Deep Down (Sam Stone Book 1) (6 page)

Before she and Stone were able to take their seats, the tour guide began speaking. She had borrowed the clip-on microphone and battery pack that the actor had used earlier in the evening so that she could be heard clearly over the whispered, nervous conversations of the other visitors. 

Her voice trembled with nerves as she began to speak.

“Now that medical personnel has arrived, I am able to tell you a bit more about our situation.   It is not technically true that the lift is not working at this time. It is more correct to say that the lift
cannot
be used at this time.  Quarantine is in effect for those of us here in the museum, as it has been discovered that the containment case for “Ed”, the museum’s on-site bacteria exhibit, has been broken.  This happened in an earlier incident this evening, which involved the boy who was just shot.  We fear that the bacteria may be causing the health issues that some of you have experienced tonight.”

Here, the woman paused and looked pointedly at Jenny and Stone and the others in their group.

Loud murmurs of dissent broke out across the room, but the tour guide simply spoke over them, raising her voice as she resumed her announcement.

“Many of you may have noticed a difference in the air.  I want to assure you that this should in no way concern you.  For the safety of the residents on the surface, the circulation of fresh air in and out of the mines has been temporarily suspended until biohazard filters can be installed over the exhaust vents.  However, I have been assured that there is currently several days worth of oxygen down here with us, so no one need worry about suffocation.”

Many people at the surrounding tables rose to their feet upon hearing this, alarm written upon their faces.

Before anyone could say a word, the tour guide continued, her voice squeaking and shaking with anxiety and stress.  Jenny felt a momentary pang of sympathy for the woman.  After all, none of this was her fault, she was just the chosen bearer of bad news.

“Additionally, all circulation of water has ceased.  No fresh water will be pumped down to us, nor will sewage be pumped up from the mines until it is determined where the contamination risk resides.   This means that you should please refrain from using the bathroom facilities unless absolutely necessary. The toilets will not flush without the use of a fresh supply of water, so all use of them should be limited to necessity. However, for drinking purposes, we have several hundred cases of bottled water stock-piled in the kitchen area, so there is no need to worry about dehydration.”

A man stood up from the back of the room, yelling loudly to be heard clearly over the microphone-enhanced voice of the guide, but the woman cut right over him with her next statement, now practically shouting into the microphone.

“The specialist that was promised earlier has been delayed.  The specialist is actually a CDC medical professional, not a lift mechanic.  I’ve been assured that this man will arrive within the next 24-48 hours, and that we will be held in quarantine here until that time.”

The guide stopped speaking, and the crowd erupted into angry questions and comments.

Beside her, Stone said nothing, but Jenny could practically see the plans for escape forming behind his stoic face.

Long, slow seconds passed after the guide’s announcement as the visitors murmured angrily to each other at their tables.  The tension had risen within the room so much that it was palpable.  Waves of anxiety and distress seemed to emanate from the visitors inside the dining cavern.

The angry murmurs grew louder near the back of the cavern as a group of visitors left their table en masse to approach the exit.   From Jenny’s vantage point at their table near the exit to the cavern, she could see the remaining four security guards line up across the exit, completely blocking the small space that led out to the tunnels beyond.

The group of people from the back table was almost upon the exit when the doctor, who had been bending over the boy, stood up and turned toward them.

“Please take your seats.   Leaving this cavern will do you no good, even if it would be permitted, which it will not,” his voice boomed out of his quarantine suit, surprisingly loud, and Jenny realized that the suit must be equipped with a microphone and speakers.  “You’ve all been exposed to a pathogen of unknown origin. This bacteria known as ED, as the museum staff have named it, was studied before it was allowed to be placed in a public museum setting.  The lead scientist, knowing that the bacteria would be kept inside a sealed environment at all times, felt that there was little danger to the public, as the bacteria was not known to be virulent or a health hazard to humans.  However, now that the bacteria’s environment has been breached, and some of you are showing symptoms of infection, we have reason to suspect that his findings might not have been entirely correct.  With the preliminary research on this bacteria now considered to be fundamentally flawed, we have no way of knowing what effect it will have upon living hosts.”

“That’s exactly why we’re not staying here,” one of the men from the group said, resuming his walk to the exit.

“Think of your loved ones on the surface,” the doctor said.  “Surely you do not want them to be exposed?”

“I don’t. I’ll check myself into a hospital.  I’ll stay away from my family until I know whether I’m sick with something or not, but I’m not spending the night down here with no fresh air and no flushing toilets.  Not gonna’ happen,” the man insisted.

Several of the women in his group seemed to think differently.  Obviously, their families on the surface must matter a great deal to them, because three of the women turned and started back to their seats.

The man looked around, realizing that only three of his group remained standing at his side.  He shook his head, looking peeved, and continued on toward the exit.  A moment before he reached the security guards, the man broke into a run and spun left, racing towards one of the tarps that had been hung near the side of the dining area to block off the cavern into a smaller, more intimate, space. 

Jenny had no idea what lay behind those tarps, and she was pretty sure that none of the other visitors knew what lay behind them either.  The tour guide had instructed visitors earlier that they were to stay away from the hanging tarps and always use the main entrance and exit area when coming and going from the cavern.  She had not explained her instructions, and why would she?  They were all only there for a fun evening out to enjoy a dinner theater and a little time with friends and family.  There was no real need for them to know every single working detail of the museum and the mines beyond.

One of the security guards shouted at the fleeing man to stop, but the man didn’t even slow his all-out sprint, his legs pumping wildly as he dodge the last obstacle, a table full of bottled water, before he reached the edge of the tarp. In a moment, he was quickly sliding behind the edge of the tarp and out of sight, the sound of his running footsteps following him into the darkness beyond. 

Muttering under his breath, one of the guards started after the man, his stride long and angry as he made his way to the edge of the tarp. He glanced back at the remaining three guards, hesitating only slightly, before he too slipped beyond the tarp and disappeared behind it.

All around the room, Jenny could see the other visitors contemplating what had just happened.  Tarps hung over unknown spaces in nearly a perfect half circle at the back edge of the cavern, blocking off sections on the south and east sides, and many of the people seated at the tables throughout the cavern were now eyeing these concealing tarps with some interest.

Jenny waited with bated breath.  It was only a matter of time.

It happened almost instantly.  Another entire tableful of guests, near the back of the cavern and situated very close to a hanging tarp, stood up in unison and bolted like a herd of frightened deer, disappearing one by one as they dodged behind the heavy tarp nearest their table..

The people who had been seated at the adjacent table leapt to their feet and followed. And then two more tables of guests emptied, the men and women all sprinting toward the tarps as if fleeing for their very lives, which, to their minds, they probably were.

The guards shouted at the people to return to their seats, but their shouts had no effect.  The visitors were frightened.  They wanted at least the illusion of escape.  And so they fled, disregarding the shouts behind them.

The doctor was shouting now too, but the fleeing people paid no heed to him either.

Another group of visitors near the middle of the room stood and raced toward the nearest tarp, which was a good twenty feet from where their table was oriented inside the cavern. Jenny watched them flee, her heart pounding in apprehension.  The situation was quickly getting out of hand.

“Stop or I’ll shoot!” one of the guards yelled, standing very close to Jenny’s table. 

There was a loud clap of sound within the cavern as a gun was fired, and then one of the runners collapsed to the floor.

Stone surged to his feet in an instant, leaping sideways to grab the guard’s still extended arm.  He yanked it behind the man’s back and then quickly jerked the gun from the man’s fingers before any more damage could be done.

Jenny could smell the acrid scent of spent gunpowder as it wafted from the gun.  Across the room, horrified whispers began as some of the surrounding people rushed to the side of the fallen man.

The remaining two security guards approached Stone now, their guns drawn threateningly.

“Are you people insane? Where did they send you for security training, Disney World?  You’ve got no idea what you’re doing!” Stone growled at them, still retaining his tight hold upon the guard.  “Shooting these people will not get you anywhere.  All you’re going to do is incite a riot!”

“Think, man!” Stone shook the security guard within his grasp slightly for emphasis.  “Where will they go if they sneak out under the tarps?  The lift cannot be operated without the operator, can it?  There’s the matter of the operator’s key, isn’t’ there?  A key that none of the visitors have!  They’ll have to come back, and in the mean time, they’ll wander around and blow off some steam.   When they come back, they’ll be more willing to listen to reason.  There’s no reason to kill anyone else.”

Jenny bit her lip, clenching her fingers on the arms of her chair in order to stop herself from leaping up and rushing to Stone’s side as the other security guards advanced upon him.  She knew her presence beside him, in the line of fire, would be a distraction for him.  And at that moment, she didn’t want to split his focus.  At that moment, he needed every advantage that he could get.  He was making perfect sense, but the two guards still held their guns pointed at him, ready to fire.

Stone angled the guard’s body in front of his own, shielding his torso somewhat from the two guards in front of him, making it harder to hit him with a bullet without going through their comrade first. 

“Holster your weapons, and think about this,” Stone said, staring down the guards, his tone of voice as hard as his expression.  “I’m currently no threat to you.  I am not pointing a weapon at you.  I’m simply preventing this man from killing other innocent visitors.”

“Let him go, and
then
we’ll holster our weapons,” one of the guards said.

“Fine,” Stone said, his tone still as hard as his name.  “But I’m not returning his weapon.  He’s too willing to kill the innocent.”

“You’re not keeping it,” the second guard said, his tone belligerent.

“No, I’m giving it to my friend Gilbert here.  But, I’m afraid I am keeping the ammo,” Stone said.  “The weapon will be a threat to no one that way.  He’ll have the gun and I’ll have the bullets. Without both, the weapon will not function.  And, the gun will be out of the hands of this lunatic, who’s obviously had so little weapons training that he doesn’t deserve to be carrying a sidearm.”

There was a tense silence while the two guards contemplated his proposition.  Jenny was sure that they would reject Stone’s solution.  There was no reason for them to allow Gilbert to keep the weapon. No reason to allow anyone other than themselves to be armed.

Finally, the first guard heaved an explosive sigh and lowered his gun. 

“He’s right, Stan,” the guard said to his fellow.  “Harry should never have shot at those people.  They were no threat.”

Stan shook his head.  “The CDC said to keep everyone contained and make sure that they didn’t leave.  They were leaving. So he had to do something, John.”

John sighed again and holstered his gun. “He didn’t have to shoot.  This man is right.  There’s no way for them to leave the mine without the operator’s key.”

Stan eyed Stone, gun still drawn, his expression grim.  “This guy’s got no right to grab a security officer.”

Gilbert stood up suddenly, “He’s got every right.  He saw a man shooting innocent people, and he stepped in. That’s his right. That’s
everyone’s
right.  Except no one but Stone had the courage to step in front of a loaded gun to
do it
.”

Stan frowned, and Jenny could see that the man realized that he had no argument against Gilbert’s unfailing logic.

“Fine,” Stan said, reluctantly holstering his gun.  “But you two just stay out of our way.  You’re not security here tonight.  We are.  And we’ve got a job to do.  With orders from the CDC. And you’re not keeping the gun.”

“From what I heard, you were hired to be backup security for a celebrity appearance.  A celebrity that never showed up, I might add.  If you ask me, that means your job is over.  You’re not in the employ of the CDC. You were hired by the museum. Your interests
should be
in protecting the visitors to the museum,
not
in terrorizing and killing them,” Gilbert said, glaring at the guard that Stone still held in an iron grip.

The three guards said nothing in their own defense.  Possibly because they could see the truth in Gilbert’s statement, or possibly because he had offended them when he’d told them how ineffectual and unneeded they really were.

Gilbert said nothing more as he sat back down in his seat.

To Jenny’s relief, Stone had nothing more to say either.  He released Harry, shoving the man toward Stan with more than necessary roughness.  Then, in a smooth motion, he released the clip in Harry’s gun and stuck it in his back pocket, chambered the weapon to check for a live round inside, then handed the empty gun to Stan.  With a simple, hard look, Stone dared the man to say anything about the lack of ammo in the gun.

Stan said nothing as he took the gun from Stone’s hand.

Jenny could feel her own hands shaking again as Stone took his seat next to her.  Her heart pounded inside her chest with a frantic rhythm of fear.  In the second time in less than an hour, she’d almost seen her worst fear come to pass.  She’d almost seen Stone die. 

She understood why Stone had done what he had done, and she appreciated his bravery and courage, but she was horrified at how close he’d come to getting shot. 

“Please don’t do that again,” she whispered as she reached over to take his hand.

Stone didn’t answer, but he did grip her shaking hand reassuringly in his own under the table.  He was busy watching the three security guards as they turned and walked back to the exit.

Five yards away, two of the men in quarantine suits dragged the dead man toward the exit.