Ragnarok: The Fate of Gods (15 page)

Charlie, still buzzed, rose to his feet. 
“So you want us to sneak in and tear the place up?”  He took a lumbering step towards Dumah, who took a quick step back. 

“
Not exactly, no,” he said, keeping an eye on the drunken giant.  “I know the facilities are used for . . . questionable activities, but not even his personal attendants know exactly what those are.” 

“
But the draugr are kind of a dead giveaway,” suggested Joel.

“
Right.  And if they escaped—or were released—from the lab, I expect you’ll find a way in.  Somewhere on the mountain.” 

“
So we enter, find out what he’s doing, then bring you the proof?” asked Daniel. 

For a moment, the Supervisor seemed worried.

The panic faded from his face as he approached the boy and said quietly, “I know this is asking you to overstep the bounds of your job description, but I hope you can see the importance of this.  The Karellan must be dealt with.” 

After a moment of hesitation, he answered,
“Of course.” 

The Supervisor seemed satisfied with his conviction. 
“Good.  You’ll likely find a secure terminal in the building.  This code should work to access my own terminal and transfer any data you find.”  He took out a small card and slipped it to Daniel. 

It was only a brief glimpse, but Jae-Hoon recognized the card. 
“Isn’t that . . .”

Dumah cut him off. 
“My friend, I want you to go with them.  I think it’s important that you see what they find.  You are a man of astounding faith, but some things still need proof to believe.” 

Jae-Hoon fought for sobriety.  He struggled to understand this cryptic advice. 

The others were sober, but still didn’t understand. 

“
Yes sir,” was all the priest managed. 

“
So,” started Joel.  “Clandestine operations?  Screwing with the G-men?  Instigating a revolution, maybe?  Zeke, I hope you’re planning on including me in this party of yours.”

“
You can’t leave me out either!” shouted Charlie, a little too loudly.  “We should stop in and visit Emily!”  The big man drooped his arm around Zeke’s shoulder, half-supporting his weight on his smaller friend.

Zeke pushed him off. 
“I don’t believe this.  You’re all taking his side?  No questions?” 

“
Well, aren’t you?” asked Charlie, who had collapsed to the ground.

“
Not without questions!”

“
You may have to trust him,” pleaded Ariel.  “Just this once.  Please?”

             
He turned lazily to talk to all his friends at once.  “I don’t believe this.  Any of this!  You trust his story?  There are only a handful of people on this planet with enough power to stand up to the Karellan.”  He turned to speak to Dumah directly.  “You’re one of them.  You could do it.  You say you want to.  But what are you doing?  Hiding in the shadows and resorting to petty thievery.” 

             
“Like it or not, I have to maintain my position.  I won’t have much power if I’m impeached for treason.”  He turned away.  He didn’t want to look anyone in the eye as he said, “You have to learn to work with the system if you want to change it.”

             
“That is exactly the reason the system will
never
change,” Zeke countered. 

             
He paused, but ignored the remark.  “Will you do it?” 

             
“Like I said, if it means protecting Ariel, I have no choice.”

             
Dumah turned back to them, much more cheerful than before.  “Excellent.  You leave at midnight.” 

              In a city once famous for its mountains, Namsan was its highest point. 

             
That was before the Unified Theocracy. 

             
The communications tower at the top of the mountain once rose a half a kilometer above sea level.  It was visible from nearly everywhere in the city.  Then the plate cities were built.  Seoul was thought of as an excellent choice because of its mountains.  The peak of Namsan was razed to a level 100 meters, and the tower that had stood for over two hundred years was scrapped to build the plate. 

             
A mountain castrated by the church.  An entire city emasculated.

             
Over the years, the city’s mountains had grown in their functions of supporting the upper city.  Tunnels of steel and titanium were dug into it side.  A forest of pillars sprang up to support the immense weight of the civilization above it.  The mountains were no longer natural. 

             
They were undead.

             
Murdered, then reborn through metal and science.  Frankenstein’s earthen monsters. 

             
And somewhere on the horrible mountainside was a path to the city above it.  To the Karellan’s secret laboratory.  Jae-Hoon, wedged in the space between earth and metal, forced his own way with a hand cutting torch. 

             
“Kind of old equipment, he gave us,” commented Charlie.  “He works for the government.  Why didn’t he give us lasers or something?  I know they got some.”

             
“It’s the same reason we can’t look for the tunnels the draugr used,” explained Daniel.  They had had the same discussion several times already.  “We have to make it look like vandalism.  They don’t want the break-in traced back to the government.” 

             
“The
break-in? 
More like the
capture
,” said Zeke as he leaned against a metal support pillar.  He didn’t trust the plan.  The Supervisor did not need them to return, and there wasn’t much chance they would.  Plausible deniability.  There was no proof that he had instigated or even supported the infiltration.  And it would stay that way if they were caught.  The scenario the others didn’t want to think about. 

             
But they didn’t argue. 

             
Charlie paced around nervously.  “So how do we know we can get up there just by cutting through the plate?”

             
“The plate is hollow.  It’s strong, but people have to get inside for maintenance,” Daniel answered.

             
“So we’re gonna climb in through a bunch of itty bitty tunnels?”  The big man was clearly agitated.

             
“Not only that,” Zeke teased, “but also steam pipes and nuclear power cables.  Better be careful not to crack one or the whole plate might blow.” 

             
“R-really?”

             
“Granted that’s only the worst case.  At best the steam pipes might explode and flash-boil us to death.”  Zeke paused, trying to keep a straight face.  “Charlie, are you actually scared of something?”

             
“No.  Of course not.  It’s just . . . well, how do we know I’m not gonna get stuck?  I’m bigger than you guys.” 

             
The others looked as though they were going to laugh.  Daniel spoke first.  “Guess being a runt doesn’t seem so bad anymore, does it?” 

             
“Calm down.  They’re regular maintenance tunnels.  Each one big enough to walk through.  You’ll probably have room to spare,” Zeke explained.  Charlie looked at him nervously, as though he didn’t believe him, but still wanted to.

             
The hiss of the cutting torch stopped.  A large ring of metal fell to the ground.  “I’m through!” shouted Jae-Hoon, staring at a large square hole. 

             
The others approached quickly, then took a fast step back. 

             
“Oh, god,” said Zeke under his breath.

             
“Smells ripe in there,” hooted Charlie. 

             
“Draugr definitely came through this way.  Smells like a nest of them.” 

             
“I think I’m going to be sick.”  Daniel sat on the earth as his strength left him.

             
“We cut the hole.  Didn’t we?  It looks like vandalism.  Can’t we go look around for another tunnel?”  Charlie pleaded.

             
“Any tunnel we find will probably smell as bad as this,” said Zeke, not thrilled with the idea of crawling through these rancid holes either. 

             
“Or worse,” added Joel.  “Might as well get it over quickly, though.”  He pulled himself up through the hole and disappeared into the darkness. 

             
“I’m with you on that.”  Zeke took a deep breath of clean air and leapt into the hole.  Jae-Hoon did the same.

             
Daniel turned to Charlie.  “You could let them have all the fun without you.  If you’re scared, you can stay behind.”  After his taunt, he took a breath and climbed in after the others. 

             
“Damn little guys.  Don’t know what it’s like being so damn big.” 

             
He hesitated for a moment, then took a weak leap into the hole.  He grabbed the inside clumsily and nearly fell back out again.  After a moment of kicking, Zeke’s hand found him and helped pull him up. 

             
He stood up in the tunnel and took a breath.  “Shit.  Smells worse in here.” 

             
“At least they left us a trail to follow.”  Joel pointed a flashlight at a trail of dried, putrid slime.  A short distance down the tunnel, the group stopped with the trail. 

             
“A ladder,” Zeke said, noticing the side of the tunnel. 

             
“There are three levels of tunnels,” explained Daniel as they climbed.  “Each one roughly three meters high.” 

             
Charlie liked that thought.  “Didn’t wanna tell me outside, huh?  Spoil your fun?”

             
“If we follow them toward the center of the mountain, the Karellan’s research facilities will be directly above the top level.  There probably won’t be any access, seeing as how it’s top security, but we can cut into it using the torch.”

             
Zeke glanced at Daniel in the darkness.  “You know all this because of that hobby of yours?”  He had been suspicious of the boy for some time.  Knowledge of the Karellan’s technical details was scarce in the lower city.  Only the Supervisor himself would have access to the specs of the Muselheim or the maps of the plate tunnels. 

             
Daniel was a first-class citizen. 

             
“Be on your guard,” advised Joel as they reached the second level.  “There may be draugr still lurking in the tunnel.” 

             
Behind him, Charlie said, “I suppose you can tell by that new-corpse smell, right?” 

             
Zeke wondered how many of the monsters Metatron had absorbed.  Did the malak miss any who were hiding in the tunnels?  Just how powerful was he? 

             
“It certainly does smell more putrid up here,” observed the priest as he helped pull the others to the top.

             
“So what does that mean?” asked the giant.  “Are they alive and fresh?  Or dead and dried up?” 

             
“I’m not entirely sure.  It’s hard to tell with these things.” 

             
“You’re the Slayer, aren’t you?  You kill them for a living?  What happens when they’re dead?”

             
“Quiet you two,” whispered Zeke.  “We’re in a steam tunnel.  The heat makes it smell worse.  But if there
are
any left alive, don’t let them know we’re here, okay?” 

             
“Broiled draugr,” said Joel.  “And me without a doggie bag.” 

             
“Think I found the ladder,” said Daniel.  He climbed up. 

             
Charlie watched him in the dim light.  “So we climb up this ladder, cut through the roof, and we’re out?” 

             
“In the sweet air of freedom,” said Zeke.  Then he added, “Until we’re caught.”  He scurried up the ladder after Daniel. 

             
“It might take a while.  The outer shell of the plate is pretty thick, especially at the top,” said Jae-Hoon, leaving Charlie below him. 

             
“Don’t think we need to worry about that,” said Daniel.  “Come look at this.” 

             
They hurried up the ladder to the first level of tunnels.  A short distance away, dim security lights streamed in through a hole in the plate.   A large square cut out of the floor, it led directly into the facility. A secret passage.  As if someone had forgotten to close it.