Ascent: (Book 1) The Ladder (13 page)

Chapter Nineteen

            Hanging on the walls of the hallway are images and documents of various kinds. Two separate rows of three light tracks are affixed to either side of the ceiling. They are aimed at the walls to shine on the various images and pages hanging on display.

            Joe slowly walks through the hallway, taking notice of the displays. One particular image stands out. It is a framed photo of two men in hard hats standing in the empty space of a field of grass. They each have one hand on the wood handle of a shovel and one foot on the spade. They are smiling. Except for the dark hair, one of the men looks like Scraggle. Under the photo are the words, [Breaking Ground].

            Joe continues in the hallway. There are small gold statues with plaques on them. Some read [Most Decorated], others have the words [Most Honored] etched onto them.

            He looks on the other side of the hallway and two large images grab his attention. On one of them, it reads [The Column].

Scraggle mentioned this
.

Looking closer at it, Joe recognizes the Mines. The image of the Ladder could not be more clear. Moving his eyes upward along the Ladder reveals the next level.

“We must be here now…’R and D’”

The illustration shows two levels to the R&D section with a staircase leading from one to the other. And a second stair case goes up to the third area called [Executive Level].

“Ex…ecu…tyve? Tiv? Executive? The Column has four levels?”

            Stepping back, Joe takes a look at the second image. It’s far more detailed and very confusing. It looks like it is an in-depth illustration of the Column. Joe instantly recognizes the Junction and the tunnels that branch off through the Mines. The rest of the illustration is confusing and the words and numbers don’t make any sense to him.

            As he moves farther into the hallway, a particular image catches his eye. A man stands with his arms behind his back. He wears a uniform similar to the ones they all changed into. Behind him stands a row of Wardens.

Joe looks at the photo a little closer. “Boss—x”

            “Joe!” Lauren runs around the corner. “You made it.”

            “Yeah. We have a long way to go. There’s one more level above us and—”

            “I know. Scraggle told us. You have to see this.” Lauren rushes back out of Joe’s sight.

            Joe takes one more look at the photo before running after her.

            Rounding the corner, Joe stops when he sees the rest of the group standing in the opening to a large room. In the middle of the room is a round, metal enclosure and above it, large metal gears move an arm up and down. The same sound from the vertical tunnel ruminates through the room.

            “What is that?” Joe walks up behind the group.

            “Joe!” Marvin calls out gleefully. He puts his arms around him.

            “That, my boy, is the heart of the Mines. It does everything from defense to extraction,” Scraggle explains.

            “What is extraction?” Dina asks.

            “That’s what takes away the stones and minerals, isn’t it?” Lauren stares at the moving arm.

            “Very intuitive,” Scraggle tells her.

            “What is that?” Lance walks to a steel table and picks up a copper colored rod. At the top of it is a silver sphere identical to the ones that shocked Joe.

            “Everything in here is a danger of some sort. We mustn’t play in here. We must keep moving,” Scraggle tries to tell them but his words fall on deaf ears.

            The kids run into the room, each stopping at various tables to inspect the items lying on them. Katya and Dina find a steel bowl with a silver liquid inside it.

            “Touch it,” Dina tells Katya.

            “I’ve never seen silver water before. I’m not touching it.”

            “A smart decision.” Scraggle walks to the table. “That is mercury. Highly poisonous. But very fascinating.“ HE picks up a glove from the table and puts it on. “It is actually a type of metal.” He dips his gloved hand in the bowl and brings it out with a small bit of the liquid in his palm. “Unlike water and other liquids, it does not separate as easily.”

            The girls look at it, fascinated.

            “What’s this?” Lauren picks up a rifle.

            “Put that down!” Straggle yells at her.

The outburst startles her and she pulls the trigger. A loud bang echoes through the room as the rifle fires off a bullet. The bullet flies through the hallway, narrowly missing Joe.

            “Sorry,” Lauren says as she quickly lays the rifle back down.

            Joe looks back and sees a hole in the wall caused by the bullet.

            Scraggle removes the glove and lays it back on the table. “That…is called a gun. And it is most certainly not a toy. It is an old technology that we have been working on for decades trying to perfect. We always come up short. Soldiers still use them to this day. Perhaps some things are perfect as they are.”

            “We’ll take that with us.” Joe steps into the room and up to the table with the gun.

            “No. No. No. I must insist that we leave this here. In the wrong hands it is quite fatal and all of your hands are the wrong ones, therefore, no.” Scraggle places his hands over the gun trying to guard it.

            “It’s a weapon. We might need it,” Joe says as he tries to pull the gun from under Scraggle’s hands.

            Scraggle pulls it back. Lauren helps Joe pull it out from under him.

            “We’re taking it,” Joe says finally.

            “Well, just be sure that I am not in front of you should you have to use it.” Scraggle walks away from them.

            “That goes for me, too,” Chris says.

            “What’s this?” Marvin asks. He and Gary try to reach an L-shaped item on the top of a table.

            “Leave it!” Scraggle yells. “That, too, is a gun. That one is a hand gun. Shorter distance but no less dangerous.”

            “Katya, get that one,” Joe tells her.

            She walks to the gun and picks it up. “Maybe when you guys are older.” She smiles at the boys.

            “Is this thing a gun, too?” Lance walks to Scraggle in the aisle between the tables.

“That, is an old EAR.” Scraggle notices the kids pulling at their own ears. “No. E.A.R. Electrical Arc Rod. It is the guard weapon of the original Wardens.”

            “Trust me. Those robots don’t need those.” Joe tries to steer clear of the EAR.

            Scraggle takes the Electrical Arc Rod from Lance. “These were before the Automated Wardens. This was from a time when the jailers were human. They were replaced by the robots because of things like consciousness and empathy.”

            Scraggle walks in front of the group and aims the EAR skyward. “You see, by sliding your thumb up or down, you can control the intensity of the electricity. We harnessed the power of lighting…”

            “What’s lighting?” Gary asks.

            “The sooner we get to the Surface, the sooner you will see,” Scraggle tells him. “I suppose, Dreamer, you’ll be wanting to take this with you as well.” He hands the EAR back to Lance.

            “Whatever helps.”

            “Well, since we are playing with fire as it is, you…” Scraggle gestures toward Dina.

            She approaches him. “My name is Dina.”

            “Of course. Take these with you.” He places four small spheres in her hands. “When the time comes, throw one of them at any wall and run.”

            “When will that time be?”

            “Hopefully, for my sake, never. But should we not be so fortunate, trust me, you will know. Use them only then.” Scraggle begins walking around the metal enclosure. He stops just in front of a window. Even his breathing slows.

            “What is it?” Joe quickly catches up to Scraggle. He looks in the direction of Scraggle’s gaze.

            “All these years. I never imagined I would see her again.”

            “Why isn’t there anyone watching this stuff?” Katya looks around the room, oblivious to the object of Scraggle’s attention.

            Joe turns and motions for all of them to join him and Scraggle.

            “Who is she?” Joe asks Scraggle.

Scraggle does not take his eyes off the woman working in the small room. She wears clothing very similar to the Doctor but with the addition of gloves on her hands and a clear face mask. She pours a clear liquid into the flask of another, darker colored liquid. When the two touch, a green fog rolls from the flask. She immediately touches a button under the table and a glass enclosure drops down, trapping the fog inside.

            She walks to the wall on the other side of the table and pushes another button. The fog is vacuumed up into the metal box above the table. The woman hangs her head down in defeat.

            Scraggle touches the window separating them. The woman looks toward it and sees the group standing outside. Her eyes widen. Scraggle sees her mouth the words of his name. No one can hear her and she cannot hear them but Scraggle knows exactly what she is saying.

She motions for them to wait there and she rushes out of the room. The door closes behind her.

Scraggle’s legs become shaky and Joe catches him from falling.

            “Are you ok?”

            “A welcome feeling. One you will learn of soon enough I’d wager.” Scraggle regains his footing. A door along the same wall as the window slides open and the woman from the room steps out.

            “Marion,” she says, happy to see him.

            “Giselle.” His tone is the same as hers.

            The two move quickly toward one another and embrace. It’s quite some time till they release.

            “Did they let you of the Mines?” she asks.

            “Not quite. I had enacted a plan long ago. I had no intention of living my days down there. It is so good to see you.”

            “I’m glad to see you as well. Who are your friends?”

            “Oh, yes, these are…Mmm…I know only one of their names. This is Joe. He’s the Dreamer.”

            Giselle’s expression turns to shock. “It works?”

            “The nano machines were a success.”

            “That means that we’ll be able to…Oh listen to me prattling on. You must be tired from the climb. All of you. I’m Giselle. I’m a chemical engineer for the Column.”

            “Why are you only one here?” Katya asks.

            Giselle looks up into the corner of the room. A small dome is attached to the wall. “Of course. Come with me. We’ll all have a rest in my office. “

Chapter Twenty

            The walls of Giselle’s office are a dark brown wood. Darker than the Ladder but obviously made from the same material. Along the shelves on the walls, sit rows and rows of manuals and books. The kids immediately take to them. They had seen pages and written words before but nothing so well put together or coherent.

            Scraggle sits, comfortably, in a table side chair. Its wooden arms are of a similar dark color. “The comforts of civilization.” He exhales as he leans back and closes his eyes.

            “It gets more opulent the higher up you go.” Giselle sits down at her desk.

            “Why is it so dark in here?” Dina asks, leaning against a wall in a corner of the room.

            The lighting has the same warm glow as that of the Junction and the Bunks except that these bulbs are not hanging from exposed cables. The office lights are sunk into cylinders inside the ceiling.

Scraggle turns a switch on a lamp. The lamp turns on and lights the shade on top of it. The shade is similar to the one that sat in front of Dorian except this one has what looks like a map. The different sections are separated by dark lines and each section is a different color, making the room brighter and a little more festive.

            “I’d forgotten your fondness for geography.” Scraggle smiles.

            “I find the dimmer lighting and the dark wood more relaxing. It’s also proven to be safer for the eyes,” Giselle explains.”I’m sure you agree that it’s better than the florescent lighting in the Development lab.”

            “Fluorescent?” Katya questions the meaning of the word.

            “The white tube lighting. It has such a piercing glare. These lights are much more comfortable.” She looks around the room. “Sometimes you just need a break from the harsh work conditions.”

            The kids look at each other. They’re all thinking the same thing. Giselle has no idea what harsh working conditions are.

            “Are you the only one here?” Katya returns the book she’s been thumbing through back to the shelf.

            “I elected to stay behind,” Giselle begins. “Someone needed to continue making the remedy for the toxin cloud.”

            “You’ve been giving the Doctor Remedy?” Lauren’s head pops up from the book she’s been skimming through.

            “Of course. Remedy has been synthesized since the first days of the Column. But ever since we were overrun—”

            “Overrun?” Scraggle interrupts her.

            “Realta. They stormed in years ago. Well after your exile. They want in the Mines to take the mineral resources.” She pauses before admitting, “I’ve been avoiding them while trying to make a vaccine. If I can make an immunity to the toxin and get it into the Mines, everyone could come up and we might be able to overtake the Realta troops. The rest of the Development team either ran or were executed. I don’t know which.”

            “The Mines are sealed,” Joe tells Giselle.

            “What do you mean?”

            “The Doctor closed a door in the tunnel. The Ladder got smashed and the Mines were filled with the fog. Everyone down there has the Sick.”

            “So we can’t even get back there,” Lauren finishes.

            Giselle slumps in her chair. “There is another way but you have to reach the Surface, first. And the way things are going up there, you were all better off in the Mines. Including you Marion.” Her words create a sense of hopelessness in the room. “If I could get this vaccine right.”

            “He is your answer.” Scraggle points to Joe. “He is immune to the toxin.”

            “How?” Giselle hops to her feet and rushes to a panel. She opens it and pulls out a syringe.

            “My own concoction.” Scraggle smiles.

            “What did you use? I’ve been trying so many chemical variants. Nothing has worked,” Giselle says.

            “Aluminum has many interesting characteristics and properties. And there is more than enough in the Mines. It is not a well sought resource up above. These children toss it out so often.”

            Giselle laughs at his remark. She approaches Joe. “Do you mind?”

            Joe shakes his head before she punctures his arm with the needle and draws blood from it.

“I can synthesize this and once we get to the Surface, we can bring back down the Remedy for everyone then inoculate them with the vaccine. Then we’ll have more than enough people to overrun the troops…” Giselle stops herself. Saying such things only makes her feel regret. “I’m sorry. This is asking so much of all of you. And getting out of here is not so easy. I’m not even sure it’s possible.” Giselle takes the full syringe of Joe’s blood and places it in a padded box. She sets the box on her desk.

            “We didn’t see anyone on our way through here,” Katya explains.

            Giselle walks back to the chair at her desk. “That is because with everyone having fled or…dead, the Realta troops have thinned out their own numbers. They still roam the Development floor but they’re sparse. Spread out. We might be able to sneak to the Steps but…”

            She places her hand on the surface of her desk and the black cube on top flickers with light. An image appears. It is another hallway, lined with metal walls. At the end of the hall, a door just like the one in the first room above the Mines sits closed, on top of three stone steps. On either side of the door stand two troops. They each hold what looks like a rifle similar to what Lauren carries.

            “I just don’t know how we’ll pass them.”

            “We have these.” Lauren, Katya and Lance hold up their weapons.

            “Sadly, I don’t think that will be enough. You won’t be enough.” Giselle’s voice is sorrowful.

            “They will have to be.” A voice emanates from the black box. A light starts to flicker as the image of the door and the troops guarding it disappear and the same distorted image from the black wall appears. “You are halfway there, Dreamer.”

            “Who is that?” Lauren asks.

            “What is this?” Giselle looks at the image.

            The voice ignores Lauren and Giselle. “One more spark and you can save everyone. Save them, Joe.”

            Scraggle sits up in the chair and looks at the Dreamer.

            The voice continues. “Save us all and end it. End this war.”

            The image disappears and returns to the door and the Realta troops.

            Joe looks back at Scraggle, whose expression is that of dread, and he asks in one word, “War?”