The cord tightened as the robot pulled harder. To Alex’s dismay, the old man paused in his ascent, bracing his feet against the cliff. Hanging there one-handed, he extended his other arm and began swiping furiously at the rope above with his cane.

By the time Alex spotted the hovering flier chopping at the cord, the little machine had sliced almost all the way through. The life-sizer gave another savage yank. The rope snapped.

As he started to fall, Alex’s grandfather pushed hard with his feet against the cliff and twisted in the air, turning his helpless plummet into a precision dive, aimed directly at the life-sizer. He cannoned into its chest. If his plan had been to topple it over, it almost worked. But the machine was too massive. It rocked back, dealing out a vicious punch that caught the old man on the side of his head. With piercing clarity, Alex saw things scattering from his grandfather’s coat pockets as he bounced on the ground. The old man landed hard, facedown on top of his Gladstone.

“Get up, Grandad,” Alex whispered. He looked rapidly around, trying to form a plan. There was nothing. He thought about trying to connect with the tablet, but if it hadn’t worked during all those hours with Harry, it wasn’t going to happen in the next few seconds. Maybe he could run out, distract the robot, lead it away. But his legs refused to move.

“Get-up-get-up-get-up.”

The life-sizer strode over to the motionless figure, paused, then bent low, raising a huge fist. As the blow came smashing down, Alex’s grandfather rolled, spinning fast onto his back, flinging up an arm as he turned. Something flashed from his hand and smashed open on the machine’s face. A salt shaker: the image of the old man casually pocketing it in the café back home popped into Alex’s head.

The robot lurched back in a frenzy as a pained scream sounded from above. A portly shadow stood at the top of the rock face. After a second, Alex made out a face he had last seen in Prague: Baron Willy von Sudenfeld, the sly, maniacal antique toy collector who had become one of the tall man’s followers.

Von Sudenfeld stood gasping, bent, clutching his head, stung by the touch of the salt on the machine he controlled in a way Alex had seen before. No longer under his direction, the life-sizer staggered backward, then stood planted, arms blurring as it chopped blindly, savagely, at the air around it. Alex’s grandfather stood shakily, looking stunned. He leaned against the cliff face for support.

Forcing his legs to cooperate, Alex stood to run to him, then froze again.

Movement to his right. Close. He pressed against the tree as another life-sizer came smashing through the undergrowth, heading for the old man. Von Sudenfeld had straightened and stood staring down, concentrating furiously.