“Can’t you make it go any faster?” cried Dale and Caitlin tore her eyes away from the monster, concentrating on steering the boat. She cranked the throttle and the damaged engine whined in protest as the boat approached the ship. She checked the shark again and saw it was keeping pace with them, but not advancing. There was still a chance they could reach the ship.
“Watch out!” Lloyd screamed.
Caitlin swung round in time to see another steel dorsal fin scything at them sideways. Her arm lunged for the tiller at exactly moment the shark struck the ship. WHAM! The chainsaw fin ripped through the boat, slicing it neatly through the middle. Everyone gazed at each other for a brief incredulous moment as the two sections of boat drifted apart, Lloyd and Dale at the bow, Caitlin at the stern. Then seawater claimed the bisected boat and everyone tumbled into the ocean.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
STEEL SHARKS
The shark following them faltered, its programming confused at seeing the boat split into two, and Caitlin suddenly realized that its intended target was the boat rather than its occupants.
“Get away from the boat”, she screamed at Lloyd and Dale, who were both floundering around in the water, desperately trying to cling on to the splintered chunk of fibreglass. They fled and the steel shark exploded out of the water, its cavernous mouth yawning open, hooked teeth displayed. It crashed down, swallowing their half of the boat whole.
“Swim for the ship”, Caitlin yelled.
She turned and saw a third shark patrolling the waters between them and the ship, its chainsaw fin repeatedly looping back and forth. She turned towards the island and saw several more sharks swimming towards them.
“Now what?” cried Lloyd.
They’ve got us surrounded!” wailed Dale.
Caitlin turned back to the ship and saw Toby still at the ship’s rail pointing at the other side of the ship. “ It must be clear that side”, she yelled. She began swimming around the side of the ship, keeping a watchful eye on the third shark, and saw De Coza’s boat approaching from the opposite direction, obviously having the same idea.
Caitlin neared the ship and turned, checking on Lloyd and Dale. She saw their heads bobbing in the water some distance away. A steel fin curved into view behind them, then another.
“Come on, move!” Caitlin screamed.
The two sharks sliced through the water after Lloyd and Dale, hugging the keel of the ship. Now no longer able to make it to the ship they all started swimming towards De Coza’s boat, which was starting to slow as it approached the ship.
The three of them reached the boat at exactly the same moment, grabbing hold of the side of the hull and trying to haul themselves onboard. The boat rocked crazily and De Coza spun round, his face registering anger at the sight of the three teens, swiftly followed by terror at the two sharks pursuing them.
“Get away from us!” he screamed. He grabbed an oar and jabbed it at Caitlin, trying to stop her from climbing onboard. Dale and Lloyd clawed their way up on the other side of the boat and Kenneth and Gilbert stamped on their hands, forcing them back in the water.
The lead shark zoomed towards them, water pouring off its back like a surfacing submarine. Its brutal head rose into view, seawater sluicing through its gaping mouth and exiting through deep vertical slashes in its neck. Its dead black eyes locked onto the boat and it submerged into the water again.
“Get us out of here!” shrieked Kenneth.
De Coza accelerated away, steering towards the ship’s landing ladder on the other side of the ship. Gilbert saw Caitlin was still clinging grimly onto the side of the boat and snatched up the second oar. He ran over to Caitlin and raised it over his head
“No…” she screamed.
Gilbert smashed the oar down on Caitlin’s head, and she slithered down into the water, unconscious.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR
THE PREDATOR
On the ship, Toby watched in horror as Caitlin’s body spiralled down into the depths of the ocean. He started running down the deck towards the landing ladder, shoving Marty before him. “What are you doing”, Marty protested as Toby pushed him past Eve towards the landing ladder. “This is suicide!”
“That’s why you’re coming with me”, said Toby. He pushed Marty down the ladder and jumped into the motorboat after him. He grabbed one of the oars and threw it at Marty. “Get rowing”, he ordered.
Toby plunged the oar into the water and frantically started to paddle towards the spot where he had last seen Caitlin. The water was choppy, ripples from the circling steel sharks and De Coza’s boat zigzagging back and forth creating waves that rocked the boat. He ploughed onwards, ignoring the aching pain in his arms and shoulders. He stopped rowing and stood unsteadily, scanning the ocean ahead. There was no sign of Caitlin.
Marty joined Toby and shifted from one foot to the other, not knowing what to say. “I’m sorry, Toby”, he said quietly.
Toby ignored Marty and climbed up onto the bow of the boat.
“She’s gone”, yelled Marty, looking in panic at the circling sharks. “You’d just be sacrificing yourself for—”
He gawped in astonishment as Toby leaped inexpertly into the ocean.
The cold water closed in on Toby, momentarily disorientating him. He found his bearings and swam towards the seabed, twisting back and forth, salt water burning his eyes, searching desperately for Caitlin.
A flash of dark red caught his eye among the mass of undulating seaweed drifting back and forth on the seabed. He paused, uncertain if he imagined it, then with a thrill of excitement he saw it was Caitlin’s hair drifting in the current.
He clawed through the water towards Caitlin, fighting against the buoyancy of his body that was trying to draw him back to the surface like a cork. The pressure of the water mounted until he felt like his body was in the grip of a giant fist that was inexorably squeezing the life out of him. His head singing, his lungs aflame, he swam deeper and deeper, finally reaching Caitlin who was lying face-up among the seaweed. She was still, the only movement her auburn hair as it drifted lazily in the current. Her face looked impossibly white against the gloomy darkness of the ocean floor, as still and pallid as a corpse. Not allowing himself to fear the worst, Toby pulled Caitlin’s hand and she drifted up towards him like a ghost. He scooped an arm around her waist then started to swim towards the surface.
A shadow fell upon Toby and he turned, his stomach lurching. A steel shark loomed towards him, a sleek, savage engine of destruction. It sliced through the water, tail thrashing from side to side, dappled sunlight gleaming off its five metre armour-plated body.
Toby froze and the shark continued on its course, its blank expressionless eyes giving no indication whether it had spotted him. But then the pectoral fin on its lower body shifted position and Toby saw with horror that the shark was changing direction. It looked even more evil and menacing beneath the water; it was as if its designer had taken the great white shark as a basic template then accentuated all of its most terrifying features to create a mechanical monster. It raised its snout and thrust its jaw forwards displaying rows of savage barbed teeth and Toby guessed it was positioning itself to attack. It drew nearer still until Toby was close enough to see the hydraulic mechanism in the monster’s jaw ratchetting open, preparing to snap down.
Clutching Caitlin tightly, Toby faced the shark and waited for the end.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
DEATH IN THE WATER
Marty had spotted the shark just seconds after Toby had dived into the water, prowling between the ship and the boat. He watched guiltily as the shark detached itself from the rest of the shoal, its sensors registering turbulence in the water, and headed after Toby.
He turned away, desperately trying to put the two kids out of his mind. Right now he should be feeling proud of what he had achieved. His decision to make the best of a bad situation had worked better than he dared hope. Against all the odds he’d succeeded in getting all the competitors to go
through every single robot training camp they had created. If the cameras had only managed to capture half of the mayhem on the island for the last three days, the future of the show was assured. Destroy All Robots was going to go down in history, and as the show’s architect he’d be the hero of the hour.
The trouble was, he wasn’t feeling very heroic. Over the past three days he’d grown fond of Toby and Caitlin. They were a good couple of kids who’d placed their trust, their very survival, in Marty’s hands. And how had he repaid that trust? By leading them to the Toymaker’s secret base, guarded by the most ferocious robots of all.
Marty’s eyes flicked back towards the water, feeling the weight of their deaths on his conscience. He shook his head in annoyance. His only priority was saving the show and his career. If he didn’t look after number one, no one else was going to. Surely people could understand that?
He glanced uneasily at the cameras trained on him and knew who the ultimate judge would be. The viewers. He pictured all the millions of people around the world watching the show in front of their TV sets, munching popcorn, yelling “do something!” at the screen. And he knew that no matter how successful the show became he would always be remembered as the guy who just stood by and watched as two kids got eaten alive by killer sharks. That would be his final legacy.
Marty walked over to the edge of the boat, then quickly turned away again. There was no way he could help them, even if he wanted to. He just didn’t cut it as the hero type.
He turned again and gazed moodily into the water, knowing he was making excuses for himself. Toby wasn’t the hero type either. The way he jumped into the water, splashing around, he looked like he could barely swim. And yet he had done it anyway. He felt his heart surge with admiration for Toby and simultaneously felt sickened by his own cowardice.
Suddenly it dawned on Marty that he had been handed a great opportunity. For once in his life he could do something grand and noble. And hey, if it was caught on camera and was seen by millions of people, so much the better.
Marty ran to the bow and saw the shark’s chainsaw fin curving around the boat before disappearing into the murky depths. He peered into the water and caught a glimpse of Toby and Caitlin far below him, near the seabed. He grabbed the oar with both hands and thrust it down towards the shark, waving it back and forth, trying to attract its attention.
The polished metal cone of the shark’s snout exploded out of the water like a surface-to-air missile, drenching Marty from head to toe. He stared into the cavernous shark’s mouth, foaming seawater gushing from between its foot-long spiked teeth, and gripped his oar tightly, terrified he would faint and go tumbling into the monster’s maw. He raised the oar, preparing to use it as a weapon and saw the shark’s eyes flicked upwards, following the oar.
“You want this do you?” he stammered, waving the oar back and forth. “You want this? Then have it!” He turned and flung the oar away from him with all his strength.
On De Coza’s boat, De Coza, Gilbert and Kenneth watched in horror as the oar came hurtling across the water towards them. Before they even had time to move, the shark launched itself out of the water like a performing killer whale, following the trajectory of the oar as it hurtled through the air towards the boat. The oar struck Gilbert on the shoulder, sending him sprawling on the deck, and the last thing he saw was the terrifying sight of the steel shark flying through the air towards him, jaws agape, its chainsaw fin revving. He had time to scream just once before the shark’s powerful jaws snapped shut on his torso like a mantrap, chomping him in two.
“Gilbert!” Kenneth shrieked as his twin disappeared in an explosion of blood, then the immense bulk of the shark belly-flopped onto the boat, catapulting him and De Coza into the ocean. The shark disappeared under the water, creating a swirling vortex that dragged the boat and the two men down with it.
Toby hauled himself into Marty’s boat, dragging Caitlin after him. Marty crouched down besides Caitlin and gently turned her head to the side. Seawater tricked from her nose and mouth, pooling on the deck by her face. She was as still as a corpse, her bedraggled wet hair jet-black against the waxy pallor of her skin.
Toby looked on helplessly as Marty checked her pulse then her heartbeat. “She’ll be okay, won’t she? She’ll be okay?”
Marty gently brushed the strands of hair away from Caitlin’s face and placed an ear to her mouth.
“She’s breathing, isn’t she?” Toby asked desperately.
Marty looked up and his grave face confirmed Toby’s worst fear.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX
KISS OF LIFE
Toby elbowed Marty aside and placed his fingers on the inside of Caitlin’s wrist. He frowned in concentration, praying for some sign of life.
Marty looked at Toby doubtfully. “Toby…”
Toby’s eyes widened. “I think I felt something!”
“So what do we do, CPR?” said Marty, starting to panic. “You know how to do that? Breath into her mouth or something and then—”
“Her lungs are full of water, it won’t work!” Toby hauled Caitlin up to her feet and grasped her around the waist in a bear hug. He clenched one hand into a fist, grabbed it with his other hand then pulled back, thrusting his fist into Caitlin’s abdomen. A jet of seawater exploded from Caitlin’s mouth. He tensed his muscles preparing to give a second upwards thrust then felt Caitlin’s diaphragm spasm underneath his hand. She pitched forwards onto her knees, coughing and retching up seawater and Toby turned to Marty. “Let’s get moving.”
Marty nodded and grabbing the remaining oar he started paddling towards the ship. Toby turned back to Caitlin who had collapsed onto the bottom of the boat, coughing weakly. He grabbed a life-jacket and placed it under her head as a pillow.
They glided through the water, passing the remains of De Coza’s boat. Several steel sharks surrounded it, their pointed snouts worrying the debris and Toby shuddered at the fate that had befallen the three men. With a jolt, he suddenly remembered Lloyd and Dale. He scanned the ocean, but there was no sign of them. He turned towards the island and with relief saw two distant bedraggled figures emerge from the ocean and stagger up the beach.
They approached the ship and Marty manoeuvred the boat under the landing ladder. Toby and Marty hauled Caitlin up onto the deck and Eve watched expressionlessly as they made her comfortable. Toby looked up at the robot with a flash of irritation. “Can you see if you can find some blankets or something?”
Eve looked at Toby resentfully then stomped off towards a hatch leading to the lower decks.
“I’ll fix her a hot drink”, said Marty, getting up.
“You mean this ship is kitted out with real equipment?” said Toby, surprised.
“Some of it’s real, yeah. The furlers of the sails are operated by electrical motors, so are the winches. The design team wanted everything as realistic as possible.”
“You’ve got an automated onboard sailing system?” said Toby excitedly. That means you’ll have a ship’s computer to control it?”
“Sure, it’s in the bridge, up there.” He pointed to a sleek dome-shaped structure positioned in the centre of the deck. “I’ll show you, that’s near where the galley’s located.”
Caitlin’s eyes flickered open and she gazed up at Toby. “You came back for me…?” she croaked.
Toby smiled and took her hand. “We both did”, he said, looking gratefully at Marty.
Marty gave them both a sheepish grin. “I’ll go and get that tea”, he said and headed towards the galley.
Toby turned back to Caitlin and smiled down at her. “I think there may be transmission equipment onboard. I’m going to see if I can call for help. I’ll just be gone for a few minutes, okay?”
Caitlin swallowed painfully, trying to speak. She beckoned Toby to her and he moved closer, placing his ear close to her mouth. “Thank you”, she murmured and kissed him softly on the lips. Her eyes closed again and she sank back to the deck.
Toby remained w
here he was for a moment, savouring the sensation of Caitlin’s lips on his. Then he turned and ran down the deck towards the bridge, his heart soaring with all the possibilities of what the kiss could mean. He jogged up the tiered staircase that led to the bridge door and it glided open. He approached the futuristic-looking console that faced the wraparound windscreen and studied it with a frown. He powered it up and the sleek bank of multi-coloured lights lit up with a barely audible hum. He reached out to press a likely looking button—
“Traitor”, a voice hissed behind him.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
DEATH SENTENCE
Toby spun round from the console. De Coza and Kenneth Scannell stood framed in the doorway like a pair of vengeful buccaneers, their clothes sodden, their stubbled faces encrusted with sea salt. De Coza advanced towards Toby, his eyes gleaming with a feverish intensity.
“Listen”, began Toby, “this isn’t how it looks—”
Kenneth brought his spear slashing down, slicing through Toby’s shirt. Toby reeled backwards, a long line of blood welling up through the gaping cloth. De Coza grasped him by his shirt front, hauling him back to his feet.
“Thought you’d activate the robots ahead of schedule, did you?” he roared. He raised his fist as if to strike him then Toby realized De Coza was showing him his wristwatch. He could see the digital display, the seconds steadily counting backwards: 00-07, 00-06, 00-05, 00-04, 00-03, 00-02, 00-01, 00-00.
An alarm bleeped and Toby looked up into De Coza’s crazed blood-shot eyes. “Listen to me, please…”
De Coza threw Toby towards Kenneth and the dentist slashed him a second time, cutting him from shoulder to naval. “Please…” Toby moaned. “There is no Toymaker… Check the ship… There is no Toymaker…”
“I can see that for myself”, bellowed De Coza. “Maybe someone tipped him off that we were coming, huh?”
Kenneth brought the spear singing down again, painting a red stripe down Toby’s back. He screamed, the force of the blow smashing him down to the floor.
“So what was the deal, he escapes and you finish the job for him?”
Toby crawled towards the doorway, leaving a smeary trail of blood.