Desert Disaster (7 page)

Jimmy frowned as the dashboard buttons flashed and bleeped. He felt a clang and a jolt as something moved underneath him. He checked his seat belt and gripped the steering wheel.

“Cabbie, what are you up to?” he shouted. The din got louder as the whole chassis underneath him shook.

“Have you ever been skiing, Jimmy?” Cabbie replied. It was only then that Jimmy worked it out. Underneath the robot, the caterpillar tracks had transformed into smooth sheets, with no grip at all. They would be useless for climbing up sand dunes ... but for sliding down them—

“Cabbie, we’ve got skis!” yelled Jimmy.

“Yep! So hold onto your hat, my friend, this is going to be one heck of a ride!”

“Woooo-hoooo!” they both screamed as they whipped down the steep slope. Jimmy could barely see where they were going as the desert around him flew past in a blur, but as he had no way of steering, he guessed it didn’t matter. If he was going to hit something, there was no way he could stop.

They approached the bottom of the dune and Jimmy saw two racers in front – Missy and Horace. They were just a few centimetres apart, each of them eager for that first place title. They were pushing their robots to the limit, and Jimmy felt the heat from their engines as he reached the bottom of the sand dune, a cloud of sand following him. They were driving as hard as they could, but Jimmy had built up enough speed from skiing down the sand dune that he was catching them up. For a few moments he felt he could do it. He could see Zoom’s back bumper, and he urged Cabbie on. He was desperate to beat Horace!

He held his breath as they got closer and closer to the finish. Cabbie was sliding across the sand at an impressive rate, and Jimmy crossed his fingers.

Time seemed to slow in those last few seconds of the race...

He felt the burst of cheers and applause from the crowd...

He heard the squeal of Zoom’s tyres...

He felt the heat of Monster’s massive engine...

He just needed a few more metres ... had the finish line come too soon?

They whizzed over the finish line in a blur.

Jimmy hit a button and Cabbie skidded to a stop in the shadow of the great grandstand. He jumped out and looked up pleadingly at the scoreboard.

“Come on, hurry up,” he grumbled as the screen remained blank.

Then the results popped up on the screen:

1
ST
PLACE: MISSY AND MONSTER

2
ND
PLACE: JIMMY AND CABBIE

3
RD
PLACE: HORACE AND ZOOM

A rush of energy coursed through Jimmy like somebody had given him a shot of electricity.

“We did it, Cabbie! We beat Horace!”

But he couldn’t hear the robot’s reply over the screaming of the crowd. There were banners with his face on and thousands of people cheering for him. He waved his arms high above his head and then pumped his fists in excitement.

Through the racket of the screaming fans, Jimmy heard the unmistakable sound of Dug’s diesel engines crossing the line. He turned to see the tired but happy face of Chip waving from his cab. He got out and his name popped up in fourth place at the leaderboard. Jimmy gave him a thumbs-up, and he looked to see who would come in next.

Next was Sammy. Maximus was jumping across the finish line, the rear propellers of the hovercraft full of sand and barely turning.

Moments later, a miserable Princess Kako stumbled into the finishing paddock on Lightning. The poor robot, who normally looked like a futuristic superbike, now seemed more like a rusty old tin can on wheels.

Lightning mumbled something as he passed. Jimmy didn’t speak any Japanese, but he would bet that it meant,
“get me out of here!”
Kako looked ready to drop, her pristine silver jumpsuit covered in sand. Her technicians hurried over to help her.

They all gathered around the cool oasis as the leaderboard flashed up the final names and scores.

Jimmy went over to give Missy a high-five. She had a smile on her face wider than the Outback! She had ten points for the win. Jimmy had eight points for coming in second, and Horace had six for his third place. Horace stood apart from the rest of the group, his arms crossed in annoyance at losing out on first place. Jimmy moved on to congratulate Chip, who had managed to walk away with four points. Sammy was happy with his two points, and Princess Kako didn’t get anything for her last place, but the crowd gave her a huge round of applause for managing to finish.

Then Missy climbed on the podium and received her sash for first place, and a bottle of fizzy juice. While it was tradition to shake it up and spray the crowd and her fellow racers, Missy had her own way of celebrating.

“There’s no way I’m wasting this!” she shouted. She stood and drank half the bottle in one go, burped loudly and tipped the rest over her own head. The crowd and her competitors laughed and cheered. “Ah, that’s better!” she boomed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jimmy could see a sulky Horace storming away from the podium towards Monster. Horace frowned at the colossal machine, and angrily kicked one of her massive tyres.

“Ooowww!” he screamed, hopping up and down as he stubbed his toe on one of the gigantic wheels. Jimmy could see his mouth moving rapidly as he hurled insults at Missy’s robot racer, shouting rude words that thankfully couldn’t be heard over the cheers for Missy.

Jimmy chuckled as Horace gritted his teeth and held his toe.

”Stupid robot!” Horace hissed.

In reply, Monster unleashed a cheeky jet of compressed air from her exhaust, and sent Horace flying high into the air! He landed in the calm blue water of the oasis, and sat up, coughing and spluttering in outrage.

“That should cool him off!” Jimmy said with a grin.

As he stood on the second-place spot on the podium, waving to the crowds, Jimmy saw a head of white hair pushing its way towards him.

“Well done, Jimmy! I knew you could do it!” Grandpa shouted as he reached his grandson. Jimmy leaped off the podium and down into the crowd where Grandpa gathered him up in a hug. They moved away from the pack of journalists so they could talk.

“Thanks, Grandpa. It wasn’t the same without being able to talk to you. It was so scary not being able to ask you for advice.”

“But you did it, didn’t you? That’s my boy!” said Grandpa, ruffling Jimmy’s hair. “What happened at the start today? You all went off in totally the wrong direction for an hour!”

Jimmy told him about the faulty compasses and his suspicion that Horace had tampered with them. “Which reminds me...” Jimmy said, telling Grandpa what he’d overheard outside Horace’s tent.

“Why, that no-good, dirty Pelly family! I’ll see that they never race again! They should have points docked! I’ll make sure—”

“But Grandpa, we’ve no proof!” Jimmy interrupted. “Horace and Mr Pelly are too sly, anyway. They’ll have covered their tracks.” Jimmy was sure that the Pellys would deny it if they were asked about it, and they had probably already thrown the device away to cover themselves. They were not great racers, but they were
really
good at cheating.

“We’ve got to do
something
,” Grandpa said angrily. “It’s unfair! It’s unjust! It’s an outrage!”

“Well we could always tell Lord Leadpipe...” Jimmy suggested.

“That buffoon! He couldn’t fix a problem with a toolkit the size of Cabbie—”

Grandpa was interrupted by a huge fanfare announcing the arrival of Lord Leadpipe.

“Here we go,” said Grandpa, rolling his eyes. “Let His Highness speak!”

“Dear fellow Robot Races enthusiasts!” said Lord Leadpipe, his voice bellowing around the oasis through the stacks of amplifiers. “I must extend congratulations to Missy McGovern and her robot Monster for a well-fought battle over the last two days, and a well-deserved first place!”

Everyone applauded, except for the Pelly family.

“And well done to all our competitors, who shall enjoy a good rest aboard my luxury airship before reaching
new heights
in the next leg of the competition!”

Jimmy frowned.
Was that a clue?
he wondered.

Lord Leadpipe busied himself with interviews, his arm around a grinning Missy.

“Look at him!” said Grandpa. “Did I ever tell you about how he nicked my life’s work? And how he made off with my best clipboard...?”

Jimmy hid a grin. “Anyway, what about the Pellys?” he asked.

“They are no good rotten scoundrels, those two,” said Grandpa indignantly. “We might not be able to change the results, but you beat them fair and square. And don’t you worry, my boy. They’ll get their comeuppance. Cheaters never prosper—” Grandpa stopped talking suddenly and his cheeks went bright red. Then he muttered, “Um, anyway, better go and check Cabbie’s radiator temperature.” And with a nervous glance over Jimmy’s shoulder he started to hurry off.

Jimmy turned to see what his grandpa was looking at, and saw Bet Bristle cutting through the crowd of journalists.
No wonder he’s gone red!
thought Jimmy.
Grandpa’s always had a little crush on Bet!

“Good day, Mr Roberts!” said Bet, calling after Grandpa.

Grandpa blushed again and stammered a reply. “G-good day, Ms Bristle. I’m, er, just needed elsewhere. Time to hose Cabbie down and get him ready for his photocall. He hates looking dirty for the cameras!” Grandpa disappeared, leaving Bet looking confused.

“Jimmy! Well done on another fantastic race!” she said, pushing a microphone under his nose. Her cameraman stood behind her, zooming in to Jimmy’s face.

“Thanks, Bet. I was beginning to wonder if we’d make it back at all.”

“Tell me, Jimmy, how did you cope with the heat and the sand? Have you learned anything for the next race?”

“I think we’ll all be glad to see the back of the desert!” He laughed. “The next race? I’m just going to make sure we pack plenty of ice cream.”

“Ah-ha! Of course!” laughed Bet. “I’ve always described you as the underdog, but that’s not really the case now.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve done so well that you’re now one of the favourites to win the competition!” said Bet, her smile widening. “You’re now top of the leaderboard, and your fan ratings have gone through the roof! Surely you know all this? We’ve had hundreds of enquiries from companies asking if you are looking for new sponsorship.”

Jimmy shook his head. He thought that it looked as though he was being modest, but it was true. He’d never really thought about having fans before.

“We’re cooped up in that airship all week. We don’t really get to see that side of the races,” he said.

“Ah, yes, that reminds me!” said Bet. She stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly like an army sergeant. “We’ve got something for you.”

A Robo TV employee came running, dragging a large sack behind him.

“As the fans can’t get hold of you while you’re up on the airship all week, they send all their fan mail to us at Robo TV. This sack is just one week’s worth, and doesn’t include all the messages we get on our website.”

Jimmy was astonished. He picked out a few letters and opened them to find out what people could possibly be writing to him for. There were letters from teenagers, drawings from kids in primary schools, photos of fans with banners they had made. There was even one from an elderly lady who said watching the races was the highlight of her week. The letters were from all over the world!

“This is incredible!” he said. “Thanks, everyone! I’ll make sure I read every letter.”

Just then there was another fanfare and Bet was forced to cut their interview short as Lord Leadpipe took to the stage again.

“My dear friends! I couldn’t let the opportunity go by to get you all to take part in one last race here in the desert.”

Jimmy couldn’t believe it. Another race? Cabbie wouldn’t be ready to race again just yet.

“But fear not! You won’t be needing your trusty mechanical mates this time. No, I shall provide your transport. This shall be very special. Very special, indeed!” Lord Leadpipe giggled like a schoolboy. “I am proud to announce the very first Leadpipe Industries’ Camel Derby!”

The course that Lord Leadpipe had prepared was a simple one. Once around the oasis, grab a flag from a post 400 metres out in the desert, and back again. First across the finish line was the winner, and would receive a brand-new, top-of-the-range 3D gamer phone from Leadpipe Industries.

Jimmy thought it sounded like it was a good deal, until he saw the camels up close. They were huge! Not to mention smelly, loud and a bit unpredictable.

“I hear the trick to riding a camel is to become one with it,” said Lord Leadpipe, as though he were an expert.

The cameras and crowd gathered around, laughing as each of the participants approached the camels. Chip and Kako went up to them slowly, looking scared of the giant things. One camel turned to see what was going on, moving its dozy expression and long eyelashes over to the racers. Kako turned and fled, screaming as she ran. Chip managed to mount his camel, but nearly fell off as it stood up. Cameras flashed as he hung on for his life, the crowd laughing.

Missy was full of confidence after her win, and she charged up to the camel and took it by the reins. “I’ve been riding horses since I was four. It can’t be much different!” she exclaimed.

Sammy approached his camel and coolly hopped on its back. “I love camels!” He pulled on the reins and the camel turned obediently round in a circle. The crowd applauded, and Jimmy laughed.

“Not fair! They don’t have many camels in Smedingham,” he joked.

He saw Horace trying to clamber on his less-than-trusty steed. Horace was perched on the camel rocking back and forth, shouting “GO!” and “MOVE!” The camel stayed where it was, sat under a tree in the shade. “I think mine’s broken!” he called.

Jimmy glanced over and noticed that the camel was chewing on something that looked remarkably like one of Grandpa’s famous jam sandwiches. The camel appeared to be enjoying it enormously!

He looked round and caught Grandpa’s eye in the crowd, who winked back. So that’s what he was up to!

Jimmy looked at his camel, and supposed he should try to get on it. The handler handed him the reins, and he awkwardly climbed on. They lined up at the start, and Lord Leadpipe took up his position with a starting pistol.

“On your marks ... get set ...
go
!” he shouted with a bang.

The camels were off in a shot – all except for Horace’s, which stubbornly stayed put. Jimmy could see Sammy out in front looking like a professional jockey, with Missy just behind, doing a good impression of one. Jimmy was bouncing along in third place, and he turned to see Kako and Chip trotting along behind him. They were running fast, but nearly falling off from bouncing around so much.

“Theeeeeeseeeee thiiiiiiiiiings aaare sooooooooo shaaaaaaaakkkyyyyyy!” called Chip, his teeth rattling loudly.

They ran once round the oasis and then out into the desert. Luckily, Jimmy’s camel seemed to know where it was going so he didn’t have to do much steering. He spotted the pole with the flags up ahead and leaned out to grab a flag, just seconds after Sammy and Missy had grabbed theirs.

Turning their camels back round towards the oasis, they hit the final straight. Sammy was charging out ahead like it was a normal Sunday morning ride in the park for him, while Missy seemed to be making all the right movements and noises to encourage her camel to the finish line.

“Come on camel!” Jimmy yelled, “if you win this you can have all the jam sandwiches you can eat!”

Jimmy flicked the reins and clicked his tongue and suddenly his camel sped forward like it had Cabbie’s nitro-blaster rockets attached to its side!

Before he knew it, Jimmy had passed Missy and a confused-looking Sammy to take first place! The crowd went crazy! He climbed down from the camel, and bowed at the applause from the audience. It wasn’t quite the win that he wanted to get that day, but he was pleased to win the new phone.

He glanced back over to the start line where Horace sat alone on his camel. He scowled at the animal, which turned its head round to face him and spat into the sand below.

“Move, you stupid thing!” shouted Horace. But his camel sat down again and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

After the long, hot race, everyone was keen to relax and enjoy themselves. They celebrated with an evening of music, dancing and a great feast. Cabbie made so many ice creams that he joked he’d turn into an ice cream van.

Finally it was time to go. Lord Leadpipe’s airship hung above the oasis, casting a welcome shadow over the crowds, who were beginning to wind their way back to the shuttle airships that would take them all home.

Jimmy drove Cabbie into the gigantic workshop in the centre of the airship, where the other robot racers were parking their robots.

“That was some race!” said Chip. “I sure hope the next one is as exciting!”

“I bet Leadpipe has got something up his sleeve,” said Missy. “Nothing we can’t handle, though. Isn’t that right, Kako?”

“Too right, mate!” said Kako, sounding like Missy. The princess yawned and then said, “I’m going to bed. I could sleep for a month after that race!” Then without another word, she and Missy both walked off to their cabins.

“Where is Horace?” asked Sammy. “He bet his boots that he would win, remember? I wanted to make sure he would hand them over.”

“He’s in the shower,” said Jimmy. “He stepped in a puddle of camel wee back at the oasis, and he’s cleaning himself off. You might not want those boots.”

Sammy pulled a face. “OK, maybe not. You are going to bed?”

Jimmy was shattered, but he didn’t want to sleep just yet. He shook his head. “I’ll see you in the morning. I’ve got some stuff to do.”

While all the other teams headed for their rooms, Jimmy spent time doing the thing he loved doing best – giving Cabbie a good wash and chatting with Grandpa. They talked about the adventures they’d had already in the competition, Grandpa’s trick with the jam sandwiches and what might be their next challenge.

“Hey, Wilf! I’ll need a new set of shock absorbers for the next race,” said Cabbie. “The ones I’ve got now creak a bit.”

“I know the feeling, Cabbie!” Grandpa replied. “My knees are playing up something awful. You must be getting old too!”

Jimmy gave Cabbie a squirt of soapy water, and the robot gave him a playful squirt back with his windscreen washers.

“Hey! We should fit a hot-chocolate maker,” Jimmy suggested. “We could be sent to a cold country next!”

“Hmm, we’ll see,” said Grandpa. “Let’s find out what sort of race Loony Leadpipe has got in store first.” He leaned forward to look at Cabbie’s windscreen. “You missed a bit.”

They scrubbed and polished Cabbie into the night, joking, bickering and laughing all the time. Cabbie soon looked as good as new – apart from the rust holes, of course. But Jimmy liked those. Cabbie’s bodywork shone and his alloy wheels gleamed, and Jimmy sat down on the wet floor with his grandpa, a mug of tea in his hand and a smile on his tired face.

“You know what, Grandpa? We’re a great team. That goes for you too, Cabbie!”

“Thanks, Jimmy!” said Cabbie.

“I mean it. I wouldn’t want to be racing with any other robot, or with any other engineers. I feel like we can win this whole competition!” Jimmy said.

“Of course we can!” said Grandpa. “We’re Team Jimmy! Whatever the next race has in store, we’ll be ready for it!”

Jimmy and Grandpa clinked their mugs together in a toast, and drank to the future. Around them the airship hummed and the engines purred, powering them on to the next destination and another amazing stage of the Robot Races.