Taterskin & The Eco Defenders: Book 2, Chapter 5
Book 2 ("Tell It to Future Generations"), Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
“Albert,” the Bird brainiac asked, “I realize we need a second vehicle because there are 14 of us and only eight seats in the Zephyr, but who is going to fly the Androcles? None of us have prehensile arms.”
“Pre-what arms?” Terri asked. “Is that what I’m missing? Is that why I can’t row?”
“Precisely, my esteemed friend,” Alexis answered. “‘Prehensile’ means able to grasp, or grab. And the operator of the Androcles will need to be able to grasp and operate its yoke — or, as you may refer to it, ‘steering wheel’ — and its directional and speed levers. The paws that most of us animals have are not prehensile and, although I can grab things with my claws, I don’t have enough muscles in my Bird legs to manipulate the levers. So we need someone with prehensile arms — and strength — to fly the Androcles.”
“We have a couple of options,” Albert said. “Comfy Stolen seemed as if he never wanted to leave Fiji, but if need be we could go there and try to recruit him. My first thought, though, is Ooga.”
“The Gorilla?” Marmalade the Orange Tabby asked.
“Yes. He helped us out with the anti-poaching campaign in Africa. Maybe he would be willing to learn how to fly the Androcles and accompany us on our next trip.”
“He’s back in 1885, right?” Stripes asked.
“Yes; I would have to go back to 1885 Africa and seek him out. If he’s willing to pilot the Androcles, I will bring him back here, and then we can finalize our plans on where to go and what to do, and divide ourselves into two teams — one to fly with me in the Zephyr, and the other to fly with Ooga in the Androcles. If Ooga doesn’t want to come, I will find another prehensile-arm-equipped volunteer: either a different Gorilla, a Monkey of some sort, or travel over to Fiji and see if Comfy would be willing to join us for a while.
“In the meantime, you all can remain here, enjoying yourselves. And please give some thought to what I mentioned: where you want to go, and what you want to do, as we travel into the past to remedy wrongs and rewrite history.
And so we wished Albert all the best and watched him as he climbed into the Zephyr, rose straight up a couple of hundred yards, hovered in place for a few seconds, and then zoomed away.
We spent the next few days discussing priorities as to which events from history we should meddle in (in a good way) and wondering whether Albert would return with Ooga, or his old partner Comfy Stolen — or maybe Brigitte the Monkey, or someone else.
Taterskin & The Eco Defenders (in paperback, kindle, or hardcover) is available here.