“I doubt they have any amplifiers set in this direction,” Darby said.
“They could,” I countered. Although, since the Bureau of Truth had gone unchallenged for thirty years, there was a good chance they’d gotten complacent over the years.
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to find the tunnel impassable.” Darby gestured in the direction we were set to go in a few moments. “These air pockets, like the one we’re in now, are a rarity in this city.” They were indeed. It’d taken us years to find them. “The damage done underground by the meteor and the ensuing sea-level rise was cataclysmic.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said. “I’m familiar with the topography of the city. I’m sure we’ll encounter some issues, but with that barrel laser, we have a good chance of getting through even if it’s blocked.”
“The laser blasts are going to make a lot of noise with all the falling rocks and debris,” Darby said.
I turned to study my friend. “Are you always such a pessimist? Or is this the first time I’m actually noticing it?”
Darby kicked a rock, and it skittered a few meters before hitting a large chunk of concrete, bouncing off. “I’m not a pessimist. I’m just not normally involved in combat.” Darby had my HydroSol gun. It looked odd tucked into his waistband.
“I know you’re nervous,” I said, my tone changing. “But we need everyone for this. We only get one chance.” I held up a single finger. “And if all goes according to our stellar plan, you’re just here for backup.”
He nodded. “I know.” He shuffled his feet again.
“You did a great job at the Emporium when you came to my rescue when Hutch injected me with Plush,” I told him, trying to cheer him up.
“I didn’t have to fire my weapon,” he said. “You guys had it all figured out by the time I arrived.”
“Well, there’s always the medi-pod. If it hasn’t been destroyed, it will be awesome to see it in all its glory.”
“It’s probably not there,” he said.
“Okay”—I spread my arms out—“I’m trying here. If I am, you have to, too. It’s only fair. If you remember correctly, I voted for you to stay at the barracks with Daze.” The only thing in the entire plan that I hadn’t agreed with was leaving Daze alone to guard Reed. We’d given Reed another dose of Babble, and after the interrogation, we’d tranqed him, leaving Daze with enough doses to keep the guy knocked out for a while. But I still didn’t like it.
Daze had argued that he was strong enough to do the job, and everyone else had agreed with him. It wasn’t that I didn’t think he was strong enough—but the kid had a heart, and from what we’d seen in the short time we’d known the guy, Reed was manipulative.
I’d reluctantly given in to the majority, but only after Daze promised to keep Reed out cold the entire time. The kid had sworn he would, and there was nothing else to do but hope everything went according to plan.
“I’ll stop being a downer,” Darby started, “but only if you promise me we’re getting out of this alive.”
“Nobody’s dying.” I kicked a rock of my own. “Well, except the bad guys.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out my timepiece. It read six thirty a.m. I shook my head. “We have to get started soon,” I said. “We can’t miss the nine a.m. deadline.” The story we’d come up with for Claire to tell the loyalists was that we’d be entering the city in The North this morning, rather than at blackout like they’d be expecting. If the Bureau of Truth was smart, they’d have already sent people to that location to wait. But even if they hadn’t, the bureau’s headquarters should be pared down to just a few by nine.
At that moment, Lockland, Bender, and Case exited the train. Lockland nodded. “Let’s go.”
We began our trek through the tunnel, stopping short at a pile of impassable rock twenty meters in. Lockland got his barrel laser out, and we began the task of burning our way through.
After a few hours of work, I pulled my timepiece out again. “We’re going to have to work faster, or we’re going to risk more people being at home, which makes everything more complicated.”
“We’re going as fast as we can.” Bender wiped his brow with a forearm. “Some of these chunks weigh a hundred kilos apiece. It takes time to move them.” Bender and Case had been doing the heavy lifting, while Lockland operated the barrel laser. Then Darby and I came in and cleaned out the small stuff.
It was grueling, slow work all around. I shot Darby a look. “Don’t even say it.”
“I’m not saying anything,” Darby responded blandly. “Except that, by my calculations, we have more than forty meters to go before we reach the edge of the building. Although the barrel-laser fallout is not as loud as expected, we risk a lot by using it the closer we get.”
“We can decide that when we get there,” I said. “As of right now, we don’t know if the tunnel is going to be blocked the entire way. Maisie hasn’t been able to give us an accurate reading, but I refuse to join the pessimist camp.” The status reader was having trouble gauging how extensive the debris pile was. Her sensors were picking up rock and concrete everywhere, along with steel and rebar, which made it hard for her to pinpoint what we specifically wanted to know.
Case had his shoulder propped against the tunnel, taking a break. We all stood in a small space no more than three meters wide and just tall enough for Bender not to scrape his head on the rough, rocky ceiling. “We should expect company,” Case said. “If I were running the Bureau of Truth, I would send most people to the rendezvous, but keep a few back to monitor the situation.”
I took a seat on a large chunk of concrete that had just been relocated. “I would, too,” I said. “Maisie can give us an accurate reading when we arrive. Claire’s story was purposely vague to require manpower on their part or risk losing us upon entry into the city. She told them she wasn’t sure which of two entrances we’d come through, and they’re four kilometers apart.”
Case nodded. “Darby’s right about the noise. If there are a few people left in that building, they could pick up on the vibrations.” As the rocks came down, they shook the ground.
“We don’t have another choice,” I replied. “Plus, we don’t know how far this current blockage reaches. We could be free of it in less than ten meters.” I stood, clapping my hands on my pants, concrete dust puffing everywhere. There was one good thing about being in the tunnel—no rain. “Come on, let’s keep going.”
Lockland was one step ahead of me, aiming the barrel laser and firing as he swung it back and forth. Another rush of debris clattered to the ground, rock and concrete that had been cut from the blockage with the high-powered, super-hot laser.
Once Lockland stepped back, the four of us went in and picked up the remnants, moving as much as we could as quickly as possible. “Zap this one again,” Bender ordered, gesturing at a large, intact piece of concrete. “It’s too big to haul out.”
Lockland obliged, and Case and Bender went in to pick up the smaller pieces.
“Hey, look through there.” I pointed toward the hole that had been created once Bender and Case had moved the debris. “It’s black, not gray.” I withdrew Maisie from my vest.
Darby came to stand next to me. “I think you’re right. That might be clear tunnel behind there.”
“Maisie, do you detect any solid rock blocking our way more than three meters in front of us?” I asked.
Her lights darted around. “I detect concrete, iron, steel, clay—”
“Yes, I know,” I said. “But is there a large pocket of air in front of us?”
“I detect a large amount of oxygen and hydrogen directly in front of you,” she answered.
“I’m taking that as a yes.” I thumped the back of my hand against Darby’s upper arm, pointing. “See? I was right. You are wrong. Pessimists never win.”
“Ow.” He rubbed his shoulder. “This has nothing to do with being an optimist or a pessimist and everything to do with how this city was damaged nearly sixty years ago. There are boun
d to be pockets, but as I said before, they are few and far between.”
Case began to heave some large pieces away from the front of the hole. I bent down to help him. We dragged a large rock backward a few meters. With a little help from Lockland, we cleared the space enough for us to get through. Bender tossed an ultra-light into the void.
The tunnel lit up in front of us.
I dropped to my knees and crawled through. On the other side, I stood, brushing myself off as I waited for the others. They came through one by one. “I don’t see any major damage ahead.” I gestured at some large bouldery-looking objects. “Other than a few hunks of ceiling that have come down, but we can maneuver around those, no problem.” These tunnels had been built with two-meter-thick steel bracing, so it was unsurprising that some of it had stayed standing after the onslaught. “There’s a curve up ahead. We won’t know if it’ll stay clear until we get farther.”
We began to jog.
Less than twenty meters in, we came to another standstill. But this time it wasn’t a natural cave-in. It was manmade. I placed my palm against the rock structure—a wall that had been assembled to keep people out. It didn’t feel that strong. I gave it a tentative push. There was a little movement, but not much.
“Be careful,” Darby said. “If you knock something loose, it could cause a landslide situation.”
I took a step back, placing my hands on my hips. Without fishing Maisie out of my pocket, I asked, “Maisie, can you tell me the thickness of the wall one meter in front of me?”
She responded, albeit muffled, “Solid material detected. Approximately one-point-two meters thick.”
“We have no idea who erected this, the Bureau of Truth or someone else,” I said. “But if it had been me, I would’ve wired it somehow.”
Lockland stood next to me, the barrel laser strapped to his back. He put his hands out, doing the same thing I’d just done, testing it as he walked the width of the tunnel. “We have to assume it was put here by the Bureau of Truth to keep any inquiring minds from coming from this way. We also have to assume there are alarms or hydro-bombs on the other side set to activate if this wall fails.”
“If we can’t topple this,” I said, “we have to go back now and try to find a new route.” Which would be difficult, because we’d have to enter through the front of the building, which would draw attention.
“I didn’t say we can’t get through,” Lockland said. “We just have to make sure it doesn’t come down, which will take some finesse on our part.”
Darby moved to one end, tapping on some of the stones. “If we have something to brace a small section, it might work.”
“There were some pieces of steel in the tunnel,” Case said, turning to go back the way we’d just come. “I’ll grab them.”
The rest of us began to inspect the structure, looking for the best way to get through that wouldn’t bring the whole damn thing down.
“What about right here?” Bender gestured to a portion of the wall that consisted of smaller rocks surrounded by bigger ones. “The key will be supporting it as we take rocks out, which will be hard, but not impossible. But this area is big enough for us to get through.”
“Looks as good as any,” Lockland said.
Behind us, Case came through the hole, dragging two long steel girders behind him.
Darby inspected them. “Those will work, but they need to be shorter.”
Case nodded toward me. “You can cut through them with your Gem, if your hand is steady enough.”
Bender snorted as I countered, “Is that a challenge?” I withdrew my laser.
“Not a chance,” Case answered, a grin quirking up one side of his mouth.
“Before you cut them,” Darby said, “let’s make sure we get them roughly the right size. The first few need to be angled, but they don’t have to be very thick. The wall isn’t that wide.”
“Point to where you want it, and I’ll make the cuts,” I said.
Darby did some rough sizing with his hands stretched over the area of wall. Then he bent over the girders. “Right here.” He made a slashing movement with his wrist. “And right here. Make sure they’re at an angle, like I indicated.”
“Got it.” I knew the timing of my Gem perfectly, so it wouldn’t be an issue, but just to be sure, I ordered, “Everybody, back up.”
“Please don’t tell me Case is right,” Bender grunted, “and your aim is terrible. This isn’t the way I want to go out.”
“Nobody’s dying,” I said. “Just get back in case I hit something reflective.” The steel was old and rusty, so it shouldn’t be a problem. But you never knew.
“Hilarious,” Darby said. “Now make the cuts.”
“Always the taskmaster.” I made the first slice, timing my tug on the trigger just right, giving it a three-second burst and flicking my wrist. Then I did the next one.
Darby rushed forward, careful not to touch the end I’d just seared. Once it was cool enough, he turned the girder on its side. “Now cut the entire thing down the length of the middle.”
“Prop it up against the tunnel wall.” I gestured to the area that would work. Darby arranged it, and I started to make the cut, which would take at least five seconds running cleanly down the middle, but after three, my Gem sputtered out. “Damn.” I glanced down at my weapon, hoping it was just out of fuel and not dead, as I dug around in my pocket for more nano-carbon cubes.
“What the hell?” Bender said. “It’s a good thing you found out you were out of power now, rather than once we get inside.” His tone indicated my negligence could’ve cost someone their life, and he was right. That would’ve been in the unforgivable-mistake category.
“It’s not like you to run out of fuel,” Lockland said.
I shot a furtive glance in Case’s direction, then put my head down, placing the cartridges inside. “I usually do it every other morning, but the other day I was a little distracted.”
“Distracted how?” Darby asked.
“None of your business,” I muttered, lifting my now fully powered gun and aiming it at the girder. My actions drowned out any further inquiry. The metal promptly fell in two pieces. Then I hit the next one. When it was done, I asked, “Are we finished?”
“Yes,” Darby said, dragging one of them in front of the wall. Bender and Lockland picked up the other three and brought them over. “We’re going to start right here.” Darby gestured to a large rock a meter and a half off the ground. “Case, take that stone out, and then we’ll brace the opening.”
We followed Darby’s orders until the gap in front of us was big enough to squeeze through. The only problem was, the girders were in the way. The wall had undulated a bit as we worked, but not as much as I’d thought it would. We all took a step back to inspect the hole.
“We’re going to have to take some of the steel out in order to get through,” Lockland said.
I reached for my timepiece, a throwback from a hundred years ago. It was a good thing we’d been able to repurpose some old technology. Not being able to coordinate time would be a serious hardship. According to the clock, we’d been at all this for a half hour. “Once we’re on the other side, we have less than an hour to get to the building.”
“Okay, let’s take out the lower brace,” Darby said. “It should still hold. But we’re going to have to go through fast.”
I nodded. “Get your chromes on. You’re going to be the one scanning for bombs and other traps as we move.” Bender had already thrown his ultra-light through the new hole. Nothing seemed amiss from this side, but traps were called traps for a reason. “I’ll go first.”
Lockland edged me out of the way. “No, I’m going first. I have to see if this barrel laser fits through the opening. If not, we have to remove more rocks.” Lockland got on his knees, managing to sneak through the opening, but just barely.
I followed, then Bender, Darby, and Case.
Nothing had exploded, so things were looking good.
�
��I don’t see anything out of the ordinary,” Darby said as he stood, clicking through the dials on his chromoscopes. “There’s not even any bio-residue, which means no one’s been in this area for a while.”
“I didn’t even know you could pick up bio-residue with those glasses,” I said. “I just look for the obvious stuff.”
“You have to know where to look on the gamma setting,” Darby said. “Fresh skin gives off small amounts of light. So does sweat.”
“Good to know. Though, sweat wouldn’t be a big indicator unless somebody decided to swipe their armpit along the wall.”
Bender chuckled. “My head sweats. So do my hands.”
“My back sweats,” Darby complained. “So, for example, if I leaned against this wall, it would leave an imprint.” He made a move to demonstrate, but I grabbed him by the arm and tugged him along.
“Okay, okay.” I laughed. “I get it. But even so, sweat evaporates quickly.”
“Yeah,” Darby said. “But the leftover molecules can be seen for up to twenty-four hours. But they’re super faint.”
“Let’s have Maisie do a cursory check.” I pulled the status reader out of my vest. “Maisie, scan for hydrogen bombs, weapons, and human activity. Exclude us from your scan.”
A moment later, she replied, “No hydrogen weapons in the vicinity. I detect more than one hundred humans within a five-kilometer radius. All of them are a minimum of five meters above you.”
“Thank you, Maisie. Keep on high alert. We will be approaching our destination shortly.”
“I will keep my scanners engaged,” she agreed.
We followed Lockland. In less than ten meters, his hand went up. His head shifted to the right, then the left, as he scanned the area. We were at another curve in the tunnel. It was impossible to know if the tunnel was blocked farther to the left or not, because it was beyond our field of view.
Lockland began to move toward something.
Danger's Cure: (Holly Danger Book 4) Page 17