“There are four others,” said Roz. “But they are dead.”
“We have already located the remains of the other units,” said RECO 1. “We will collect them later. Now come with us.”
The three RECOs motioned Roz to the airship, but she didn’t move.
“Where have you come from?” she said.
The RECOs turned and stared at Roz. “Do not ask questions,” said RECO 1.
“Where will you take me?”
“Do not ask questions.”
“Why must I leave?”
“Do not ask questions.”
“I will not go anywhere until I get some answers.”
There was a brief silence as RECO 1 computed his next move. And then he began to speak. “One year ago, a cargo ship carrying five hundred ROZZUM units was sunk by a hurricane. Four hundred ninety-five units have been retrieved from the ocean floor. We have come here in search of the last five, and we have located them. ROZZUM unit 7134, you are the property of TechLab Industries. We will return you to the factory, where the Makers will refurbish you and sell you to a work site. You will then live on that work site indefinitely. Now come with us.”
“But I live here,” said Roz.
“That is incorrect. ROZZUM unit 7134, any further resistance will be proof of defectiveness, and we will deactivate you.”
But Roz had more questions. “Who are the Makers? What is my purpose? Why can I not ask questions?”
“This unit is defective,” said RECO 1 to his partners. “Commence deactivation.”
In perfect unison, the RECOs stepped toward Roz. They raised their blocky hands, ready to restrain their target, ready to shut her down with the press of a button. But a loud squawk and a streak of feathers cut them off.
“Stay away from my mama!” Brightbill swooped into the meadow and started hopping around, ready to defend his mother. The RECOs stopped and looked down at the goose. Of course, they didn’t understand his words. They heard only meaningless squawks. And then they heard their target squawking back to him.
“Brightbill, get out of here!” said Roz in the language of the animals. “These robots are dangerous!”
“What do they want?”
“They want to take me away.”
The RECOs stared at their target, trying to understand why she was exchanging noises with a goose. And then new noises began rising up. Rustlings and shrieks echoed from the forest. Animals were gathering. Their wild voices called out to one another.
“Roz needs our help!”
“Those robots want to take her away!”
“We have to do something!”
The uproar in the forest grew louder and louder. The RECOs peered past Roz, toward the mysterious noises, but saw only foliage. Suddenly, shadows swept across the meadow, and Brightbill’s flock dove onto the RECOs. The geese furiously flapped and pecked and wrapped their wings around the robot faces, clinging to the RECOs like feathery masks, distracting them, blinding them.
Brightbill turned to his mother.
“Run!”
CHAPTER 70 THE HUNT BEGINS
While his flock distracted the RECOs, Brightbill darted around behind them and desperately searched for buttons. He had once shut down his own mother with a click, and now he would do the same thing to the intruders. But he found no buttons on these robots, only smooth surfaces. Clearly, the RECOs were not designed to be shut down so easily.
Giant hands swung through the air, and the geese were swatted away. Loudwing was plucked by her foot and flung to the ground. She crawled into the weeds as the others scrambled up and over the trees.
A quick scan by the robots revealed that Roz was gone. The three RECOs turned and marched back to the airship. The door hummed open and the robots disappeared inside. And when they stepped back into the meadow, each was holding a silver rifle in his hands.
The hunt for Roz was on.
Without speaking, the RECOs marched away from one another, fanning out in their standard search pattern. RECO 1 marched straight toward the southern tip of the island. RECO 2 marched straight up the mountainside. And RECO 3 marched straight into the forest.
CHAPTER 71 THE FOREST ASSAULT
RECO 3 marched through the forest with steady, stomping strides. His blocky head swiveled from side to side, scanning for any sign of Roz. But he was distracted. You see, everywhere the RECO went, he was met by shrieking animals. He didn’t know it, but he was in the midst of a coordinated assault.
Swooper hooted orders from above. “Hawks, sparrows, owls! Dive in front of his eyes!”
Fink barked orders from below. “Hares, weasels, foxes! Dash between his legs!”
The forest was seething with an army of wild animals, distracting the robot, luring the terrible thing deeper into their trap.
Chitchat leaped out from the branches and clawed at the robot’s eyes, yelling, “Anyone who shows up on our island and tries to take my friend’s mother away has a big problem which is me!” Then she leaped back into the branches. The robot pointed his rifle at the squirrel and pulled the trigger. A blazing beam of light shot through the forest and sent tree limbs crashing to the ground. It grazed poor Chitchat, singeing the end of her tail, but she ignored the pain and scurried up to the safety of the canopy.
With each stride, the ground grew a little softer, and the robot sank a little deeper, until he was up to his waist in thick, heavy muck. His churning legs slowed to a stop, and he stood there computing whether to move forward or backward. RECO 3 was now an easy target.
“Begin the bombardment!” ordered Swooper.
The sky darkened as a swarm of birds descended from the treetops. They swooped past the robot and splattered his face with their droppings. Bird after bird swooped and splattered, and the RECO’s eyes were instantly caked in filth.
“Don’t let up!” screeched the owl. “Give it everything you’ve got!”
There seemed to be an endless stream of birds with an endless amount of droppings. RECO 3 let go of his weapon and wiped his filthy face with both hands. That was the moment the Fuzzy Bandits had been waiting for. They dashed out from the weeds, snatched the rifle with their nimble hands, and dragged it away. Tawny and Crownpoint looked on from the underbrush. The buck lowered his head, and the raccoons carefully placed the rifle upon his antlers. Then the deer and the raccoons slipped into the shadows. By the time RECO 3 realized his weapon was missing, it was too late. He let out a sad electronic tone. And then, as the birds continued their bombardment, the robot turned and blindly trudged back through the muck.
It was now time for the final stage of the plan. Broadfoot the bull moose emerged from the trees and stood directly in the path of the blinded robot. RECO 3 had no idea that his every step brought him closer to the mighty animal. When the robot was in range, Broadfoot turned and kicked back with his powerful hind legs. There was a sharp crack, and dung sprayed from the RECO’s head. The moose kicked again—crack—and the robot’s head flopped to one side. A tear in his neck exposed a tangle of silver tubes. But RECO 3’s legs kept pumping, so Broadfoot kept kicking. He pounded the robot’s head with his heavy hooves, denting and crushing it into an ugly shape, and with one final crack the head broke loose, soared through the air, and squelched into the muck. The headless robot fizzled and smoked, his legs ground to a halt, and he never moved again.
CHAPTER 72 THE MOUNTAIN RUMBLE
RECO 2 stood at the mouth of the cave. “ROZZUM unit 7134, are you in here?” The only response was his own flat voice echoing back. But he sensed movement somewhere down the tunnel. So he switched on his headlights, raised his rifle, and marched inside.
The RECO marched past animal bones and rock piles and wide cracks in the walls. His blocky head swiveled from side to side, scanning for any sign of Roz. But she was nowhere to be found. So he turned and marched back toward daylight. And then a deafening roar filled the cave.