“Good morning, Ishibashi-san,” Alex said. “I’d like to try to fix the magic tube. Do you have any tools I could use?”
“I do.” Ishibashi led Alex to a small room that was filled with a hodgepodge of supplies. It appeared the scientists had done a fair amount of scavenging over the years. “You may use anything in here,” Ishibashi said. He left Alex to explore on his own, but returned a moment later with an overflowing handful of broken knobs and springs, cracked buttons, and a few unidentifiable bits of metal.
Alex raised an eyebrow. “What’s this?”
“Sato found these years ago after a violent wreck that sent debris crashing into Marcus Today’s tube. Some pieces he found inside the tube, some wedged between rocks nearby. He collected them and saved them for Mr. Marcus Today, but our friend does not return.”
Alex cringed. “I’m sorry, Ishibashi-san. I meant to tell you when you first mentioned him, but we were distracted by the storm. Mr. Today . . . he died. He was killed by my brother. . . .” He sighed and briefly closed his eyes. “Never mind. It’s complicated.”
Ishibashi narrowed his eyes. “Your family was the enemy of Marcus Today?”
“No!” Alex exclaimed. “No, not at all. I loved him. He was—he was like a father. . . .” He stopped, overwhelmed. He didn’t have the emotional stamina left to explain further, except to add, “My brother is my enemy.” The lifeless words hit the rock walls with a dull thud. Alex dropped his gaze.
Ishibashi nodded. “I see. I am sorry.” He was silent for a moment as a wave of pain washed over his face, and then his countenance cleared and he held out the mass of broken pieces. “This will help you fix the tube?”
Alex reached out, and Ishibashi poured them into his hands.
“Thank you,” Alex said. “Truly.” He hoped the scientist knew he meant it.
Ishibashi’s lips curved into a sympathetic smile. He put a hand on Alex’s arm, nodded, and then disappeared once more, leaving Alex to his thoughts.
» » « «
When the sky grew lighter and the lightning faded, and the others headed to the shore to work on the ship, Alex darted out into the wind and rain with a woven bag full of tools, supplies, and the bits and pieces of the control panel that Ishibashi had given him. He made his way across the rocky terrain and slipped inside the tube, which offered a bit of shelter from the elements. Setting the bag down, he looked everything over carefully. The tube was in rough shape.
The entire unit slanted fifteen degrees or so in one direction—enough that Alex couldn’t stand up straight in it without his head brushing the glass wall. He stepped outside and pressed his hands against it, trying to push it back the way it was supposed to be, but it didn’t move. He pushed the tube harder, but nothing happened. Finally he slammed his shoulder into it with all his might.
It didn’t budge. Alex stepped back to catch his breath, and then he moved around the circumference of the tube and saw that years of constant wind had forced sand and debris to build up under one side, causing the tilt. He scraped at the base of the tube with his hands, then thought the better of that and pulled a long metal bar with a flat end from the bag and began chipping at the refuse. It was packed so tightly that it seemed practically petrified. Alex worked at it with all of his strength until a large chunk of debris cracked loose. He poked and prodded, trying to dig all the way to the root of the problem, and finally he dislodged the entire wedge enough to get a decent grasp on it with his fingers. He set down the tool, gripped the edge, and yanked it out. The tube groaned and settled into place with a satisfying thud.
A few moments in the rain had the block of particles disintegrating in Alex’s hand. He tossed it aside. It crumbled and the wind picked up the pieces and sent them out to sea. Alex wiped his hands on his pants and stepped back inside the tube. It was slightly wobbly, but level for the most part. He jumped up and down a bit, making sure it was stable, and felt it settle even farther into place. Satisfied, Alex got on his knees and began scraping up the moss on the floor, pocketing the green bits to use later for components.
When it was fairly clean, he stepped out once more and began collecting rocks and dragging them over to the base of the tube. He propped them up against the sides in order to hold the tube in place and act as a barrier to block further debris from working its way underneath.
“Now for the hard part,” he muttered, looking at the broken panel. He dug inside the bag and pulled out some of the pieces Ishibashi had given him. He looked at them. He studied the panel. He looked at the pieces again, hesitated, picked up one, and pressed it into a hole. It fell through and clattered to the floor.
Alex picked it up and stared some more. He hadn’t felt this lost on a project in a long time. Clearly the mechanics of the tube system were beyond Alex’s abilities, at least without some sort of guide. “Add Repair Your Tube in Seconds! to the list of books I need to find in Mr. Today’s messy library,” he muttered. And then his heart sank as he remembered he might never get back there. He sighed, completely discouraged. “Simber,” he groaned. “Help. Get us out of here!”
» » « «
Over the course of the hour of calm, Alex tried plugging every piece into the panel in a variety of combinations. He used tools and supplies from Ishibashi to attempt to secure the controls in place. He imagined what magical incantations Mr. Today might have come up with to make the thing work. He even managed to find the piece that looked like the most important directional button, and he got it to fit partially in the space where he thought it should go. But when he pressed it, nothing happened.