Leaning back, Mandrick pulled down the inner hatch, locked the seal and looked up at a waterproof instruction pamphlet attached to the bulkhead above him. He read the first-stage instructions and compared an illustration with the various valves and levers surrounding him. To begin the decompression sequence he pressed a button, starting a small electrical pump that began to remove gas from the pod to reduce the inside pressure.
Chapter 16
Stratton and Christine hurried past the access tunnel that led down to level five and the mine beyond and found the stairs further on that connected to the upper levels. When they reached the top Stratton stopped on a long gantry that headed in two directions. He pointed to his left. ‘Head down that way. Follow the arrows to the escape barges. Good luck.’ He moved off in the opposite direction.
‘Where’re you going?’ Christine called out. She started to follow him.
He stopped, frustrated by her obstinacy. ‘You’re the type that never does as she’s told, aren’t you?’
‘I like to know what’s going on, yes. Why aren’t you heading for the escape barges?’
Stratton gritted his teeth in irritation. ‘I need to get what I came down here for. Now you know. Go.’
Christine grabbed hold of his arm as he turned to move away. ‘Maybe I don’t trust you. There’s no cause worth dying for. Maybe you know of another way out of here.’
‘It just so happens that could be true. I also think your chances are better if you go for the barges - that way.’ Stratton pulled away and continued along the gantry. When he looked back she was still following him. He stopped and raised his hands to the heavens. ‘What is your problem, woman? What is it that you are so stupidly suspicious about that you’re prepared to die to find out?’
‘Tell me where you’re going and I’ll leave you be.’
He looked into the young woman’s eyes. Her expression was still determined.Time was running out. ‘I have to find Mandrick. OK? Goodbye.’ He hurried along the gangway and around a corner to a narrow staircase that led up. As he reached for the rail he realised she was still behind him. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.You said you wouldn’t follow if I told you where I was going.’
‘I didn’t know you were going after Mandrick.’
‘Go away,’ Stratton said with a harshness of tone that unnerved her.
‘I can’t,’ Christine said, suddenly overwhelmed by everything. ‘I want to escape. I’m scared. If it wasn’t for you I’d be running like a jackrabbit to the barges. My mission now is about getting to Mandrick too. But you’re not running away.You’re not scared. Maybe you know something I don’t, maybe I’m all wrong about you but I don’t think so. You’re charging headlong into the fight with the battlements falling down around you. I always dreamed I would be like that if it ever came down to it, but I’m not. Not without you.’
‘You want to work together on this?’
‘Yes,’ she said, gritting her teeth.
‘Then go hold one of the barges. I’ll get Mandrick and drag his sorry arse back and we can both have him.’
Stratton ran up the steps, leaving Christine watching him, her glare turning downright acid.
When he disappeared at the top she looked around at the crumbling prison. Sea water was cascading down walls, the dim emergency lights were flickering, the klaxons were fading as the emergency power grew weaker. In stark contrast a jaunty computerised voice announced the time. Remaining there a single minute more was madness.
Stratton scurried along the narrow corridor and as he turned the corner he saw Hank lying on his back, his eyes open, blood trailing from a hole in his head. Stratton moved past him to the watertight door at the end of the tunnel and he peered through the small porthole.
‘We’re too late,’ Christine said, standing over Hank.
Stratton continued looking through the porthole. He considered ignoring her but decided that was clearly a waste of time. ‘Yes and no,’ he said. ‘The pod’s still attached.’
‘Can we open it?’
‘If we could the pod would probably jettison and we’d drown a second later.’ He looked at Christine thoughtfully. ‘We need to get to the surface.’
Something behind him caught her attention. Her mouth slowly opened. ‘Is that an escape barge?’
Stratton turned to follow her gaze through the window. The massive, black barge was moving gracefully away, a huge drag cable trailing beneath it. It slowly tipped up at one end, levelled out, tipped a little the other way and then began to rise.
‘There’s still one more left. Let’s go.’ Stratton started to head off, pausing to pick up the crank key beside Hank before continuing along the corridor and down the stairs, Christine hot on his heels.
They ran along the gantry, reaching the entrance to the tunnel they had come along minutes before, and came to an abrupt stop. Sea water was pouring from it like a waterfall and cascading into the chasm below.
‘Can we get through that?’ she asked, addressing the question to herself as much as to him.
‘We have to,’ Stratton said. He leaned across the torrent to plant an arm on the edge of the tunnel. He reached inside and took hold of one of a stack of conduits bolted to the stone. A firm tug proved that it was secure. ‘Go for it,’ he shouted above the din of the rushing water.
Christine didn’t hesitate, jumping past him to grab hold of the conduit. She pulled herself into the tunnel, fighting against the flow. Stratton leapt in close behind her and they headed into near-darkness as the emergency lighting grew even dimmer.
The going was hard. Their feet constantly slipped out from beneath them due to the force of the water. ‘Watch out!’ Christine suddenly shouted as she pulled herself tight against the wall.
Stratton did the same as several tables, carried on the flood, came bumping down the corridor at speed. Both he and the girl managed to avoid being struck.
Christine moved a few metres further on to a large bracket which she wrapped her arms around in order to snatch a breather. Stratton pulled ahead of her. ‘Keep going.’
She grabbed a pipe as far ahead as she could reach and pulled herself along.
They rounded a bend where the light grew in intensity to discover that it was an emergency light illuminating a sign above a door across the tunnel from them: ESCAPE ROOM. Christine pulled herself opposite the door, wondering if they could cross the gap without being swept back the way they had come. Stratton made his way further up the tunnel. Without any hesitation he pressed his feet against the wall while holding on to a pipe and, as if he was starting a backstroke race, pushed off for the other side.
He turned onto his front as he reached the opposite wall and grabbed for a hold, moving with the water until he reached the door. Large metal brackets were fixed to the wall either side of it and he grabbed the first, pulling himself against the door, which was in a small recess. He reached a hand out to Christine. ‘Go for it!’ he shouted.
She did not hesitate and threw herself across the gap to grab his hand. As she secured herself he banged on the steel door. The noise of their efforts seemed to be swallowed up by the sound of the rushing water. Stratton took the crank key that he had hooked inside the waist of his trousers and repeatedly struck it against the door.
He repeated the noisy assault as he searched for a way to open the door but there did not appear to be one. They feared the worst.
‘They’ve gone, haven’t they?’ Christine said, knowing the answer.