by Marty Chan
“Two weeks, Charlie.”
Jinn eyed Ehrich for a second, then sighed. He turned to his companion. “Mind the store. I’ll be back.”
He led the pair through the line-up of labourers shuffling toward a giant pit near the shoreline. Dimensionals lowered themselves down a series of ladders into a quarry. Ehrich glanced at the workers around him and imagined how easy it was to be mistaken for one of them. Granted some had different coloured skin, a few had multiple arms and one had two heads, but besides the few anomalies, many of the Dimensionals appeared as human as any New Yorker.
As they descended, Ehrich noticed a purple-skinned labourer in denim overalls with a white mohawk climbing down a ladder ahead of them. On second glance, however, Ehrich realized the mohawk was actually bone shards jutting from the man’s skull. All the others seemed to be going out of their way to give him plenty of room.
“How much farther down do we have to go?” Charlie asked their tattooed escort.
Jinn smiled. “All the way down.”
When they finally reached the bottom, the workers pulled picks and shovels from open boxes at the bottom of the ladders and entered a wide tunnel. In the dim glow from lanterns, Ehrich could barely see the bone-shard mohawk of the giant labourer as he and many others walked into an airlock. A giant vault door closed, leaving Ehrich, Charlie and the other workers to wait their turn. A loud hiss filled the air followed by a tremor in the ground. The workers shuffled closer to the vault door.
Charlie nudged Ehrich and whispered, “The kid has dark hair. I think he was wearing a brown jacket and black trousers.”
Ehrich scanned the crowd of massive labourers. Even Charlie seemed like a child among these titans. “So, basically, anyone who doesn’t look like them.”
Charlie nodded. A few workers glared at the pair, recognizing the hunter dusters. Ehrich returned their stares. “Never show a sign of weakness,” was something his mother had taught him. The moment you show fear is the moment the other person has you. He wasn’t about to let the workers know he was afraid.
After a few minutes, the vault door hissed opened and the workers trudged into the airlock. Ehrich and Charlie joined the crowd inside the pressurized chamber. The smooth iron walls seemed to want to close in on Ehrich. He stared at the other vault door, willing it to open. Ehrich wondered how much air this giant milk churn could hold. His thoughts wandered to Robert Houdin: If the magician had attempted escapes, how would he have escaped from here? The lock pick in the heel of Ehrich’s right shoe wouldn’t be enough. He would need a wrench to undo the giant bolts holding the vault door. But Ehrich was no professional escape artist, so all he could do for now was wait for the door to open.
Finally, a worker spun the wheel on the vault door and a loud pop echoed in the chamber as the door swung open. On the other side, Ehrich witnessed misery personified. Hundreds of workers toiled in the giant tunnel, attacking the rock and carrying it away in wheelbarrows. The rank odour of sweat assaulted Ehrich’s nose. Arc lamps located throughout the tunnel cast some light but not enough to chase away the oppressive darkness.
The workers seemed to congregate with their own kind. Red skins with red skins; blue with blue; giant heads with other giant heads. Rarely did he see one group intermingling with another. Not a single labourer stood shorter than six feet.
Charlie and Ehrich made their way around the tunnel, pushing past the Dimensionals who were wheeling carts full of rock. A team of red-skinned titans brandished giant iron paddles and hacked at the bigger chunks of rock with lightning speed, pulverizing it into small pebbles. Another team of green-hued labourers scooped up the pebbles with hoses attached to giant packs on their backs. At the far end of the tunnel, other labourers wearing the same packs fired their hoses of pebbles at the wall, breaking off large pieces of the rock. It was a self-perpetuating process of using the rock broken down to break up more rocks. Ehrich and Charlie walked the length of the tunnel and back several times, scanning the faces of the sweaty Dimensionals. When they returned to the airlock vault door, the tattooed man glanced at them.
Jinn grunted at the pair. “Seen enough yet?”
“We’ll let you know when we’re done,” Charlie said.
“I don’t see any kids here,” Ehrich whispered. “Maybe your scout was lying when she said no one left.”
“I guess it’s possible.”
“Besides, why would a kid be down here in the first place?”
Charlie turned to the tattooed man. “Do you have kids working down here?”
Jinn flared his nostrils, indignant. “You can call us demons and monsters, but we’re not heartless like your kind. We don’t make our children work in these conditions—ever. Now, if you’re done here, I have to get back to my job.”
Charlie glanced at Ehrich and shrugged. They had lost their quarry. They motioned to Jinn and he opened the vault door. With the last of the shift workers in the tunnel, the airlock was now empty. They stepped inside as the tattooed man shut the vault door. Ehrich glanced around the smooth surface of the walls. Then he stiffened.
“Charlie, when we came down here, do you remember seeing the purple Dimensional? The one with the bone shards coming out of his skull?”
“Yeah, that demon’s going to star in my nightmares for the next ten years. Couldn’t miss him.”
“Did you see him in the tunnel?”
Charlie paused. Their tattooed escort shifted uncomfortably.
“No, I don’t remember.”
“Open the airlock,” Ehrich ordered. “We’re going to take another look.”
Instead of going to the airlock door, Jinn reached to his neck tattoo, and a real snake pulled free from his skin. This was no tattoo. He whipped the black cobra around by the tail at Ehrich. The fangs snapped the air just a hair’s width away from Ehrich’s eye. He threw himself back against the metal wall, while Charlie rushed the tattooed man. His partner slammed into Jinn’s midsection knocking him down, but the cobra’s tail coiled around Charlie’s raised fist.
Ehrich launched from his position and caught the head of the snake before it could bite Charlie. The cobra’s skin felt cold and slippery-smooth in his hands. As he struggled with the creature, Jinn grabbed Charlie by the throat. Ehrich forced the snake’s head toward Jinn’s face. His eyes widened as the fangs opened up at him.
“Where did the purple worker go?” Ehrich demanded.
“Not telling you anything,” he grunted.
The snake snapped the air in front of his nose.
“Ehrich, let him have it.”
“You heard my friend. One last chance to talk.”
Jinn roared and bucked the pair off. Ehrich rolled to the side, letting go of the snake. The tattooed man put his head down and charged as Ehrich leapt up and set his feet. Then, at the last minute, Ehrich ducked. Misdirection was his friend and momentum was Jinn’s enemy. He slammed head first into the wall and slumped to the floor, dazed. Ehrich sprinted over and kicked Jinn in the head to finish the job. The big man was out.
Ehrich then rushed to help Charlie who was trying to avoid the snake, now slithering along the floor. The snake lashed out at Charlie, who pulled his leg back just in time. Ehrich dove on the ground and grabbed the snake’s tail. He flung it hard against the wall beside the unconscious tattooed man. It did not move again.
“I guess it’s safe to assume that there’s something here that they don’t want us to see.”
Ehrich nodded. “I’m sure that boneheaded demon wasn’t in the tunnel, but what happened to him?”
“He walked into the airlock just before we had to go in. I remember that much.”
“Me too,” Ehrich said. He examined the walls. No other entrances, just the two they had used. The walls seemed solid.
“You remember that magic trick I told you about, Charlie? The disappearing rabbit?”
His friend nodded. “Yeah. So?”
“You want to know the secret?”
“Now? I think we have hi
gher priorities, Ehrich.”
“The secret was the box, Charlie. The magician showed the audience the box from the front, but not from the top where he put the rabbit in. The reason was pretty obvious once I saw inside. The box had two sections. One for the audience to see an empty space. The other for the rabbit to sit in. All the magician did was install a mirror so the box looked the right size.”
“Thanks for telling me the secret, but what does it have to do with this?”
“The airlock. We’re supposed to think there are only two ways in and out. What if there’s more to it than meets the eye?”
He tapped the metal wall on one side of the airlock.
“Ehrich, if they needed a secret entrance, they’d have to hide it not only from us but from the other workers.”
“Right. So, if you’re going to work in the tunnel, which way are you looking?”
“The place you need to go. The other door.” Charlie pointed at the vault door.
“And what place aren’t you looking?” Ehrich asked.
Charlie turned around.
Ehrich smiled. The pair walked to the other end of the airlock and examined the vault door. Ehrich noticed a faint seam on the ground. He tapped his foot around the seam. The tapping sounded more hollow here than the other spots on the floor. He knelt and felt along the seam until he found a lip. He slid a large tile of the floor away to reveal a short drop to a passageway below.
Charlie smiled. “Houdini does it again.”
“Ta-da.”
Ehrich slid into the hole and Charlie followed into the narrow passageway. Light came from the far end of it. The heat was oppressive as the pair moved along the tunnel. Their footsteps echoed and they slowed down to silence their steps. Ahead, Ehrich could hear metal pounding against metal. He wondered if the Dimensionals were building a tunnel to somewhere else. He cycled through his memory of New York and tried to recall any important locations in the West Village. Gansevoort Market came to mind, but a place for merchants to sell their wares didn’t strike him as a target.
Charlie tugged Ehrich’s duster. “Don’t suppose you have a volt pistol up your sleeve.”
“Let’s see what’s at the end of the tunnel and decide what to do.”
“I vote for getting reinforcements.”
Ehrich shushed his friend and crept to the end of the tunnel. The light came from a forge well below the opening and far back against a vast cavern. The rocky walls reflected the orange glow throughout the space. Ehrich peered at the area below their position.
A dozen labourers worked at the forge. Most of the light was emitting from the burning furnace. The labourers were massive, but not as gigantic as the machines they worked on. In front of the forge, an army of iron, human-shaped exoskeletons stood at attention. These impressive armoured bodies easily stood three times the height of a man. Each unit had a cockpit for an operator. A thick weapons turret with multiple barrels around the perimeter adorned the iron arms of each exoskeleton unit.
The Dimensional with the bone-shard mohawk sat inside the cockpit of one of the machines. The massive contraption lifted its arm and aimed a weapon turret at the rock wall. Razor projectiles flew out of the barrels as the turret whirred around. The barrage left a gaping hole in the rock wall.
Ehrich and Charlie peered over the ledge at the squadron formation of exoskeleton machines. Affixed to the back of each of the iron suits of armour was a steam turbine. These servos operated the hydraulic limbs through a series of high-tension cables that were like a network of exterior nerves along the iron hides. Searchlights sat atop the dome-shaped helmets. A red-skinned labourer mounted a keg-shaped iron turret to one of the exoskeleton’s tree trunk-like arms.
Charlie whispered to Ehrich, “There are at least five hundred of these things. What do you think they’re for?”
“Maybe they make digging easier? I don’t know. Maybe we should take a closer look.”
Charlie hissed, “It’s him.”
“Who?”
“The kid who shot at you.”
Ehrich crawled forward so he could get a better look. A dark-haired boy strode up to the workers and pointed at one of the exoskeletons. They rushed to do his bidding, skirting around him as if he were going to snap their heads off.
Ehrich’s eyes widened in disbelief. Though the boy was older and a little taller than he remembered, there was no denying the thick eyebrows and the hooknose.
“Dash!” Ehrich gasped.
Brother Found, Brother Lost
Ehrich couldn’t believe his eyes. The boy’s hair was shorter and straight, but the bushy eyebrows that set the Weisz family apart from others remained thick. While this teen looked like his brother, the way he carried himself seemed nothing like the old Dash. When they lived in Wisconsin, he was a tag-along, always seeking Ehrich’s approval before he took any action. He’d shuffle from foot to foot if he had to decide where to go. He’d play with his food on the plate, unable to decide what to eat first. This Dash was a leader. He commanded the attention and respect of the workers. Ehrich couldn’t bring himself to believe this boy was his brother, and yet he couldn’t deny the growing pit in his stomach as he felt shame for failing to search harder for Dash. He tried to tamp down the guilt now spreading across his chest and crushing the air out of his lungs.
“You know that kid?” Charlie asked.
“Yes. No. I’m not sure,” Ehrich said.
“How?”
“It can’t be him. It’s impossible. I saw him die.”
“You’re not making sense, Ehrich. Who is he?”
“My brother.”
“But he’s a demon.”
Ehrich stiffened, realizing he had said too much. “I mean, he looks like my brother. We should scout the area before we go.”
Ehrich started down the incline. Dash’s voice whispered in his mind. “Ehrich.”
He hesitated.
“No!” His brother’s voice said louder.
Ehrich silently counted to ten to drown out the voice.
“You okay?” Charlie asked.
“Yes. Go ahead.” He motioned his partner to take the lead, then he followed.
“Ehrich, don’t go!” Dash screamed in his mind. A chorus of voices joined Dash’s warning. Ehrich’s head reeled from the wall of sound. He staggered backwards.
Dash’s doppelganger turned and pointed up. “Intruders!”
Charlie grabbed his friend by the arm and shouted, “We’re done for. Out, out, out!”
He pulled Ehrich to the top of the incline and shoved him toward the tunnel. Ehrich had barely taken two steps before he skidded to a stop. The tattooed man careened toward them.
“I have the intruders!” he yelled.
Ehrich rushed at Jinn, but he was ready. He braced himself and caught the boy, pushing him back to the edge of the cliff. Ehrich’s feet skidded across the surface as he tried to hold himself against this too-powerful opponent. Then Charlie rushed in and delivered a right hook to Jinn’s jaw. The dazed man staggered away, but stayed on his feet.
“Take them! They can’t leave!” Dash cried out.
The guards and workers charged up the steep incline. Charlie hauled Ehrich to his feet, but Jinn grabbed Ehrich’s leg. Charlie swooped in and kicked the man in the chest, sending him rolling down the incline.
Ehrich and Charlie ran into the tunnel and reached the opening. Ehrich spotted a ladder against the wall and climbed up. Charlie followed. Once in the airlock, Ehrich leapt to the vault door and spun the wheel mechanism hard to the left until the large circular door hissed open. The teens bolted through the opening and pushed their backs against the giant airlock door, shoving it closed. Ehrich turned around and spun the lock wheel to the right until the door hissed shut. Charlie hurried to a large crate of picks and shovels at the end of the corridor. He grabbed three picks, then scrambled back to Ehrich, who gave the lock wheel one last hard crank.
“This will hold them off long enough for us to get out of here,”
Charlie said. He slid the handle of the pick into the spokes of the lock wheel. Then he gave one of the other picks to Ehrich.
The boys stepped back from the vault as the wheel began to turn by itself. The pick jammed against the mechanism and the lock wheel stayed in place. Whoever was on the other side would be stuck until the guard from the surface let them out. Ehrich planned on being long gone by the time that happened.
j
On the other side of the vault door, the Dimensional with the bone-shard mohawk strained at the wheel, trying to spin it open. His taut muscles glistened in the dim light, but brute force wasn’t enough. Other labourers were gathered in the airlock behind the massive man.
The Dash doppelganger pushed through the crowd. He gnashed his teeth. “Enough, child. You will strain yourself and your body needs to be ready for the battle ahead.”
The boy tested the wheel himself and turned around. Everyone looked down. “The next shift arrives in ten hours. That is when this door will open. By then, the intruders will have escaped. Unfortunate. I’m curious. Who allowed them to see our arsenal?”
A groan came from one side of the airlock. Workers roused the tattooed man and hauled him to his feet to face Dash.
“They were hunters, sir,” he explained. “I had no choice.”
“Unfortunate,” the boy said again. His voice was low and menacing. He lifted his arm to reveal a crossbow strapped to the wrist. He took aim at the tattooed man’s chest.
The mood suddenly shifted as an eerie calm filled the airlock and the workers bowed their heads and backed away. Dash turned and lowered his gaze instantly. A red-skinned giant climbed up from below. He wore a brilliant emerald robe that hung down to his feet. His jade tael was missing from around his neck, traded for his freedom.
“A frightened soldier will serve better than a dead one,” Ba Tian pronounced, stroking his ivory tusks.
Dash lowered the crossbow and nodded.
j
Ehrich and Charlie climbed the ladders, ascending to the surface. As soon as Charlie cleared the first one, Ehrich pushed the ladder off so that any surface rescuers would have trouble getting down. He ran around the ledge, kicking the other ladders down, as Charlie headed to the next level. Then Ehrich went up, while Charlie did the same with the ladders on the next level.