After a moment, the car’s doors closed and it started dropping again.
In the weak light Ryan could see that Thrill Bill was grinning from ear to ear. “We ride down,” he said softly, “then take the car back to the top of the shaft.”
The elevator stopped again, and the doors opened. Ryan could hear footsteps as people exited. More people got in, then the car resumed its descent.
After a long drop, the car stopped again. This time, after the passengers got out, the doors stayed open longer. When they closed, the car didn’t move.
“It’s got to be empty,” Damm said.
“I’ll hit the button,” the warlord stated.
Ryan pulled open the trapdoor for him, and Thrill Bill jumped down. A second later, the car started up with a jolt. The warlord reached up, and Ryan and Damm grabbed his wrists and lifted him back to the roof. After which, they closed the trapdoor.
As they flew upward, the bottom of the wag-sized car came into view. It was still stopped.
“Hasn’t moved,” Ryan said.
“They’re probably searching the van,” Nara said, “trying to figure out what happened to the driver.”
“And their security cams,” Damm added.
“Keep low as we pass it,” Thrill Bill warned them.
The crossing of the cars was over in a second. In that second, Ryan saw the other trapdoor swing open, and then they were past.
“Did they see us?” Damm asked as he straightened.
“Weren’t looking our way,” Ryan told him.
“There should be an I-beam up there,” Thrill Bill said, pointing high overhead. “Yeah, there it is.”
Ryan craned his head back and saw the light at the top of the elevator shafta light and the beam beneath, growing rapidly larger and more distinct. The beam was no more than a foot wide and it spanned forty feet of shaft, wall to wall. Ryan had to step aside or get squashed under it as the car stopped at the top floor.
“Get on,” the warlord said, throwing a leg over the beam.
As Ryan climbed on, something clanked inside the elevator and the car dropped away.
The four of them sat perched over an abyss. The ceiling was ten feet above their heads.
“Now comes the tricky part,” Thrill Bill said.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
A communal groan went up as Dr. Huth finished his remarks. The scientist looked over the throng of researchers whom he supervised, a sea of lab coats. Oh, so put upon, he thought. The way they rolled their eyes and let their jaws fall open in horror.
“This is asking too much,” the stout man standing before him said. Above his beard, Dr. Wisehart’s face was deeply flushed, the dark eyes full of genuine anger.
It seemed even his closest associates, his academic peers, were appalled at his request.
Huth opened his arms in a helpless gesture. “If it was up to me, I wouldn’t put you through it. I know how tired you all must be.”
“Does FIVE?” Wisehart demanded.
“FIVE doesn’t care,” someone farther back in the crowd shouted.
“Not about anything but results,” another scientist said.
“Look,” Huth said, trying to quiet this uprising from his most skilled and most important workers, “we are on the verge of a great undertaking. We have to follow orders. We have a duty to fulfill. We have to trust FIVE. The building has been sealed. No one will be allowed to leave until we have completed the job.”
The protests were even louder.
“There are plans in progress that you aren’t aware of,” Huth told them.
“So fill us in,” Wisehart said.
With what appeared to be great reluctance, the research director of the Totality Concept proceeded. “I have received information on the most recent developments that none of you are privy to. Because of these developments, it is imperative that we alter the existing schedule.”
“You’ll have to be more forthcoming than that,” Wisehart said.
“As many of you know, we have been running continuous simulations on a duplicate of the satellite’s flight control system. A precautionary measure. Unacceptable failures started to show up about an hour ago.”
“That’s not our fault,” someone yelled. “We pulled both units off the shelf.”