by Stefan Bolz
You can let go now, she hears him think, as he smiles at her.
Sorry, she replies.
Come. We don't have much time. With that, Max gets up, moves on all fours to the ladder, and starts to climb. She follows right behind him, pushing away the nagging question of what would happen if the elevator started moving while they are on the ladder. Twenty seconds later, they reach the top of the cabin. Max climbs onto it. Aries sees in terror that its surface is completely smooth—nothing to hold on to. Not only that, but the middle is raised up, slightly higher than the rest. For aerodynamic purposes, probably. Utter panic grabs her when she jumps onto the cabin.
We can't hold on to anything, she thinks.
Lay on your stomach, Max replies. His head faces the center, his legs spread out for balance.
Aries lies down, hoping Ty will give them a bit more time. Her head facing Max, she spreads her legs outward.
Hold on to my arms. Like this, Max thinks. He grabs her upper arms, pulls her close so that his head is next to hers. She does the same.
Good? he thinks.
Yes, she replies. I hope this doesn't take long—
She has no time to finish her thought. The cabin begins to move. After about ten feet, the speed increases, pushing her body down onto the surface. In her peripheral vision she sees the walls of the shaft rushing by with immense speed.
Hold on tight, she hears Max think. She can feel his upper arm muscles under her fingers, as he tries to hold on to her. At first, it seems to work. But after about fifteen seconds, Aries notices that they are slipping, moving apart and toward the walls.
Shouldn't be long now before it slows down, Max thinks.
I hope so, is all she can reply.
I'm in! She hears Born-of-Night. Then an image reaches her. She sees the massive fan blades below her, pushing the hawk upward inside the air vent.
Max lets out a groan. What's that? Aries hears.
That's Born-of-Night ascending the main air duct.
I can see it! Max thinks.
A rush of excitement washes over Aries, obliterating her fear completely. Then she feels the cabin slowing down.
You go first, Max thinks. The moment the cabin stops, you jump, okay! I'll be right behind you.
Okay. Aries looks up. The elevator is now slow enough for her to see the floor numbers above each door. 197, 198, 199, 200.
Born-of-Night's panicked thought reaches her the moment the elevator stops.
There is a blade above me. I can't—
The thought is cut off in midsentence, accompanied by a sharp pain in Aries’s shoulder.
"Born-of-Night!" she cries out.
Max gestures at her something she can't understand. Part of her realizes that she can't hear his thoughts. She stands up and, as if in trance, moves toward the wall and jumps, and her hands grab the ledge of the air duct. She pulls herself up, slips, and catches herself. Then she feels Max's shoulders under her feet, pushing her up and into the shaft. She turns around to try to help him come up. The duct is small and she has trouble moving her body. The seconds seem endless. Why isn't he coming?
She sees his hands grip the ledge. Then they slip off. "Max!" she screams. The elevator begins to move downward again. "Jump onto the next one," she yells.
The elevator drops. There are probably thirty feet between the air ducts. Max jumps, hits the ledge and holds on to it.
Don't fall, please. Don't fall!
Max slips but catches himself. The elevator cabin is already far below him. Under enormous strain, he pulls himself up and disappears into the opening.
Wait for me, she thinks. I'll be right there.
She turns around again, moving away from the ledge and into the duct to see if there's a vertical shaft somewhere.
Max. She crawls through the vent. Are you there?
There is no answer. Max, can you hear me? Her thoughts have a strange echo but there is no reply.
Born-of-Night! Where are you?
Through her tears she sees the opening, sees the vertical duct. Max's head appears all the way down. He points toward her. She nods. She hadn't realized until now how much she’d relied on her connection to Born-of-Night, how much it has meant to her. Max pushes himself upward. He is quick, moving methodically, once in a while looking up toward her. But she can see that he's exhausted, that he's at the end of his strength. She nods each time he looks at her, encouraging him to keep going. Ten more feet. She stretches out her arm, reaches down into the air duct so he can grab on to her hand if he needs to. His hair clings to his face, red from strain.
I'll make it, she hears as he reaches for her hand. She pulls him up. It doesn't register that she has just communicated with him.
I got you, she thinks as he climbs over the ledge. The pain in her shoulder is back, radiating into her head. Max lies flat on his back, breathing heavily.
Born-of-Night, where are you? Aries thinks.
A blurry image of an air duct appears in her mind, darkened at first, but becoming lighter.
One of the blades hit me.
Can you move?
I think so.
I'm so glad you're alive.
Me too, Max thinks, as he sits up.
We should try to move, Aries thinks. It's impossible to say when the next duct cleaning will be and we don't want to be in here when it happens.
Where first? he asks.
Kiire's room.
Max nods and starts crawling into the duct.
* * *
They make it to Tier One in under ninety minutes. When they arrive at the duct leading to Kiire's room, Aries is exhausted, her chest hurts, and the right side of her face feels hot and swollen. I hope I'm not getting an infection, she thinks, when she touches her skin. Max matched her speed well and on several occasions they went in the direction he suggested rather than her. The two hurdles that needed the most time were the air filtration units between Tiers Six and Five, and then again between Four and Three. They had to take out some of the filters in order to crawl through the small openings in between the tiers.
This is Kiire's air shaft, Aries thinks to Max, as they approach the perpendicular duct only a hundred feet away from her own room. Wait here. Shouldn't be long.
Sounds good. Max turns on his back, stretching his legs. I'll be here.
As she crawls into the duct leading to Kiire's room, she wonders briefly what his reaction might be. What if he doesn't want to come with her? He might be angry about their last encounter. He might find the story she is going to tell him too absurd to consider. Were she in his shoes, she probably would. She arrives at the vent cover and pushes. It gives way immediately and she crawls through the opening. "Kiire," she whispers. "It's me. Don't be alarmed."
She expected him to be sitting on his futon, hood over his head, and immersed in something on his pad. Instead the room is completely dark. There is very little residual light. "Kiire, wake up. It's me," she whispers again.
On all fours she makes her way to his futon. When she's almost there, she stumbles over the clothing rack. It must have fallen to the ground. Her hands move over the bed. It's empty. Unmade.
He's not in here, she thinks to Max.
Where could he be at this hour?
I don't know.
She crawls through the room to make sure he isn't lying on the floor anywhere.
What time do you think it is? she asks in her thoughts.
It must be around 2:00 a.m., Max answers.
Where could he be if he's not in his room?
Her hand touches something wet on the floor. Then she finds his thermos. It's open. The water has spilled onto the floor.
Oh, God!
What is it? Max asks.
They must have taken him. Where else could he be? They must have found out about his hacking into the system and they came to get him. I'm coming back.
She crawls into the opening and back toward Max.
What now? Max asks.
There's only one
place he can be, I think, she replies. Do you remember when I showed you the room I was held in?
Yes.
They must be holding him there.
I know how to get there. At least theoretically.
Okay. We need to go up several floors. I don't remember walking that long when they brought me back to my room. The ride in the elevator was seven seconds.
They make their way through the duct system, twice reversing their direction after going the wrong way. Aries tries to remember as many details as possible from the time she was blindfolded and led back to her room. It takes them forty-five minutes until they reach the duct Max thinks should lead to the room Kiire is in. Aries crawls into a narrow shaft that ends in a vent cover. She peers inside, realizing that she is looking down from the ceiling. For a moment, panic rises within her as she recognizes the chair she sat on. The room looks sterile, unused. Maybe they haven't gotten to him yet, she thinks. He might be in a holding cell somewhere close by.
Just as she is about to crawl back toward the larger duct, she sees a pad lying on a table on one of the walls. This must be Kiire's pad, she thinks to Max.
It lies there, among other equipment. They might not have gone through it yet. She considers climbing down and getting it, but decides against it.
Where could the holding cells be? she asks, as she makes her way back to Max.
They can't be far, he answers. Let's look in the next few rooms and see what's there.
Aries crawls backward while Max starts to move toward the adjoining duct. Why don't you take the next one and we'll report back to each other? he thinks.
Good idea.
Aries crawls into the shaft next to Max's. Please be there, please be there, she thinks.
A few moments later she reaches the vent cover and looks down. The room is sparsely lit. Someone lies on the floor, curled up in a fetal position, wearing nothing but underwear and shirt. It's not Kiire. His arm covers his face. In one of the corners she sees crumpled up orange coveralls. It takes her a few seconds to realize who it is that lies there.
"Seth," she whispers. "Seth, it's me, Aries."
He doesn't react at first, but after a few moments he turns his head, looks around the room and up toward her. When he sees her, his eyes widen. She realizes at that moment that he is probably in no shape to climb into the air duct. His right leg is completely covered in black and blue bruises. If they're lucky, he'll be able to walk.
"I'm coming to get you," Aries whispers. "Stay where you are and pretend you're sleeping. I'm sure there's a camera somewhere in here."
There is a slight nod from Seth.
It's not Kiire, it's Seth, Aries thinks to Max, when she retreats to the secondary duct. We have to get down there but the door won't open from the inside. We can probably go in through the torture room and hopefully get to him that way.
Aries can feel the adrenaline spreading through her body. Getting Seth out is one thing. Getting him out and finding Kiire at the same time is another. Should she be looking in the other rooms first to see if they can find him? Or would it be better to get Seth and then worry about Kiire?
I can look for him, she hears Max think, when she reaches him. At least in the next few rooms. Maybe he's in one of them.
If we look for Kiire right now, we might miss the window for getting Seth out, Aries replies.
I know. But if we don't find Kiire, we might never be able to get him. He must be close by somewhere.
I don't know, Aries answers. I don't know what to do.
She looks at him, part of her expecting him to find an answer, the perfect solution to their dilemma.
Let's get Seth, she thinks.
Okay.
They reach the torture room. Aries pushes the cover inward while holding onto it as best as she can, until it comes off. She turns it and brings the cover inside the air duct. Then, holding on to one of the ledges, she lets her head and torso move through the opening. Her hips and legs emerge and she dangles for a moment, and lets go. Max's head appears and she gestures for him to do the same.
I hope the cameras don't pick us up, she thinks to Max, who slips through the opening to stand next to her. A shiver runs through her when she recognizes the chair. On an impulse she grabs Kiire's pad from the table, and they move to the door, which Aries opens a tiny bit and peers outside. A darkened hallway. They slip out, quietly close the door. Before them and to their right, light spills into the corridor from a doorway. Aries peers around the doorframe. There are about thirty screens mounted against the opposite wall, a chair in front of them. On the chair sits a guard with his back toward them. His head is tilted forward.
He's sleeping, Max thinks.
They look at the screens. One of them shows Seth. Others show empty rooms. Most of them lie in semidarkness. One of the screens shows a brightly lit room. Somebody sits on a back-less chair. She recognizes Kiire right away, even though she only sees him from the side. Across from him stands a man. There are two guards on either side of a door. Aries can't make out what the man is saying, but each time he says something, Kiire shakes his head. Then the man screams something at him. Kiire tries to shield himself when the man lands a blow to his face. Desperation crawls up inside her, taking over her thoughts. We have to find him, she thinks.
I'm sure there are several guards outside that door as well, Max thinks. There's no way for us to get him out.
Some part of her recognizes the truth in Max's words. Another finds it unacceptable.
If we stand here like this, Max continues, we'll get caught, and none of us will be able to help anyone.
The logic of Max's argument brings her back enough to take the first step past the opening and down the corridor. They reach the door to Seth's cell. Aries pulls the handle to the side and opens it. Seth lies on the floor, in the same position she found him in, still shivering. Aries grabs a screwdriver from her satchel and pushes it into the space between the door and the floor. When they reach Seth, Aries kneels down, touches his hair gently.
"We're here to get you out, Seth," she says. As she helps him sit up, he puts his arms around her and begins to cry. "Shhh, we're here now. Nothing's going to happen to you anymore. You're okay now. You're okay. But we need to get out of here, okay?"
He nods. Between them they lift him up. He groans in pain.
"Can you walk?" Aries asks.
"Not sure. My foot might be broken."
Seth swallows the pain when he puts weight on his foot while holding on to Max.
"We have to stay close together," Aries says. "Otherwise the cameras will pick us up."
Aries grabs Seth's coveralls and boots from the floor. When they reach the door, she pulls the screwdriver out and they slip into the hallway.
This way, Max thinks as they move, as quietly as possible, away from the door and in the opposite direction of the control room. There should be a utility access area somewhere.
After about twenty feet, they come to another door. Max opens it a few inches. It shows an empty cell. He closes it. Further down the hallway, Max opens another door.
That's it, he thinks to Aries, and they enter a small utility room with an access panel on each of the three remaining walls.
Seth slumps to the floor, holding his leg and grimacing in pain.
"Seth, let me ask you something," Aries says, while handing him his boots and coveralls. "Kiire is in here, too. Do you have any idea where he could be?"
When Seth looks at her, she can see the pain in him.
"What is it?" Aries asks.
"I couldn't... I had to... tell them... They asked me who I thought was friends with you. I didn't want to tell them anything..." His voice trails off and he begins to sob. "I didn't want to tell them but I couldn't... I couldn't do it. I told them that he was your friend."
Aries holds Seth.
"It's okay, Shhh. It's okay. You didn't have a choice."
They probably would have picked him up, anyway, she hears Max think.
&n
bsp; "Listen to me, Seth. There is nothing we can do for him right now." Her heart belies her own words but she knows it can't be helped. "We need to get you out first. And we have to get C.J., as well."
She grabs Kiire's pad.
"I just hope we can get her location," she says. But as she opens the screen, her heart sinks. "It needs a password. There's no way we'll figure that out. And without it, we won't know where she is."
I'm going to go out on a limb and think that he might have programmed it so you would be able to get access, if you needed to, Max thinks.
Why would he do that? Aries asks.
I don't know. I'm guessing.
Aries tries to think back to the times when they were in Kiire's room. It would have to be something significant between them. What did he tell her? The poem, maybe? She goes through it in her mind. Born-of-Night. That's too long.
Leila, Max thinks.
Aries types it in. Kiire's smiling face appears on the screen.
"That's it," Aries says. "I can't believe it."
She searches through his folders. Each screen has several dozens of them. A few pages later, she sees it: The folder simply says "C.J." Aries opens it. Inside the folder is a note, which she also opens.
NOT IN THIS BUILDING. MOST LIKELY INSIDE THE ONE WEST OF US
213TH FLOOR, TIER SIX, EASTERLY SIDE
Aries opens a thumbnail below it. It shows an angled bird's-eye view of five round shapes that stand in a circle. Thin, slightly bowed lines connect them.
I've never seen a picture of the buildings like this, Aries thinks.
Me neither, Max replies. Must be a satellite image.
Do you think you can find her? Aries asks in her thoughts.
I'm not sure, Max answers. It's worth a try. I can get us to the bridge. We have to see from there.
Good enough.
"Seth, we have to crawl through one of those shafts—"
"I'll be fine," Seth replies, before she can finish her sentence. He closes the zipper on his coveralls and puts on his shoes. "Don't worry about me."
