I'm so sorry for not updating! For most people summer means holidays, but for me it means work, a lot of work, to pay for my fees for college. That's why I didn't have any time to post :( I'll try my best to post at least one chapter each week! For now, R&R and thanks for reading!
10. Down the Shafts
With a jolt the elevator comes to an abrupt halt. People shriek in fear as they grab for the bars at the sides to keep from falling over. The elevator shakes and suddenly stops moving, the lights above our heads flickering. I shoot Snyder a glance. The look on his face is grim, but we know everything is going according to plan. The intercom starts crackling and a female voice sounds through it.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a defect with the elevator. Security will be coming up to fix the problem. Please stay calm, this will only take a few minutes." The relief of hearing Lori's voice takes the sharp edges off of my tenseness, but I remain highly alert. Some moments later, we hear the sound of voices coming from above us. After half a minute, light start creeping through a slit that grows wider between the elevator doors. Someone pushes a crowbar between them and wrenches them further apart. When the opening is big enough, the security above us start helping people crawl out of the elevator, helping each other climb up to the fourth floor.
Snyder and I are farthest back and last to go out. With a final exchange of looks, I move forward, helping a lady up to the opening. When she's up, Snyder pushes me up and I take the hand of the security guard who's reaching out for me. He helps me through the opening and I crawl onto the floor. Next to the guard helping people out is a guard keeping the door open with the crowbar. I instantly realize this is our chance.
As Snyder is the last one down there, there's no one to help him get up. I offer the guard to help him lift Snyder. He thanks me and I feel a pang of guilt in my chest, which I quickly suppress. It's not real.
We extend our hands to Snyder and he grabs them. As we start hauling him over, Snyder suddenly jerks the arm the guard is holding onto. The guard falters and with a look of shock, he tumbles forward into the elevator. Before he can get up and reach for Snyder, I pull him up to the floor.
"Hey! What do you think you –" My elbow on the side of his face immediately shuts the second guard up and he releases his grip on the crowbar. As in slow motion, I watch it fly through the air, passed the elevator doors. Before it falls down into the elevator, I dive for it and catch it just before it falls in. I quickly withdraw my hand as the doors slam shut again. I gasp. That was close. I hear banging coming from inside the elevator, but ignore the trapped guard. Snyder is grappling with the remaining guard, who has now forgotten about me. I sneak up behind him and lift the crowbar in the air. With a swooshing sound, it comes down on his head. The guard sags down to the floor, lying completely still.
I look at Snyder.
"Search him," I say in a cold voice that doesn't seem to belong to me. I turn around and study the elevator. Snyder joins me, a gun in his hand. To my surprise, he offers it to me.
"If I open up the elevator again, you can shoot the guy." I open my mouth in protest, but before I can voice my antipathy, he interrupts me.
"In the shoulder, I mean. Just make sure he can't get out." I shut up and mumble an 'okay'. We trade weapons. The gun feels oddly heavy in my hand. Snyder squeezes the crowbar between the doors again and starts tearing them open. I look down into the elevator. The guard gazes up and immediately starts reaching for the edge of the floor. I lean slightly forward into the shaft and aim. I have never shot before, so I'm kind of relieved that when I shoot I hit him in the leg. The guard cries out in pain and collapses to the floor. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd held in. Snyder looks over to the guard and frowns.
"The leg? Are you serious?" I shrug.
"Hey, I've never used one of these things before, just be happy I hit him, okay?" Snyder looks at me incredulously and shakes his head.
"Never mind." The intercom in the elevator comes to life again, cutting off our bantering. The crackling voice of Lori sounds through it again.
"Eleventh floor, and take out the guard's earpiece," is all she says before the intercom shuts off again. Snyder and I look at each other again, minds focused on our assignment. I walk over to the passed out guard sprawled out on the floor, squatting beside him. I brush the hair away from his ear and take out the earpiece. After quickly wiping it with my sleeve, I put it in. A buzzing fills my right ear, then I hear Lori's voice again.
"Everything's going to plan. I've managed to put your earpiece on a different channel so the other guards can't hear us. They're holding the prisoner on the eleventh floor. If you move up and come in via the elevator shaft, you're dead. Two guards are patrolling the lift doors. Your best shot is to go to the roof and re-enter the building via the ventilator shaft, moving down until you have localized the Councilmember. When you have, tell me his position so I can send the others up there to take down the security. They've shut down the camera-system on the eleventh, and I can't break through, so we depend on you. Got it?"
"Yes, understood," I reply and look at Snyder, who's still holding the elevator doors open.
"Do you think you'll be able to get in?" he asks, inclining his head towards the exposed elevator-shaft above us. I nod.
"If you give me a push." Snyder crouches, still holding on to the crowbar, and I carefully step onto his back. I reach for the top of the elevator and haul myself in. When I'm standing in the shaft, Snyder gives me a last wry smile before he lets go of the crowbar, letting the doors slam shut again.
I'm alone now. In the middle of the shaft are the cables, thick and wired. I take a deep breath and start climbing upward. As I get up higher and higher, I try not to look down into the black hole beneath me. The banging and wailing sounds of the trapped guard echo eerily around me. As I climb up, I can't help counting the doors I pass. When I'm at the tenth door, my hands are red and blistered from the rough cables. I force my arms and legs to keep on moving, making my way up.
Finally, I reach the top of the shaft. I'm panting by now, but I can't waste any time on catching my breath. Just to the right of the pulleys of the elevator, there's a hatch. I clamber up until I'm holding on to one of the pulleys, reaching for the shutter.
"Damn," I mutter. I'm barely able to touch the surface with my fingers, so pushing it open isn't even an option. Another idea pops up in my head. I hold on tightly to the pulley as I push myself off with my feet, swinging through the air. I try not to think of the fall down the shaft that would be my fate if this plan didn't work, instead swaying my legs from side to side. When I figure I have enough speed, I throw one leg out and kick against the hatch. It flies open and I can see the blue sky. I cling to the cable again, my arms trembling, weakened from holding the weight of my entire body. When the worst ache is over, I manage to get a grip on the edge, lifting myself through the shutter.
I crawl onto the gravelled roof, lying on my back for a few seconds until I force myself back up again. Time for the next step: the ventilation shaft. I scan the roof until my eyes meet an air-conditioning unit.
"Lori, I found the air-conditioning-system," I say, hoping she can still receive me on the roof.
"Yes, that's perfect. The unit is situated at the west hand corner: keep that in mind for your position. Go in," she replies and I head over to the installation. When I find an air grate, I start kicking it. I'm grateful for my heavy boots, protecting my feet from the impact. After a few more kicks, the trellis of the grate give way and my foot shoots through. I withdraw my foot and am able to bend the remaining latticework out of the way easily, until the hole is big enough to crawl through.
"Here goes nothing," I murmur as I slip in, trying not the get caught in the remaining trellis jutting out. Unfortunately, my dress hooks onto one of the bars. The airshaft is very narrow and I can hardly manoeuvre around, so I give it a tug. I hear the tearing of fabric and see the dress has ripped along the side. I groan. I'm definitely going to need a different outfit if I'm accepted into the Force. On my elbows and knees, I start crawling down the shaft.
After I round a corner, I can see the shaft splits, one tunnel continues straight ahead, the other going down. To my relief, I see handles at the side to climb down. Jumping down the shaft would cause a lot of noise and might give me away immediately. Quickly, I assess my position. I have moved north, so I'm probably still at the west side if the building. I descend down the tunnel and quietly lower myself into the next shaft. As I crawl through the narrow tunnel, every once I a while a grate gives me a peek into the rooms beneath me. Most of them are offices and meeting-rooms, some occupied and some empty. I make my way down to more tunnels that bring me down two floors, keeping at the west side, until I finally arrive on the eleventh floor.
My breath sounds loud in my ears and I try to keep my breathing shallow and quiet. As softly as I can, I start sneaking through the shaft. At each grate, I halt and cautiously peek through. Most rooms are empty and I keep moving. When I'm at the ninth grate, my breath halts. I can see guards, many guards, lined along the walls of the office. In the middle of the room, there's a desk with a man behind it. I can see his back, his hands tied to the chair, his fear almost palpable. My heart hammers in my chest as I slowly back away from the grate, shuffling back to the former room. When I know I'm out of hearing-distance, I start whispering.
"Lori, I've found him. He's in the ninth room from the west hand corner. The Councilmember is sitting with his back to me. If I jump out, I can easily reach him. But there's security in there, many security," I warn her and wait for a reply. The earpiece starts crackling again.
"Okay, here's the plan. Snyder, Myles, Mick and Nora are on their way up. You wait in the shaft until they arrive, then jump out. Do not mingle in the fighting, but head straight for the prisoner. Release him and bring him down, that's your mission. Head for the stairs, as the elevator is still down. Mick will protect you when you lead the prisoner away. Before I send the rest in, could you give me an overall picture of the situation of the room?"
"Of course, give me a few minutes," I say and slowly slide forward on my belly to the room they're holding the Councilmember in again. I observe the guards. There are about eight of them within my field of vision, some walking around, others standing with their backs against the wall, posture rigid and eyes vigilant. They're all dressed in impeccable black suits, a gun sticking out of their belts. Every 10 minutes or so, the guards swap positions.
I push myself backwards down the shaft and reply to Lori.
"I can see about eight of them, but there might be more, I can't see the entire room through the grate."
"Thanks. I'm sending the other up. Remain in position until the others break down the door," she commands sternly. In any other situation I would have never complied if someone talked to me like that, but this was different. There were lives at stake now. I frown involuntarily as I start to think about this whole simulation. Could you actually die while in here?
"Good luck," Lori says and I push the thought aside. The earpiece buzzes until all I hear is silence again.
"Thanks," I whisper and take a few deep breaths before I crawl back to the room with the prisoner again. Better not to consider such questions right now.