Desert Disaster by Axel Lewis

Author:Axel Lewis [Lewis, Axel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Curious Fox
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9 - In The Dark

Jimmy was confused. Was he unconscious? Had he been knocked out by the collision?

Then a light appeared in front of him. He had heard about this on the TV. He would wake any moment in a hospital surrounded by doctors and nurses. He’d get better, but he’d lose the championship.

Then through his confusion he heard ... a beep. And the familiar sound of Cabbie’s circuits rebooting filled his ears. What was going on?

“Cabbie?” he said.

“Super custard fish finger escapades,” Cabbie’s voice came out of the darkness.

“What?” Jimmy said woozily.

“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”

“Eh?”

“Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer dooooo...” Cabbie sang.

Jimmy was worried. “Cabbie! Are you all right?”

There were a few beeps, some more lights lit up on the dashboard and Cabbie was suddenly back to normal.

“Phew, sorry about that! I must’ve gone offline for a second. Just running through a few setup protocols! Are you OK?”

“I think so,” said Jimmy. “Why is it so dark?”

“Oh, that’s our air bubble,” replied Cabbie.

“Our what?” Jimmy asked.

“Our air bubble. It’s like an air bag but it wraps itself around my bodywork rather than inflating inside the car. Hold on a second, I’ll deflate it.”

There was a beep and a hiss, and several jets of air blew into the driver’s seat from outside. Slowly, light came back inside the cab and Jimmy could see what had happened. They had been cocooned inside a giant rubber balloon!

“Pete and your grandpa fitted it before Pete left for Texas. Didn’t they mention it?” said Cabbie.

Jimmy stared at the hissing rubber material outside.

“So when it looks like we’re going to crash—”

“Woomph!” said Cabbie proudly. “Wilf calls it the bounce-buster!”

Jimmy could see the desert around him now. They had rolled to a stop about 20 metres away from Dug and Maximus.

“Give me a damage report, Cabbie,” Jimmy said as the last of the air bubble disappeared back under the robot’s chassis.

“Calculating...” said the robot with a beep and a buzz. “No damage whatsoever.”

Jimmy was amazed. They had been bashed by a hovercraft, flung up the side of a sand dune and sent flying through the air – all without a scratch. He opened the door and hopped out, removing his helmet.

“I’d better see how Sammy and Chip are.” He flicked on the Cabcom. “Hey, guys, are you OK?”

“I’m fine, Jimmy,” Chip replied, his face appearing on the screen. “Dug here took a tumble and ended up on his side, but I was able to put him right again using the robotic arm.”

“How about you, Sammy?” Jimmy asked.

“The screen in Cabbie’s cockpit split into two so that Jimmy could see both of the other racers. “Yes, I am fine. Sorry about my mistake – this sand is proving tricky, no.”

“You can say that again, pal,” Chip replied.

“I said, this sand is proving—” Sammy began.

Jimmy laughed. “No, Sammy, it’s just a turn of phrase. Chip heard you first time.”

“Oh,” Sammy muttered. “I will never understand the English language.”

“All right, let’s get this show back on the road, y’all,” Chip said.

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