Hot Bananas

…with ice cream


The Doclopedia #3,024

366 Days, 366 Paragraphs: #263

Chapter Thirty Seven: Madness Takes Its Toll

The quadcycles were racing along at top speed, with all four pedalers on each one going full speed. They were dripping sweat, but did not dare complain or slow down, for fear of what Master Porcero might do.

On one of the cycles carrying supplies, Curator Zao Kemlor was thinking that this was not what she had trained for. Not only were they becoming exhausted, they were not getting enough rest and whatever was bothering Master Porcero was pushing him into madness. For several hours now, he had been frantically sending messages out via his comslate, but every 45 minutes to an hour, he would get one that made him scream and curse and rant incoherently.

Zao could tell that the rest of the cyclists were concerned, too, but didn’t know what to do. Did they, like her, suspect that the rebellion might be going badly? If that were the case, what would they do? Most of them had been training in secret for this mission over the course of two years. They had no combat skills or even weapons to fight, nor did they have much experience out in the world. Could they return to the Museum and beg for mercy? Certainly, if they stayed with Porcero, they might be at the mercy of a raving lunatic. Perhaps when they stopped to rest, she would discuss it with her teammates.

In his seat, High Curator Porcero stared wild eyed at his comslate. Soon, another taunting message would come. They had been coming all day, calling him names, telling him that he had failed, that his Seekers were giving up, that there were spies and traitors all around him.

They kept mentioning secret weapons and agents and strange machines that could go where he could not. He wondered how they had defeated him. Betrayal, of course. There had been spies in his ranks, maybe from the beginning. Mertina must have been one, and that secretive Curator Imkani, too. No telling how many Trainees had turned on him.

Were there spies and saboteurs here, on his cycling teams? He didn’t think so, but then, he had been wrong before. And what about Hadolfus? He seemed like an arrogant fool, but maybe that was just a front. Maybe he was even now heading towards that relic, intent on using it against him. That thought caused Porcero to scream like an angry animal. The cyclists studiously ignored it.

He was just getting ready to tell all Seekers to keep an eye on each other when his comslate buzzed. With shaking hands, he held it like it was a deadly snake, then screamed again as a new message popped up saying, “We have people in every village watching you, you filthy traitor. We have eyes everywhere. You won’t escape us!”

As Master Porcero screamed and yelled at his comslate, Zao started to think more of her future than of his.