The Overtakers were taking control of some of the ship’s Cast Members. Just the thought of this paralyzed Finn. Who could they trust if not the Cast Members?
Before he could think what to do, he turned around.
Maleficent stood at the edge of the jungle where Finn had just been crouched in hiding.
He heard the six Cast Members leaving the cabana. A moment later he heard a truck start up and drive off.
Neither he nor Maleficent had moved. They stood there, locked together in an unending stare.
Finn had known this moment was coming.
* * *
At Philby’s urging, they scrambled out of the cockpit and hid in the jungle at the edge of the runway. As he’d expected, a glowing yellow line stretched the entire length of the runway, easily seen from a plane preparing to land.
“No landing lights,” Philby said.
If there was a plane out there, Willa didn’t see it, but there was no mistaking the sound as it grew louder.
“So it’s on,” she said. “The delivery. They were going to drop a palm tree across the road so a Pargo couldn’t make it if they happened to see the landing.”
“Means it’s going to be quick,” Philby said. “They didn’t block all the vehicles.” He was pointing to a small but heavy-duty flatbed truck just arriving at the end of the runway. Six Cast Members piled out of the truck—three boys, three girls. One ignited a pair of signal flares and, stepping in front of the others, held them high above his head. Smoke spiraled from the bright orange flares.
“But if they’re Cast Members…” Willa said.
“This doesn’t make sense,” said Philby.
“Maybe it’s something the ship arranged,” she speculated. “Maybe they just don’t want the passengers knowing about it.”
“It doesn’t add up. No one knew about the propane.”
“No one that we know of,” she said. “That doesn’t mean we’re right.”
Philby could not live easily with the thought of being wrong. It wasn’t in his vocabulary. Like math, facts added up to a single result. You could collect any number of facts about a particular thing or event, but when added together in any combination they reached but a single truth. Philby spent endless hours collecting and amassing such data. When he reached a conclusion it was, in his mind, as concrete as simple addition.
The facts of this matter had led him to realize a secret landing was taking place—secret not only from passengers, but from Disney as well. He was right. He was always right.
“We treat it as hostile,” he said.
“But they’re Cast Members.”
“Could have been tricked. May know nothing of the contents. For now we observe as carefully as possible. We commit everything—everything!—to memory. The safety of the ship and its passengers depend on it.”
“What are you saying?”
“It’s what you said, not me. Whatever is arriving on this plane is being brought aboard the Dream. And right now, we are the only ones who know about it.”
* * *
“You understand change is inevitable,” Maleficent said. “It’s as constant as the rising sun. Change of heart. Change of leadership. Unstoppable as time. Don’t blame yourself. It is not your fault. It is simply the way. This is my moment. You were unfortunate enough to be used by others to interfere with the natural order of things. You see that, don’t you? I think you will if you look closely enough. The truth is not always apparent, is it? The truth about Wayne…it doesn’t yell out to be heard. Sometimes you must listen quite carefully for it.”
The truth about Wayne? Finn wondered. “What are you talking about?” Finn moved away from the cabana, not wanting anything at his back, seeking open space, equal ground. Her words gnawed at him. He didn’t want to believe a thing this creature said.
“Mr. Disney created me as well,” Maleficent said. “So many seem to forget that. He put the same thought into my creation as any prince or princess. I am no different. I am entitled to my existence. My beliefs. Order. Obedience. Observation. You know it’s needed. That its time has come. You have seen the result of the so-called freedoms in the parks. The sniveling, runny-nosed rats disobeying their parents. The complaining. The impatience. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
He didn’t understand why the human body had eyelids that could block out all sight, yet no corresponding method to plug one’s ears and blot out all sound. He was forced to hear her. But not forced to listen, he realized, separating the two ideas in his thought. Hear, but don’t listen. Look, but don’t see.