by S T Branton
When I reached a door marked Mechanical, I realized I was now on the opposite side of the boat from where I broke out. I wracked my brain for the memory of the inside schematics, but couldn’t recall where the outside entrance to a mechanical closet was, so I had to ask my backup. It was going to make her life.
“Ally, I’m standing outside a door with Mechanical written over the top. How close am I to the controls?”
A small squeal on the other end was high enough I was sure Dog could hear it wherever he was. I pulled the set away from my ear for a second and shook my head. When I replaced it, Archie was sighing.
“Please, Ally, don’t do that again,” he implored.
“Sorry. The mechanical entrance on the outside is two doors down from the entrance to the main hold that will get you to the control room. Keep going.”
I followed her instructions and found the second room and was delighted to find out it was unlocked. I yanked it open, fully expecting more trolls or Fae, but the hold was empty. Not a sound came from the area, which somehow was worse than it being full. It was abandoned. By everyone.
“I think I found the control room,” I advised them as I reached a door leading into a large metal area inside the hold. I tried the door and found it locked. “I think I might need a secondary way in.”
“Well,” Archie began. “I was afraid of that. Do you see a keyhole?”
“No.” Unlike the door where the lizard people were held, this one had a long bar on the door that wouldn’t budge.
“Then it’s likely magnetic. Which means it runs on electricity. Which means...” His voice trailed off.
“Lights Out.” I sighed.
“Yup. Once you get in there, look for a manual way to steer the boat. There should be, in case of power failure. You need to find it and steer away from the pier.”
“Got it,” I confirmed, then pulled out the revolver and pointed it at the door. Part of me hoped a direct hit would only disable the one door, but as I pulled the trigger, the now-familiar sound of all electronics shutting off filled my ears. I yanked on the door, and it opened easily now. I ran inside and up the steps to the top of the control room.
I reached the top and looked around. Large windows showed a 360-degree angle of the world around me, and I rushed to the giant board of controls. I scanned them for anything I could recognize when I came across a comically small wheel. It was like the ones on every schoolyard playhouse ever, but only a foot high and made of an ornate wood.
“Worth a shot,” I muttered to myself and grabbed the handles.
They were surprisingly stiff, and I pulled hard to the left. To my amazement, I felt the boat turn in that direction. I kept pulling while laughing like a madman, visions of being a pirate captain in my head as I yanked the boat away from the pier where hundreds of people ran for their lives.
I yanked with all my might and pulled on the wheel until the boat lurched and tossed me into the control board itself. An impossible sense of gravity took over, and it felt like the entire world tipped to the right. I landed on the doorframe and banged my elbow hard enough that despite the emergency, I spat out a curse. Papers and wires and folders full of instructions that would have come in handy a few minutes ago cascaded down and bounced off me and everything else nearby.
The captain’s chair bolted to the floor spun helplessly, then faced away as gravity pulled the heaviest parts toward where I lay. The boat had crashed and landed on its side, but thankfully it was at rest on the sand, avoiding the Boardwalk. That meant it was still somewhat in the water, and the sand below it was soft and racing away from the heft of the boat. I tried to stand and saw the shoreline slowly slipping away. The boat was taking on water and was slipping back into the ocean, soon to sink to the bottom offshore.
I let myself drop from the stairway to the door, then opened it and slid all the way down through the hold. When I reached the door and opened it, I heard helicopters in the distance and the sound of boats approaching fast. The Coast Guard was on their way, and I needed to escape in a hurry. I clasped the railing and crab-walked my way to an area of the ship away from the oncoming Coast Guard, and away from where I thought I would get dragged into the water.
“Sorry, buddy, this is going to suck,” I apologized to Splinter as I patted his spot in my jacket and took off for the edge of the boat. As I leapt through the air and dove for the water, a voice filled my ear.
“What did she say?” I heard Archie ask right before I hit the surface.
Chapter Five
My body bobbed around in the water for what seemed like forever. My legs burned, and my shoulders felt like they might as well fall off, but I had to keep going. If nothing else, Splinter was on top of my back, I’m sure looking like a furry George Washington crossing the Delaware as I gasped and lurched my way through the water toward the far end of the beach. Glancing behind me gave me a little confidence none of the Coast Guard was after me, but it wasn’t like I had a good reason for being out in the water fully clothed like I was. If they saw me, I would be toast.
The tip of my foot scraped sand, and I pushed a little harder until I could dig my knees into it and stay above the water. It felt so good to stop churning my legs that I sat like that for a moment before crawling up the beach to the shoreline. I crawled to an area where I felt like I wouldn’t end up with water rushing over my head if the tide started coming in, and let myself crumple into the sand, then rolled onto my back.
Cold, exhausted, and pissed off, I tried to keep my eyes open and not succumb to a nap, considering the soon-to-be roving Coast Guard looking for anyone who jumped off the ship. Hell, the rescue helicopter might have seen me already. I could only afford a few minutes before I had to get up and get moving. The water rushing up over my hips seemed to massage my legs, and although I detested water in my socks, for once I wasn’t complaining. My eyes were drifting closer to closed, and I tried to rationalize it as I only needed to blink hard a couple of times.
“There she is,” came a familiar voice from behind me, and the sound of feet thumping in the sand reached my ears. “Ugh, she smells like a sewer.”
“That’s the harbor, Archie,” came a second voice.
That was Ally, and in my attempt to ignore reality, she was a piercing stab wound that popped the bubble and brought me back. I wanted to sleep, but Ally’s voice was enough to bring me at least partway back.
“Let’s get her out of the water,” Archie directed, and I felt a pair of arms under my shoulders dragging me back, far up the beach and under the shade of an umbrella.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Ally sounded worried.
“I’m fine,” I croaked, convincing exactly no one, including myself.
“Yeah, you look it,” Archie teased. “Smell it, too.”
“Maybe I wouldn’t smell like the harbor if my secret weapon didn’t knock out all the electricity and make me need to jump off a damn boat, Archie,” I shot back.
“Well, I mean, the name is Lights Out,” he pointed out.
This was worthy of me opening my eyes, if only to scowl at him. He suddenly wanted to look anywhere at all other than at me. His attention was rapt on the bark on a nearby tree.
“Sorry,” Archie mumbled under his breath.
“Help me up,” I insisted, and Ally held out a hand for me to grab. I sat up, but when I tried to put pressure on my legs, they went to jelly again, and I fell hard on my ass. “Gonna need a minute for all that.”
That was when I realized I was missing my tiny furry Washington. I searched around frantically, and Ally crouched down beside me to look around the sand.
“What? What is it?”
“Splinter. I can’t find him. He was with me when I was crossing the water, but he’s not here now,” I told her.
“There he is,” Archie announced and pointed.
I scrambled across the sand to where Splinter floated at the edge of the water. Face-down, arms and legs splayed out, he swirled around as the water flowed i
n and out. I forced myself to crawl over to him as worry tightened my throat and tears stung my eyes. The tide was taking him farther out, so I reached out to grab him by his fur and yank him to me.
As soon as his face came up out of the water, he screamed. I shoved him against my chest to quiet him, but when I pulled him away again, the sound came right back. I looked him in his little screaming face, gave him a fairly disgusting kiss, and shoved him into my pocket to freak out in privacy.
“He’s fine,” I reassured them.
“Hey, Slick, for reference, there’s an outdoor shower right over there. In case you want to, you know,” Ally suggested gently.
“Not stink?” I offered.
“Yeah,” she agreed.
“Let me feel like my legs aren’t made of water balloons and I’ll get right on that. You don’t happen to have any extra dry clothes, do you?”
“Be right back.” She took off for the road.
After a few minutes, she returned with a plastic bag, and I groaned as I got to my feet. I shuffled to the outdoor shower, then hung the bag on the back of the door and turned on the water. Peeling off the wet clothes was refreshing all on its own, and some of the fog went away. The water was lukewarm, but it didn’t matter.
“There’s soap in the bag, Slick,” Ally told me.
I opened it as I let the water cascade off my back. There was soap, all right. Along with a pair of black yoga pants a size too small and a t-shirt with a weird yellow creature in overalls and the saying ‘I’d Rather Be Eating.’ I had no clue what that was supposed to be, but the sentiment wasn’t off. I shoved them back into the bag until I finished my shower.
When I finally finished and changed, then wrapped my still damp jacket around my weird shirt, we headed toward the boardwalk where the shops were now working overtime with the number of people who came to gawk at the overturned boat. I felt like food was in order, and Splinter agreed, having returned to my jacket pocket empty-handed.
We made our way to a small walk-up burger shack, and I stared at the menu in disappointment. I knew it was a burger shack, but part of me still hoped for a taco. Hell, I would’ve taken a snack-sized bag of Doritos. But, alas. I sat on a stool on the side of the long bar while Archie and Ally flanked me.
A TV droned on in the background with two talking heads blabbering about some peace summit between two major world leaders. I zoned it out, opting to focus more on the glass of water the cashier put in front of me, but some details filtered through. Something about Cabot in London, and how it was an extraordinary day for worldwide cooperation and a future of peace. Yeah, right. I had no idea how thirsty I was until right that moment. After downing the water in one gulp, I waved to get the waiter’s attention and pointed at the glass.
“Bit thirsty, Miss?” He had a deeper southern drawl than one would expect in Jersey. It was disarming, and his mild, affable smile said more than his words could.
He was instantly the kind of guy I trusted to make me a sandwich because somehow, he would know how I’d like it. People like him littered diners and small restaurants the world over, and it was always a joy to find them. I nodded vigorously, and he smiled even wider as he took the glass and walked to the bar in the back where a large pitcher with ice sat.
“So, what’s next?” Archie half-whispered. He clearly enjoyed the idea we might talk in code, but considering the afternoon I had, I didn’t feel like concealing much of anything.
“The lizard-people trafficking was the only lead we had. Other than that, we need to keep a step ahead of the Guild Agents and keep our eyes peeled for anything that could relate to Hobbes,” I told him.
“I haven’t seen anything about him in a while. I hate to say it, but we might be stuck for a little,” Ally added.
“Does it have to be in Jersey, though?” I asked.
Not that New Jersey was worse than any other place. It simply wasn’t home. Or, what counted for home in my weird abandoned hotel with a Dog Man who kept an eye on the place and all of my stuff, which could fit into a small briefcase.
“We’re only here because of the lizard people. You were the one who suggested you go save them from a life of slavery and whatever else they would use them for,” Ally pointed out.
“Target practice?” Archie offered. I couldn’t immediately tell if that was a terrible idea he thought someone would do or an idea he half-wanted to do himself.
“Who knows? At least I could help them,” I said as the waiter came back to the table.
I made my order, and Archie and Ally made their much smaller orders. I watched with delight as the cook immediately fried our burgers and piled mine high with toppings of various types, including an onion ring right below the top bun.
“I think we ought to head out,” Archie suggested between mouthfuls of fries. They were salty and delicious, and I likely could have eaten a meal of only them. “Especially after all the boat drama. I got a feeling the Philosophers Guild will put two and two together quickly enough to spell trouble for us.”
“Probably. Last thing I want is to run into those guys again. Maybe we should head north? Go for the Canadian border? Or maybe south again, like Mexico,” I offered.
“Or, we could stay one more day,” Ally countered.
“Why in the hell would we do that?” Archie snapped.
“Well, there’s a music festival tomorrow. And we need to have fun. Do you remember fun, Slick? We used to have it all the time,” Ally teased.
“Oh, I remember fun. I also remember a night you tried to get me to have fun with you and I ended up with a station wagon in my front yard,” I reminded her.
“If you had come, I wouldn’t have had to come visit you, and the curb wouldn’t have gotten in the way of my car,” she argued.
“That curb had the right of way,” I insisted.
“There would be none of that, Slick,” she sang in a whimsical voice. “Only us, listening to music, having a few drinks and letting our hair down. Oh, and taco trucks. Taco trucks as far as the eye can see.”
“Taco trucks!” I exclaimed, my attention officially caught.
“Sweet mother of mercy,” Archie groaned.
“I’m in,” I committed. “Who’s headlining?”
Chapter Six
As we walked through the gates of the festival, our freshly bought tickets in hand, a familiar thrill ran down my spine. Ally was right, I hadn’t truly let loose and had fun in a long time, and now I had a chance to. I even changed out of my ‘work’ clothes after grabbing a few items Ally had bought for me that I kept in a plastic bag wherever I laid my head rather than ever wore.
Having clean new clothes was such a foreign concept after so long in The Deep that I wanted to hoard them. Today, I finally convinced myself this was a special occasion and donned the ripped jeans, tight tank top, and jersey combo of my youth. It was cute but still a little tomboyish, which fit the general motif I was discovering was my “look” now.
Archie chose to stay back at the mobile base, and as much as I enjoyed his cranky company, it was nice to be with Ally. It had taken a long talk with Ally to convince me to go, and she had argued vociferously that if I didn't occasionally do something fun, then what was the point of being alive? I was sure it was a teen movie monologue with a giant symphonic crescendo in her head, but for as silly and somewhat childish as she seemed while red-faced and hellbent on getting into cutoff shorts and primping her hair, she had a point.
There was nothing else for us to do at the moment, and Archie said he needed to get some supplies before we moved on anyway, which would take until tomorrow. We might as well go out and enjoy ourselves today and decompress a little before things got serious again. If nothing else, it kept Ally from exploding in cabin fever insanity.
Ever since I came back, it seemed like every moment together turned into either a prelude to or an actual life-or-death situation. There were very few times when it was the two of us not worrying about Fae creatures or Philosophers or some other thin
g bent on murdering one or both of us. At the music festival, it was only her and me picking up where we left off as kids.
We were a few feet inside the gates before I noticed the first of the Holy Grail monuments I came looking for—a taco truck named ‘Avocado or Death.’ I grabbed Ally by the elbow and pointed, and she sighed as she shook her head and smiled. I must have looked like a moron because Ally broke into a laugh and nodded.
“All right, we’ll grab a taco first,” she relented.
After satisfying my craving for the literal greatest food on earth, we made our way closer to the main stage area. The festival was huge, and people milled around all over the place. There were a few different stages set up around the park, and each one had its own lineup. I knew my tastes were so woefully out of the loop on popular music only a few of them seemed familiar, but then, I had never been the type to go crazy over a band anyway.
Ally, on the other hand, was beside herself. Apparently, a band she watched grow from small venues to now playing on the main stage would be here, and her entire ensemble was a collection of love letters to them. The entire way over, she explained how the denim shorts were a reference to the band’s hit single about denim shorts before I zoned out a little. As we reached the main staging area, a beer vendor wandered by, and Ally stopped me.
“I don’t know about you, but I could go for a drink.”
“Sounds good,” I responded and turned with her. Someone bumped into my arm from the side and muttered an apology, and the voice made my blood run cold. I looked up into the eyes of none other than Bentham.
She looked as shocked as I did. And different. Her hair teased out instead of in a tight ponytail like I saw every time I came across her. Also, makeup. A lot of makeup. A tight blouse and long capris completed a look I never thought I would see. Either this was the most elaborate and poorly thought out trap, or… No. It couldn’t be Bentham on vacation. She looked ridiculous. Her eyes were round and her hand reached behind her as if to go for a gun.