7
Mrs. Maxwell rose from her seat and began to walk toward the rear of the seating area. In her arms, she still cradled the jar of "Mr. Maxwell's remains".
"Mrs. Maxwell?" asked Doris as the old lady passed her in the aisle. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes, dearie. I just need to avail myself of the… uhm… facilities. It is down this way, isn't it?"
"Uh-huh. Just continue that direction and there are doors – one on the right and one on the left. You'll want the one on the left."
"Oh thank you so much. But what is the door on the right and where does it lead to?"
"Oh, that wouldn't interest you. It's just an access hatch to certain maintenance areas of the ship. It's locked anyway."
"You'd be surprised to find out just what interests me, dearie." Mrs. Maxwell gave a sort of leering smile that Doris could barely make out through her veil.
"Are you sure you wouldn't want me to take care of your urn while you… uh…"
"Now, now. We've been through this already, remember? It's so nice of you to offer, but I'm not letting go of this jar until the right time has come to do so. But thank you again." And Mrs. Maxwell turned and began ambling down the aisle once again.
"You're welcome," said Doris. I guess, she finished in thought. That lady is definitely a weird one!
When Mrs. Maxwell reached the doors, she opened the jar she was carrying, removed a metal object shaped like a small circle with small colored lights. She placed it on the door on the right and with a clunk, the circle gizmo adhered itself to its new home magnetically. The mysterious spinster then pushed a red button in the center of the contraption and the door unlocked and opened.
"Georgie," she whispered to herself, "I used this the last time we met! Don't you ever learn?" Giggling softly to herself, "Mrs. Maxwell" removed her electronic skeleton key and entered the now open door. "Soon, Georgie! Soon!" she muttered as the door shut behind her.
"Go fish!" commanded Ellsworth to Kirk just before flashing a sinister grin from behind his hand of cards.
"Are you sure it's okay to be playing cards like this while the flight is in progress?" asked the rookie engineer.
"Like how else would you want to play cards?" deadpanned the veteran co-pilot just before the cockpit door opened and Doris entered.
George looked back at the cute newlywed and said to Jack, "Better put those girly magazines away, Junior. Here comes Mother!"
Larson stuck out his tongue in Kent's general direction, then gave his wife a smile. "What's up, hon? We weren't expecting to hear from you again for another quarter hour. Or did you just miss me that much?"
Doris ignored the humorous tone in the cockpit. "I was just talking to Mrs. Maxwell in 16C."
"She seems a little odd to me," interrupted George. "What do you think?"
"Well, you know she has that urn with her husband's ashes in it. She wouldn't let go of it, even when I told her it should be stowed away in case of an emergency."
"Okay," said Whitney. "So?"
"Then she said that when the emergency arises, she wouldn't need it anymore."
"Like I said – so?"
"Whit, she said 'when' not 'if'. Don't you find that strange?"
"Not overly so. It could have been in response to the way you worded your caution."
"Maybe, but then she said something really weird, unless Captain Kent here has been flirting with her."
"Me? I don't think so! What did she say?"
"She said – and I quote – 'Tell Georgie, I said thanks.' Why would she call you 'Georgie'?"
Realization hit George right between the eyes as his head jerked toward the young attendant upon hearing the liberties taken with his name . "She said what…?" His reply came out more like an exclamation than a question. "Great Scott! It can't be…"
Suddenly the sound and impact of an explosion rocked the ship.
"Jennifer!"
The intercom came to life as if on cue. "Georgie! Long time, no see! How's Gary? You know, your tiny friend from – well, where is he from, anyway? I didn't really get that address of his before we parted company?"
"You know this lunatic, George?" asked Whitney as Jennifer continued ranting.
"We've met!"
"She sure likes to hear herself talk, doesn't she?"
The observation was not meant as a joke and no one laughed; least of all, George. He could only muster a quiet, "Mmm-hmm."
Jennifer continued, "I know you're happy to hear me, and I'll bet you would just love to come down into the maintenance deck to visit with me, face to face, now wouldn't you?"
"Just what do you want, Jennifer? What did you do to the ship?"
"Oh… You mean that little pop? Oh well, yes. You got me. I admit that that was indeed me and my little plastic bomb. I only blew a hole in the cargo hold hatchway to get your attention. My little way of saying, 'Howdy!' I guess. Looks like it worked! As for what I want, I've already told you! I want you, Georgie! I want you to come down here to the maintenance deck to say hello to your old friend, Jen! We have so much to talk about! But please come alone. I'm still a little self conscious about my follicle - challenged head that you gave me three months ago. Besides, I have half the ship rigged to explode and I have an energy pistol. You know, it's amazing what you can fit in a cremation urn. By the way, thank you for helping me get it through security. It would never have made it through if not for you!"
George winced as he realized how he had been duped. From now on, he thought, it'll be by the book all the way, security wise.
"Georgie? I can't heeeeear you?" she sing-songed after a couple of seconds. "You'd better hurry on down, lover! I'm getting lonely. And when I'm lonely, I like to blow things up to break the monotony. I'd hate for all those nice people to get hurt… or killed. Would you?"
"All right, Jennifer! I'm comi-"
"Oh, please! Call me Jen! After all, we go back a ways don't we?"
"All right… Jen! I'm on my way. Just don't do anything stupid that would get everyone killed!"
"Why, Georgie! I'm… hurt. Truly hurt that you would say that. You must think I'm some sort of… of… monster! But I forgive you! Just hurry on down here. Toodles!"
