CHAPTER THREE
The MAV Pack
As GEORGE jetted through the atmosphere and over the North Atlantic Ocean, he checked his internal flight sensors for an estimated time of arrival.
“I started 3,450 miles from my destination,” he whispered while zipping through a spray of ice crystals.
Feeling the cold, GEORGE’s automatic internal heat sensors triggered his metal frame to warm up to a pleasant temperature. Ice crystals began to melt off his micro-wings, and water droplets scattered in the air behind him.
Soon, GEORGE’s GPS went BEEP-BEEP-BEEP and then gave one short CHIRP.
I made it! At 500 miles per minute, from Boston to the countryside of France, it took only 6.9 minutes. Pretty good.
GEORGE drifted downward through layers of clouds. As he floated below the final layer, his eyes swept over rolling green hills. He saw rows of crops and a small village tucked away between pebble-lined brooks and stone bridges. He could see vineyards, and a grove of tall oak trees with the tips of their leafy branches brushing the sky.
Awesomesauce! The countryside of France looks like a painting from a museum. It’s like I’ve tumbled inside the painting and it’s come to life!
GEORGE wafted over rows of lavender and fields of heather waving in the summery breeze. “Well, no more dillydallying,” he said. “Time to find a buried treasure!”
He navigated with his GPS. According to the possible locations in my mission file, this is a good place to start.
To avoid bothering a swarm of organic bees who were pollinating the flower pasture, GEORGE swerved and landed on the gabled roof of a house. He gazed around the countryside.
Dozens of tiny lenses in his vision receptors zoomed in to see one area of the meadow. Where could the bronze owl be? GEORGE wondered.
In the corner of his vision, he saw three pigeons huddled in a clearing between a cluster of trees and a small pond. The sun glinted off their shiny silver backs.
“Wow!” he said. “Those are robotic pigeons! I never get to meet other robots! Maybe they’ll be my new friends.”
GEORGE lifted off the rooftop and zipped toward the pigeons. Within seconds, he was hovering above their metallic heads.
They were looking down at something on the ground.
One pigeon tilted its head with small jerking movements. “My analysis says this is where it is buried.”
Another pigeon replied, “Your analysis is incorrect. You are 22.4 meters off track.”
“You are both in error,” said the third pigeon. “The artifact is buried 52.3 meters south of this location.”
GEORGE drifted toward the ground and landed among the small flock. He gazed up at the squabbling pigeons.
“Hello, I’m GEORGE the flybot,” he said. “GEORGE stands for Geo Engineering Office of Robotics at Gadabout Enterprises. I was made by scientists at a university in Boston, Massachusetts. Gadabout Enterprises donated money to the university to build me.”
The pigeons’ eyes widened.
“We are Pigeons One, Two, and Three,” said Pigeon One. “Together we are the MAV Pack. That stands for Micro Aerial Vehicle. We were made by scientists at a university in Palo Alto, California.”
Pigeon Two added, “Sometimes the interns call us pigeonbots.”
“What are you doing here?” Pigeon Three asked.
Probably the same as you, GEORGE thought. But he said, “I am on a mission to find a missing artifact.”
Pigeon One asked, “Are you on the golden owl treasure hunt too?”
GEORGE nodded.
Pigeon Two asked, “Do you know where it is?”
GEORGE stopped to think. Maybe he could team up with the MAV Pack and they could split the prize. He wanted to report back to Darcy with a successful mission this time.
“I don’t know exactly,” said GEORGE. “But—”
“We see,” Pigeon Three said. Its head twitched. “Clearly, you are wasting our time. Well, we can find it without you. And when we do, we will use the prize money to build a huge flock of pigeonbots. We do not need you...little bug.”
Little bug?
GEORGE narrowed his vision receptors. Fine! He didn’t need them either.
The race to find the owl was on!
