Chapter 40: Driving the Rover
He did the same for the other two pistols, taking them from their hidden positions to charge them in the sunlight. Or to let them gather sunlight? Lucien remembered that the lasers of the blasters were compressed sun rays mixed with something else inside the blasters.
High-power stuff.
With a sunny smile on his lips, Lucien found a clearing in the ground where he sat and rested, waiting for the Rover to charge as the two kids ran around it, giggling and laughing.
"No hitting! Don’t hit the vehicle!"
They hit the vehicle.
"Michael!!"
***
A few minutes after leaving the Rover to charge, Lucien dropped his large backpack on the ground next to him, and he stood up from where he was sitting, breathing out softly.
His shoulders felt lighter. That damn bag had been really heavy.
He looked around.
The kids had, after a while of running around, finally rested on a clearing in the ground where they continuously whispered to each other, occasionally glancing at Lucien.
They were probably planning some kind of coup against him. But Lucien wasn’t afraid of this; nothing could overthrow his military rule.
And so, as he walked to the position of the Rover, he looked toward the kids. And he spoke:
"You both stay exactly where you are." he cleared his throat. "I’m going to take this here on a test drive." he tapped the vehicle. "It’ll be around here, so you’d see me. Fast and clean. It won’t take much time." If thirty minutes wasn’t seen as much time.
Although Mira and Mikky didn’t react, they just stared at Lucien, unblinking.
But after a while, they both nodded.
Lucien nodded back. But he had to admit he didn’t quite like that mischievous smirk on Michael’s lips...
Nevertheless, he quickly took the three pistols from the roof of the car, and he put two in their respective positions—pocket and shoe—while he pulled open the driver’s seat and entered.
The moment he sat and rested on the cushion of the driver’s seat, closing the doors, Lucien groaned in satisfaction.
It was like his back sank into the chair. It felt way too comfortable. And all the noise from outside noticeably dwindled. He could still hear the chirping and creaking of insects, of course, but they were lower, less poignant than before.
Wasting no more time, Lucien threw the remaining pistol inside a random cabin.
And then, looking to those three buttons in the middle of the other buttons, Lucien tapped ’D’ once more. It had been completely off earlier.
The moment he tapped the button, the car hummed softly, as if it instantly came alive.
And, as he’d done earlier, he tapped that one button that made the steering wheel slowly rise until it was fixed in place. And Lucien held the wheel, clenching it with both hands.
He breathed in.
The power button was on top of the steering wheel.
He tapped it.
And he breathed out.
The engine trembled instantly, signifying the energy flowing through it.
And as it was already on ’D,’ the Rover began to move slowly.
Lucien looked toward the pedals. The accelerator and the brake.
"Let’s go."
He began to control the steering wheel. His hands were firm on it, but unpracticed and amateurish. He gripped it too hard, steered too nervously, and took turns that weren’t really smooth.
But, even amid the mistakes, he slowly learned. His hands got stronger.
The Rover was really impressive. The car responded to every slight move of the steering.
And as he cruised, he observed Mikky and Amira’s surprised faces in the distance. The kids were standing, watching the Rover go.
Lucien looked away from them, concentrating.
He was actually getting the hang of it. He was learning how to drive a Rover.
And then, when he felt like his control had gotten stable, he hit the accelerator.
And the speed kicked up a notch.
Lucien grinned.
Now came the real test.
Without giving way to any distractions, Lucien drove until he was satisfied.
***
The time on his camo-watch had shown [2:45 pm] when Lucien finally finished his test drive.
And, like he had set out to, he spent thirty minutes getting used to driving the Rover.
And now it was time to get moving.
With his heart still pounding inside his chest from the thrill, Lucien came out of the Rover, smiling brightly, breathing hard.
Mikky and Amira were still standing there, looking at him with surprised expressions.
Suddenly, Michael ran forward.
"That was cool, Luci!" he yelled. "So that’s a car!"
Catching his breath, Lucien chuckled.
"A Rover."
As Mikky reached where Lucien stood, he tapped the vehicle.
"A Rover!"
Luci nodded, gazing at Amira.
"Come! We have to get going!"
Amira shuddered a bit, startled by Lucien’s yell, but she composed herself and nodded.
As the girl made her way to the Rover, Lucien walked toward his backpack lying in the distance.
And then, when he grabbed the backpack and felt the familiar weight on his shoulders, he breathed out and jogged all the way to the Rover.
"Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!"
Lucien opened the door to the passenger seat. And the kids found their way inside, while he opened the trunk and threw the backpack inside.
In the next moment, he found his way back to the driver’s seat.
"Whoa..." Mikky kept gasping, looking around in awe. "The chair is so comfortable."
"It... feels good," Amira said, relaxing.
Lucien chuckled.
"Fasten your seatbelts."
"Huh? What’s a seatbelt?" asked Amira.
Lucien blinked.
’Oh.’
Shaking his head, he immediately came down from the driver’s seat, finding his way to Amira and Mikky, fastening both their seatbelts. And as he did so, he taught them how to do it too, while explaining the significance of it.
And when he was done, he took his position as the pilot once more, tapping the buttons.
The Rover quaked slightly, humming as the engine came to life.
And then, with a sly grin on his lips, Lucien stepped on the accelerator.
The Fig-line was their destination, and the dozens of Prowlers there their next obstacles.