The Fourth Sage (The Circularity Saga) (26 page)

"I guess we're going," Ty says. "So much for making plans and having a couple of hours of rest."

Tevis gives instructions to the remaining children to go back up and wait there. Then she holds on to Ty's arm as they follow the rest of them out of the room.

Tuari leads them down several more floors. The light here is sporadic, dim at most. The broken bulbs were never replaced. The walls are overgrown with dark mold, crusted and thick. Once in a while, a rat flees into the darkness, alarmed by their footsteps. At length they come to a ladder leading straight down.

"We're three stories above the ground floor," Tuari says, as he grabs onto the first rung and, with a sure step, begins to climb down the rusty ladder.

"You should go back up with them," Ty says to Tevis. "No need for you to come all the way down."

Tevis nods. "Be careful," she says.

"And you," Ty answers.

Tevis lets go of Ty's arm as he grabs onto the ladder and starts climbing down. Mila and Amber stand together with Jeremiah and Sam.

"Come back to us," Mila says quietly. She tries to smile but it doesn't quite work.

"I will," is all Aries can say, even though part of her is not so sure it's wise to promise something she might be unable to fulfill.

Max signs a farewell, which they answer with the same sign.

"We'll wait for y-y-you," Jeremiah says.

"We certainly will," Sam adds.

Amber steps forward. Her fingertips very lightly touch her own sternum, then Aries's.

"Esla Ar Foyelle," she says.

"What does it mean?" Aries asks. The words stir something in her that she can't identify.

"It means never apart," Amber replies.

Aries looks at Max, then back to the others. "Never apart," she says.

Mila, Jeremiah and Sam repeat the words. After a moment, Tevis embraces Aries.

"Just come back to us, please," she says.

Aries nods, grabs on to the ladder and climbs down. Max follows right behind her as they disappear into the blackness below.

* * *

Darkness swallows them as they make their way down the ladder. The residual light from above slowly disappears, leaving them with nothing but blackness. A foul stench permeates the air, making it hard to breathe. The rungs of the ladder are covered in a slimy film. The further they climb, the more Aries’s forearms begin to burn.

"We're almost at the bottom," Tuari says. His voice echoes, bouncing back from invisible walls. Then Aries hears a splashing sound.

A match is lit, illuminating Tuari's face. Ty steps off the ladder and into water. Aries and Max follow. Tuari lights two candles. "I'm going to go first," he says. "Ty, if you would please follow after me, then Max and Aries."

Ty exchanges a brief smile with Aries over Tuari's display of leadership.

"You got it," Ty says.

Tuari hands one candle to Max. Now Aries can see they are standing in about a foot of water inside a concrete pipe. She has to bow her head so as to not scrape it on the sharp and pointy edges of the hardened white substance that covers the pipe's surface. When Aries touches it she can feel the same slimy film on it that she found on the ladder.

"We have about three hundred feet to go," Tuari says. "Watch your heads. And watch out for rats. They won't bother you unless you step on their tail."

With that, Tuari starts moving, and Ty follows. Aries is glad that Max has the second candle so she can see him but doesn't have the light directly in her eyes.

I wish you could walk before me so I'd know right away if you fell behind,
she hears Max think.

Thanks. I'll be okay,
she answers. Part of her registers that she can still communicate with Max, even without Born-of-Night close by.

You're getting better at this
. She hears the hawk in her thoughts.

Where are you?
Aries asks.

Not far from the main air shaft.

You're going through the main shaft?

Yes.

Watch out for the blades. If you get too close you'll not be able to withstand being sucked into them.

I'll be careful.

There is a moment of silence between them. Aries becomes aware of the increasing numbness and pain in her feet as the cold water penetrates her boots.

Aries.

Yes.

None of this has happened by chance.
Born-of-Night's thoughts are stark in Aries's mind.

What do you mean?
Aries thinks.

You made the choice to come down here and that choice set in motion many possibilities that have not existed before.

One of them, I assume, is that we all die,
Aries thinks.

That's always one of the possibilities.

Max turns to look at her.

I'll watch over you,
he thinks.

Thanks,
she thinks back.

And so will I.
Born-of-Night's thought reaches her.

And who will be watching over you?
Aries replies.
We have no idea when the next cleaning cycle for the ducts will start.

I'll be fine,
she hears the hawk think.

As she watches the flickering light dancing off Max's shoulders she tries to push the concern she feels out of her awareness.

"How many times have you been down here, Tuari?" Ty's words bring her back.

"This is the fourth time."

"I see that the walls are wet," Ty says.

"Yes. I noticed that the first time I was here," Tuari replies. "There were only one or two inches of water then. The second time, the pipe was half-filled. The time after that, there were about six inches."

"Do you have any idea what causes the changes in the water table?"

"I don't. But we won't be in here for long. We should be halfway through the pipe already."

They walk quietly for a while until, about ten minutes later, Tuari stops. He lifts his candle up, illuminating a smaller shaft perpendicular to this one. A rusty ladder leads up into the darkness.

"We have about forty feet to climb. From there, we can access a vertical duct that leads to the bottom of the elevator shaft." Tuari signs to Max, who nods and places his candle on a small ledge below the ladder. Tuari blows out his candle, grabs on to the ladder, and starts to climb. Ty follows. After him, Max starts climbing. Aries waits a few seconds, her eyes unable to pierce the darkness beyond the reach of the light. She watches Max turn into a shadow above her and then grabs onto the first rung of the ladder.

After about a minute of climbing, her legs begin to shake. A little while later, her hands can't completely close around the ladder anymore. Twice already she’s had to use the inside of her elbow to hold on to the rungs. Cold sweat starts to run down her spine. Her mouth dries up and she can feel her heart beat inside her chest.
I'm having a panic attack,
she thinks.

When she looks down, she sees the candle twenty-five feet below her. A small, flickering spark in the darkness. At the same time, she begins to hear a sound inside her. She realizes that it doesn't come from outside; she identifies it as the same sound she and Ty heard when they’d been close to the main air shaft. It's the sound of the massive fan blades. It gets louder and louder, ending in a crescendo of noise.

Born-of-Night,
she thinks, when her grip around one of the rungs opens and she slips. At the same time she hears Max's cry in her thoughts. With unexpected speed, he reaches down, grabs her arm, and holds her.

I got you,
she hears.
Hook your arms into one of the rungs and hold on. It can't be that much further.

Aries grabs the ladder, hooks her arms around it.
Born-of-Night,
she thinks.
Are you okay?

The wind is too strong,
the hawk answers.
I can't get close enough to the shaft. I'll have to wait until it slows down.

About ten feet above her, she sees Tuari's face, illuminated by a match. "Almost there," he says, as he lights his candle.

She grabs onto the next rung, pulls herself up. She sees Ty climbing into the opening. Then Max reaches it. When he is halfway in, he turns around, stretches out his hand and as she reaches the top, he pulls her into the vertical shaft. She slumps on her back. The pain in her hands is excruciating. Max takes one of them within his own, gently stretching her fingers. She lets it happen while looking up at him. She thinks about how it must be for him not to hear anything, to be completely shut off from his surroundings that way.

I can hear you,
he thinks with a smile on his face. His dirt-smudged face is in stark contrast to his teeth and eyes. His hands feel at once strong and gentle. Part of her realizes that nobody has touched her like this since her mother.

"We're almost at the elevator shaft," Tuari says. At the same time he signs to Max, who lets go of Aries’s hands and signs back. Aries understands what he tells Tuari:
When Aries is with us, you don't have to sign to me. I can understand what you say through her.

"Okay," Tuari says, as if it's the most normal thing in the world. "We won't know where in the building the elevator is until we're inside the shaft. Be careful. There are only three feet between the floor and the bottom of the elevator once it's all the way down. Don't stand up under any circumstances. Otherwise, it'll crush you."

They reach the elevator shaft only a few minutes later.

"I hope you're not easily scared," Tuari says, when they climb into the shaft.

The floor here is concrete, covered in a fine layer of dust. Beginning at about three feet above the concrete slab, the walls of the round tube are covered by stainless steel, not unlike the main vent shaft. The tube reaches so far up that she can't make out where it ends or if it ends at all. There are no visible tracks or any kind of guidance system for the elevator cabin. To the left, a narrow space is cut into the wall, just large enough for a ladder that is mounted into it, reaching up to a small opening about twenty feet above.

"Once the elevator is down, you and Max can climb up over there and jump on top," Tuari says to Aries. "Ty, we can go through here to reach the hallway." Tuari points at an opening opposite the one they came in through.

"I should feel it when you jump onto the cabin," Ty says to Aries. "Stay as far away from the walls as you can. Once we're on the 202nd floor, I'll try to give you as much time as possible to get into the air shaft."

"Okay," Aries replies.

Ty kisses her forehead. "You have your chip?" he asks.

Aries grabs her necklace from under her coveralls. "Yes. You?"

Ty nods. "See you when you get back." He gets up and moves to the air duct on the opposite side, where Tuari waits.

"I hope this works," Aries hears herself say. She can't help the fear that creeps into her throat.

The elevator is coming down,
Max thinks after a while.
We should lie down.

When they lie on their backs, Aries can feel only a slight vibration accompanied by pressure on her body at first. Then she sees something far up in the tube. A shadow coming closer, moving toward her. The hissing sound of escaping air increases. Now she can see the cabin, probably still at least thirty floors above them, as it drops toward them.

"It's dropping too fast," she says. "Isn't it falling too fast?

And then it is as if the cabin falls straight down and onto them. Aries can't help but let out a scream as the cabin slows down and stops only three feet away from them. She realizes then that she is squeezing Max's hand.

You can let go now,
she hears him think, as he smiles at her.

Sorry,
she replies.

Come. We don't have much time.
With that, Max gets up, moves on all fours to the ladder, and starts to climb. She follows right behind him, pushing away the nagging question of what would happen if the elevator started moving while they are on the ladder. Twenty seconds later, they reach the top of the cabin. Max climbs onto it. Aries sees in terror that its surface is completely smooth—nothing to hold on to. Not only that, but the middle is raised up, slightly higher than the rest. For aerodynamic purposes, probably. Utter panic grabs her when she jumps onto the cabin.

We can't hold on to anything,
she thinks.

Lay on your stomach,
Max replies. His head faces the center, his legs spread out for balance.