Kasha grabbed wildly at the lasso as the balls flew past her and caught the rope. Bobby planted and held on to the other end, ready to be yanked, praying he could hold on. The rope went tight and Bobby dug his heels in. Kasha pulled back and was saved only two steps before tumbling over the edge. Bobby pulled her back onto the platform, safe. They were instantly hit with a blast of wind. They both looked up in time to see the gig lifting off, with the copilot at the controls. The side rotors that had been parallel to the ground, rotated until they became perpendicular. They whined to life, and the gig shot forward, right for Bobby and Kasha. The two dove for the deck as the gig shot over their heads, barely clearing them. The small helicopter sailed out over the city of Leeandra, throttled up, and was gone.
Kasha and Bobby lay together on the platform, out of breath, staring at the little helicopter as it grew smaller in the distance.
Kasha said, “Do you think the others will make it in time?”
“I don’t know,” was Bobby’s honest answer.
Kasha looked back at the rows of gigs. Bobby saw her eyes sparkle, as if she were hit with an idea.
“Pull a gig out here now!” she ordered while getting to her feet.
“What? Why?” Bobby asked.
“We’re going after him.”
Bobby didn’t allow himself to think of all the reasons why this was a bad idea. He ran to the first gig he saw, a green one. He made sure its crystals were intact, then rolled it out onto the platform. When he got near the edge, he saw that Kasha had tied the klee commander up with her lasso.
“Why, Kasha?” the pilot asked. “This is treason!”
“Killing the gars will mean killing off Eelong,” Kasha answered. “Timber knows it-that’s why he wants to wipe them out.” She looked to Bobby and ordered, “Get in.”
Bobby obediently sat in the right, copilot seat. Kasha settled into the pilot’s seat and toggled the power switches. The overhead rotors began to turn.
“That’s insane. Why would he do that?” the klee commander asked.
“Because he’s a monster,” Kasha answered. “I swear to you, it’s true.”
The rotors whined faster and the little craft shook. “How do you know?” the klee asked.
“I’ve been to Black Water,” she answered. “The gars can save Eelong, but only if I can stop the poison from being dropped.”
“Can you?” Bobby asked.
“We’ll find out, won’t we?” Kasha said, and grabbed the joystick between the two seats. She twisted the handle, the rotors whined, and with a slight bump, the gig lifted off. Bobby instinctively held on to the side for support. The craft hovered a few feet above the platform. Kasha toggled a switch and Bobby looked down to see the side rotors rotate into position. Bobby realized that the overhead rotors gave the gig lift, but the side rotors moved them forward.
“Ready?” Kasha asked.
“Always,” Bobby answered.
Kasha pushed the joystick forward and the gig shot off the platform, high over Leeandra, in pursuit of the killer gig.
EELONG
(CONTINUED)
The sunbelt had clearedthe horizon. It was full daylight on Eelong.
The riders bringing the antidote tanks to Black Water were close to the end of their journey. They had made it to the rocky, switchback trail that snaked up the side of the steep mountain. Gunny was still in the lead, followed by Boon and Mark, then Courtney and Spader. They were nearly at the crevice that would lead them to the crater of waterfalls. Every rider was exhausted, sore, and still terrified that another tang would attack, but the higher they climbed the more they felt as if Spader was right-they had made it. Looking back down into the barren valley they had just galloped through, they could see the beginnings of the first wave of gars that were still far behind, hours from Black Water.
“We’re nearly there,” Gunny called back to the others. “It’s time to think about what we’re going to do once we arrive.”
“How about a Jacuzzi?” Courtney shouted. “My butt’s killing me.”
Nobody laughed.
“Just kidding,” she added.
“Boon, stay close to me,” Gunny said. “They don’t trust klees.”
“Understood,” Boon said.
Gunny was first to arrive at the split in the rock that led to the narrow fissure in the mountain.
“This is it!” Gunny exclaimed. “Stay in single file. We’ll talk on the other end.”
Gunny entered the crevice. Boon and Mark were right behind. But as they entered the fissure, something spooked Boon’s zenzen. The animal reared up on its hind legs, whinnying out a complaint. Mark grabbed tight around Boon’s middle, or he would have fallen off.
“Whoa! Easy there!” Boon coaxed.
“What’s the matter with him?” Mark asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t like tight spaces.”
Boon regained control and steered his zenzen into the crevice. Courtney followed, then Spader. They traveled along the tight corridor, trying their best not to scrape their knees against the rocky walls. Boon was having a tough time keeping his zenzen under control. The animal kept shying, not wanting to go farther.
“This is making me nervous,” Mark said.
Courtney started to have problems with her zenzen as well. The animal stopped dead in its tracks, refusing to take another step. “C’mon!” she commanded. “Giddyap. Let’s go.” The animal didn’t budge.
Boon and Mark kept moving. Spader stopped behind Courtney and said, “They might be tired. We’ve been riding them pretty hard.”
“I’m tired too,” Courtney said. “You don’t see me resting. C’mon, zenzen, we’re almost there!” She gave the animal a kick, but the zenzen stood firm.
Mark turned around to see they were leaving Spader and Courtney behind. He called back, “Maybe if you got off and walked him, he would follow-“
Something hit Mark on the top of his head. It didn’t hurt, it was only a small pebble that had fallen from above. But it was enough to make him look up to see where it came from. What he saw nearly made him fall off the zenzen.
Looking down on them from high above was a band of tangs. At first Mark was so stunned, he couldn’t speak. But when he saw the tangs pushing large boulders close to the edge, his brain kicked back into gear.
“TANGS!” he shouted.
The tangs pushed the boulders over.
Everybody looked up to see an avalanche bouncing down the steep walls toward them. One boulder careened right for Mark. He leaned forward into Boon and the boulder barely missed hitting him in the head, but it bashed into the tank strapped to his back, knocking him off balance. He started to fall off the zenzen, but Boon grabbed him.
Gunny shouted, “Move!” He kicked his zenzen and galloped through the narrow crevice to escape the rockslide. Boon and Mark shot after him. Their zenzen took off so fast that Mark nearly fell off again. More boulders crashed down. Courtney didn’t know what to do. If her zenzen decided to go forward, they’d be crushed by the avalanche. But there was no reverse on a zenzen. She was trapped.
“Jump off!” Spader ordered.
Too late. The boulders hit the ground in front of them, causing Courtney’s zenzen to rear up. Courtney wasn’t ready for that, and she tumbled off the animal, hitting the ground, tank first. The hard tank dug into her back, making her squeal with pain. Spader jumped off to help her scramble away from the tumbling boulders.
