Paphos

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The elevator had crashed on them, which was an omen on their collective fates, whether they realized it or not.  Now Austin struggled between deciding to keep Carolina close, or far from whatever was down there that she wanted to see.  After painful deliberation, he chose to leave her safely here, with the group that was staying behind.  He should be right back, after all.

“Stay with Athen, she’ll need you to cheer her up,” Austin said.

“I want to come,” Carolina said very serious.

“We are just going to take a look, I’ll be right back,” Austin replied.  He wasn’t going to let her go down there, not until he understood more about her changed behavior.  He didn’t know what she had been through with that parasite, and until he knew more, he could only try to protect her.  Carolina would usually cross her arms when Austin refused to budge.  Instead she just nodded.  No pouting, no pursing her lips, no furrowing her brow, Austin actually wished she would do some of those things.  Maybe she just wasn’t acting herself because of the medicine she had earlier.  He needed that to be it.  Austin looked down the long, ribbed hallway, wondering why it seemed even less friendly than the last one.

“Come on,” Dmitry said.  Dublin checked his tools on his belt and stood next to Dmitry, looking at Austin until he joined them. 

“We’ll be right back,” Austin gave one last look at the group, at Carolina, and hoped this was the right choice.

Dmitry and Dublin took a few steps ahead and waited as Austin wished for Carolina’s safety while he was gone.  He would be right back for her, but if he didn’t go now, he never would.  He followed after them several dozen paces, watching, feeling very wrong about leaving her there, but not knowing what else to do.  The sound of Orlean’s chatter disappeared behind him as they went to the end of the hallway, which then opened to the left with a large, gaping stairway going down.  Dmitry and Dublin both stopped, and when Austin rounded the corner he understood why.  The stairs led down only briefly, and gave way to a massive chamber, a warehouse even, of which they were at the top looking down.  They stood, the three of them, taking in this unexpected sight, and realizing again that this entire facility had far more than they had anticipated.  Dublin and Dmitry shared a look, as if any opinion of Austin’s was unimportant.  Spanning the top of this massive chamber was a web of suspended platforms, and Dmitry appeared eager to cross them as he stepped from the stairs onto one.  They swayed a little with Dmitry’s weight, and revealed their age as brittle chains moaned.  Dmitry was undeterred by how unsafe the suspended bridges were, and motioned for the others to follow.  Austin just held his tongue and began to cross, carefully keeping his eyes ahead and not down at the ground far beneath them. 

“An’ what do you suppose is in there?” Dublin said.  The three of them stared down at a building in the middle of the floor, placed conspicuously and certainly not small.  It might be a portable office with very thick walls, maybe even a humble prison.  Austin had to wonder what purpose it served, since whatever it was, the rest of this room was built around it.

Austin really didn’t want to know.  “Look, elevator... over there.  At least, I think that’s one,” Austin said.  He was happy to keep them focused on the progress of getting out of here, and not on exploring the floor down there.  He had spotted several new hallways, all linked by these floating platforms, all well above the floor beneath them.  It wouldn’t be too hard to navigate the maze of floating bridges to get across there, except maybe for Athen.  Some of them were without side guards or handrails, just a floorboard, which would be a problem for her, assuming the whole system didn’t collapse anyways. 

“What is the purpose of this place?” Dmitry asked.  He walked carefully across the floating platforms as they swayed slightly from his weight.