Today I found out something very interesting about the Cern Hadron Collider; they don't actually use it to collide Hadrons at all.

Chapter 18

The Machine

Being very careful not to spill any of the precious drinking water, Emerson emptied the last of the solar stills into a sealed container before placing it into the sea to keep it cool. He then refilled the evaporation trays with sea water. The breeze from the west helped to keep him cool, but occasionally the wind would drop and the humidity would become unbearable. The only thing to do was to sit in the shade and rest till the air began to move bringing relief, and hope a cool change would blow in sooner rather than later.

"I'm sure she's okay" Emerson tried to reassure his father as he returned to the shade.

"Maybe I should climb back up to the bow of the tanker and search the area with the binoculars" Maynard pondered.

"You wouldn't be able to stay up there very long" Emerson noted "You'd start to cook before you got halfway up the ladder.

"I just feel like I'm going to go crazy sitting here. I've got another idea; no matter which way she went, she would not have gone far, so let's split up and go along the beach for about..."

Maynard stopped as soon as the sound entered his ears and it was plain to see from the look in his sons eyes, Emerson heard it too. It was a rapid rhythmic drumming on something metal. Is sounded far off but at the same time it was coming from only a short distance away amongst the trees. The two men scrambled to their feet and cautiously walked towards the unexpected noise, unsure of what they would find and what new trouble it may bring.

At times like this, a parents mind can run wild with unfounded fear and Maynard found himself imagining a long forgotten, automated machine that had maimed and possibly killed his precious daughter. The noise was slowly increasing in volume but not because Maynard and Emerson had found the round metal structure from which the sound was emitting, but because whatever it was had almost reached the top.

"Don't get too close" Maynard warned "we don't know what's going to come out of there."

Both of the anxious men assumed the machine was about to appear any second but it took over three minutes as the drumming grew steadily louder. When at last the head of a strange machine emerged from the hole, the whole thing stopped moving and hummed quietly.

"What the hell is that?" Emerson gasped at the odd contraption.

It appeared to be made specifically for the tube it had just breached; its body could not be seen behind the head, but the observers could see three rubber caterpillar tracks that had propelled it up the tube, protruding from the hole."

"Okay we've arrived" a voice came from the machine to the surprise of the Linwood men "Just let me pan the camera a bit."

A small electric motor whirred into life as the head of the device lowered itself and turned to the right. As Maynard and Emerson came into view of the lens, a familiar and very excited voice burst out of the vent crawler.

"THAT'S THEM; THAT'S MY DAD! HI DAD, IT'S ME CALLA."

"Calla?" Maynard gasped as his heart began to race "Wh... where are you?"

"She's safe Mr. Linwood" the first voice informed the distraught father "She's about five kilometres below you and twelve kilometres north."

"WHY DID YOU KIDNAP MY DAUGHTER? GIVE HER BACK; NOW!" Maynard yelled franticly.

"Calm down Dad I wasn't kidnapped; I fell down here."

"You fell... FIVE KILOMETRES?" he gasped again "How bad are you hurt?"

"I'm fine Dad; it's some kind of... what is it again?"

"She fell down a pressure release vent; surprisingly she is in pretty good condition Mr Linwood."

"I've got a few bruises and I hurt my arm when I fell on Blue, but apart from that, I'm fine."

"You fell in glue?" Emerson asked.

"You're the one with glue in his ears" Calla answered her brother "I said BLUE you idiot, he's another kid down here; he's got cats."

"Never mind the cats, how do we get to you?"

"I'm sorry to say that you can't at the moment" the first voice declared "but we are working on the problem and should have a time frame for you very soon."

"Who are you anyway" Maynard asked suspiciously.

"Oh sorry, I'm Doctor Sarah Spencer; I'm taking care of Calla till we can get her back to you."

"Just relax Dad, I'm absolutely fine" Calla tried to reassure him "You would not believe what it's like down here; there's even a farm with chickens no less. Sorry to leave you so quick, but we have to go now."

"Go?" Maynard interrupted "Where are you going?"

"We're down the end of a long and steep tunnel Dad" Calla responded "and we only came back down here to try and make contact with you. So just relax, do some fishing and I'll be with you soon."

"Perhaps in a day or so" Doctor Spencer noted.

"A DAY!?" Maynard exploded.

"Sorry sir, but we closed off all the surface tunnels fifteen years ago so it will take some effort to re-open one of them."

"I am not happy about this" Maynard made it known "just get it done as quickly as you can; if not sooner."

"Don't get all authoritarian on them Dad" Calla sighed "It wasn't the fault of anybody down here."

"We'll see you soon sir" Doctor Spencer said, and with those final words the machine shut down.

"I don't believe this" Maynard rubbed his forehead "Five kilometres underground?"

"And twelve to the north; only Calla could stuff up so royally" Emerson smirked.

"You're not helping son."

Now that she had made contact with her father and brother, Calla was feeling much more relaxed and so for the first time since her unexpected fall, her curiosity began to take priority once again.

"Why is this tunnel so steep?" she asked Doctor Spencer.

"It was built at the optimum angle for us to achieve a geostationary orbit for smaller launch objects and a stable high orbit for heavier ones" Blue answered to Calla's annoyance.

"I didn't ask you" she huffed "so just drive the tram and mind your business."

"But this tunnel is my..." he began before deciding not to push it; he still had a very strong memory of what this girl could be like when she was angry.

Calla stopped asking questions for a while; Blue had answered so casually as if the reason was obvious, but she had hardly understood anything he said and she did not like the feeling of not understanding.

Sarah Spencer took Calla to her quarters so the young girl could clean up a bit while Blue was sent off to prepare some lunch for them. He was quite surprised to find how everything had changed in the complex while he had been down in the centre of the Railgun tunnel. People were no longer just going about their tasks in preparation for another launch, but were rushing about, discussing and arguing with each other, pointing down corridors and pouring over plans or trying to work out where they were in relation to maps of the surface. All the while, the Goshawk of Upheaval ran around in tight circles squawking loudly at everyone who failed to see it as they passed by.

"All this is entirely your fault you know" Doctor Quill Vieira noted as he walked alongside Blue.

"My Fault; why?"

"You're the one that found that girl and brought her back here" the doctor smiled.

"But she FELL on me!"

"Relax Blue, I'm only teasing you. It's kind of exciting really; I had come to believe I would live and die down here, so it's good to know we'll soon see the surface world again."

"It'll be the first time for me" Blue realised as the butterflies in his stomach went into overdrive.

"Not quite my boy; remember you were born on the surface, but you were only a few days old when you were brought down here."

"Well I'm still looking forward to seeing it. So where you headed Doc?"

"I just got word from Linton that we've started work on the old Entry Store ramp. It's a long way from the coast but it's only a kilometre long and eight hundred metres below the surface. I thought I'd better stand by just in case anyone had a little accident and found themselves in need of my services."

"I wish I could go with you, but I have to get something to eat for Doctor Spencer and that annoying little ungrateful pest."

"Oh my, you seem to have changed your mind about her in the last few hours."

"Sorry Doc, but I can't seem to do anything right in her eyes" Blue shook his head "She asks questions but gets angry when I answer her and also she doesn't like it if I even look at her. Does she expect me walk around with my eyes shut?"

"Calm down Blue, she's just different that's all."

"She's just crazy; I think I'll join you as soon as I'm done with the food trays" he decided "Calla is Sarah's problem now."

The White Breasted Nuthatch of Fearful Concern chirped softly as Quill Vieira watched the young man storm off. He could not help but feel sorry for Blue, having grown up with only adult professionals, scientists and scholars for company; he had not been prepared for a wider world of diverse ages and personalities.

I'm at the stage where I finally know how this story will end but I still have many chapters to write before I get there. It feels like the ol' Pink-headed Fruit Dove of Frustration is nesting in my computer.