Neptune Road Volume IV (2 page)

He pulls a few components from the drawer in the
workbench and begins tinkering with them, but it doesn't help. He
feels agitated, all of the time. He hasn't slept for more than an
hour or so in days.

"Four. Three. Five. Two. One."

"Four. Three. Five. Two. One."

He puts his hand to his forehead. This headache won't
go away. He thinks back to the Bird People's lab - what did he see
there? What was going on? Why was Angelica there? Why can't he
remember?

"Four. Three. Five. Two. One."

"Hey, Dad?" It's Rebecca's voice through the
intercom. "Are you in there? I need a couple pieces of wire and a
lens for Feller."

"Yes, dear," Dr. Mangrove says, without moving.
"Door's open."

"Four. Three. Five. Two. One."

"Okay, okay!" Dr. Mangrove shouts, jumping to his
feet. "What is this? What are these stupid numbers? Please just
make it stop!"

"Ah! Now I've got your attention."

"Angelica?"

"Yes, dearest, it's me."

"But..." Dr. Mangrove spins around. "Where? Where are
you?"

"Silly, I'm in your head. It's a piggy-back ride, I
suppose. Or a brain-back ride, really."

"What?" Dr. Mangrove puts his hands on either side of
his head. "No!"

"Oh, yes, dear," Angelica says. "I must say, it's so
nice to have a body again. I've felt so - fragmented with no
physical form. One can only swim around as bits and bytes for so
long before you really start to miss having two feet and two hands.
Oh, and tea. Tea! Wonderful."

"Dad?"

Rebecca stands in the doorway.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

Dr. Mangrove freezes, and says nothing.

079 - Saloon Doors

"Why, that's splendid, Edward," Darby says, hands on
hips.

Edward drives the last screw into the wall at the
entrance to Darby's Bar.

"Where did you say you got these, again?" Darby
asks.

"Someone dropped them off," Edward says. "Came from a
movie set on Earth, I think."

"Well, it's splendid. Try it out."

Edward puts down the drill and walks out the door.
It's a pair of swinging shutters, just like those found in an Old
West saloon on Earth. They even make a satisfying squeak as Edward
pushes them outward.

Edward releases the doors, and 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 sits down next to her.

"Rebecca said you would be up here," Philo says.

"She was right," May says, and takes another
bite.

The two sit silently, looking out across the desolate
landscape dotted with market tents and makeshift shelters. Every so
often a vehicle of some sort flies or drives by. They toot their
horns and the pair wave.

"Philo?" May says.

"Yes?" Philo replies.

"You know when we were down underground?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well... I wanted to ask you something."

"Is this about me removing my head?" Philo asks.

"How did you know?" May asks.

"I just figured that since you rebuilt me, you might
have an interest of sorts in how I am put together," Philo
says.

"Um, yeah," May says. She falls silent.

They watch the sunlight amplifiers.

"So what was your question?" Philo asks, finally.

"Well," May squirms a little. "I guess I was
wondering, see, when you took your head off, it kind of..."

"Kind of freaked you out?" Philo says.

"Um, yeah." May's head is down and her hair covers
her face. A tear drops onto her knee.

Philo touches May's shoulder. "I'm sorry, May," he
says. "I'm sorry I freaked you out."

"Yeah," May says.

They sit together some more.

"I didn't like that," May says.

"I know," Philo says. "But you know what? As they
say: it's not a bug, it's a feature. I got into the lab because
they thought I was a weird telly. Just like when you found me."

"Yeah, I know..." May says. She stretches her feet
out in front of her.

"I'll try and keep my head on," Philo says.

"Okay," May says. "Unless, you know, it's a feature.
Then I guess it's alright."

"Okay, May." Philo puts out a fist.

"Okay, Philo." May bumps Philo's fist with hers.

082 - Zippo Hotel, Scar City

Edward steps off the bus that travels up and down the
main drag of Scar City. He slings a small bag over his shoulder and
looks around.

It doesn't take long for street vendors to begin
accosting him with offers of products and services. No, he doesn't
need a massage. No, he doesn't want an amulet that will cause him
to win every bet in the Casino. There are musicians, dancers,
people in costumes who seem like performance artists but who do not
move. Edward takes it all in.