Bubba screwed up his face. “It doesn’t make sense. Why would that boy’s robot kill Major Hacker as part of the show?”
“Because he’s a traitor!” said De Coza excitedly. “A… a double-agent working for the Toymaker!”
“This is getting ridiculous”, muttered Coach Kennedy.
“Marty warned us there would be a few surprises”, insisted De Coza.
“A few surprises?” Bubba scoffed. “They blew up half of the island!”
Billy-Bob nodded, gesturing at the destruction around them. “They’d never have done all this on purpose.”
“Says who?” retorted De Coza. “You know how carefully they stage their battles, remember on the beach this morning? They tell us exactly where we can and can’t go! On the TV it looks like mayhem, but everything is meticulously planned.”
Thumper slowly shook his head. “The robots we fought this morning were programmed to do specific moves, that’s how they could organise the whole thing. My Thumper robots are different, they’re programmed to behave randomly.”
“Well what if they were reprogrammed to do specific moves as well?”
“I don’t know if that’s even possible. Their memory—”
“Did you bring ’em along or did they provide them?”
“They provided them, but—”
“Well, there you go!”
Coach Kennedy looked at De Coza incredulously. “And I suppose they programmed my robot as well to smash the crate and set them all free?”
“I don’t know!” De Coza said, his patience snapping. “But what I do know is that we’ve got the producer in the studio, reporting back to the network and telling them he’s ready to start filming!”
Uzi-Rider looked at her two friends thoughtfully. “You remember what Marty said when he briefed us before the show. The most important thing, do exactly what the safety officer said…”
“And who was it who told us to stay in there, the only place that didn’t go up in smoke?” said Roadkill, jerking her thumb towards the robot workshop.
“The safety officer!” exclaimed Typhoid Mary.
“That’s right!” yelled De Coza. “They got us out of the way, blew the place up, then left us to cope on our own! That’s what this show’s all about!”
McBride shook his head obstinately. “I don’t buy any of this. People nearly died. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“You can think what you like. But I say that 10 million bucks is still up for grabs.”
There was a long moment of silence as everyone processed this.
Gilbert turned to Kenneth. “There’s only one way to find out for sure…”
There was a gleam of excitement in Kenneth’s eyes. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“I hope so”, replied Gilbert. In unison they turned and started walking towards the robot workshop.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
NIGHT TERRORS (1)
Marty walked along the jungle trail towards his villa with a spring in his step, congratulating himself on his decisiveness. Fortune favours the bold, that had always been his motto, and what he had done was a bold business decision, no more, no less. Sure, he was endangering the lives of those left on the island by reactivating the robots. But all the competitors had signed disclaimers, they knew what they were getting into. Ten million bucks never came easy, everyone knew that. He wasn’t quite sure how the competition was going to pan out now that the actor playing the Toymaker had left the island but he was certain things were going to get pretty exciting one way or another.
Marty started to whistle a little tune, pushing aside the nagging feeling that the alcohol had made him do something he’d be regretting in the morning. Perhaps he had been impulsive, a little reckless even. But he had invested every cent from Marty Shultz Productions on Destroy All Robots, not to mention five years of his life, and he was damned if he was going to give it all up without a fight. This was his home and his livelihood and if anyone thought Marty Shultz was just going to roll over and play dead, they didn’t know Marty Shultz very well, that was for—
A branch snapped behind Marty and he froze.
He turned, his eyes probing the darkness. Nothing but dense, black jungle. The hairs on the back of his neck started to prickle and he had the strong sensation he was being watched.
“Hello?” called Marty.
No answer.
Marty started walking again, faster now. In the shadowy depths of the jungle he heard the swish of bushes as something large kept pace with him.
Marty spun around and the rustling in the undergrowth suddenly ceased. He stared out in the darkness, trying not to panic. “Look, I know someone’s there”, he called, his voice quavering.
His only reply was the endless chirrup and croak of cicadas and tree frogs, pulsing back and forth across the jungle.
Marty started to run, scrambling up the hill towards his villa. He reached a fork in the trail and in his panic took the wrong turn, plunging into dense virgin jungle. He realized his mistake almost immediately, but it was too late to turn back as whatever was chasing him was now directly behind him, crashing through the jungle, making no attempt at stealth. Tree branches thwacked Marty in the face and thorns clawed at his hair and clothes. He tripped over a creeper and sprawled headlong into a clump of bamboo stems. Marty whimpered in pain and tried to scrabble free from the bamboo’s spiny embrace, the rough stems and jagged leaves slicing his hands. He heard the thump of heavy footsteps come nearer and nearer and he squeezed his eyes shut in terror.
A sudden silence descended upon the jungle. Marty forced himself to open his eyes.
There was nothing there.
He clambered to his feet and gazed fearfully into the shadowy undergrowth. “Please… I know you’re there…”
In the foliage directly behind Marty, the leaves silently parted.
“I don’t know what you want, but come out here we can talk…”
A metal segmented tail curled towards Marty, as thick as a man’s thigh. He saw the flash of steel out of the corner of his eye and spun round. And the last thing he saw was the hypodermic needle at the tip of the barbed tail, plunging into his neck with the speed of a striking snake.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
NIGHT TERRORS (2)
Caitlin jolted awake, her face bathed in perspiration. She looked around the unfamiliar bedroom in panic, not recognizing the suite of expensive bamboo furniture. Then she heard the hum of air conditioning and the distant crash of waves and the events of the past 24 hours slowly came back to her. She sat up in the bed and kicked away the quilt, trying to remember the nightmare that had awoken her. Already it was starting to fade, leaving her with a series of troublingly vague images.
Her hurrying across the road towards the karate institute.
The roar of the approaching car behind her.
The blinding flash of headlamps.
The screech of brakes.
But then the nightmare had changed from her usual one. Instead of the car smashing into her, sending her somersaulting over the roof and into the gutter, it swerved at the last minute. She caught a glimpse of the metal chassis behind the headlamps and realized with horror it wasn’t a car at all but some sort of mechanical monster. The gleaming metal radiator suddenly split lengthways in two, morphing into serrated steel teeth. The monster lunged at Caitlin, its jagged teeth snapping down on her.
Caitlin felt her heart hammering in her chest and took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She glanced at the digital alarm clock on the bedside cabinet beside her and saw that it was just past four in the morning. She realized that she wasn’t going to get any more sleep that night and slid out of bed. She inspected her jeans and T-shirt and pulled a face, wishing she had clean clothes to wear. She dressed quickly and padded across the room, the wooden floorboards cool against her bare feet. She looked down the darkened hallway and heard the sound of snoring coming from downstairs and she guessed it was Toby. She hovered at
the doorway, debating whether or not to go downstairs and wake him. But she felt unsettled by her nightmare and wanted someone to talk to.
Caitlin crept down the hallway and reached the top of the stairs. She faltered to a halt, seeing Eve below her, still standing in the same position when Toby deactivated her. Caitlin looked down at the robot apprehensively, feeling the familiar wave of dislike flow over her. She knew that it was unlikely she would disturb the robot just by walking past her. And even if she did, what could Eve do without her weapons?
Don’t go down, an inner voice warned.
Caitlin started walking down the staircase and almost immediately Eve’s head swivelled towards her, her glowing green eyes locking with Caitlin’s. Caitlin froze, unnerved by the robot’s stare. She knew it was scientifically impossible for Eve to feel emotions, but at that moment she was struck by the absolute certainty that Eve hated Caitlin as much as she hated her. Her eyes blazed with malevolence and Caitlin had to force herself not to look away. Eve’s head finally pivoted back into its original position and Caitlin felt a small pang of victory at managing to out-stare the robot. But she knew there was no way she was walking past Eve in the middle of the night.
She returned to her bedroom, furious with herself for being such a coward. Before her accident she was truly fearless.
Why was she always so frightened now?
She snapped off the light and tried to get back to sleep, but the darkness of the room seemed oppressive and threatening. Her mind crowded with fears and worries and she tried to reassure herself with rational argument. She knew that as soon as news broke yesterday that Toby was a competitor on Destroy All Robots her mum would realize Caitlin had been lying about the Ibiza trip and guess she had accompanied Toby to the island. She would then contact the CSS network in Los Angeles who would obviously be aware themselves that something had gone terribly wrong on the island. A rescue expedition would be mounted, her mum would make sure of that, which would arrive in a day or two, three at the most. Staying in this luxury villa for three days wouldn’t be any great hardship, especially with Marty’s cooking. And then she would be taken home. Her parents would be angry, but they’d get over it. And then in two weeks’ time she’d be back at school with the coolest story to tell her friends about what had happened to her and Toby over the summer holidays.
Everything was going to be all right.
So why did she have the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that something truly horrific was about to happen?
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
A CHECK-UP FOR MR SHULTZ
Marty blearily opened his eyes and blinked in confusion. A number of blurry dark shapes darted back and forth against an illuminated backdrop, each one trailing a stream of bubbles. Marty blinked woozily and the dark shapes swam into focus.
“Fish…” he murmured, a dopy grin appearing on his face. “Pretty fish…”
Marty’s grin wavered a little as he watched the fish goggling at him through the glass walls of the fish tank. They weren’t really so pretty, when you came to look at them. They were small and dull-looking with protruding lower jaws that gave them a mean, brutish appearance. He frowned, remembering a nature programme he had seen on TV. The blunt little faces gazing at him through the glass looked a little like…
Piranhas.
Marty recoiled from the fish tank and realized that something was gripping him around his torso. He looked down and saw that massive metal hands studded with human teeth were holding him in place. With mounting panic he realized he was clamped into the dentist-chair body of the Tooth Fairy. The robot was curled in a sitting position, its armoured steel exoskeleton resting against the interior wall of the guardhouse. Marty was held snugly against the robot’s soft belly, the upholstered black leather clammy against his skin. He looked up and saw the Tooth Fairy’s arachnid head looming over him, its stalks and appendages bristling with a terrifying array of dental tools.
Marty started to struggle and a hand reassuringly patted his shoulder making him jump. He twisted his head around and saw Gilbert and Kenneth Scannell gazing down at him.
“I see you’re admiring our little beauties”, said Kenneth.
“Look at them getting all excited”, cooed Gilbert, rapping the glass fish tank wall with his knuckles.
“It’s almost like they know when its feeding time.”
“Feeding time?” said Marty uncomprehendingly.
Gilbert pointed at the white layer of gravel at the bottom of the tank and Marty realized with a thrill of horror it wasn’t gravel but extracted human teeth. Molars, premolars, incisors, canines, mostly they were picked clean although one or two still had shreds of flesh attached that the piranhas were feeding from.
“Wisdom teeth are their favourites”, said Gilbert, his eyes glittering.
“More meat, you see”, added Kenneth.
“Oh yes, they love a bit of meat.”
“Go crazy for meat.”
Gilbert pressed a button and the nightmarish fish tank mercifully slid out of view, retracting back into the Tooth Fairy. The left side of the robot vibrated and out of the corner of Marty’s eye he saw a black shiny square of paper being ejected. Kenneth picked it up, angling one of the robot’s lamps towards him and Marty saw that it was a skull X-ray, displaying the upper and lower jaw in profile.
Kenneth studied the X-ray with a frown. “It appears Mr Shultz is something of a candy-cruncher, Gilbert.”
“Cavities?” asked Gilbert in a tone that suspected the worst.
Kenneth nodded, tapping the X-ray with his index finger. “Maxillary second premolar and mandibular lateral incisor.”
Gilbert shook his head gravely. “Naughty naughty. His mother never taught him the importance of brushing twice daily.”
They both glanced at Marty and their blank impassive faces made Marty start to panic. “Let go of me, damn you!” he yelled.
“One’s rotted through to the core”, said Kenneth.
“Do you think we can save it?” asked Gilbert.
“It will need some… work.”
They both snapped on latex surgical gloves, their movements brisk and businesslike. Kenneth pressed a button on the side of the robot and a sterilization unit whirred into life. Marty stared in horror as the two dentists advanced towards him, sinister in their white smocks and gloves. “Keep away from me you lunatics!” he stammered. Above him, stainless steel probes, forceps, scalers and drills unsheathed from the tip of each of the robot’s appendages, snapping into place with a series of tiny metallic clicks. They hovered around Marty’s mouth, quivering in anticipation.
Gilbert and Kenneth loomed towards Marty and Marty clenched his jaw firmly shut. “Open wide”, they said in unison.
A tongue retractor and a lip retractor swooped down towards Marty, squirming into his mouth and working in tandem to wrench his jaws open. A saliva-sucker followed, nestling in the corner of Marty’s mouth, hissing and slurping noisily. A second tube snaked towards Marty, finding a home for itself in the other corner of his mouth. There was a hiss of compressed gas being released into Marty’s mouth. It was thick and cloying with a sweet cherry flavour that made him want to gag.
“Nitrous oxide”, explained Gilbert helpfully.
“Better known as laughing gas”, added Kenneth. “It will help with the pain.”
“Pain…?” Marty’s eyes widened in terror.
Above Marty, a dozen or so appendages wriggled and jostled each other excitedly, each one vying to be the first to explore the yawning cavity of his mouth.
“Please… What do you want with me?” Marty mumbled, hardly able to talk because of the instruments crammed inside his mouth. Already the gas was starting to make him feel light-headed.
Dental spotlights flared, dazzling Marty. The twins stood on either side of him, inches away from his face and for the first time Marty could see the madness lurking behind their inscrutable expressions.
“Gilbert and I both like to play by the rules”, s
aid Kenneth, his voice calm and reasonable.
“That’s the sort of people we are”, agreed Gilbert.
“But how can you play by the rules if you don’t know the rules, Gilbert?”
“Quite a conundrum, Kenneth, I agree.”
“Changing the rules in the middle of a game isn’t very sporting, Mr Shultz.”
“And if you won’t play fair…”
“We won’t play fair.”
The drill screamed into life and in perfect synchronization the Scannell twins pulled their white surgical masks over their faces…
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
THE INTERROGATION
The barbeque had been winding down when the Scannell twins returned from the jungle with Marty sprawled unconscious on their robot’s back. Only Bubba had seen the twins slip into the guardhouse and quietly shut the door. Billy-Bob, McBride, Thumper and Kennedy were busy debating what to do next, huddled around a campfire they had made to keep the mosquitoes away. The biker girls had returned to their drinking game, shrieking with drunken laughter. And De Coza sat on his own, painstakingly scraping away all the burnt material from Major Hacker’s helmet.
Bubba wordlessly got up from the campfire and headed towards the guardhouse. He peered in through the window, trying to see what was going on inside. The shutter had been pulled down, obscuring the view and so he crept towards the front of the guardhouse and pressed his ear against the door. All he could hear was the muffled sound of voices.
Then the laughter had started.
A few nervous giggles at first. Then the giggles had turned into chuckles, and the chuckles turned into hysterical guffaws. Bubba was surprised that the two withdrawn pallid-looking dentists could induce such hilarity but the laughs just kept on coming. They must be regular joke-machines because Marty was now literally screaming with laughter. But the trouble was that the harder he laughed the unfunnier it sounded and Bubba decided that this particular joke was starting to wear thin.
He made his way to De Coza who was still patiently cleaning the soot and grime from Major Hacker’s helmet. “What the hell’s going on in there?” he demanded, pointing at the guardhouse.
De Coza avoided Bubba’s eye and Bubba guessed that he must have seen the Scannell twins return with Marty. “They said they wanted to question him”, he muttered. “Find out what’s happening with the show.”