Alien Gears

Chapter 18 - Shortcut

SHORTCUT

I made it to the door and found easy shelter from the cold flow that had been pouring down on me in the cut-out frame into the wall. I looked at the door. Solid metal and painted alike a bulkhead there was no way in which I would be able to get through this door if I wasn't able to get it open. And it seemed likely that this was going to be the case. Aside from a small, keyhole there was no other visible way of opening the door. It must automatically open if a key is inserted for a certain amount of time. And there was no way I had the key to this door. I looked around, seeing if there was any other route to go. The only way out of here was going to be climbing all the way back up the slope and finding another way.

But then I realised something. I might actually have a key to open this impenetrable door ahead of me. I opened my bag right up and pulled out the set of bent fingers I had removed from one of the technician bots I had encountered on my short stay in the furnace. The technician bots had been built in such a way that they could operate any of the machinery they encountered directly by hand & I had taken advantage of this. I checked the sizes of the keys that I had and after examining them, pulled out the fourth and turned it around in the lock. The door slowly rose up from the ground showing a narrow stairway heading up in the direction of the great grinder. I ducked under the rising door, happy to be out of the cold liquid for a little while.

I passed a terminal set up by a reinforced glass window, looking out into the lit space between the two sets of grinders. It was impossible for anything living to pass through there, it would be dead in seconds. After looking at the bright monitor screens for a few moments I realised where I was going next. Past the grinder, there was a shaft that headed down, bringing the processed refuse to a point where it would be disposed of. While the grinder was running it would be filling with a mass of rubble quickly pouring onto whatever was below. However, if I could initiate a break in the grinding cycles I might be able to get a window in which to rappel down into the tunnels below and be closer to getting out. I stuck a key in the obvious slot and twisted. The terrifying roar of the grinder tearing through the rubble began to quiet and I put away the key and left the room via the other doorway.

I found myself back out in the great tunnel, though out on the other side of the grinder this time. I was free to make it to the great chasm that opened up ahead of me. The great pipe continued downwards for about fifty feet before it opened into another immense chamber. I stood at the edge, confused as to how I should go about this drop. There were pipes criss-crossing the hole further down but getting onto them would require jumping off and hoping to catch on. I didn't have much time, the grinder could start up again any minute and I didn't want to be shoved of the edge when it did. I took out the hook and experimented with several practice throws, all missing the beam I was trying to catch. This was annoying, I needed to hurry up and get out of here right now.

Behind me I heard an unfamiliar click and whir and I realised that the machine was now finally coming back online. The rear wheels of the grinder began to spin, spraying oil all over me. The current of air that was pulled through the gap nearly blew me off my feet, straight into the void below me. As the flow of ground up rubbish began to roll in behind me I had no option left other than to jump clear of the oncoming rush, dropping downwards into the hole, rope swinging, desperate to grab hold of one of the horizontal bars that spanned the gap. A sudden jolt and two nearly dislocated arms showed me that I was secure and I hung in the centre of the shaft for several minutes.

Refuse fell around me but I was safe from the falling debris where I took shelter beneath the bars. I was still suspended nearly twenty feet above the floor of the area below, I could see that now. I had dropped a flare down and it had settled on the surface but judging by the impacts the falling refuse was making when it hit the apparent floor, it was in no way solid. I realised I had less worry of breaking my neck on impact, more likely I would be victim to drowning in the oily liquid below.

A few minutes later, the flow of falling garbage started to dislodge the hook from the beam and I understood that I probably didn't have much time to hang from the relative safety of my current position. I would soon be taking a rapid trip downwards, hopefully being able to surface in the murk below. Another dull clank from above confirmed my inevitable plunge and a sharp snap as the rope jolted free and I began to fall.