Hamish X and the Hollow Mountain (18 page)

In the ring, Mimi ducked a wild swing by Aidan and then stepped up close to him while he was vulnerable and drove her stick into his back. Aidan fell on his face and Mimi pinned him to the ground. He struggled, but Mimi held him fast.

“Who's the best?” Mimi crowed.

“Let me up,” Aidan growled.

“Who's the best?”

Aidan grimly tried to rise. Mimi refused to let him get up. “Just say it: Mimi is the best.” The children were laughing and shouting.
“Mimi! Mimi! Mimi!”
The chant was taken up quickly and soon everyone was clapping.

Hamish X saw that Aidan was humiliated and he decided it was time to put a stop to it. He was about to open his mouth when Cara's voice cut through the din. “Let him up.” The children stopped chanting. The girl strode into the ring, her face like thunder, and stood a few metres from Mimi. Mimi's eyes narrowed.

“Ya have ta fight yer brother's battles?”

“Let him up.” Cara's voice was measured and strong. “You won. A bad winner is just as nasty as a bad loser. Let him up.” The crowd was completely quiet now.

Mimi looked at Cara. At last, she lifted the stick from Aidan's back. She reached down and took his hand, pulling the boy to his feet. “I'm sorry. I git a little carried away.”

Aidan shook his head and laughed. “You're amazing. You should be leading the training sessions.”

“Uh-uh. I ain't no teacher. I ain't got the patience.”

Cara picked up Aidan's stick casually. Then with blinding speed, she drove it between Mimi's feet and twisted. Mimi fell hard on her bottom. Everyone in the crowd crowed and hooted. Cara handed the stick to Aidan.

“Never let your guard down,” Cara said.

“You sneaky …” Mimi leapt to her feet, her stick at the ready. Cara bunched her fists. Hamish X stepped into her path, grabbing the stick.

“Mimi, she's right. You let your guard down.” Mimi tugged at the stick but Hamish X held it fast. The two girls glared at each other.

Aidan laid a hand on Mimi's shoulder. “Mimi, I think we've done enough demonstration for today. I admire your tenacity. You managed to beat me in judo and in stick fighting. That's never happened before.” He grabbed her wrist and held her hand in the air. “Three cheers for Mimi Jones! Undisputed Champion of Hand-to-Hand Combat in All of Hollow Mountain!”

The crowd erupted. “Hip! Hip! Hooray! Hip! Hip! Hooray! Hip! Hip! Hooray!”

Mimi's shoulders dropped. She released the stick, letting Hamish X take it from her hands. Looking around
at the cheering children, she allowed herself to smile. She sketched a comical bow to her admirers.

Aidan waved his hands. “All right. That's all. You have things to do, all of you. The show's over.”

Chapter 15

The children groaned but started to disperse, some heading to the workshops and others for the elevator and the stairs. Soon, Mimi and Hamish X were alone with Cara and Aidan. Aidan rubbed his buttock. “Ow. That really stings. You sure pack a wallop, Mimi.”

“I gotta learn to pull those a little bit. I get a little riled up.”

Cara rolled her eyes. In a fair imitation of Mimi's Texan accent, she said, “Silly ol' me. I don't know ma own strength.”

Mimi tensed. Aidan interceded. “Cara, I think you've done enough. Let's go get something to eat.” Cara flipped her hair in Mimi's direction and the brother and sister headed off towards the barracks across the courtyard.

“Ooo. She burns ma biscuits.”

“She sure knows how to push your buttons.”

“What did I ever do ta her?”

“Nothing, Mimi. She's had a hard time and all she has is Aidan. She's very protective of him.”

“I didn't hit 'im that hard.”

Hamish X laughed, remembering his first day in the cheese factory in Windcity. “No, you've hit me harder.”

Mimi sat down on the flagstones and pulled a knapsack into her lap. “I gotta say, I love the fightin' classes. I'm thinkin' I'd like to be a Guard, mebbe, if we end up stayin' here.” She pulled her father's ball glove out of the knapsack, the smell of seasoned leather filling the air. She extracted a baseball from the pack and began whacking the
ball into the pocket of the glove. “Mebbe I could even teach people how ta play ball. Start a team.”

Hamish X scuffed at the floor with one of his black boots. “It's nice to see you're fitting in here. I wish I could say the same.”

Mimi looked at Hamish X and frowned. He didn't seem to be the same boy who had led them on their trek to defeat Cheesebeard and his Cheese Pirates of Snow Monkey Island. That boy was confident and happy. He never got down even in the face of incredible odds. But ever since he'd undergone the process in the King of Switzerland's medical laboratory, he lacked the spark he once had. He hardly spoke to anyone and he kept to himself. Guiltily, Mimi realized that she hadn't been spending much time with him, absorbed as she was with the training sessions in the Guard barracks. Parveen had been preoccupied as well with his newly recovered sister. And Mr. Kipling and Mrs. Francis were spending all their time getting ready for the wedding. Anyone who had been his close friend was now too busy to spend time with Hamish X.

Mimi stuffed the ball and glove back into her pack. She slung the bag over her shoulder and picked up her fighting stick. She put an arm around Hamish X's shoulders. “Hamish X, I'm sorry I ain't been such a good friend. I know ya got a lot to sort out and we ain't really talked much.”

“No, Mimi.” Hamish X shook his head. “You have to live your life. I know you've got a lot to do and I want you to enjoy your new life here.” Hamish X looked into her face and his golden eyes were filled with sadness. “I thought it would help me to remember, but it only makes things worse. I don't know where I fit in any
more. I want to know where I come from and what I'm supposed to do.”

“Have you talked to the King about it?”

“That's just it. Ever since I woke up he's been too busy to see me. Every time I try to go and see him, George tells me he isn't available or to come back later. I don't understand. I thought he'd tell me everything. It's maddening.”

As they walked towards the barracks where the showers were, Mimi tried to cheer him up.

“I think you oughtta cut the King some slack. He's got a lot on his mind.”

“I'm sure he does,” Hamish X agreed. He tapped his own forehead sharply. “So do I. I have a mind that I don't know what to do with. You, the King, Parveen, everybody here knows who they are, at least. I need some help. I'm just feeling so … lost.”

Mimi stopped outside the barracks. Guards were walking in and out of the large metal doors. She grabbed Hamish X by the shoulders and looked into the face of her friend. “You ain't lost. We're right here with ya and we know who ya are even if you don't.”

“Oh yeah? Who am I?”

“You're my friend, Hamish X. Ain't nuthin' gonna change that. Not the ODA or the King of Switzerland. Nobody.” She hugged him to her.

Hamish X laughed and squirmed out of her grip. “Ew. You really need a shower.”

Mimi raised her stick in a mock threat. Hamish X danced away. “See you at the wedding.” He set off across the courtyard in the direction of the technical laboratories. Mimi lowered the stick and watched him until he turned the corner, a line of worry creasing the bridge of
her nose. “I gotta spend some more time with 'im. After the weddin'.”

She pushed open the metal door and went in, whistling to herself and thinking about what she might call a baseball team.

Chapter 16

Hamish X was in a less buoyant mood. He crossed the courtyard, skirting King Stephen's Stair
⁴⁹
and heading for a pair of large white doors. Written across the doors in red lettering was “Technical Department.” Mimi called the place “the gadget factory.” It was where all the clever inventions the King and his people used in their struggle against the ODA were manufactured. Most of the children here were older. They were chosen for their skill with machines and electronics, using special aptitude tests devised and refined by the Kings and Queens of Switzerland down through the years.

As Hamish X walked through the doors the temperature dropped by a few degrees. He'd come here often for tests since that first night when the technical team had revived him. They wanted to make sure that his condition remained stable and that he felt no ill effects. He couldn't exactly say this was his favourite place in the Hollow Mountain. He had a feeling that in his previous life, the life he couldn't remember, he hadn't liked going to the doctor.

Pushing that thought aside, he walked along the central corridor. Hallways branched off every few metres, curving away out of sight. He walked past open doors of workshops where children laboured over lathes and worktables, past knots of children conferring over blueprints tacked to walls, past a lecture hall where a child held forth to a small group of listeners about the electrical conductivity of aluminum. At last he came to the nondescript door that was the entrance to the laboratory Parveen had been assigned to work in. A red light blinked above the door-frame. Hamish X listened at the door for a moment before he opened it and went inside.

The entire room was in darkness. Hamish X could barely see his hand in front of his face. After a few seconds there was a click and a single light came on, shedding a cone of illumination in the centre of the room. Standing in the shaft of white light was a figure that struck dread into Hamish X. A man in a grey overcoat and fedora hat turned towards him. The black goggles glittered in the harsh light. A Grey Agent! How did a Grey Agent get into the Hollow Mountain?

The agent cocked his head to one side. “Hamish X? What are you doing here?”

The voice was tinny and metallic, but something about the inflection was familiar. Hamish X crouched. Calling on his boots, he leapt at the agent, propelling himself across the room in one powerful lunge. Before he reached him he slammed into an invisible barrier, falling backwards with a crash.

The lights went on. He sat up, shaking his head. The lab was cluttered with many small worktables and half-assembled machines. Parveen and Noor stood behind a console covered with knobs and buttons, looking wide-eyed
at Hamish X. Parveen was wearing a strange suit over his normal overalls: it was like a web of wires with white balls at regular intervals over all his limbs and head.

“Didn't you see the red light?” Parveen demanded. “You know you aren't supposed to enter when the light is on.”

Hamish X saw that he had slammed into a transparent plastic booth enclosing the Grey Agent. The agent was still looking at him but making no other threatening movement.

Noor came rushing over. “Are you all right?” She lifted his chin and looked him in the eyes. “Who am I?”

He looked up into the girl's face. He could see a clear resemblance to Parveen in the round shape of the dark eyes and the slightly pointed chin. She kept her hair in a glossy black ponytail bound with an elastic band. Her face was full of concern. “You're Noor, Parveen's sister,” Hamish X mumbled. He shook his head again. “I'm fine. What is
he
doing here?” He cocked a thumb at the Grey Agent in the booth.

“It is a remotely controlled robot,” said Parveen. “It is linked to my body and mimics my movements through this motion capture suit.” He flicked one of the white balls with a small brown finger. Then he pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. The Grey Agent pushed a pair of imaginary glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. “I can also direct him using that remote control.” He pointed to a small black object on the table. “We built him to test out some new weapons systems. I've been trying to improve my microwave oven bomb. A smaller, more refined version of the EMP bomb that knocked out Candy and Sweet in Windcity.”

Noor held up a small object in her palm. The thing was
spherical and covered in downy orange fur. “We were about to try it. Want to watch?”

“Will it knock me out too, like the EMP did back in Windcity? I'd rather not go through that again if I can help it.”

“That's part of the refinement,” Parveen said. “We've made the pulse effect more localized and invented a more accurate delivery system. You'll be quite safe.”

“We think,” Noor added. The tone of her voice didn't exactly fill Hamish X with confidence, but he shrugged and walked over to Parveen at the console.

Noor joined them and tapped a button. The lights dimmed again. The Grey Agent stood patiently in the booth. Parveen waved and the Grey Agent waved back at them. Hamish X found the jaunty gesture somewhat disturbing in the sinister creature.

“All right,” Parveen said. “We're set. Deliver the weapon.”

Noor lowered the furry sphere to the floor. It lay there inert for a second, then quite suddenly it sprouted stubby pink feet and a head with pink ears and black beady eyes.

“A
hamster
?” Hamish X snorted. “What's it supposed to do? Cuddle the agent to death?”

Parveen ignored his tone. “Watch and learn.”

The hamster raised a pink quivering nose into the air, questing from side to side until it focused on the Grey Agent in the booth. Like a shot it beelined across the floor, passing into the booth through a small opening. Parveen started stomping his feet and the Grey Agent did the same, trying to stamp on the scurrying rodent but failing to strike it. The hamster leapt in the air and landed on the agent's trouser leg, crawling up the grey fabric and under the grey coat. Parveen started slapping himself and the
Grey Agent imitated him. The hamster managed to avoid being crushed and came up out of the collar of the coat. Climbing the agent's neck, it reached the right temple of the Grey Agent robot and stopped. There was a dull pop and a flash as the hamster exploded. The robot went rigid and then fell in a heap, motionless on the floor of the booth.