Serialization of "Quedly Dake and His Quest to Conquer the Globe" — Chapter 22 of 25
From Book 3 of the “Taterskin & The Eco Defenders” Trilogy
“There’s no need to decompress you just yet, Dake,” Albert answered. “You're coming with us. First, though, you will lead us to the Arodnap, which you stole from us.”
“But why don’t you decompress me back to my normal size first?” Dake pleaded.
“No need; not yet, anyway,” Albert said. “Now, where did you stash the Arodnap?”
“I’m not going to tell you,” Dake said, crossing his arms and pushing out his bottom lip.
“Okay,” said Alexis, “Then we will leave you here. I’m sure a pigeon will be along soon, who will find in you a tasty tidbit.”
“You guys are mean!” Dake objected.
“This from the man who was planning on nuking twelve entire nations because they wouldn’t accept his bribes or give in to his threats!” Rory scoffed, raising his voice and an eyebrow.
“Alright, alright; I’ll tell you where it is, but then you have to right-size me,” Dake demanded.
“We don’t have to do anything except live up to our mission and remain united with one another,” I said.
Rovette later said that was a good speech, but I don’t know if I’d really call it a speech. After all, it was only 18 words long.
Following more whining and bargaining on his part (none of which found any success), Dake finally gave in.
“Okay, okay, the Arodnap is hidden beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, on the Brooklyn side. I piled a bunch of cardboard and tarps on top of it so that it just looks like a pile of garbage.”
Albert picked up Dake, dropped him into his left shirt pocket, climbed into the pilot’s seat, and away we flew. Bumney and Reid were still on the roof of the U.N. building, watching us as we flew away, gradually picked up speed, gained altitude, and finally flew out of sight.
Almost immediately thereafter, we were descending to the base of the Brooklyn Bridge—after all, the Brooklyn Bridge is only about three or four miles from the U.N. Building.
We disembarked from the Androcles and soon uncovered the Arodnap, which was buried, as Dake had told us, underneath cardboard and tarps and such. Gladly, it seemed to be no worse for wear. The debris had actually protected Albert’s first eVTOL from the elements, to some extent, anyway.
Albert had half of us climb into the Arodnap, and the other half of us returned to the Androcles. Rovette and I and the pups went with Albert and Alexis in the Arodnap; we also had the big Cats with us (along with Marmalade, of course); Yukyuk, Drako, and Terri completed our squad.
The rest of the Eco Defenders climbed into the Androcles, with Chapawee at the helm—or the stick, I should say, I guess. Ravelle had wanted to pilot the craft, but he had promised Chapawee earlier that he would let her fly the Androcles first, and then he would fly it when they went home later. This arrangement disappointed Ooga, who really enjoyed flying the eVTOLs, and took pride in being the only animal among us who was able to do so (being the only specimen with prehensile arms, able to grasp and grip and maneuver the yoke or, as some called it, “the steering wheel”). Ravelle suggested that Ooga ask Albert if he could fly the Arodnap on the way back, once we had accomplished our mission.
“Are you ready, Chapawee?” Albert called over.
“Yes.”
“Alright, then, let’s go,” Albert replied, and pressed the ignition switch. Chapawee knew where we were headed. All of us did. But Quedly Dake did not.
“Wait a minute—where are we going? Where are you taking me?” Dake yelled.
“That’s for us to know, and—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, ‘and for me to find out’,” Dake said, squirming irritatedly around in Albert’s shirt pocket. “I hate that saying.”
Albert and Chapawee pulled up their CPS/GPS devices. They left the date set to the current one (May 29, 2029) and set the destination to the Wet Tortugas, the most isolated island in any ocean.
The previous chapter can be found here.
The next chapter can be found here.
Book 1 of Taterskin & The Eco Defenders, “Wonders Never Cease,” can be found here.
Book 2 of Taterskin & The Eco Defenders, “Tell It To Future Generations,” can be found here.
Book 3 of Taterskin & The Eco Defenders, “Quedly Dake and His Quest to Conquer the Globe,” can be found here.
