Justtin

Chapter five
The visit

The next morning, Barry woke early. His headache had gone and he was hungry. He made his way downstairs and was greeted by Aunt B. She’d been up all night, patrolling the grounds surrounding the farmhouse. Still wearing her battle dress, and now sporting a camouflage face, she stared at Barry, and made him jump.
“ Want some porridge?” she asked. “ Got some boiled bacon in the fridge, to add to it.”
“ Why can’t you ever do anything normal?” asked Barry.
“ What’s that then?” asked B, and she meant it.
“ Forget it,” said Barry, who decided to play it safe, and did himself some toast. He sat at the table and started to eat, when Penny arrived.
“ Good morning,” she said. “ How’s your head?” (1)
“ Fine,” said Barry, not remembering much. “ Not really sure what happened.”
“ Me either,” said Penny. “ You’ll have to ask Zed. Where is he?”
“ Still in bed,” said Barry.
“ Not for long,” said Aunt Betty, who picked up a double-barrelled shotgun that she’d been cleaning the night before. She pointed the gun at the ceiling and fired both barrels. There was a huge bang, leaving a big hole where the light fitting used to be. The ceiling debris came down, and showered the kitchen table, all over Barry’s toast.
“ Brilliant,” he said, but decided not to do some more. Even toast is too dangerous, he thought.
“ What the hell was that?” asked Zed, as he walked in the kitchen.
“ Your wake up call,” said B.
“ Ever tried alarm clocks,” said Zed, sarcastically.
“ Don’t be daft,” said Aunt B, “ they’ll never catch on.”
“ Nutter,” said Zed.
“ Hello,” said Penny, trying to put yesterday behind her. “ Did you sleep ok?” she asked.
“ Yeah, no problem. Zed bed,” said Zed.
Barry laughed.
“ I wish I’d thought of that first,” he said.
Penny didn’t get the joke. She was watching Aunt B, who was reloading the shotgun. What is she going to do next? she thought. Aunt B shut the gun after it was loaded, put the safety catch on and stood it up in the corner, as if nothing had happened.
Mad, thought Penny.
Absolutely mad.
***
They heard the sound, but they couldn’t work out what it was, or from which direction it was coming. Penny and the two boys went out into the garden, where Justtin was looking south.
“ What is it?” asked Barry, knowing he would get a responsible answer from the robot.
“ Helicopter,” said Justtin, “ coming this way, from the south. Rolls Royce engines, triple rotor. Standard Ministry issue. Four occupants. We’re safe.”
Maybe this is why Justtin is so important to us, thought Barry.
“ At least their on our side,” said Zed.
“ Side?” said Penny. “ I’d forgotten about that.”
“ Easy mistake to make, but this about us and them now. Them being the people we are trying to protect Barry and his folks from,” said Zed, who looked at Justtin for support. Justtin got the message.
“ Perfectly correct,” he said. “ I take it then, Penny, that you are with us on this.”
“ Abso-bloody-lutely,” she had to shout, as the huge shiny jet-black helicopter came over the top of the trees, and started to descend towards the garden.
Just like the cars that keep coming and going, thought Barry, but no tinted windows.
They all moved back to give the pilot as much room as possible, and as the helicopter came down, getting closer to the ground, Barry could see the occupants. As Justtin had said, there were four people inside, including the pilot, but Barry only got a quick glimpse, as the dust started to swirl all around.
The whirlybird finally landed, and the children stared at it, to see who got out.
Barry wiped the dust out of his eyes with the back of his hand, and watched the helicopter doors open. Seconds later, three men approached him, wearing dark glasses. Barry also noticed that they all had earpieces. He assumed that this was some kind of new walkie-talkie system.
I’ve got to get me some of those he thought, amazingly at the same time as Zed.
“ Agent Hercules. Nice to see you again,” said the man who seemed to be the one in charge.
Penny sniggered. Hercules, she thought. It still makes me laugh.
“ Hi,” said Zed. “ How are you?”
“ Good,” said the man. “ And you must be Barry Trotter,” he said, looking at Barry.
“ Yes, sir,” said Barry. “But…”
“ But who am I?” the man got in before Barry. “ My name is Jacob’s. I’m one of your father’s oldest and closest friends. Well, used to be.”
“ Really?” said Barry, a little confused. “ I’ve not heard your name before.”
“ That’s because, as I think Zed may have already explained, your parents wanted you as far away from all this as they could get you. But times are changing, Barry, and at the moment, they could probably do with as much help as they can get.”
“ Have you really known my dad all that time?” asked Barry, who never once took his eye off the man’s earpiece.
“ Of course,” said Jacob’s. “ When you were little, I used to come to your house in Romford, all the time. But then, different missions kept your father and I apart. We never lost contact, but we hadn’t seen each other for a few years, until recently, of course.”
“ You’ve seen him?” said Barry, wide eyed.
“ Yes. We have your mum and dad in hiding, and before you ask, they’re both fine.
Barry was overwhelmed. He had so many things he wanted to say, and so many questions. He didn’t know where to start. He was glad they were ok, but where were they. When would he see them again? What did they have for lunch? Questions, questions, questions.
Agent Jacobs had anticipated this, and with a nod to the other two men, he and Barry made their way to the farmhouse, alone.
As they entered the kitchen, Aunt B, who had just finished clearing the ceiling away, said, “ Hello Jack. Haven’t seen you for a while.”
“ Hello B,” said the agent. “ Trust we find you well.”
“ Mustn’t grumble, deary,” she said in her usual manner.
“ Good, good,” said Jacobs. “ Give us half an hour. There’s a good girl.”
“ Right you are,” she said. “ I’m off to the village anyway. It’s market day. There’s always a bargain to be found on market day.”
“ Happy hunting,” said Jacobs.
They watched Aunt Betty leave the kitchen, and Barry suddenly became very apprehensive. He hadn’t been left on his own with an adult for over a week. Well, you can hardly call Aunt B a grown up, can you?
“ Right then, master Trotter,” Agent Jacobs began. “ You must have a few questions, and I’m willing to answer them as best I can. Ministry allowing, that is.”
“ What does that mean?” asked Barry.
“ Your parents mean a lot to the Ministry. I can only tell you what is necessary. The right information in the wrong hands is a deadly thing. But I can tell you the simple stuff. What do you want to know?”
“ Can you tell me where they are?” Barry asked for starters.
“ That’s a no-no,” said Jacobs. “ Try something else.”
Barry was confused. The most obvious question he had, and that had met a brick wall.
“ Are they ok?” he tried.
“ Yes, they’re both fine. As I said just now, they’re both in hiding, and as long as they stay where they are, then they’re safe.”
“ And,” Barry paused, “ that would be where, exactly.”
“ Persistent little bugger, aren’t you?” said the agent.
“ Can’t blame me for trying,” said Barry.
“ If they are found, they’re as good as dead. So I am not going to give away where the are. All you need to know is, that they are safe.”
“ I know. I just miss them, that’s all.”
“ I understand that Barry. We have to keep them moving, to put our foreign friends off the scent. So even if I did tell you where they were, they would be moved within a few days. Pointless really, isn’t it?”
“ I guess so, but are they far away? Surely you can tell me that much?”
“ Yes, I’m afraid they are a long way from here, which is a blessing in disguise. It means you should be left alone.”
“ Yes, but for how long?”
“ This is by far the best possible place for you. You must realise that.”
“ I feel safe here, if that’s what you mean?”
“ Plus you have Justtin. Your dad designed him to look after you. That is basically his sole purpose.”
“ Yeah, he’s cool,” said Barry.
“ He also has a built in detection device. If your folks come within range, Justtin will know.”
“ Yes, I know. He told me how it works,” said Barry.
He listened to Jacobs, but wasn’t really taking any of it in. He wasn’t learning anything of interest, and even if it was interesting, he wouldn’t have heard it. Barry had something else on his mind.
“ Will I ever see them again?” he asked, with tears beginning to well up.
“ Stop, Barry,” said Jacobs. “ I hate to see kids cry. Yes, we will get you back together as soon as we can. But for now, just try and imagine them being, you know, like, away.”
“ What? You mean, imagine they’re on holiday,” said Barry.
“ Yes, that’s it. That has to be easier, doesn’t it?”
“ That’s easy for you to say,” said Barry. “If my folks were on holiday, at least I would know where they were. More to the point, I would be with them.”
“ Fair point,” said Jacobs, as he thought to himself, the lad is brighter than I thought.
Barry looked at Jacobs and wondered what was next. He didn’t have to wait long, as Jacobs pulled a small packet from his inside pocket and passed it to Barry.
“ This is for you,” he said.
The front had no address, but in the bottom right hand corner, were the words…photos, do not bend. Yes they bloody do, thought Barry, as he tore at the flap at one end. Inside were two photos, and Barry pulled them out to have a look.
“ Careful Barry. You’ll tear them,” said the agent man.
Barry slowly removed the photos from the package, and viewed two small black and white pictures of his parents.
One was his dad, standing on a castle wall, with his back to the sea. So tranquil, Barry thought. He wished he was there, now. In the other photo, was his mum. This isn’t right, thought Barry. It looked as though his mum’s image had been super-imposed on a postcard. He knew that Justtin would be able to run it through his infrared scanner, and if there was anything wrong, Justtin would find it. Barry decided not to say anything.
“ Thanks,” said Barry, trying to sound as genuine as he could.
“ There’s also this,” said Jacobs, as he handed Barry a small box.
“ What is it?” asked Barry.
“ I don’t know, but your dad said you have to install it in the robot.”
Barry opened the box and looked inside. There was a small microchip and a note, hand written by his dad, inside. He read the note.
“ Dearest Barry, I hope you are ok. Please find enclosed a new chip for Justtin. Remove Justtin’s front panel, take out old chip, and replace with new one. Justtin will do the rest. Lots of love, dad.”
Barry looked at the note. Was that it? Oh well, he thought. Better than a kick up the arse, with a hobnailed boot.
“ Everything ok?” asked Jacobs.
“ Just a pity it didn’t say more.”
“ It must be hard for you, but I’m sure it won’t be for long. We’ll get you back together soon, you’ll see.”
“ Well, at the moment, all I have of my dad, is the photo, and a couple of notes. I wish I could go home and get a few more bits.”
“ You know that’s impossible. They are watching your house, and we are watching them.”
Barry thought about those black cars with the tinted windows, and slapped his forehead.
“ What’s up?” asked Jacobs.
“ Just thought of something,” said Barry. “ How long have the Ministry been watching the house?”
“ Quite a while, why?”
“ I’ve just had a flashback of all those cars. It suddenly dawned on me, what they were. They were always there. Well, it seems like always, anyway.”
“ Well, while you’re here, you’re safe. Especially with Justtin, Aunt Betty and Agent Hercules around. Have you trained with the fire arms yet?”
“ Yeah, a bit,” Barry lied. He thought it pointless to mention his bent finger.
“ Well, every little bit helps, but let’s hope we don’t have to use them.”
“ Me too,” said Barry. If he was scared before, he was crapping himself now.
Barry and Agent Jacobs talked for a while longer, but they seemed to go round in circles, asking and answering the same questions.
Justtin was talking to a worried looking pilot.
He’d seen robots before, lots of them. It was part of his job, to know what was going on. He was up to date with all the modern things that had come to the Ministry, so robots were not new. But they weren’t meant to talk, and that’s what worried him. This was a first. He was having a conversation with a seven-foot monster, and worst of all, he couldn’t tell anyone, having signed the official secrets act. His grandchildren would never know. And nobody else would believe him.
Zed and Penny were also talking, but they weren’t worrying anyone.
They were chatting to the other agents, Stevens and Bain’s. They swapped stories about a whole host of things, and talked about the task in hand. They all agreed that Barry’s safety was paramount. Agent Stevens told Zed all about the security measures being taken, to prevent a possible attack on Barry’s parents. Zed mentioned that the weapons had arrived, and that he had checked them over, and everything was in working order. Bain’s spent most of his time with his right hand up to his ear.
“ What’s he doing?” asked Penny.
“ Listening to the big wide world,” said Stevens. “ It’s a state of the art two way radio. Yours have been ordered.”
“ Cool,” said Zed.
“ They work on the same principal as the walkie-talkies that we sent you, but the frequency is stronger, and that increases the range. They should be here within a week, complete with operation instructions.”
“ Excellent,” said Zed.
Bain’s stepped forward and whispered into Steven’s ear. Stevens got up.
“ Meeting over people,” he said. “ They’re coming out.”
Everybody turned towards the house, and watched Agent Jacobs and Barry come out into the sunlight. Barry noticed his shoelace was undone, so he stopped to tie it up.
It’s a start, thought Barry.
“ Any other question?” asked Jacobs.
“ Yes,” said Barry after a short think. “ How come you never see baby pigeons?”
***
As they watched the helicopter disappear into the distance, Barry stood there, rubbing the back of his head.
“ Ok,” said Zed, “ did you learn anything?”
“ Yes,” said Barry. “ Not to ask stupid questions.”
“ No, I mean about your folks.”
“ Oh, er, yeah, er, no. Well, only that they’re safe. But dad sent me this,” said Barry, and showed them the note.
“ You ain’t sticking nothing in me,” said Justtin, after Penny had read the note out for all to hear.
“ Why not?” said Barry, a little miffed. “ Just remember who built you in the first place.”
“ What do you think it does?” asked Zed.
“ Guess we’ll never know,” said an uncooperative Justtin.
“ Justtin,” said Barry.
“ Yes,” replied the robot.
“ Can you hear me?” asked Barry.
“ Of course I hear you. Why?”
“ Because I have a question for you.”
“ I hope it was as easy as the last one.”
“ Well, you should get the answer. Are you ready?” said Barry.
“ Yes. Fire away,” said Justtin, hoping he could use his huge database for something fascinating.
“ Right,” said Barry. “ Who switched you on?”
“ Ah! The easy ones first, eh?” said Justtin. “ You did, of course. Why?”
“ Because, if you haven’t already noticed, I can quite easily switch you off again. Now, are we going to behave?”
“ Do I have a choice?”
“ Yes. The new chip, or a hand grenade, inserted somewhere where it would do a lot of damage. Your choice.”
“ You wouldn’t?” said a worried Justtin.
“ Try me,” said Barry, feeling he had already won his little battle with the robot. “ You trusted my dad, and now you must learn to trust me.”
“ But, do you have to turn me off to do it?”
“ Yes, but it will only take a few minutes, and then we’ll have you up and running again.”
“ I don’t like it. You might leave me switched off on purpose.”
“ Only if you continue to be a pain,” said Barry. “ Now, are we going to have a new chip, or what?”
“ Under protest,” said Justtin.
“ Sounds like you don’t have a choice,” said Zed.
“ Shut up, you,” said Justtin.
Barry patted the robot on the back.
“ Come on, Jus. Let’s get this sorted out.”
“ If you insist,” said Justtin.
“ Wow,” said Penny, impressed with the way Barry had dealt with the robot.
“ Cool,” said Zed.
“ Big bully,” said Justtin.
***
“ Ooooh! I’ve come over all unnecessary,” said Justtin.
“ What do you mean?” asked Barry.
“ Well, now you’ve fitted that new chip, I feel a bit odd.”
“ You’ll have to explain yourself,” said Barry. “ I’m not sure I understand.”
“ Me too. All this new data. It’s like I’ve been born again.”
Born again tincan, thought Barry.
“ There’s just so much new information.”
“ Anything useful?” asked Barry.
“ Lots. Go on, ask me a question. Anything you like.”
“ Ok. Where’s my dad?”
“ Go on. Anything you like.”
“ I just did.”
“ Ok, anything other than that.”
“ Why not that?”
“ Because I don’t know the answer.”
“ But you said anything.”
“ Yeah, sorry about that. Let’s try something else.”
Barry remembered the photo of his mum that he had in his back pocket and gave it to Justtin.
“ Ok,” said Barry, “ Well, if you can’t tell me where my dad is, then maybe you can tell me if there’s anything wrong with this photo.”
“ Ah, your mum,” said Justtin.
“ You recognised my mum,” said Barry, astonished.
“ Yes. It’s the new chip. I think dad got it right this time.”
“ That’s brilliant,” said Barry. “ So what about the photo?”
“ Oooh, this will be fun,” said Justtin, as he scanned the photo. “ What am I looking for.”
“ I’m not sure. It looked like it was super-imposed. What do you think?”
Justtin tried to look disappointed, but his metal face wouldn’t bend the way he wanted.
“ If there is anything wrong with this photograph, I can’t find it. It’s just bad quality. Sorry.”
“ So much for the new chip,” said Barry.
“ Your not going to take it away again, are you? You can’t. It’s amazing. I now have night vision. My scanners have been enhanced. I can now sense any of you, up to a radius of seventy-five miles. Please don’t take it away.”
“ I won’t. It never even crossed my mind,” said Barry talking calmly. He thought for a minute, and it occurred to Barry that he didn’t know where Zed was.
“ So,” he said. “ You should be able to tell me where Zed is.”
“ Er, no,” said Justtin.
“ What do you mean, no? I thought you said you could pick any of us up, within a range of seventy-five miles.”
“ And I meant it, but my sensors are not picking him up. Or Penny for that matter.”
“ Where the bloody hell are they? They’re supposed to be looking after me, aren’t they?”
“ Good point. But I’m easily your best chance of safety.”
“ Yeah, I know, but it would be nice to know where they were.”
Barry sat down, and he had the hump.
“ Has the bike gone?” he asked the robot.
“ Yep.”
“ How can you tell, without looking?”
“ Because I can sense Zed and Penny. They’re on the bike and heading back this way. They’ve only just come into range, so they should be with us in about an hour.”
“ You’re making it up.”
“ I guess we must learn to trust each other. This new chip is working better than I could have imagined.”
“ Blimey,” said Barry. “ Is there anything you can’t do?”
“ Stairs. I have a major problem with stairs.”
“ Oh!"
***
By the time Zed had dropped Penny back at her house, and got himself back to Aunt Betty’s place, it was getting dark. Barry had been pacing up and down, but as soon as Zed arrived, he pretended to be cool.
“ Hey buddy,” he said. “ Where have you been?”
“ McDonalds,” said Zed.
Barry was flabbergasted.
“ But the nearest one is in London.”
“ That’s why it took so long. I was gagging for a Big Mac. I’ve brought you one. Sorry, it’s probably a bit cold now. I also got you a root beer, but Penny squashed the cup, and it went all over a passing car. We didn’t half laugh.”
“ Funny,” said Barry.
Zed gave him the soggy bag with the cold Big Mac in it.
“ Thanks,” said Barry, not meaning it.
“ I also took Penny to see my folks,” said Zed.
“ Oooh!” said Justtin. “ Is this the shape of things to come?”
“ You’ve been back to Romford?” said Barry beginning to lose his cool. “ Just like that. Without telling me.”
“ We did tell B. You were so engrossed in getting Justtin sorted out, you wouldn’t have heard us if we’d told you.”
“ Like I’m going to get an ounce of sense out of Aunt Betty. I take it that everything is ok at home.”
“ Yeah, no wuckin’ furries,” said Zed, in a bad Australian accent.
“ Well, since you’ve been gone, I managed to fit the new chip in Justtin. He seems to think it’s an improvement.
“ How you doing, Justtin?” asked Zed.
“ Cool, dude,” said Justtin.
“ Blimey, that’s different. He’s really changed.”
“ Nothing we can’t handle,” said Barry.
“ Well, if that’s all,” said Zed, yawning. “It’s been a long day, and I’m off to bed. Night all.”
“ Good night,” said Barry, relieved that his friend was back in one piece.
“ Later, dude,” said Justtin.
(1) I once asked a friend this. She said she'd never had any complaints. Thanks Jane...love you..xx