“Woof,” said Sora, all passion devoid from following her directions. She sat on the ground next to the village well, a collar around her neck and a chain leading from it to the iron fist of #64, standing guard over her while talking to #21 about hardware.
“Then Jake says, what are we going to do with self-sealing stem bolts?”
“Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. That is so like a human.”
Sora kept her gaze downward, none of the villagers would look at her. Before he left, Captain King ordered her to act like a dog, and if she failed, Amiko expected punishment against the villagers. They had already killed her grandfather. She realized how she had dismissed the ninjas as unfeeling automatons, and now under Captain King, they were cruel masters over her human village.
“What is going on over there, the villagers are gathering?”
“I do not know #21, let’s go break it up. Come doggy,” the ninja jerked on her chain as the pair began walking toward the commotion. Sora crawled on her hands and knees as fast as she could, for the ninjas were tireless and would not stop for her.
“Break it up humans. Resistance is futile. Captain King is your overlord now.”
The crowd parted, making way for the pair of ninja overseers, revealing Shiro, #42 and Captain Raptor. Shiro rested his arm on Captain Raptor and #42, looking the pair of them in the eyes.
“What do you mean? Explain,” said #64 with a hint of robot indignation in his voice.
“You are no longer in the evil one’s thrall, yet still you do his will.”
#21 and #64 turned and looked at each other, their eyes no longer glowing red, no longer the same color even. “What has happened?”
Captain Raptor eased Shiro’s arm off of him. “Let me sum up. You were under control by a Control Panel. I destroyed it. Now you can choose to be nice people again, or I can tear you apart.”
“That sounds like a threat,” said #21, “how are we supposed to choose freely.”
#42 stared at his ninjas, and then answered, “Captain Raptor summed up too much as he is in haste. A great wrong has been done, you can set it right, or keep making it worse. Go now or help us.”
#21 looked at Captain Raptor, certain that the dinosaur would target him first, judging by the lethal gleam in his eye. “I wasn’t having that much fun being a bad guy.”
The other ninja looked at the chain he held in his hand, “I never liked being bossed around.”
Shiro’s face softened, “I did not realize that when I was given control. But she was only your boss for a day. Would you choose to be the thing you hate?”
The chain fell to the ground from #64’s open hand. Soon Shiro and the other ninjas were in a group hug crying in Dewey Decimal numbers. Captain Raptor sidled over to Sora, still on all fours on the ground. He knelt down and slipped a razor sharp talon between her neck and the leather collar, cutting it free. “Hey, give these guys a moment, but I need your help as well.”
“Why did you help me? I have made a mess of everything and dishonored myself.”
“Because, I’m not a jerk. Now let these nice villagers get you cleaned up and ready for when my ship gets here.”
Villagers were already ushering Sora away, but she turned back to ask, “How do you know your ship is coming?”
“Grandpa’s book. Chapter Fifteen. Touching Moment, Renewed Hope. My ship is coming in, I know it.”
Read the next chapter here
Find more at https://www.klforslund.com/dino-pirates