“Well there’s no escape for you, not this time!” said De Coza, with finality. He stepped aside and Kenneth eagerly stepped forwards. He raised his spear, positioning it over Toby’s heart.
“Death to the Toymaker!” bellowed De Coza.
With the last of his strength Toby propelled himself forwards, towards the tiered staircase outside the bridge. He tumbled down the stairs and collapsed into a bloody heap on the deck.
De Coza and Kenneth ran out of the bridge after him — and collided with Marty who was coming out of the galley, carrying a mug of tea.
Marty acted without even thinking. He hurled the mug at De Coza’s head, showering his face with scalding liquid. De Coza screamed and recoiled, his back slamming into the stair safety rail. The momentum caused him to flip backwards over it and suddenly he found himself flying through the air. He plummeted down the twenty-foot drop and struck the deck head-first. There was the sickening snap of bone and De Coza became motionless, his body twisted at a grotesque angle.
Kenneth stared down at De Coza’s broken body, then spun towards Marty, savagely wielding his spear shaft. It caught Marty a glancing blow to the side of the head and he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Kenneth hurtled down the tiered staircase towards Toby. He shoved past Caitlin, who was running to Toby’s aid, sending her crashing into the mast. Toby saw the dentist coming and tried to summon the power to move, to get up, to roll away, but his body refused to obey. All he could do was gaze up at the drill-tipped spear as it was positioned over his throat.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT
A GRISLY END
The steel tip of the spearhead gleamed in the sunlight, inches away from Toby’s face. Then suddenly there was an answering flash of silver in his peripheral vision. Toby looked past the spearhead and saw Eve emerge from the lower deck at the other end of the ship.
Kenneth’s knuckles whitened around the spear shaft as he prepared to slam it into Toby’s throat. “Eve, assist!” Toby screamed.
Eve’s hand slid back, revealing the nanobot syringe sitting snugly in the cavity next to her blade. Her hand shot forwards with the precision of a knife thrower and the syringe hurtled through the air. The hypodermic needle speared into Kenneth’s back and he jolted in pain. He reached behind him, his fingers groping blindly for the syringe to pull it out and his hand inadvertently made contact with the plunger.
He gasped as billions of nanobots surged into his circulatory system. “What have you done to me?” Kenneth shrieked. He convulsed as the nanobots set about their gruesome work, dismantling him internally. He started to wilt like a wax dummy under a blow-torch. “I’m… melting…” he gurgled wetly, gazing in horrified disbelief at his disintegrating body. “I’m… melting…” Kenneth’s face sagged then slithered off his skull as his body collapsed in on itself, dissolving into a puddle of viscous red goo.
There was a stunned silence and both Toby and Caitlin stared in horror at the pool of melted strawberry blancmange that was all that was left of Kenneth Scannell. “Oh my God, Toby…” whispered Caitlin. She clambered to her feet and took a few unsteady steps towards Toby. They both watched, appalled, as the nanobots continued to strip Scannell apart on a cellular level. His blood diluted, becoming thin and watery until finally all that remained of the dentist was a solution of mineral salts that seeped into the deck and then was gone. “Oh my God…” repeated Caitlin, aghast. “Look what she did to him…”
Toby stared at Eve, unnerved by her display of casual brutality. “I… I told her to do it. She’s programmed to follow orders…”
“You didn’t order her to kill him”, retorted Caitlin. “She took that decision herself.”
They both looked over to Eve. She was still standing at the far end of the deck, her silver face inscrutable, following the conversation as if waiting to see how events would unfold. “She’s been sabotaged”, Toby said, but a note of doubt had crept into his voice.
Caitlin stared at Toby, exasperated. “You still don’t get it, do you? Nobody sabotaged her!”
“I thought—”
“I couldn’t do it”, said Caitlin softly. “Not to you.”
“Then who did?”
“It was you, Toby. You programmed her to be a killer.”
“That’s not true!”
“Ask her!”
“Listen, she would—”
“Ask her!” Caitlin yelled.
Toby turned back to Eve who was still frozen in the same position, following their discussion. “Eve, report strategic plan.”
Eve didn’t answer, her glowing eyes surveying them both coldly. Then suddenly she snapped into life, marching down the length of the deck towards them. Caitlin tensed as Eve approached seeing that she hadn’t withdrawn the blade from her hand. Every instinct told her to step aside, but she forced herself to hold her ground. Just when it looked like Eve would crash into Caitlin, the robot stopped smartly several feet away from her.
She turned towards Toby and the visual display unit sewn into her catsuit glowed into life. “Strategic plan re-evaluated after introduction of new factor, nanobot syringe”, Eve stated, a light appearing on her display screen as if to illustrate the point. “Original strategic plan, probability of achieving prime directive, 73%”, she continued, and a second light appearing below the first. “Amended strategic plan utilizing nanobot syringe, probability of achieving prime directive, 100%. Conclusion: postpone combat until situation more strategically advantageous.”
Toby’s mind swam, trying to comprehend what Eve was saying. “Postpone combat? You mean by killing Major Hacker?”
“Yes, Toby.”
Toby stared at Eve in horror. To the robot, killing Hacker had just been a means of stalling the competition until she had managed to obtain the nanobot syringe. Taking a human life had just been a stepping stone to achieving her main objective.
He turned to Caitlin, aghast. “Oh my God. What have I done?”
“You made her just like you”, said Caitlin grimly. “Ruthless, single-minded, determined to achieve her goal whatever the cost.”
Toby opened his mouth to argue then saw the diagonal line of lights on Eve’s chest display. They were a mirror image of the lager bottle tops he used in his argument with Caitlin in the fortress. His mind reeled at the implication; he had programmed Eve to think like him and he had given her the mind of a killer.
Caitlin turned to Eve and saw the robot was studying her, a mocking smile on her lips. “She’s dangerous, she needs to be destroyed”, said Caitlin, her eyes never leaving Eve’s.
“Caitlin… this can wait,“ said Toby uneasily.
Eve contemptuously looked Caitlin up and down then turned away, her shoulder knocking into Caitlin’s. Caitlin staggered and she furiously looked after the robot walking away from her. Almost without thinking she flexed her cyber-prosthetic hand and the blade snapped out.
“Caitlin, what are you doing?” yelled Toby. “This is crazy!”
“This ends here”, growled Caitlin and she advanced towards Eve.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
EVE VS. CAITLIN
Eve heard Caitlin approaching and spun around to face her enemy, her second blade unsnapping. They locked eyes and Caitlin returned the robot’s gaze unflinchingly, refusing to be psyched out. She knew that Toby was right, that it would be safer to wait until they were rescued than to tackle the homicidal robot on her own. But she also knew that this was her fight and her fight alone. Destroying Eve wasn’t something she had to do, it was something she needed to do.
There was a long tense moment as Caitlin and Eve slowly circled each other. Then Caitlin came at Eve, attacking her with a gleeful ferocity that took the robot completely by surprise. Eve was immediately on the defensive, forced to use both of her blades to parry the barrage of blows that Caitlin was raining down upon her. She back-flipped down the deck to give herself space to fight properly and Caitlin somersaulted after her, driving Eve towards the rail.
A savage joy surged through Caitlin as all the apprehensiveness and terror of the last three days on the island magically melted away. Her prosthetic arm merged seamlessly with her real arm and for the first time since the accident she felt complete, a whole person. She felt as strong as she had ever felt before losing her arm, maybe stronger, as if combating her own inner demons had taken her fighting ability to a whole new level. This time there were no rules, no adjudicators, no one to stop the fight before anyone got seriously hurt. This was for real, one slip, one false move and she was dead. But rather than frightening her, this exhilarated her. She had never felt more alive, more on top of her game.
The two fighters danced back and forth across the deck like a couple of swashbucklers, steel blades sparking off each other with resounding clangs. Caitlin relentlessly advanced, keeping Eve on the defensive until her back was pressed against the deck rail. In the ocean below, the shoal of steel sharks grew excited by the activity on deck, their chainsaw fins revving furiously.
Eve heard the steel sharks and sensed she was in danger. She tried to escape, dodging sideways, then lunged at Caitlin with both blades, one hacking down towards her abdomen, the other slicing up towards her throat. Caitlin whirled to her left, dodging both blades then lunged, her blade cleaving open Eve’s unprotected chest unit.
Eve staggered backwards, the chest unit fizzing and sparking. Caitlin came after the robot, swinging her hand upwards with a chopping blow to Eve’s throat. Eve feinted to the left at the last second and Caitlin’s blade sliced into the main mast. She wrenched it out with a shriek of rending metal, giving Eve time to scramble up the mast, out of Caitlin’s range.
Caitlin saw that Eve was only using one arm to climb, the other hanging limply by her side and guessed that the damage she had sustained was substantial. She clambered up after Eve, using the steel cables that were strung at regular intervals supporting the polyfibre sails as hand and foot holds. They climbed higher and higher until they were both high above the ship. She could see the island, the mountain range and the jungle beyond.
Her concentration wavered for a second and Eve swooped down, seizing this moment to attack. Caitlin realized she had been pretending to be injured in order to lure her up here. The robot now had the tactical advantage and unleashed a savage volley of blows, slashing Caitlin again and again. Caitlin desperately countered the blows with her single blade, only just managing to protect her face and neck, and was forced to retreat onto the yardarm supporting the sail. Eve leaped after her, blocking her retreat, then attacked Caitlin with everything she had. Caitlin was steadily forced backwards until she neared the end of the yardarm. She glanced down and saw steel sharks patrolling the waters far below her, their gnashing jaws and chainsaw fins churning the seawater into froth. She tried to advance, swinging her blade at the robot’s throat and Eve replied with a savage counter-slash that sent Caitlin reeling. She staggered backwards and slipped from the narrow carbon-fibre spar. She fell down several feet and her arms shot out, managing to clutch hold of the one of the wire cables bracing the mast.
Eve’s blade swung down like a guillotine and the tautly strung cable snapped with a resounding twang. The abruptly released tension flung Caitlin backwards, and still clinging desperately to the cable, she plummeted down. She saw the deck hurtling towards her, then realized with horror that she was now overshooting the ship entirely and heading towards the ocean. The cable snapped taut with a jolt then jerked through her hands. Caitlin slithered down, screaming in pain from the friction burns, and ended up dangling several feet above the water. Steel sharks converged on Caitlin from all directions, fighting each other to get at her. She screamed as one of the sharks jumped up at her, its blood-caked jaws snapping shut just short of her feet.
Eve saw Caitlin shimmying up the cable towards the deck and hurled herself at the billowing polyfibre sail. Her blade slashed down through the cloth and her body weight pulled the blade down through the entire length of the sail in a matter of seconds. She hit the deck and sprinted towards Caitlin, reaching the edge of the deck at exactly the same moment as Caitlin pulled herself up onto the railing. Caitlin saw the robot a fraction of a second before Eve collided into her and instinctively lowered her head.
WHAM! Caitlin head-butted the robot squarely in the stomach and the momentum of the blow caused Eve to somersault over Caitlin’s head towards the ocean.
Caitlin hauled herself up and collapsed onto the deck. She turned and saw that Eve was desperately clinging onto a narrow ridge on the side of the ship’s hull, far below her.
Toby joined Caitlin at the railing, his tattered clothing soaked in blood and saw Eve gazing up at him. “Toby, assist”, she pleaded.
Toby looked down at the robot, remembering all the times she had saved his life over the past three days. Painfully he staggered down the deck towards her.
Caitlin stared at Toby incredulously. “What are you doing!”
Toby ignored Caitlin and leaned over the railing, his hand stretching out to meet Eve’s. Their fingertips touched and with a last burst of strength, the robot lunged upwards, managing to clasp Toby’s hand. Toby painfully hauled Eve up towards the railing until they were face to face. Toby looked into the robot’s eyes, his expression melancholy.
“Forgive me, Eve”, he murmured, then pressed the sequence of buttons on the underside of her wrist. Eve’s arm separated from the rest of her body and she plummeted back, her face registering shocked disbelief at Toby’s betrayal. She fell into the sea with a splash and the water erupted as the steel sharks fought over her body, ripping her apart.
Toby looked at the silver hand, still clasped into his own then sadly released it into the ocean. He turned to Caitlin and they embraced, clinging onto each other desperately.
CHAPTER NINETY
THE JOURNEY HOME
The blast of a horn made them turn. A boat was approaching from the open sea, baring the insignia of the Malaysian coast guard. Two more boats veered into view, heading towards the island. The first boat drew nearer and a female figure signalled to them. Toby waved back, recognizing Stacey. Brad joined her at the bow and the boat pulled up beside the landing ladder. They both scrambled onboard and stared in shock at Toby and Caitlin’s blood-soaked appearance.
“My God, what happened to you?” cried Stacey.
Caitlin opened her mouth then closed it, too tired to explain.
“We picked up your signal half an hour ago”, said Brad. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you! Why didn’t you just stay at the fortress?”
Toby watched Marty’s unconscious body being carried away on a stretcher towards the ladder. “It’s a long story”, he said.
A second stretcher team carried De Coza’s body onto the boat. “Are there any other casualties on the ship?” Stacey asked.
“Just on the island”, said Toby.
“There’s more of the competitors in the caves, badly hurt”, added Caitlin, pointing to the cliff. “And if you happen to see a small robot dog…”
“We’ll find them”, said Stacey reassuringly.
Caitlin and Toby stood side by side at the stern of the boat, gazing at the Toymaker’s island as it receded into the distance.
Caitlin was exhausted and felt like she could sleep for a week. She thought of the long journey back to London, the explanations to her parents, the inevitable investigation, the media attention and felt a heavy weariness. She wished she could somehow magic herself into her bed with its crisp white cotton sheets, pull the duvet over her head and hide from the world until it had all blown over. But she knew that the past three days had changed her forever and for that she would be eternally thankful. The memory of them trooping off into the jungle like characters from The Wizard of Oz suddenly popped into her mind and she smiled, realizing that she’d received the Cowardly Lion’s wish as well as Dorothy’s; she’d got her courage back and she was going home.
Toby watched the island recede into the distance, overwhelmed with guilt at the mayhem
he had caused. The property destroyed, the contestants injured, Bubba, Billy-Bob, McBride, if he wasn’t already dead. His mind squirmed uncomfortably at the thought of all the other people who would still be alive if he hadn’t entered Eve into the competition, Gilbert and Kenneth Scannell, Ray De Coza, poor Bill Hacker. He knew he would have their deaths on his conscience for the rest of his life.
“I did it for the best of reasons”, he murmured unhappily, as if rehearsing what he would say if he ever met Hacker’s family. “I never wanted any of this to happen.” But the words rang hollow and empty even as he spoke them and he realized that deep in his heart he was grateful for the last three days.
Lost in thought, he gazed at the Toymaker’s island as it slowly melted into the horizon, in his mind’s eye seeing the robot designer’s base hidden inside the mountain and the secrets it contained. The island disappeared altogether and Toby turned away, certain of two things; the robot designer would have the knowledge to save his brother and he would somehow find a way back to the island to meet him.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
There’s a toyshop in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo that I walk past every day. It always catches my eye as the shop logo is a giant 1950’s toy robot. It’s an iconic design and always brings back happy memories of the classic sci-fi films I grew up watching when I was a child in the UK.
One day I was returning home after a day-trip to one of the tropical islands a short hop away from Kota Kinabalu (I’m lucky enough write on the beach) when I saw the toy robot logo. Something clicked in my mind and I realised I wanted to write a story that married my love of all things robotic with this wonderful exotic country that was my new home. The result is the book that you’ve just been reading.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on Destroy All Robots. Please email me at
[email protected] or leave a comment on my website www.destroyallrobots.co.uk.
One Last thing…
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