“And where do you handle the crossover from?” Finn asked.
“That gets a little complicated,” Philby said. “Why don’t you leave that to me?”
“What’s with you?”
“What do you mean?” Philby asked.
“Why so condescending?”
“I’m not being condescending. I’m compartmentalizing. The tech stuff is my turf.”
“Lately everything’s your turf.”
“What? Why would you care about the details?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Finn asked.
“You’re jealous. My control of 2.0 is bugging you.”
“If you’re so in control, why don’t you cross over with us?”
“Because this is like Epcot, when we overrode the servers in the Utilidor. It’s like that, but more difficult. Who would you suggest handle it?”
“And the Return?”
Philby shook his head. “You’re the one who saw Wayne with it. Do you have it? Because I don’t!” Philby said. “For now the return has got to be manual, and as a group. That’s why I’ll be on this side, not crossed over with you. If you’d like to give the job to someone else…”
Finn found himself breathing hard. “And if something happens to you…”
“Nothing’s going to happen.”
“But if it did,” Finn said. “While we were crossed over…” He paused. They both knew the answer: SBS, the Syndrome.
“I won’t let that happen.”
“There you go again.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. You’re taking this all wrong!”
“Maleficent may have other ideas.”
“I’m going to get you guys crossed over and then I’m going to hide where no one can find me. You’ll call my Wave Phone to be returned. It’ll take me a minute or two to pull it off, so you need to be thinking ahead.”
“I’m always thinking ahead,” Finn said, uncharacteristically brash. He surprised himself; it sounded more like something Maybeck would say.
“Okay,” Philby said.
“What about the GPS? Have you gotten an email or anything? Is their server on the ship?”
“That’s too many questions at once,” Philby said.
Finn was ready to smack the guy. “Just answer me!”
“The short answer is no. But the video at the Sail-Away said it all: Maleficent knew this was a DHI cruise, and if she’s not here herself, clearly her minions are.”
“Minions? Really?”
“OTs. Whatever.” Philby shot him a look. “What’s with you, Finn?”
Finn hesitated for a long time. “I’ve got a bad feeling about all this. Dillard. The video. This girl I met in the Vibe. It’s like a surprise party.”
“What are you talking about?”
“When everyone knows what’s going on but you,” Finn said. “That’s how it feels to me.”
“Well, I don’t know what’s going on.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“They want us scared,” Philby reminded him.
“I know that.”
“You don’t have to cross over tonight,” Philby said. “We can wait.”
“We have a torn piece of her robe. That’s called evidence.”
“It could be a character’s.”
“Could be,” Finn said.
“Yeah. Okay,” Philby said reluctantly. “I see what you mean.”
“I need to be somewhere,” Finn said. “Then it’s back here to get to sleep in time.”
“You’re cutting it pretty close if you’re going somewhere now,” Philby said.
“Then I’m cutting it close.”
* * *
Finn descended the forward stairs to Deck 5. He found the stairways and stateroom passageways quieter than during the day, but far from empty. People milled about. Adults. Teens. Lovers. Crew. Midnight snackers. Late-night explorers. Stargazers. John Mayer’s “Half of My Heart” played from unseen speakers. Finn felt a lift to his step, briefly relieved of his burdens by the music.
Arriving on Deck 5, he headed aft past the elevators, arriving at the double doors to the Buena Vista Theatre balcony. He hesitated. Wayne had arranged the meeting. Was he supposed to trust it?
He looked both ways and killed a minute studying the movie poster for Oz: The Great and Powerful. A couple passed, both the size of compact cars, Finn allowing them to get out of sight. Then he tested one of the doors, and it opened. His nerves jangled.
The balcony and the theater below were clouded in emergency lighting—dull white lights at ankle height and a few glowing red exit signs. The acoustic materials draping the walls and covering the ceiling absorbed every sound. Finn didn’t even hear the whisper of his own footsteps, only the throbbing of his heartbeat as blood rushed past his ears. He’d come to distrust large, empty spaces like this. As a Keeper he’d been called upon to enter empty park attractions and pavilions, had nearly always found himself in peril within moments of doing so. Why should this be any different? he wondered.