Order of Magnitude

VII. Miller's Tale

     "Oh, how fortunate," Dr. Moon said as he carried the two parvs in a small Petri dish toward the counter. "New test subjects for the experiment." He dropped Miller and Travis into the glass tank, and sealed the lid back up. Afterward, he took one final glance at his collection, then went back to his desk across the room.

      Once inside, Miller ran up to the remaining prisoners. "Jacques, guys, are you okay?"

      Jacques stood up to greet his former community member. "Miller, what are you doing here? How the heck did you get caught in the same trap that we did?"

      "Believe me, it was intentional; we're here to rescue you."

      Jacques looked around at his surroundings that remained unchanged. "I don't think you're doing it right."

      "No, there's more, and-" Miller noticed the conspicuous lack of parvs in the tank. "Where is everybody else?"

      "Dead. It's just six of us now. Probably five soon enough."

      "Why five?"

      "Edi's just been returned to us. They injected him with something, but he won't say anything about it. The last two guys they did that to died within the hour."

      Miller walked over to Edison, who was huddling in the corner. He looked pale, was sweating profusely, and the top of his head was dyed a light blue. "Hey, buddy," Miller started uneasily. "How are you feeling?"

      Edison remained silent; he just stared at the glass wall instead. Jacques came over to the both of them. "He's sat there like that for the last half hour. Hasn't said a word to any of us yet. I for one am curious about what happened in there, but Edi's not talking."

      "Can you stand?" Miller asked the silent parv. He didn't get a response. "Well, you're going to have to soon enough. There's a gang down there planning on busting us out."

      Jacques studied the room outside of the tank. "Where are they?" he asked.

      "Waiting for the right moment, I'm sure."

      "Maybe they've been captured, like you."

      Miller shook his head. "No, we were just bait. They rest are hitching a ride on that big, dumb scientist."

      "Oh yeah, then where are they? You're telling me this whole plan revolves around the fact that a group of parvs can sneak aboard a human without being seen?"

      Miller thought it over. "Look, I know it's risky."

      "Risky? That's an understatement." Jacques went back to his corner of the tank. "Might as well find a good place to rest, guys. We ain't going anywhere."

      "Don't say that," Miller said, shaking his leader by the shoulders. "We did all this to get you out of here; we won't be able to make it if you've given up already."

      "The worst thing you could have possibly done is give us false hope," Jacques muttered. "And yet, here you are-" His words were cut off by the sound of scraping coming from just outside of the tank. Jacques stood up and peered outside. There was a hook dug into the table!

      The rest of the prisoners in the glass tank stood and stared at the hook. Seconds passed, minutes. The air was ripe with anticipation. Suddenly, they saw it. A tiny hand on the table. Then another. Jacques watched as his brother pulled himself into full view in front of him.

      "Jean!" the parv called out excitedly.

      Jean ambled over to the tank. Behind him another parv pulled himself up to the table. Then another, and another. For the first time in a while, Jacques felt real optimism.

      "We told you we had a plan," Travis smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

      For a brief instant, Jean and Jacques stood on opposite sides of an eighth inch of glass. They nodded to each other in mutual respect.

      "So," Jean said from his place outside of the tank. "Are you ready to get out of there?"