“Yeah?”
“I think we need to check it out,” Jess said.
“Because?”
“It’s an IMAX projector,” Jess said.
“So?”
“They’re supercooled. As in very low-temperature. And majorly climate controlled.”
“You’re channeling Philby all of a sudden?”
“I wrote a report for science class. I happen to love IMAX theaters. And anything three-D. I know all about that booth, and believe me, it would be Maleficent heaven, or a perfect place to hide Wayne. Think about it: no one goes in there—it’s all automated. It’s kept cool. It’s climate controlled. And it’s tucked up at the back of this theater, way out of the way.”
“I suppose it could have been the reason Soarin’ showed up on the maintenance list,” Willa said.
“So we’re going in there,” Jess said, making it a statement.
“I think we are,” Willa agreed. “But you need to call Maybeck first and tell him what you saw. It’s been three minutes.”
Holding on to the rail, Jess looked back at the screen. The hang glider was flying down Broadway toward Times Square at night. It was a magnificent sight.
“Right about now,” she said, “I wish I had Finn’s sword.”
“We’ll make the call from inside the booth. It’ll be quieter,” Willa said, ever practical.
“But shouldn’t we tell someone what we’re doing, where we’re going? What if they don’t hear from us again, and can’t find us.”
Willa took back the phone and started typing in a text.
Jess couldn’t tell for certain, given the flickering light from the film, but she thought Willa’s face had gone suddenly pale.
32
TEST TRACK’S WAITING LINE turned back on itself, weaving through a General Motors assembly line of car parts, partly constructed vehicles, and testing areas where car doors were moved remotely to test the durability of their hinges. Empty, it was a confusing tangle of steel railings, a labyrinth of tools and heavy machinery.
Finn and Philby moved through the line slowly, on high alert, both feeling uneasy. No matter how many times they had entered attractions or taken rides after a park’s closing, the events always had a haunted quality about them, as if removing the people removed the life of the place as well, leaving only ghosts behind.
They had encountered Overtakers or succumbed to traps so many times that they now expected them. The characters took over the parks after closing, and the Overtakers did their best to take over the characters. The DHI kids could not enter into this conflict without a strong sense of personal risk.
Finn and Philby kept their heads up, their eyes moving and their ears alert. An attack could come from anywhere at any time.
“Do you smell it?” Philby asked. A metallic, dusty aroma filled the area, like the air during a lightning storm.
“Could be just the machinery. There’s a lot of stuff in here.”
“Or it could be her,” Philby said.
When Maleficent entered a room that same electronic smell preceded her. She could throw fireballs—St. Elmo’s fire—off the tips of her fingers, could draw laserlike electronic fences in the air to contain and capture the Kingdom Keepers. She was clearly capable of generating her own electricity, like an electric eel. This smell in the air set both Finn and Philby back on their heels.
Contained within the rails of the waiting line, they turned to see an Audio-Animatronic mechanic, an old man, maybe 40 or 50, with fat hands and red cheeks sitting by a flashing computer monitor. They both stopped short at the same moment, reminded of the crash-test dummies. They stood perfectly still. The dummy did not move. They advanced cautiously, inches at a time, their eyes never leaving the dummy for long.
A moment later, they looked back at the mechanic as they passed a half dozen traffic signs. The line moved over against the wall here. They were getting closer to the loading zone and the start of the ride. They passed through the empty turnstiles and on through the darkened room where usually a nerdy guy who looked like a young Dan Patrick from ESPN talked you through what you’d experience on the ride.
“It isn’t what we’d normally go through that worries me,” Finn said. “It’s what we don’t expect to happen.”
“With you there,” Philby agreed.
They entered the loading area and moved to the far end where a car awaited.
“Ready?” Philby asked.
“Are you sure this is even possible?” Finn asked.
“I don’t mean to sound too much like Maybeck, but this is me we’re talking about. I know every attraction, every ride, inside and out. That’s my job, right? And I take it seriously.”