Learning to Dance

“Sorry, Commander. We don’t have any time to waste -
we have to get out of this complex and back to the Arrow,”
said Pedro. “Follow me - I mean, if you will, sir.”
Up followed, but only because he didn’t have a sweet
clue where in the complex the Graali had transported him
and didn’t see any other way around it. They had barely
made it around the corner when a robot blocked their path
and raised its arm. Taz and Pedro both cried out as their
zappers and Pedro’s scanner were pulled from their hands
and flew at an alarming rate toward the robot. But perhaps
the robot had miscalculated its magnetic pull, for just as the
zappers reached it, one of the triggers went off and the
robot exploded in a spectacular display of stupidity.
“Robots de puta madre!” burst Taz. Now they were
weaponless and without a map.
Two more robots rounded the corner after the first, and
Up threw himself toward them, aiming for the weak points
in the neck and the waist. Sparks flew, and the robots
shuddered, sinking to the floor.
“Let’s go,” he said, and both Taz and the Garbage-sniffer
fell into line behind him.
Without the scanner, they had to rely on Pedro’s memory
to know which way to turn, which proved to be not-so-
accurate. Before long, they found themselves staring at a
blank wall with a single large window in the centre.
Looking out the window showed them nothing but a three
story drop into some acridly coloured rose bushes and a
fast-moving yellow river. A dead end.
A metallic sound of marching behind them made them
turn. Two dozen robots, easily, were headed their way, and
them with no weapons to speak of. Both Taz and Pedro
looked at him.
There was nothing else for it.
“After you, Garbage-sniffer!” said Up, gesturing at the