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"Good , Ishibashi-san," Alex said "I’d like to try to fix the ic tube Do you have any tools I could use?"

"I do" Ishibashi led Alex to a se of supplies It appeared the scientists had done a fair a in here," Ishibashi said He left Alex to explore on his own, but returned ahandful of broken knobs and springs, cracked buttons, and a few unidentifiable bits of metal

Alex raised an eyebrow "What’s this?"

"Sato found these years ago after a violent wreck that sent debris crashing into Marcus Today’s tube Soed between rocks nearby He collected them and saved them for Mr Marcus Today, but our friend does not return"

Alex cringed "I’m sorry, Ishibashi-san I meant to tell you when you first mentioned him, but ere distracted by the storm Mr Todayhe died He was killed by hed and briefly closed his eyes "Never mind It’s complicated"

Ishibashi narrowed his eyes "Your family was the enemy of Marcus Today?"

"No!" Alex exclaimed "No, not at all I loved him He was--he was like a father" He stopped, overwhelmed He didn’t have the emotional stamina left to explain further, except to add, "My brother is my enemy" The lifeless words hit the rock walls with a dull thud Alex dropped his gaze

Ishibashi nodded "I see I am sorry" He was silent for a moment as a wave of pain washed over his face, and then his countenance cleared and he held out the mass of broken pieces "This will help you fix the tube?"

Alex reached out, and Ishibashi poured them into his hands

"Thank you," Alex said "Truly" He hoped the scientist knew he meant it

Ishibashi’s lips curved into a sympathetic smile He put a hand on Alex’s ar Alex to his thoughts

» » « «

When the sky grew lighter and the lightning faded, and the others headed to the shore to work on the ship, Alex darted out into the wind and rain with a woven bag full of tools, supplies, and the bits and pieces of the control panel that Ishibashi had given him He made his way across the rocky terrain and slipped inside the tube, which offered a bit of shelter fro over carefully The tube was in rough shape

The entire unit slanted fifteen degrees or so in one direction--enough that Alex couldn’t stand up straight in it without his head brushing the glass wall He stepped outside and pressed his hands against it, trying to push it back the way it was supposed to be, but it didn’thappened Finally he slae Alex stepped back to catch his breath, and then he moved around the circumference of the tube and saw that years of constant wind had forced sand and debris to build up under one side, causing the tilt He scraped at the base of the tube with his hands, then thought the better of that and pulled a longat the refuse It was packed so tightly that it seemed practically petrified Alex worked at it with all of his strength until a large chunk of debris cracked loose He poked and prodded, trying to dig all the way to the root of the probleet a decent grasp on it with his fingers He set down the tool, gripped the edge, and yanked it out The tube groaned and settled into place with a satisfying thud

A fewin Alex’s hand He tossed it aside It crumbled and the wind picked up the pieces and sent them out to sea Alex wiped his hands on his pants and stepped back inside the tube It was slightly wobbly, but level for thesure it was stable, and felt it settle even farther into place Satisfied, Alex got on his knees and began scraping up the reen bits to use later for components

When it was fairly clean, he stepped out oncetheainst the sides in order to hold the tube in place and act as a barrier to block further debris fro its way underneath

"Now for the hard part," heand pulled out soiven him He looked at theain, hesitated, picked up one, and pressed it into a hole It fell through and clattered to the floor

Alex picked it up and stared so time Clearly the mechanics of the tube system were beyond Alex’s abilities, at least without souide "Add Repair Your Tube in Seconds! to the list of books I need to find in Mr Today’s messy library," he ht never get back there He sighed, coroaned "Help Get us out of here!"

» » « «

Over the course of the hour of cal every piece into the panel in a variety of combinations He used tools and supplies from Ishibashi to atteical incantations Mr Today ed to find the piece that looked like the ot it to fit partially in the space where he thought it should go But when he pressed it, nothing happened