Taterskin & The Eco Defenders: Book 2, Chapter 6
Book 2 ("Tell It to Future Generations"), Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
Albert had set the GPS/CPS to 1885 Botswana—Five Dunes to be specific. This was the last time and place he had seen Ooga the Gorilla. He had reached the spot over that location, and the Zephyr was hovering in the air. Albert scanned the area to see if he could locate the big ape. He saw a group of animals in the far distance, but couldn’t make out what type of animals they were, exactly.
Albert took the Zephyr out of automatic mode, switching it to manual operation, and swooped down toward them. On getting near the animals, they looked up and noticed him. Then one apparently recognized him, and started waving. ‘Is that Ooga?’ Albert was wondering to himself, when a Peregrine Falcon caught up to him from behind, flew alongside him, matching his speed long enough for Albert to recognize that it was Falcona, who had helped us Eco Defenders in our campaign against King Leopold.
Falcona then dove full-speed at the land animals. At the last second, she ‘pulled up,’ and alighted on the back of Jowls Behemoth, the Hippopotamus. She was hoping to startle the Hippo, but it didn’t work. He simply looked up at her, slowly blinked, and went back to munching his leaves.
Albert landed the Zephyr in front of the group and saw that it was, indeed, Ooga who had been waving to him. Another old friend from the King Leopold campaign, Jubatus the Cheetah, came dashing up, too.
“Albert! We didn’t expect to see you again this soon,” Falcona said. Albert had to switch his Doolittle to Birdian mode (it had been set on Mammalian, its default setting) and have Falcona repeat her statement.
“For me it’s been two years, but I guess for you it’s been only a few days, right?” Albert said. “We returned home in 2525, but it’s 2527 there now.”
That wasn’t exactly true, though. After all, if it’s 1885 in Botswana, it’s 1885 in Zenia, too. Albert realized this and then said, “Well, it was 2527 when I left, anyway. Six hundred forty-two years from now.”
“You left 642 years from now?” Jowls asked.
“Yes; I know it seems strange. This time travel business can throw off your internal calendar and mess with your circadian rhythms.”
“Cicada rhythms?” questioned Ooga. “Is that why they make all that noise — they dance up a storm whenever they emerge from their hibernation of a baker’s dozen years?”
“How do you know what a baker’s dozen is, Ooga?” Albert asked. “Well, never mind that; I said Circadian, not Cicada. It has to do with how your body reacts to interruptions to its internal clock.”
“Oh, is that what it is?” Jowls said. “I thought that lump I felt in my stomach was from eating too many leaves and roots. I thought maybe they were growing in my stomach. I’m glad to know it’s only a clock.”
The confusion about what Albert had said went on for some time. It wasn’t all that interesting, though, so I’m leaving the rest of it out.
To make what could be a long, drawn-out story at least somewhat concise, Albert told his old partners about our plans for another foray into the past, and invited all of them along. He was hoping Ooga, especially, would join him, due to his prehensile arms, but was overjoyed when not only Ooga but also Jowls, Jubatus, and Falcona agreed to come along.
Before returning to Zenia, though, Albert wanted to go back to Tanzania to try to recruit some of our old friends from there to join our team, too.
So the five of them climbed aboard the Zephyr. Albert set the GPS/CPS to 2527 Tinga Tinga, Tanzania, and away they flew.
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