Read Online The Pilgrims of Rayne by D.J. MacHale - Free Book Online
Authors: D.J. MacHale
Ads: Link
her training was about letting the other guy make the mistakes. If I had done that, the dado would have left me alone standing there at the gate, crouched down, ready to defend myself. Looking stupid.
Bright light from the flume filled the cavern as I spun and tackled the robot from behind, wrapping my arms around his legs. He sprawled forward, hitting the rock wall next to thewooden door with his shoulder. Hard. The impact was strong enough to knock a chunk of rock out of the wall. The robot didnât even grunt. Not good. Dados didnât feel pain, which meant they had no fear. I didnât know what to do, so I held his legs in a bear hug. His clothing crumbled in my grip, as if the fabric were rotten. Weird. But I didnât let go. I could feel the strength of his robot legs. He was a machine. I wasnât. My only hope was to somehow wrestle the dado back into the flume and send us both out of there. There was no way I could beat the mechanical thug in a fight without a weapon.
A weapon! I quickly reached up to grab his pistol from its holster. Bad idea. The dadoâs leg was free. He kneed me in the head. I fell back, reeling. I saw stars, and not the kind you see through the flume. I had to shake it off fast or this thing would be loose on First Earth. I scrambled back to my feet to see I had given the dado an idea. He was reaching for his pistol. Oops. I looked around desperately. The light was already receding into the flume. I had missed the bus. Could I activate it again quickly? Nope. Not before this thing would take a shot at me. The only thing I could do was attack.
I leaped forward, launching myself parallel to the ground. I hit the robot as it fired and⦠Fum! The dado fell backward as the charge from its weapon smashed the wall, blasting out a spray of rocks. The dado landed on its back. I landed on the dado. For a brief instant I was eye to eye with the robot, staring into its mechanical, lifeless doll eyes. Yikes.
The moment didnât last long. The robot threw me off like I was made of straw. I was running out of ideas, not that I had that many in the first place. I hit the ground and rolled toward the mouth of the flume.
âQuillan!â I shouted again. The flume sprang back to life. It was the only thing I could think of doing, though I had noidea how I was going to wrestle the dado into the tunnel. As the light from the flume began to fill the cavern, I stood with my back to the entrance. The dado stood with its back to the door of the cavern. It was a standoff. No, I take that back. The dado was in complete control. The only thing I could do was step back into the flume and get out of there. The dado raised its pistol, aiming at me. I instinctively took a step back, then stopped. I couldnât leave. I had to let it shoot me. At least when I came to, Iâd still be on First Earth and could figure out a way to chase it down. Leaving wasnât an option. I braced myself, ready to get nailed.
The dado didnât fire. It held the gun on me, keeping me back as it took a step toward the door. It didnât care about me. I was nothing more than a nuisance. It wanted to get to First Earth. There was nothing I could do. The dado knew it. While keeping its doll eyes on me, it reached back for the door that was the gate to the flume. With one quick movement, it holstered its pistol, pulled the door open, and sprang out into the tunnelâ¦.
As a subway train came barreling by.
The dado hit the train. Or the train hit the dado. I guess the specifics didnât matter. What did matter was that the robot was thrown under the wheels of the speeding locomotive. The engineer hit the brakes. It must have been a shock for him to see a man suddenly jump in front of his train from out of nowhere. A horrible screeching sound filled the tunnel. It was so shrill I felt as if it were cutting into my brain. It was followed quickly by a rumble and the sound of twisting, wrenching metal. I
Bright light from the flume filled the cavern as I spun and tackled the robot from behind, wrapping my arms around his legs. He sprawled forward, hitting the rock wall next to thewooden door with his shoulder. Hard. The impact was strong enough to knock a chunk of rock out of the wall. The robot didnât even grunt. Not good. Dados didnât feel pain, which meant they had no fear. I didnât know what to do, so I held his legs in a bear hug. His clothing crumbled in my grip, as if the fabric were rotten. Weird. But I didnât let go. I could feel the strength of his robot legs. He was a machine. I wasnât. My only hope was to somehow wrestle the dado back into the flume and send us both out of there. There was no way I could beat the mechanical thug in a fight without a weapon.
A weapon! I quickly reached up to grab his pistol from its holster. Bad idea. The dadoâs leg was free. He kneed me in the head. I fell back, reeling. I saw stars, and not the kind you see through the flume. I had to shake it off fast or this thing would be loose on First Earth. I scrambled back to my feet to see I had given the dado an idea. He was reaching for his pistol. Oops. I looked around desperately. The light was already receding into the flume. I had missed the bus. Could I activate it again quickly? Nope. Not before this thing would take a shot at me. The only thing I could do was attack.
I leaped forward, launching myself parallel to the ground. I hit the robot as it fired and⦠Fum! The dado fell backward as the charge from its weapon smashed the wall, blasting out a spray of rocks. The dado landed on its back. I landed on the dado. For a brief instant I was eye to eye with the robot, staring into its mechanical, lifeless doll eyes. Yikes.
The moment didnât last long. The robot threw me off like I was made of straw. I was running out of ideas, not that I had that many in the first place. I hit the ground and rolled toward the mouth of the flume.
âQuillan!â I shouted again. The flume sprang back to life. It was the only thing I could think of doing, though I had noidea how I was going to wrestle the dado into the tunnel. As the light from the flume began to fill the cavern, I stood with my back to the entrance. The dado stood with its back to the door of the cavern. It was a standoff. No, I take that back. The dado was in complete control. The only thing I could do was step back into the flume and get out of there. The dado raised its pistol, aiming at me. I instinctively took a step back, then stopped. I couldnât leave. I had to let it shoot me. At least when I came to, Iâd still be on First Earth and could figure out a way to chase it down. Leaving wasnât an option. I braced myself, ready to get nailed.
The dado didnât fire. It held the gun on me, keeping me back as it took a step toward the door. It didnât care about me. I was nothing more than a nuisance. It wanted to get to First Earth. There was nothing I could do. The dado knew it. While keeping its doll eyes on me, it reached back for the door that was the gate to the flume. With one quick movement, it holstered its pistol, pulled the door open, and sprang out into the tunnelâ¦.
As a subway train came barreling by.
The dado hit the train. Or the train hit the dado. I guess the specifics didnât matter. What did matter was that the robot was thrown under the wheels of the speeding locomotive. The engineer hit the brakes. It must have been a shock for him to see a man suddenly jump in front of his train from out of nowhere. A horrible screeching sound filled the tunnel. It was so shrill I felt as if it were cutting into my brain. It was followed quickly by a rumble and the sound of twisting, wrenching metal. I
Similar Books
