Chapter 4
“There is no door honey, Dublin would have found it,” Austin said.
“I saw something, a faint line, just over there...” Carolina said, pointing and following her outstretched hand as if it were guiding her. Austin watched her, wondering. She was screaming a moment ago, and now she was so calm. And there was something off about her… but what it was he couldn’t put his finger on. He plopped a hand to his forehead. Kids were so hard to understand sometimes.
Carolina looked about at the faces staring at her, realizing something was wrong. “Sorry, I just thought I saw a spider,” she said sounding more like an eleven year old girl now.
“And a door? Aye, why not, maybe I’m too tall to see it,” Dublin laughed. If the head engineer couldn’t find the door but an eleven year old could, he’d have to hear about it the rest of the trip. Austin put a fatherly hand on her shoulder, unsure of what to say.
“Anyway, I thought I saw the door right over here,” Carolina said standing in front of an inconspicuous piece of the wall. It looked as unremarkable as the rest, and after a moment or two everyone quietly dismissed her. She stood there for almost a minute before Dmitry shrugged and walked off, he grabbed Helena to inspect her data readings. Another minute later and Carolina turned, abruptly facing away from the wall. A long, steady beam of blue light shot straight out from a projector that was suddenly sticking out of the ground. Austin saw the beam of blue light, small and pinpoint, it spread like a thin sheet of paper and covered Carolina head to toe.
“Watch out!” he shouted. Austin ran to her, reaching her just as the blue light slipped away.
“It’s okay daddy, I wanted it to do that,” she said.
“Do what?” Austin asked. As if to answer him the wall rumbled, Austin grabbed Carolina and pulled her away. All eyes spun and watched as a part of the wall suddenly came alive, regressing in on itself on sliding open. Dmitry’s icy gaze watched the wall and then fell on Carolina. How did that little girl figure this out? Something in Dmitry’s head just didn’t buy coincidence.
“Uhmm…” Orlean said, watching Carolina. “Did anyone else see that?”
Dmitry lowered his gaze, thoughtfully considering Carolina. He was more surprised than anyone else, and intrigued. Could she have simply stumbled upon it? “Report,” he said to Orlean, interrupting the focus on Carolina.
Orlean studied his prosthetic limb, the readout screen danced with charts and graphs. “I’m getting strange readings, unusual energy patterns, unknown compounds,” Orlean said.
“These energy readings are significant, there must be some kind of reactor inside,” Helena said.
Austin walked up to his little girl. “Wow honey… we should put you in charge,” he said putting a hand on her shoulder. Austin felt heat coming through her jacket. “Carolina, are you feeling okay?” Austin asked as he felt her forehead. “You’re burning up,” he said, feeling her checks next. She shouldn’t be feverish with the kind of immune system cocktails they all had. She shouldn’t even come close to getting sick. Maybe it was time for a booster shot.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just all this running around,” she said. Carolina brushed Austin’s hand away and stepped towards the entrance that appeared.
“Jus’ let us take this one, miss, better let us lead the way,” Dublin said, standing in front of her. He shook his head, he really would be hearing about this the rest of the way home.
“Dublin’s right, we have to be good for something around here,” Athen laughed.
“There’s no radiation threat, oxygen is breathable, we can advance,” Orlean said. Helena looked like she swallowed a fish.
“Helena, do you want to go back? You could stand watch over the quadrohuts?” Dmitry asked a little smug.
“N-no, I’m right behind you,” she said.
Behind the gaping entry flickered fluorescent lights. Heat rose carrying a steady current of stale air.
“Talk to me,” Dmitry said to no one in particular. Austin felt Carolina lean forward as if to speak but she stayed quiet. Finally the lights inside fully illuminated, revealing a warehouse sized tunnel stretching forty meters in and slanting down. As a group they stood at the top staring.
“Suppose’ what do we do now?”
They looked at each other, wondering what next.
“Come on gang, is there anyone who thinks we should just stand here? Let’s go in…” Dmitry said.
The entryway angled down almost too steep to travel on foot. Steady warm air climbed past them, evaporating into the forest and tossing Carolina’s hair like a sail. Austin took the first step in and did so carefully. The floor was incredibly smooth. The boots they all wore were made for more natural surfaces and gave little friction.
Austin carefully went down a few meters, followed by Athen. “Not much grip on this,” Austin said.
“I can see that,” Athen replied, her hands swung out for balance.
“Carolina, stay up there,” Austin said glancing up. Austin heard a yelp and spun his head just in time to see Athen sliding.
“Athen!”
Athen slid, flailing, trying to stop herself. Orlean reached out to catch her, snatching her by the wrist. The momentum dragged him down too. Dublin leaned over and gripped Orlean by the scruff of his shirt, his thick forearm bulging. Instantly Orlean and Athen were pinned.
“Dmitry!” Austin yelled, moving closer to Dublin.
“Aye, I do need a little help,” Dublin said soft and controlled, his arm unwavering. Austin leaned against the slope, rooting himself to help steady Orlean on the other side of him.
“Athen, take your gloves off, and your boots,” Dmitry said. “Everyone do it, the floor isn’t steep, it’s just too slick.”
Athen tugged a glove off with her teeth, how Dmitry thought she was going to get her boots off while dangling from Orlean was another thing. But her bare hands carried enough friction to hold herself from sliding. She spit the glove free and managed to get back to her hands and knees, lending a thank you smile to Orlean for catching her. Or at least for trying.
“Anytime,” Orlean said. A sharp electric pop stole his and Athen’s attention.
“Did you see that?” Dmitry asked.
“No, but I heard it… where is my glove?” Athen asked. A snaking line of white ash hovered where the slope turned level.
“What happened? Was that your glove?” Austin asked.
“That was my glove!”
“And could’ve been you, love,” Dublin said, suddenly making dead certain not to slip.
“Okay… everyone get back up, carefully,” Dmitry said.
“You think??” Austin blurted.
“Whoa whoa whoa… I see it now,” Orlean said, scanning with his prosthetic hand. “There’s an intense field of energy down there. It looks like a trap… or security? It could have fried you, Athen,” Orlean said. Athen looked down and lost it.
“Get me up!” she cried.
“Just relax, you can walk back up, just be steady and careful,” Orlean said trying to calm her.
“Get me up! Now!” she cried again. Athen clung to the slope like a cat paralyzed with fear.
“Relax, Athen, just don’t move,” Austin said calming her. Carolina stirred at the top of the walkway, looking like she wanted to come down. “Don’t come down here honey! Stay right there!” Austin ordered. Carolina didn’t acknowledge him, she just stood with a blank face.
“Okay… okay… just hurry…” Athen said quivering, gaining control of herself.
“Dublin, can you reach her?” Dmitry asked. Orlean’s foot slipped an inch causing a wave of gasps.
“Dublin?”
“Jus’ can’t quite do it from here, don’t want to go sliding myself,” Dublin said. The fear of slipping was suddenly worse after smelling the singed air that used to be Athen’s glove. Really it wasn’t that steep, if you were care
ful.
“Dmitry is right, it’s the boots, they don’t have any grip,” Austin said taking his boots and gloves off and throwing them to the top. He took a barefoot step towards Athen. More boots and gloves were tossed up.
“Be careful daddy,” he heard Carolina say. She sounded strange, calm. Austin did have to be careful, one bad slip and his little girl wouldn’t have a father. Judging from the floating ash his death would at least be quick. With bare feet Austin stepped past Dublin and grabbed Athen. With his gloves and boots off he realized how warm the floor felt.
“I’ve got you,” Austin said reaching his hand out. Athen looked at him with forced calm, but she was still scared. She didn’t want to risk moving. “Really, I won’t slip. I’m steady now, it was just those boots, alright?”
Athen swallowed a curt nod and slapped her hand into his, weighing so much more than he thought it should. She was really terrified, not that Austin blamed her. When her glove got zapped it seemed everyone could taste their own mortality. This time, Austin kept his fear from getting to him. He wasn’t always so restrained.
Helping her to the top was easier than coming down, but by the time Athen could stand without worry she crumpled to the floor in a sweaty mess. Carolina stood over her, expressionless. Kids handled stress in the strangest ways. Carolina almost looked impatient.
Dublin had made it to the top well ahead of them, Orlean climbed back up too and was already tracing the energy readings.
“It’s no wonder I didn’t see the field at first, my scanners can barely process the energy output of the facility, I’m just now honing in on this room,” Orlean said. Helena’s tablet got everything Orlean’s prosthetic picked up, the two could analyze separate data from the same device.
“Is this some sort of trap?” Austin asked, eyes wide. He hoped this would be enough to convince everyone to go back and report their find. Even if they get past the energy barrier, who knew what else was down there. This was too dangerous. Hopefully Dmitry and the others saw that now.
Carolina stepped away for a moment and came back, her hands full of dirt. She flung the dirt out and watched as the field zapped and obliterated it. For the briefest moment they saw the outline of the energy field, and saw where it had a gap leading towards a key panel. The key panel was the first thing they saw that wasn’t just wall or ceiling. It disappeared when the commotion of dirt being annihilated finally settled, explaining why they didn’t see it until now. Austin was certain he saw a clear pathway towards the key panel… a key panel that further confirmed this wasn’t made by humans.
“That’s it. We really need to get back to camp and report this discovery, enough is enough,” Austin pleaded as the group put their boots and gloves back on. He plopped a hand on Carolina’s shoulder. Helena looked like she agreed with him, she looked downright green with fear, but Austin didn’t see anyone else nodding. “Agreed?”
“Our safety is of the utmost importance, naturally, but I’m confident Orlean can help us find a way in,” Dmitry said. Austin could have punched him. Had everyone lost their senses? Athen almost died just now, and they still wanted to continue? They were blind for whatever treasure or technology lay within these walls. Austin had to wonder; if almost losing Athen wasn’t enough to convince them, what would it take?