Adam Brodie and the monster from the dark planet

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Adam and Brigitte were speeding towards the beehive building that was House Quasar. It was a half day. In her hands Brigitte had a small device built in the machine shop and she assured Adam it would find Jake.

"You're not bothered by the speed we're going anymore," said Adam.

"Matron gave me some pills for travel sickness. As you can see they work a treat. Not even slightly sick."

There was a television screen on the dashboard to allow the driver to see traffic behind him, and the android driving the buggy was reflected in the screen.

"What's it like being an android?" said Adam.

"I'm a machine. If a part of me breaks it can be repaired or replaced and that's the best of it."

"That's a trick I'd like to do," said Adam.

The android brought the buggy to a stop. The doors on either side slid open.

"No you wouldn't. I may be near indestructible but I'm everybody's dogsbody. Delver this message, drive this so and so to such and such, clean out the guttering, do this, do that. I'm on call twenty four seven but do I even get a thank you?"

"Do you?"

"What do you think?"

The android sped away in the buggy and the two children turned to House Quasar.

"I almost feel sorry for him," said Brigitte. "Then I remember he's just a more complicated toaster."

They entered the building.

"What do you two want?" said the doorframe over the doorway to Jake's room.

"Guess," said Adam.

The doorframe sighed heavily. "Just don't steal anything."

"It's my brother's property anyway."

The doors swept open and the two children entered the room. Brigitte produced her device which she called a sniffer.

"I need an article of Jake's clothing."

Adam swept his hand across a set of draws and the top draw slid open. Adam selected a pair of socks. Brigitte opened the top of the sniffer.

"Stick them in here."

Adam pushed the socks into a small compartment in the sniffer and Brigitte pushed down the lid. The sniffer got to work and Adam could hear it sniffing away.

Peering at a readout on the mechanism's side Brigitte waved the sniffer about the room. She looked at the readout and shook her head.

"I just don't understand it. The sniffer says he was here but he just vanished. It doesn't make sense."

"Let me have that."

She handed Adam the sniffer and he waved the device around the room as she had and the sniffer sniffed away and the readout said nothing.

"Is it broken?" he said. "Does it even work?"

Brigitte looked concerned. "It should work."

Adam looked at Jake's bed and then he was struck by a sudden thought. Could Jake have been snatched from his bed by something underneath? Just as he had almost once been abducted. Crouching down he took a peek under the bed. He put the sniffer before him into the darkness and there was no response from the device.