‘No,’ Jack said to him. ‘Did you really expect she would?’
‘Wait a minute,’ said Lydia. ‘You’re talking to him now, aren’t you? And before - that’s what you were doing, not mumbling to yourself, isn’t it? The whole thing’s so incredible it has to be true.’ She looked confused, then shook her head. ‘No, it can’t be - it’s too crazy.’
‘That’s female logic for you,’ Tuck said.
Jack repeated this to Lydia. Again she began to look half-convinced, remarking, ‘That’s just the sort of thing Tuck would say.’
‘Jack,’ Tuck said from inside, ‘repeat to Lydia my exact words, will you?’
‘Okay,’ said Jack.
He listened to Tuck while Lydia waited expectantly. Then he repeated the message: ‘Lydia, I don’t blame you for leaving me that morning. But it was my heart that was broken and not my toe.’ Jack looked confused. ‘What the heck is that supposed to mean?’
Jack did not understand the message, but he immediately saw that Lydia was finally convinced. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes moistened.
Gazing at Jack, she whispered, ‘Tuck . . . Tuck . . . it really is you, isn’t it?’
Then she threw her arms around Jack’s neck.
Jack reacted with alarm. Unsure of what to do with Lydia’s arms, he prised them free and stepped back.
‘Okay!’ he said. ‘Wait a minute here!’
Lydia looked perplexed, but Jack had actually enjoyed having her arms around his neck. He wanted to savour it without feeling that someone else was watching. ‘Tuck,’ he said, ‘I want a moment alone.’
‘Huh?’ said Tuck. He was presently guiding the pod up Jack’s throat towards his mouth.
‘Shut down your sensors,’ Jack said. ‘No sound. No picture.’
Tuck immediately understood why he wanted this.
‘Bad idea, Jack,’ he said. ‘I’d be navigating in the dark. What if I couldn’t restore contact afterwards? No, Jack, I can’t do that.’
‘I want a moment alone,’ Jack insisted with uncharacteristic firmness.
‘Alone with Lydia, you mean!’
‘You owe me this, Tuck!’
Tuck thought about it, studying Lydia on the screen. She looked adorable, but she said nothing.
‘Okay,’ Tuck said abruptly. ‘Signing off.’ And he shut down.
Jack could feel a slight change in his body, he was sure. It was a sudden sensation of freedom, of being his own man again. He grinned, then stepped forward and took Lydia’s hands in his own.
‘Lydia,’ he said, ‘I’m not sure what I have to say to you. I’ve only known you for less than a day, but - ’
He stopped short as the sound of footsteps coming down the cellar stairs could be heard.
Swiftly Jack seized the moment, knowing that he might never get another chance. Before Lydia could protest, he drew her forward and planted a big kiss on her lips. It was an urgent, passionate kiss, and her mouth opened wide in response. To Jack, it was simply delicious.
Then the door was thrown open. Jack broke the kiss and stepped back. One of the henchmen was framed in the doorway.
‘Let’s go!’ he shouted.
Inside the pod, Tuck was frantically attempting to restore communication with Jack, but both sound and vision remained dead.
‘Jack?’ Tuck said. ‘Do you read me? Damn! I knew I shouldn’t have shut down my sensors!’
Under heavy guard, Jack and Lydia were driven swiftly through San Francisco until they came to Margaret Canker’s laboratory complex. Canker, Igoe and Scrimshaw had followed in another car, and Canker immediately ordered that Lydia be taken to her office. Then Jack was led through to her lab.
Technicians were standing at the ready while Jack was taken to a stainless steel table and lashed down. A plastic collar which resembled a neck brace was snapped around his neck. At its front was a small metal nozzle with a hole in its centre.
‘What’s going on!’ Jack shouted. ‘Let me go!’
He had been struggling ever since he had been taken from the car, but the henchmen had kept him firmly in their grasp. And now he was unable to move, the straps on the table holding him fast.
‘Prepare the miniaturizer,’ Canker said calmly to the technicians. Turning to Scrimshaw, she went on: ‘We’ll use the chip we already have to miniaturize Igoe, then inject him into Putter. He’ll locate the pod, eliminate its pilot by whatever means necessary, take command of it and retrieve the second chip.’
Jack began to struggle more frantically, but it was hopeless.
‘Tuck?’ he murmured under his breath. ‘Tuck? Where are you?’
There was no response.
Tuck was unaware that Jack was calling him. He was taking the pod down a dark glistening tunnel lit only by the pod’s searchlights.
‘Where am I?’ he wondered aloud, punching the audio and visual links yet again. Still they gave him no sound or vision. Then the computer voice spoke: ‘You are presently located in the oesophagus.’
‘Right,’ Tuck said immediately. There was only one thing for it. ‘Give me a route to the optic nerve again. I’m going to have to plant another remote.’
Meanwhile, in the laboratory, Margaret Canker pulled a hose down from a piece of equipment above Jack. Attached to the end of the hose was a hypodermic syringe. Ignoring Jack’s protests, she inserted the needle of the syringe into the hole of the metal nozzle in Jack’s collar.
Jack heard a noise off to his right. He managed to twist his head around a little and saw Igoe inside a futuristic-looking diving suit. He was being loaded by pulley into a black one-man craft with two arms that terminated in large mechanical pincers.
Once inside, a hatch was clamped down over him. Jack saw him peering out through the viewscreen. He clicked the pincers tauntingly.
‘Engage PEM,’ Canker said.
Meanwhile, Tuck had managed to deploy the optic remote. The monitor screen lit up, showing the face of a henchman and a surrounding office. The scene didn’t alter for several minutes. Frustrated, Tuck followed his previous route to the ear-drum, where he deployed another remote.
On the screen he suddenly saw a hand - a woman’s hand - reach for a purse which he recognized as Lydia's. The henchman snatched it away just as the audio link came on line:
‘I was just getting some gum.’
It was Lydia’s voice. He was inside her!
Tuck was too startled to think. He saw the henchman smile shrewdly, then say, ‘After I check the purse for nail files.’
He pushed his hand into the purse, and there was a sudden ZIPP-BUZZ. His face screwed up in pain, and he withdrew his hand to reveal a stun dart sticking into his palm.
‘A shame,’ Lydia said calmly. ‘That was my last dart, too.’
The henchman’s eyes closed, and he went rigid.
Lydia didn’t waste time. Picking up the phone on the desk, she dialled Duane Flornoy’s number. The phone rang and rang, then finally Duane answered.
‘Duane!’ Lydia said with relief. ‘Thank God it’s you!’
‘What’s up, Lydia? You sound fraught.’
‘I don’t have time to explain now. But you’ve got to reach Vectorscope. This is very important. Tell them I’ve got Tuck Pendelton and I’m attempting to bring him in.’ She told him where the lab was located. ‘Call the police out.’
‘Got it,’ said Flornoy, obviously bewildered. ‘Lydia, are you in as much trouble as you sound?’
‘Maybe more,’ she told him, then hung up.
She glanced around the office, saw Canker’s lab coat hanging on a hook and put it on. Then she took the pistol from the paralysed henchman before hurrying out.
There was no one in the corridor. She crept down to the door of the main lab.
‘Attaboy, Lydia,’ Tuck said.
She froze, whispered, ‘Tuck?’
‘It’s me. I’m in you now.’
‘But how . . .?’
‘Somehow I got transferred from Jack. I guess it mus
t have been when the two of you kissed.’
‘Tuck, I can’t believe it - ’
‘Listen, there’s no time to wonder over it now. Just be careful, that’s all! Time is short, so get in there!’ -His urgency spurred Lydia over her astonishment. Cautiously opening the door, she crept inside unnoticed and stood there just like any other technician.
Jack, meanwhile, was feeling distinctly panic-striken. Igoe and his craft had been lowered into a chamber in the floor and a screen then drawn down over the hole. There had been a flash of light, and when the screen was withdrawn, the black craft had vanished. It had been miniaturized, and afterwards Canker had drawn it into a hypodermic. Now she was going to inject into him.
‘Wait a minute,’ Scrimshaw said. ‘After Igoe takes command of the pod, how do we get the chip out ?’
‘He’ll pilot the pod out through a tear-duct or sweat-gland,’ Canker told him.
‘Why chance it?’ Scrimshaw said. ‘As soon as he takes over the pod and gets the chip, let’s re-enlarge!’
Canker peered at him. ‘While it’s still inside Mr Putter?’
‘Sure.’
Another jolt of terror surged through Jack at the thought.
‘Do you have any idea,’ Canker was saying, ‘what kind of mess that would make?’
‘Hey!’ Jack screamed. ‘Hey! You can’t do this to me!’
Both Canker and Scrimshaw ignored him.
‘Tuck!’ he cried, struggling against his bindings. Tuck! Give me more adrenalin! Make me strong, Tuck!’
He began to strain hard against his bonds, using all the strength in his body, feeling more powerful than he had ever done before.
SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!
Jack surged upright. He yanked the hose from the collar.
‘He’s loose!’ Scrimshaw yelled. ‘Grab him!’
Several technicians darted forward and seized Jack. He struggled manfully, but there were too many of them.
Pinned down again, Jack could do nothing to prevent Canker from inserting the needle into his collar. Lydia was fumbling for her gun, but too late. Canker pressed the plunger of the hypodermic, and Jack felt fluid gush into one of the veins in his neck.
‘He’s in!’ Canker said triumphantly. ‘Igoe’s in!’
Lydia pulled out the pistol and fired it into the air. ‘Let go of him!’ she yelled.
Everyone in the lab jumped. Lydia levelled the pistol. The technicians immediately backed away. Wrenching off the collar, Jack jumped down and hurried over to her.
‘What do we do now?’ Lydia whispered to him. ‘I haven’t got enough bullets for all of them.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Jack whispered back. Then he shouted to the others: ‘Everybody into the miniaturizer!’
For a moment no one moved. Canker managed to reach out and twist a dial on the control panel.
‘Don’t touch that!’ Lydia shouted. She fired the pistol over Canker’s head. Canker, Scrimshaw and the technicians hastily scrambled down into the chamber in the laboratory floor.
Lydia and Jack darted over to the control panel. Jack pressed a switch, and the screen began to descend over the hole.
‘This is all your fault, Margaret,’ Scrimshaw was fuming.
‘Shut up,’ she told him. ‘I managed.to bring the dial up to fifty per cent.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘It means we won’t be shrunk to the size of a virus. We’ll only be - ’
Her further words were cut off as the screen closed over them. The miniaturizer started auomatically there was a hum and a whine, then a flash of light.
‘Let’s go!’ said Lydia.
‘Wait!’ said Jack. ‘The chip!’
He tried to pluck it free from the control board, butwithout success. In frustration he shouted, ‘Gimme the damned chip!’ and slammed his hand against the panel.
With this, the voice-activated robotic arm descended and delicately removed the chip before offering it to Jack with all the finesse of a highly trained waiter.
Jack and Lydia hurried out, slamming a heavy metal door behind them.
The patrol car came screeching to a halt, and two officers jumped out, their guns at the ready. They were responding to Duane Flornoy’s call, and they entered the laboratory building cautiously, moving slowly down the corridor towards the main lab.
Pushing open the swinging doors, they entered, holding their pistols before them in a two-handed grip. The place looked deserted. Then they heard sounds coming from a chamber set into the floor. Voices.
‘Press the yellow button!’ came a woman’s voice above the others. ‘The yellow button!’
Very carefully, the officers moved across to the patrol panel. One of them saw the yellow button. Not knowing what else to do, he pressed it.
The screen drew back from the floor. The two policemen gaped and backed away with sheer incredulity as several figures clambered out. Two of them - a white-haired man and a woman - immediately scurried out of the lab. The policemen were too stunned to move.
‘Are you seeing what I’m seeing?’ one said to the other, staring down at the white-coated figures who remained.
‘Yeah,’ the other replied. ‘But I don’t believe it.’
Chapter 12
Jack and Lydia emerged in an alleyway at the rear of the lab. Suddenly a henchman appeared in front of them, blocking the way.
Lydia backed off, but Jack was undaunted.
‘Don’t worry,’ he told her. ‘Tuck’s giving me the strength of ten men.’
And he surged forward before Lydia was able to explain that Tuck was now inside her.
The fight was brief. Jack waded in, fists flying, and the henchman was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer confidence and energy of his attack. Under a battery of punches, he fell dazed to the alley floor.
It was the same man who had driven them to the lab in the black Volvo. Jack searched through his pockets and found a set of car keys.
The Volvo man parked beside an outbuilding nearby. Its doors were already unlocked.
‘Listen,’ Lydia said as they climbed in, ‘before you drive off, there’s something you ought to know.’
Jack started the car. ‘What?’
‘Tuck’s inside me now.’
‘What?'
‘He was transferred across when we kissed. He’s been talking to me, and he can see through my eyes.’ Jack immediately knew that she was telling the truth. Tuck hadn’t been in contact with him since they were locked in Scrimshaw’s cellar. Since the kiss . . .
‘That means . . he began. ‘The guy in the alley . .
That’s right,’ Lydia said, grinning. ‘You took him out all by yourself!’
Immediately Jack’s fist began to throb with pain from a punch he’d landed to the henchman’s jaw. He couldn’t credit how stupid he’d been. Yet at the same time, there was no denying he had pummelled the guy into submission without anyone’s help.
The car started with a roar, and Jack drove off like a fury.
Lydia was silent for a while. Then she said, ‘I want you to kiss me again.’
‘Huh?’ said Jack.
‘Tuck says its the only way. Igoe is inside you, and Jack has to stop him.’
Before Jack could argue, Lydia reached forward and thrust her lips over his. Jack did his best to keep steering the Volvo in a straight line as their lips parted. It was incredible to think that at that instant - hopefully - Tuck and the pod were being transferred from one body to another.
Inside the pod, Tuck was swept through from Lydia to Jack down into the chasm of Jack’s throat.
‘Here I am again!’ he shouted into the radio.
‘Tuck’s back!’ Jack said aloud for Lydia’s benefit.
‘Step on the gas,’ Lydia said, checking her watch. ‘It’s almost eight-thirty!’
Unseen by Jack and Lydia, the Volvo passed a Dodge Dart going in the opposite direction. It was being driven by Pete Blanchard, and he spotted them. Immediately he made a fast U-turn.
<
br /> * * *
Tuck heard the BEEP of a sonar blip on his display monitor. He regarded it, wondering what he was going to do. Presumably Igoe also had sonar aboard his pod so that he would also know where Tuck was.
Tuck was parked on the ‘ledge’ between the two openings that led to the stomach and lungs. He sat very still, his eyes shifting in all directions as the bleep of the sonar grew louder. Igoe was closing fast.
Minutes passed in silence. Tuck was tempted to talk to Jack to ask for further details of Igoe’s craft, but he couldn’t allow anything to break his concentration now.
Then, without warning, Igoe suddenly rose up from the depths of the oesophagus.
His craft was like a huge mechanical lobster with two grasping arms. Through its viewer Igoe was smiling at Tuck from within his suit.
The pincers swiftly clamped down on the pod and began to rock it violently. Tuck, strapped into his seat, was thrown around like a man on a bucking bronco. He managed to manipulate the pod’s arms so that it gripped the ‘ledge’, stabilizing it.
The stability didn’t last long. Igoe used a pincer to snip off one of the arms. The pod lurched and slipped to the brink of the ledge. Below was the dark, pulsating tunnel which led down to the stomach.
Meanwhile, Jack was driving as fast as possible towards the Vectorscope laboratories. They had only twenty-five minutes in which to save Tuck. Suddenly a voice called from behind: ‘Stop the car!’
Scrimshaw and Canker rose up from the back seat. They were only half their normal size.
Jack and Lydia both gasped. Jack recalled Canker fiddling with the dial of the miniaturizer before they had been shrunk. Somehow Canker and Scrimshaw had escaped from the chamber after being reduced to half-size. They must have climbed into the Volvo and hidden in the back seat while he was beating up the guy in the alleyway.
‘Stop the car!’ Scrimshaw shouted again.
‘Floor it!’ yelled Lydia.
Jack put his foot on the gas and the car surged forward. Canker and Scrimshaw were flung back on top of each other.
Lydia twisted around in her seat just as Scrimshaw flung himself toward Jack and tried to pluck the key from the ignition. Canker grabbed Lydia around the neck, and Lydia was forced into the back seat to wrestle with her. The Volvo began to weave all over the road as Jack struggled with Scrimshaw.
Steven Spielberg's Innerspace Page 10
