“What?”
“Mebbe we can find another one.”
Chapter Three
Separating into teams, the companions did a fast sweep of the subterranean base, going from level to level in quick procession. The base was larger than most, the half hour deadline stretched to the limit before the companions reconvened in the control room.
“Find anything?” Ryan asked as the others arrived. The man was standing in the control room, drinking from a canteen. On the floor, a pair of legs stuck out of the open access panel of the main console.
“We’re alone,” Mildred reported. “That’s for sure.”
“Good. Any food?”
Wearily, Krysty took a seat at a control board covered with twinkling lights. “Not a thing in the kitchen, or in the freezers,” she said, a smudge of ash on her cheek. “There’s all the water we could want, laundry facilities seem to work, a hundred soft beds. Just no food or weapons.”
The big man frowned. “Nothing?”
“Not a grain of rice or a split bean. Zero.”
“Damn.”
Glancing across the room, Dean asked, “Any luck with the mat-trans unit?” The door to the chamber was closed as always, and a small sign on the door warned of no entry beyond that point for any personnel below B12 security levels.
“No bombs, it if that’s what you mean,” J.B. said, sliding out from the interior of a panel. The console seemed to be completely filled with endless wires. “Unfortunately, I have no idea why it won’t work. Everything is in place and looks in good shape. But then, I have no idea how the mat-trans chamber works in the first place.”
“Nobody does anymore,” Doc rumbled, leaning against a wall. “Indeed, few did when it was brand-new. Now this is all lost technology. A virtual Atlantis underground.”
“Damnedest thing,” Mildred said, sounding puzzled, her face scrunched. “This control room is in pristine condition. Last time we were here, this place was busted to pieces from a major firefight, bullets holes everywhere and spent brass underfoot. Now it looks brand-new.”
“You noticed that, eh? Us too,” Ryan said, brushing a hand across the shiny top of the vid display. There wasn’t even any dust, except for what they brought with them from the garage. “I think the old bastard repaired this redoubt for some reason. Mebbe by stealing parts from others.”
Just then the door to the mat-trans unit opened and Krysty walked out. “The machine is still dead,” she announced glumly.
“Broken?” Dean asked, digging in a pocket. “I found some tools in a drawer. Not much, just pliers and a few screwdrivers.”
“Deactivated, more likely,” J.B. said, accepting the tools and stuffing them into a pocket. “Silas wasn’t fool enough to smash his only way out of here.”
Ryan glared at the banks of comp screens, the blinking cursors in each corner of the monitors waiting for commands to be given. “Fireblast, and only he would know the codes to turn it back on.”
“Indeed, and it shall be most difficult to get them now, since you so permanently removed his head,” Doc observed, twirling his stick.
“Wouldn’t have told us the truth anyway,” J.B. growled.
“Let me have a look,” Doc suggested. Moving from console to console, the old man studied the comp screens intently. “This one seems to be the master,” he declared at last. “All of these bases have similar setups, and this is usually the screen that lights up whenever we arrive.”
“Got an idea?” J.B. asked, coming closer. “Let’s hear it.”
“I am going to try a hard reboot,” Doc announced, opening the access panel to each console. Wiring and circuit boards were exposed in an endless array. “I shall just turn the whole system off, then back on.”
“Won’t that crash the system permanently?” Dean asked in real concern.
“It does not work now. Do you have an alternative suggestion?”
“Nope.”
“Anyone else?” Doc asked, his hand resting on a keyboard.
The companions mulled over the plan, but couldn’t suggest a viable alternative. The matter settled, Doc continued to open the access door to each console until he found the main power switch on the surge protector. The insulated box was in plain sight under the first console, nothing more than a simple toggle switch with a glowing indicator.