Bunker Bird

10. Council

"I think you should," I said. The discussion was going where I had hoped to steer it. "If that pump doesn't pump for much longer, our people will get worried. And then, they'll come down here, to investigate."

Lilly laughed. "That's not true. They're too afraid to enter the tunnels and to climb down here. Their manuals tell them it's forbidden. They'd never do that."

"They will," I said, not sure if I believed in my own words. "We're running out of water in the caverns. The bishop and the guards can't just stay put and wait for this to pass."

"Let's take a walk." Boss looked up at me as he pointed his stick down along the row of pumps.

Wondering what this was about, I followed, curious against my will. As I looked back, the rest of the party was trailing behind us.

Trying to push fear from my mind, I studied the pumps. I had never been close to any machine, except for some smaller ones that Ed tinkered with. And the engines of the crane, of course, but they were nothing like the ones here. The pumps stood at least twice as high as I, and they looked a bit like the shells of the snails that lived on the compost, only much larger. Each one stood on a small pedestal, where small lights were glowing. A rumble came from them, and they breathed drafts of warm air as if alive.

I walked closer to the wall, uneasy in their brooding presence.

Boss stopped before the last one. In contrast to the rest, most of its lights glowed yellow or red.

Amy pushed past us and placed her hand on its curved shell. "This is the one. It went silent a couple of days ago. I pushed its buttons to make it hum again." She pointed at the panel at the foot of the machine. "But, it's still silent."

"You pushed its buttons?" Boss raised his eyebrows.

She nodded. "To fix it, ye see. At least I tried. I'm good with buttons."

"Did ye also push them while it was still humming?" Sam asked.

She shook her head vigorously, making her copper hair fly. "Nevah!"

"Why don't I believe—" Sam began, but he stopped as Boss lifted a hand.

"It does not matter." He looked at me. "So, can you fix it?"

"No," I said, "but I've got a friend, Ed. He's a smith." They didn't need to know that he was still an apprentice. "He builds machines."

My plan was going smoothly so far. I tried not to show my excitement.

"So, you suggest getting this Ed down here to fix the pump?" Boss scratched his chin. "You know we don't like strangers, don't you?"

"Right!" George said, rubbing his chubby arms. "We snuff them."

I nodded. "Yes, I know. But you've got my word we won't tell anyone about this. We'd just repair the pump, and you'd never see us again. If you don't let us fix the pumps, the guards will come down. And they've got guns."

One gun, at least.

What I didn't say was that, once the pump was fixed, I'd go to the bishop and explain it to him, so he'd set my father free.

"Amy," Boss said. "You wait here with Tim while we go back to finish the council." He held up a finger. "And don't push any more buttons."

She crossed her arms before her chest, glowering. "I didn't push the buttons. Just worked on fixing it."

Lilly squeezed her shoulder. "We know, Amy bird."

Amy glowered at her companions as they went back to their camp, leaving the both of us in awkward silence.

I sat against the silent machine to take some weight from my aching foot.

"Don't break the pump," she said, her gaze on the wall next to me.

"Someone has already broken it."

She huffed.

While we were busy saying nothing and staring at walls, the rest of her folks had reached the far end of the hall. Murmured words of the council carried over to us, but they remained isolated and without meaning. They included 'trust', 'pump', and repetitive 'snuffs'.

I judged if I could run. The ladder wasn't that far. But with my aching foot, it was hopeless.

It was Amy who broke the silence between us. "I should have left ye at the bottom of the ladder. The rats would have feasted on ye by now. Then, we could have feasted on the rats."

The low light made it impossible to read her face. Was she joking there? I wasn't sure.

I decided to change the topic. "Are there any more people down here, or just the five of you?" The thought of growing up in such isolation and these dreary tunnels made me shiver.

"What do ye think?" She rolled her eyes. "We're hundreds. The five of us, we were..." She gestured at her companions and then herself. "... we're the leaders. The rest of our people are working in the deeper tunnels. Digging new halls. Finding treasures. And growing fruits like none ye've ever tasted."

She looked serious, nodding to herself.

I didn't believe a single word.

Before I could call her lie, Lilly called us.

We joined them.

Boss had climbed back onto his chair. "We've come to a decision," he said. "We'll fetch your friend to fix the pump. Sam and George here will accompany you to your cavern and help you find him."

Sam's lips were as thin as his body while George grinned broadly.

"Can I go with them?" Amy asked.

"No, Amy bird," Lilly said. "We need you down here."

They said nothing about what would happen once we'd have fixed the pump. I decided against asking about that, though. I didn't trust them, but they probably didn't trust me either.

And all that mattered was fixing the pump and saving my father.

Amy went over to one of the disorderly bunks along the wall. She sat down, hugged her knees, and wordlessly stared at the pumps.

"We'll take ye to yer stinky cavern, boy" Sam's breathy words were hard to hear against the constant humming. "But don't try to run. George wouldn't like that, and ye shouldn't give him a reason to snuff ye."

I nodded. "Okay."

"We'll go to fetch that friend of yers while yer folks are sleeping," Sam continued. "Like that, we can sneak through the cavern without being seen by idle eyes. And now, we'll have dinner and take a nap, so we can rise when the cavern dwellers hit their bunks."