Part 17 (1/2)

”Hey, there's someone in here,” Alastair shouted.

The heavy door slammed shut, plunging the room into complete darkness. A few seconds later I heard Alastair curse somewhere near me.

”Something's jamming it from the other side. My badge works on the keypad, so the door's unlocking, except I can't open it.” He paused and added with cla.s.sic British understatement, ”I'm rather afraid we can't get out of here.”

14.

The darkness in the vault was so dense and solid there were no shadows, just black and more black. A light like a tiny spotlight flicked on about two feet in front of me. Alastair's phone. The beam swiveled and found me.

Had someone moved the doorstop and deliberately barricaded us in here, or had Alastair placed it poorly and the weight of the door caused it to swing shut, so this was an accident?

”Alastair, do you-?” I started to say.

”Come here.” His voice was harsh with urgency. ”Hold this torch so I can try the door again. We haven't got a lot of time.”

I wanted to ask ”before what?” but I already knew the answer. I also knew the door wasn't going to budge.

”It's not minus twenty degrees Celsius in here, is it?” I asked.

”No. Probably closer to plus five or six.” He sounded grim. ”Believe me, though, it's cold enough without protective clothing.”

I did some mental math and took his phone. ”A few degrees above forty Fahrenheit.” All I had on was a sweater, a turtleneck, and lightweight wool pants. ”I suppose it's a stupid idea to suggest using this phone to make a call rather than as a flashlight.”

”Nothing, and I do mean sweet b.l.o.o.d.y nothing, will penetrate this vault. Remember, I told you it was built to withstand a nuclear bomb.”

”In other words, no one will hear us if we start yelling, either?”

”Not even if someone were standing on the other side of the door,” he said. ”Which is highly unlikely since, as you saw, this place isn't used for anything but storage.”

”What about the alarm system?”

”There've been plans to install one here, but it keeps getting deferred since there's really nothing to secure. All the funds go for our work.”

”Oh.”

”s.h.i.+ne that torch on the sensor one more time, will you?” I did as I was told, and Alastair swiped his badge again and again. Each time a mechanism clicked like the door was unlocking, but when he pulled on the handle, nothing moved. ”d.a.m.n and b.u.g.g.e.r. It's jammed shut from the outside.”

”How long have we got?” I asked. ”And is there another way out of here?”

”Between thirty minutes and an hour before hypothermia sets in. Give or take. And, yes, there is another exit, though I've never used it. It's at the far end of this room.”

”Lead the way,” I said. ”Let me get out my phone. At least we'll have two flashlights.”

”Save yours. We may need it later. But take mine and s.h.i.+ne the light so we can see where we're walking. It wouldn't do for one of us to take a header over some piece of wood or something we didn't know was underfoot. I'll keep one hand on the wall and we'll eventually reach the other door. Take my other hand. It'll be like finding our way out of a maze.”

Only blindfolded and racing against hypothermia.

I could already feel the cold seeping into my bones as we made our way along the wall of a s.p.a.ce big enough to contain thirty double-decker buses. The darkness never grew any less substantial, though I could make out Alastair as a darker shape in the complete gloom. He sneezed a couple of times, and somewhere above our heads I heard the rustling of something that had been disturbed.

”Bats, I should think,” he said.

”I hate bats.”

”They won't bother you.”

”So once we open this door,” I said, ”where will we be?”

”Presuming they haven't changed the code on the security sensor because it's not a door anyone uses, we ought to be in a meadow on the far side of the gla.s.shouse.”

”Let's not even discuss changed security codes, shall we?”

He sneezed again and stumbled, pulling me with him. I caught his arm.

”Are you okay?”

”Yes, sorry. I'm having a bit of trouble feeling my feet.”

I sucked in my breath. ”We've got to be almost to that other door.”

”I . . . wait, here's a corner. The door ought to be somewhere along this wall.”

To keep him talking and his mind focused, I said, ”Do you think someone moved the doorstop?”

”And deliberately locked us in here?”

”Yes.”

”Once we get out of here,” he said with conviction, ”I fully intend to do a data dump on the door sensors that lead to this s.p.a.ce. I'll find out who came through there after we did and . . . crikey, here we are. The other door. s.h.i.+ne the torch over here.”

I obeyed and Alastair wiped the sleeve of his sweater over the pad to clean it before pa.s.sing his badge across it. There was an audible click and, as he turned the door handle, he sounded relieved and triumphant. ”Success. Just in the nick of time.”

Then silence.

”What-?” I asked.

”b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l.”

”What's going on?”

”I can't open it.”

”My G.o.d, it has to open. What's wrong this time?”

”Come over here and help me push,” he said. ”I can turn the handle, but there's something on the other side of the door that's physically blocking it . . . something heavy.”

We both threw our weight against the door, and it moved a fraction of an inch. Or at least I thought it did.