Justtin

Chapter eight
The second coming

A few days had passed without incident, which was a blessing for Barry, as it gave him time to recuperate. But the children were bored, being confined to the grounds of the farmhouse.
Suddenly, Zed remembered something. In amongst the boxes of stuff that he had brought back from the village, was a junior magic set.
“ Cool,” said Zed, as he set about learning some tricks to impress Penny. For two hours he sat in his bedroom practising, and every few minutes or so, Barry and Penny could hear, “ Ta-da!”
They were obviously curious, but Zed had asked them not to interrupt, so they kept out of his way.
But, of course, Aunt B had other ideas. She was sitting in a tree, outside the bedroom window, with binoculars, and each time Zed said “ Ta-da,” Aunt B would say “ Ta-da,” as well. Zed assumed he could hear the natural echo of the bedroom, and didn’t take much notice, until the echo changed to “ Ta-daaarrgghh!” as Aunt B slipped and fell out of the tree. As she landed on her feet, there was a snap.
“ Spare leg, spare leg,” she called.
Barry and Penny rushed outside to see what the commotion was. Aunt B was laying on her back, with one and a half legs in the air, and thrashing hers arms about, like a swimmer that was about to drown, and going down for the third time.
“ Ta-da,” she said.
“ Ta-da,” said Zed, totally oblivious of what had happened in the garden, but still managing to pull a bunch of flowers from his jacket sleeve.
“ I’ll go and get a spare,” said Barry. “ I know where they’re kept.”
“ There’s none left,” said Aunt B. “ What am I going to do?”
“ I’ll go and talk to Justtin,” said Barry. “ Maybe he can come up with something.”
And off Barry went.
Penny tried to help B up, but B was too heavy, even for a strapping young lass like Penny. So, they both sat and waited for Barry to return, with a leg of some sort.
“ Ta-da,” said Zed.
***
Barry found Justtin polishing the tractor. Well, not really polishing. More like pushing the dirt around. Barry approached Justtin quietly, because Justtin was humming to himself. It was a tune he’d made up, all on his giant lonesome.
“ Hum, hum, hum, humhumhum,” he went, as he thought about forming his own rock band. Or what about a heavy metal band, he thought. He could call it Metallica, he thought. It would never catch on, he thought. So he stopped humming, and listened to Barry creeping up behind him.
“ What do you want?” he asked.
“ Oh bugger! You heard me?”
“ Of course. Out with it. I’m busy.”
“ Oh, right. Doing what exactly?”
“ Mind your own. So, what do you want?”
“ I need a favour. Well, Aunt B does, anyway.”
“ Let me guess. No, don’t tell me. I’m good at these. It’s coming. Almost got it. I know. She needs another leg. Am I right, or what?”
“ Amazing,” said Barry. “ But, how did you know?”
“ When she landed, she fell on her walkie-talkie. I heard everything.”
Barry felt like he’d been cheated, but carried on, all the same.
“ Well, can you do it?”
“ Yeah. There’s plenty of wood lying around. Mind you, there’s enough metal in those boxes,” said Justtin, looking at the ammunition. “ Maybe I should make one that lasts a bit longer.”
“ You can’t use the weapons?”
“ Why not? Its not like we’re going to use all of them, is it?”
“ But what if it goes off?”
“ Depends on where it’s pointing.”
“ What?”
“ Only joking. They won’t be loaded, obviously. But it gives me an idea.”
“ What?”
“ Detachable weapons.”
“ What?”
“ Just an idea.”
“ What?”
“ Will you shut up with the what’s. At least let me think.”
“ But what about her leg?” Barry asked, feeling like he was getting nowhere fast.
“ Is the other one badly broken?” Justtin asked.
“ I dunno,” said Barry who hadn’t stopped to find out, and wishing he could be a bit more observant in these situations.
“ Well, find out. Go and stick a nail in it, or something. Here, take this,”
“ Why, what is it?”
“ Gaffer tape. It always comes in handy.”
“ Ok,” said Barry, as he set off back to where Aunt B was, and wondering what he was meant to do with a roll of silver tape.
“ I wonder,” Justtin said to himself, as he set about the day’s new task.
***
“ What were you doing?” Penny asked B.
“ I was keeping an eye on lover boy for you.”
“ What?” said Penny, blushing. “ He’s not my lover boy.”
“ Poppycock. You can’t fool me, young lady. I know the signs,” said B. “ If you two don’t become an item, then I wasn’t in the SAS. Oh bugger! I wasn’t supposed to say that.”
“ You were in the SAS?” asked Penny.
“ No. You must have heard me wrong. I said MAS.”
“ MAS. What’s that?”
“ Marks and Spencer’s.”
“ Oh,” said Penny, not believing a word.
***
Barry returned from the barn with the roll of tape, and looked for the broken stump.
“ Where’s my leg?” asked B.
“ Justtin’s in the barn working on a new one, as we speak. But I don’t know how long it’s going to take. In the meantime, I’m going to try and patch up the old one, if I can find the broken bit.”
“ How?” asked B.
“ With this tape,” said Barry.
“ Is this it?” asked Penny, as she held up the broken table leg.
“ That’s the fella,” said B.
“ Right then,” said Barry. “ Let’s get to work.”
“ What do we need?” asked Penny.
“ We’ll need some splints to put either side, then we can tape the whole thing together. That should do until Justtin finishes what he’s doing.”
They all looked toward the barn as the bangs and crashes started.
“ What’s he doing?” asked Penny.
“ No idea,” Barry lied. He wasn’t going to make them worry about anything more. Not for a while, anyway.
He applied himself to Aunt B’s leg, and was pleased with the final result, as he got her to stand on her own two feet, unaided.
“ Ta-da,” said Barry.
“ Ta-da,” said Zed.
“ Ta-da,” said Aunt B, as she put some weight on her new leg.
SNAP, said the leg.
“ Oh bugger,” said Aunt B.
***
“ She said she was in the SAS,” said Penny.
“ Figures,” said Zed.
“ What would make her say that?” asked Barry.
Penny remembered the conversation that led to Aunt B’s admission, and went the shade of red usually reserved for a post office van.
“ I don’t know,” she lied. “ But she definitely said it. That would explain a lot.
The way she dealt with those guys the other day. It was awesome.”
“ Bloody scary, if you ask me,” said Barry. “ All that blood. Yuk!”
“ If we stay around here, I guess we’ll have to get used to it,” said Zed. “ I didn’t realise what a professional she was.”
“ Is,” corrected Barry.
“ Correctomundo,” said Zed.
“ Is that another one of those magic words you’ve been learning, like abracadabra?”
“ No. It’s just a saying, like, fab, or pucker. It doesn’t actually mean anything, but it gets used a lot.”
“ Oh,” said Barry, none the wiser, and wishing he’d never asked.
“ So,” he went on, “ how’s the magic coming on, anyway.”
“ Pretty good,” said Zed, chuffed with himself. “ Do you want to see some?”
“ Oooh, yes please,” said Penny, getting excited.
“ If we must,” said Barry, not really bothered.
Zed went off to get a few props, and two minutes later, he returned with a small table, on which he had a wand and some cups, a large top hat, and some playing cards. Well, it wouldn’t be real magic if it didn’t have the cards, would it kids?
“ Can I have an accomplice from the audience, please?” asked Zed.
Penny got up to help Zed, and Barry sat on his own, and made himself comfortable. Now we’ll begin.
Zed hid his mouth, and said,
“ Ladies and Gentlemen. Please welcome, Zed the Great.”
Penny clapped. Barry yawned.
“ For my first trick,” Zed went on, “ my accomplice will choose a card from the pack. Don’t show me. Ok, now show the audience.”
Penny showed Barry the three of hearts.
“ Now, put it back in the pack.”
Penny did as she was told. Zed tapped the top of the pack with his wand, and pulled a card from the pack.
“ Was it this card?” he said as he showed Penny and Barry the ten of clubs.
“ No,” said Penny.
Barry couldn’t say anything. He was laughing too much.
“ Barry, would you please stand up,” said Zed, with a sly grin.
Still laughing, Barry stood up.
“ Now Barry, please reach under the cushion you were just sitting on.”
Barry did as he was told, and felt something. He pulled out a card and turned it over.
It was the three of hearts.
Barry wasn’t laughing now. In fact he felt a bit stupid.
“ Ta-da!” said Zed.
“ Wow,” said Barry. “ Any more?”
“ Loads,” said Zed, and proceeded to entertain Penny and Barry for the next half an hour. There were rabbit’s coming out of hats, and coins behind ears, and doves and handkerchiefs galore. At the end, Barry and Penny clapped and cheered for all they were worth, and called for more.
“ Naff off,” said Zed. “ I’m knackered.”
“ How did you do it?” asked a now interested Barry.
“ Sorry mate,” said Zed. “ Trade secret, but one last trick. For you,” he said, pulling a bunch of flowers from his sleeve, and offering them to Penny.
Penny did her post office van impression again.
“ I’ll get some water,” said Barry.
“ Don’t be daft. They’re plastic,” said Zed.
“ For Penny, dumdum. She looks like she could use it.”
“ Oh yeah. Right you are.”
“ That was great,” she said when Barry was out of earshot. “ Thanks for the flowers.”
“ It was nothing, really,” said Zed, blushing. “ I’ll need them back eventually, otherwise I can’t do it again.”
“ I’ll give you these, when you get me some real ones.”
“ Er, ok. I have to go to the village later. I’ll see what I can do.”
“ Can’t wait,” said Penny.
Barry returned with the water, while Zed the Great cleared away his table of tricks.
“ I suppose we should go back and see if Aunt B’s ok,” Barry said to Penny.
“ The poor old thing has been sitting under that tree for almost an hour now.”
“ She’s probably found something to keep her quiet,” said Penny.
“ That’s what worries me,” said Barry.
Zed left for the village, and Barry and Penny went and found Aunt B where they’d left her.
“ There’s a first,” said Barry, as he stared at his sleeping Aunt.
***
“ All done,” said Justtin. “ I suppose I’ll have to go and get the old bag now.”
He left the barn and weaving in and out of the foxholes, left by Aunt B’s infatuation with hand grenades, he reached the trio, still sitting under the tree.
“ You’ve been ages,” said Barry. “ Is everything ok?”
“ It’s leg time,” said Justtin. The machinery in Justtin’s head tried to make him smile, but all Barry heard was a grinding sound, and he was convinced he saw a small puff of smoke, come out the back of the robot’s head. Nobody else seemed to notice, so Barry kept quiet.
“ But you’ll have to come to the barn.”
“ You’re a funny bugger,” said B. “ What shall I do, crawl?”
“ If you like,” said Justtin. “ Or, I can carry you.”
“ Ooooh!” said B. “ A fireman’s lift? Why not? It has been a few years.”
Justtin bent forward as far as his frame would let him, and then extended his arms, with the help of his hydraulic system, to lift Aunt B off the ground.
“ How comes the weight of Aunt B, doesn’t make you fall over?” Penny asked innocently.
“ Because of the weight of my batteries, are in my base. I’m a bit like Aunt B in that respect. Bottom heavy.”
“ Watch it, buster.”
“ Or?”
“ I can reach your power switch from here,” threatened B.
“ You touch that switch, and I’ll inject your wooden leg with dry rot,” Justtin threatened back.
“ Will you two knock it off,” said Barry. “ It’s like being in the infants.”
B, Penny and Justtin stopped what they were doing, to stare at Barry. None of them had been in the infants. What was he talking about?
Of course, Barry didn’t know that.
Justtin had only come to life a month ago. Penny had always been on the farm, and was taught at home by her parents. And as for B, she never really had any education, which, in those days, made her the perfect candidate for the armed forces. Once you were in, you were given an education.
Of course, it’s different now. If you have an education, you’re in. The better the education, the higher up the command scale you go. And if you have a degree, better yet. You become King or something, and then you own the bloody army. And so it goes on. The rich get richer, and the poor are allowed a better class of tongue, for cleaning rich people’s shoes.
“ We have to sort out Aunt B’s leg,” Barry went on.
“ What’s the hurry?” said Justtin.
“ None whatsoever,” said Aunt B, who was still spoiling for an argument. But before she could utter another word, Justtin set her down on a makeshift workbench.
“ Don’t run away,” he said to B, as he pulled Barry to one side.
“ I’m going to need your help.”
“ Doing what?” asked Barry.
“ Keeping her quiet, for starters.”
“ You’re not going to do any surgery or anything, are you?”
“ I might wire her mouth shut,” said Justtin, thinking out loud, or loud enough for Barry to hear. The boy looked at Justtin, quizzically.
“ Not really, but she don’t know that,” Justtin continued.
“ So, what do you want me to do?”
“ I’m going to get Aunt B to lay on her side, so keep her talking while I give her an injection.”
“ An injection?” said Barry, almost too loud.
“ Ssshhh!” said Justtin. “ Don’t tell her that. The injection will make her go quiet for about half an hour. And that’s enough time for me to do my thing.”
“ So, what is your thing, exactly?” asked Barry.
“ It’s this,” said Justtin. He lifted the lid off a box at his side, to reveal a shiny new leg for Aunt B, made out of a rocket launcher.
“ You can’t,” said Barry.
“ Too bloody late,” said Justtin. “ I already have. Now, are you going to help me, or what?”
“ Don’t have much of a choice really, do I? She can’t use the table leg any more. It keeps breaking.”
Barry looked at the leg, rocket launcher, and had a thought.
“ It doesn’t still work, does it?” he asked.
“ Yep. With a slight modification. She’ll have to wear a boot over it at all times. If she takes the boot off, it’s primed and ready to fire, immediately.”
“ You’re joking?” asked Barry.
“ I didn’t have a great deal of time, did I? I thought I’d done alright, considering.”
“ Yeah, I mean, you’ve done a great job. I just wish it wasn’t so complicated. But, let’s just say, that the boot is off. How is it fired?”
“ A trigger mechanism, that I will fit in her kneecap. As I said, I didn’t have much time.”
“ What if she kneels on something?” asked Barry.
“ Well, if she has her boot on, it’s not a problem.”
“ And if she doesn’t?” asked Barry.
“ Don’t stand behind her.”
And the next hour was spent, fitting Aunt B’s new leg launcher, as Justtin decided to call it.
***
When Zed returned from the village, he spied a beautiful white sports car, parked in the drive. Never seen one like that before, he thought, and wandered into the kitchen to see what was going on.
“ Hi Zed,” said Barry.
“ I got a new leg,” said B, tapping it with a spoon.
“ Doesn’t sound like wood,” said Zed.
“ It ain’t,” said B. “ It’s a leg launcher,” she announced, proudly.
“ A what?” said Zed.
“ I’ll explain later,” said Barry.
“ Ok,” said Zed. “ So, whose car is that outside?”
“ Cool isn’t it?” said Barry. “ It belongs to Penny’s uncle. He’s talking to her in the living room. They’ll be out soon. They just wanted some privacy.”
“ What?” said Zed, with a pang of jealousy. “ He could be one of them.”
“ I doubt it, deary,” said Aunt B. “ That’s Jim Bond. Secret Agent, he is.”
“ Didn’t you see the number plate?” Barry asked.
“ No, why?” said Zed, wondering if he’d missed something important.
“ Double 0 8.”
“ 008? What’s that?”
“ Promotion, deary. That’s what that is.”
“ Exciting, isn’t it?” said Barry.
“ What is?” said Zed.
“ Having 008 here.”
“ I s’pose so,” said Zed, still not grasping the situation, but thinking quickly.
Then he realised.
“ So, you mean 00 bloody 8 is in the other room, and he’s Penny’s uncle?”
“ Oh yes, deary,” said B. “ Why, didn’t you know her surname was Bond?”
“ Penny Bond. Penny Bond,” Zed said a few times, and thought it a few more.
“ No,” he said, after a while. “ I can’t find anything funny in Penny Bond.”
“ Your not supposed to,” said Aunt B. “ This is a serious bit.”
“ Oh, right,” said Zed, who sat and thought.
“ Don’t you just hate these irritating pauses,” said B, while waiting.
“ Ok. I’ve got it,” said Zed at last. “ So if Jim Bond, 008…”
“ L T K,” interrupted Barry.
“ What?” said Zed, a little annoyed that he’d had to stop.
“ L T K. Licensed to kill.”
“ Oh God,” said Zed, beginning to get the hump with the whole thing. “ Of course. Silly me. Should have known. Shall I continue?”
“ Yes,” said Barry, noticing a slight tone of sarcastic anger. That boy needs therapy, he thought.
“ Right,” Zed continued. “ So, if Jim Bond, 008, licensed to kill is a secret agent, he must know Barry's dad, and the others.”
“ You would have thought that, wouldn’t you,” said Aunt B, “ but, no. Different agency altogether. You, and Barry’s dad, and the other’s, as you put it, work for the Government. A small part of it, anyway. You know it as the Ministry for Information, or M.I.3. for short. Old Jimbo, in there, works for the Military. Stuck up git. Film stars, the lot of them.”
“ But it’s still Her Majesty’s Secret Service, surely?” said Zed.
“ Of course it is,” said Aunt B. “ She just doesn’t know about that bit yet.”
“ What, you mean a secret, secret agency?” asked Zed.
“ Erm. Let me see,” said B. “ Yes, sounds about right. Clever, eh! Who’d ever suspect? A secret agency that are so secret, their leader, Her Maj, don’t even know about them.”
“ It all seems a bit unbelievable,” said Barry.
“ You mean you understood all that?” asked Zed.
“ No, not really,” said Barry.
“ Oh, good,” said Zed. “ I thought you were getting ahead of me for a minute.”
“ Hi Zed,” said Penny, as she entered the kitchen, followed by a tall, dark handsome fellow, in a Naval uniform.
“ This is my Uncle Jim,” she said.
“ Hi,” said Zed, eyeing him suspiciously.
“ Ah, you must be Agent Hercules. My name is Bond, Jim Bond. My niece has been telling me all about you.”
“ Well, I hope she got it right.”
“ Meaning?”
“ I have absolutely no idea. So I take it your up to speed with everything?”
“ More than you think. My informers tell me that there is no Iraqi activity in the area, so you can relax for a while. My information comes from a very reliable source, so all I can ask you for, is your trust.”
“ So who shouldn’t we trust?” asked Zed.
“ At the moment, both agency’s are doing everything they can to sort out this mess. As soon as we know anything, you will be the second to know.”
Barry sat quietly, trying to work it out for himself, but gave up.
“ In the meantime, just sit tight and try and relax. You’ll need to keep yourselves fit, so I’m having some exercise equipment installed in the barn. That should keep you entertained for a while.”
“ Bond. Come in Bond. That bloody man will be the death of me.”
“ What was that?” asked Barry.
“ What was what?” said Bond.
“ Bond. I know you can hear me, you bastard.”
“ That!”
“ Oh, that. Excuse me,” said Bond, raising his wristwatch to his mouth.
“ Hello, Jim Bond here,” he said to his watch, while watching the kids watch him.
“ About fucking time. Where have you been?”
“ Steady. Kids about,” said Bond.
“ Ah, right. I take it then, that you’ve made contact with Agent Hercules, and young Master Trotter?”
“ I have them all with me, right now.”
“ Have they been briefed?”
“ Yes, sir.”
“ Ok. Well done, Bond. I have a call to take on another line, so I’ll let you get on with it. But before I go, just one thing, which is very important.”
“ What’s that?”
“ Next time you call me sir, make it with a capital S. There’s a good chap.”
“ Yes, Sir.”
“ And we’ve got these lousy things,” said Barry, holding up his walkie-talkie.
Bond sniggered.
“ I’ll see what I can do,” he said.
***
“ Right, before I go, is there anything you need?” said Bond.
“ I’m not sure,” said Zed. “ The Ministry supply us with all the food we need.”
“ Anything else you can think of?” asked Bond.
“ Flying lessons,” said Aunt B.
“ What for?” asked Barry.
“ I’ve ordered a Harrier Jump Jet, haven’t I, Jim boy?”
“ Yes. They’re quite easy when you know how. Excellent choice.”
“ Cool,” said Zed.
“ Wow,” said Barry. “ An aircraft named after my mum.”
“ No, not Harriet. It’s Harrier, like carrier, as in bag,” said Zed.
“ Oh,” said Barry, a little disappointed.
“ Well, that’s enough chit chat for me,” said Bond. “ I’m going to make a move.”
“ Ok,” said Zed. “ It was nice to meet you.”
“ Likewise,” said Bond. He turned and nodded to Aunt B.
“ Goodbye deary,” she said.
“ Goodbye Barry. And don’t worry about your folks. They’ll turn up soon.”
“ Thanks,” said Barry. “ And don’t forget the watches.”
“ I won’t,” said Bond. “ And as for you, young lady, I will be in touch with you soon.”
Penny smiled her smile.
“ Don’t leave it so long next time,” she said.
“ Trust me.”
“ No chance. You’re a secret agent.”
“ Oh yes, you’re right. Take care.”
“ Bye all,” said Bond, and with that he was gone.
“ Nice wheels,” said Justtin. “ Couldn’t understand a word she was saying though. Some kind of Italian slang.”
“ I wondered where you were,” said Barry.
“ I was chatting up the Fiat. Italians are hard work.”
“ Well, if Aunt B gets her way, there could be a nice big jump jet to play with,” said Barry.
“ Oooh! When, when, when?” said Justtin, just a little excited.
“ When it gets here,” said Barry.
“ If it gets here,” said Zed.
“ Why if?” asked Penny.
“ I’m sorry Pen, but I’m not sure I trust him.”
“ Well, he’s my Uncle, and I do trust him.”
“ Yeah, me too,” said Barry. “ He’s on telly and everything.”
“ Get real,” said Zed. “ What do you think, B?”
“ Sound as a pound, that one. We worked together years ago.”
“ Really? When?” asked Penny, prying.
“ During the good old days.”
“ While you were in the MAS?” asked Penny.
“ Something like that, deary.”
“ What, something like MAS?” said Penny, still prying.
“ Like SAS, maybe,” said Zed, trying to trip Aunt B up.
“ I knew I shouldn’t have said anything,” said Aunt B, tripped like a good ‘un.
“ So, it is true,” said Penny. “ I knew it.”
“ Yes, it’s true,” said B. “ I was the only female officer to ever make the grade. But what I’ve told you is a secret. This information must not leave these grounds.”
“ Were you part of Dad’s plan as well?” asked Barry.
“ Of course, deary. Only we didn’t bank on things going this far. Zed is considered, by the powers that be, to be the one in charge,” Zed puffed his chest out as far as it would go, “ but he still needs all the help he can get.”
Zed deflated his chest. I was this close to feeling proud, he thought to himself.
“ And he’ll get it,” said Penny.
“ Of course he will,” said Barry.
“ Whoopee!” said Zed.
“ I have a question,” said Barry, “ and probably a stupid one, but why will we be the second to know, you know, if something happens?”
“ Because they will be the first to know, O stupid one,” said Zed.
“ Oh yeah! Thanks mate. It was bothering me,” said Barry, now understanding.
“ Really,” said Zed. “ Never have guessed.”
***
They did as they were told, and relaxed. Well, most of them did.
Zed, all of a sudden, took to worrying about the slightest detail. He wondered if Fort Knocks, as they decided to call their camp, was as impregnable as they had hoped.
The electrified fence was working. They knew that because of the badgers and foxes that occasionally exploded on contact, and because of the low hum you could hear, if you got close enough.
The armed guard on the gate, were Ministry elite troops, so that didn’t worry Zed. The only point of entry he could think of, was from the air, and Justtin had ground to air missiles, so that wouldn’t be much of a threat.
Then it hit him, like a huge wet salmon across the face.
Underground. The tunnels leading from the river.
“ Oh shit!” said Zed, and he started to run toward the barn.
“ What’s up with him?” said Barry.
“ Don’t know deary. We’d better go with him.”
The rest of them followed Zed to the barn, leaving Justtin to patrol the grounds.
“ What’s up?” said Penny, being the first to arrive and watching Barry and Aunt B limping in behind her.
“ The tunnels. It’s the only way they can get in. We need to block them,” said Zed, trying to catch his breath.
“ Well that’s easy enough,” said B. “ We’ll just move the tank into place. No bugger will get past that thing, once it’s in place.”
“ Good thinking,” said Zed. “ Let’s go.”
Aunt B raised the hatch, and was the first down the steps, followed by Zed, then Barry. Penny was told to stay at the top of the steps.
“ No problem,” she said, grabbing a machine gun and releasing the safety catch.
The others made their way along the passages to where the tank was waiting. Zed climbed up first, and helped Aunt B up onto the turret. Barry stayed on the ground and watched for anything unusual. Aunt B opened the hatch on top of the tank and dropped inside.
“ Sorry,” she said, “ didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“ B! Who are you talking to?” asked Zed.
“ Bloody Iraqi,” she said. “ He was asleep in my tank.”
“ Are you ok?” asked Barry.
“ Don’t you worry about me deary. He’s gone back to sleep now, but his head’s now facing the wrong way. Don’t know my own strength sometimes.”
“ Yuk!” said Barry.
“ Why didn’t Justtin pick him up?” Zed asked Barry.
“ I don’t know. See if he’s got anything on him.”
“ Ok,” said Zed, who dropped inside the tank.
“ Hurry up, please,” said Barry.
The T-34 roared into life, and in the confined space, sounded twice as loud as it normally would.
“ Good thing I topped it up last month,” shouted Aunt B above the din.
“ I’ve got get me one of these,” Zed yelled back.
“ I haven’t got any cheese,” shouted B.
“ Yes. Where can I get one?” yelled Zed.
“ I’ll get some later.”
“ Ok. Tell me later,” yelled Zed as he rifled the dead man’s pockets.
“ A-ha,” he said, not that anyone could hear him. He put his head out of the hatch and threw a small black device to Barry, and signalled him to get out of the way. Barry moved back along the tunnel toward the hatch in the barn, and just for a second, thought he saw something move. He edged up the steps, keeping his eyes on the spot where he’d seen the movement. It was probably a rat, he thought, and quickened his pace. He hated rats.
The roar from the tank got louder as it was manoeuvred into place. Soon the engine was turned off, and within minutes, Zed and Aunt B joined Barry and Penny in the barn. Barry put his finger up to his lips and motioned everyone to be quiet. He made them move back from the hole in the ground, and as quietly as he could, said,
“ I saw something move down there.”
He didn’t have to say anything else. Zed picked up a submachine gun, and being the brave little bugger that he is, went straight back down the steps. Barry grabbed a torch, and went after him.
At the bottom of the steps they stopped, and Barry pointed the torch in the direction he’d seen the movement. There was nothing there, but Barry swept his beam of light around the room, and Bingo. A man stood up and started to run at them, waving a huge knife in front of him. The boys both saw him at the same time, but Zed’s reaction was instant. Shoot first, ask questions later, he thought.
The burst of gunfire didn’t last long, but it was enough to cut the man in half.
“ Nice one,” said Barry, just before he threw up on Zed’s foot.
“ I feel better now,” said Zed blowing the smoke from his gun barrel.
“ Did you get one, deary?” asked B, as she joined the boys.
“ Yes B,” said Zed, taking the torch from Barry’s hand, “ but I’ll have a look around, just to make sure.”
“ Ok love,” said B. “ I’ll go and get that cheese.”
Barry threw up again. Not cheese, he thought.
“ What cheese?” asked Penny as she came down the steps to see what was going on.
“ No idea,” said Zed. “ B’s going to get me one of those tanks.”
“ Cool,” said Penny.
They all made their way back up the steps to the barn, where Justtin was waiting for them.
“ Did I miss anything?” the robot asked.
“ Not much,” answered Zed. “ But we have something to our advantage.”
“ What’s that?” asked Justtin.
“ Barry. Where’s that thing I found on that bloke in the tank?”
“ Here you go. Sorry about the mess.”
“ It’ll wipe off. You feeling any better?”
“ Yeah, fine. Just don’t mention food, and I’ll be fine.”
“ I got you the cheese you asked for,” said B.
“ Stand back,” said Barry.
***
Justtin was scanning the small, black contraption that Zed had found.
“ That’s interesting,” he said.
“ What?” said Barry.
“ Well,” said Justtin, “ some of these components are the same as some of the ones that your dad installed in me. See, just there. Bateware, USA. This is some of the most advanced software there is. The company is run by somebody called Gill Bates. I guess you could say that she has cornered the market when it comes to technical software.”
Barry was listening, but as usual, not taking anything in.
“ But what does all this mean?” he asked.
“ Technically, this means that they’re almost advanced as we are.”
“ Almost?” queried Barry.
“ Yes,” said Justtin. “ The on/off switch is Victorian, and it doesn’t have a British Standard mark.”
“ But what does it do?” asked Zed.
“ Ah, that’s the easy bit,” said Justtin. “ It gives off a small electric pulse, which is designed to scramble my circuits, making my system think there is nothing wrong.”
“ So what can we do to get round this?” asked Zed.
“ We can set a frequency in Justtin, that will make them believe that they are invisible, but in reality, all we’re doing, is bouncing their signal back to them,” said Barry.
“ Does this mean you’re going to tinker with my insides again?” asked Justtin.
“ Sure does, big fella,” said Barry. “ It will be easy. Just like having a tooth pulled.”
“ I’ve heard about that. It sounds horrible.”
“ Good thing you don’t have teeth then,” said Barry.
“ If I had a foot, I’d kick you.”
“ Don’t be a baby,” said Barry. “ It won’t hurt. Just lay back and think of meccano.”
“ Does he know what he’s doing?” Penny asked Zed.
“ Is the Pope old?” said Zed. “ His old man built Justtin, and Barry was there for most of it. If he can’t do it, then the only other person able to, is his dad.”
“ I’ve got a scanner, and I’m not afraid to use it,” said Justtin.
“ Shut up Jus, and keep still. There, done,” said Barry.
“ Was that it? Wow, er, cool. Didn’t hurt at all,” said Justtin.
“ In that case, you can sit in the dentist’s chair for me next time,” said Barry.
“ I’m not that stupid,” said Justtin.