Adam Christopher - The Age Atomic

She swore, leaning against Rad as the car turned. Looking out his window he saw the road slide past sideways as the car spun around. Ahead, the road was blocked by a huge group of robots, much larger than the pack they’d charged near the theater. These robots were silver, uniform, marching in a slow step in perfect time. In the Harlem night dozens of red eyes shone like coals.

Rad clung to the handle above his door as Jennifer pushed the huge vehicle to its limit. They shot down a side street, the side mirror on Rad’s side clipping the iced brick of the building on the corner. Then Jennifer pulled left, heading south via a different route. But it was no good; there were more of the warehouse robots blocking the road. Jennifer swore again and took the next left, turning just in time to kiss the first row of machine men with the rear of the car. The vehicle jumped and Rad bumped his head against the ceiling.

“Looks like they’ve rolled out the cavalry for us,” said Rad as the car skidded on the slick road as Jennifer pushed it down the next street. “Ah, this isn’t good.”

The road ahead narrowed alarmingly, but that wasn’t the worst part. A building had collapsed across the street, blocking their way entirely.

Jennifer jammed on the brakes and the car jackknifed, sliding on the ice. Rad grabbed the handle above his door with two hands as the car turned like the hands of a clock. Rad could see Kane lying flat on the floor in the backseat, thrown there by the sudden braking, and Jennifer’s hands were on the wheel, moving it, coaxing the car around, trying to regain control.

The rear of the vehicle collided with the rubble on the road, and the car kicked, the wheels spinning. Jennifer gunned the accelerator, her hands moving the gearshift, but Rad could hear the wheels spin on the ice and dirt even above the roar of the engine. The car jerked a little, but a wheel was caught on something. Rad and Jennifer both strained to see out of the back window as Kane pulled himself up. Jennifer played the accelerator, and the car rocked gently from side to side, but they weren’t going anywhere, not anymore.

Kane pointed forward.

“Ah, guys?”

Rad and Jennifer spun around to see. The end of the street from which they’d just come was now filled with robots. There was five hundred yards separating the group and the car, but the gap was closing fast. The robots marched forward, their pace slow but sure. They were going to box them in.

“Last resort,” muttered Rad. He wound his window down and raised himself up on the seat until he could get his whole upper body out of the car. He pointed the gun, not sure what to aim at, and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened. Rad glanced at the weapon, but aside from the trigger it was featureless, with no other controls.

“Thought you said this gizmo was recharged?” he yelled.

“It should be,” came Jennifer’s voice from inside the car. Rad frowned and tried again. Nothing. The weapon was dead.

“Well, ain’t that swell,” said Rad.

“Get back in!”

Rad obliged, the silver gun useless in his lap. The car’s engine barked and the whole vehicle shook, confirming Rad’s fears that there was more damage than a jammed wheel — until he realized the sound was from outside the car. A second later, the roadway was filled with a bright white light. As Rad’s eyes adjusted, two wide beams stabbed downwards. They swept back and forth across the road before one focused on the car, the other on the robots. The robots came to a halt and as one their red eyes pointed to the sky as they all looked up.

“What the?” Rad and Jennifer leaned over the dashboard to see, while Kane fumbled to get a window open in the back.

Something large descended onto the street, throwing a downwind that blew frost up from the road in huge, glittering clouds of particles that glinted like stars in the spotlights. The object moved over the car, towards the robots, then turned with surprising speed and touched down. It was an airship of some kind, although not one of the now-retired police aerostats. This was more like…

Rad’s eyes went wide. More like the Nimrod , the airship of Captain Carson. Rad raised a hand to cut out the glare and caught a glimpse of silver and metal

This thing was much larger than the Nimrod . And the last time Rad had seen the Captain’s explorer craft, it was jammed next to the bulk of an Enemy airship, the pair locked together and piloted out into the fog by the Captain’s companion, Byron.

Jennifer floored the accelerator with a yell and the car sprang free of the rubble, skidding to the right as the spinning wheels hit the ice. She turned, hard, but the road was too slick and although the car began to turn, it was still moving forward, towards the ship. Whatever it was, they were going to hit it, and Rad was fairly sure the car really was going to be wrecked this time.

Then the light cut out. For a moment the darkness was disorienting. Then the green of the car’s one remaining headlight flooded the view ahead, like there was suddenly a wall right in front of them. Rad flinched, throwing himself to one side instinctively, and the green light faded as the car continued to turn. There was a soft, deep thud as the car hit something and came to a stop.

Rad pulled himself upright.

They were inside the airship — it had opened a cargo door. The white spotlights illuminating the street were now out beyond the bay doors. Ahead, Rad could see the rubble of the collapsed building.

The car had collided with a collection of wooden crates and sacks of something softer, destroying several boxes and spilling the contents of the sacks. The air was filled with a harsh scraping — the sound, Rad realized, of the car’s stuck engine. Jennifer killed it, and the floor of the cargo bay tipped. The car slid against the wall, and the view of the road outside vanished as the airship lifted off and the cargo bay doors began to close.

Lights were thrown on outside. Rad looked around, and saw Jennifer and Kane were as surprised as he was that they been suddenly, unexpectedly, rescued from a dead end.

“Mr Bradley, a pleasure, as always,” came a voice, metallic and echoing, coming from all around them. The voice over the ship’s PA filled the cargo bay.

Rad felt Kane looking at him.

“Is that…?”

Rad nodded. Then he opened his door and swung a foot out. He leaned forward and looked at the cargo bay’s high ceiling. The place vibrated as the ship’s propeller engines carried them up and out to safety.

“Captain Carson, you sonovabitch.”

The PA squawked as the voice laughed.

“My dear detective, such a way with words,” said Carson. “Now, come up to the main deck, all of you. Follow the stairs. I’ll open the doors.”

Rad cracked a grin and slapped the top of Jennifer’s seat. “About time I started to count these blessings we all seem to have. Come on.”

He swung himself out of the car, Kane right behind him. Rad pointed to the narrow metal staircase ahead of them, leading to a walkway that ran around the hold halfway between the floor and ceiling. On the walkway at the back of the hold was the bulkhead door.

Kane took a step forward, but Rad turned back to the car. Jennifer hadn’t moved from the driver’s seat.

Rad peered in to the car’s interior. “You coming?”

She nodded, and Rad helped her out. But as she walked forward he kept his hand on the small of her back.

They had a lot of talking to do, all of them.

Especially Special Agent Jennifer Jones.

Carson led the way from the Nimrod, unbuckling himself as soon as the craft had touched down in the dark tunnel. He had hardly spoken except to bark the order to follow as he hobbled off the flight deck, wooden leg and wooden stick banging on the floor. Rad was right behind, grateful that his old friend was still alive but wondering what the hell had happened to him out beyond the fog. Along with the wooden leg and Santa Claus beard, Captain Carson was older by a decade.