The Quantum Door by Jonathan Ballagh

Author:Jonathan Ballagh [Ballagh, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2015-08-14T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17: Thorn’s Tumult

AJ LED THEM to a storage garage on the other side of the town. They kept to dark alleys as much as possible to keep from being spotted. Brady figured they didn’t have much time until the guards realized they had gone missing.

The door to the garage was locked. AJ held up his wrist. A key jingled on a bracelet that hung around his arm.

“This belongs to my dad,” the bot said, swinging his arm in circles so that the key orbited around his wrist. “And he doesn’t even know it’s missing.”

Brady couldn’t believe it—he was actually starting to feel sorry for the bot’s father.

“You want to see what’s inside?”

“Do we want to see what’s inside? Of course we do!” Brady snapped. He couldn’t help it. This kid was really starting to get under his skin.

“Get a grip, Brady,” Nova whispered.

AJ slid the key into the lock. “Behold!” he said, lifting the door up as if it were light as a feather. The aluminum door rattled open to reveal a wasteland of man-made junk that spilled out in a landslide. There was an assortment of old coffee makers, trinkets, tools, toys, and other unusable garbage that had no use whatsoever. It was hard to believe there was anything that would help them save Felix and Achilles in here—or anything useful to anyone.

Nova and Brady exchanged confused glances.

“We don’t have time for this!” Brady said. “What are we doing here, anyway?”

“Nova and I will go to save your friends. You can stay here—with my father,” AJ teased.

“Sorry,” Brady said. “But seriously, I don’t see anything useful in there.”

“Look harder,” AJ responded, waving his hand toward the open garage. “Right there…” he pointed to a corner in the room. “Just a few steps more. You’ll see it!”

As Brady took a step forward, AJ stuck his foot out, causing him to trip. Nova tried to suppress her laughter.

“What’s wrong with you?” Brady asked, picking himself up off the ground.

AJ just stared back. “I know who Pinocchio is.”

“We need to get moving,” Nova said. “AJ—what are we doing here, seriously?”

“You’ll see.” AJ rapidly tossed large appliances out of the garage. In lightning speed he had cleared a path through the junk.

“Okay. Have a look now,” the bot said, pointing toward his unearthed treasure.

Standing there amidst the clutter were two exquisite-looking dirt bikes. The chassis were painted hornet yellow and black. The metal of the fork was polished to perfection, and the nubby tires looked ready to chew through the ground.

Brady ran his hand over the machines, his mouth agape. “No way! Where—where did you get these?”

The lights on top of AJ’s head lit up. “I found them in an old human junkyard and fixed them. Do you like them?”

“Like them? Are you kidding? These are incredible!”

He looked over the bikes. “Where’s the exhaust?”

“There’s no gas—it’s all electric. I modified the engine myself,” AJ said proudly. “And they’re very fast, too!”

“I don’t doubt it,” Brady said, continuing to inspect the vehicle.

“You’ll let us use these?” Nova asked.

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