GENESIS (GODS CHAIN) (59 page)

**********

This new exploration
,
too, was pitch black,
p
itch black with a
distant noise
...the
sound of a dull and
muted
hum, like an engine reverberating from her left
.
Looking towards this
noise,
she observed a light switch on the wall
—
what luck!
In complete disbelie
f,
the girl
flipped the switch.

A light turned on and she cheered for joy that
she would soon be out of here.

Scanning
the area
several times
,
unsure where to go, she noticed that the place was dust
-
laden
,
dirty and very enclosed
—
a straight
,
vertical grey wall appeared directly in front of her, straight up to about ten metres.
Overhead was what looked like a steel platform.
There was nothing to her right other than a
dead end, a blank vertical stone wall. The corridor was only one or two metres wide, tight and very claustrophobic.

A channel
led
away to
her
left
,
to a corner close by where she was standing. The lighting was bad,
as it was
supplied by a single light bulb on the left wall just above the doorway.
The bulb was protected
with
a heavy
,
transparent
-
ribbed plastic front facade, allowing only enough luminance to see her immediate vicinity.

Francesca turned ninety degrees at the stone corner and saw that the high vertical walls continued and extended upwards; ahead the dirty and dusty floor was covered in rubbish and many pieces of discarded junk.
The humming noises were much louder here.
Where in the city she really was
,
the girl could not guess
.
With the catacombs behind her, at least
she
must be
closer to some place
good!
It was very warm inside this place, inside the innards of some strange building
,
in total contrast to where Francesca had been earlier.

The technician found herself staring at a myriad
of
metal pipes, large and small and on either side, all travelling horizontally and vertically up and along the stone walls.
To her right, red painted pipes were boiling
hot
to the touch; on her left
, they were
black and cold.
All were travelling along in parallel and in pairs.
There was no other way to go
,
so the girl followed the trail
among them, h
oping
it
would lead her to safety.

Francesca walked
only
two hundred metres
before she
came to a dead end
. Here,
t
he humming noise was much louder.
The sounds were more distinctive at this end
.

‘Ah! A ladder!’
Francesca said excitedly
.
This would
give her
access
to
the level above
, which would certainly bring her closer to the outside world she knew and loved.
Francesca switched on another light on the wall
,
and the level above instantly lit brightly!

BANG! She jumped
.
What was that?
It was only the electricity kicking into action from somewhere, maybe a “trip switch” or something like that, banging on its power
.
A
s electricity fed the lights above
,
their brilliance flooded down!

A split second later came another loud noise,
which
boomed from
behind her.
Francesca jumped again
.
The loud echo
, now
silent, had come from
...
back where she had been
only
minutes before?

Shit
...
what was that noise?
What have I done?
The girl tried to make common sense out of rising primal fear
.
There is nothing wrong with the switch to cause a sound like that
—t
he noise came from the catacombs below
...
.

Her nerves were on a knife edge as she strained all her senses again to listen
...
the girl had not expected any noise,
not
any bang at all and especially
not
from where she had recently emerged! With bated breath she remained waiting
,
for that noise
had been
different
;
it was not electrical and more like a door
,
c
losing
.
...
             

             
There must be a generator somewhere, which means
that
someone comes in here
,
Francesca reasoned.
I
t
’
s not part of the catacombs
.
I must be able to find my way out now!
Francesca reassur
ed
her
self,
despite
her feelings of impending horror
.

The bang had left quite a distinctive echo resonating around the large structure
,
which
she had
picked up above the regular humming of electrical generator
s
and
distribution boxes and crazy
water pipes
.
Dismissing this intrusion to the back of her mind
,
all she wanted was to run away
—to just
g
et out!

             
The environment was unpleasant and extremely warm inside
the man-made structure. L
ike a sauna, it
became
gradually worse as she moved up from level to level.
Now
Francesca
was presented by another complex set of pipework left, right and above her.
She was completely surrounded in metalwork.
The platform walkway ahead was again made of a dull
,
silver
-
welded metal
that
had a flexible trampoline
-
like movement about it and an unusual
,
slightly raised pattern of points providing extra traction.

Francesca f
ollow
ed
th
e path
,
which
ran parallel as expected the length of the passage underneath and
,
al
though it seemed safe enough, her footsteps made a light dull clanking noise with each step.
Predictably
,
Francesca came to another dead end further along and yet another ladder to ascend.
Climbing up and finding another light switch at the top
, she
f
lick
ed
it on
.
T
here was no bang this time
,
and the light
was
duller, illuminating a scene of much more twisted architecture and poorly lagged pipes of all shapes and sizes.
There seemed to be plenty of shadowy hiding places among the twisted metal.
Continuing along, in the dimness and without any warning
,
she stumbled
..
.
.

‘Shit! My God, where did that come from?’ the girl was taken completely by surprise
by the disruption
,
and she
stopp
ed
immediately
.
Taking extra care
,
Francesca slowly swept her foot across a square hole in the platform
.

It appeared to be a small area and roughly cut out from the floor
.
The hole was now a hidden danger!
It had p
robably
been
made some time ago as a “through pipe”
,
cut out by some
e
ngineer
and then abandoned
.
Whoever had done it had been negligent, leaving it
open
like this!
Anyone’s leg could easily fall through, breaking it
a bone or
cutting
an
ankle and leg into shreds with its vicious ragged edges!

Not losing much time
,
the girl passed another fuse box on the wall
and
then
,
like before
,
she began to climb up to another level.
This is a big building
,
she realized.
She could be anywhere in the Vatican City.
How much further
i
s there
to go?