Disclaimer: The guys don't belong to me. They live with Pet Fly and Paramount. They really wanted to go to Disney, though, so who am I to say no? Anyway, no money for me.
Rated: G - High smarm content
Author's Comments: This is my long overdue response to the Jim, Blair and Jim's six year old niece visit Disneyland challenge that TAE, Emerald and I agreed to at the rally in January. This story takes place sometime during the first or second season, when really doesn't matter.
Many thanks to my betas TAE and Winnie. Thanks for all your great suggestions, guys, including the help with a title. If I had to think up my own titles, you'd be seeing 'Untitled Story 1', 'Untitled Story 2'... I think you get the idea.
Emerald - This one's for you. I hope you feel lots better real soon.
Tonya - The red one's for you.
Feedback welcomed at nickerbits@nni.com
Nickerbits
I can't believe that Carolyn's brother is holding me to a promise I made six years ago in a moment of extreme weakness. Rubbing his forehead, Jim Ellison, Sentinel of the Great City, tried in vain to banish the headache which was rapidly building behind his eyes. Sure, when Jessica was born I promised him I'd take her to Disneyland when she was six years old. But, dammit, I was sure then that Carolyn and I would still be married, we'd have a kid or two of our own, and most importantly, Carolyn would be the one keeping track of said kids.
Six years old. That's how old I was the first time I came here, and I still remember how huge and magical everything seemed. I'll never forget Mom in those silly mouse ears, taking me on every ride at least twice - even those stupid teacups. She did look a little green after that... Furtively rubbing at his eyes - that trace of moisture was just a reaction to the bright sun after all - Jim glanced over to where his six year old niece was bouncing right along with Sandburg as they waited in line for a chance to ride those very same stupid teacups.
Looking up, Blair adjusted his silly mouse ears properly on his head, and called over to his partner, "Come on, Jim! Don't just stand there watching! Who can resist the Mad Tea Party?"
"Yeah," Jessica echoed, her brown pigtails bouncing in time with her toes, "what Uncle Blair says! You aren't chicken are you? You gotta come with us! Nobody twirls the teacups as good as Blair!"
Leaning over the child conspiratorially, keeping his innocent blue eyes fixed on his partner, Blair whispered quietly, but well within Sentinel range, "Cluck-cluck, cluck- cluck."
Jim wasn't sure if it was Jessica's high pitched giggle, or the glint in his roommate's eyes that did it, but, against his better judgment he found himself seated in the green teacup. Jessica had insisted on that one - everyone knew that green teacups twirled better than any other color.
"Chief," Jim growled softly, "get your hands off that wheel. I don't want to see you trying to turn that thing even a little bit." The big man grasped the wheel tightly in both hands, intent on keeping the motion to a minimum.
Grinning hugely at his friend, Blair very deliberately picked up Jessica's small hands and settled them securely beside his own on the center hub. "Don't you listen to him, Jessica. Uncle Jim is just playing with you. He knows how much you love to spin. When the ride starts up, we're gonna spin this thing as fast as we can. Won't that be fun?"
"Oh, boy! Oh, boy!" the little girl squealed, squirming in her seat. "You're the bestest! My daddy won't let me whirl around on the rides. He says it makes him sick." Reaching out impulsively, Jessica gave her uncle a quick hug. "Thank you, Uncle Jim!"
Damn, Sandburg's good. No way I can refuse to spin this stupid thing now. Senses are set almost as low as they can go already. Guess I'll just have to dial down another notch or two and grin and bear it. Spinning rides never used to bother me before these senses kicked back on-line. Gritting his teeth into a smile, Jim closed his eyes and gamely began to spin the teacup as fast as possible, all the while trying to keep a firm grip on his stomach contents and cursing manipulative grad students and long forgotten promises.
"That was fun! I told you the green teacups were the best! Can we do it again? Please? Please?!?" Jessica enthused as she skipped off the ride.
Smiling stiffly through the slightly green pallor he was sure he sported - Now I know how Mom felt... - Jim cast a pleading glance at his partner. "I think now might be good time to go to the Haunted House Or we can go on the Pirates of the Caribbean again if you want. We'll save another visit to the Mad Tea Party until later, okay?"
"Yeah, Jessica." Blair agreed, smiling slyly at his seasick partner. "We want to get on a lot of the rides today. If we keep going on the teacups we won't have time. Besides, don't you remember? The Indiana Jones ride can go six different ways and we were going to ride it until we got all six." Taking the little girl by the hand, he led her toward New Orleans Square, and the Haunted House.
You know, Sandburg, I was really hoping you'd forgotten about that Indiana Jones thing. Yeah, they advertise it as six different possible rides, but how much are they going to change, and how many times do you need to ride it to get them all? I think after the fourth or fifth repetition, you and Jessica will be doing that one alone. Thank God the park is almost deserted this time of year. We'd be here for days otherwise, and much as I love Wonderburger, I don't think even I could take Chez Disney cuisine that long.
As they neared the Haunted Mansion, Jim was amused to see Jessica suddenly grasp Blair's hand more tightly, let her eyes widen in mock fear and breathe quietly, "Listen, Uncle Blair! They're saying that there's 999 happy haunts, and there's room for 1,000. Isn't that neat? You and Uncle Jim are going to go with me aren't you? I'd be too scared if you didn't."
Watching his young niece peer up at Blair with her big brown eyes, Jim had to chuckle to himself. Six years old, and she's got him wrapped around her finger already. She's gonna be a real heartbreaker when she gets older. Guess we can tell she comes from your side of the family, Carolyn.
"Come on, Sandburg. Let's go conquer those ghosts, then we'll have some lunch and see about this Indiana Jones ride of yours." Taking his niece by the hand, Jim strode purposefully toward the Haunted House and the ghosts and spirits residing within.
Scampering to catch up with his partner, Blair couldn't resist smiling to himself. He'd always wanted to get his Sentinel to an amusement park to conduct some quiet observation. The rides at these things were designed to assault a normal person's senses. How would someone with enhanced ones fare? Jim had always refused to go to a park before, and Blair secretly doubted he'd ever have talked the man into it if Carolyn's brother hadn't called Ellison on his promise.
This was all just too perfect. Disneyland! Given a choice, this was exactly the park Blair would have chosen. These rides relied more on tricking and overwhelming the senses than the rides at a normal amusement park did. Sure, Blair was enjoying the day, but he was also keeping a very close eye on his friend and his senses.
What Jim did not suspect was that the anthropologist had planned the visit to the park, and the order in which they were taking the rides, very carefully. They'd started with the carousel and the skyride, and were slowly working their way up to rides that would challenge the big detective's control further. The Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Cruise, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and the Mad Tea Party had pushed Jim a bit further. Blair suspected that Jim's dials were set almost as low as they could go at the moment. The Haunted House really wouldn't push his friend too hard, although the scientist in Blair was curious to find out how Jim's enhanced sight would perceive the holograms Disney was using. The real fun would start after lunch.
The Indiana Jones adventure would surely be the biggest challenge for the detective. Nothing else in the park came close to this ride as an all out assault on the senses. While Blair could admit to himself that the anthropologist in him was curious to see how accurate the park had been in it's recreation of Sumarian mythos, he really wanted to see how well the Sentinel's dialed down senses would stand up to the repeated assault of multiple rides one after another. Sure, he was curious to see how much the six possible versions of the ride varied, but that was really secondary. Jim's control was Blair's main concern here.
The young man felt a small twinge of guilt over the fact that he had maneuvered his friend into these make shift tests, but he assuaged his feelings by reminding himself that the Sentinel would have come to the park with or without him. Never one to waste a golden opportunity, Blair resolved to use the chance to further catalog Jim's control when multiple senses were over stimulated, and maybe figure out how to deal with such situations in the future.
Grinning down at the little girl who was currently engrossed in watching the room, and the paintings in the Haunted Mansion's antechamber stretch, Blair had to admit to himself that he was just plain having a good time too. He'd just have to remember to keep an eye on his partner to monitor his reactions and head off any problems.
"Now, Uncle Jim, Uncle Blair, you have to sit on both sides of me to protect me from all the ghosts, okay?" Jessica chattered on as she pushed the two men toward their Doom Buggy, a small hand firmly planted in each partner's back just to be sure that they didn't chicken out on her. "Uncle Blair, you get in first, then I'll get in, and now you can get in, Uncle Jim. You got to be on the outside cause you're the biggest and can protect us from all the monsters."
And I thought Sandburg could talk up a blue streak. Jim mused, watching his young niece with barely concealed amusement. It's probably a really good thing she's just too young for even Blair. Otherwise, I just have these nightmare visions of the two of them getting married and having about a million baby Sandburgs - not that THAT isn't a scary thought in and of itself - who would explode if they ever had to shut up for more than five minutes at a time. I can see it now - BOOM!!! 'What was that!?!' 'Oh, don't worry, it was just another Sandburg exploding. Happens all the time.' Peering sideways at his roommate, the big detective tried unsuccessfully to suppress the snicker that worked it's way up from his diaphragm. That's one picture that's definitely worth a thousand words...
"Hey, Jim," Blair called out, leaning forward in his seat in order to see his partner's face more clearly. "Whatcha laughing at? See, I told you you'd have a good time once you got here.
"I know I promised, no tests today, but can you take a really close look at the ghosts dancing in the ballroom and let me know what you see? I'm just curious as to whether you see anything different than we do. Come on, Jim, this really isn't a test. Come on..."
"Geez, Sandburg, okay, okay. Anything to stop your whining and let me enjoy the day again."
Noticing Jessica's gaze flickering curiously between the two men, Jim leaned over and stage-whispered to the little girl. "Never mind him. He's just really scared of the ghosts in here. He doesn't believe they're not real and he's hoping that I'll tell him I don't see anything so he can stop being scared and get some sleep when we get back to the hotel tonight. Don't tell him I said anything though. Your Uncle Blair would be embarrassed if he knew that I told you. Shhhh - it's our secret. All right?"
"Okay, Uncle Jim," the little girl whispered back equally loudly. "We'll both tell him we don't see anything, then he won't be scared anymore, right?" Jessica ended her little speech cuddling into Blair, in order to offer the young man support and reassurance.
Looking over the pig-tailed head as the little girl launched into a soliloquy on how ghosts really weren't real, Blair grimaced at his older friend and mouthed, "I'll get you, Ellison. I'll get you and your little dog, too. Just you wait."
Sticking his tongue out at the anthropologist - What is it about being around six year olds that brings out the little kid in all of us? - Jim settled back as comfortably as possible to enjoy the rest of the ride.
"Wow, did you see that Uncle Jim? At the end of the ride that ghost just appeared right in the seat with us! It was the tall, skinny guy and he was sitting right on top of me! I couldn't feel him though. You don't think Uncle Blair was scared too bad by that ghost, do you? I was holding his hand so he'd feel safer and everything. I don't want him to be too scared 'cause then he couldn't sleep tonight and he'd be too tired for us to come back to the park tomorrow. I really want to come back here tomorrow.
"Do you think maybe we could get him to go on the Haunted House again later if we promise to protect him and not let the ghosts and monsters close? I thought it was really fun."
Smirking at his partner as he approached with hamburgers and fries for Jim and Jessica and a salad for himself, Jim waited until he was sure Blair was within earshot, then schooling his face into an expression of the utmost sincerity, responded to the little girl. "Now, Jessica, you have to realize that Uncle Blair can't help it if he's not quite as brave as you and me. He really does try the best he can. Maybe if you make extra sure to tell him how brave you think he was for protecting you from those ghosts, and how much you'll need him there to save you next time we go on the ride, maybe he'll believe you and then we can get him to go on again. What do you think?"
Blair's disgusted countenance let the big detective know that he had heard every word, just as Jim had intended. If you're gonna get me and my little dog, too, Chief, I might as well at least make it worth while.
"Hey, Sandburg - whatcha bring us for lunch? How do you expect to keep up with us all day if you're eating that rabbit food instead of good, old, all-American hamburgers?
"So, what are we doing after lunch? We gonna check out the Indiana Jones ride or did you want to ride the Haunted House again? ~snicker~"
Catapulting out of her seat, Jessica ran to grab one of the trays from Blair and put it on the table, so she could then take his free hand in both of her small ones. "Yeah, Uncle Blair. Maybe we should try the Haunted House again after we eat. What do you think? It's really not that scary. I thought it was okay and I wouldn't be scared at all to do it again as long as you were there to protect me. Okay, Uncle Blair?"
"Now, Jessica," Blair responded, throwing his partner a murderous look, "I'd really love to go on the Haunted House again - honest! But, don't you remember? We'd set this afternoon aside so we could go on the Indiana Jones ride as many times as it takes to get all six variations.
"I'll tell you what. If we finish up with enough time left this afternoon, we'll go back to the Haunted House then, or if not, we'll do it tomorrow before we do anything else. Okay?" Glancing over at Ellison's smirking face, the grad student couldn't help thinking that he hoped that the intense stimulation he had planned for the afternoon would cause his partner at least one or two little spikes.
"Come on, Sweetie, let's have our lunch, then we can go on the Indiana Jones ride." Blair said, setting a burger and fries in front of Jessica, steadfastly ignoring the quiet clucking noises his partner was uttering in the background. "Eat up now." Throwing a smile at Jim, the Anthropologist in him prepared himself to catalog his partner's reactions to the sights and sounds to come.
Wonder what he's smiling at. Jim thought to himself. Whatever it is, it can't be good...
Standing in front of the faux jungle scene and temple Disney had created to house it's newest ride, Blair couldn't help but be impressed at the amount of time, planning and money that had gone into creating the imposing edifice. Looking down at the small girl doggedly hanging on to his hand, the young man pointed ahead of them toward the entrance to the ride. "Jessica, why don't you run up ahead and save us our place in line? Uncle Jim and I will be right behind you. Just don't get more than a few yards ahead of us, and don't get out of our sight, okay?"
After watching the child scurry off, brown pigtails flying, Blair turned to his partner. "Are you sure you can handle this ride, Man? This one was designed to really blast all the senses. It'll have bright lights, then darkness, lots of very loud sound effects, fast and jerky motion to keep you even more off balance. I'll bet that between all the people packed into a very tight area, the gas jets for the flames and all the other weird scents just hanging around, even your sense of smell is going to get a real work out.
"Are you sure you can handle this? We haven't done any rides yet that are this intense and completely enclosed. I don't want you zoning on me. If you're not sure you can handle this, Jessica and I can do it alone. Don't worry - I'll make sure she understands that you're not scared or anything..."
"Don't do me no favors, Sandburg." Jim shot back, quickening his stride toward the spot where Jessica was waiting. "I'm perfectly capable of keeping a handle on my own senses. This is just a day at an amusement park, not another excuse for you to treat me like some sort of guinea pig. Come on, let's go ride this ride, Chief. We'll see who can last longer."
"Hey, Jim, if you're so sure of yourself, what say we stake a little wager on it? Loser pays for dinner at the winner's choice of restaurants?" Blair's face split into a wide grin as he hurried after the big detective's retreating back. That had worked out even better than he'd hoped. Jim had been warned that the experience was likely to be overwhelming and to keep his senses dialed down, but at the same time, Blair'd managed to needle the man into agreeing to several consecutive trips so the anthropologist could see what effect repeated exposure would have.
Would Jim be able to retain control, or would he start to slip? Blair would be there to offer support and guidance as needed, of course, but the opportunity to run a covert test or two on the recalcitrant detective was too good a chance to miss.
After four trips through the Indiana Jones temple of doom, Jim was ready to admit defeat. The exaggerated sights, sounds, smells and motions of the ride were starting to chip their way through even his most shored up controls. As much as he hated to give the younger man the victory, he knew that any further exposure to the temple of doom would wreak complete havoc with the tenuous control he still retained. Only the soft voice and grounding touch of his Guide had prevented a zone- out this last time through.
Damn. I thought my control was better than that by now. Sandburg will never let go of this. He'll just keep pushing to do more tests, to figure out how to refine my control further. Of course, if four trips through a two minute amusement park ride can put me in a zone-out, I guess he may have a point. Jim berated himself as they made their way out of the ride toward the relative peace of the rest of the park.
"Jim, are you sure you're all right?" Blair queried, anxiously, keeping one hand on his Sentinel's shoulder as his other hand held tight to Jim's young niece. "You really don't look well, Man."
"Yeah, Uncle Jim, are you being motion sick? My daddy has trouble with that sometimes. When that happens he always just sits down for a while and we go on a couple rides 'til he feels better.
"Uncle Blair, you go get Uncle Jim a bottle of water to drink." Jessica said shooing Blair away as she spoke. "My daddy says that always makes him feel better too. I'll stay with Uncle Jim and make sure he's okay while you're gone. Then, when you get back, you and me can go back on the ride while Uncle Jim feels better."
Despite the nausea coiling in Jim's stomach he had to smile at the little girl's tyrannical attitude. Strong women definitely seem to run in your family, Carolyn. She's a little firecracker already. I know you'd never believe this of me, but I do want to keep in touch with this little girl. I can hardly wait to see the woman she grows up to be.
Holding his hand out to his niece, the Sentinel pulled the little girl into his lap as he waited for his friend's return. "So, Jessica, while we're waiting for your Uncle Blair to get back, why don't you tell me what you've been up to since the last time I saw you. It's been a couple years now, hasn't it? I haven't seen you in too long. Tell you what - why don't we do something like this every year? Maybe next year you can come up to Cascade to visit us. We can go to the beach or the mountains or something like that, what do you think?"
"Well, Uncle Jim," Jessica murmured, chewing her lower lip pensively, "do they have any amusement parks in Cascade? I'm really having fun here, and I wouldn't mind coming back, if you wouldn't." She finished, peering shyly up at Jim through her thick fringe of bangs.
Hiding a grin, the tough detective gazed sternly down at his niece. You know, Sandburg, she might even have YOU beat when it comes to manipulating people. She's a lot cuter about it, too.
"Okay, Jessica. You think about it, and we'll talk more about where we'll go next year closer to the time. That way you'll have plenty of time to think about it.
"Look, here comes Uncle Blair now. You two go back on that ride again, and I'll just wait out here for you, okay?"
Handing the bottle of water to his friend, Blair looked at him worriedly. "Are you sure you'll be okay if we leave you out here to go on the Indiana Jones ride one more time? I mean it's less intense, but there's still a lot going on out here. If you want, we can go back to the hotel for a while where it's nice and quiet until you get centered again..."
"Chief - I'll be fine. I thought that you and Jessica wanted to see all six variations of that ride, and you certainly haven't gotten them all yet. Ride it again as many times as you want. I'll just sit and watch the pretty girls walk by."
"If you're sure, Jim. We really don't need to go back on the ride. I've already figured out that the only changes in the ride are which of the three entrances you go into - all three of the rooms are the same, just different colors, and Indiana Jones has two different speeches he can make. So, three times two is six variations. Not much change between any of them. I actually feel kind of cheated. I was expecting bigger differences, you know? It is a fun ride, though. If you really don't mind waiting while we go back one more time..."
Seeing his partner's nod, Blair turned to the youngest member of their party with a laugh. "What do you think, Jessica? One more trip through the temple?"
"Let's go!" The girl squealed grabbing the anthropologist's hand and dragging him back toward the ride.
Grinning back at his friend, Blair laughed again. "I'll take that as a 'yes', Jim. We'll see you soon."
Shaking his head as he watched the pair retreat, the big man settled back on his bench to watch the world go by as he waited.
So deeply was he involved with watching the crowd swirling around him that he didn't immediately register the first mild tremors presaging the quake that hit full force seconds later. Caught unawares, the sensory assault of it all was overwhelming. The very ground shook with a loud groaning that was almost drowned out by the panicked screams of the park's patrons and the grinding and crashing noises created by things breaking or being thrown about. The vivid colors of the milling crowd were counter pointed by the bright, sparking flashes of electricity from downed power lines and overloaded transformers. The acrid smell of burning ozone created by the electrical shorts contrasted sharply with sharp tang of the throng's fear and the musty smell of the dirt and concrete dust shaken loose by the earth's movement. The grime and other debris set in motion by the quake filled Jim's mouth with a horrible taste and felt as if it was scouring his very skin raw. The combined input was just too much for the Sentinel's already battered controls to process.
With a completely blank look on his face, Jim Ellison stood up and headed into the center of the park where the lights, sounds and smells were the strongest.
When the earthquake first struck, and everything began to shake, Blair Sandburg did not register immediately that there was anything wrong. The 'rickety' wooden bridge the car was on at the moment shook and gyrated wildly as a part of the ride anyway, so the extra motion wasn't noticed by any of the passengers until debris started to fall from the ceiling. Before Blair had time to do more than throw his body protectively over Jessica, the trestle broke in half, dropping the car ten feet to land upright, thankfully, on several of the reproduction stalagmites rising from the floor of the building. Everything went pitch dark for a few seconds as the power went out. After a couple of moments, emergency lighting, powered by the emergency generators kicked in, illuminating the building with dimmer, albeit adequate brightness.
As the motion and the falling pieces of the ceiling settled into silence, Blair and the rest of the passengers in the half full car breathed a sigh of relief and began to look around to take stock of their situation. A quick check revealed no serious injuries, just minor cuts and bruises. By some miracle, to Blair's way of thinking, Jessica was the youngest child in their car, and despite the seriousness of the situation, no one had completely panicked yet.
Cutting through the growing babble of voices, the police observer spoke calmly, and with great authority, picturing himself as Simon Banks presiding over a task force of detectives as he did. If he could project anything near that level of authority and trustworthiness, he could take control of the situation before a full scale panic could erupt. "Okay, is everyone all right? No serious injuries? Good. Now, I don't exactly know how stable these stalagmites we're resting on are, so move around as little as possible, and when you do need to, do it very slowly and carefully.
"We're in California, my guess is that there's been an earthquake. I'm sure that if we all stay here, the park personnel or rescue workers will come and get us out eventually. We don't know how bad things are outside, though, and chances are they're going to be very busy for a while. I would rather see if we can get out of this ourselves.
"It looks like the floor itself is about another ten feet down. If we're really careful, I'm sure that we can climb down and make our way out of the place and back to our families and friends. I have a friend outside I'm rather concerned about myself.
"Now, before we go any further, let's make sure we're all in favor of trying to leave rather than waiting for emergency personnel to come get us out. How does everyone feel?"
Grabbing Blair's hand tightly, Jessica squirmed in her seat a little and squealed, "Oooh, this is so exciting! This never happens when my daddy takes me to the park. Can we climb down and go? That would be fun!"
The quiet chuckle that went through the occupants of the car at the little girl's excitement helped to calm any ragged nerves. The other dozen passengers in the car smiled and agreed they would rather attempt to rescue themselves than wait an unknown amount of time for outside help.
"Okay, everybody," Blair said, in his best calming guide voice, taking control of the situation again. "The first thing we need to do is get out of these seat belts. Since the power went out, I'd guess that the belts have probably come unlocked, too."
Fumbling with the catch, Blair was disappointed to discover that he was, in fact, still secured into his seat. "Okay, mine's not coming free. How is everyone else doing?"
A quick check of the other riders revealed that the seat belts in the front half of the car remained locked, while those in the back half opened easily. "Well, guys, obviously, we can't go anywhere until we can all get out of our seats." Blair said, digging in the front pocket of his jeans as he spoke. "I've got a Swiss Army knife we can use to cut through the webbing. It's going to take a while, though. Does anyone have another knife or something else we can use?" Opening the knife, he began sawing through his seat belt.
"I've got a pocket knife." A young man seated in the middle of the car volunteered.
"Okay, that's good. Since your seat belt opened, can you please pass the knife up to the folks who are still stuck? Thanks." As the last strands of the nylon webbing across his own lap parted, Blair turned his attention to Jessica.
"Is everyone still okay? We're doing really well so far. Now, I need everyone who's not trying to free themselves to look very carefully over the edges of the car. If we want to get out of here, we're going to need to get down to the ground. We're looking for a fairly large, flat area near the car that we can all jump down to. Does anyone see anything?"
"Over here! By the left rear corner, there's a big open space." A young woman in her mid-twenties called out excitedly a minute or two later. "It's big enough for us to lower ourselves down, and there's enough room among the stalag-thingies to get out of the way once we're down."
"Good, good," Blair enthused, keeping his smile fixed firmly on his face. "I know we're all anxious to get out of here, but before we do anything, can everyone just wait a couple of minutes until we've got all the seat belts cut? It'll only take another ten minutes or so, okay?"
As the last couple of individuals were freeing themselves, Blair turned around and addressed all the passengers, "I haven't felt the car move since we fell, but before we all start shifting around and changing the weight ratios, we need to make sure that this thing's steady and isn't going to tip over or anything once we start moving."
"And just how do you propose we do that?" A middle aged man with his teenage daughter asked.
Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Blair looked at the man. "Well, the best way I can think of off-hand is for someone to jump down, quickly, so it will disturb the balance as little as possible and then take a look up from underneath to see how well the car is supported. It's been really steady so far, so I don't think it'll move, but I can't promise nothing will happen. Is everyone here still sure we want to do this?"
"I haven't seen hide nor hair of these park employees yet, and I really don't want to sit around waiting for them all day." The young woman at the rear of the vehicle spoke up, and Blair saw several other heads nod their agreement.
Jessica, tired of being ignored, plucked at the young man's sleeve. "Uncle Blair, I'm bored! Can we please just go now and find Uncle Jim?"
"Yes, Jessica, we'll be going in just a couple of minutes."
Patting the girl on the head, Blair turned back to the rest of the people on the ride and said, "Okay. I know it's my bright idea, and I'd love to volunteer..." The young anthropologist was just congratulating himself on keeping his voice so steady at the prospect, when another voice spoke up.
"No." A deep voice protested. "You've got a little girl you're trying to keep track of. I think it would be better if I went down first and took a look around." The speaker, a tall man of about thirty, spoke up from a couple rows behind Blair.
"Are you sure?" At the man's nod, Blair addressed the young woman in the rear of the car. "Uhm, Miss-"
"Rachael."
"Okay, Rachael. It would probably work out best if you and-"
"Jon." The man supplied.
"If you and Jon traded places so that the weight distribution stays about the same, okay?"
Once the two people had switched places, Jon quickly levered himself over the side of the car, lowered himself to the floor and looked up at the bottom of the car. "What do you see, Jon?" Blair called out after a couple of tense moments.
"Everything looks fine from down here. That thing is sitting on at least seven or eight of those things, spread all over the bottom. It's not gonna go anywhere."
"Thanks, Jon." Blair called back. "If we get everyone to lower themselves over the edge of the car one by one, would you mind grabbing on to their hips and helping to lower them to the ground?"
At Jon's nod, he turned back to the rest of the occupants of the car. "Rachael, since you're closest, why don't we start with you. Why don't we do this the way they do on boats, women and children first. Then the men can come down, and I'll go last. Okay, folks?"
Turning to a young couple with a pair of young sons, Blair said, "I know that you're very concerned over your own children, but can I please ask you to look after Jessica until I can climb down?"
At the couple's quiet affirmation, Blair turned to Jessica, who was gripping his hand very tightly, and spoke quietly. "Now, Sweetie, I need you to go to the back of the car there and we'll lower you down. Once you're there, I want you to stay with the-"
"The Boyds." The husband supplied.
"The Boyds until I get down, okay? I'll only be a couple minutes behind you."
"But, Uncle Blair!" Jessica began to protest.
"Jessica. Don't you talk back to me right now. This is very important, so just do what I tell you. I promise everything will be all right." At the little girl's reluctant nod, Blair lowered her over the side of the car into Jon's waiting arms, and then continued to help the other passengers disembark.
Working together, everyone was unloaded and on the ground in within half an hour. After giving Jessica a quick hug, Blair whispered quietly in her ear, "Don't worry, we'll be out of here and go find Uncle Jim in no time. I'm worried about him too, but we need to get ourselves out before we can do anything for him, okay?" At the little girl's nod, Sandburg turned back to the small group gathered around.
"Does anyone see any sort of 'Exit' sign? No? Well, honestly, I really wasn't expecting to see one. Guests of the park are never supposed to get down into this pit, so they wouldn't have any neon signs glowing down here to ruin the illusion that this is some sort of dangerous abyss. There has to be some sort of employee entrance, though, so workers can get in and out as necessary to make any repairs. I'll tell you what let's just pick a direction and go. There has to be some sort of way for workers to get in and out of the building from this level."
Most of the patrons of the park were too involved in their own concerns to spare much attention for the big man who wandered by with a somewhat vacant expression on his face. Park employees had their hands full, trying to bring order to the chaos, rescue patrons stuck on the rides, re-unite separated groups and evacuate the park.
One costumed cast member did notice the detective, heading further in to the grounds, away from the exits, and moved in a flash of green tights and thigh length green tunic to intercept him. "Excuse me, Sir. We need to close the park down now to assess the damage. You're going to have to leave.
"Are you looking for other members of your party? Are they lost? We've set up an area near the front gates for people who are looking for their family and friends. If you want to report there, we'll take the names of the people you're looking for, and I'm sure we'll be able to find them for you right away. They may even be there now looking for you." The young man took hold of the Sentinel's arm preparatory to leading him toward the exits.
Lost...lost...Guide...lost... Peter Pan's words reawakened a primal urge to guard those closest to him. Guide...tribe...find...protect... Roughly shaking the man's restraining hand off his arm, Jim Ellison turned to carry on with his mission.
"Hey, wait, Mister! You have to leave now! We'll find your friends. Come on. We need to evacuate the park." As he spoke, the employee attempted once again to take the big man's arm and turn him toward the exit.
"Now, look. If you just go the direction I'm pointing, you'll get to Main Street, U.S.A. Turn right and - URK!!" Peter Pan's words cut off abruptly as Jim shoved him hard against a nearby wall, turned a very intense blue-eyed stare in his direction, then released him, to fall in a flurry of green tights and tunic as he suddenly turned away, muttering, "Find guide. Find guide."
The cast member watched for a moment in shock as the man in front of him stood stock still for a moment sniffing the air like some sort of hunting hound, then turned away again, heading further into the park. Shaking his head, the man took out his walkie-talkie and called to inform security of the trouble maker.
Oblivious to the confusion around him, the Sentinel was in full hunting mode, searching for any sign of his Guide and the young child who was part of his tribe. Following lingering bits of their scent through several sections of the park, he finally found himself nearing a large southern style mansion, where Jim caught the faint traces of his friend and his young niece and turned to follow the trail.
As he approached the house, the big man heard a garbled voice repeating something about 'happy haunts' over and over again. The reference tickled a response in the detective's muddled brain. Haunts...ghosts...Guide afraid.
Intent on saving his friend from whatever might frighten or endanger him, Jim strode forward. The faint scent he was following was slightly stronger toward the rear of the house, so he headed that way, past a graveyard. He could tell that it was a fake - no scent of death lingered in the air, but the presence of tombstones, real or not, did nothing to allay the fear he was feeling for his two companions.
Coming to an opening in the back of the house, the detective walked in. Through some fluke of the disaster which had befallen the park, the power to the Haunted House had not been effected, and the ride had continued to run, uninterrupted.
As Jim strode inside, he saw a long line of small black carts filing endlessly past on some sort of track. ...Doom Buggy? The thought trailed through his mind along with an image of Blair, Jessica and himself seated in one. Deciding that this strange contraption was somehow associated with the people he was seeking, Jim sat in one and waited for it to take him to his friends.
As he rode the car through the loop and back to the beginning of the ride, scattered thoughts and images began to coalesce in the Sentinel's brain. Jessica grasping Sandburg's hand chattering on about 999 happy haunts. The feel of the little girl's hand on his back as she guided them toward their Doom Buggy. Her dictatorial insistence that she sit in the middle for her protection. As coherent thought began to slowly return to his brain, the niggling notion that maybe there was more going on here than Jim had previously suspected began to run through his consciousness.
As the car passed the ballroom where the ghostly couples continued to dance merrily, it all suddenly crashed back down on the detective. Ohmigod! Blair wanted me to look at the ghosts to see if I saw anything unusual. Jessica thought Blair was afraid of the ghosts. I told her that he was! I told her he'd do better the next time. Next time! Shit! They're not here at all! They were doing that Indiana Jones thing one more time. I was sitting it out because it was a bit too much for me to handle. There was an earthquake - and I abandoned you.
I'm sorry, Blair. I blew it. I'll be there soon, Buddy. I promise. Hang onto Jessica!! Thought became action as Jim stepped off the moving transport and raced back through the ride to the exit.
Glaring up at the walls of the small pit the group of intrepid Indiana Jones adventurers found themselves trapped in, Blair couldn't help cursing his luck for what seemed like the millionth time since the earthquake had struck. The group had found the hidden exit in the floor of the pit easily enough. Unfortunately, though, the door was secured by a very impressive looking deadbolt, undoubtedly to keep uninvited guests from poking around the ride's mechanisms.
Blair had tried picking the lock, using the hole punch and tweezers included in his Swiss Army knife, and a couple of bobby pins donated by the female members of the group. Not surprisingly, he'd discovered that picking a sturdy deadbolt was a much different proposition from opening a set of handcuffs, and was quite beyond his abilities.
While he had been busy with that endeavor a couple of the teenage riders had kept Jessica and the other two younger children, a pair of brothers, age 10 and 11, busy playing various games with a deck of cards someone had dug up. The rest of the group had searched the rest of the pit for another way out.
The hollow was about fifteen feet deep and about thirty feet long by twenty feet wide. When the ride was in peak operating condition, the bridge swung about five feet above the pit. Now, the broken ends of the bridge dangled within a few feet of the floor at one side. The bridge itself was made of strong space age materials, and provided a sturdy means of egress.
The climb, however, would be somewhat difficult, and almost impossible for Jessica and the two young boys. Even given the difficulties, most of the trapped riders had opted to make the assent rather than waiting for rescue workers to find them. The parents of the two young boys decided to wait for aid rather than risk their children's safety.
Blair found himself torn. On the one hand, he had been entrusted with Jessica's safety, and he certainly couldn't risk serious injury to the little girl by asking her to attempt the climb out. On the other hand, he had left Jim waiting outside in an almost zoned condition. Who knows what the chaos the earthquake had undoubtedly caused would have wreaked on the man's already fragile condition. The safety and well-being of his friend and Sentinel was one of Blair's greatest concerns and one of his foremost responsibilities. How could he possibly fulfill the requirements of both duties at the same time?
He was certain that something had happened to his friend. Jim had not yet burst into the building as if all the hounds of hell were on his heels, shouting 'Sandburg' or 'Chief', and affecting a rescue on his own if necessary. That must mean the man was either physically injured or had succumbed to sensory overload, and was therefore in desperate need of his Guide.
Sighing, the young man turned to Jessica, who was still engrossed in a rather rowdy game of 'Go Fish' with the two boys. Making his decision, he took the little girl gently by the arm and drew her away from the other children.
Squatting in front of her, Blair took the child's hands in his. "Jessica, listen to me, okay? Do you remember how sick Uncle Jim was when we came in here?" At the girl's nod, he continued. "I'm worried that he might have gotten hurt or sicker when everything happened. I need to go find him and make sure he's all right."
"Oh, goody!" Jessica burbled, bouncing on her toes again. "Does this mean that we get to climb up the bridge to get out? That looks like lots of fun! Can we go now?"
"No, Jessica." The anthropologist explained as gently as he could. "It wouldn't be safe for you to try to climb that bridge, and we promised your mommy and daddy that we'd keep you safe. I'm not happy about doing it myself, but I have to check on Jim. You're going to stay here with Mr. and Mrs. Boyd and David and Bobby. They've promised that they'll keep an eye on you, and you can play more card games and we'll be right back as soon as we can to get you out, okay?"
"But, Uncle Blair! I wanna go too!" The child wailed, unhappy with the prospect of being left behind. "Please! I promise I'll be good!"
"No, Jessica, I'm sorry. It's just way too dangerous for you to try. Now stay here. Behave yourself and listen to the Boyds. Uncle Jim and I will be back soon, and if you're really good, we'll buy you something really nice for a present, okay?"
With a final hug, Blair turned from the pouting girl and looked at the couple seated on the floor with their two boys. "I'm sorry, but I really am very worried about our friend. He was ill when we came in here. Thank you very much for offering to take care of Jessica. We'll make sure that we get help back here as soon as possible."
Striding over to where the bridge hung down in the pit, Blair swallowed his uneasiness, and began to climb, resolutely refusing to look down as he did so.
As Jim neared the large edifice housing the Indiana Jones adventure, he cautiously opened his sight and hearing up, hoping to find some sign of his niece and his partner. Much to his surprise, he recognized the familiar heartbeat coming from inside the building. That's odd. Shouldn't park personnel have found and evacuated them by now? Unless there's a real problem... Breaking into a run, the Sentinel stopped himself just short of bowling over the two large security guards who appeared in front of him.
Holding one hand out towards the agitated detective, the larger of the pair spoke. "Just hold on a minute there. Where do you think you're going? You have to leave the park now."
"My friend and my niece are in that ride." Jim ground out between clenched teeth. "I am not leaving until we get them and anyone else out of there. You can either help me or get out of my way, but I'm not leaving until they're safe."
"You're mistaken. In a situation like this, the head operator of each ride is responsible for making sure that everyone gets out safely, and summons help if it's necessary. Now-"
Shoving the other man aside, Jim continued toward the ride, throwing back over his shoulder as he moved. "If the ride's been evacuated, who are those people coming out the doors now? I think your 'head operator' must have panicked and abandoned his post. You can come with me, or not, but there are people in there that need our help!"
Barreling through the entrance to the ride, Jim honed in on that beloved heartbeat, racing through the building to find his friend.
Blair knew he was in hell. Why did things like this always happen to him? The other passengers had climbed to safety, and were, even now, making their way out of the ride. So, he'd gathered all his courage and started up himself. Two thirds of the way to the top, an aftershock had hit. Granted, it wasn't a severe one, but it was enough to make the makeshift ladder shake and sway quite alarmingly, causing the young man to freeze in place, eyes clenched shut, fingers locked in a death grip to the slats. Clinging tightly to the damaged bridge, Blair hesitantly opened his eyes, peered up at the safe, solid ground only a short distance above his head, and tried to collect his wits and nerve together to climb those extra few feet to the top. Climbing down was further, and therefore quite unthinkable, and he knew that a fall from this height would definitely hurt.
He could hear Jessica and the Boyds calling encouragement to him, but couldn't bring himself to move any further. Closing his eyes tightly and gathering all his courage, he managed to hesitantly scale one slat, then the next. He felt the warm, strong hands grasp his arms and lift him the rest of the way up onto blessedly solid ground at the same time he heard Jessica squeal, "Uncle Jim!".
Opening his eyes and smiling into the face of his Sentinel, Blair simply said, "It took you long enough."
"I know, Chief, I know." His friend replied. "Let's see if we can't find a way to get the rest of you folks out of there now."
"So, you're saying that the person who was supposed to make sure that everyone was out of the ride just panicked and ran when the quake hit, and they didn't have any back up or secondary system in place just in case something like that happened? Disney was trusting the safety of their guests in an emergency to someone barely in their twenties who never had any training in how to handle a high stress situation like that?" Blair's voice was disbelieving as he questioned Jim's explanation of what had happened. The three of them were back in the hotel, packing for their early departure. Glancing over to where Jessica was busily trying to stuff everything back into her suitcase with very little success, he added, in a much softer voice, "We'll discuss what happened to you when there aren't so many little ears around to hear us.
"I think when we go to Walt Disney World we're going to have to do a bit more testing. We don't want something like that happening again. If your senses ever got overloaded like that on the street it could be disastrous. You were in a half-zoned state for at least an hour there-"
Finally catching up with his partner's words, Jim broke into Blair's speech. "Whoa, whoa, wait a minute there, Chief. Who ever said anything about going to Walt Disney World? This trip turned out so well, what makes you think I want to spend a lot more money to travel even further to go to another amusement park?"
A smile split the anthropologist's face as he bounced, "Oh, did I forget to tell you, Jim? Disney was afraid that those of us who got forgotten in the Indiana Jones ride were gonna sue, so they offered us first class, all expense paid trips to Walt Disney World for a week! Isn't that great?"
"Yeah," Jessica broke in, "it's gonna be so much fun! They have tea cups in Florida too, but I heard the red ones twirl the best down there!"
Oh, Lord, Jim thought to himself as he tried to suppress a smile. A week in Florida at Walt Disney World with two small children. Things could certainly be a lot worse. And, Mom, just for you, I'll take them on every ride at least twice.
Fin.