Escape! by Ben Bova Page B

and mean. “Good old Lacey, huh?
That’s cool. I been wantin’ to split that black big-mouth’s head
ever since he became lightweight champ. Hambone and me are going to
have real fun takin’ care of him.”
    Hambone nodded and giggled.
    Danny didn’t answer Ralph. But somehow he felt
unhappy that it was going to be Lacey.
     
    He hardly slept at all that night. And the next
morning he just sat in class, paying no attention to anything
around him. Danny’s mind was a jumble of thoughts, pictures,
voices. He kept trying to think about the escape plan, what he had
to do to knock out the generator, every detail.
    But he kept seeing Laurie, kept hearing her say,
“Then you can forget about me.”
    He tried to get her out of his head, but instead he
saw Lacey grinning at him, boxing gloves weaving in front of his
face. He remembered their fight. He tried to make himself hate
Lacey. It didn’t work. Lacey fought clean and hard. Danny couldn’t
hate him.
    “Hey, this isn’t the history class, you know.”
    Danny snapped his attention to the classroom. Joe
Tenny was standing over him, grinning. The other guys had left. The
class was over.
    “I... uh, I was thinkin’ about... things.”
    “Sure you were.” Joe laughed. “With your eyes
closed.”
    “I wasn’t asleep.” Danny got up from his chair.
    Joe nodded. “Okay, you were wide awake. Look, why
don’t you just grab a quick sandwich at the cafeteria and meet me
in my office in about fifteen minutes. Got something I want to show
you.”
    Every nerve in Danny’s body tightened. His chest
started to feel heavy, raw. He knows about it!
    When he opened the door to Dr. Tenny’s office, Joe
was standing in front of his easel, slapping paint on a canvas with
a small curved knife.
    “Hi.... Sit down a minute.”
    In one hand, Joe held a paint-dabbed piece of
cardboard. He would dip the edge of the knife into a blob of color,
and then smear the color across the canvas. Danny watched him.
    Finally Joe stepped back, cocked his head to one side
and squinted at the canvas, then tossed the cardboard and knife to
the floor at the base of the easel.
    “What to you think?” he asked.
    Danny stared hard at the painting. It looked like
some of the dark blobs were going to be boats. There were the
beginnings of mountains and clouds in the background.
    “Okay, don’t answer,” Joe said. “I’m just starting
it. Wait’ll you see the finished product!”
    He yanked open his top desk drawer and pulled out a
stubby cigar.
    “Some days it just gets to be too much,” he said.
“Then I’ve got to slap paint around or go nuts.”
    Danny, sitting in the chair, said nothing.
    Joe puffed the cigar to life. “I’ve been having a
little discussion with a few members of the Governor’s council....
About how much money the Center’s going to need next year. I’m in
no mood to work anymore today.”
    Danny shrugged.
    “You like airplanes, don’t you? Ever been up in
one?”
    “No...”
    “Okay, come on. Friend of mine just bought a new
plane for himself. Said I could play with it this afternoon. Want
to come?”
    With a deep breath of relief, Danny said, “Sure!”
    They drove to the airfield in Joe’s car. There were
still banks of snow along the highway, brown and rotting. The sky
was clear, though, and the sun was shining.
    The plane sparkled in the sunlight. Painted red and
white, it had one engine, a low wing, and a cabin that seated four.
It was parked beside a hangar in a small airfield that was used
only for private planes.
    Joe squeezed into the pilot’s seat, and Danny crawled
up after him and sat at his right. The control panel in front of
him was covered with dials and instruments. A little half-wheel
poked out of the panel, and there were two big pedals on the
floor.
    Joe showed Danny everything: the instruments, the
controls, the throttle and fuel mixture sticks that were down on
the floor between their two seats, the radio.
    “Just like in the books,”