(Edited-for real this time- with thanks to MacBeth)The Rainmakers, chapter 13
ShaftedMac’s Voice-over: I know I already mentioned this, but it bears repeating—I don’t like heights.
Something you learn after climbing down your first handful of elevator shafts— most folks don’t waste money on lighting inside the shaft. They’re always, always, always as dark as an ink well.
Which is why I’m a lucky man. Can’t see the bottom… don’t know how far there is to fall!
Still, I found myself hesitating on the edge of the drop. The smell of the fried lasers filled the air—made me cough a bit—but didn’t quite get the taste of Pete’s cigarettes out of my mouth. I don’t know why anyone would want to inhale those awful things deliberately… I’d have given a lot for a breath of sweet air right then.
But the memory of it was the best I was going to get.
The radio crackled, reminding me that I wasn’t entirely alone in the dark. Burk’s voice echoed around the enclosed space where MacGyver was crouching. “Franklin, get some rope and a high-powered lantern from Supply and take it down to MacGyver…”
“No time, Charlie,” MacGyver said, scooting around so that his legs dangled into the abyss. “I’ll be gone by the time he gets here… time’s a-wastin’.” MacGyver twisted and lowered himself until he felt a groove in the wall with the toes of his shoes. He dug in and reached to his left, where he knew he’d find a long pipe leading wires vertically through the shaft. “Colsen, on the schematics that I left with you, the cables for the main power source are routed through this shaft, right? I’m going to follow them down as far as they can take me.”
“Watch out for breakages,” Pete’s voice cautioned.
Mac let out a slight chuckle. “Are the lights still on up there?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, then… it’s not likely that the cables are broken, then! But I’ll be careful anyway…”
“Wise guy.” Mac heard Pete mutter softly. It made him grin, but he saved his breath for climbing.
MacGyver felt his way down, making good progress. There were grooves circling the shaft every ten feet or so, and the piping was thick and strong. Mac lowered himself smoothly until he scuffed the surface of the elevator car on his last step down.
There was a thick layer of loose soil on the top of the car. MacGyver knelt and ran his fingers through the dirt until he found the service door. He dug out the handhold but it took a little effort to lift it open. A shaft of light leaped up through the small opening, swirling with dust. Mac dropped his game bag through the opening before lowering himself through. He’d reached Level Two.
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Sidney Marlow saw no use in clawing at the wreckage that blocked the doorway. He could see that there was no way he could hope to shift the debris single-handedly. The air was full of smoke and heavy with dust. Acrid odors from the smashed containers and crumpled shelves of the lab mingled with the atmosphere to make it almost intolerable to breathe. The irritation caused his eyes to water.
There was a unit on the wall that should regulate the control of air in the room. Marlow pressed the button repeatedly, but like so many other things it was unresponsive. He blinked and wiped the tears away as he went once again to check on his friend.
Karl Steubens was still unconscious. Marlow had tried to move his friend into a comfortable position, keeping his head a bit elevated. He had an ugly wound on his scalp, which was bleeding again. Marlow cast around for something to use as a bandage, but seeing nothing to hand, he tore off one of the sleeves of his shirt and folded it with clumsy fingers. He pressed it against Steuben’s head, trying to be gentle and firm at the same time.
Nervous, frightened, and undoubtedly still in shock, Marlow found marginal comfort in the sound of his own voice. He spoke to his friend out loud.
“Shame to t-tear it up, old boy… you know, my wife gave me this suit! But the j-jacket’s ruined anyway. That looks like it might hurt… s-sorry but I must press hard if the bleeding is going to s-stop… I do wish they’d c-come soon.”
Marlow paused, hoping that Steubens would open his eyes and answer him, or even tell him to shut up his chattering. But there was no response; Karl lay as if already dead, though his breathing continued and his heartbeat was strong when Marlow sought it at his wrist with trembling fingers.
“They will come, d-don’t you think?” Marlow said, settling down next to where his friend lay. He had propped the unconscious man up on a short stair frame to keep him above the noxious vapors coagulating on the floor. He took one of the man’s hands into his own, chafing it gently. “It’s just a matter of t-time. Those men on the speaker… th-th-they said that th-they were trying to g-g-get down h-here...”
Marlow paused and took a few breaths. He always stuttered when he was anxious, even when he was talking to himself. It was a nervous habit that he’d never managed to break. Steubens was the only one he could ever talk to without stammering. The tall, lanky scientist always had a way of making Marlow relax and feel confident. It was one of the reasons that their friendship had endured though the years since they’d been in school together in Edinburgh. That… and the game.
Chess. Marlow looked down at the floor, which was still swimming with fumes and foul smoke. A number of objects lay half-drowned in the unnatural fog. Marlow bent down and picked up a small piece of the debris. It was a small lump of white marble, intricately carved in the shape of a noble horse’s head; one of Steuben’s knights. The base of the piece was broken and a chip had been taken out of the proud profile.
Marlow fingered the piece, swallowing back his despair. “You sh-should never have moved that rook in like that, Karl… you really couldn’t afford to lose your knight. And you virtually s-sacrificed the s-second one… for a mere few p-pawns! It’s like you were… I don’t know… trying to d-draw out the game.” He sighed, letting the ruined piece fall from his fingers.
“We c-could use a white knight ourselves, right about now, eh Karl?”
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MacGyver’s feet touched the floor, and he was glad to be leaving the utter darkness in the shaft for the semi-darkness of the elevator car. The doors of the car were open and showed marks of having been pried open. “I think I’m in,” he announced for the benefit of his listeners.
Pete nodded as he heard MacGyver’s words. Burke and Gantner stood nearby, both tuned in on their own radios. “What’s it look like down there?” Pete asked.
“Twilight Zone.” Mac answered briefly, not relishing the taste of the air. It was thick with the acrid odor of burned wiring and ochre dust. He slung his bag over his shoulder so that his hands were free and walked out into the corridor. “Elevator’s jammed in the shaft, so I’m going to have to find another way to the lower level. Heading for the Bio Lab.”
MacGyver’s eyes adjusted quickly to the dim light, and as he walked he looked around at the damage for more signs of survivors. The damage was much more apparent on this level; the floor was strewn with dirt and drifted in places with debris from fallen ceiling tiles and crumpled pipes. Overhead, dangling wires crackled, showering the corridor with sparks. He ducked as he walked through and entered another corridor, hurrying to pass more spitting wires. He silently hoped that none of the vapors cloying in the air were flammable.
Then he spotted it; scuffed footprints in the dust. It was impossible to decipher the number of people who had made them or which direction they had been moving; too much fresh dirt had fallen and covered the marks.
Something creaked in the walls around him. MacGyver rose and continued forward as swiftly as caution permitted. On his left he noticed a fire hose and extinguisher. The glass in the case was standing open and the fire ax was missing.
He saw where the corridor branched out to either side, and from his mental map knew in which direction the Bio Lab lay, but as he rounded the corner, he was forced to stop. Where the entrance of the lab should have been a great pile of debris completely filled the corridor, from wall to sagging wall.
“We got a problem, boys.”
~~~
Link to Chapter 14
Everyone, sometimes, needs a camel.
Old troubleshooters never die...
They just wait til the last moment and then rescue themselves!
