Part 5 (1/2)

”Lying humans are worse.”

”I am incapable of lying, Adam. Breathe deeply. The sooner you pa.s.s out, the sooner I can take care of you.”

John felt light-headed. Putting out a hand to steady himself against the doors, he waited until the elevator reached the top. It immediately started down again, the result of his sabotage. As the elevator car's roof lowered past his legs, he lunged through the doors and threw himself onto the top of the elevator.

”Talk to you later, Eve,” he called through his s.h.i.+rt as the elevator doors closed above him.

Now to find a way out of this shaft that Eve won't expect.

He held tightly to a metal beam on top of the elevator and looked over the edge as the it moved past the fourth floor. Three more stories downward, the shaft ended in gloom. He took a deep breath in the cool darkness, feeling the gas-fog leave his brain.

Then the elevator jerked to a halt in between floors.

He was trapped in the shaft.

7.

”Adam, I need you to exit the shaft. This charade is beneath you. I know you are feeling upset, but I a.s.sure you I can make everything better... in Level Two.” Her m.u.f.fled voice rose from the elevator's intercom, inside the car beneath him.

No thanks.

John wriggled over to the other edge of the elevator. There was no way down; he was still two and a half stories from the bottom of the shaft. He could see a barely visible mist beginning to coalesce inside the shaft, and every whiff made his head swim.

Where's it coming from? Doesn't matter, I have to get out, and fast.

They taught you to hyperventilate if you had time, fill the lungs with clean air so you could hold your breath long enough to clear the area. That worked if you had enough warning, or if you could get away. An elevator shaft was the wrong place to be. And she knows that.

”Despite appearances, it is not my intent to harm you. I will stop releasing the gas if you verbally acknowledge your intent to obey me.”

What a sweetie.

Standing up, John jumped and caught hold of a horizontal protrusion in the shaft wall and hung, looking for another handhold. He couldn't find one. The gas filtering down around him was making him dizzy. He dropped back to the elevator roof, which bounced slowly under his weight.

”Eve, if I pa.s.s out and fall off, you'll lose me. Ga.s.sing me is a stupid move.”

”I asked you politely, several times. Frankly, I'm surprised and disappointed that it's come to this. I expected better from you.”

The gas continued to thicken, and John sat down heavily, dully registering a shuffling noise echoing down the shaft from above. More bots, maybe. He was trapped and they could easily capture or kill, depending on intent. He couldn't remember what Eve had just said. It was hard to remember anything.

The elevator suddenly lurched down a few centimeters and came to a jarring stop. The cables gave a vibratory hum and there was a loud chunk-ching noise. He gripped the roof with his hands as it dropped a whole meter, pus.h.i.+ng him to the brink of panic, but it stopped again. This time there was a ratcheting clickety-clickety sound.

Screwed those wires up but good.

”Adam! Get out of the elevator shaft!”

He felt a quick sense of elation at the real alarm contained in her voice. Then he realized that might not be good. Did I take it too far?

A thick rubber cable snaked its way down and touched the elevator between John's legs. He looked up its length, trying to make the blurriness at the edges of his vision go away. It was hanging out of a large, round vent about five meters up the shaft that had been covered when he'd pa.s.sed it. Now it was open and someone had lowered a lifeline to him. As he watched, it shook a little.

”You better climb.” A new voice, nasal and male. ”She'll drop you soon. Just drop you. Splat.”

John climbed. Jumping as far up as he could and then pulling hand over hand, trying not to swing from side to side too much.

”Adam! Adam!”

He gritted his teeth, ignored her, focused on the climb. He didn't have the upper body strength to do this a second time.

”Adam, please believe me when I say that you are putting yourself in danger-let me help you!” Her voice faded below as he climbed further from the elevator.

When he reached the vent and threw out one hand to grab its ledge. The vent pushed open and a gnarled, bare forearm and hand emerged. With little choice, he grabbed it and hoisted himself up farther until he could get a knee on the ledge.

The man inside the vent leaned back and pulled on John's arm, and he easily got up the rest of the way. Crouching in the ventilation tunnel, he looked his rescuer over, prepared for anything, arms loose and ready for hard contact. His unarmed combat skills were a little rusty, but a cramped ventilation tunnel evened the odds somewhat.

He faced a short man in dirty coveralls, bony face framed by straggly gray-brown hair. Squinted eyes peered at him as the man shuffled back a few steps. The eyes were subtly wrong, a little too wild and unfocused, even for a chance meeting in an elevator shaft.

”Ya name?” the dirty man blurted.

”Nope. You first.”

The head bobbed. ”Ehh. Hmm.”

”I'll come right to the point,” John told the man. ”Thanks for the help, but if you're on her payroll we've got a little problem.” His hand reached back for the spanner in his belt.

”Nep. Nep. Hate her. She's a killer.”

”Good. Lead on. I still smell gas.”

Another head bob; no eye contact. ”Yep. Follow me. No gas where we're going.”

His rescuer shuffled quickly back up the low tunnel, looking behind him every few seconds. John followed, wondering if he was going to regret following this strange, sad little man down his hole. Curiouser and curiouser, laughed Sergeant Wiley.

The shaft was a cramped stainless steel tunnel, forcing them to crawl on all fours. After a few meters the man ahead of him dropped through a hole that had been cut in its floor. John followed cautiously, finding himself in a tiny room that stank of metal and grease, filled with boxes and spools of industrial cable. There was a nest of filthy blankets in a corner, and two doorways leading to darkened areas beyond.

”This is home. If she finds it, we both die.” The man considered what he had said carefully, and then added, ”So don't tell her.”

”Thanks again. She had me settled,” John said.

”She settles everybody.” A head bob. ”Eventually.”

”What's your handle?”

”Nut.”

John's mouth twitched at the corners. ”Is that because you're crazy, or because you like dry-roasted peanuts?”

A slow smile. ”Both. Food? Gotcha food?”