“What the hell are they doing?” Sharona complained.
“Trying to get us in,” Krysty snapped in a tone that would brook no argument, causing Mildred and J.B. to exchange glances.
Meanwhile, on top of the plateau, Ryan and Jak were searching in the fading light for signs of a venting system.
“Usually hidden by rock pile,” Jak indicated. “And has narrow channel into service tunnel.”
“You think you’ll have any trouble getting past the rad shielding?” Ryan queried, knowing from past experience that the maintenance shafts were gated by lead-lined, airtight doors.
Jak shook his head. “Never locked, just tight stop air. Not trust stupe sec with codes and keys.” He grinned. “Most seals rubber and rotted—” He broke off as he found the vent. “Here.”
Ryan joined the albino youth and helped him move the rock pile that had been carefully placed more than a hundred years previously to cover the vent outlet. The movement of the earth after skydark had only helped to camouflage the vent, as more rocks had moved onto the pile. It was almost completely dark as they finished removing the obstruction. Below, the rest of the companions waited patiently—with the exception of Sharona—for word from above.
Jak looked up at the night sky. It was clear, with a crescent moon that cast a wan light over the land.
“Go back, Ryan. Tell others what’s happening. See you soon,” he added with a grin that split his white, scarred face as he slid down into the vent.
The one-eyed man watched him go, then carefully descended to the entrance below. While he outlined the situation, Jak wormed his way through the vent.
It was tight and pitch dark. It was only the albino’s wiry frame and the fact that his pigmentless eyes could adapt to almost zero levels of light that enabled him to make progress and marked him as the only one of the companions who could have fulfilled this task. He squirmed and wriggled down the narrow vent, the heat soon building up around him despite the constant up-rush of expelled air from the conditioner, making him sweat heavily, a sweat that was dried by the rushing air before it reached his eyes, the eyeballs gritty and sore in the constant flow of arid air.
As he made progress, his fingers sought the telltale impress of the service hatches. The panic of enclosure was beginning to prick at the edges of his mind—how could he go backward in this tight, downward vent if he didn’t find a way into the service hatches—as his fingers found that for which he sought. Prizing the hatch open, so that it fell down across the vent, temporarily blocking the flow, he found that he had been right about the rubber seals. Wasting no time, lest the open hatch door caused a blowback in the conditioning system, he pulled himself into the service tunnel and reached down to pull the door shut
The maintenance tunnel was lit by a low level red strip and had a larger circumference than the vent. Jak was able to relax and breathe more easily for a second before beginning the long haul into the redoubt. It was easier, but finding his way around the maze of service tunnels would take time. It was almost impossible to get totally lost, as he would emerge somewhere in the redoubt, but he wanted to come as near to the surface level as possible. There was no way of knowing if the redoubt was inhabited in any way, and he was keen to adopt any measure that would reduce risk.
In a short time, Jak dropped back into the air conditioning system so that he could wriggle to a vent and make a recce. It was important that he find out where he was and if he could see any signs of life. The vent showed him he was in an upper level, near old admin offices.
He stilled himself as much as possible and listened carefully. There was nothing. Sniffing the air, Jak found it was stale. Every instinct told him the redoubt was empty. But he still refused to take chances. Moving back into the maintenance tunnels, he found an exit on the same level and cautiously emerged into the body of the redoubt, his Colt Python ready to hand.