“Thank goodness I didn’t break it. I know they’re long gone, but still, whoever Raymond Sneider was, this is all we have left of him…unless Gerta put him in one of those stasis pods.” Eve mumbled, again to the eagle carved onto the wooden desk. “What do we have here?” Eve asked, examining the back of the frame cover. Someone, probably Raymond Sneider, had written some numbers on the back side of the frame; they were the same as those Gerta had given to her, but the listed numbers were grouped into sets, and said left or right after each of the sets. Eve looked at it, puzzled. She had never had to use a twist dial before because they didn’t have them.
“Oh, now I understand. I’m supposed to select each set of numbers by turning the knob to the right or left.” She took the back of the frame to the safe in the closet, and tried the password and code numbers again, this time turning the dial right or left as directed on the written instructions. After she finished, she heard a click, and then reached to the door and pulled it, lifting up a latch-like device.
The safe door opened. Eve squatted down on the floor and used her flashlight. The safe was small, but low, so she finally had to lie on the floor to see what was inside. It was empty except for a single piece of real paper. “These must be the additional instructions Gerta mentioned. This is exciting…like a treasure hunt,” Eve said to the eagle, looking over at it again from the closet. It stared back at her, wings spread, claws grabbing its twigs and arrows, looking seriously fierce. She wondered how big eagles were…or had been, as she removed the note from the safe. Eve glanced at her tool kit timer; she had already been gone for over an hour, so knew she had to hurry things along.
“I hope security didn’t find Dirk or Mother,” she thought. Eve knew when security sent out a team it always meant the individual would be arrested and put in prison. If a general security call went out, it meant you’d take the ride into the void.
“I hope someone from Steam got to Dirk and his family to warn them,” she told the eagle. “They’ll have to hide; so will Mother and James. Maybe they’ll all have to stay inside the space ship with Gerta. I guess that won’t be awful. The ship is huge, and interesting, but we’ll have to stock it with food and water.” Eve went over her options as she opened the paper note. It was written in cursive, but was short, and so, it was easy to translate.
Upside…third tile from the door…right twenty tiles, then left three tiles. Raise the ΩD marked tile. The lever is underneath. You will need an AI access key to raise the stone and activate the lever. Once you descend the stairs, follow the tunnel right, to Bunker Y. Bunker Y can also access the main tunnel. This back door requires the stone and can access all tunnels.
“What back door does this note refer to? I don’t see a door. It must be in the other room,” Eve told the eagle. She folded the paper note, put it in her overall pocket, and stood. She then rechecked her pack for its contents, tied her boots, cinched her utility belt, and slid her pack back on, getting ready to go through yet another door.
Eve left the safe closed so no one would know she had been there. If Miggly found it someday, he would think Raymond Sneider Human Resources Manager had already emptied the contents of the safe and then had relocked it. She scooped out several pens, three pencils, and an erasure, all from the desk drawers, into her pack. Eve then rearranged the desk and drawers to look untouched, checked to be sure she had not dropped anything, returned the Sneider family photo to the drawer, and turned to leave the office. Then she returned to the large empty outer room to look for another door.
●
Back at Steam, the room was still in turmoil, with three of their strongest workers, including Iris, holding what looked like chain pulleys attached to the body of the new steam engine. They had managed to hoist it up half the stairs before they realized it was too wide to fit through the door. So now, Iris, Hugh, Stanley, and three other workers were balancing it lopsided on one of the stairs. If it fell backwards, it would crush them all. They stood helpless and watched as Rita, Rose, and another worker, Logan, took sledge hammers to the wall to carve out a larger exit door for the engine to get through.
“It’s big enough now, Stanley. We can start hoisting again. What did you say, Hugh?” Rose asked. “I said, okay folks…hoist on my call…one, two, and three…hoist!” Hugh yelled from below, as the rest of the workers, above and below, pushed or pulled on the chains, heaving the engine slowly up, one step at a time.
It took the team about an hour to get the engine onto the steam works level floor, and another hour to get it in place next to ol’ Elsie. By then it was time for lunch, and everyone looked done in. Stanley went around slapping the big workers on their backs, congratulating each for their effort. He said he would put in for extra chits for all of them.
Rose took off her helmet and wiped the sweat from her face onto her shirt sleeve, leaving a wet spot near the elbow. Every so often, Miggly had poked his head in to ask Stanley if Eve Overhearder had showed up for work yet. Stanley just handed Miggly a rope and told him to pull…causing Miggly to drop the rope, turn, and step back into his lift. He finally stopped checking after two hours.
After lunch, and once he knew the engine still worked, Stanley had a runner go the City News office to inform them of the event…the discovery of a brand new steam engine! Stanley was not above the bragging rights so they’d all get those bonuses. Plus, it would take the attention away from Eve. He only hoped she had something to eat and drink down there in that room or pipe, or wherever she was hiding.
“I hope this is worth it, Stanley. Does it work?” Iris asked, standing in back of Stanley and eating a cheese bun. “It works; I checked it out down below. Works like a brand new baby. It should up the city power by at least twenty-five percent. Okay everyone let’s stop before we all drop over. Logan, was the newspaper notified?” Stanley asked, letting out his breath. He sat down on the floor to rest. Logan nodded affirmative, taking a long drink of water, and said, “They’ll be sending a reporter and artist along right away.”
“Great, but first I gotta tell you all about Eve,” Stanley said, suddenly serious. Everyone stopped and stood over Stanley, waiting for an announcement. “Okay, everyone listen up. We got us a serious situation concerning one of the team.” Stanley then told the rest of the workers about the security call out on Eve and her fella Dirk Heatherfield. He did not need to tell them why security wanted the two. It didn’t even matter to them. Steam watched your back. Stanley knew they would all tell those security officers they had not seen Eve or Dirk since yesterday…and maybe never after that. And they all offered up their homes as hideouts.
“You say Miggly’s after her fella too? What a goat turd brain. We gotta see she’s safe, Stanley,” Rita said. She reached for her canteen and took a long drink of mint tea; she then sat on the floor with the others, and opened her lunch bucket taking out a piece of flat bread and a slice of broiled rabbit. The others all sat down in a circle on the floor and began to eat their own lunches. But then, as Stanley was about to take a bite of his own bread and cheese bun, the lift bell chimed, and Miggly and a troop of committee members stepped from the management lift. Stanley noticed Miggly was wearing his best brown suit, and that he had recently polished his brown leather shoes…or someone had. Stanley and the team immediately stood.
“What can I do for you, Sir? As you can see, we got the engine in place. I reckon we can up the power by twenty-five percent. We’ll be starting her up right after lunch. Do you want me to start it up now for The Committee?” Stanley asked Miggly, while the rest of the group stood up…in deference to their goat-turd boss. Stanley continued to address the steam engine issues in front of the committee members, because it would take the attention away from a missing Eve Overhearder.
Miggly stopped in midsentence…he’d started to once again ask about that girl, Eve something. He’d arrived with four other members of The Committee to arrest her, but now had to appear intensely interested in Steam issues. Of course he had no way of knowing that
Stanley had sent a messenger to the office of the newly elected Head of The Committee, Henry Darpen, to inform him of the engine igniting event about to unfold in Steam. The press would arrive any minute. Stanley did love a colorful diversion.
“Yes, well…that is good news indeed, Mr. Wormwood. A twenty-five percent power increase is of paramount importance, of course,” Miggly went on. He stood proudly beside the new steam engine while the attending members of The Committee likewise admired it. When he had first contacted The Committee to request their presence in Steam regarding Eve Overhearder, about half managed to get away from their other duties. And those members where perturbed at being contacted on such short notice. Now they understood the significance of their being notified…a new steam engine was news, indeed!
“That’s breathtaking news, Miggly. Glad you had us here for the unveiling of the engine. I assume the news media will arrive for the story. What an opportunity to uplift spirits…good idea Miggly,” Henry Darpen said, now stepping from the management lift; as the new Head of The Committee, he was someone with great power.
Stanley made an almost imperceptible nod to Rose, who stole silently from the room to check when the City News team would be arriving. She also sent someone to fetch some snacks from the bakery, and brew from the pub, saying everything should go on Miggly’s tab. Then miraculously, Hugh Endley produced a bottle of fermented, and still bubbly, strawberry wine and metal cups, popping the wine open with great fanfare. Rita and Rose went around passing out some suddenly-appearing sweet rolls and even some goat crème stuffed rolls. They’d sent a guy out right before lunch to pick them up from Handy Candy’s over next to the bakery…again putting it all on the boss’s tab.
While they munched on their sweets, and drank wine, Stanley continued to extoll the virtues of the new steam engine…all the while wondering where Eve and her fella were, and how long he could keep these uppity-up folks celebrating down in Steam, while his scouts figured out how to keep the two kids and their families safe.
Stanley was about out of things to say, when the news guy finally arrived, out of breath, and holding his cloth and inked quill. So then Stanley had to repeat everything all over while the artist got busy sketching pictures of each committee member standing proudly by the new engine. The newsman even suggested they stand on top the engine and pretend to turn it on. Finally, Rita suggested they put on nice clean overalls, and hold up bogus tools for the artist. Naturally, this took most of the afternoon, and by then, The Committee members were feeling the effects of several more bottles of mysteriously appearing bubbly wine.
But the delay was critical if Steam was to ensure the safety of Eve and her fella…and of course, their families. That many hiding places took time to organize. Finally, at four o’clock, Henry Darpen slapped Miggly on the back, finished his last cup of wine, and said, “Well done, Miggly. I will write you up for a commendation. Let’s bring this up at the next meeting. We will need to assess the power needs of the city, Mr. Wormwood. Thank you and all of Steam for your fine work efforts. I will be sure you all get those extra work chits for your contribution to our city’s power needs.” He then gathered Miggly and his group together for one last quick sketch, and they all left, stumbling off in a wine-induced stupor, into the management lift. And luckily, during the ongoing party, Miggly had temporarily forgotten Eve Overhearder.
Once the lift door slid closed, Rita whispered to Stanley that they had gotten Dirk’s family to safety, but had not yet reached Eve’s mother and little brother, and no one had seen Dirk. Stanley nodded and then turned to his group, now serious. “Alright folks, remember…no one has seen Eve or her fella since yesterday. Now let’s clean up and go help find them,” he said. The team nodded; they finished cleaning within five minutes and got ready to leave as the clock bonged five.
●
Eve checked her timer. It was now five o’clock, and somewhere in the up-top she could hear the loud bonging of the town clock. But because she was so far down, she heard it only as a vibration. She’d been in the empty room for quite some time looking for a door. But the room did not have another exit; she was sure of that. She’d even tried pulling up pieces of concrete flooring and pounding on walls to check for a hollow sound. Finally, she went back into Raymond Sneider’s office closet, and crouched down next to the safe to look for a hidden lever.
This time she felt the cool breeze. There was an opening behind the safe. Eve stood up, pushing back the other clothing items left hanging there centuries prior. There was a hidden door on the back wall of the closet. And Eve knew where it went. It led to the main tunnel and on to bunker Z. “This is the back door to the main tunnel,” she said again to the silent desk eagle, as she bent down, facing a low, half-hidden door behind the safe. It looked a lot like the one at the back of the vessel out in the decay zone, but was much smaller. She nudged the door, but of course it was securely locked like all the others. Eve pushed her helmet light to on, and reached into her pocket to retrieve the paper note, rereading the instructions. The last sentence caught her attention.
This back door requires the stone.
“Of course, this is the door the note refers to. I have to use my stone. But how does it work? I’ve only ever worn it, never used it as a key,” Eve mumbled. She took the stone from inside her shirt, holding it out in front of her helmet light while it dangled from the gold chain. It was a shiny and smooth green stone on one side, and appeared to have been sanded on the other side.
“What am I supposed to do with it?” Eve asked the eagle. She first passed the shiny then the dull side of her stone over the doorknob. Nothing happened. Then she tried pressing either side against the knob and then against the door. Again, the door remained locked. “There must be an activation scanner someplace. Maybe I have to pass my hand over a part of the wall for a device to come out…like with the door out in the decay zone,” Eve mumbled.
It finally happened accidentally. Eve leaned a hand against the back wall of the safe. She thought she must have hit a button because a keypad and slot extended from the closet wall.
Please enter the password and code. For this door, you must use the ΩD stone.
Luckily it was still the same month so the old password and number code still worked. She keyed the information in using the keyboard that now extended from the wall. But she still could not figure out how to use her stone. “I hope this doesn’t have a timer,” she commented to the eagle. Finally, after trying everything she could think of, Eve passed her stone all over the safe, floor, walls, and door, until one place lit up with a blue glow. It was shaped like her stone, so she pressed the sanded side to the spot, careful to match the shapes. The town clock bonged six times as the door slid open, and the com voice said,
Welcome, Lightfighter.
Eve stepped inside to face a long dark tunnel. She took out her flashlight and started walking. Then after several minutes, she saw a sign on the wall that read, Bunker Z – 2 miles ahead. Watch your head, low ceiling. Eve took off running.
Chapter Ten
Bunker Z
Dirk’s day started out as an adventure…but ended painfully. After he’d left Eve at her back door, he walked directly home, past the still-closed bakery and tea shop, through Lightfighter Town Square, turning left at Minetown Street, then on to the alley where he lived with his parents and eight-year-old sister, Nola. Dirk was almost to his house, and had rounded the corner, when he saw someone standing in the dark across the street from his house. The person looked familiar, but he was hiding in the shadows.
Dirk immediately squatted down behind Mrs. Edgely’s picket fence, peering over her plastic forest ivy to see if he could identify the possible intruder…or thief. But it was still somewhat dark outside, and the individual was too far away. So he took the binoculars from his pack and looked over at the man through the magnifying lenses. At first, everything was a bit fuzzy until he adjusted the viewer as Eve had shown him, and turned the knob marked night-vision mode to the on setti
ng. Then he looked again.
“It’s Miggly’s assistant, Arlo Stevens, and the man is spying on my house,” Dirk whispered once he’d adjusted the binoculars to high field. “These are handy,” he whispered again. “If he’s spying on me, he knows something. I have to warn Eve.” He got ready to leave, but the spy was then joined by two security officers. Dirk started to move closer, intending to listen to their conversation. But Mrs. Edgely heard the people talking outside and opened her front door, holding one of her large candles high in the air.
She loudly exclaimed, “Who is there and are your intentions honorable? I shall inform security. You there young man, why are you standing on my ivy?” Dirk froze for several seconds, noting through the binoculars the two security guards had turned their attention to his hiding place. He jumped up, getting some nasty scratches in the process. He also tore his pants at the knee. Then he bolted through Mrs. Edgely’s yard, not bothering to apologize for stomping on her newly planted real violets and roses. She screamed in protest, pointed to him, and shouted, “Intruder, call security at once,” and promptly fainted.
Dirk sprinted off toward the decay zone, his grab boots taking the turns nimbly, through the sleeping town streets. The Recycle Workers were already at work, along with several night street cleaners. But the streets were thankfully otherwise empty of people or obstacles. Dirk ran on straight into the decay zone, stopping only once to knock over a pile of trash, thereby slowing further access by the pursuing security officers.
He could hear the two running after him, but Arlo Stevens was not in good shape so fell behind the two officers who blew their whistles every several seconds, and yelled for him to stop at once. Dirk accelerated, using all his strength to put more distance between him and the security guards. He knew he would not have time to examine the ΩD-marked tile and lift the lever underneath. It would take too long. He had to reach the tunnel; he hoped he could get back into the vessel before the two guards caught up with him.
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