by David Meyer
“But how can you be sure Hartek wasn’t just delirious?” I asked incredulously. “What if he meant to tell you something else? For all you know, you wasted over thirty years of your lives for nothing.”
“Don’t you think we debated that a million times?” His voice grew angry. “Of course not, since you already have all the answers. Well, here’s a news flash for you. We never knew anything about the Bell. So, we did the best we could. And we must’ve done something right since the damn thing hasn’t blown up yet.”
I looked back at the Bell. No matter how hard I tried, my brain refused to accept it. Sure, it was real. I could see that with my own two eyes. But it was also irrational, even impossible. In order to square it with my own sense of reality I needed an explanation. Scientific, supernatural, a trick of the eyes, anything.
Anything but the unknown.
Turning around, I slipped between Beverly and Cartwright. Then, I walked past the blanket and through the aisle. After exiting the Omega, I turned left and began walking. I followed the tracks to where they joined the groove and then, all the way to the mouth of the tube.
I stopped just short of the entrance and peered inside. I couldn’t see the explosives, but I knew they weren’t far away.
Kneeling down, I touched the tracks. They seemed to be in good shape. Unfortunately, without electricity they were useless to us.
I look around and noticed a small air flue, similar to the one connected to the bunker. Unfortunately, the Omega was top-heavy. Even if we figured out a way to seal it with the tube, I doubted that anything less than a gale force wind could budge it.
I heard faint footsteps coming from the Omega. Standing up again, I joined the others just outside its cold, metallic body.
I kicked my shoe at the tracks. “Do these things connect with the other ones on the other side of your fake wall?”
Cartwright shook his head. “We pulled up the tracks to make it look like a dead end.”
“Do you really think that’ll fool Chase?”
He shrugged. “Probably not.”
I thought for a second. “So even if we got the Omega working, we don’t have the tracks to ride it out of here.”
“That’s right. Not that it matters since we don’t have a third rail.”
“Can we move the Bell?” Beverly asked.
“Move it where? The side tunnels are too small. The only exit big enough is the tube and you can bet those guys are out there waiting for us.” Cartwright paused. “Face it, there’s no way out of here.”
Beverly nodded. “So let’s forget about that then. We should come up with a plan to deal with Chase when he arrives. Then we need to figure out a way to destroy the Bell.”
I turned around. The station was mostly open space with few hiding spots. The only real cover consisted of the Omega and the pile of debris on top of the groove. Since they were both on the north end of the station, they could prove helpful when the time came to stage a defense.
Regardless, once Chase breached the tube, I knew it was only a matter of time. I already knew exactly how it would play out. We’d pick off a few of his men as they stormed into the station. In return, he’d threaten to kill Diane. We’d either surrender and die or fight and die.
Why didn’t I make out a will before I came down here? Although it’s not like I actually own anything.
My eyes swung back to the giant pile of debris. I couldn’t believe how high it stretched. “What’s all that stuff anyways?”
Before he could respond, I hiked over to the pile and began pulling aside empty boxes and rags. I uncovered a flat, shiny, metallic surface.
“That’s Beach’s car,” Cartwright said. “It’s not his original car. That one was smaller and made of wood. This one was built for these tunnels. It’s the reason we positioned our tracks the way we did. When we coasted the Omega into this room, we didn’t want it to crash into the car.”
I wiped sweat off my forehead. “I say we focus on setting up our escape plan first. Then we’ll work on dismantling the Bell.”
Cartwright frowned. “Haven’t you been listening to me? Escape is impossible. The tracks aren’t connected and the third rail is disabled. We’d literally have to push the Omega out of the station.”
“I’m not talking about escaping in the Omega,” I replied. “I’m talking about escaping in Beach’s car.”
Chapter 56
“You’re out of your mind.” Cartwright sneered. “That thing hasn’t been moved in over a century. Let me repeat that for you. A damn century.”
“Have you ever tried to move it?”
“Of course not.”
“Then how do you know for certain?”
“Because it’s over a hundred years old.”
“I saw an air flue near the entrance of the tunnel. Is the necessary equipment inside of it?”
He sighed. “There’s a blower and an engine if I remember correctly, but there’s zero chance that either of them still works.”
“They might.”
“Of course they might. You would know. After all, you’ve been down here for what, a couple of hours? Who cares about my three decades when we’ve got Cyclone Reed in the vicinity?”
I shook my head. “This isn’t about you.”
“Let me put this a different way,” he retorted. “I once had a television set. Nothing special. Black-and-white and cheap. But it lasted me a decade. By the time it ran its course, I found myself looking at color sets of all different shapes and sizes and qualities. Ten years is an eternity in terms of technology. Do you really think that a hundred-and-forty year old system that was never fully operational still works today?”
“If the technology worked then, it might work now.”
“Technology wears out.”
“Only parts wear out. Take your example. I bet you used your television set every day, for a couple of hours at a time. Normal wear and tear eventually took its toll. That’s not the case here. As you said, the blower and engine haven’t been used for over a century.”
Cartwright turned his back and stalked away in a huff. I glanced over at Beverly for help. But instead, I found myself staring at another doubtful face.
“It sounds a bit crazy,” she said.
“It’s worth a try.”
“Maybe we should just start working on the Bell.”
“If we stay here, we’ll die. Our only chance is to find a way to escape.”
“The priority is destroying the Bell.”
“You know as well as I do it’s going to take time to figure that out. Hell, I read most of Hartek’s journal and I barely understood half of it.”
She shook her head. “Let’s assume you’re not crazy. After we get the Bell into Beach’s subway car, where do we take it?”
“Out of these tunnels. We can take it back into the Lexington Avenue Line and out through one of the closed-off stations. With a little luck, we’ll find a place to hide it. Then you and Cartwright can figure out how to dismantle it while I go after Diane.”
“Aren’t you forgetting that little explosion earlier today? There’s now a rock pile standing between us and the other tunnels. We can’t get past it, not without a bulldozer anyway.”
“Cartwright’s got explosives. If worse comes to worst, we can try to blow up the rock pile and escape into the dust.”
She frowned. “There are just so many variables to consider. We don’t know if the car’s brakes will work. We might zip right into the connecting tunnel and crash into the rock pile.”
Cartwright spun around, a crazy gleam in his eyes. “You can talk all you want, but it doesn’t make a difference. These tubes are ancient and unfinished to boot. Beach’s subway car sat here for all of that time, gathering dust. Frankly, I have doubts that it was ever even tested.”
I gave him a determined look. “Is the Bell safe to move?”
“For a few hours, tops. If we don’t plug it in after that, all bets are off.”
“Beach’s car
looks like it can hold a nearly airtight seal with the pneumatic tube.” I studied the ground. “The groove’s in good shape although the metal rails might pose a problem. Still, we’ve got an air flue, blower, and engine. Everything we need is right here. We just have to get it all to work.”
Cartwright shrugged. “It’s impossible.”
“There’s only one way to know for sure.”
I walked over to the west wall. After checking to make sure that it was clear of explosives, I pressed the button. The bedrock clicked and yawned opened.
As I entered the maintenance tunnel, I hung a left and walked back to where I’d seen the other door. I stopped outside and twisted the knob. It opened easily. Extending my flashlight, I peered into a stuffy room. It was nearly identical to the one that now held the slain bodies of the Sand Demons.
I shone my light around the room, allowing it to linger on the blower and the metallic shaft.
Cartwright appeared behind me. “It looks in good shape,” I said. “You helped to hook up the power lines to the Bell. You must know something about this stuff.”
He placed his gnarled hand on the blower. “I’ll try. No promises, but I’ll try. However, you need to understand something. Even if I get the blower to work, the metal tracks will act as friction. It’ll take a miracle to overcome them.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a choice.” I gave him a hard look. “If we don’t get Beach’s subway car to work, we’re dead.”
Chapter 57
What the hell are you doing?
As I stepped out of the mechanical room and back into the maintenance tunnels, doubts flooded my head. And by the time I reached the station, those doubts had grown into a full-blown crisis of confidence.
My plan involved taking the equivalent of a small hydrogen bomb, hauling it into a one hundred and forty-year-old subway car, and then transporting it via a technology that was ordinarily used to deliver mail. The whole thing was ludicrous and I would’ve laughed if the stakes weren’t so damn high.
I jogged across the station and boarded the Omega. As I passed through the aisle, I saw traces of dried blood and grime. The Omega’s cursed history immediately came to mind.
I’m stuck in an underground subway station with ShadowFire on my tail and nowhere to go. I don’t have to worry about a curse. I’m already cursed.
I tossed the blanket aside and gazed upon the Bell. It continued to float in mid-air, undeterred by the impossibility of it all. Shaking my head, I walked to the right of the wide-open space and stopped in front of the two metal doors.
Holding my breath, I grasped the rubber edge on the nearest door and pulled. To my surprise, it opened easily.
As I opened the other door, I heard a loud thump. Taking out my flashlight, I pointed it across the station at Beach’s car. I didn’t see anything.
Suddenly, a resounding smash pierced the air. I shifted my beam and saw a large wooden crate on the ground. Looking up, I noticed Beverly standing on the roof of the car. She bent down, momentarily disappearing from view. Seconds later, a short metal beam hurtled through the air, crashing against the bedrock.
I scrambled out of the Omega and sprinted over to her. “Stop that.”
She peered over the edge. “What?”
“You’re making too much noise.”
“I was just trying to –”
“Forget it. Look, I need a favor. There’s a door in the rear of this thing. Can you get it open for me?”
“But what about all of this debris? The car won’t fit in the tube unless we get rid of it.”
“The Bell’s the priority. After we move it, we can focus on everything else.”
She nodded. “Help me down.”
Beverly knelt on the car’s roof and lowered herself off the edge. I grabbed her waist. As she let go, I scooped her into my arms. I stood still for a second, cradling her.
She gave me a sly look. “Admit it. This is the most fun you’ve had in days.”
Shifting my arms, I propped her unceremoniously on her feet. “That’s not saying much.”
She grinned. “Say what you want but we both know you enjoyed that.”
“The only thing I’m going to enjoy is watching you open that door.”
I jogged back to the Omega. Once inside, I walked around the Bell, examining it from every angle. The particle accelerator buzzed at me, like a swarm of angry bees ready to attack. Tentatively, I reached out to touch it.
The bell vibrated as my finger approached its surface. It struck me that my action was foolhardy at best, suicidal at worst. But despite my better judgment, I couldn’t help myself.
At the last second, I saw something poking out of the Bell. Shifting my hand, I managed to steer my fingers away from the surface. Instead, they closed around a high-voltage cable.
Cartwright said this thing could last without electricity for a few hours. Let’s hope he wasn’t exaggerating.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. Abruptly, I yanked the cable out of the socket.
The Bell hissed angrily at me.
But after a moment, the noise died down. And as more moments passed, it seemed to grow quieter and calmer. Emboldened, I quickly removed the other cables.
There could be no more stalling. It was now or never. I touched the Bell’s metal surface. Instantly, a small jolt of electricity flowed through me. My mind cleared. I felt a strange sensation in the base of my skull. The experience only lasted a second. But I knew I’d never forget it.
I looked at the Bell, not knowing what to expect. Part of me thought it would remain motionless to my touch since it obviously weighed a lot. Another part of me figured it would move like a balloon since it floated in the air with ease.
I shoved it.
How about that? Wrong on both counts.
It moved. Not far, but it still moved. Yet, it wasn’t weightless. In fact, it felt surprisingly heavy to me, as if my touch temporarily brought the strange object back into the real world.
I pushed it downward. It moved in that direction before floating up again to its original position. Crouching down, I pushed it upward. It moved a few inches before drifting back down again. It was completely, utterly bizarre. The Bell seemed to sit on some kind of imaginary shelf. And yet, it still managed to maintain its mass. How was that even possible?
I desperately wanted to understand it, but that would have to wait. I pushed my body against the Bell and slowly maneuvered it out of the Omega. Hopping down to the ground, I directed it toward Beach’s pneumatic car. As I got closer, Beverly stared at me, wide-eyed.
“Did you get the door open?” I called out as loudly as I dared.
“Sure did. Do you need help?”
I stifled a fake yawn with one hand while propelling the Bell forward with the other. “I think I can handle it.”
“Show-off.”
Looking past her, I studied the car. The garbage that covered its rear had been stripped away, revealing a set of two small doors. A new potential problem formed in my head. “Is the opening wide enough?”
She jogged over to the Bell and eyed it. Then she returned to the doors and studied them for a moment. “Honestly, I’m not sure. It’s going to be close.”
I pushed the Bell all the way to the rear of the pneumatic car. As I neared it, I snuck a peek. The space was larger than I’d initially thought but not by much. Beverly was right. It would be a tight squeeze, if indeed it fit at all.
She joined me and together, we pushed the Bell forward. Abruptly, metal scratched on metal. I jolted as the Bell bumped into something.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she grumbled. “Of all the lousy…”
“We’re hitting there.” I pointed to the top right corner. “Let’s try pulling it down.”
Reaching up, we directed the Bell downward. It dropped a few inches. Before it could settle, I shoved it into the car. It came to a halt a few feet into the interior before slowly drifting upward again.
“Should we
reconnect the cables?”
I shook my head. “We have more important things to do.”
“Aren’t you worried about an explosion?”
“That won’t happen for a few hours. We’ll get the cables from the Omega and put them in here. But after that, we need to work on our escape plan.”
We spent the next few minutes detaching the cables and piling them into the pneumatic car.
Afterward, Beverly cleared her throat. “What now?”
“We need to finish clearing off the car,” I replied. “But first, we should focus on removing the explosives from the tunnel.”
“I can do that.”
“How? By blowing yourself up?”
She shrugged. “I’m trained to handle unexploded ordinance.”
“Really?”
“Sort of.”
My ears perked. The air started to crackle with tension. Swiftly, I made my way to the mouth of the pneumatic tube.
“…your guess…”
“…up. The tracks…”
The voices were faint but they were audible.
And close by.
I looked at Beverly. “They’re here,” I whispered. “Clear away the explosives and make it fast.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to check on Cap.”
I ran back into the access tunnels and headed for the maintenance room. Inside, I found Cartwright lying on the ground underneath the engine.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
He looked up at me, his face covered with sweat and grease. “It’s not,” he grunted. “I barely understand what I’m looking at here.”
“Well, you’re going to need a steep learning curve. We’ve got company.”
“I need more time.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
I sprinted back to the station and saw Beverly kneeling on the ground, playing with wires. She looked at me. “What did he say?”
I grabbed a long piece of loose wire from the ground and examined it for a moment. “He needs more time.”
