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“Are we there yet?”
Rat glared at Boy and the tiny robot stared right back from his co-pilot’s chair.
“Do we look like we are?” Rat wiped the condensation from his googles and turned to study the numbers on the air pressure gauge. He knew too well from past experience that he would lose every time in a battle of wills with the contrary robot.
The truth was that Boy’s constant questions had rattled his confidence more than Rat wanted to let on. He was almost positive they were on course but what if he had made a dreadful error in his calculations? Rat had had to fight a strong headwind during a raging storm the night before. Maybe his calculations had gone awry because of that.
Thinking he might get Boy’s mind elsewhere, Rat asked, “Where’s Molly?”
Boy continued his unblinking stare for an uncomfortable amount of time before finally slipping out of his chair. “I’ll go find her.”
Rat nodded. “Good idea.”
But instead of heading off in search of Molly, Boy continued to gape.
Rat threw up in his hands in frustration. “We’re not lost.”
“Are you certain?” then Boy finally did one long, slow drawn-out blink that only served to set Rat’s nerves more on edge.
“Yes.” Rat gritted his teeth and waved toward the gallery. “Why don’t you go and make yourself useful? Get me an apple; I haven’t eaten in hours.” He stood and bent over the controls again.
Rat said, over his shoulder, “And if it makes you any happier, I’ll recheck my calculations. The last thing I want is for Harmony to have to come out here looking for you and Molly. None of us would ever be allowed to leave the homestead again.”
“She loves me.”
Rat turned and studied the child-like robot. His big metal eyes could express more than any human he had ever met.
“She certainly does.” He waved him off again. “Now go on before I decide to throw you overboard. You’re getting on my nerves with your endless questions and doubt.”
“Pssh.”
“Did you just pssh me?”
“You forget that I was the one who stopped Harmony from drowning you the day you stole her airship.”
Rat slapped his forehead. “I stole Airus over five years ago. Why won’t anyone ever let it go? It wasn’t like I actually got very far with it.”
“You’re the worse damn thief I’ve ever met.”
“I thought Harmony told you to clean up your vocabulary. You’re teaching the children your bad language.”
Boy looked around before leveling his unblinking stare back onto Rat. “I don’t see any children, and if I were you I would worry a little more about whether or not we’re lost than my bad language. I was cursing long before you or Harmony were born. If it was good enough for Liberty, it’s good enough for me.”
Rat was well aware that once Boy began talking about his deceased sister there was no use arguing with him. The robot always gauged what was right and wrong on what his sister had believed when she was still alive, and once Liberty’s truth had been spoken, there was no debating it. Harmony’s grandmother had died years before Rat had met any of the family but he still felt as if he had known her, perhaps because Boy talked about her every chance he got. He talked about their travels as if they had only taken place the day before, and the love he felt for his sister had not decreased one iota since her death. The tiny robot carried on as if Liberty were just waiting at the next stop for him and he looked after her family with the same love and care she would have lavished on them had she still been alive.
Rat pointed toward the galley. “Where’s my apple? If I starve, we’ll never see Freedom.”
Boy gave Rat a head to toe scan. “It would take months.”
“Are you saying I’m fat?”
Boy remained perfectly still. Several metal clicking sounds erupted from his mouth before he finally said, “If the too-tight pants fit.” Without waiting for a reply he turned and headed toward the galley.
Rat murmured to himself, “That damn piece of glass and metal just called me fat.” He lifted his shirt and pinched his taunt, muscled stomach and then glared at the now empty deck. He yelled at the slowly closing galley door, “I’m not fat!”
He shook his head in disgust. “I’m arguing with a damn robot.” Rat leaned over the helm gauges once more. “My time would be better spent trying to figure out just where we’re at. We should be in Freedom by now.”
Rat measured the wind speed one more time before recalculating Independence’s current position. It didn’t add up. Where was Freedom? They should have flown over the city near dawn, and here it was, high noon and no coastline in sight.
Abandoning his instruments, Rat went to the side of the airship and looked out from its railing. A mountain range loomed in the distance. A misty haze hovered just below its gray, jagged peaks. It was as foreboding a sight as he had ever seen before.
“That’s not Freedom.”
Rat looked over his shoulder only to find Molly standing behind him. How she had snuck up on him without him hearing he had no idea. The ancient robot was a misfortune waiting to happen. She lost screws and nuts with every movement. It was a miracle that, after lasting nine hundred years, she still functioned.
“It certainly isn’t,” he reiterated to himself. “Your head’s full of maps, Molly. So, where do you reckon we are?”
The petite, round robot scooped close to the side of the airship and looked out. “I’m not certain. Last night’s storm must have blown us farther north than we first thought.” She faced Rat again. “Maybe we should try heading south for a while, to see if we can find any landmarks we recognize.”
Rat studied the mist-covered mountains. “The first thing we need to do is find a good water source. We’ll never reach Freedom with what’s left in our tanks.”
Molly glanced out over the railing once again. “So I guess we’re heading over the mountains then.”
“I guess we are.” He leaned both arms on Independence’s railing and smiled. “Are you up for a grand adventure?”
“Is anyone going to die?”
Rat laughed. “Not if I can help it.”
Molly stepped back and stared up at him. “Are you sure?”
“Of course not, but you’ve been around for over nine hundred years, Boy’s too contrary to die and I have a few tricks still up my sleeve. So, what’s the worst thing that can happen?”
“You’re asking me? I’ve been through the Great War and seen twelve billion people die from violence, starvation and pestilence. I’m not the best source for such a broad question.” Molly once again scanned the mountain range. “Why not, then?” she finally said. “ I’m up for an adventure if you’re certain you are, but let’s not tell Boy until it’s already started. He’s such a killjoy. He’ll whine and pout about us never seeing home again.”
Rat laughed. “Let’s hurry, then. He’ll back any moment.”