James Axler – Cold Asylum

Doc walked to the door and moved the green lever to the “up” position.

KRYSTY, FEELING an overwhelming fear of disaster, was close to the ragged edge of panic. She arrived with Michael and Dean at the closed door of the elevator, seeing a light showing that the cage was at the top of the shaft.

“Gaia!” She banged a fist on the cold metal.

“There’s a coded sec lock,” Dean said, “but it looks real triple-grunge difficult.”

“We’ll never get it.” Her keen mind felt as though it were trying to operate under water. “There have to be millions of combinations.”

“If the others are ahead, they must’ve gone that way.” Michael scratched his nose. “Unless they somehow got one of the side doors open.”

“No. They’re up on top. I can feel that. But I How the fuck can we open it?”

“Krysty!”

“What, Dean?”

“I don’t think I ever heard you say ‘fuck’ before. Wait till I see Dad.”

She managed a part smile that didn’t get within a country mile of her narrowed emerald eyes. “You do that, Dean. When we meet him, you tell him.”

“What’s this written here?”

Michael was pointing at some faint lettering on the pale cream wall by the control panel.

“Just some” Krysty began, her eyes widening. “No! It’s the code for the elevator, Michael.” She hugged him, squeezing so hard it took the breath from his body. “Brilliant. Read it out and I’ll punch it in.”

“GreenC for CharlieM for Mikeone ninebluefiveE for EchoE for Echo red.”

They all heard the distant hiss of pneumatic gears operating. Dean laid his hand against the door and grinned. “I can feel it coming.”

“Keep the blasters ready.” Krysty suddenly began to regain control, aware that whatever danger had been threatening Ryan had passed.

For the time being.

“SOMEONE,” Mildred said.

But they’d all heard the machinery slipping into action, watching the yellow light disappear from the T above the sliding door.

J.B. turned away, staring intently down the corridor to their right.

Ryan caught the movement. “What?”

“Company.”

“Many?”

“Yeah. Butsounds like they’re coming real slow. Not at the charge.”

“Cautious,” Mildred suggested, still watching the elevator door.

Ryan shook his head. “Mebbe not. When I chilled those three Well, it didn’t sort of register at the time, but their reactions were real slow.”

“We best get ready.”

“What if the elevator brings Krysty or Doc or Dean? Or Michael? They could run into an ambush.” Mildred had her ear pressed to the door. “Just stopped.”

The light was now on behind the B indicator.

“Time it gets up here again, we could have us a sizable firefight.” J.B. glanced around. “Could be best to go meet them halfway, Ryan.”

“Yeah. But one of us should stay here.”

“You. Me and Mildred can go and fill the wags up for mutie hell.”

“Right.”

DOC WAS FEELING in surprisingly good spirits, striding out, taking in deep breaths of the oddly scented air, his lion-head sword stick rapping smartly on the stone floor of the curving passageway.

Twice he momentarily forgot that the others had disappeared, but each time he remembered, it plunged him into an instant gloom. The pendulum between manic and depressive was swinging more actively than usual.

NOW RYAN WAS AWARE of the sounds of the muties, a sullen, confused muttering, like the waves sucking at bare rock along a deserted coast. But it hardly seemed to be drawing closer. Certainly there hadn’t yet been the noise of blaster fire from Mildred and J.B.

He stood with his back to the elevator door, listening to the powerful machinery that was hauling it up to the top, wondering which of the missing four it might contain. He was torn between hoping for Krysty and for his son.

There was the distinctive clunk of the cage reaching the top of the deep shaft, and the tiny, bell-like pinging of the signal. Ryan half turned, keeping watch on the dark mouths of the numerous passages running away in all directions.

“Hello, lover,” Krysty said, planting a small kiss on his cheek, schooling herself to keep calm, just as though she’d known all along that he’d be standing there when the door slid back. “Good to see you.”