by Paul Dayton
Timothy tried putting his finger on the scanner, but nothing happened.
“Why doesn’t HAL respond?” Elkana asked.
“I don’t know,” Ruth replied. Timothy tried pushing the door open, but it had seized shut.
“We have to find another way in, and we have to get away from those guards!”
They hurried down the hallway and tried all the doors, but the only ones operable were the male and female washrooms and the utility closet at the far end. Neither of those led anywhere else.
“Timothy, these aren’t big enough to hide in. We have to find something else,” Ruth said with a worried tone to her voice. They ran back past the Guard-Bot towards the stairs, and just as they reached the door they heard static coming from the bot. Timothy stopped and walked back to it. “HAL, is that you?” For a few moments, nothing came out, and then static burst again. Eventually HAL’s voice could be heard, buzzy but understandable.
“Timothy. What’s wrong?” HAL said.
“The door is locked and not operating! The guards are coming too,” Timothy replied.
“Let me check my database. One moment.”
Nothing happened for a few seconds, and then HAL’s voice came back. “This Guard-Bot’s batteries are too damaged to hold much of a charge, so using it is out of the question. Schematics show a possible access route through the floor drain in the main computer room. Elkana can fit, but not you. Listen carefully, Elkana. All of you go to the staircase and lift up the drain grill at the very bottom. Elkana and Ruth, you two crawl inside. Work your way twenty meters in the only direction you can go, into the maintenance room. Look up. You should see the grates of the computer floor drain above your heads. Elkana can climb through it after removing the grates, work his way to the computer room above and manually pump the hydraulic system that operates the door. Every sliding door has this on the inside of the room, just behind a removable cover. It’s a safety feature so that no one gets caught in a room with no way out.”
They ran back and quietly opened the door. They could clearly tell that the guards were closer.
Timothy bent down to look at the stainless steel drain. The grill was a strong but simple affair with quick release bolts on four corners, but the bolts had seized in place with age. He looked around and couldn’t find anything useful to pry the grill off with, but Elkana came back with a pry bar from the fire station on the wall just inside the door. Timothy quickly pried off the grill and motioned for Elkana to jump down. Ruth followed so she could help Elkana.
“Wedge the pry bar under the grill any way you can so no one else can open it,” Timothy whispered. “I’m going to wait outside the computer room door.”
The stench of old urine almost made it unbearable, but Ruth held her breath as she made her way in behind Elkana. She was impressed at how well he was doing and how he didn’t complain about the smell.
The steps were getting louder, and Timothy felt that they only had a few minutes left. Any noise that Ruth made seemed magnified in Timothy’s ears, and he was sure that they had now heard them, and yet they were still checking each hallway as they came down. Just before he quietly walked back he was surprised to hear the sound of his own voice coming faintly from somewhere near the top landing. “Ruth, let’s go!” It said, and then he heard a door slam.
‘Good old HAL,’ Timothy thought. The soldiers took the bait as Stormdancer yelled at one of them, followed by a commotion. He heard them run back up the stairs, with the unmistakable sound of someone wheezing and following along at a slower pace.
Timothy tried to find a way to lock the entrance to the hallway from the inside. Looking around he could see nothing he could use except for some half-rotted fire hose, and he tied that around the handles. Now all he could do was wait and hope that they could somehow reach the computer room and open the door from the inside.
***
After losing time searching for the light switch in a room that was obviously meant only for maintenance staff, Elkana and Ruth quietly walked where HAL had indicated and soon found the area directly beneath the main computer room. Ruth could clearly see Elkana’s proud shoulders and bearing as he took the lead HAL had given him.
A mass of conduits crawled along the ceiling of the room, at one time feeding power and transmitting information to and from the computer room above. Tools and maintenance equipment was scattered about, but it was obvious no one had been in the room in a very long time. Against the far wall was a door, and after opening it, they could see it led to a hallway that had collapsed from some earlier event.
The lack of maintenance had taken its toll with most of the conduits and the clamps holding them corroded in the dank air, and many of them were being held up only by the electrical wires inside them. Ruth shook her head, thinking that their efforts had been in vain. Elkana’s thoughts mirrored her own as he looked up at the same conduits and wires and frowned.
“We have to try Ruth,” was the only thing Elkana could think of saying as he looked back at her. She was surprised at his maturity in such a situation, but the feeling of hopelessness hung above their heads like a storm-cloud ready to burst.
They looked up into the darkness above, seeing a long catch basin on the ceiling that would catch and divert any water that leaked in.
They would have to remove the catch basin somehow and find a way to get Elkana up there. Ruth looked around and found a ladder stored neatly against the wall. She got it, put it up against a pipe that was anchored on the ceiling and started climbing. The aluminum ladder suddenly gave way as its age weakened structured collapsed under her weight. She unceremoniously fell on her feet and tumbled backward.
“Why don’t we try to move those metal cabinets?” Elkana said.
Ruth went up to it and tried to move it, but it only moved a few centimeters. With Elkana’s help however, the two of them were able to slide it over a few feet before stopping to get a better handhold on the cabinet.
Once in place, Ruth carefully climbed up the cabinet and was within easy reach of the ceiling. She inspected the bolts holding down the catch basin and asked Elkana to get another pry bar, and with a few good jabs the rusted bolts broke off and fell to the floor. The catch basin dropped, but the basin itself hung on one end off the drain pipe it was attached to. Ruth swung it out of the way to reveal the drain, just big enough to allow Elkana through like HAL had said. She pushed it up and away and then helped Elkana up and through it.
Ruth listened as Elkana groped in the dark to find the manual light switch, and they were happy to see the light come on when the switch was flipped.
“Elkana, can you see the cover plate on the door?” Ruth asked through the drain. The door and most of the room were out of eyesight from her perch on the cabinet.
“Yes, but it’s high up. I’ll need something to reach it.”
She heard Elkana dragging something towards the door. After a few moments, Elkana said, “Got the cover off. I’m working the hydraulic pump.”
Ruth was thankful that Elkana had gone through the teaching units. They would not have gotten this far without them.
“The whole assembly is rusted. But I think I can make it work…”
Ruth heard him rummaging around, and within moments a couple of sharp metallic bangs rang through the room. Within seconds he yelled, “The door’s moving!”
***
Timothy was growing worried. It was obvious that the ruse was up and he could hear the soldier’s voices getting closer as they searched all hallways on their way down. They were also making no attempt at staying quiet, no doubt knowing that any way out that had existed was long buried under the original attack. He heard them threatening and laughing as they came down, and he knew it was only a matter of a few minutes before they found him. He just hoped Elkana was able to do what HAL thought he could.
“HAL?” Timothy whispered, but the Guard-Bot stayed quiet.
A series of muffled bangs came through the door, and he worried that the soldi
ers above might hear them. If they did they gave no indication to it. After a few moments, the door creaked and slowly started moving. He let out a sigh of relief and fit his fingers in as he tried to help the door open. Elkana’s face peeked from behind the gap, his mouth split in a big grin.
“Great work Elkana! I knew it was a good idea to bring you along,” Timothy whispered. “Now hurry! The soldiers are near!”
Elkana furiously pumped as the door opened up a few more inches. At that point it stopped and Elkana suddenly felt the handle lose all resistance.
“Timothy, the hydraulics must be leaking. I can’t do anything more!”
Timothy was doubtful he could fit, but he had to try. He turned sideways and slipped his shoulder through, but the gap was so tight he couldn’t get in.
“Take your clothes off!” Elkana said, a little too loudly.
Timothy heard the soldiers go quiet in the stairwell, and one of them suddenly said, “I told you I heard noises! They’re somewhere near the bottom!” Suddenly the noise increased as the soldiers hurriedly ran down the stairway.
Timothy literally ripped his clothing off and after throwing it inside, he threw himself at the door. As Elkana tugged at his arm, Timothy let all the air out of his chest in a last ditch attempt to somehow get through but Elkana stopped pulling.
Grabbing a handful of oil that had oozed out of the burst seal around the hydraulic cylinder, he handed some of it to Timothy and the rest he rubbed on Timothy’s lower body within reach.
“I can’t reach everywhere…” he said panicking as he struggled to help Timothy.
“Move! It’s now or never!” Timothy said as he pulled himself through as hard as he could. He could hear the soldiers right behind him and felt his skin tear, but he knew it was either this or his life.
As soon as the oiled skin reached the door, he slipped through, lost his balance and fell on top of Elkana.
“This is the thanks I get!” Elkana said as he laughed in relief.
They both laughed but stopped short when they heard swearing behind the door. Timothy immediately got up and grabbing the crowbar that Elkana used to pry the hydraulic lever loose, and waited until one of the soldiers tried to get in. When a shoulder and arm popped through he swung as hard as he could, and the soldier hollered in pain and swore as he pulled out as fast as possible.
“We’ll kill you all,” he yelled as the other soldiers laughed at him. They pulled back to talk about how to proceed, while Timothy knelt down to Elkana and said in a whisper, “I’m going to try to get the computer started. If any body part pops through that door, hit it with this.” He handed him the crowbar. “Don’t let yourself get caught!”
Timothy turned to look at the computer system and quickly located all the important equipment that they had to turn on. He looked down at the floor drain and called to Ruth, “Ruth, can you look after the auxiliary generator? I’ll go to the battery banks and see if they still hold any charge and check the main buss to see if it has been closed off.”
Timothy was hopeful that a charge was still available, knowing that the generators and solar collectors that the soldiers upstairs were running were probably allowing some electricity to trickle down to this bank. The solid state batteries were another one of Jonathan Diaz’s inventions and extremely reliable, and as long as they were properly charged the first time they should last a very long time. But would they last seven hundred years? Timothy wasn’t sure. “Only one way to find out,” he thought to himself, and turned the main battery bank switch to on. A small hum came from a bank of capacitors, and then the display showing the percentage of charge available, time remaining at current usage and the amperage being used.
Ruth let out a little cheer after having heard the hum and no discernible electric shorts. Timothy could see that the available charge was low, but not too bad considering its age. Twenty-nine percent, which at current usage should last eleven hours. He knew that this would change as soon as he turned on more equipment.
The cat-calls started in the hallway as the soldiers grew restless.
“I’ll be out in a few minutes, and then we can talk!” Timothy said.
“Take your time, we have all day,” the unmistakable voice of Captain Stormdancer said sarcastically.
“Just let me cook up something for us all to eat. Do any of you know where I can get some cold beer?” he added, hoping to diffuse some tension. One soldier laughed but Stormdancer quickly shut the soldier up, upset that Timothy didn’t appear afraid.
A soldier tried putting his hand on the edge of the door to tug it open, and Elkana hit his fingers as hard as he could with the pry-bar. The soldier yelped as the others laughed. Elkana was happy to see blood on the door.
“Nice going Sam! You three make sure no one comes in!” Timothy called out encouragingly, trying to confuse the soldiers and make them think there were more of them in the room then there actually were. The soldiers out in the hallway went quiet at this bit of new information while the one with the broken fingers kept whimpering.
Now that the main battery banks were on, Ruth could turn on the generator display. The generator was actually a one-megawatt nuclear reactor that sat in an isolated area about a kilometer deeper from where they presently stood. Normally a base this size didn’t need a unit that big to power it up and operate the SETE, but with the experiments in positron generation, amplification and cohesion going on at the base, the Canadians at the time needed the extra power. There was no hope in starting up the nuclear generator in time, but the auxiliary generators that started the coolant pumps and supplied the emergency startup and seed power could be easily started up if they hadn’t deteriorated too far.
Ruth looked down the console until she found what she needed. Meanwhile, Timothy had found the computer room’s main power buss and waited until Ruth gave him the go ahead. He shut off each breaker that would be fed by the power buss, except for the ones powering the computer equipment.
Ruth was relieved that the monitors and operating boards still worked and surprised that they had lasted this long. She hurried as she primed the pumps that started up the generators.
“How long, Ruth?” Timothy asked anxiously through the floor drain.
“Any second…” The screens showed the pumps primed and the hydraulics at nominal, and then she hit the start button labeled Auxiliary Generator #1. Nothing happened.
“Damn! Hit it again!” Timothy said. She did and the generator still read zero RPM’s.
“Try number two,” Timothy said, but Ruth already had, with the same result.
“Do you think they’re seized from age?” Ruth asked.
Timothy knew Ruth was right. “Let the hydraulics pump the pressure to overload, then dump it all at once, one generator at a time!” he said. Ruth bypassed the safety and overloaded the pumps. The hydraulic pressure slowly built up until it reached as far as she dared and she hit the start button to number 1 again. This time, the RPM number changed almost imperceptibly but went back to zero. She tried again, building up pressure until the pumps were well past their safe operational level, and she hit the start again. This time the generator spun up, the RPM’s building steadily until it reached its maximum operating range.
“Timothy, its working! Number 1 is online! Starting number 2!” The soldiers were confused, not sure of where Ruth’s voice was coming from, but guessing that she wasn’t with Timothy inside the room. As Stormdancer sent them to inspect the hallway and stairwell to see if they had overlooked something, he said to Timothy, “Perhaps you can send out your wife with the beer! Preferably naked if you don’t mind.”
“Haven’t had any for a while, I see. Surely there must be someone who would take pity on you…”
Timothy could feel the heat coming from Stormdancer’s furious anger. “You keep watching that door Sam!” he added, and Elkana winked back at him. Timothy went back to the main power buss and tripped it.
He next started switching the breakers on in the computer room
as Ruth did the same in the generating room down below, and they could hear electrical arcing and shorts happening as a number of breakers popped shut again, but the main panel breaker stayed open.
‘Now for the real test,’ Timothy thought as he turned on the main switch for the base computer. He sat before the base’s systems display, a large transparent glass that covered a good portion of the room. Timothy could see Elkana behind this transparent glass next to the door.
At first, the glass remained transparent, but within moments a sequence of letters and numbers appeared on the upper left corner. Static burst onto the screen sporadically, but eventually it cleared enough for Timothy to realize that this wasn’t going to work. He tried following as the words flew across the monitor:
SYSTEM MALFUNCTION! FAULT COMPUTING UNIT 1, FAULT COMPUTING UNIT 2, FAULT COMPUTING UNIT 3, COMPUTING UNIT 4 ONLINE, COMPUTING UNIT 5 ONLINE, FAULT COMPUTING UNIT 6, COMPUTING UNIT 7 ONLINE,…
For some reason, every unit after 6 worked, making it a total of twenty-eight working units. The following words then appeared:
TESTING OPERATIONAL UNITS:
FAULT MEMORY DRIVE 3, TESTING 4, FAULT, TESTING 5, FAULT…
And the list continued to encompass over half of the memory drives.
Next the display showed:
REROUTING, SUB AREA 1 CHACHE 36, FAULT/ REROUTING, SUB AREA 2 CHACHE 21, FAULT…
And this continued on for a few more seconds, until it finally said: MAIN RAM ONLINE; PRIMARY SYSTEM CACHE’D, SUB AREA 4 CACHE 48, 57, SUB AREA 5…
Timothy didn’t know if the system could recover and he didn’t fully understand what was happening, not having done the programming phase of his instruction, but he was happy to see the words: RESTORING BACKUP INFORMATION, PLEASE WAIT, appear on the screen.
Within moments, the words flowing across the display swept by so fast that Timothy couldn’t follow them, and all he could do was catch glimpses of the words:
‘TESTING STATIONS…DIAGNOSTICS…REPAIR…RECOVERING…, etc., and finally the words that Timothy had hoped to see, “STARTING OPERATIONAL SYSTEM,” and then the screen went blank.