Текст книги "Disney at Dawn"

Автор книги: Ridley Pearson

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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

Willa rolled a tool chest in front of the door and then locked the wheels.

Maybeck threw a switch and worked the hydraulic arm, attaching the magnet to the end of it. He found the power switch and tried it: a wrench and three screwdrivers jumped off a workbench and stuck to the magnet. He’d gotten it too close to the workbench, but he’d proven his point.

He flipped off the switch, and the tools dropped to the floor in a cacophony of banging metal.

Now the people on the other side of the door tried all the harder.

Maybeck wrestled with a giant cotter pin that held the magnet to the arm. He got the magnet free, extended the wire connecting it, and was able to stretch it to all the way inside the dark room. The thing was massive. He knew it had to be right on top of the server to corrupt the hard drive. It took most of his strength to lift the magnet and all his strength to hold it under the counter and against the hidden server.

“Throw the switch!” he called out.

“I’m a little busy here,” Willa said, having dragged a leg of a tyrannosaurus to block the door.

“I…can’t…hold…it,” Maybeck gasped. “Throw the freaking switch.” Only he didn’t say “freaking.”

Willa abandoned the door and ran to the controls. She threw the switch.

The magnet leaped out of Maybeck’s hands and glued itself to the server. A small, green LED on the front—meant to indicate hard-drive activity—turned to amber, then flashed red. Next, all the lights on the server failed completely, and there was an electrical smell in the air.

The second server was dead.

Maybeck and Willa hugged, only to realize what they were doing. Then Willa pushed him away and said, “Don’t disgust me!”

Maybeck brushed off his clothes and quickly changed the subject. “I probably should have checked with Philby before doing that. I hope it doesn’t mess things up.”

The workroom door banged open an inch, the tool carrier sliding on the concrete floor.

Two inches.

Then five.

“What now?” she asked, her voice tight.

Maybeck glanced overhead: it was a drop ceiling, maybe a foot or two lower than the one out in the hallway.

“How are you with small spaces?” he asked.

61

THE TWO TIGERS VANISHED IN MIDAIR. As did four of the six monkeys and two of the orangutans.

The big tigress from the shadows remained and so did the massive tiger that had come through the hatch. Finn counted two monkeys and two orangutans.

DHIs, Finn realized. Two of the tigers and several of the monkeys and apes had been holograms. No wonder his blows with the stick hadn’t done much.

Amanda’s climb had distracted the charging animals just long enough for Finn and Jez to get past them. Meanwhile, Philby’s team was about to defeat the second server.

Now it was time to get out of there.

Finn took off running. A caged-in jungle Jeep appeared from over the rise, a flashing light atop its roof.

The orangutans moved to intercept Finn. Jez ran toward Charlene and the wall.

Incredibly fast, and easily as big as he was, the apes came at Finn with wild eyes and drooling snorts of intention. The first of the two bounded toward Finn, made one gigantic leap, and would have torn his head off with its outstretched hand had the tigress not sprung. The cat scared the orangutan. The ape rolled into a ball, came to standing, and saw the cat bearing down on it once again. Forced to choose between pursuing Finn or confronting the cat, the orange ape turned to escape. Now, faced with a Jeep coming at it headlong, the orangutan sprang for the bamboo grove and disappeared, the huge cat following hotly on its tail.

The second ape saw its partner flee and beat a hasty retreat. Thankfully for Finn, that retreat took it into the path of the Jeep, which veered sharply to avoid a collision. The Jeep skidded to a stop near the open hatch, away from Charlene, who remained poised, her stilts pressed at an angle against the wall. Jez was nowhere to be seen. She’d made it over the wall.

“How about a lift?” Finn shouted.

Charlene bent low and offered her cupped hands as a boost.

Finn climbed up, lay flat, and offered Charlene his hand. She took it, stood, and, as rangers hurried from the Jeep, shook her legs violently, managing to kick loose first one, and then both of the stilts. Some of the ivy that connected her costume with the stilts tore loose. She left the rangers with a pair of stilts in their hands as she and Finn both lowered themselves down off the wall.

Dozens of guests had gathered to observe the excitement. Some applauded as the Kingdom Keepers dropped to the path, but they didn’t stick around to take a bow.

Charlene said, “This way!” and led the others directly across the formal gardens and into the jungle on a route she now knew well.

But just before they entered the dense jungle, Jez pulled to a stop, transfixed by something to her right.

All the kids stopped and looked in that direction. They saw a snowcapped peak of a towering mountain.

“That mountain was in my dream,” she told Finn. “The dream I told you about.”

“King of the Mountain” Finn said. “Where you and Amanda were under attack.”

“Yes.” Jez reached out and took Amanda by the hand. She said nothing, but the look that was exchanged between the two “sisters” would have quieted even the most cynical person.

“That’s Expedition Everest,” Charlene said.

“Then, like it or not, that’s where we’re headed,” Jez said. “Never once, not once, has one of my dreams lied to me.”

62

HAVING RECONNECTED ON THE DS’S, all the Kingdom Keepers, along with Jez and Amanda, reunited in a small patch of jungle. Behind them towered Expedition Everest, and screams were heard periodically as the roller coaster thrilled its riders. After a quick celebration of Jez’s return, Finn brought up the daydream she had had while trapped in the tunnel.

“But so what?” Maybeck asked. “We had two things we had to do: get Jez back and kill the second server. We’ve done both. I’m so tired I can barely stand. Let’s get out of here while we still can.”

“You all can go. It’s all right,” Amanda said matter-of-factly. “We will never be able to repay you for all you’ve done.”

“But your dream,” Charlene said. “The giant attacking you. Finn in his hands.”

“All the more reason,” Maybeck said, “we should just boogie and forget about all that.”

He looked to the others for agreement but saw only vacant faces.

“Come on, people!” Maybeck chastised. “Quit while you’re ahead. Ever heard of that?”

“Leave no stone unturned,” Finn said, “might be more appropriate. Wayne has gone missing.”

“Philby cut the data lines. Who knows how that affected the data flow in the Park? Besides, it wasn’t Wayne. It was his VMK avatar! Are you kidding me? We’re going to stay and try to find a missing avatar? Are you serious? Half the Park is out looking for us.”

“Maleficent serves Chernabog. We know that Chernabog defeated Mickey at the Fantasmics. Wayne told us that a long time ago. That means he has major powers. He’s the one Disney demon that we know virtually nothing about—”

“And let’s leave it that way!”

“But Jez dreamed something awful. And Maleficent could have hidden in any of the Parks. Why here? Why now? What’s being planned? With Wayne missing, it’s up to us to find out.”

“You’re hallucinating,” Maybeck said.

Philby stepped forward. “Without Wayne we’d have failed. I promise you that. Maleficent’s got him. Don’t ask me to explain that, but I just know it. And if that’s true, it’s my fault—it’s all of our faults. Can you honestly just go home and go to bed knowing that?”

Maybeck hung his head and shook it back and forth. “No.” He sounded so despondent.

“No,” Philby agreed. “I didn’t think so.”

Charlene unfolded the photocopied page of Jez’s diary. She pointed to the sketch of what looked like a gorilla. “What if this isn’t a gorilla at all? What if it’s the yeti?”

Jez spoke up. “You just told us that Chernabog was missing from his float, remember? Maybe Maleficent thought that that was the real Chernabog, only to discover it a fake. The bat…the monkeys…something could have told her the real Chernabog was locked up here in AK.”

“Or maybe this whole thing,” Finn said, “was cooked up by Maleficent to use us to lead her to Wayne. Has anyone considered that possibility?”

He drew stunned expressions.

“What if we did exactly what she wanted us to do?” Finn asked in a softer voice. “We couldn’t have gotten Jez without Wayne’s help. He knew they were looking for him. So Maleficent cooks up this plan to basically use Jez as bait. We think she’s after Jez to keep Jez’s dreams from forecasting what Maleficent is up to—and that could be right. But it doesn’t mean there wasn’t a bigger plan.”

A light breeze broke the silence between them as, once again, it carried the cries from Expedition Everest.

“One thing we know,” Willa said, “is that Everest is cold. At least, it represents the cold.” She indicated the gorilla on Jez’s diary page. “What if this is the yeti, like Charlene said?” The other kids stared at her with puzzled expressions. “What if, like Maleficent, the yeti can’t handle the heat? So Maleficent’s job is not only to get him out of the Park, but keep him cold. Keep them both cold.”

“The ice truck!” Charlene said.

“Exactly!” agreed Willa.

“But to what purpose?” complained Maybeck.

“How do we know? A refrigerated truck can take him anywhere he wants to go.”

“But where?” asked Finn.

“So Expedition Everest was a way for Wayne and the others to control Chernabog?” Charlene asked. “The Imagineers basically locked him up in a deep freeze?”

“It could be,” agreed Willa. “They locked up Maleficent in the dungeons, let’s not forget.”

Philby spoke confidently. “I say we get inside Expedition Everest and check out the yeti. That could be where the answers lie. Jez drew it in her diary. It has to mean something!”

“It means that’s where the danger lies,” muttered Jez.

Finn said quietly, “Chernabog is using Maleficent—maybe to get him off of Everest or even out of the Park. Maleficent used us to reveal and capture Wayne. If they eliminate Wayne, then they take away years of knowledge about all the Parks, all the history of this place. If they’re trying to gain control of the Parks, Wayne has to go. He’s proved that.”

“He has the knowledge and leadership,” said Willa, “to stop them.”

Leadership, Finn thought. Wayne had given him a lecture on how to be a good leader. Had Wayne known what was coming?

“Wayne is not the only one they need to get rid of,” Maybeck reminded them. “I’d say we’ve become a pretty big pain in the—”

“But!” Finn said, interrupting, “there’s obviously stuff we haven’t figured out. Maybe a lot of stuff. It’s pretty obvious we don’t have it all. We can’t make any conclusions without going in there, without knowing more. I’m going in there. And I have a hunch Amanda and Jez are, too, because Jez dreamed about it.”

The two sisters nodded.

“This is stupid,” Maybeck whined. “It could be a trap.

“Which is why you and Willa and Charlene will remain outside of Everest,” Finn directed. “If we get nailed, you’ll have to come save us.” He knew if there was one thing Maybeck loved, it was being the hero.

Maybeck snorted. “Okay,” he said, relenting.

“Philby will come with me because he’s so good with tech stuff, and if there’s one thing we know about Expedition Everest, it’s that it’s high-tech.”

“I haven’t studied it much,” Philby cautioned.

“We’ll take our chances,” Finn said.

“The Park closes in, like, five minutes,” said Charlene.

“That may work even better for us,” Finn declared.

“What about the fact that Jez’s daydream has Ape Man swinging you around like a drumstick?” Maybeck crossed his arms, believing he’d finally found a hole in Finn’s plan.

“But what he doesn’t know,” Philby said, “is that we already know that, and that’s gotta be to our advantage.”

“Not if you’re the one being swung around,” said Maybeck, clearly challenging Finn.

“I’ll take my chances,” said Finn, staring back at Maybeck’s twitching smile and wondering why he’d volunteered.

63

THE LINE FOR EXPEDITION EVEREST had been shut down fifteen minutes prior to the Park closing to make sure the roller coaster was free of passengers by the appointed time. The line twisted through a startling reproduction of a Nepalese village, complete with prayer flags and Asian memorabilia.

Finn, Philby Amanda, and Jez stuck together. They passed into the backstage area through a “Park Rangers Only” gate and simply walked into the enormous structure that housed the exotic roller coaster.

Finn had expected to need his ID and perhaps some quick talking to get them all inside, but with the closing of the ride to the public, someone had left the backstage door open, and the kids simply walked in.

“It’s three structures in one,” Philby explained in a hush. “The massive superstructure that supports the exterior building, the roller coaster, and the yeti.”

“I thought you hadn’t studied it,” whispered Jez.

“I haven’t studied it thoroughly,” Philby replied, “but that doesn’t mean I haven’t read up on it a little.”

“We may need the roller coaster for our escape,” Finn said to Philby. “Why don’t you stay and try to handle that?”

“Done,” said Philby. He could be a handful when he showed off.

“See you up there,” Finn said.

The metal stairs reminded him of a fire escape. The three of them climbed and climbed. Then they climbed some more. Far below they suddenly heard men’s voices. The lights went out. Then a reverberating thunk as a door was slammed shut with a finality that Finn felt up his spine.

With the lights out, the building’s vast interior was held in an unnatural haze caused by the few emergency lights strategically placed throughout.

No one said anything at first, but a tremor of fear passed between them.

Finn couldn’t lose the image of his being swung around by his feet. Step by step he felt himself drawn to that fate.

Amanda started talking, possibly to break the mood established by the lights going out. “What is it that something—someone—like Chernabog wants?”

“Power,” Jez answered.

“Exactly,” Amanda agreed. “He’s been locked up in here ever since they built the ride, and now he wants freedom and power, probably in that order.”

“And you’re saying he’d have gotten both if I hadn’t dreamed what I dreamed,” Jez said.

“He still may get both,” Amanda cautioned. “And what’s the one thing anyone seeking power is afraid of?”

“What is this?” Finn complained, “a social sciences class?”

“Answer the question,” Amanda pushed.

“His enemies,” Finn answered.

“Yes! His enemies,” Amanda agreed. “In particular, any enemy who is potentially more powerful than he is. So who are his biggest enemies? You—the Kingdom Keepers—or Wayne, or Jez, or whom?”

“All of the above,” a winded Finn replied. The stairs seemed to go on forever. The trio passed along the roller coaster’s high-tech tracks and the arctic scenery that only made the chill of the air all the more convincing. “Or none of the above,” Finn said, his mind racing.

“You’re messing with us?” Amanda said accusingly.

Finn answered, “Chernabog is rarely seen in any of the Disney stuff. Fantasia and Fanstasmics are it, I think.”

“And all the postcards and stuff that show the Disney villains,” Amanda corrected.

“That, too. But in the Fantasmics—he’s beaten by the sorcerer, Mickey,” said Finn. “And in Fantasia, by the sun.”

“Interesting,” said Amanda. She didn’t sound winded at all. Finn wondered if she was levitating herself up the endless stairs.

Jez asked, “Are you saying he has to defeat Mickey before he can be assured of maintaining any power he gains?”

“Defeating Mickey,” Finn said, “defeats us all. Without Mickey, there is no Magic Kingdom, no Animal Kingdom, no Disney at all.”

“But then why kidnap Jez? Why involve the five of you? What do you guys have to do with Mickey?” Amanda asked.

“Nothing,” Finn answered. “That’s what’s puzzling. But think about it: the sooner he eliminates Mickey, the sooner there’s no one to stop him from overtaking the Park.”

mybest: ice truck just arrived!!!

Finn told the two sisters the news. “The ice truck pulled up around back.”

“Then this is it,” Jez said, her voice trembling. “Whatever Maleficent has been planning, it’s happening right now.”

They rounded a corner and then quickly jumped to one side to hide.

What they’d witnessed was emblazoned in their minds. Far above them towered the frightening figure of the yeti. It stood thirty feet tall or more, leaning out over the track—the embodiment of evil: monstrous and otherworldly.

At the yeti’s feet stood a tall figure in a black robe. They were too far away to see the purple fringe on the cape or the green skin, but no one in the group doubted it was she. Hidden by an outcropping of rock, they continued higher until the steady chanting of her voice could be heard. She was conjuring a spell. As the staircase curved, following the rocks, they were forced to drop to their stomachs and belly-crawl up the metal stairs. Then Finn raised a hand signaling the others to stop.

He didn’t know exactly why they’d come here—only that they couldn’t turn away from Jez’s daydream. Perhaps they were here to witness whatever Maleficent planned, perhaps to stop it. He believed their attendance here critical to Wayne’s rescue, yet he knew they were no match for the yeti. Not if Maleficant awakened the thing.

And then it became perfectly clear to him: they had to stop her from awakening the yeti in the first place. Chernabog must not come to power. This was the secret to preserving the peace in the Animal Kingdom. This was why Jez had dreamed it in the first place.

More than anything, Finn’s concern for Wayne remained at the forefront of his thoughts. He had to find out what had happened to him, where he’d gone. And to that end, he must not be afraid.

This became his focus: he must not be afraid. He felt a tingling sensation wash over him.

It was true: he did not see the green skin or the fringe on Maleficent’s robe, and he was betting she couldn’t make out the sudden slight shimmer to his skin, either.

He rose to his feet and called out boldly, “Do you really think you’ll get away with it?” His electronically-edged voice echoed in the cavernous building.

Amanda and Jez slunk back and down, once again hiding in the lee of the rock outcropping.

Far below—miles it seemed—a loud pop was heard, followed by sudden humming. The round rail to the left of the stairs carried a slight tremor.

The roller coaster had been switched on.

64

IT ALL HAPPENED SO QUICKLY: his words echoing around the building; the steady increase in electronic and mechanical sounds as the roller coaster started up; Maleficent’s arms shooting up from her sides and lifting her robe like magnificent wings.

The twitching of the yeti’s fingers, like the paws of a sleeping dog.

Too late! She had already awakened the giant.

His massive head moved side-to-side, and a loud crack thundered through the snowcapped mountains.

The hum and whir of the roller coaster grew steadily closer.

“Silly, silly, boy!” Maleficent spun around and shot a ball of fire at Finn. The size of a soccer ball, it exploded at his feet, flaming out.

And whereas once Finn would have been terrified by such things, would have stood transfixed by the power she displayed, something had come over him. She was nothing but an illusionist, a magician using her substantial skills to scare him. He was no longer convinced she even possessed the ability to kill him—or, if she did, then why hadn’t she done so?

“If you were going to kill me,” he shouted, “then you would have done that the first time we met. But you can’t, can you? Walt Disney would never allow a creation of his imagination to take a life.”

The tingling grew stronger; he felt it in a way, a degree, he’d never experienced. This confrontation was making his DHI stronger.

“But I am not of his imagination,” Maleficent said. “I am of the old stories—tales that existed for hundreds of years in places all around the world. Tales of things that actually happened.” She shot another ball at him. Again, he did not move from his spot. Again, the flames fell short.

The giant yeti was awake now, towering over them all, eyes blinking. Finn did not recoil. He could not picture Wayne and the other Imagineers building creatures designed to harm them.

The roller coaster sped closer.

“I will kill you,” Maleficent said, “when you are no longer of use to me.” She bent backward and looked up at the hairy creature above her. “When Lord Chernabog has no further use for you.” She let out a laugh—a bloodcurdling cackle—that for the first time challenged Finn’s DHI status. His feet and hands grew cold, and it took all his will to overcome this poison and return to his full DHI.

The beast had the reaction time of a snake. One moment Finn was standing on the stairs. The next, the yeti had him by the legs and was swinging him overhead.

His legs…not the legs of his DHI. Amanda and Jez jumped out from their hiding places and Jez shouted, “Let him go!”

“Ah!” Maleficent cried out. “If it isn’t the Fairlies.”

Amanda craned forward, her neck thrust out. Maleficent knew way too much.

Finn knew the secret to his own survival was to push away his fear, but being swung at thirty miles an hour over the head of a forty-foot-tall giant proved a difficult challenge.

Maleficent suddenly floated—levitated—off the platform, clearly, nothing she’d planned for herself, for she flailed her legs and arms, dog paddling like a kid struggling to swim for the first time.

“You put me down, child!” she roared.

She hurled a ball of flame at Amanda, who leaned slightly left, allowing the asteroid to pass. It exploded into the Himalayas.

“PUT HIM DOWN!” cried out Amanda, “OR I WILL DROP YOU AS YOU WISH!”

Maleficent moved like a puppet twenty feet to the left. Now there was nothing but a sixty-foot fall to concrete beneath her.

Finn felt the tingling return, and, as it did, the yeti’s hand closed shut through his body—nothing but light. Finn clamored up the beast’s arm toward its massive head. The yeti swiped at him, but again his hand passed through Finn’s DHI, unable to touch him.

He caught a glimpse of Maleficent as she began to transform into a crow. But as she did, Amanda released her and the green-skinned creature fell fifteen feet straight down before stopping in midair.

“You try that again,” Amanda warned, and I’ll drop you before you have the chance.

Maleficent looked down and seemed to consider her odds. Then she looked back at Amanda.

“You harm me, you little tart, and your friend will never see his precious Wayne again!”

With the mention of Wayne, Finn slipped. He fell off the yeti’s shoulder, and the sensation immediately removed his DHI. He slid down the side of the creature, grasping at the matted gray hair and somehow controlling his fall. As he reached the yeti’s leg, it moved. Then the other. The giant’s feet broke free of the platform where it had stood for several years. The entire building shook.

A series of screams was followed by the roller coaster shooting up at them through the darkness. Philby, Maybeck, and Willa zoomed past—backward—and out of sight.

Maybeck waved at Maleficent.

The witch proclaimed: “You will bring me the Stonecutter’s Quill, or you will never see the white-haired man again.”

At that moment, the yeti began to change. The hair was sucked inside its arms, turning the gray skin smooth; the legs and arms shrank, and the neck grew thinner, while the head also lost its hair and sprouted horns. The giant creature had been reduced to a figure much greater than Maleficent, but no longer a thirty-foot-high beast. Horns sprouted, while black webbing formed under the thing’s arms like…bat wings.

Chernabog.

Finn heard the roller coaster slowing in the distance. It would be returning—and when it did, he, Amanda, and Jez needed to be on it.

The pen, Finn realized. The Stonecutter’s Quill was the pen Walt had used to imagine the first plans of the Parks. It had demonstrated great powers the one and only time Finn had seen it used. Powers, he assumed, that could be put to evil use as easily as they had been to good.

A wall of tension formed between Amanda and Maleficent. The witch produced another ball of fire, but this time Amanda levitated it as well. It hovered next to the witch, burning hotly and illuminating her green face.

“You will regret this, little one,” Maleficent muttered, clearly afraid of her own fire. “You are playing with things you know nothing about.”

She grew the head of a vulture. Wings began to sprout.

Amanda released her. Again, Maleficent fell abruptly, before slowly being carried aloft. Evidence of the vulture was gone; the green-skinned fairy hovering over the precipitous fall.

The strain on Amanda was evident. She had quickly grown pale, her body now shaking.

Finn saw that Maleficent was merely playing for time. She knew Amanda couldn’t keep this up forever.

“Release Wayne!” Finn called out, “or she’ll drop you.

“The Quill,” Maleficent said, “or you’ll never see him alive again.” She looked over at Finn, who held to Chernabog rather than drop to the platform where the creature might squash him like a bug.

Amanda’s strength gave out, and she collapsed into Jez’s arms.

“You harm any one of us and you will never see that pen!” Finn shouted. He let go, jumped, slid down the mountain slope, and aimed straight for the two girls, hoping his timing was right, for he could see the roller coaster from the corner of his eye. Chernabog stepped forward, raising his arms in defiance. But he was too late.

Finn’s wild slide down the mountainside connected with both girls at the exact moment the roller coaster arrived. He stretched out his arms and caught both Amanda and Jez, his momentum carrying all three of them headfirst into the passing roller coaster. They tumbled into a middle car.

But the safety bars on the ride were already set, having been locked at the start; and, as the cars gained substantial speed, Finn held on to the weakened Amanda as Jez reached out to cling to the car, and with Maybeck, Philby Charlene, and Willa calling out from the back, the Kingdom Keepers plummeted down into the dark.