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[ 17 ]
Guthrie lay on a waist-high table with his detached left arm across his thighs as Ekka worked with screwdrivers, pliers and small wrenches in the hole where his arm attached. Dakota pedaled the stationary bicycle three feet away, and the cables running from the bicycle to Guthrie’s neck fed the robot’s charging cells, bringing them back to full capacity.
Dakota said, “Can you play me one of your music songs?”
Guthrie said, “Certainly, what would you like?”
“One of the ragtime songs from Sedalia.”
Ekka said, “Scott Joplin, I like him.”
Guthrie said, “I have one that Master Joplin said he would not produce for a while, but he said I could play it for friends.”
Dakota said, “How did you meet Mister Joplin?”
“Father Tesla took me to meet Master Joplin at his home in Missouri, and he entertained us by playing his compositions on the piano.”
Ekka tightened a tiny screw, then said, “What is this one called?”
“Master Joplin named it The Entertainer. Father Tesla quite liked it.” Guthrie cocked his head slightly and opened his mouth. Scott Joplin’s catchy piano tune filled the room with an upbeat rhythm.
Dakota pedaled to the beat, and Ekka smiled as she held out her hand so Guthrie could give his detached arm to her. Before the song had ended, Ekka slipped the final covering over the shoulder and said, “Good as new.”
Guthrie stopped the music and sat up, moving the reattached limb. “Thank you, Ekka. And thank you, Dakota, I am at capacity now.”
Ekka said, “It will be interesting to see how the additions to your feet work.”
“I am eager to see as well.”
Dakota hopped off the bike as Pat entered the room. “He looks ready to go.”
“I am, Pat. Capacity and mobility is at one hundred percent.”
“That’s good, because Billy said for all of us to get forward because he’s starting down.”
Dakota said, “Yay!” and ran out of the room.
[ 18 ]
John Carter had time to fire both Tiger Pistols once, then the black ship slammed into them, knocking all four people to the deck in a sliding, scrambling motion that almost sent them pinwheeling into the air, but everyone caught onto something before going overboard.
At the same time, the metal tentacles snaked across the ship, tearing apart railings, ripping the sails and pulling down the masts, which emitted sharp cracks when the poles snapped. One of the long, fluked tentacles shredded the dirigible and immediately moved to the propellers and tore them from the stern. It dropped the still-spinning blades into the green jungle a hundred feet below.
John regained his balance the same time as Ian and both men turned to face orange-haired men descending to the Wraith’s deck on ropes. Avi and Bixie scrambled to their feet and both armed themselves with long, pointed boat-hooks.
A tentacle tore into deck planking until it had a large hole, then the tentacle slid into the ship. Moments later, steam hissed from the opening in a heavy white plume. Avi stabbed the tentacle with the boat-hook. The tentacle jerked so fast from the hole that it pulled Avi ten feet into the air before the boat-hook came loose and he fell to the deck, still clutching the long, pointed weapon.
The black ship’s color changed and luminescent pastel colors of green and blue and pink ran up and down the length of it. All the while, the deep, throbbing, buzzing vibration continued in the air. John threw up, but kept fighting hand to hand with one of the orange-haired men, and both Bixie and Avi staggered like drunks and held their hands over their ears. Ian ran his claymore through an orange-hair’s chest all the way to the hilt, and the violet-eyed thing continued to claw at him, trying to pull the Highlander’s arm into his mouth to bite it. It was the first time Ian had seen the fangs, and he shuddered and kicked the creature off his blade. He turned to the side and threw up, but never took his eyes off the attackers. Three of them had long arrows protruding from their backs and the fletching was visible like a corsage on their chests. “What be these demons?” Ian yelled.
John flipped the creature he was fighting over the side, just as one of the large tentacles completely circled the girth of the frigate and began to tear the ship in half.
The Wraith listed thirty degrees under the attack. The wood creaked and groaned, then splintered and snapped in two with a sound like gunfire, and the tentacle worked deeper into the ship’s vitals.
Bixie stabbed her boat-hook into it and the tentacle pulled from the destruction. It moved as fast as a striking cobra and wrapped around Bixie, covering her from neck to stomach. Bixie screamed as the tentacle lifted her from the deck.
Ian saw it and grasped a loose rigging line still hanging from the mizzenmast. He held with his left hand and swung toward the tentacle, his long sword in his right. The Highlander dropped from the rope and landed astride the metallic, writhing thing like he was on a horse. He closed two hands on the hilt and brought the colored blade down in a sweeping arc with all his strength.
There was a squeal of metal on metal and the tentacle parted, scattering loose gears and sprockets across the deck, where they rolled down the steeply sloping wood to bounce into space and fall to the jungle below. Ian hopped off and caught Bixie, still wrapped in the tentacle’s end, before she rolled off the ship. He tore it off her and flipped the heavy thing over the side. Bixie’s skin had scrapes in places, but she was otherwise unharmed. He held her in one arm for a moment to make sure she was unhurt, then put her down. The Highlander had blood trickling from both ears. He said, “I dinnae think we will win this one, lass. Be looking for a long rope to slide to the ground.”
