The morning passes quickly with my Grinder doing most of the work. When lunch comes, we return to the bunker for a break. Nyree and I are the first to arrive. We arrange some of the loose equipment to form makeshift chairs. Sitting down, I activate the nutrition supplier in my bio-suit. The thin tube, normally hidden within the helmet, delivers a slow steady stream of semi-liquid nutrient slurry similar to what we have been getting in Securus lately. Only now the slurry is being forced into me by the unrelenting flow. I could turn the supplier off, but I need the energy and prefer to get it over with. The water attachment is much more pleasant. It functions more like a straw, allowing me to sip water at my own pace. While resting, we turn off our electronic communicators since we are close enough to hear each other without it. More importantly, this way the Controllers in the substation will not be able to listen to our every word.
“Well, I hope the rest of the detail goes this smooth,” Nyree says while sipping some water.
“I wouldn’t count on it.” I have been internally debating how much to share with Nyree since we are working so closely today and likely for the rest of the detail. I do not want her to needlessly expose herself to any potential danger intended for me. I motion for her to come closer, so no one can overhear us. “Nyree, there’s something you should know.”
“What is it?” she asks tentatively.
“There’s a strong possibility Aamon may be planning an accident for me,” I answer as truthfully as safely possible. “I can’t tell you what or why, I just wanted you to know so you don’t get mixed up in it.”
“You have to tell me more than that. Why can’t you go over his head in Leadership?” she asks.
“It’s complicated, but he’s not the only one in Leadership that’s involved,” I say.
“This has to do with that night in The Caves, doesn’t it?” she asks.
“Yes, but the less you know the better. Plausible deniability may save your life if things get out of control,” I warn.
“Okay, I understand. I don’t like it, but I understand. Thanks for the heads up,” she says. Convincing Nyree was much easier than pacifying Arluin. She understands the workings of Securus more than most people. I am glad she did not push harder because the others are now arriving, so we can no longer talk in privacy.
There is a noticeable difference in the degree of mastery of the Grinder’s controls between the different operators. Ardal is surprisingly efficient while Eldin struggles significantly. His Grinder stutters as he awkwardly guides the machine into the bunker. I take another sip of water and check my control panel to see how much is left to ration through the afternoon.
Suddenly, a high pitched whine draws my attention back to bunker’s entrance. Eldin’s Grinder rapidly accelerates in my direction. Its churning metal talons reach out for me. I pounce to my feet and dive to the side to avoid the grips of the ravenous machine. As I do, my foot sinks into a crack in my makeshift chair, collapsing me onto the floor.
I yank my foot loose. Now, lying face down on the floor, the ground vibrates below my hands as the Grinder rapidly converges on me. My arms reach out to pull me away from danger, but my hands only slide across the loose soil covering the steel floor below. This is it, my life is about to end here, I think to myself. I never imagined it would happen like this.
Chapter 21
As my fingers scrape against the ground, a pair of strong hands locks onto mine. I instinctively pull on them as they in turn pull me away from the runaway machine. The effort is not enough to escape the Grinder completely. My leg becomes forcefully twisted as the talons lock onto it. Nyree pulls harder, freeing me from the machine and dragging me out of the way of the oncoming wheels. The Grinder finally comes to a stop on top of the equipment we were resting on.
I look down at my leg. The sole of my shoe was clipped by the destructive teeth of the Grinder, twisting my ankle and ripping a piece of the bottom lining off. Ignoring the pain in my ankle, I frantically grab my foot to search for a penetrating defect in my suit. If the suit has been penetrated, I need to activate the compartmentalizing function before The Agent gets too far in.
The piece ripped from my shoe feels like it was only the cushioning pad. My fingers cannot go through the defect. Luckily, my suit remains intact. In my rush to examine the damage I did not notice my system controls have remained silent. This alone indicates the suit has not been compromised. I take a deep breath and calm my racing thoughts, knowing I need to stay focused. I’m okay, I reassure myself. Eldin climbs out of his Grinder and rushes over to me.
“Are you okay, Kagen?” he shouts. “I don’t know what happened. The Grinder just took off on its own. The throttle and steering locked up on me.”
“I’m okay, thanks to Nyree,” I say giving her a grateful look. “Just a trim of my shoes and a sprained ankle, nothing permanent.”
I strain to keep a straight face though the throbbing in my ankle is increasing as the adrenaline begins to wear off. I do not want to show any vulnerability in front of my assailant. After pressing on the bones of my ankle to check for pain and stability, I get up to further test it. Despite the pain, it feels sturdy enough to walk on. Satisfied that my ankle is not broken, I sit back down to recover. When Balum and Jadyn pull into the bunker they immediately come over to see what happened. Eldin tells them how his Grinder ended up in its current position.
I was more concerned with Balum than Eldin, but with what happened, my attention needs to be reconsidered. This could easily have been an accident, especially given his lack of skill with the Grinder’s controls. Then again, the machine nearly killing me seems all too convenient to be a simple coincidence or mechanical failure. Nearly running me over must have been intentional. Either that or Aamon has found a way to remotely operate the Grinder from the Control Room. That seems too blatant even for him. Balum notifies the Controllers of the incident. Soon after, a voice calls me on my communicator.
“Kagen, are you injured?” Aamon asks, sounding more hopeful than concerned.
“I’m fine,” I respond.
“Do you need Trent to take a look at you?” he asks.
Having Trent examine me is the last thing I need. I would never trust him to evaluate me under these circumstances, especially given his involvement with the outbreak. Even if Rana was doing the exam, I would still refuse. My injury does not need anything other than time to heal.
“No, I can continue working. Hey, has Talia arrived yet?” I ask, remembering she was going to try and get in the Control Room.
“There are more pressing issues requiring your attention than the whereabouts of my daughter,” Mr. Vaden snaps through the communicator.
I did not know he was watching the detail personally. With Mr. Vaden there, Talia will never be able to get into the substation. Undoubtedly, that was his intention. Now that I think about it, he has been keeping us from each other for longer than we ever realized. I no longer think the timing of her switch to Leadership training was a coincidence all those years ago.
Without Talia in the Control Room there will be no one to interfere with Aamon’s plans, except Nyree, I thankfully remember. I was right about her. Here we are on the first day of the detail, and she has already saved my life.
“You need a little more practice on that thing, Eldin,” I say while limping back to my own Grinder. I feel safer in there right now with my sore ankle than being out in the open next to Eldin and Balum.
Nyree follows my lead and we both drive out of the bunker, toward our assigned section of the Solar Panel fields. I find a spot nestled at the base of one of the Solar Panels, out of view of the scattered surveillance cameras. There are many blind spots from the cameras because their focus is toward the outer fences. I exit my Grinder and motion for Nyree to join me.
“Thank you, Nyree,” I tell her while gingerly moving toward the Solar Panel base. The support of the pole takes the weight off of my throbbing ankle.
“It’s no big deal,” she says, downplaying her ac
tions. “I was hoping you were being paranoid, but apparently not.”
“Yeah, so was I,” I say with a nervous laugh. “Maybe that really was just an accident, but I doubt it.”
“It’s time you tell me exactly what’s going on. I was willing to let it go before, but we’re way past that now,” she demands.
“I wish I knew,” I say honestly.
Internally, I struggle with whether to tell her everything or not. She did save my life and also gave me valuable information about Kesia, but what if she is another one of Aamon’s spies? All of this could be a ploy to gain my trust to find out what I really know. Then again, what would be the point now? Aamon already has a plan for me, no matter what I know. Nyree watches while I internally debate how much to reveal, expectantly waiting for me to continue.
“I’m still working to put it all together, but it started in The Caves. Someone who shouldn’t have been there murdered my friend Merrick. For some reason, Leadership has been covering it up. They’re up to something out there but I don’t know what yet. Things have only gotten worse since then. I think the recent outbreak was introduced by Leadership as a ploy to allow them to close The Caves for as long as they need to cover their tracks. They didn’t think I knew anything at first, but the more suspicious they get, the more dangerous things get for me. I’m guessing they’ve grown tired of speculating and want to rid themselves of their problem now.” I am careful to leave out the involvement of the others in case she really is a spy.
“That’s a bit out there. It seems so ridiculous but plausible at the same time. No wonder you were keeping that to yourself,” Nyree says. “So what are you going to do? It’s not like there’s anyone else you can appeal to. Leadership is it.”
“I’m getting all the evidence I can. After that, I need to find a way to tell as much of Securus as possible. Leadership can’t continue whatever they’re doing if they don’t have the support of the workers. Other than surviving this detail, my next problem is figuring out a way to get back into The Caves one more time,” I say, throwing a rock out of frustration from facing barrier after another. It would be so much easier to give up and spare anyone else from sharing my fate.
“Well, there may be a way to get around the last part,” Nyree offers.
“Really?” I ask.
“I never really thought anything of it before, but there’s a passage in the Deep Vents that leads out to The Caves. I always figured it was just a random tunnel since no one uses it,” she says.
“Do you know where it leads?” I ask, tempering my growing excitement. There are so many different tunnel systems. Most are isolated or abruptly end without communicating to another system. With her tunnel being deep down, it likely never communicates with the system I need to access.
“I went through the tunnel when I was younger and more curious,” she says. “It’s a difficult path, but it eventually leads up to a chamber near the fishing pools.”
My heart jumps. This is exactly what I need, an unwatched entrance to The Caves. I could get back to the supply room with Hadwin and Sayda without Leadership ever knowing we are gone. If we do that, and if Rana finds the vaccinations guns Trent used, we would have everything we need to force Leadership to reveal the truth.
“Where is it?” I ask, encouraged by the prospects.
“It’s really hard to find. You would easily walk right past the opening if you didn’t know it was there. I’ll show you when the detail’s over,” she says.
“Well, we might as well get back to work. There’s a lot of land left to clear,” I say.
“The sooner we finish, the sooner we get back into Securus,” she agrees.
As I walk toward my Grinder a flash of black whizzes by. It narrowly misses me, crashing into the ground at my feet with a ghastly thud. I look at the now dead bird nervously. It practically exploded from the impact. Scattered feathers float down from the rebounding force of its fall. These falling birds are dangerous, but at least they are not part of Leadership’s plan.
“What’s up with these birds?” Nyree asks after stopping to look.
“Weird, huh? I’ve seen them spread around the field. I have no idea why they crash down like that. Some of the panels are damaged from their impacts too.” I am as confused as Nyree.
“I’m going to ask the Controllers. Maybe they’ll be useful for once,” she says while activating her communicator.
I leave mine off, being in no mood to listen to Aamon right now. After a couple minutes and a frustrated look on her face, she has their answer.
“They were hypothesizing the glare from the reflected light might be blinding them or the magnetic field created by all the electricity is disorienting them. In other words, they don’t know but don’t want to admit it,” she relays to me, irritated with their lack of honesty.
Back in the relative safety of my machine, I return to the task assigned to us for the day. While clearing the fields, I feel a little nauseated from the morbid thought of the birds being further dismembered by the claws of my Grinder.
One benefit of working up here on the surface is there are so many things to distract your mind. Color and life appear everywhere you look, unlike the dark, drab steel and stone walls we are accustomed to. The electrified fence may be a menacing barrier, but beyond the enclosure lays a fluid mixture of beauty. The thick weaving trunks and branches of the trees form intricate layers giving way to numerous deep green leaves sprouting from them. In open areas beyond the fence, before the forest takes root, the ground glows with vibrant with colors. There are dense carpets of short plants blossoming with wild flowers of unimaginable variety and color. The sound of the birds and other small forest creatures breaks the trance-inducing dull hum emanating from the fence and electricity transmission lines.
This is the way we were meant to live, surrounded by other natural life. Not hidden in the depths of the Earth, cowering away from our own devious creation. I have to remind myself that not everything we create is ugly. Looking at the Solar Panels above, I must admit they have a strange beauty in them as well.
As we move further toward the center of the field while clearing the ground, my attention is drawn to the varying forms our Solar Panels have taken. I remember from my lessons as a child that the original Solar Panel system had to be expanded upon as the structure of Securus was enlarged. Additional fields were added to the one I am working in before The Agent reached our area. The first Solar Panels simply absorb the Sun’s energy, converting it to useable power in one of the substations. The additional fields function differently, and now that I see them, they are as astonishing as anything I have ever seen in my life or in the images on my computer.
The additional fields contain circles of formed mirrors, every bit as large as the Solar Panels in my field, reflecting a brilliant light onto a central spire. The golden light surrounds the spire with a majestic incandescence. This is not only breathtaking, but efficient at the same time. The heat generated from the concentrated light coalescing on the tower is harnessed and converted into useable energy. The height of the spire itself is amazing and frightening at the same time. I am glad the tower was serviced on the last detail, so climbing it will not be necessary for us.
The rest of the afternoon passes without another incident. Near the end of the work day, we are treated to our first sunset. Pictures and words alone cannot describe the wonders of nature, and this sunset is clearly one of them. I force myself to break from these idle thoughts since we are now ready to return to Securus. Things are more dangerous for me when I am in the group than when alone with Nyree. Though I am not anxious to return to the others, I am more than ready to get this bio-suit off of me, especially the waste disposal system.
“It looks like we’re done for the day. Finally we can go back inside,” Nyree says happily.
“How can you not appreciate the scenery up here?” I ask as we drive back toward the bunker.
“I do appreciate it. But I appreciate being alive much more, an
d the chances of staying alive steadily decrease the longer we’re out here,” she says analytically.
I agree. I just don’t know where I’m more in danger at this point, I think to myself. We are the first ones back, which is not surprising. With his clumsy command of his Grinder, Eldin will need more time to clear his assigned territory, and Balum’s field was a lot farther away from the bunker. Not wanting to wait for the others after what happened this afternoon, I park my Grinder and head straight for the exit hatch. Nyree follows close behind me. For once, I am moving faster than her. When we are both inside, the hatch locks and the decontamination begins. We have to go through two cycles. The first cycle sterilizes our outer bio-suits. After that, we take off our helmets and open the seals in the joints of our bio-suits so we can undergo the standard decontamination. I have endured this many times in the infirmary, but this will be the first time for Nyree.
“Just a fair warning, this process is uncomfortable to say it politely,” I tell her.
“It’s all that’s keeping me from getting inside Securus, so right now I welcome it,” she says.
The first cycle is painless. We prepare for the second cycle and activate the system. The mist creeps into the chamber and envelops us. Nyree staggers toward the side of the chamber from its disorienting effects. I reach out for her, but with her sight impaired, she crashes into the side wall of the chamber a second time before steadying herself. Now as the heavy mist fills our lungs and sets our bodies ablaze, she gasps for a breath of air. No relief will come. The gasp only deepens the burn, as it allows more chemicals to enter her lungs. The decontamination will be over soon, so I stop trying to help her up and focus on my own breathing. Mercifully, the mist recedes and our sight is returned as the burning subsides. We are now able to reenter Securus. She carefully steps out of the chamber and comes to a rest at her changing station.
The Death Detail (The Securus Trilogy Book 1) Page 20