Chapter 26

26 KLANK STANDS UP. The raft picks up speed, drifts more quickly back toward certain hydroelectric- turbine-chopping disaster. Klink makes thousands, millions, of almost- instant calculations and concludes, "Not good." Frank and Watson desperately, unsuccessfully, try to paddle with their hands. Klank fires up all 8K of his digital memory

to connect exactly two thoughts. "Must protect my humans. Every action has equal and opposite reaction. Yes, Frank Einstein?" Frank looks up. "Yes." Klank nods. Klank uses his monkey wrench to crank his

Robot Boogie song up to LOUD. BADANG BADANG BADANG. He stands on the edge of the raft and yells, "Action!" Klink starts to say, "I believe we have established that sound energy does not—" And Klank suddenly dives off the front of the raft, straight into the whirlpool. The 214pound force of his dive pushes the raft in an equal reaction—away from the whirlpool, all the way to shore. Frank, Watson, and Klink jump to dry land. They look back just in time to see Klank's rocket-footed legs flip up and disappear, spinning down, down, down into the whirlpool. The sound-wave beats of Klank's Robot Boogie echo through the water like a crazy whale song. Then, suddenly, inevitably, a horrible metal grinding-wrenching-screechingchopping sound drowns out the Robot Boogie.

The deep bass hum of the turbine stops. The whirlpool slows and disappears. The surface of the lake falls into a quiet, perfectly level calm. Frank, Watson, and Klink stand looking at the spot where Klank disappeared. They are safe. But they are stunned. Because they know, without looking, what they will find on the other side of the dam. Nothing but crushed-up Klank parts.