00095

Albert Zoeniga quickly located the mini-blaster he had just put down inside the tent. "Don't worry, X-9, I'm coming!"

Nina McCleer, still by the heater, watched with concern as the young adult jumped back into the snow and ran through X-9's tracks toward the blue beast holding down the robot, now buried in the snow.

Albert Zoeniga carefully aimed the small weapon, making sure to be close enough so as not to miss a vital, even though, as a rule, there was nothing wrong with Albert's aim- but he wasn't going to take chances with this huge creature!

"Wait, Mr. Zoeniga, don't shoot him," X-9 called from under the snow and the brute. The ugly thing began to playfully lick the robot's face. "Don't shoot Fuzzy-"

The robot pushed aside the heavy hybrid. "Off, Fuzzy, off the nice robot! Down, Fuzzy, down, I say- Bad dog... or whatever you are...”

Nina McCleer wasted no time in joining Albert again in the snow, to help fend off the creature. Albert kept up the blaster, trying to focus it on the hyperactive thing licking X-9. The whole situation began to bewilder the pair of humans.

Fuzzy backed up and sat on its tail, allowing X-9 to regain his feet. "Good Fuzzy." The robot patted Fuzzy's head. "This is what you are supposed to do in such circumstances," he told them. “Pat its head.”

X-9 turned and faced his human companions, who were still trying to figure out what was going on. The robot reported, "When Fuzzy knocked me down and stood over me, I saw he is wearing a collar with a nametag. The nametag says, obviously, Fuzzy. I did not observe it previously, because the creature's shaggy fur somewhat covers it and conceals it from view. However, as I lay in the snow, looking up at him, at last it became visible." X-9 pointed to the tag.

"Hmm. So his name is Fuzzy," remarked Albert Zoeniga. "I did not see that one coming." He relaxed his aim with the blaster.

"Ah," said Nina. She looked at the animal in a new light. "If somebody is sentimental enough to put a collar on this monstrosity, then somebody might also be worried over his or her pet. So Fuzzy can't be from the Peace Lab's escaped animals, can he? As far as I know, the only nearby place he probably comes from is the R and D Lab. Who else would be making hybrids? If I know anything, Dr. Kitchen always liked to experiment in making crossovers when she taught our classes in college. This thing is strange enough to be one of her doings. Unless Fuzzy wandered outside from their lab and got lost in this blizzard, I think we can follow him, and he will lead us right there. Maybe R and D is even very, very closeby."

She looked closely at the bizarre thing, sitting there patiently in the howling wind and the deep snow. The creature seemed to be expecting something, as if it hoped for a treat or something. Nina McCleer shook her head, unbelieving. " What were they thinking, whoever they are, when they made something as ugly as you, Fuzzy? Yikes!"

Fuzzy sprang to his feet and began to jump up and down, and to circle their makeshift sled with the tent and the rations inside the tent. His nostrils worked overtime.

Amused, Albert chuckled. "Fuzzy seems to like something he smells in there."

Fuzzy circled Nina a few times, so she pet his head on one of his passes. He stopped and sat some more in the snow, seemingly oblivious to its cold. The snow began to settle on his face, but Fuzzy ignored the blizzard. Instead, he gave his best, biggest "begging" eyes to Nina.

"Ha ha, okay, Fuzzy. You wait there, I will get you a snack." She went into the tent.

X-9 cautioned, "Ma'm, is it wise to give Fuzzy anything to eat? We are low on supplies... Perhaps we should not have avoided the resorts we passed by on our way here. We could have stocked up. No, upon reflection, I realize it was best to keep ourselves unseen in order to avoid so many questions. Besides, maybe no one was even there at the resorts, anymore- maybe the fierce storm drove everybody back to Sparkle City."

Nina McCleer came back out the tent with a tiny soy burger. "I know we must consider our stock, X-9, I know." Then she tossed the burger to Fuzzy, who caught it in the air and gratefully ate it. "But, you see, X-9, I want to make friends with it, so it is sure to lead us back to the Lab, when it decides to go back home. I want it to be sure to bring us with, and not gallop so fast from us that we lose him in this storm."

"A good idea." X-9 approved of her strategy.

After swallowing the burger, Fuzzy hopped and danced. He ran here and there, zig-zagging randomly in the snow, but in a general direction, traveling ahead of them and to the left of the way which they had been going.

X-9 said, "I will follow his trail, or at least the general direction. He has made a crooked path for us in the snow. Get back on the sled, while I run after Fuzzy. It seems logical, as you say, Mrs. McCleer, that it may lead us to the R and D Lab."

Braving the harsh weather (at least for the moment), Nina McCleer and Albert Zoeniga sat cross-legged outside the tent, each on one side, trying not to fall off the fast-moving truck roof/sled towed by X-9. Truthfully, the tent took up most of the area of the sled, making sitting in his way very uncomfortable- but they wanted to watch Fuzzy as he went, hopefully following him to the R and D facility.

As X-9 tugged the sled, Fuzzy flashed back and forth, running almost out of sight (which was easy to do, in the still-thickly falling snow), then scampering back to Nina on the sled, so she could pat his snowy head, and then again running wildly into the distance.

"I can't wait to get to the R and D, and get some real food, so that we won't have to ration anymore," sighed Nina McCleer. "And then I must try to convince Dr. Kitchen- without her colleagues being aware- to help me find out the truth about George. She's a cold fish, but she has to help me- Maybe I can appeal to her vanity, or her desire to see if something challenging can be actually done, in this case, something to help my George. She loves a challenge. Anyway, like I said before, she had promised me help if I ever asked when I needed it. I need it..."

X-9 called back, above the moaning winds, "Mr. Zoeniga, be sure to keep the blaster handy, in case Fuzzy turns out to be lost and just leads us in circles. If he cannot lead us to the R and D Lab, then, perhaps you two may have to eat him, if you run out of supplies."

Shocked, Nina gasped, "X-9, what are you saying? He's a pet!"

Albert Zoeniga, however, agreed with X-9. "I'm willing to do it. I eat steak, I eat buffalo- I did, anyway, on Earth. Can't much afford it these days. So, I will also eat Fuzzy, if I must."

Fuzzy's leading made the going so much easier for X-9. The robot continued his speedy course, the sled following behind, with confidence that they headed the right way. He stayed in the hybrid’s steps, except when it deviated on one of the many impulsive twisty turns. The snow continued to fall on him and the sled. Since Fuzzy cleared a large pathway as he romped through the drifts, X-9 did not get so covered with snow because he no longer needed to trudge through a hip-deep mess. He kept, as much as he could, in Fuzzy's large pawprints trail, and therefore, he no longer had a problem with melted slush getting into his joints and then freezing his legs. He could maintain this speed all night, if he had to. The downside, for Nina and Albert, was that at this faster speed, the traveling was so bumpy, the humans got quite jostled as X-9 raced onward... Just how far away was the R and D Lab, anyway?”

It became a routine over the next few hours. Fuzzy almost moved out of sight, then he returned for another pat on the head or a treat, and then he flew off once more, charging to who knows where. Of course, after some time of traveling like this, Nina and Albert had decided to occasionally step inside the tent, to warm up by the heater. Then, they went back outside, so Nina could again show some affection to Fuzzy. And so the routine went.

During one of the warm-up times in the shelter of the tent, Albert inquired, "Sis Nina, what will we tell them at the Lab? What kind of cover story can we say, to explain why we are on their top-secret doorstep?"

"I think we may be able to convince them we got lost while on a camping trip, and our robot is trying to help us find our way back, and even our truck had become stuck in the snow in the middle of nowhere, so we had to improvise to make this sled. Then, we play it by ear. I think I can trust Dr. Kitchen will not tell them who I really am, and why I am there. Maybe the best we can hope for, is for Dr. Kitchen to help us find some prototype things that might be useful for our plans. I know it seems like a far shot at success, but maybe God will bless our efforts. I pray so. You know, Albert, I hate lying and maybe stealing some prototypes, even after what Gov. Bright has probably had done to my husband, but I don't know what else to do. Usually, George helps me sort these things out..."

Albert nodded in understanding. "It's stuff like this, and what we are doing- practicing situational ethics, it seems- um, what I am saying is that I hope it's not a bad reflection on us, on our faith, what we may have to resort to doing...”

“I, too, hope that," Nina seconded. "I am not wise enough to know the answer of what to do, unfortunately. But I am doing it to get back my husband. Xavier had no right to take him, and if we lie, it will be to people who work for Xavier.”

X-9 called to them from outside the tent. "Mrs. McCleer, Mr. Zoeniga, it is now getting dark. And also more cold. If Fuzzy does not run out of energy and need to take a rest, I can still follow him all night long, as long as he can go on, provided I don't lose him in the storm once it is darker and even harder to see ahead. He may get so far from us, and the snow may cover his tracks as I try to follow them, that we could be back to square one if I lose him.”

However, X-9's concerns were put to rest, when Fuzzy found a spot to settle down for the night. The huge monstrosity chose a place at the foot of a low, snow-covered hill, and it curled up there, right on top of the snow. As the green flakes began to blanket the strange animal, the hill shielded the creature from the brunt of the screaming wind.

X-9 caught up to him and pulled the sled alongside Fuzzy, between the beast and the hill. This gave those inside the tent better protection from the swirling gales on both sides of the hill. The robot stepped up onto the sled, to keep watch for the night. He did not need any sleep. He tried to keep quiet as he continually brushed off the snow from himself or the tent, so that Nina and Albert could sleep soundly.

Nina and Albert pulled the covers and quilts tighter about themselves for the night. This place where X-9 and Fuzzy stopped actually cut down on the terrible wind enough to make a comfortable difference for them. The two of them succeeded in getting some sleep, but not nearly as much or as satisfying as desired. It was still too cold!

After some slumber, X-9's shout awoke them. The mid-morning sun shined through the tent fabric.

"Better get your breakfast. Time for me to pull the sleigh again. Fuzzy's on the move." With that, he began his task.

Nina murmured, "I wish we had brought more coffee with us!"

"Uh oh," came the robot's voice from outside the tent. "Fuzzy apparently is well rested. He's bolted ahead, and I cannot find him. The storm is worsening. And, as I said could happen, the path is indeed blowing shut before my very robot eyes."

Albert groaned, half of his dry, cold biscuit still in his mouth. "I hope X-9 doesn't lose him! Still, Fuzzy seemed to be going in a general direction. If X-9 stays on that course, I pray it is the right direction to the R and D."

"I wonder why Fuzzy went off so quickly- maybe he left us?" said Nina. "I hope he comes back."

Later in the day, close to noon time, finally Fuzzy returned to keep them company. He pranced and played, just as before. "He's back," X-9 announced.

“But where had he gone?" wondered Nina.

X-9 theorized, "Maybe it was his meal time at the R and D, so he went there to be fed. Perhaps because it was meal time, his pace increased dramatically, to get to breakfast as fast as he could. Now that he is once more fed, he is back to play, in his relaxed mode-"

"That speed is relax mode?" questioned Nina.

"Yes, and so now I can keep pace with him. He certainly likes to eat. He doesn't look like he is starving, but he always acts like he is. He is getting food from somewhere, that is certain."

Nina tossed Fuzzy a snack. "That's good. Then I hope and pray that he leads us there- to the R and D facitlity. You will, right, Fuzzy? You're a good thing, aren't you? Yes, you are! Loyal and loving, you will take care of us when there is no more food left, right, Fuzzy? Oh, that's my good Fuzzy!”

(c) 2012 drk