Corridor One

by Rafael H. Derchansky

  Part of Dina wanted to agree to Victor's request, but the other part, the one that always got her into trouble, wanted all the answers now, right away.

  “Good, we'll meet halfway: tell me only how you managed to escape. The rest you can explain later, when we are out.”

  “You will have to promise me that, all the time that we are here underground, you won't ask me any more questions. I need to be sure that you are strong, self-disciplined, and that you will leave me alone until we are out of the catacombs.”

  “I swear,” followed the quick answer.

  “You are not crossing any fingers behind your back, I hope,” Victor half-joked.

  “Not at all.”

  “Good. You want to know how I escaped Corridor One? I did not escape. I was taken out. Sometime, about four months after Roman’s escape, your dad showed up at Corridor One.”

  Victor stopped to watch Dina’s reaction and was right to do so. Her face changed suddenly and she jumped up to her feet, accidently kicking Victor’s helmet with her foot, sending it directly into the nearest puddle of water. She was towering above Victor now with both of her hands on his shoulders, erratically shaking him and then squeezing his shoulders so hard that he could feel her fingernails penetrating all the way through his shirt.

  “There we go. I’m not continuing any more. We'll talk about all of this when we are safely out,” Victor tried to release his shoulders from Dina’s grip.

  “What did you say?” Dina seemed to recover to a degree. She slowly released Victor’s shoulders. “What did you say?” she repeated. “My dad came to Corridor One? When? Did you see him with your own eyes?”

  “Yes, I did. Please sit down. I’m telling you nothing more unless you sit down and relax.” Victor stood up to pick up his helmet. He switched the light off and on, checking that it was still working. Dina took a step back obediently and sat down on her sleeping bag. Victor plunged down beside her.

  “Next time I’ll ask you to trim your fingernails before I talk to you,” he joked, rubbing his injured shoulders. Although he would never admit it, his heart was overflowing with understanding and sympathy for Dina's intense reactions.

  “I’m sorry,” Dina apologized softly. “Please continue, please.”

  “Dina, I understand what you are going through. I understand how surprised you are, but please, no jumping anymore.”

  She just nodded.

  “On the day that your dad disappeared from the village,” continued Victor, “leaving you and Roman by yourself, he had been taken into custody by the local police for interrogation. He was held for three days at the police station in their regional center and released on the condition that he did not leave the village without written permission from the authorities. When he went back, he found that you were gone and your neighbour...what was his name?”

  “Alex,” said Dina.

  “Yes, Alex was back the day after your dad's release and confirmed that you left the village by train. Your dad was happy. You had followed his instructions and stuck to the plan that he had for these kinds of events. He went into the woods, checked that you took the diamonds from the hunting cottage. After that, he applied for a permit to leave the village a couple of times. He wanted to follow you, but all of his requests were rejected. He needed to know that you’d arrived in Central City safely, so one evening he decided to leave the village without the permit. Alex helped him board a train. He reached Central City two days after you were gone. He was late again, and he missed you badly.”

  Victor stopped and tried hard to gauge Dina’s feelings, examining her face in the low light. She looked back at him. Her face exhibited fatigue and deep sadness, but it was also peaceful.

  “How did he know that we left two days earlier?” she asked.

  “He had the keys to your aunt's apartment that had been left with the neighbours on the second floor. And he found the note left on the kitchen table, saying that you had come from Derchany alone, without Roman.”

  “Did my dad tell you this entire story?” Dina could not hide the suspicion that suddenly crept back in her.

  “Yes, he did. Personally,” Victor answered without any hesitation.

  Dina became silent for a while and Victor, unwilling to disturb her and the silence, waited before continuing his story.

  “He went back to Derchany immediately after that and began his search for Roman. He had no choice, he knew that he was being hunted, and a couple of days later, he entered the local police station and turned himself in. Two weeks after that, he was sentenced to eight months of community service. He could not leave Derchany during this period of time. He was allowed to choose from two or three places where he could do the community work and he chose the local train station. Without great difficulty, he had been assigned a job in the repair garage of the station. All of his free time was spent constantly looking for Roman, making requests, making acquaintances and friends with anyone who could help him find his son. Being at the train station for most of the day, he would hear many local stories about train hoppers. He made contact with some of them and learned about the ambushes of the police and about the interviews and the process of sending the train hopper kids to foster homes. He searched in all possible directions. He hoped that Roman was somehow still in Derchany or somewhere near it. He knew that if Roman reached Central City and found the apartment empty and locked, he would go back to the village looking for his father. Your dad kept in contact with Alex, who would inform him if Roman returned. In the meantime, your dad managed to hit it off with one of the clerks from the local police department. The clerk had access to the list of foster homes and the names of the train hopping kids that were sent there. The jail for juveniles was out of the question for Roman. He knew that Roman was a very smart kid and that he would easily avoid any situation that could lead to serious trouble. You understand that all of this cost your dad a small fortune. But he knew his way around, and after a short while, more and more information began to flow in his direction.”

  Victor stopped to take a sip from the water bottle. Dina’s eyes were glued to the helmet on the floor. A dozen troubling thoughts were buzzing simultaneously in her head.

  A few times she had wanted to cut Victor's story short because it was resurrecting too many excruciating memories and the further the story went on, the more painful it was for her to listen to it. With every additional word it became more difficult for Dina to hide her emotions. Yet years of loss, struggle and poverty had taught her self-control and strength of will. She gathered all of her mental strength and forced herself to listen to Victor until the end.

  “About six months after your dad began his search for Roman, the police had scheduled another ambush on the train hoppers. This one came with a new request for a good candidate for Corridor One. I have no idea whether they found somebody at that particular time, but it triggered a thought in the mind of the police clerk about the possibility that Roman could also have been caught and sent there, and he told your dad's about that possibility. It took a lot of convincing and a great deal of enticement to get the transcripts from the previous year's interviews. You can imagine how your dad felt when he finally found Roman’s name in the documents. Roman’s evaluation was very flattering and his problem-solving scores were very high. That made your dad very proud, but the most important thing was that now your dad knew where Roman was.”

  “I can just see him, so proud,” interrupted Dina. “Proud and happy.” Dina’s voice trembled and her eyes filled with tears.

  “You are right, yes. He was also proud, very proud.”

  “How is it that you know all of these details?” Dina could not restrain herself anymore.

  “Your dad told me, I thought we established that already,” Victor patiently replied, and anticipating another downpour of questions, he rushed to continue his story without any further delays.

  “Now your dad's biggest challenge was to uncover the location of Corridor One. Nobody in th
e village knew anything about the Corridor. Even the local police knew nothing, and so even the clerk couldn't have pointed him in the right direction. Your dad suspected that the school was probably located within a radius of 500 kilometers from Derchany. He reasoned that they wouldn't want to set up a complicated transfer process to a far off destination. Another piece of evidence that supported this idea was the fact that he had never heard of Corridor One in any other part of the country. Your dad understood that, regardless of how secret and restricted Corridor One was, it should have a flow of provision going in and out of it, like electricity, water, food and medicine. There had to be a road, a path or another passage leading to it.

  “He learned about every possible food supplier in the area. He studied hydro grids, water lines and road maps. Week after week passed, but time did nothing to bring him closer to Roman. He went back to the police clerk, asking to see the daily activity logs, schedules and journals. Unfortunately, during the day the clerk could not remove the documents that your dad was asking for from the station. So your dad used to creep inside the archive office of the police in the middle of the night and spend long hours going over hundreds of pages, searching for clues. After an entire year, he stumbled upon a clue. It was a hand written note: ‘The result of the probe to identify relatives or family friends in Central City is negative. Proceed with Roman's second interview. If successful, proceed with the transfer to Corridor One.’

  “He knew right then that this note was about his Roman. What caught his attention the most was the fact that this was a request to search for Roman’s family before moving forward with his interview and transfer. Your dad understood that this information was crucial to the process of recruitment. Although he could not be certain at this point, he suspected that a positive answer could have changed his son's destiny. In the next couple of days your dad, working very hard and very intelligently, discovered that indeed the candidates that were transferred to Corridor One had to be orphans. Otherwise, they were released into the hands of their family or friends of the family.

  “After eight months, your father's community service came to an end. A couple of weeks later, two lawyers arrived from Central City and entered the police station in Derchany. The lawyers requested the release of your brother. They presented documents proving the validity of your father’s rights. This was followed by a visit to the local judge and the issuance of an order for Roman’s release from any institution, provided that Roman was not facing any legal sentences. Nobody knows who informed the Corridor One people or how they knew, but two days after the lawyers met with the judge, the Director of Corridor One arrived in Derchany and had a meeting with your dad. I don't know all of the details and technicalities, but your Dad showed up at the gate of Corridor One a week later. What I do know is that he was transferred there the same way Roman and I were transferred, under severe security and without any knowledge of where he was going and where Corridor One was located. You understand that he was late again – Roman had escaped Corridor One already.”

  Victor looked at Dina. Only now did he notice that the light from his flashlight had become dimmer, and Dina’s face looked darker and washed out.

  “The battery is dying. I have a spare to replace it,” he said to Dina, who remained quiet.

  “One early morning I was called to the office of our Director. This was an uncommon event, and I was worried. He explained to me that Roman’s dad had arrived and would like to talk to Roman’s best friend. I was instructed to cooperate and tell him everything that I knew. At around ten o’clock I met your dad for the first time. We had our conversation in the dining room. One of our guards was present. He asked me a lot of questions about my first meeting with Roman and what followed. Our conversation lasted for about two hours. After lunch, I was called to the Director’s office again. He informed me that your dad had requested to meet with me in person without anybody present at the meeting.

  The second meeting was supposed to take place in the library where nobody was allowed during this time of the day. On my way there, I went by my room, picked up Roman's diary and hid it under my shirt. This time the meeting with your dad was pretty short. He asked me a variety of questions, but mostly about myself. He wanted to know whether I was happy, whether I wanted to stay in Corridor One, about the things that I like to do, and what I would do if they released me from Corridor One. I passed Roman's dairy to him. When we parted he hugged and kissed me.”

  Victor paused.

  “It was the first time in so many years that somebody had shown that kind of affection towards me. I forgot how it felt and at that moment I realized that it was something that I missed terribly.”

  Another pause followed. Victor stood up. Although he was trying to conceal his feelings, Dina could see that he had reached a point in his story that suddenly overwhelmed him with emotions. She felt a lot of understanding and sympathy for Victor’s feelings and could hardly contain herself from jumping up, hugging and kissing him herself.

  “You asked me how I escaped from Corridor One? It was simple. Two weeks after I met your father, he showed up again, only now with legally approved adoption papers. He adopted me as his son.”

  Victor turned his face, directly facing Dina’s.

  “Yes, it's true. He adopted me as his son. You see, I did not lie to you when I said that I’m your brother. I am. Legally, we are brother and sister.”

  Dina lowered her head and covered her face with her hands. Pleasant and warm waves of bittersweet joy were flowing through her entire body. She was crying. The anxiety, the surprise, the shock, the happiness and relief were all entwined, and these feelings were coming out now. She tried hard to stop crying, but could not. Victor lowered himself down. He hugged her, pressing her hard against his chest. Dina felt that it was the same hug that she had felt when Roman had hugged her. The same strong, reassuring, and protecting hug.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled.

  “What are you sorry about?” Victor released his arms and was looking at Dina’s wet face. "You are my sister. Is that what you are sorry about?” He smiled. “Now, as your big brother, I can finally begin bossing you around.”

  “In your dreams.” Dina smiled back. “I have a scary question that I have badly wanted to ask you since the beginning of your story, but I was afraid of the answer. I think that I have the courage to ask this question now. Is he alive? Is my...our father, is he alive?” asked Dina, lowering her voice to a whisper.

  “Yes, he is.” Victor stepped back, uncertain of Dina's reaction. “I don’t want to be rude, but I won't answer any more of your questions for now. We had an agreement. I've already told you much more than I intended. Yes, our dad is alive, but please, no more questions. Let's concentrate on finding the diamonds.”

  Dina looked at Victor, astounded, trying to stop the sudden turbulence in her thoughts and emotions. All of these years she had carefully kept the face of her father imprinted in her mind. She remembered him the way he was when they’d last been together, more than twenty years ago. She had never stopped feeling his love. The gentle caress of his hands followed her into her teenage years and adult life, but she had adapted herself to a reality in which he would never be around except in her heart.

  Even though she had long ago accepted that she would never meet her father again, Dina would still behave as if he were alive. She would sometimes talk to him, ask for his advice, share her hopes and thoughts, and listen to his counsel. Now that Victor had told her that he was alive, maybe somewhere not far away, she suddenly realized that as much as she longed to meet him, she was also terrified. All of her feelings and thoughts towards her dad would change. She came to understand that she did not know this stranger. Who is he, how does he look, where has he been all these years, would she be able to love him the same as when she was a child? She needed to get the storm in her emotions under control immediately.

  Dina straightened her back and began wiping the tears from her face with the sleeve of her
shirt. She would not ask any more questions.

  “I need to use the washroom,” she declared.

  “The royal washrooms are at your service.” Victor made a wide gesture with his hands towards the washroom structure in the center of the room. “I hope you aren't scared of spiders. Do you want me to inspect the place before Your Majesty uses it?”

  “Thank you for your kindness, my brother, but I’m capable of managing on my own.” Dina smiled.

  On her way back, Dina became aware of the darkness in the corner where she had left Victor.

  “I’m here... It seems that we have a slight problem with the batteries,” said Victor with a rather surprised tone in his voice.

  Dina’s flashlight spotted him trying to connect a new battery to his helmet.

  “I don’t know how it happened, but I took the wrong ones, the uncharged batteries from my van.

  Dumb detective. Igor had mentioned something about the batteries in Victor’s van. I bet that he checked them out, probably rearranged them and mixed them all up while doing it, thought Dina, approaching their corner. When Dina sat down, Victor asked her to turn her lights off.

  “We may have less than an hour of your battery. We need to make a decision about what to do next. I suggest that we don't stay here overnight. Let's just rest an hour or two. It is going to be a sleepless night anyway.”

  “I don’t feel tired anymore. I think we should move quickly to our last room, the ‘Church.’ While we have the light, it won't be a problem finding the name plaque and extracting the diamonds. Don't worry about going back in the dark. I can manage to get us out from the catacombs with no trouble.”

  “How are you going to do it? In the dark?”

  “Have faith in your sister. I can do it.”

  Having agreed to go to the ‘Church’ room before going back, they quickly gathered their belongings, and without any further delay, left the corner. Victor switched his helmet with Dina’s and walked a little faster than usual, trying to save battery power. After they rested, the walk seemed much easier. Without any difficulty, Victor found the ‘Church’ nameplate, and after an already practiced and confident smash of his hammer, he extracted the third tin container with the diamonds. Their way back to the ‘Desert’ room was quick and uneventful. They were soon back in their dry corner again.

  “I think we'll have to leave my backpack here. To navigate in the dark, I need to have freedom of movement,” said Dina.

  “No need. I can carry both of them.”

  “One more thing: I need to be in total darkness. Either I could cover my eyes, or you could turn off the lights.”

  “I have no idea how you are going to do this, but as you said, I'll trust you. I'll turn off the flashlight. We'll only use the lights in an emergency. Are you going to lead?”

  “Yes, I will. I'll tell you about every turn, whether there are steps, and the number of steps ahead of time. We will move slowly. Now I need to do some mental preparation. It will take no more than five minutes. Can you turn the lights off please?”

  Victor obeyed and the room became completely dark. Dina stepped away from the dry corner slowly and moved a couple of steps towards the center of the room. Crouching and gradually spreading her arms, she lowered her head. The absolute silence helped her get into a deep state of concentration fairly quickly. Her legs moved slowly, making half-circular motions in front of her, as if she was trying to clean the floor or remove some invisible obstacle lying there. Her mind was taking full control of her body. For a brief moment she felt as if she was in a dream, flowing freely, weightlessly in warm air.

  Suddenly a soft ray of lights emerged from some invisible spot that must have been located behind her, and now she was able to see the room clearly, despite the total darkness and her shut eyes. The Kerzhak Navigation was working. Dina became curious as to whether she would be able to see or sense Victor in some other way. She turned around. She could clearly see the corner where they were sitting together a few minutes ago, but she could not see a human body, nor could she see their backpacks. Her brain was recreating a reality by combining what she had learned and memorized from the blueprint with what she had seen with her eyes while moving through the catacombs.

  “Are you there?” she asked.

  “Yes. I’m here, where you left me.”

  “Are you sure you can carry both backpacks?”

  “Without a doubt.”

  Victor put his backpack on his shoulders and took Dina’s in his right hand.

  “Please step down slowly.”

  With both of her hands extended into the air, Dina began moving back towards the corner, trying to get to Victor. A moment later she had touched his shoulder. Dina gently turned Victor around in such a way that his face was directly in front of hers.

  “I will be no more than three or four steps ahead of you. I will tell you to turn left or right, to stop or to turn around. Please follow my directions. I can see the tunnel, I can see the rooms, but I can’t see or feel you. Let's go. Please stay where you are for a moment.”

  Dina turned around and began moving forward, creating a distance of approximately two meters between herself and Victor.

  “Start walking slowly in a straight line.”

  Victor moved carefully, and after only a few steps, bumped into Diana.

  “Why didn't you tell me to stop?”

  “I did it on purpose to check whether you were following.” Dina smiled mischievously in the dark. “Please, stay where you are for another moment.”

  Another lesson in walking in the dark came next. When Dina was close to the center of a room, they practiced a few left and right turns. Then Dina stopped again, waiting for Victor. Suddenly and uncontrollably, she turned one hundred and eighty degrees, facing him, and as he approached, she buried her face into his chest. Her two hands reached up to his face, bringing his head down. She lifted her head and their lips locked together. Dina lost her sense of time. She felt as if her entire body and soul were dissolving into the complete darkness that surrounded them. She wanted this kiss to last forever. Victor wrapped his only free hand around her. When she realized what she had done, she tried to release herself from the embrace. It took a while before Victor finally let go of her.

  “If this is part of practicing walking in the dark, I’m ready to practice all the time.” Victor broke the silence after a short pause.

  “Sorry. Don't know what got into me.” Dina’s voice revealed her nervousness.

  “I’m not. That was the first time that I kissed my sister.”

  At this moment Dina realized that she had lost all of her concentration, that everything that she saw, sensed, experienced after the Kerzhak Navigation preparation for her walk in the dark was gone, ruined. She became insecure and a little frightened by that.

  What if it doesn't work a second time? What have I done? How brainless of me, she scolded herself.

  “I need one moment. Can you please stay where you are now? I lost my concentration. We can’t walk this way. I need another moment.” Now she sounded not only nervous, but also confused.

  “Take all the time that you need. We will find our way out, I have no doubt about that.” Victor tried to reassure her.

  “I should talk to Igor, can you pass me the radio, please? It should be in the right pocket of my backpack,” said Dina in a completely changed, commanding tone of voice. Victor lowered Dina’s backpack and took out the radio.

  “Igor, can you hear me?” Dina paused and then asked again. “Can you hear me?”

  It took a while before Igor replied.

  “We are on our way out. We lost the map and we have limited time before the last flashlight runs out. Can you meet us at the catacomb gate?”

  A pause again. “Dina, why are you in a rush to get out? Why aren't you resting overnight as planned? Is everything okay? Do you know that it is almost two in the morning?”

  “Everything is okay. Please meet us there.” Dina turned the radio off
. She began moving again, taking a few steps in a straight line, holding her arms stretched in front of her, afraid to bump into a wall. Victor was quiet. Dina tried to concentrate. Once more she repeated her strange moves. But her brain refused to follow. She could still feel Victor’s lips and the pleasure of their kiss. Dina stopped. She stood breathing, relaxing. Another set of movements. Nothing. Nothing was happening. She could not relax. And then Dina understood what should be done.

  “Please turn on the light for a second,” she asked Victor.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  Victor turned the flashlight on. A very weak yellow beam lit up the room and immediately began fading, but this was enough for Dina. She moved fast, almost running towards Victor. She wanted to do it while the light was still on. She approached and kissed him and held the kiss for a long time. She opened her eyes to make sure that she did it. Now that she hadn't kissed him under the cover of dark, she was certain that she needed to do it like this. To get her emotions out, to get her mind clear and free again, she had to do it with the light on, but the light slowly went out and the room drowned in darkness again. Astounded, Victor remained silent. He kept his embrace, gently pulling her towards him as he felt a strong desire to hold her in his arms forever.

  “I’m not sure I understand what is going on but...”

  “I’ll explain later.” Dina slipped slowly from his arms. She turned around and moved in a straight line from Victor. She stopped at the same spot she’d been before. She smiled and felt a big wave of relief. A calmer Dina now repeated her movements. Slowly, the vision of the tunnel returned to her. She could see the walls, the structure in the middle of the room and the dry corner. A couple of times she could hear a tiny but tiresome sound that was penetrating her calm, as if trying to disturb her concentration, but Dina managed to ignore it. She continued to receive sharp, unmistakable images. She was content and oblivious to the big grin that appeared on her face inadvertently. She was ready to move.

  “How are you doing back there?” she asked Victor.

  “Fine, I’m still here,” came the reply from the dark.

  “We are ready to get out of here,” said Dina. “Follow my directions.”

  Victor was about to tease her and ask whether there would be more kisses this time, but he thought better of it and kept quiet, afraid to disturb her focus.

  The first dozen meters were the most difficult. After they managed to get out of the ‘Desert’ room, they started making their way along the tunnel heading towards ‘Open Space’. Dina’s confidence quickly returned. With one hand touching the wall, she could see and feel every turn, every corner and every entry into the catacomb rooms that they passed. Victor did the same, his left hand touching the wall, and after walking a couple of minutes he also gained confidence and executed the turns and stops without any problems. He knew that the tunnel now would go all the way up and because the floor was dangerously wet and slippery, he was glad that he was walking behind Dina. He was ready to support her or help at any moment should any problems arise.

  I have not felt like this for a long time, close to never probably. Being around her makes me incredibly happy. Hold your horses, cowboy. You aren't seventeen anymore. Wait till you tell your dad how you feel about your sister.

  “A turn to the right in about seven or eight steps.”

  Dina’s commanding voice interrupted Victor’s thoughts.

  Diamonds

  After Dina's last transmission, Igor sat in bed for a couple of minutes, collecting his thoughts. It had been a long time since he had been woken by someone in the middle of the night. In the past, jumping out of a warm bed in the middle of the night had been part of his life as a police detective. Not anymore. He stood up, dragged himself to the window and peered through it at the empty parking lot and the barely visible road. A single car passed, speeding up on its way to an unknown destination. Washing his face with ice cold water helped him shake off the last traces of sleep and so the last reminder that five minutes ago he had been soundly asleep was completely gone.

  Igor came back to the window, recalling his conversation with Dina. He knew that she would never wake him up unless it was for something very important. He thought that he had sensed something unfamiliar in her voice and in her way of talking. Something was different and for the life of him he could not understand what it was. Still, his detective instincts told him that it was not the usual Dina. Even stranger and more surprising to him was the fact that she had changed her plans and was coming back in the middle of the night rather than spending the night in the catacombs.

  Igor looked at his watch. Poor Gregory. He will only get a couple hours of sleep after his grueling trip. Igor knew that he had to wake Gregory too so that they could go to the catacombs together. There was no way that he could pass through the swamp on his own. He needed backup. Somebody needed to be with him, and this somebody was Gregory. Nobody else was around at this hour and nobody else could be trusted.

  After briefly checking himself and his army uniform in the mirror, Igor locked the room, crossed the corridor and approached his own room where he had left Gregory only a few hours ago. He gently knocked on the door. No response followed. He tried the knob, but the door was locked. Cursing Gregory for locking the door yesterday, Igor stood there for a moment deciding what to do next. He was worried that if he knocked louder, he would wake up other hotel guests.

  Sorry, Gregory, for infringing on your privacy, but I have no choice. Igor reached into his pocket, took out a key and tried to unlock the door. He made a few short movements with the key inside the lock, forward and backward, at the same time applying a slight force, trying to turn the key in a counter-clockwise direction.

  In my old days I wasn't bad at cracking locks. Let's see whether I lost my touch.

  Suddenly Igor grinned as he remembered how one of his good friends taught him how to open locks. He instructed Igor to talk to the lock, ask its permission and agreement to be opened. Of course it was a joke, but now, when the old memories came rushing back and he badly needed to enter the room, he was beginning to entertain the idea of asking the lock for its permission. Just then, he heard a soft click. His hand turned the key and the door unlocked. Igor smiled again, thanked both his old friend and the lock and entered the room.

  The lights went on, but this did not wake Gregory. He was laying in the bed on his back, fully dressed, with the exception of his boots, and in the same pose that he had assumed when collapsing into the bed a few hours ago. A gentle shake to his shoulders was enough for him to slowly open his eyes.

  “How did you get in here?” asked Gregory, stunned. “What's the time now?” he asked, sitting up at once. “It's still dark outside,” he added, rubbing his eyes and casting a look through the window. The next moment, a fully awoken Gregory was on his feet, hurriedly putting on his boots.

  Igor was totally taken aback. The man sitting in front of him was not the Gregory he knew – a gentle, reserved, cautious, occasionally whining professor – but rather a paratrooper ready to jump directly from his deepest sleep into action.

  “It is half past two. I got a call on the radio from Dina. She and Victor are coming out. She wants me to be at the gate and meet them. I will need your help. Sorry for waking you up,” Igor said, waiting for Gregory’s reaction.

  “Sure, give me a moment to wash my face and I’ll be ready to go. No time for a shower, I guess?” Gregory entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Igor remained in the same spot, dumbstruck. I need to talk to Tamara. I’m not sure what she has done with him in the time that Dina and I were here. Maybe she sent us Gregory’s twin brother?

  “Do you know where we can get a cup of coffee at this hour?” was Gregory’s first question when he came out of the bathroom.

  “I’m not sure about coffee, but I saw a portable kettle in Victor’s car. We can get a cup of hot water or tea,” replied Igor.

  “Good enough. Where are
we going?” Gregory put on his mountain-climbing coat and moved towards the door.

  “Gregory, you are scaring me. In the last twelve hours you've been here with me, I haven't heard you complain, and you haven't talked about anything related to science. Are you really you or is it your twin brother?”

  “Don’t be silly, Igor. We should go, shouldn't we? You didn't break into my room in the middle of the night to ask me whether it's me or not, did you?” Gregory smiled.

  They left the room, walked down the stairs to the lobby, towards the exit, leaving behind a surprised and half-asleep girl at the reception desk. The cold night air invigorated them with a sharp zest of energy. Almost simultaneously, they put up their gloves and zipped up their coats. Then they both looked at each other.

  “Gregory, it's good to have you here.”

  “Glad to help. It's good to work with you again,” said Gregory, smiling at Igor with his old and familiar smile.

  Victor's car was parked behind the hotel, and it took several turns of the ignition key to start. It was bone-chillingly cold inside the car. I wish I was in my bed right now, thought Igor.

  They waited for another minute before he started rolling the car out of the parking lot.

  “Do you know where we are going?” asked Gregory.

  “I hope so. I was driving in daylight before, but finding our way shouldn't be a problem,” Igor replied as the car sped up, leaving the hotel behind and entering the dark and empty streets of Derchany. Now Igor was glad that Victor had explained every turn and corner to him when they had been driving to their hotel. Driving at night through the dark, on bumpy streets, was not the greatest of pleasures. The car stopped at intersections several times while Igor decided what turns they should take. Most of the buildings looked alike. Even the ever-calm Gregory began to show signs of apprehension and asked Igor whether they were going in the right direction. Finally, after a number of twists, turns and stops, the car rolled out from the city onto a straight road leading to the catacombs.

  “We are doing well. We are going the right way,” Igor reassured him.

  Gregory did not reply, looking straight into the darkness.

  Igor now felt sure that he was driving in the right direction. Suddenly, a feeling of unease started brewing inside him, as he recalled his conversation with Gregory about the Glass Beach Suites and the baffling story that Gregory had dropped into his lap yesterday.

  “So, Dina’s father appears suddenly from nowhere right when she finds the family's treasures and this does not seem strange to you? You are not at all suspicious?” asked Igor.

  “Not in the least. This is the reason for me being here,” Gregory curtly replied.

  “You do not suspect any foul play here? Nothing suspicious? You are not in the least bit worried that the diamonds will fall into the wrong hands, leaving Dina with almost?” Igor looked at Gregory.

  “I intend to make sure that the diamonds arrive safely from here directly to the Federal Treasury department in Switzerland, as Dina planned. If she brings out the diamonds from the catacombs, then you and I will make sure that this is how it is going to be.”

  Looking at Gregory's resolute face, Igor decided against challenging him again about the future of the diamonds.

  “How does Dina’s father look? Any resemblance to Dina?”

  “He is in his seventies. A good-looking man for his age. On the surface it seems that he is well established, if not filthy rich. A man of good manners, he appears to be very warm and friendly. I'm sure that you'll have a chance to meet him when we come back.”

  “In the past two weeks things have moved too fast. Must be rough for Dina. I can’t imagine how she is coping.”

  “She is a tough nut. She will be fine. And now with her dad finally around, I think she'll be a much happier person.”

  “Why didn't he come into sight earlier? Why the hiding for all those years?” Igor couldn’t hold back.

  “I didn't ask him, but I’m sure that Dina will get you answers to all those questions.”

  Igor and Gregory's attention was glued to the road now, which was running through peaceful and pristine scenery that was mostly made up of frozen fields and small patches of trees here and there. The drive during the night felt much longer than it had during the day. Finally, Igor caught a glimpse of the catacomb building materialize in front of their eyes as they slowly approached their destination. Igor parked the car in the same spot as before, close to the building's fence, and turned the engine off. The car and its two passengers were immediately swallowed by total darkness. Igor turned on the cabin lights and opened the door. He listened for a second.

  “You hear anything?” he asked Gregory.

  “I can hear nothing except for the mosquitoes that you're letting into the car. What else am I supposed to hear?”

  “The generator. I can’t hear whether the generator is working.”

  Igor left the car, forgetting to shut the door behind him, and took a couple of steps towards the fence.

  “The generator is not working. We may have a big problem. We can’t open the catacomb gate without the generator. Dina and Victor will be locked inside. We need to cross the swamp and check what is wrong.”

  “A swamp? Nobody mentioned anything about a swamp to me before.” Gregory also left the car and was standing beside Igor now.

  “Do we have any source of light?” he asked.

  “We should.” Igor moved to the back of the car and opened the rear door. Another cabin light went on, illuminating the back part of the car.

  “Victor was supposed to have all that we need in here. I saw flashlights here earlier in the morning. Hold this, please.” He took one of the rifles and handed it to Gregory.

  “I'm curious – how are we going to light our way through the swamp with this?” said Gregory, carefully studying the weapon in his hands.

  “Professor, don’t be too funny. Here.” Igor shoved one flashlight into Gregory’s hand and then, lifted his other arm, showing the second flashlight that he held in his hand.

  “There are two more flashlights in case we need them.”

  He took another rifle and a box of ammunition, and then he closed the doors. Both men turned the flashlights on.

  “Please follow me. It is going to be somewhat tricky,” instructed Igor. We'll be lucky if the red sticks are still there. I hope we'll be able to see them in the dark.”

  Gregory did not ask any more questions and appeared to be ready to follow Igor without hesitation. After Igor turned off the lights and locked the car, they slowly began their advance towards the fence.

  The already familiar trail had to bring them to the first wooden stick. After a short time, they found the stick, but to Igor's dismay it was lying on the ground, evidently broken. Igor kneeled and began his search for the missing part, probing the grass around and in front of him. He was hoping to find the second piece still buried in the ground. The search did not take long. Around a meter and a half from where the first piece was found, he found the missing piece, which was sticking out of the soil. It was sharply tilted, but still good enough for marking the entrance into the swamp.

  “Thank God.” Igor straightened the tilted remains of the stick and pushed the second broken half near it. He lifted his flashlight, aiming across the swamp. Moving the flashlight from side to side, he tried to search for the wooden stick across the swamp, but all of his efforts to locate the second stick were in vain.

  “The flashlight is not strong enough. I can’t see the second stick. You can take a look too. It is painted red, like this one.” He pointed to the broken stick.

  “I will need to cross the swamp based on my memory. I remember that the crossing path was sloped a little to the left. Let's take a rope from the car. If one of us slips into the swamp, another will use it to pull the poor bugger out. I’ll be back soon.”

  Igor left Gregory alone and disappeared into darkness. When he came back he carried a piece of rope
in his hand. He tied one end of it around his waist and handed the other end to Gregory.

  “Please stay here and aim your flashlight in front of me,” said Igor, and handed Gregory half a dozen rifle bullets.

  “Put them in your pocket; you never know when you might need them.”

  Igor slowly stepped into the swamp. He was calculating his every move, first lowering one of his legs to one side, checking whether the ground under him was safe and solid, then, slowly treading with his feet, checking whether the ground could hold his weight. If he felt uncertain, he would switch legs and do the same exercise on the other side of his body, all the while holding the flashlight in one hand and the rifle in another, balancing his slow but sturdy movements. In this manner, he moved one step at a time while Gregory slowly released his side of the rope, ready to pull back if necessary. Several times, it seemed that Igor was going to lose his balance, but with a short balancing movement of his hands, he always managed to regain it. Gregory's light could reach only so far, and he had lost Igor in the darkness. Suddenly, he felt two pulling motions from the rope.

  “I crossed it,” announced Igor’s relieved voice from the dark, as his flashlight sent out a light beam, meeting Gregory’s somewhere in the middle of the swamp.

  “Gregory, don’t pull the rope now. I'm on my way to check the generator,” Igor shouted. Then his flashlight disappeared. Gregory sat on his heels and waited for Igor to return. It did not take too long. A light dot soon appeared on the opposite side of the swamp.

  “Gregory, are you there?”

  “Yes, I’m here.” Gregory turned his flashlight on.

  “I’m coming back.” Igor’s light began to move slowly.

  “We have a problem,” Igor curtly informed Gregory when he was back on solid ground.

  “Some bastards stole the battery from the generator. We need to go back to the city and somehow get another one as soon as possible.” Igor began walking towards the parked car. Gregory illuminated his watch with the flashlight.

  “I’m not sure that you will find any batteries at three o’clock at night. Besides, we don’t need to go to the city. We can use the one from our car.”

  Igor stopped and turned around.

  “You are right, I’m sure Victor has tools that we can use to remove the battery from the car. We have another canister with diesel. I’ll take it with me too. Gregory, you are a genius.”

  Finding the tools was not a problem. It was as if Victor had anticipated what problems might arise and had prepared for them thoroughly.

  Igor shone his flashlight under the opened hood of the car while Gregory, without too much effort, disconnected the battery from the car.

  “I guess no tea for us right now.”

  Igor tried to lift the battery and was surprised at how heavy it was.

  “I’m not sure I can cross the swamp carrying this weight on me,” he said to Gregory.

  “Then we need to find another way to get it across.”

  “What other way? We can’t parachute it directly from the sky into the generator, can we?”

  “No, we can't parachute it, but if you could pull it behind you, it would make it easier, don't you think? Or better yet, if you could pull it after you crossed the swamp.” Gregory walked around the van, looking for something.

  “What are you looking for?” asked Igor who was certain that, as always, Gregory's brain would not disappoint them.

  “For a spare tire. Do you know where they hide the spare tire in vans?”

  “Usually it's in the back, under the floorboard,” Igor happily replied, beginning to grasp Gregory's idea.

  “I’m glad that Victor purchased the upgraded version of the van. It has wheels with very nice, lightweight aluminum rims. If the spare tire is in good condition, we will tie ropes to both sides of it. You will pull the rope, and I'll back you up by holding the second rope. It’s also good for balance. The air in the tire should keep it afloat in the water, so it should help us. Should we try?” asked Gregory.

  “I knew that we would have to do one of your experiments sooner rather than later. Is there anything else that we could do instead of trying to sink the battery or one of us in this swamp? I think not. Okay, let's try it then.”

  Igor opened the back door of the van, found the latch and lifted the floorboard. They removed the spare tire, located the additional rope, took out two extra flashlights, and carried everything along with the battery and a canister filled with diesel to the crossing point of the swamp.

  They tied the ropes to both sides of the tire, together with the flashlights, so that each flashlight would shine in the opposite direction. One would illuminate the way ahead of the moving tire, and the other the way behind the tire.

  Igor carefully positioned the battery in the middle of the tire, secured it and checked that it was balanced and had zero freedom of movement.

  “All set then.” Igor looked at Gregory. “Wish me luck.”

  “Good luck.” Gregory watched as Igor began crossing the swamp. He noticed that Igor's advance was faster and more confident this time. He advanced farther into the swamp, pulling the rope that was attached to the tire. The rope began to unfold slowly, indicating his progress. Finally, the rope strained completely and Gregory felt a light pull. He pushed the tire into the muddy water of the swamp and made a circle with his flashlight to indicate to Igor that he should start the transport. Igor pulled on the rope and the tire slowly began to move forward. Several similar pulls of the rope followed and the tire passed the first third of the swamp without a problem. The next half an hour was different, as the tire came to a standstill a number of times and Gregory had to pull the rope from side to side each time, releasing the tire from some snare and resuming the transport.

  “I got it,” Igor finally shouted from the dark. “Now you can pull the tire back and load the canister.” Gregory obeyed and the tire, loaded with the canister containing the diesel for the generator, was on its way. Suddenly Gregory felt the morning chill. He waited for Igor to confirm the successful arrival of the canister, shouted that he was going back to the car and left the swamp, hoping to get warmer in the van. Gregory found a blanket in the back seat and covered himself, waiting for Igor’s return. Several minutes later the hoped-for cracking noise woke up the sleeping swamp and the dark forest around it, announcing that the generator was back to life. When Igor joined Gregory, he found him soundly asleep.

  The first rays of the rising sun became visible on the horizon. Far away, the peaks of the trees and bushes were slowly climbing out of the dark. The countless icicles, frozen overnight, began reflecting tiny lights, shimmering in all directions.

  It is going to be a nice, warm day, thought Igor, looking at the horizon through the windshield of the car.

  “Igor, can you hear me?” Victor's voice wheezed on the radio, waking up the sleeping Gregory.

  “Yes, I’m here. We'll be waiting for you at the generator the moment you tell me.”

  “Good, we've reached the ‘Devil's Bridge’. We’ll contact you from the gate.”

  “Are you okay? Is Dina okay?” asked Igor, wary and surprised to hear Victor rather than Dina on the radio.

  “We are good, Dina can’t talk right now. See you soon.” The radio clicked and went silent, indicating the end of the conversation.

  “Something is going on,” said Igor to Gregory, trying to hide his suspicion.

  “Nothing is going on. Don’t be paranoid,” answered Gregory, yawning quietly but contagiously.

  “We will meet them soon if we don't freeze to death in this car by then. If you want a blanket, there is another one at the back,” he added.

  “No, no need, I’m fine.”

  Gregory went back to sleep and Igor continued watching the horizon, listening from time to time to the generator, making sure that it was still working.

  Dina felt drained. By the end of the two-and-a-half-hour walk, she felt as if she had been walking for days. The vis
ion of the tunnel in her mind had sometimes blurred, forcing her to slow her pace. Following the instructions from her Kerzhaks Navigation guide, Peter, she would angle her head to the left or the right, keeping it in this position for ten or fifteen seconds. Then, her clear vision would be back again. She could hear Victor's steps behind her. When they finally came up to ‘Devil's Bridge’, her legs could barely support her and she had to help herself by holding on to the wall. After her Kerzhaks Navigation workouts, Dina usually felt worn out, so she was neither surprised nor worried by her current exhaustion, and she knew that she needed to rest before she collapsed on the floor. She stopped.

  “Victor, the ‘Desert Bridge’ room entrance is straight ahead. I need to sit down for a while. You can go straight about twenty steps ahead and contact Igor. Tell him that we are coming out. He will be ready to meet us at the gate.” Dina sat down on the wet floor, barely feeling the cold and dampness, leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. She could hear Victor approaching.

  “Please don’t worry,” said Dina when she felt Victor's hand on her shoulder.

  “This is a normal condition that I experience after a long walk in the dark.” She tried to sound light and confident, to reassure him that everything was just fine.

  “There is the water and I have some candies too. I always carry them with me when I’m hunting.” Victor's hand searched for Dina’s in the dark.

  “Thank you. Please don’t worry Igor. I’ll be on my feet in a couple of minutes. By the time you come back, we'll be ready to continue walking.”