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I got to my feet and started walking, shoving open the doors with a screech of disused hinges and springs, making my way towards the far end where the crossway would intersect with corridor A. Only one out of every three glow panels were working, less in some places. It seemed to take for ever to get to the end, but eventually I could make out a blank wall in front of me, and knew that there was no further to go.
I stood at the junction and wondered if I should turn left or right. There was nothing to give me any clues. It would have been nice to see a sign saying something like ‘Panels A to M this way’ but there was just a blank wall. I gambled on right and started to walk.
There were no doors, and I wasn’t exactly sure what the voice the voice in my head meant by an access panel so I checked out anything on the wall I came to. I knew what an access panel was, of course, but they were all on machines, not built into the walls. Eventually I came to a small metal square mounted in an otherwise blank stretch of wall. I went up to it and looked at it more closely, checking for any markings in the dim orange light. There was a little square plate at the bottom, and I could make out the characters ‘G-3’. I kept walking, and kept looking. About ten minutes later, I found another metal panel, and the plaque read ‘G-1’. I had been going the wrong way. Of course.
I turned around and started walking faster. I went past the crossway, checking panel numbers as I went, then I slowed down when I passed J1. I didn’t want to miss J-4. I needn’t have worried. It was two or three times bigger than anything else I had seen and was no more than a metre from the floor. It looked about a metre tall and slightly less wide, and set in the middle was a keypad. I reached out and almost touched the keys, then I pulled my hand back. I wasn’t ready. I leaned against the wall opposite and slid down until I was sitting on the floor.
Time passed without telling me again, and I came back to myself to the sound of footsteps. Somebody running, and heading towards me. I stood up and looked around. Something made me want to conceal myself, but I couldn’t see anywhere to hide. The running steps stumbled to a halt, then I heard a voice.
‘Garret? Garret?’
It was Pitr. I could see him in the distance, back at the junction with the crossway. I called to him.
‘This way.’
He ran towards me, which was surprising for him. I wondered what had got him so upset. As he got closer I also noticed he was carrying a bag. Why a bag? When he got to me, he stopped and doubled over, hands on his knees and fighting for breath.
‘Your father,’ he finally managed to gasp. ‘Looking for you. Has everybody looking for you.’
‘What?’ I said, but he just waved an arm for me to wait while he got enough breath to speak.
‘Your father has everybody out looking for you, and I mean everybody. He is saying you aren’t well, and that you need to be found and taken to the medic. He’s telling people your mind is unbalanced because of nightmares.’
I slumped back against the wall. How could my dad do that to me? How could he embarrass me like that in front of everybody.
‘You’ve been gone for hours and hours,’ said Pitr. ‘He called at my house, then at the Historyuns’, and when he didn’t find you, he called everybody out to search for you and ... ’ he paused for a minute and looked like he was trying to remember something. ‘That was it, ‘restrain you’.
‘Why would he do that?’ I asked, not really expecting an answer. So I was surprised when Pitr offered one.
‘I think Jedd’s right. I think he’s afraid you’ll go,’ he said, pointing at the door. ‘And I don’t think he wants you to. I don’t know why he doesn’t, but I think if you don’t go now you’ll never get another chance.’
I looked at the metal door, and at the keypad in the middle of it. I knew I didn’t want to stay here, and the thought of spending my life doing the same thing over and over terrified me. On the other hand, to do what the voice was telling me was almost too scary to think about. I jumped when Pitr touched my arm. He was holding the bag out to me.
‘I brought some things for you. Food, change of clothes.’
‘Food?’
Pitr looked really embarrassed. ‘I guess having a father that runs Shipping and Distribution has its uses.’
‘You stole them?’
‘No! I just - took an allocation out in advance.’
There was a short but awkward silence.
‘You think I should go?’
‘Jedd says the Stories talk about it. That means it’s a Duty.’
‘Screw Duty,’ I snapped. ‘You know I don’t believe in Duty. I said do you think I should go.’
Pitr didn’t say anything. He just stood there and looked at me.
Again, I heard the sound of footsteps. Many footsteps. Distant and only walking, but getting closer. I was running out of options. I reached forward and ran a finger around the edge of the keypad. Could I remember the code? If I could remember the code I could at least have a look through the door and see if I liked what I saw. The code jumped into my head as though I had spent months memorising it. I reached out and tapped 7 7 7 # 1 4 2 *.
Nothing happened for so long I thought I had done it wrong. Then there was a hiss, followed by a series of loud snaps as studs shot out around the edge of the door. In the distance, voices raised in concern were added to the footsteps and the footsteps sounded more hurried. The panel began to swing inwards and there was a low rumble of some kind of machinery. A gust of air puffed around the edges. It smelt metallic and was sharp and cold in my nose. I peered around the edge of the door. There were no lights and all I could see was a metal tube, big enough to walk down, stretching out into the dark. There were shouts of surprise and, to my right people came into sight at the end of the crossway. I reached out to take the bag from Pitr.
‘I packed enough for two,’ he said.
‘What?’
‘There’s enough for both of us. Let me come with you.’
‘But you are so - What about your ‘Duty’?’
‘This is Duty. It’s a greater Duty than anything I could do here. Let me come with you. Let me help.’
There was a pleading note in his voice. I knew if I said ‘no’ he would accept it and back away. I also knew he would never forgive me, and that it made me feel better to think that whatever I was getting into, I would not be on my own. I let go the bag and nodded. He gave me a huge grin. I turned back to the door.
It was all the way open now, but the view hadn’t changed. The people my dad had sent for me were getting closer. I climbed into the tunnel, then half turned and held out a hand to help Pitr in. He didn’t need it and had already clambered up and pushed past me. I looked around for something to close the door with, then grabbed hold of the edge of the door and pushed. It moved easily and stared to swing back into place. Just before it slammed shut, it slowed down, hissed, and gently closed. Everything went completely black.