The two boys were sitting on the floor and staring into the dying light of Thirteen's pocket flashlight. The elevator was rocking gently, and that would have been relaxing, if not for the terrible sounds coming from the ancient metal cables.
“Sooner or later everything here will fall into such a state of disrepair that the whole Fortress will collapse in a puff of smoke,” sighed Thirteen.
“At least, we won't be here when that happens,” replied Bars. “All we have to do is get out of here in time.”
“Did you knowthat this is one of the first devices built in the Fortress?” said Thirteen as he remembered a part of the history of that place, which he had read in some ancient book several years ago. “They used it as a freight elevator while they were building the rest of the segments of the internal hull. At the moment we are hearing not the sound of some rusted cables that have been stretched to their limit, but the metal moaning of the centuries!”
The little guy stared upward thoughtfully and at that moment, the light from the flashlight caught him in such an eerie way that it gave Bars goosebumps.
“That's not helping a whole lot, just so you know.” Bars was desperately trying to keep calm, so that he could think rationally about a way to solve their problematic situation. It was in no way an easy feat, keeping in mind the fact that he was in a rocking trap that was hanging, who knew how many meters up, with possibly the creepiest and most infamous citizen of the Fortress.
“Hmm, if we only had enough reserve parts! In few months, a year at the most, we would be able to really fix this place up,” said Thirteen dreaming out loud. Then he immediately raised his voice, “It's disgusting!”
“What is?” said Bars as he jumped.
“Watching everything falling apart, only because we don't have the needed materials to fix it. Year upon year of slow, but certain decay...”
Bars didn't know much about making repairs, but even though he wasn't a specialist he could see that through the years everything around him was getting out of hand.
The Fortress had been built centuries ago with the last construction materials and precious resources. Its construction had been an amazing engineering feat, described in several legends. The Fortress had been built under the curve of a gigantic stone arch that rose towering over the surface of the planet in order to provide maximum security for the last people. The giant metal hull, made of a number of isolated layers, didn't allow the natural elements to wipe out the last remains of intelligent life.
It was like that centuries ago. Many years before Bars and Thirteen had been born. Now the reality of the situation was completely different, much darker than the golden years of the Fortress. Throughout the passing centuries protective layers had worn away and now one third of the legendary construction was uninhabitable or unusable because of breaches in the hull. The few remaining technical personnel did everything they could to maintain to the best of their ability the ever aging Fortress. But the required materials were never enough. If one of the life support systems was in need of emergency repairs, the technicians would scavenge reserve parts from the additional support devices thus stopping them from working for good. These measures deprived everyone of the many comforts that were taken for granted in previous years. With each passing year, life in the Fortress became more difficult and unbearable. The residents were forced to live in ever more constricted spaces in order to compensate for the areas that had become inhabitable because of breaches in the hull. Exactly because of the danger of overpopulation and the spread of an epidemic, a few centuries ago a special law had been introduced concerning all boys at the age of 17. Since then, every year after the Seventh tremor the Descent occurred, whose sole purpose was to decrease the total number of Fortress' inhabitants.
However now, Bars and Thirteen were blocked between floors and were late for the preparation for the Descent. The light from the pocket flashlight was fading even more, just as the boys' chances of getting out of this trap in time were also fading. While Thirteen walked around looking at the walls and inspecting the ancient machine, Bars was shaking his head and couldn't believe that he was going to be late for the most important moment of his life. Every year of his life, he had been training for and had learned so much about this day, and now, because of some technical breakdown or even worse – because of his bad luck, he would be forced to stay in this rotten elevator.
“Would you stop already?!” yelled Bars in irritation.
“Stop what?” asked Thirteen distracted while still looking at a corner.
“You're stomping around and the whole floor is shaking! Could you stay in one place for a while? What's so interesting about the walls anyway?”
“You're crazy! I'm walking normally just like any boy my age. The truth is that this could fall apart at any moment, just like everything else. It's not stable, you see,” and, to prove his point Thirteen leaned a little to the side. The floor screeched, and Bars squinted his eyes.
“OK, I understand!” he raised his hands. “Just don't move around so much!”
“So, what else can I do? Just stand here with my arms crossed like you? What will that gain us?” said Thirteen with incredulity.
“I ....am not just standing ! I'm trying to think of something!” Which is what he was really trying to do but as hard as he tried, he wasn't having any success.
“Uh-huh,” replied Thirteen and again looked away.
The flashlight blinked and Bars realized that if it went out, he would lose any chance he had to do anything. He had to do something immediately, if he didn't want to stay here forever like those unlucky boys from a few years ago.
“Hey, have you found anything interesting? You've been going over those walls for an eternity.”
“Something interesting? Well, it turns out that everything here is interesting,” replied Thirteen. After which, he quickly took the pocket flashlight from the floor shining it on the metal wall and continued excitedly. “It seems that this ancient platform has broken down several times through the centuries. There's hardly anything left of the original construction. Every spare part has come from somewhere else. If you look closely, you can easily make out the rough welds and bolts that are supposed to connect the different pieces of metal. On the edges of the replacement pieces you can still see remnants of the initial paint, and by the color you could make a guess about where it came from.”
The more Bars listened to what Thirteen was telling him, the more an idea began to clearly form in his head.
“One can't deny that it's shoddy workmanship. Even so, the technicians that did the repairs wrote the date and their names on their work! Most of them are still readable....”
The idea in Bars' head had almost reached its final stage.
“I mean to say, that we find ourselves in a kind of museum of several centuries of shoddy workmanship. I wonder how this thing is able to operate at all, .... hmm, actually I understand how now...”
“Would you stop talking for a while, and listen to my suggestion for getting us out of here?” suddenly said Bars.
“And does that include some more crazy jumping up and down on the floor?” said Thirteen as he raised his eyebrows.
“No, of course not! That had been foolish even though it had been a little fun,” said Bars firmly. “You mean to say that only a small part of the walls are original and everything else has been added through the centuries. The older parts are weaker and more worn out than the newer ones. If we look closely at the signatures and dates of the repair work – we'll be able to find which of the segment are the most ancient.”
“Yes, without any trouble,” replied Thirteen.
“After all these centuries, the oldest part of the wall shouldn't be quite sound especially taking into account the shoddy welds that you, yourself, pointed out. Until now we have only jumped on and kicked the floor, but if we find a weak spot in the wall, maybe we'll succeed in making a hole and be able to get into the elevator shaft.”
“Why, of course!” Thirteen slapped his hands together. “Once we get to the shaft, we'll be able to get to one of the floors.”
“OK, let's find the oldest segment.”
Thirteen started to look at the walls again, while the flashlight was still working. Among the patches, quite faded by time, but still readable, were the names and dates of generations of technicians. Thirteen found one part of the wall that showed no signs of any scratchings and pointed it out.
“Bars, here. Here the metal looks the oldest and there are no signs of repairs. It's without any names or dates. I'm certain that it's the oldest part of the wall.”
“Hold the light pointed at it.”
Bars positioned himself in front of the section, gathered his strength and gave the wall the strongest kick of his life. The pain that he felt in his ankle was also the strongest he'd felt throughout his life, but he didn't give up and gave the wall a series of new kicks. In the end, with a loud crack something broke and with great relief, they realized, it wasn't a bone in Bars' leg.
The ancient piece of metal gave way and now it was knocked half off.
“It worked!” said Thirteen amazed.
“Hold the light on it,” said Bars and with his last strength pulled off that section of the wall and threw it on the floor.
“Wonderful!!” exclaimed Thirteen.
The hole looked big enough for a person to get through without a problem. The first thing to poke out of the hole was Bars' shaggy head. Opposite him, at only a distance of a hands' breadth was the wall of the shaft. Its surface was covered in ancient spider webs and filth that continued on down into the dark depths where the light of the flashlight was unable to reach.
“I don't see either a ladder or even any pipes that we could use to climb on,” shared anxiously Bars. “And soon we'll be left without a light.”
“OK, let me have a look,” replied Thirteen.
Bars gave him the flashlight and moved as far back as he could.
“Be as fast as you can. If there's no way to get out on this side, we'll need the light to find another weak point in the walls. If we make another hole there, we might have some luck.”
Thirteen had leaned out over the gap and reaching out with his hand touched the wall, while holding the flashlight between his teeth.
“Ium fundung sumhung heer.”
“What?” said Bars puzzled.
“Fhold me ftight!” This time Thirteen could be understood because he had been able to say the whole sentence, and it was short. Bars stood next to him and grabbed onto one of his legs, which was surprisingly thin and cold.
“That's better.” Thirteen took the flashlight in one hand, while with the other he cleared away the layer of spider webs. “There's something here underneath the cobwebs. Just a little more and I will have the wall cleared.”
The elevator creaked again and seemed to move a millimeter. Thirteen slid forward a little more, while Bars gripped his knee hard.
“Ready! Now that's something!” Thirteen's voice sounded really hopeful.
“What did you find?” asked Bars intrigued.
“Some kind of grate, maybe from the old ventilation system. It's wide enough for us to crawl through it, if we are able to succeed in getting it open.”
Then Thirteen pulled a folded multi-functional tool out of his pocket that included a screwdriver. He put the flashlight between his teeth and with his free hand began to unscrew the bolt that held the grate to the wall. In a little bit, he announced the joyful news to Bars.
“Push me as far forward as you can. The way is open. I'll enter first and have a look around.”
As Bars pushed the boy forward with his shoulder, the elevator began to creak even more. After Thirteen made it into the shaft, Bars stuck his head out of the metal wall of the elevator to watch Thirteen, who had advanced into the ventilation pipe.
“It isn't blocked with trash, is it?” asked Bars.
“Quite the opposite,” replied Thirteen. “Everything seems OK. There's a junction, but I think it will be best to head down. Wait for me to go in a little further and then follow me.”
“Are there any bugs? Any with pincers?” continued Bars.
“I don't see any, at least for now... Everything's OK, really,” said Thirteen trying to calm his fears.
The problem with the jammed elevator was either about to be resolved...or to become more complicated. Bars was impatient to get out of the rotting construction, but could he trust that reckless little guy? Did he even know where he was going? What is this ancient pipe anyway and what could be hiding in it? Whatever might be in there, he was sure he would find something that he didn't like! While Bars wondered about what to do, Thirteen had gone quite a way in and now his voice sounded different.
“Come on, Bars! Come here!” The echo deformed the sound and it was as if it came from hell itself. “Follow me!”
Filled with doubt, Bars stood still in the dark elevator, his breath coming in rapid gasps, while the voice of Thirteen continued to firmly lure him in.
“Are you coming, Bars? What's the hold up? This is your only salvation!” The light in the tunnel faded, but Bars stayed there numb, soaked in a cold sweat. The distant voice, coming from the shaft, began to sound like a strange whisper that could freeze one's blood.
“Would you shut-up already!” yelled Bars. “I just can't do it.”
And at that moment, the floor dropped down with a few sudden rasps.
The lights came on and lighted up Bars' surprised face. The elevator started to descend as if it hadn't even been stuck.
“At last!” said Bars and after a brief moment of elation, he dropped to the floor. He covered his face with his hands and released a heavy sigh. What a luck!
The floors passed by slowly one after another, while the elevator continued to sink ever down. Staring at the opening in the wall, Bars watched pieces of spider web that came into the elevator from there together with a stench.
After a few more floors, the elevator stopped and the door opened. Bars had reached the bottom.
And somewhere up there, in an old, dirty pipe, Thirteen had been left all alone...
Chapter 3.