resourcefulness

The narrator, dealing with a difficult divorce and a squealing brake problem on his 1970 Volvo 145, embarks on a quest to find rare brake hardware. After multiple dead ends at auto parts stores, he is directed to a hidden junkyard known as "Frankie in the Hole," a secluded place specializing in Volvos. There, he navigates a maze of decaying cars and interacts with the junkyard's caretakers, ultimately finding the needed parts amidst a landscape of automotive decay and illegal dumping.

In this chapter, the protagonist, Rob, uses his electric tube and traveling machine to escape hostile natives and later confronts a group of buccaneers aboard a derelict ship. Despite damage to his machine and losing some of his equipment temporarily, Rob cleverly uses his device to defeat the pirates and regain his possessions, ultimately escaping the dangerous situation by flying above the stormy seas.