Getting past the security fences and the alarmed, password-coded doors was an easy process. With the Agents’ insider knowledge of the complex, they practically walked straight in. Alex watched in awe as one of the tech Agents used a small laptop computer to crack the PIN code in a matter of seconds.
I so gotta learn how to do that!
It was getting into the underground complex undetected, in case Stella and her crew were already inside, that was the hard part.
‘OK, this isn’t creepy at all,’ Alex said, walking with a torch to light the way under his feet. The downward-sloping corridor was long, dark and damp. Water sloshed under their feet, and was soon around their ankles. He looked back at the entrance door, which was ajar, and the sunlight peered through. Four Agents walked in front of Alex and Phoebe, with Rick, their commander, leading the way. He looked strong and capable, a determined look in his dark eyes. Alex eyed the fierce tattoo on his left arm as he strode into the complex. A couple of Agents cautiously followed behind. More Agents remained outside, keeping watch. Phoebe kept close to Alex.
‘The tunnel takes a few turns up ahead, then we start heading further down,’ Phoebe said, consulting the schematic on her hand-held screen.
‘Further down?’ Rick said. ‘But the water is getting deeper and deeper already.’
‘It’ll be OK,’ Phoebe said, ‘once we clear the sealed doors to the complex proper.’
The troops up front stopped at each corner, carefully scouting their way ahead in case there were any surprises lurking in the doorways or adjacent corridors.
‘This is it,’ Phoebe whispered, her voice echoing in the space.
‘It’s a …’ Alex’s voice trailed off as he leaned forwards to look down into a cavernous hole that disappeared into the pitch black far below. The groundwater beneath their feet trickled over the edge like a gentle waterfall. ‘What is it?’
‘Lift shaft,’ Rick said. He took a couple of glowsticks from a zip pocket, cracked them to life and dropped them down the shaft.
Alex watched as they fell, taking several long seconds to hit the bottom with a sharp thud that echoed loudly back up the shaft. Alex winced at the clattering noise it made in the eerie complex.
‘Well, it’s not flooded,’ Rick said. ‘Must have landed on top of the lift, which is down there, probably the full fifteen storeys.’
Phoebe pointed to a cobweb-covered control panel on the wall. ‘Can you bring the lift up?’
Rick motioned to the tech Agent. He pulled out an electric screwdriver and had the lift’s control panel off in seconds.
‘It’s unlikely,’ the tech Agent said. ‘This is hooked into the emergency grid, so I can route the backup generators to here, but there’s no telling if they’ll kick over if they haven’t been maintained.’
‘Where are they?’ Phoebe asked.
The Agent shone his flashlight over the schematic diagram, flicking at the screen to see more details.
‘Back that way and a few access levels down,’ he said.
‘Take two Agents with you—try those generators,’ Phoebe said, looking at the schematic once again. The tech Agent and two others ran off the way they’d come.
Phoebe turned to Alex. ‘Do you feel any different?’
‘What? No,’ Alex replied, shining his torch around the lift shaft. There were metal ladders set into two opposite walls running down the shaft as far as Alex could see. ‘I feel completely normal.’
‘Nothing looks familiar? No deja vu?’ Phoebe prompted.
Alex shook his head. It was so quiet, only the sound of the falling water could be heard as they waited for the Agents to hook up the power. Alex looked around, trying harder to concentrate on his surroundings. He touched the open, slide-across metal gates that had once blocked the opening for this massive elevator. The closing latch was cut through, the two sections bright and sharp.
Someone’s beaten us here.
Alex said, ‘Ah, guys … look.’ He pointed to the severed lock on the lift gates, the shiny silver metal glinting through the rust and dirt, even more noticeable under the illumination of the torches. ‘Looks as if someone recently cut through the lock,’ he said.
‘I don’t like it,’ Phoebe replied. ‘We should move.’
‘Go back?’ Rick asked.
‘No. Down. There’s another way out,’ Phoebe replied, shining her torch over the ladders in the lift shaft, then checking the complex’s schematics. ‘I have a feeling this is going to get real interesting, real fast.’