Trent let out a low laugh as together, they made their way toward the sheet of rusted iron that covered the entrance of the mine. “Sounds like a good time. I might come frolic with you. I mean, if you want company. I’d say frolicking might even be better with two.”
Zina rolled her eyes, but there was a fond smile playing on her lips. This was exactly like she remembered it, even from three years ago. Even in the midst of a mission, Trent would still crack a joke.
Trent pulled away the large sheet of corrugated iron as if it weighed nothing at all, revealing a door behind it.
“Huh,” Trent said, leaning down. “Locked. Of course. But that’s why we brought bolt cutters.”
The bolt cutters were slipped into a side pocket of the backpack, and once he’d pulled them out they made short work of the lock, snipping through the bar easily.
Once again, Zina had the strange sense that all of this just seemed way tooeasy. Were Hargreaves really just going to put such an easily destroyed lock on the door of their mine? Was that how they usually did things?
No.Zina could answer that question for herself. She’d worked there for years – she knew how careful and fastidious they were.
So why? Why has everything so far been so easy?!
“You ready?” Trent asked, as he pushed open the door – and Zina knew that no matter what kinds of questions she might have, it was now or never. Maybe the only way she’d get any answers about any of this was by stepping inside.
“Yeah,” she said, nodding, before following him in.
Beyond the doorway there was just enough ground to stand on, and then the drop of the mineshaft, leading straight down. There was a ladder affixed to the side of the shaft, and, as her eyes adjusted to the dark, Zina watched Trent test it gingerly with his foot before deciding it’d hold his weight, and then start to climb down, Zina following after him.
“Getting pretty dark,” Trent remarked as they went down. “They probably have a generator down here to give them light while they mine – though whether we want to risk switching it on is a good question.”
“We have the night vision goggles Hector and the others brought,” Zina said. “We can just use those. Better than stumbling around in the dark looking for a generator that may or may not exist.”
They continued on, descending lower and lower, until finally Zina heard Trent say, “Huh – found the bottom. Here we are.”
Cautiously, Zina stepped off the ladder, feeling solid ground beneath her feet. Even though it was dark, it seemed, somehow, a little lighter down here than it had in the shaft with the ladder – perhaps there was some light source farther down the cavern. At any rate, she could definitely see more clearly down here, for some reason. Zina decided they’d have to be careful. There might be guards waiting for them down here.
“Should we head off, then?” she asked, and saw Trent nod.
“Let’s go.”
I do not like this underground place,her antelope said with a shudder, as they made their way through the shaft, hand on the guide line that had been hammered into the stone wall.It is dark and unnatural. Who would build such a thing?
Zina wasn’t sure if explaining mineral mining would have any effect – her antelope was entirely indifferent to material wealth – so she simply ignored her antelope’s complaints for now. It made it a little harder, however, to sort out what was just the antelope’s unease at being underground, and any sense of genuine danger.
“This place feels very… labyrinthine,” Zina remarked, as they made their way through it. A gust of wind blew against her face, and when she turned her head, she found herself staring down a forking branch of the tunnel, leading, presumably, to another part of the mine.
“Perhaps we should just stick to the main tunnel for now, as far as we can go,” Trent suggested. “See what’s at the end of it, and then pick a direction. This should open up into a main excavation area at some point. That’s probably where the light is coming from.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
The farther into the mine they went, the more the musty smell of earth and rock increased, and the more nervous Zina’s antelope became.
I dislike it,it said, skittering nervously.I cannot feel things as I ought.
I know, I know,Zina tried to soothe it.Sorry – just hold out for a little longer.
She wasn’t sure if Trent’s kangaroo was feeling similarly nervous, but she could pick up on his vague feeling of unease – now that her shifter senses were back, she was finding she was a lot more sensitive to his presence in general. She couldfeelhim behind her, the aura of his body heat, the general sense of his moods and thoughts. It was both distracting and fascinating, and Zina wished they were in a situation where she could get used to it a bit more easily.
Another gust of wind passed over her face, and suddenly Zina realized she was standing at the entrance to a large cavern – the tunnel had opened up into a wide, relatively spacious room.
“I think we hit the main area,” she said, edging her way out into it. Over in the corner, she could see the source of the vague light they’d been picking up on – one battery-powered lantern sitting on the floor, forgotten or deliberately left behind for some reason. Clearly the battery was on its last legs, and the light it gave off was dim and flickering.
Something still doesn’t feel right, though… maybe I’d feel a bit better if I could see more clearly…
“Maybe we should get out the night vision goggles,” Zina said, as they passed under the massive beam that was supporting the ceiling, and stepped into the cavern. “We need to start looking around in more detail.”
