“I’m not,” Meche yelled as he pushed her along, “I’m not good anymore!”
I just stood there, a little numb, as Domino took her away.
“You’ve taken that away from me,” Meche went on, her voice fading with distance, “keeping me a prisoner here! I’m gonna crack you open like a fake Ming vase! I’m gonna…” They got further away and I couldn’t make out what she was shouting. Then there was a sharp, muffled clang, and I flinched at the sound.
A few moments later Domino came back looking very pleased in a sadistic, almost sexually-satisfied way. “The kid’s all right,” he said with a chuckle. “She’s a firecracker, but a night in the cooler usually dampens her fuse.” He sat down behind his desk and looked up happily at me.
“What did you do to her?” I demanded, finally finding my voice.
“She’s in a safe place,” Domino answered with a laugh. “She just needs a little time out, that’s all.”
I made a guess. “You think you can break her will just by locking her up?”
“No,” Domino said, with the air of someone admitting a secret, “but the lack of fresh oxygen slows her down just enough so I can open the door,” he ‘grinned’, “free of fear.” He put his feet up on his desk and cradled his skull in his hands. “By the way, Manny, how’s the, uh, escape plan coming along?”
“This is strictly confidential, Dom,” I said with barely-repressed sarcasm, “but we’ll be test-firing the rocket any day now.”
“Hey, sounds good,” he said with a laugh. “Keep me posted, huh?”
“Sure thing, mano,” I said with a suppressed snarl, backing out of the office. He let me go.
The Great Escape
I went looking for Meche. Domino had locked her up. I had only a few things to go on in figuring out where, but they were enough. There had been a loud clang. From what Domino had said about oxygen, it had to be somewhere airtight. And it must have been close to Domino’s office, or else he wouldn’t have gotten there and back so quickly. All that narrowed it down to the big, antique safe located in a large room partway between my office and Domino’s. When I got there, I pressed my skull up against the door. I was sure I could hear Meche’s voice. I couldn’t understand what she was saying, but she seemed to be shouting. The sound was very faint. It was a thick door, and a big key sat in the hole next to the handle. I couldn’t believe my eye sockets. I reached out to unlock the safe, but then my hand dropped back to my side. I couldn’t risk turning the key just then. Domino had left it in the lock for a reason, I thought. I couldn’t think of what reason, but I couldn’t believe that Domino would be so careless. I had to be sure of things, so I left the key where it was and went out to the ship.
“I gotta know, carnal,” I said when I got to the engine room, “how soon?”
Glottis was half-buried in the guts of one of the massive engines, his back end and legs the only parts of him visible. He was too busy to stop working even to talk. “I was about to send word, Manny,” he said in a muffled voice. “It looks like we can launch maybe sometime tomorrow.”
“Really?” I exclaimed. “I thought you said it would take weeks?”
“Change of strategy,” he said. He paused to make some loud clanging noises in the bowels of the machinery. “We figured getting outta here quick was more important than making top speed, so we concentrated on the number one engine, using parts from the other two.”
“Is that a good idea?” I asked worriedly. “I mean, this tub has three engines for a reason.”
“No kidding,” he retorted, “but we’re kinda desperate here, you know? Anyway, we’re pretty sure we can fix up number two once we get under way.”
“I’m not sure I like that ‘pretty sure’.”
“Hey, Manny,” Glottis exclaimed, sounding a little angry, “this boat’s been through a lot! This ain’t a shipyard and we’re makin’ do with scrap and good intentions here! Cut me some slack, OK?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. “I know this is your element, but we’ve got a little problem.”
“Another one?” he exclaimed in a bitterly sarcastic tone this time. I sympathized. I knew I was piling a lot of weight on his shoulders.
“Meche got Domino mad. He locked her up.” Glottis said something I couldn’t make out over a single, very loud bang. “I can get her out but I don’t dare unless we can get away quickly.”
“OK, Manny,” Glottis said, “that’s a real big problem, but if you can get Miss Colomar free, go ahead and do it. I guarantee we can be under way by no later than noon tomorrow.”
“Are you absolutely sure, carnal?”
There was more clanging. Maybe it was my imagination, but it sounded a little more frantic than before. “We just won’t wait for daylight to launch, that’s all. We were about to fuel up, anyway. It’ll take a while—the stuff’s been stashed all over the island for safety, you know? It’ll be a little risky to launch at night, especially when we’re all tired, but we can do it.”
“OK,” I said. “I’m know I can trust you about that. You have Albert spread the word to get everyone down here pronto, and I’ll get Meche and the kids out of the factory tonight.”
“Will do, boss,” Glottis said and the clanging resumed.
I went back to the safe. I put my head up to the door again but couldn’t hear anything this time. I turned the key in the hole, turned the handle, and pulled. The door didn’t budge. Then I noticed I couldn’t see the hinges. So I pushed. It moved slightly. I bore down and managed to push it open. It was a massive door. It was very dark inside, just one tiny bulb in the ceiling.
“Meche?” I called out softy. “You in there?” I stepped into the safe. “Time to come out, honey… no time for hide and seek.”
I let go of the door as I moved further in. The corners of the safe were in shadow. I turned around, trying to see as much as I could. Maybe Meche had fallen asleep in the time I’d been away. Going to and from the ship took well over an hour. As I scanned the semi-darkness, I saw the massive door falling shut behind me. I lunged at it and tried to stop it, but there weren’t any good handholds on the inside and it kept on closing. I only managed to slow it down a little. I snatched my fingers away at the last second to avoid getting them crushed. The door fell shut with just a bang, not the crash it had made before. I doubted Domino could have heard it, and half an hour later I was sure of it, just as I was sure Meche wasn’t there. I began to wonder if maybe I had made a mistake. Maybe Domino hadn’t put Meche in the safe. He could have put her in one of the locked offices and then slammed the safe door shut and left the key to trick me into locking myself in—except that made no sense, even for Domino. On top of which, I was certain I had heard Meche’s voice through the door. So I looked around some more. I didn’t find any other doors, but I started rapping on the walls, listening for a hollow sound. I got one, and found a seam, but couldn’t find a way to open it. I banged on the hollow spot. Quietly at first, but more loudly when nothing happened.
Suddenly I was swinging my fist into thin air. “Manny!” Meche exclaimed. She looked over my shoulder. “Why is that door closed!?”
“…the wind?” I suggested feebly.
Meche groaned and went back into the other room. I followed. There was more light and I could see the recessed latch in the door. All that wear and tear on my knuckles for nothing. Meche went to the far side of the room and crouched down against the wall, putting her face in her hands. I went over to her and said quietly, “Thanks for not sprouting me.”