Free Neptune Road Volume IV by Betsy Streeter Page B

waits until they stop
swinging and come to rest in a closed position. Then he makes a
grand entrance. He opens them with both arms and stands there,
surveying the interior like a sheriff, before coming all the way
in. The doors swing shut again with their squeak.
     
    "Splendid," Darby says again. "That is just what we
needed. Please send a thank-you to whoever left them, if you learn
who it is."
     
    "I will," Edward says, gathering the tools and
hardware to put them away.
     
    "Oh and Edward?" Darby says, retreating behind the
massive mahogany bar.
     
    "Yes?"
     
    "I wonder if you'd fancy a trip into the city center
to speak to our friend, Agent Millman."
     
    "I was wondering when you might say that," Edward
says, stashing the drill behind the bar and wiping his hands on a
white towel. "It seems only fair."
     
    "Yes, when one makes a finding as we have, it seems
one ought to share it with the subject. It's really up to Mister
Millman - and I assume that it is Mister at this point - what he
wants to do with the information."
     
    "I'm not sure how I will find him," Edward says.
     
    "I'm not either," Darby says, rubbing his chin.
"We'll have to work with what we know. We know he's investigating
Sam Brubeck. So if we reach him or one of his associates, perhaps
they can pave the way."
     
    "True," Edward says. "I'll be sure to do my research
before I depart."
     
    "Thank you, Edward."
     
    "You're welcome."
     
    "And thank you for the new doors. We're a proper
saloon, now."
     
    Edward smiles.
    .

080 - Dr. Mangrove's Head

     
    "Seven. Seven. Eight. Seven. Three."
     
    Dr. Mangrove is lying on the floor of the workshop,
his hands over his ears.
     
    "Just, stop. Please. I can't do this."
     
    "Sure you can. You are not trying hard enough.
Remember, I saved your bacon. I gave you the codes that got your
vessel out from under the ground. Or have you forgotten
already?"
     
    "I can't remember a lot of things, since you crowded
into my head," Dr. Mangrove says. "There isn't room."
     
    "There's plenty of room," Angelica says. "It's like a
gymnasium in here. I feel so free. I really must thank you."
     
    "Thank me?" Dr. Mangrove says. "You're not
welcome."
     
    "Look. Just write down the codes when I give them to
you. You'll know what to do with them. You knew how to get out of
the ground, you knew how to send the dinos home. Didn't you?"
     
    "Yes, but why do you need to do this from my
cranium?"
     
    "Oh, I don't know. You'd have to ask the Bird People
about that. I didn't lobby for it, I'll tell you that much. You
just came along, and... well, there you were."
     
    Dr. Mangrove sits up on the floor. His head is
feeling a little better. He's seasick, but the pain is going down.
Maybe he is adjusting.
     
    "Do I have to go back to the Bird People to get you
removed, Angelica? Or do you know how to do it?" Dr. Mangrove
asks.
     
    "What kind of question is that?" Angelica asks. "Why
on Earth - or Neptune - would I give you the method for evicting
me? I just got here!"
     
    "Yes, yes," Dr. Mangrove says, "but what if I could
get you a better home? What if I promised you would be able to get
around, not be disembodied any more? What then?"
     
    Silence.
     
    "Angelica?"
     
    "I'll think about it," Angelica says finally. "For
now, though, this is our little secret. And I mean that. You rat me
out, I'll give you a whole new definition of the word headache.
It's not like I won't know. I'm in your head. In the meantime,"
     
    "Seven. Seven. Eight. Seven. Three."
     
    Dr. Mangrove stands and goes to rummage for a piece
of paper and a pencil to write down the numbers.
     
     

081 - Roof of the Tumbleweed

     
    Philo climbs out onto the roof of the Tumbleweed. May
is already there, sitting cross-legged and eating a bologna
sandwich from a paper bag. Dust storms sweep across the distant
horizon, grey and brown. The sunlight amplifiers twinkle in the
sky.
     
    "Hello, May," Philo says.
     
    "Oh hi," May says, her mouth full.
     
    Philo