The Descent

Chapter 43 - The Terminal

"I have heard that some of them are more advanced these days," he shouted after Leah and then followed her through the door. It closed quietly behind them, and they found themselves on a rectangular metal grated platform, barely large enough for the two of them. Recessed lights along the wall illuminated the surroundings with a pale, yellow light, revealing a shaft that stretched into the darkness both above and below them. A ladder dotted with lights at regular intervals descended into the dark abyss of the shaft.

"So, Tanner, I could use your help here. Where are we and where does this take us?"

"It's a cooling shaft, primarily for air circulation. There should be a ladder that takes you down about twenty feet. There's another access door there that takes you directly into the general passenger terminal."

"The perfect escape route if you don't want to be seen."

"Except one little detail."

Denton rolled his eyes and sighed. "Ok, what did I miss this time?"

"Just the fact that to access your location, Carter would have had to have the proper access. The door isn't open to the public."

"Couldn't he have stolen credentials?"

"Unlikely. Carter has been in his apartment since he arrived."

"It doesn't matter though, does it, Tanner? He clearly wasn't on the walking bridge to the rest of the terminal, which leaves this as the only other places he could have gone."

"Unless he disguised himself again."

Denton hadn't thought of that. In fact, Denton couldn't believe he hadn't thought of that. It was so elementary, such an easy thing to check for. As much as he hated to admit it, Tanner was right. Carter easily could have taken off an outer layer or put on another one to blend in with the rest of the crowd. If he did it in the shuttle, any cameras looking for him likely would have missed him anyway. Of course, the shuttle had already departed to the next station, so there was no way for them to confirm his suspicion. 

Denton gritted his teeth and let out a grunt while his hands squeezed the railing of the platform. He was always a step behind, and Carter always seemed a step ahead. How was that even possible? Was there a leak somewhere? Was someone trying to set them up? A chill ran down his spine at the very thought. They had to be extra careful going forward.

"Ok, Leah, we'll need to split up, just in case he managed to blend in with the other passengers. I'll meet you immediately below the bridge, by the door into the shaft. Go across the passenger bridge from the arrivals and then down the ramp to the main terminal. I'll meet you there."

Leah nodded. "Be careful," she said, put her hand on his arm with a concerned look that held his gaze longer than he expected and then exited the shaft the same way they had entered.

Denton's eyes lingered on the door until it shut close and then sighed. He was grateful Leah was there. There was no doubt he couldn't be in two places at once, and four eyes were always better than two. Tanner might argue otherwise, but in this case, Denton wasn't about to ask.

"Tanner, heading down," Denton said, walked over to the ladder that extended up through the floor of the platform and began his descent. He made it a few rungs down before he stopped and glanced over his shoulder into the dimly lit darkness below. His head started to spin, and he felt strangely out of balance. The ladder and the shaft felt like it slowly was tipping over on top of him, pushing him off of the ladder and into the abyss below. His heart raced as he closed his eyes and pulled himself close to the ladder and held on as if his life depended on it.