"All right, babe! Let's get us the hell out of here!" He tapped Ming's right shoulder with his bullhook. "Shy, babe! Shy!"
The elephant turned to the right, and when she was facing the doors, Bullhook lowered himself until his right cheek was against the top of Ming's head. The stink of burned flesh filled his nostrils. "Let's go, babe! Mule up that damned machine! Go!"
Ming went through the doors and entered the number one tube of the main carrousel, first at a fast walk, then at a trot. With screamed commands and taps with his bullhook, the boss elephant man steered Ming around the three dead elephants. With butts of her head, swats with her trunk, and goads with her tusks, Ming bulldozed the frightened elephants out of her path. One of the bulls attempted to fight back, and Bullhook felt a tusk enter the calf of his left leg. "Go, dammit! Go Ming!"
At the other end of the tube, the smoke was still thick. "Tut, babe. Park that thing until I can find the doorknob."
Ming stopped and the boss elephant man tried to clear his vision. "Great Boolabong, show me the doorknob. Show me." He shook his head, but the motion did more to increase the pain in his head than it did to clarify his vision. "Hell." He leaned to his right, reached down, and tapped the front of the elephant's shoulder.
"Give old Bullhook a kneel, babe. Let's go. Down, Ming."
As the elephant slowly knelt, Bullhook slid from her neck until his feet touched the hot deck plates. His left leg collapsed, and he crawled upon his hands and knees until he came to the aft tube doors. Pulling himself up, he felt for the door panel. Once he found it, he pounded it with his fist, causing the doors to hiss open. On the other side of the door, the two bulls that had broken loose from the number four tube were screaming and stampeding up and down the runs that led from the three carrousel doors to the main hatch. The bulkhead panels above the port carrousel door radiated orange heat. The remains of two human bodies smeared against the cleated surface of the runs explained why Pony Red Miira hadn't been able to raise the aft watch.
Bullhook pushed away from the bulkhead, collapsing upon the deck. He looked at the bull. Ming stood patiently awaiting further instructions. The boss elephant man thought he blacked out for a second, then was brought wide awake by the blinding pains that coursed through his leg, back, and head. The pains eased for a moment, and Bullhook called out. "Ming. I can't make it. Get that durante out and log me out of here!" He smacked his bullhook against the deck. "Ming, let's go!"
The pachyderm moved to her right until she faced the boss elephant man's prone figure. Then she reared up on her hind legs and screamed. Her front legs came down hard, and Bullhook knew what was in her mind. He knew because he had been there. "Ming! This is Bullhook, honey. Bullhook." The elephant snorted, rocking back and forth. "That was another crash, another time, another place. Years ago, babe. This is Bullhook, Ming." He held up his gold-tipped hook and goad. "Bullhook."
Ming stood still for a moment, then she lowered her head, lifted her trunk, and gently shoved her tusks beneath Bullhook's body. The boss elephant man held his gold tipped bullhook out so that it would not be out of the elephant's sight. "Remember me, Ming. You gore me and it's liable to ruin my whole day."
The elephant's trunk wrapped gently around Bullhook's waist as her head came up. "Okay, babe. Let's lead this parade out of here. Go, babe, go!"
Ming moved out toward the main hatch. The two bulls rampaging in the runs moved toward her. "Mule, babe! Get me to that damned switch box! Go!" Ming crossed the runs and stopped before the huge hatch door. The heavy metal door was warped from the impact against the bottom of the shuttle. Nothing short of blowing the thing off of its bolts would open it. "Shy, babe. Get me over! Shy!"
The elephant moved Bullhook to the right, and the boss elephant man reached out and flipped open the cover on the emergency switch. He pulled down the bright red handle inside and then blackened out as two hundred exploding bolts went off at the same time that a bull smashed into Ming's side. When he opened his eyes, his body was being shaken unmercifully as Ming stampeded through the open air and tall grass of the strange planet. Voices called after them, but Ming wasn't listening.
"Ming! Ming!" The elephant slowed to a trot, then to a walk. "Tut, babe! Put me down, honey."
The huge beast shuddered and then lowered her head, depositing the boss elephant man upon the grass. Her head lifted and she stood, snorting and shaking her head. "Good girl. Good girl."
The voices again. Louder. Feet running through the grass. Bullhook opened his eyes. And looked at the clear, blue sky. Parade weather. Damn, but it's a beautiful day. Packy Dern's face came into view as the bullhand knelt and quickly examined the boss elephant man. Bullhook felt something placed beneath his head and pressure being applied to his left leg. Other hands; other faces. Waco, Dot the Pot, Madman, Pony Red, Moll...
Packy's face looked at him and smiled. "Whatcha been up to, Bullhook?"
"A little this; a little that."
Bullhook felt a needle being poked into his arm. Packy nodded. "Well, it sure looks like it was fun."
"You know what they say, Packy... life with the circus is just one long uninterrupted dee-light."
The blue sky grew black, Packy's face faded, and the sharp jags and angles of pain smoothed into a calm night sea of slow motions and soft sounds.
There was more touching against his body, dim voices, a bullhand singing "Elephant Kindergarten" to her pachyderm. That's Kirn's voice. That's right, honey. The car crashed, I don't know where in the hell we are, no one will ever find us, don't know where our next meal is coming from, but calm down. Some things are still the same. I'm still here, and mule up still means trot...
And life? It's the same as its always been: life with the circus is just one long uninterrupted dee-light.
Yowzuh! Yowzuh!
Step right up and feast your little bug-eyes on the wonderous monsters from the planet Earth! Peruse the ponderous pachyderms—
—That's what I said, sir, or madam, or thing, as the case may be. Pachyderms—
—'Cause that's what they're called, sonny.
One quarter credit, a mere twenty-five percent of a one note will admit you to feast your eyes, bulbs, sensors, or whatever the hell it is you use—
Beat it boy, you bother me.
Now, folks, slither right up...
TWO
Waco Whacko, the snake charmer, turned away from Bullhook Willy's body as Mange Ranger, the show's vet, ran up and began pushing his way through to the fallen bullhand. Waco headed back to the shuttle and climbed one of the ladders to one of the open emergency ports. The other bullhands were urging, coaxing, and cursing their pachyderms out of the main hatch. As he entered the port and headed for his quarters, he could feel the rumble of the main carrousel turning, bringing another tube of bulls in line with the hatch.
Entering his quarters, he sat upon a locker, the smoke still heavy in the air. He picked up a gray cardboard box and placed it upon his lap. He opened the box and looked at the five fist-sized blue eggs within it. A spot of moisture appeared upon one of the eggs, and Waco wiped the shell of the egg dry with a fingertip. Another droplet appeared and Waco lifted his hand and touched his cheek. Tears. The sickness. Again the sickness.
A voice came from the compartment door. "Everybody out!"
Waco's head turned and he saw Fireball Hanah Sanagi's face looking through the hatch.
"Waco, you have to get out. The only way we can control the fire is to smother it. We're sealing up the shuttle."