PATROL DUTY

“Are you going to tell Nipkin?” Max asked.

“What do you think?”

“We don���t have any proof.”

“What about common sense?” Logan said. “Ernie is upset. He rallied the changelings to make a preemptive strike before any more changelings get kidnapped. Sound about right?”

“If you say something, he’s going to hate me.”

Logan took a deep breath.

“Please,” Max said.

“I’m not making any promises,” Logan said. He could see that Max was torn between keeping his friend’s secret and possibly saving him from danger. “Look, why don’t you take the controls for a bit?”

Max looked out the window. The world was a blur.

“I don’t know.”

“It’s either that or we crash,” Logan said. As the dash unfolded, revealing a second steering wheel, he folded his hands behind his head.

“What are you doing?” Max asked before grabbing the steering wheel. The nose dipped. All Max could see through the windshield was water.

“You might want to pull back a touch,” Logan said.

Max overcompensated. This time the nose shot straight up. His stomach lurched.

“Take a deep breath,” Logan said. “Then level her out nice and slow. She’ll do whatever you tell her. And you might want to open your eyes. We’re closing in on the docks.”

Max could see an armada of boats moored in the bay. Wooden buildings dotted the shoreline beyond. Overhead, a zeppelin was anchored to a loading tower. Moments later the aerocar buzzed over a cluster of streets where peddlers were selling their wares to sailors and fishermen.

“Head toward those chimneys,” Logan said.

Max nudged the steering wheel to the left.

“You might want to steer clear of that bell tower,” Logan said.

This time, Max jerked the controls to the right, sending the aerocar into a corkscrew. The wing clipped a brick wall, and the aerocar ricocheted.

Logan grabbed his steering wheel before pulling them out of the roll.

“Thanks,” Max said. His heart was pounding, and his palms itched.

Logan gave the controls back to Max, who managed to avoid a network of clotheslines loaded with dingy laundry. Then he maneuvered around smokestacks and a seagull.

“I don’t see any activity down there. Maybe we should head back so Harley can have a turn,” Max said.

“Hold on,” Logan said. He took out a pair of binoculars.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think we found the Agents of Justice.”

Logan grabbed the steering wheel before pushing the throttle forward. The engine roared as the aerocar shot toward Bludgeon Town. Max took the binoculars. He could see a man in a skullcap surrounded by six children in masks.

“Can you see Tweeny?”

“I don’t think so,” Max said. He adjusted the settings to get a wider view. There was movement in a window. Someone was holding a rifle. Max pushed the binoculars at Logan.

“What’s wrong?” Logan asked through clenched teeth.

“A sniper.”

“You’re going to have to bring us in,” Logan said. He let go of the steering wheel before reaching back to grab a duffel bag.

“What?”

The aerocar dipped to the right. Max grabbed the steering wheel, and they leveled off. Logan pulled out a dart gun. He attached the barrel before loading the chamber. Then he flipped another switch, and the hatch opened up. Wind tore through the cab, blowing Max’s hair like a wheat field in a storm.

“Time to go to sleep,” Logan said as he looked through the scope. He squeezed the trigger. With a pop, a tranquilizer dart shot from the barrel. It hit the man in the window.

Twenty slavers rushed out from the shadows and into the alley. One pulled out a net. It spun through the air before latching around one of the masked vigilantes.

More nets flew. One of the children raised a hand. Blue liquid sprayed from her palm. It encased one of the nets in ice, stopping the net in midair before it fell to the ground and shattered.

“We have to help them!” Max yelled as the slavers closed in.

“Listen to me,” Logan said. “I’m going down there, and you’re heading back to the lab.”

Max watched as two of the children were trying to free a third who had been caught in a net.

Logan grabbed Max by the arm. “Did you hear me?”

Max nodded.

“Look out!”

They were headed toward an apartment building when Max pulled back on the steering wheel, narrowly dodging it. Silver flames shot out from the exhaust as they broke into the open sky. Max could feel his heart pounding. His palms were sweating, and he worried about holding on to the steering wheel.

“Head back around,” Logan said.

Max pulled back on the throttle to cut their speed and then banked hard to the left.

“Lower,” Logan said.

Max pushed forward on the steering wheel. The aerocar dropped below the roofline and into a patch of fog. The only light was from the gas lamps. Logan put his dart gun behind the seat and removed his seat belt before standing up.

“What are you doing?” Max asked. His eyes were wide.

“Keep her steady.”

“Logan!”

The aerocar passed over the slavers. Logan jumped with his arms and legs stretched wide. He landed on one of the slavers and knocked him unconscious.

As Max brought the aerocar out of the streets and into the sky, he could hear Logan breathing heavily through the communication link. The hatch clicked shut.

“Head back to Monti’s,” Logan said.

Max was already heading back to the street. “But—”

“It’s not open for discussion.”

Max looked for a radio to call for backup, but he couldn’t find one. There were too many controls, and he couldn’t focus long enough without risking a wreck. Then something crashed down from above. A clockwork landed on the wing, and the aerocar dipped to the right. There was another thud. The nose dipped. A second clockwork was standing on the hood.

Max pulled back on the steering wheel before he slammed the throttle to full, but the aerocar flew in reverse. It slammed into a wall, shuddering as loose bricks fell across the trunk. Both clockworks lost their balance and fell over the side.

“Get out of here before more of those things show up,” Logan said through the headset.

“How do you go forward?”

“Green switch on the left.”

Max flipped it. He pushed the throttle while pulling back on the steering wheel and shot into the sky. “Sorry,” Max said, “but I’m not leaving you down there.”

Max turned around, and the quick motion made his stomach jump into his throat. He headed back to the alley.

“Let’s see what else this thing can do,” he muttered as he randomly flipped switches and pressed buttons.

A monitor lowered from the ceiling. It gave Max a view of the two clockworks that were chasing him on a flying hybrid of a motorcycle and a snowmobile. Bolts of energy exploded from guns mounted to the vehicles.

Max banked hard right, then left. He wove through chimneys and skirted past steeples. So did the clockworks. They opened fire, peppering the aerocar with plasma bolts. One hit the left wing. Max could see smoke billowing from the engine.

He jammed the throttle forward. The streets below blurred. He was closing in on an abandoned warehouse, but Max didn’t change course. He could feel his sweat dripping down his cheeks.

“This better work.”

He closed his eyes. Then, at the last possible moment, he pulled back on the throttle. At the same time, he yanked the steering wheel until the nose of the aerocar pointed straight up. Max pushed the throttle to full thrust. The aerocar shot into the sky. He could feel the hull scrape against brick. Sparks flew, and the aerocar rattled.

Max glanced at the screen. The clockworks couldn’t pull away, and they crashed into the wall. There was an explosion. Fire. Metal. Brick. Max headed back to the alley. By the time he got there, constables were swarming everywhere. Some held slavers in handcuffs. Others searched behind trash bins.

“I thought I told you to head back,” Logan said through his headset.

“I ran into some trouble.”

“I can see that.”

“Do you want a ride?”

Max could hear Logan sighing. “That was a nice bit of flying.”

“Thanks.”

“You know, I’m starting to think you don’t need me.”

“Yeah, right.”

“That day is coming sooner than you think.”