Paphos, p.18
Paphos, page 18
It was a test. Maybe now she could throw him off. She had to feign ignorance, or else she’d be the test-subject for every death trap. “Okay.” She walked towards the barricade as if unaware of the deadly measures about to take place. When he realized she wouldn’t stop, he snatched her at the last moment.
“Hey!” she yelled. An electric barrier arose just in front of where she was a moment before. A dazzling swirl of sparks and debris flew up into the air. Dmitry set her down; he’d obviously discovered them and was testing her. She hoped this failed hunch of his made him reconsider what he thought about her. She was especially glad he stopped her, because she knew it was there all along, and she was just about to stop. But he didn’t need to know that.
She glared at him expectantly.
“That was a close one, eh? I saw the prongs of that nasty security at the last second,” he said, trying to explain it away. The prongs were slightly visible, and his voice had changed. “Well, that was the entirety of my big plan. Now I’m stuck. With the elevator collapsed over there, this is probably still our best shot. Any ideas?”
“Why would I have any ideas? I’m just a kid,” she said and walked away. She sensed him tense up; he didn’t like being dismissed. But eventually he relaxed and went about gathering small objects and tossing them into the dazzling electric barrier, testing for any gaps. He tossed a small box at an inconspicuous spot near the wall. The force field arose and ate it, appearing from nowhere and disappearing as swiftly. He almost had a complete perimeter mapped out in flecks of white ash. She waited as he continued on, both of them pretending to ignore each other. Dmitry tossed a short metal tube, looking away as he predicted the electric arc to leap. This time, he saw something: a sensor in the wall. It was perfectly camouflaged, and he was surprised to see it, despite the fact that he was looking for it. Someone didn’t want anything going through this door.
She watched as his mind unraveled this puzzle. Alien technology notwithstanding, it looked like a proximity sensor or a motion laser. He inspected it cautiously with his hands. Carolina remained quiet as he gave her a thin smile. He returned his focus to the wall. She had a sobering thought that while she didn’t want to share her knowledge, it may be worse to feign total ignorance. If she wasn’t useful, he had no reason to keep her around. Maybe she’d be better off showing something, just enough to remain invaluable. He was that kind of dangerous.
He seemed to have found something else in the wall, too small for her to spot, but he carefully traced it. She found some relief, not knowing what he had found, she’d known there was a trap here, but nothing more. The relief came from not being omnipotent, as if that were something to fear. It seemed she knew as much as that parasite knew and not any more than that.
He picked at it with his fingernails and pulled back gently, carefully so as not to disturb any circuitry behind it. Time had made the adhesive brittle, and a wide strip gave way. A very simple setup of wires hid inside, and he pulled them out altogether, ripping them apart. With the dangling end in one hand, they collectively sensed a hum of energy dissipating. To be certain, Dmitry grabbed a chair and tossed it into the perimeter of white ash, and it careened until bouncing helplessly off the wall. There was no dazzling display of electrical energy; the trap was disabled.
He turned to her. “It’s safe, try the doors.”
Her revelation lent a voice, be useful, be valuable. She ignored it. “You try them.”
Dmitry smiled. He put his hand straight out, towards the ring of white ash, further and further until he was well inside the trap’s perimeter.
It was down, he’d disabled it.
Carolina stood in front of the barricade with her shoulders slouched. She grabbed a tiny little piece of junk and hocked it behind her. See, she was useful. They both tossed articles behind them until they could get to the doors. Dmitry grabbed the handle and pulled, only to find it refusing to budge. His frustration grew; she saw it rising dangerously. Be useful, be valuable…
“There’s a button,” she said.
Dmitry looked at her, then over at where she was referring. Tucked behind a leaning cabinet was a button, recessed in the wall. She knew it was there all along, but to him it looked like she just had keen observations. Either way, he tipped the heavy cabinet out of his way and pressed the button.
With a mechanical ‘shwoop’, the double doors disappeared into the walls. Air gushed at them as the room exhaled. She hung her head, not wanting to see.
The room was smaller than he’d expected, as if this were a CCTV room or some security hub for observation. He spotted a giant window, and behind it, another room was also visible. Dmitry entered and gazed up at the arched ceiling, twice the height of a man. Once inside, he spotted a spiral staircase on his left, seemingly leading up and down. Dmitry inspected the entire room, but his gaze kept returning to the large window on the far wall. He recognized what he saw through that window; it was the receiving area from when they first entered the facility. It seemed visitors to this facility were observed in secret, from this very room.
He stepped around boxes that spilled from the table to the floor, having scattered themselves decades ago. They had the look of being sorted vigorously. On the opposite end of the table was a control panel, different from the previous ones, like a computer or a server. Holograms illuminated near it, cycling through a basic message, nothing to do with their presence. Dmitry stepped around the table to get another look and was startled when something touched him. He jumped back, tripping over his own feet. Whatever touched him fell too, clattering like dry kindling. He sprang up in embarrassment and found the remains of an alien skeleton. It had been in the chair that he bumped. There were large femurs, talons, several small ribs, and a skull dotted with horns. Hard to determine height, except by the size of the femurs, and it would be tall by that indication.
Carolina walked into the room. “He died alone.”
Dmitry regained his composure. He should have noticed the skeleton right away, despite the poor light. His eyes were adjusted now, and with a quick search, he didn’t see any other alien remains. “Obviously, he died alone,” he said. “I’m wondering about those stairs over there,” he added. “Maybe they lead somewhere.” He was interested in any way out of here that didn’t involve a shimmy down the elevator shaft. He stared at Carolina, waiting. He wanted her to volunteer to scout those stairs.
Sure, why not? She had to be useful, for her own sake. So she walked over to the spiral staircase, which went up to the right or down to the left. She climbed up and to the right, seeing where it led. It was a relief that nothing was familiar to her yet. Whatever this place had been, whatever its intended purpose, it was bad news for many unsuspecting specimens. She climbed up out of view, disappearing into a dark attic space.
“Stay where I can see you,” he ordered, shining his light towards her. It was his idea that she scouted out the stairs, but now he didn’t want her out of his sight. Dmitry followed up after her. When he arrived, he saw what she saw: an empty attic space. There was nothing here, no alternative route, just an attic.
“Want me to try down?” she asked.
His frustration threatened to boil over. “Quickly, and don’t go far.”
She pushed by him and went down the steps quickly, much faster than an adult felt comfortable doing. No handrails, but she didn’t need them. Her feet were steady and swift, and the air was noticeably different heading down. Dmitry followed after her, though much slower than she was.
He arrived and turned on his personal light to get a better view. The walls were cave-like, having simply been carved out of the earth, much different than most of the facility. It was dirty and warm, and there were strange beehive holes in the walls. The holes were big enough that you could climb in them. And then something came out of one, so Carolina screamed.
CHAPTER 30
Athen collected herself as the elevator descended. When the elevator went down instead of up, she could have thrown a fit. But Dublin was there, and his presence always forced her to be her best. She couldn’t handle going down again and hated these elevators for their random button assignments, but as always, she wasn’t going to fail in front of him. So when it went down, she somehow didn’t throw a fit.
The elevator doors opened to a blinking scene of indicator lights. She readied herself to try another button, but if they went down again, she really didn’t know if she could handle it. She turned to ask Dublin what he thought, but the look on his face stopped her cold. He slowly brought a finger to his lips in the universal shhh.
Her adrenaline spiked as she turned her head, knowing only that something was wrong. Then a shadow moved, the creature’s silhouette against the equipment and glowing indicator lights. Dublin looked at her and nodded, then he slowly reached over and pressed a different button. Any other floor would do. The elevator doors scraped shut, giving that audible grinding that made her wince. The last thing she saw before the doors sealed was the shadow raise its head, and then her elevator ascended.
Their relief at going up disintegrated as something crashed under them, so hard the elevator pitched. Athen fell into the wall. Next, a corner of the floor disappeared into loose, falling pieces, with tentacles climbing up them.
“Damn thing is holding on!” Dublin cursed. He steadied himself over the hole in the floor and swung at the tentacles with his hammer. The elevator stuttered as a cable threatened to break. “It’s gonna’ bloody drop us!”
“Dublin!”
The elevator continued to rise, although much more slowly. He spun to see another part of the floor gone, with a thick tentacle snared around Athen’s middle. He dropped the hammer and retrieved one of his machetes, cutting into the base of it. Thick orange splattered as Dublin hacked repeatedly, forcing the limb to sever. Athen braced herself against the wall, trying to keep from being pulled in as another tentacle came to take its place. Dublin pinned that tentacle with one hand and hacked at it with the other.
The elevator stopped, and the doors scraped open as Athen tumbled out, with Dublin behind her. The wounded limb chased after her and found her boot, latching on and threatening to pull her back in.
“Help!”
Dublin impaled the sharp end of his machete into the creature’s flesh. Athen’s boot ripped free as the tentacle retreated away. Athen was on her feet as Dublin cupped an arm around her, ready to hoist her over his shoulder. Before he had time, they heard a snap! as the elevator cable gave way to the creature’s weight. They heard it plummet, dragging the monster with it until it crashed several floors below. The slam echoed throughout the building. As they waited, the air became very quiet, except for their own breathing.
“Never thought I’d be happy to crash another elevator,” she panted.
“Any chance that you got it?”
“I hope so. Hell, I’m not going to hold my breath though.”
Dublin looked down at his makeshift machete. “Lookin’, my hammer was in that elevator.”
“Did you even hurt that thing?”
“Got a lil’ orange blood on me, not much,” he admitted, inspecting his blade. His machete was decorated with oily bits of flesh, bright and slimy. For as much chopping as he’d produced, he should have hurt it much more. In fact, his forearm was aching from the way he hacked at it. He could have cut a tree down with all that effort, but he’d barely cut through a tentacle as thick as his wrist. “Aye, I stung it, at least a little.” He looked over at Athen, who was examining her missing boot.
“Guess it’s better to go barefoot,” she said, removing the other one. She was not about to struggle her way out of here with one boot on. Luckily, she still wore her sock liners, although one of them was caked in dried blood. “Ugh,” she moaned before ripping her socks off, too. The bad leg was more challenging, but she was barefoot in no time. Now she was looking at her unladylike blisters. Never a break!
“You’ve got my respect, lamb, you’re tougher than any man I know.”
Athen’s mouth was stuck. Did Dublin just give her a compliment? That didn’t happen, and they both felt the weirdness. He cleared his throat and stepped forward, surveying this floor. That was possibly the nicest thing he ever said to her; he never gave compliments. Must have been the bevy of near-death experiences at work.
“Gimme a moment to scout,” he said and walked down the hallway, hoping to find something promising. He came back a moment later with a very blank face.
She closed her eyes before she spoke; she wanted to remember their victory before things got worse. “So, what’s the good news?” she asked.
“Tis’ a dead end, this is an oversized utility closet, best as I can summarize,” Dublin said.
“Can we cut through a wall?”
“Aye, just go fetch me’ kit from the quads, I’ll get us through in an hour or so.”
“Okay, I’ll grab us a beer on the way,” she joked. But it was short-lived; she understood what he meant. They were stuck. She hadn’t seen this floor yet, and it was more or less a utility room by the looks of it. The defunct elevator was the only way in or out. Dublin went over and peered down the elevator shaft, resting his arm against the open door.
Athen forced herself to follow until she looked down the gaping shaft as well. She could make out the outlines of the former elevator cabin, but its condition and any remaining pieces were shrouded in darkness. Looking up, the nearest cable was further than she could reach, and besides, there was no rope-climbing with that leg of hers. She forced the despair down, yet again. She would get out of here.
She gave a look at Dublin, a look that he returned. No comfort or false hope; they were headed down, and neither of them wanted it. If the light could just penetrate to the bottom, it would at least give her some relief.
He seemed to be thinking her thoughts too. “If it’s still breathing, then we’d better get going before it wakes up. It’s a dead-end here, and tickling it with this poker won’t help much.” He sounded beaten talking about his machete, all things considered. Athen wondered how disappointed he was at the performance of his makeshift weapons. They were both craftsmen, so she understood how hard it was not to consider it a personal failure. “Leavin’ us to figure out your first-class elevator, lamb.”
Athen loosened the tourniquet from around her leg, the belt that had kept her from bleeding out until the coags did their job. She readjusted her pants and formed a loop with her belt, ready to figure out some rappelling. It was a bit shorter than she needed, which he noticed. They were masters at communicating in silence after years of working together, and Dublin removed his belt too, handing it to her. She had a way to rappel now, but what she wouldn’t give for a karabiner. Those near-death experiences were also bringing out some new nicknames; he didn’t usually call her “lamb.”
She glanced back down the elevator shaft, this time just to feel the slightly cooler air that flowed up. She’d need some water soon, but it was best not to think on that. She used one of her remaining tools, an impact screwdriver, as a handle and tied the end of her belt to it. Dublin watched her work. When she was finished, he climbed in, using the doors for support as he slipped his feet over. He said nothing about Athen’s repel design, for which she was grateful.
“This is gonna work, just so you know, old two-tooth,” she said.
“Aye, I haven’t a doubt.”
Was he just going to ignore her brilliant return-nickname?
Apparently so. He climbed down with ease despite the minimal surfaces available. He moved like a man without fear. “And two-tooth is mostly used in England, lamb.”
“I knew that, tup,” she argued, trying a new one.
“That one’s Scotland. I’m from Ireland.”
“Same difference,” she said with a wide smile. He ignored that one with a cautious laugh, as those were fighting words.
Athen was stalling; she wasn’t feeling confident about this climb, which, like anything else, she wasn’t about to let Dublin see. Leaning over the edge, she slipped her rappel cable around the back side of a tiny pipe running up the elevator shaft. She wound the other end through her cargo pants’ belt loop and tied it, holding the screwdriver handle as a brake. If she slipped she would have this to hold her, assuming the pipe was strong enough. Given the age of this place, she had her doubts. It would be best if she didn’t test it. Next came the part where she was supposed to shimmy over the side, but that part was taking a bit of time. This wasn’t going to be pretty.
“I need more line, this won’t work,” she said with one leg hanging over the ledge.
“Aye, but you’ll have to make do.”
She knew he would say that. Screw it, she wasn’t going to sit here anymore. She threw a few curses at her leg and spun herself over the ledge, hanging on with fatigued hands.
“An’ I hope you don’t plan on making me catch you. I can’t after the Scotland thing.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she grunted, holding the screwdriver and trying to land her bare toes onto any ledge. A connecting piece securing the pipe to the wall gave her something to stand on, but it also cut into the ridge of her foot. She steadied herself before loosening the strap and retying it near her hips. With that back in place, she readied to repeat the process all the way to the lower level. “Dublin?”
“Aye?”
She bit down on any insecurities that were about to follow. “Never mind.” She pushed the fear aside, reading herself to do this. She held the pipe and lowered her legs again. They traveled this way for about a meter until her hands were barely holding on. She was putting a lot of weight and trust in the rappel line. At the next pipe support she was struggling to get her toes into a proper foothold.
“Easy now, steady yourself,” he said.
“I am steady!” she snapped back. He smirked and didn’t reply, which was just as well. Then she swore he muttered something akin to ‘that’s better, lamb’. Criticism filled her with strength as her toes found the connecting joint, and this time she barely noticed the way it cut into her skin. She huffed and lowered herself another meter, hand-over-hand until needing to re-fasten her line again. She looked up and saw herself somewhere between the floor she was on and the floor they were headed to. She was in it now, no turning back, and that felt a little suffocating. It was all mental, but still. The only way out was through.
