,” I said, kicking a door at the end of a corridor. Only the bottom half of the door opened, probably some sort of defence Cody had thought up. Hazel and I had to duck; Jesse just walked right under it. “Cody’s taken over. I think he’s done it for the right reasons though.”
“Huh,” Jesse frowned. “So, long story short, the Chickenator managed to get half the council but Cody survived and he’s now in charge. There’s still a spy out there somewhere and the chickens are likely to attack again, trying to get their robot back?”
“That’s about it.”
“Alright.”
There didn’t seem to be any evidence of chickens on our way to the safe room. Ahead of us Blake poked his head round a door. He did a double take when he saw Jesse.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Do we like him now?” Jesse asked under his breath.
“About fifty-fifty,” I replied. Raising my voice, I called back to Blake, “He turned up at the perfect time. Is everyone OK?”
“No chickens managed to get this far,” Blake called back. He seemed disappointed. “And we’ve still got the Chickenator.”
“They must have lacked the quill to win.”
Blake looked at Jesse for a moment then grinned.
“They were out of their league. Now they’re down and out.”
Jesse nodded, appreciating the pun. “It must have been an egg-citing time for you.”
“Oh, it was cracking.”
“It was pretty exciting for me too. I started having fun as soon as I crested the stairs.”
; I looked back and forth between them, as if I was watching a tennis match.
“So you just appeared un-egg-spectedly? I’m impressed you were able to wing it.”
“I’ve always been a clutch player.”
I ground the palm of my hand into my forehead. Beside me Hazel was looking at the two of them, amused. “Alright, you two, that’s enough. You’re both very funny. Can we get on with it and find Cody?”
Blake winked at Jesse. “I could have out-punned you, you know.”
“We’ll have a rematch sometime. I’ll put that idea to nest.”
“Jesse!”
“Sorry, Rayna.” He looked at me and grinned. We all walked together into the safe room.
I guess I was expecting something grand from Cody’s hideaway but it was just a room with a table. A laser was mounted directly in front of the door, ready for whatever came through it, glowing red. We quickly ducked out of the way as Percy unplugged it. The Chickenator sat slumped in the corner, like a discarded doll. Hazel wandered over and began fiddling with it.
“What sort of weapons will you be able to make out of that?” Blake asked her. I noticed he was being more friendly than usual. I suppose taking down the Chickenator had earned his respect.
“Probably nothing,” Hazel said absentmindedly. “There are no lasers. I guess the wings could be used as shields but we could probably make those anyway. I’d like to take it back to headquarters to investigate it further.”
“Fine,” Cody said before turning to us. “I see that you’ve made it back, Jesse.”
“Yes, Cody. It’s nice to know you missed me.”
Cody gave his wintry smile. “I didn’t say that. Now what did you learn?”
Everyone looked at Jesse expectantly. He smiled back.
“I’m not telling you,” he said.
A small frown creased Cody’s forehead and I groaned. Trust Jesse to be difficult.
“Jesse, things changed while you were away. I’m in charge now. So tell me what you learned.”
