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– Chapter 7 –
Mervyn stared gloomily through the bars at the grey room beyond. Never had a room looked so dull and featureless. The Velcats had stripped away all hope. Even a small victory would have given them a lift, some hope of escape. Tarun and Aurora looked just as dejected.
Curiously, he watched Loren fiddling with her hair again. Carefully, she removed a strand and placed it in her hand. Next, she extracted a box, followed by some wires and a small circuit board.
As more and more hardware emerged, Mervyn realised she had fooled them all. Here was the important stuff. For a while, Loren fiddled with the components in her lap, careful always to keep her back to the cameras. Mervyn watched in silence.
Eventually, Loren pulled something from behind her ear and popped it in her mouth. From the expression on her face it tasted disgusting, but she chewed anyway. Slowly, she shuffled round her cage and placed two boxes next to the bars.
A blue horizontal line appeared between the boxes. Gradually, the line split in two -- one remained stationary and the other edged upwards. Mervyn gasped as a hole, devoid of bars, appeared. Loren winked, then tied something springy between her thumb and first finger. Removing some of the chewy stuff from her mouth, she took aim at the camera in the top left corner of the room, ‘Quarks, I can’t see it properly.’
‘Here, let me try,’ Mervyn hissed, ‘I’ve got a clear line of sight.’ Loren passed her makeshift catapult through the bars, ‘Try to shield it with your body so the Velcats can’t see what you’re doing -- this is our last chance to escape.’ Mervyn assembled the catapult and took the gooey stuff Loren offered him. He stood as close to the bars as he dared and took aim at the tiny button camera winking in the corner. He drew in a deep breath and concentrated on keeping his hand steady. He exhaled as he fired. Splat. ‘Nearly. More ammo, please, Loren.’
‘Here, take the lot.’
Aurora took an interest in their activity, ‘Come on, Mervyn, concentrate.’ How easy did she think this was? He recognised the expectation in her eyes and felt beads of sweat blossom on his brow. Splat. ‘Got it.’
Loren smiled with satisfaction, ‘Great shot, Merv. Now the one in the other corner.’
‘Shh,’ Tarun hissed, ‘there’s someone in the corridor.’ They froze; listening. Mervyn could hear his heart pounding. They could not risk discovery. Slowly, Loren crouched to her gadgets, and flicked them off.
Suddenly the door burst opened and she leaped to her feet. Mervyn hid the catapult behind his back and stuffed the remainder of the gum in his mouth. It tasted of rancid butter and made his eyes sting -- he struggled to keep a straight face as a Velcat, grinning from ear to ear, strode into the room. It frowned suspiciously at their bored faces, then pointed at Mervyn, ‘Hands!’ Mervyn showed his empty hands.
‘Turn around!’ He turned to his left, and then back to his right.
‘All the way round,’ the Velcat growled. Mervyn turned slowly, conscious of the catapult tucked into his waistband and praying nothing showed. He completed the turn, but jumped back in surprise when he found the Velcat’s face pressed right up to the bars. It sniffed the air, ‘Bad smell.’
‘He always smells like that,’ Loren said. ‘Doesn’t brush his teeth.’
The Velcat growled softly, breathing foul air into Mervyn’s face, he wrinkled his nose in disgust. The Velcat turned its attention to Loren. The two little boxes stood glaringly obvious at her feet. It would only take one flickering glance for the Velcat to discover their escape plan. ‘Don’t look down, Loren, don’t look down’, he thought as though he could warn her telepathically. For some bizarre reason, now the idea had entered his mind, he had an overwhelming urge to look at her feet.
‘Hands... Turn.’ While Loren obeyed, Mervyn deliberately stared at the ceiling. Without thinking his gaze came to rest on the gummed up camera. Quickly he looked away. The Velcat caught the sudden movement and returned its attention to Mervyn. Rather than risk giving something away he locked eyes with the Velcat.
For what seemed like hours he stared unblinking into those blank green eyes. The rancid taste in his mouth started to make his eyes water and now he wanted to swallow as well as look down.
Carefully, he shifted his gaze to a spot midway between the Velcats eyes and allowed himself to blink. His mouth was filling with saliva too, if this went on for much longer he would have to swallow -- he prayer the gum contained nothing poisonous. Without warning, the Velcat snarled, making Mervyn jump again. Then it looked from one prisoner to the next, ‘No funny stuff or you gets it.’ With a final petulant sweep around the room, like a child missing a treat, it stalked out.
They waited while its footsteps recede down the corridor. Mervyn signed as the tension drained from his body and spat the gum into his hand, ‘Phew, this is disgusting.’
Tarun licked his lips nervously, ‘That was close. I couldn’t stop looking down at those boxes.’
‘Hurry, we don’t have much time,’ Loren said as she crouched to restart her devices. Mervyn retrieved the catapult, hooked it round his fingers, and took aim at the second camera. His second shot partially covered the lens, but his third hit it dead centre. Behind him, Loren struggled through the hole which now gaped in the bars of her cell. She crossed to the door and switched off the bars fronting their cells. Free at last, Mervyn leaped from the cell punching the air in triumph. Aurora looked impressed, ‘Great work, guys.’
‘What do we do now?’ Tarun asked.
‘Get off this ship, stop De Monsero, and find my father’ Mervyn said heading straight for the door. He ripped opened a panel beside the door and activated the manual override. Carefully, he cranked open the door and peaked out. Satisfied with his recognisance, he disabled the override and let the door slide fully open. Everyone crowded through. Mervyn looked up and down the featureless corridor, ‘Which way, Loren?’
‘We came from the left so I suppose we go left.’
Aurora hesitated, ‘You mean you don’t know, do you?’
‘Nope.’
‘Wow, some plan this is turning out to be.’