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But he was already thinking about the moment when the stove would
flicker out for the last time. There was always the wood from the many packing
crates, of course, but Rick wasn't sure what danger an open fire might
constitute to the air supply. He was already mapping steam and hot water
lines, looking for the best and nearest place to do their cooking, and trying
to interpret the utility markings in order to improvise a little light during
the night cycles and recharge his flashlight once Mockingbird's batteries were
completely dead.
"And so I practiced as hard as I could-I didn't do much of anything
else, I guess," he told Minmei. He was lying with his head pillowed on his
arms, staring up at Mockingbird. Minmei lay across from him on her pallet,
resting on one elbow. The soft light made her skin glow and her eyes liquid
and deep.
"My dad grumbled a bit," he went on, "but he taught me everything he
knew, and I came back to win that competition the next year. And I won it
eight times in a row, even though I was only flying an old junker plane."
He stopped, wondering if it sounded like he was bragging. Then he
dismissed the thought; Minmei knew him better than that. And he felt like he'd
known her all his life-no, like he'd known her always.
She sighed, laying her head on her hands, watching him. "Rick?" she said
softly. "Do you think I'll ever get to fly with you again?"
He put all the conviction he could into his answer, trying to sound
matter-of-fact. "Why, sure! Once we get rescued, I'll take you up whenever you
want. That is, if you'll sing for me now and then."
She lay back, gazing up at the play of firelight on the inverted cockpit
canopy. Their isolation had become their world, filling dreams as well as
days.
Sometimes I dream of falling in love. She'd never dared mention it to
him.
Minmei began singing, a song she'd written and never shared with anybody
before. It took him a second to realize that he didn't recognize it.
"To be in love
My hero he must take me where no other can
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Where silver suns have golden moons,
Each year has thirteen Junes,
That's what must be for me
To be
In love."
"You've got a beautiful voice." He'd said it before; though he tried to think
of some flowery new way to tell her, it always came out the same way.
She looked over at him again; he couldn't tell if she was blushing or
not. "Thank you, Rick." She averted her eyes for a second, then looked to him
again. "If I could do one thing with my life, it would be to sing. I couldn't
live without singing."
"It's always been planes for me," he answered, even though she already
knew that. "All I ever wanted to do was fly." Then he felt awkward for
repeating what he must have told her a hundred times already.
But Minmei sat up, embracing her knees, nodding gravely. "I know how you
feel, Rick. Sometimes you can't be happy unless you do what you dream about."
"So you're sure that being an entertainer is what you want from life?"
"Yes, I guess." She added in a rush, "But what I really want is to be a
bride."
He was suddenly alert and wary. "Ah. You mean, married?"
She nodded, the long hair shimmering in the stove's light. "In my
family, there's so much love-well, I've told you that already, haven't I?
You'll simply have to meet them! They're wonderful and-that's the kind of joy
I want in my life."
"I guess you'll probably make somebody a terrific wife," he said
noncommittally.
She was suddenly sad again. "Thanks, but now I'll never have the
chance."
"Don't you even think that, Minmei! I know we're gonna get out of here
somehow!"
"It's been twelve days. And I'm sure they must have given up searching
for us by now." Her voice had shrunk to a whisper. "We'll never get out of
here."
He didn't know what to say. Before he could decide, there were squeaks
and chitters and a faint rattling.
"It's those mice again! I'll get them this time!" Relieved at a chance
to work off his frustration, he grabbed an empty can and sprang to the opening
of the tent.
He hurled the can, and it clanked and bounced in the darkness,
scattering the mice.
She was standing next to him. "We're never going to make it out of here
alive. We're going to be here forever."
Her hands were clasped, and she was gazing sadly into the darkness. She
suddenly sounded bitter. "We've been here too long. They've all forgotten
about us by now."
"Minmei, I don't want to hear that kind of talk!"
"It's true! We've just got to face it." She stood with her back to him,
looking out into a void darker than deep space. "We'll live our entire lives
right here in this ship. I'll never know what it's like to be a bride and
start a whole new life."
She was weeping, unable to go on, her shoulders shaking.
"Minmei," he said gently, "you will. I'll show you."
She sniffed. "How can you do that?"
"Um, we can have a ceremony right here. We can pretend."
She turned and came back to him, cheeks wet. "Oh, Rick, do you mean it?"
He nodded slowly; Minmei wiped away her tears. "Then let me borrow your
scarf?"
She unknotted it and drew it from around his neck, a long, white flier's
scarf of fine silk, spreading it and carefully arranging it as a bridal veil.
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"Minmei, you look beautiful. I-I guess I should be the groom, huh?" he
said haltingly, then rolled his eyes at his own stupidity.
Minmei said nothing, holding her hand out. He took it. "Is this what we
do next?"
She started to nod, then broke from her role, close to tears again. "Oh,
Rick, why doesn't someone come and find us? I want to go home!"
"But you will, I promise you."
She squeezed his hand hard. "I'm just so scared." It sounded so small
and forlorn in the huge, empty compartment.
"I know; so am I." He took her shoulders in his hands. "Come on, I'm
telling you: We're gonna get out of here! There's got to be a way! We can't
give up! I've never been a quitter, and you shouldn't be either!"
She pulled back out of his reach. "Stop it. That's all just silly talk!
You know what's going to happen! We're going to die here!" She turned away,
sobbing.
Rick stared at her, not knowing what to say. She was not quite sixteen,
very much in love with life. "Minmei, it's not silly talk. I really believe
it. You mustn't give up. I'm doing my best." He gestured vaguely. "I'm sorry."
She turned back to him. "No, Rick; I'm the one who should apologize.
It's just that-" She threw herself into his arms. "I'm being so stupid-"
He held her close. "That's not true."
She turned her face up to his. "Kiss me, Rick."
"If you're sure..."
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