II
Nika and Vlasta slowly descended the steep staircase.
Vlasta didn't want to admit it, but going down the stairs in her condition was quite a challenge.
So Nika breathed a sigh of relief when they finally reached the fifth floor.
She took out the card Nick had given her and unlocked the gate of the fifth level.
The space was lit only by the auxiliary lighting, and it took a while before Tomi managed to find the switch box to turn on the neon lighting.
Before them was a short corridor that, after a few meters, split three ways.
Straight ahead were wide closed doors, while the corridors on the sides curved off somewhere out of sight.
Nika headed toward the doors and, finding them unlocked, opened them to reveal another marvel of this shelter.
Before her was an enormous expanse filled with dozens of load-bearing columns and a mass of covered equipment.
As large as Nick had described — like two football fields.
It was all neatly arranged as in an open-plan laboratory.
Nika read the label of the nearest sign.
It read "LABORATORY FOR ORGANIC CHEMISTRY."
Then she looked at the type of covered equipment on the right and the label "LABORATORY FOR PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY AND CORROSION."
Nika realized that different laboratories were formed this way, in a large open space, to avoid chaos and increase each laboratory's efficiency.
"Dear mother, there's everything here," Vlasta exclaimed, impressed, as she slowly walked down one of the avenues.
"Yes, truly incredible, and it's all so neatly arranged," Nika replied.
Tomi approached the equipment and pulled the protective plastic off a computer. For a moment he stared at the labels and announced:
"The equipment is barely three years old, someone spent a lot of money here."
"And had big plans," Vlasta was still impressed.
"Here, as far as I can see, is the part reserved for chemical research, so the equipment, I believe, is accordingly. But I'm interested in where they put the biological research," Nika hurried down the spacious avenue, examining the blue boards with labels.
Vlasta couldn't hurry because of her condition, so she stopped to rest and cast her gaze around the room.
She noticed that the avenues led toward the sides, where the dark openings of unlit space could be made out.
She set off with slow steps toward the nearest one, some fifty meters to her left.
Soon she stopped indecisively at a natural opening in the rock and the spacious unlit cavity behind it.
She wavered over whether to go in; she didn't know the terrain and didn't know what was inside. So she called Nika:
"Nika, could you please come?"
The girl turned at hearing her name and hurried to Vlasta. Arriving, she stared into the darkness.
"What do you think is inside?" she asked Vlasta.
"Oh, I don't know, better we look," the latter replied.
Nika approached the natural rock of the cave and noticed cables descending from mounts on the ceiling.
At the end of the cables was a switch with a large handle, which she turned.
A bright light came on, illuminating a real little hospital.
There was everything here. A reception where patients would be received, examination rooms separated by plastic walls, trauma beds, and even a few areas with diagnostic devices covered with heavy green sheets could be seen.
Nika approached the reception desk, turned, and noticed a passage on her left side.
She assumed that one of those corridors they'd passed on entering the laboratory came out there.
"It's all old, God," Vlasta remarked.
"What do you mean?" Nika looked at her.
"The equipment, the furniture, the metal beds. It's all at least forty years old. Look…" Vlasta approached one of the diagnostic units, opened its door, and pointed at the equipment. "This is where blood is prepared and mixed to isolate cultures — it's all analog or digital, no electronics."
"Is that a problem?" asked Tomi, who'd arrived.
"No, but it makes diagnostics harder and takes longer."
Tomi approached a small machine that had slots for test tubes.
"Looks unused to me," he announced to the girls.
"Well, it probably never was used — this seems to be the shelter's original clinic, and whoever renovated the laboratory didn't think it worth investing in the medical part," Vlasta said pensively.
"Well, why complain — the equipment is old, but I believe it works. And right now it represents the pinnacle of medical equipment within a radius of several hundred kilometers," Nika offered her opinion.
"Especially in a shelter, we could have been without it,"
Tomi agreed. Vlasta nodded.
"That's right, I think I'll stay here a while to check the inventory and equipment. I think we'll need a few doctors to fill the newly opened positions." She smiled.
"I'll keep examining the laboratory, I still haven't found the biology department." Nika was ready to continue exploring.
"I'll go with you," Tomi announced, and Nika nodded. She asked Vlasta:
"Will you be okay here on your own? Here." Nika handed her the radio. "In case you need help, turn the dial to the first channel, that's Erik. With this crank you wind for power, and you press this button," she explained.
Vlasta took the radio and thanked her. Then she sat at the reception desk to rest a little, still studying the device in her hands.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Nika asked once more.
"Oh, I am, don't worry. I won't be giving birth alone, at least not yet," Vlasta waved, dismissing them.
"Okay, see you later," said Nika, then turned and left the clinic into the enormous laboratory.
Following the blue signs reading "LABORATORY FOR TECHNICAL THERMODYNAMICS" and "LABORATORY FOR TOXICOLOGY," at the latter Nika stopped and noticed that the whole zone around the equipment had larger ventilation pipes and massive extraction ducts leading to transparent boxes with rubber gloves
inside protected openings.
Though it was as protected as it was ventilated, Nika didn't agree with the location.
Toxicology meant something dangerous and required a certain quarantine or isolation.
She decided to propose that this laboratory, with all its specialized equipment, be moved to a safer place.
Because as it was, it posed a risk to the whole shelter in case of an accident and a spill of some toxic substance.
Nika continued down the passages, thinking about how much needed to be moved from that spot.
For instance, the laboratory for sustainable development, as it said on a board she passed, was completely unnecessary and only took up space that could be used for other purposes.
Then she finally noticed familiar devices.
The board read "LABORATORY FOR FOOD CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY."
Nika squealed with satisfaction and quickly pulled the protective cover off the equipment.
Everything was here! From microscopes to a genetic sequencer and space for culturing.
Nika took in the space and noticed it was quite sufficient for her research.
Her attention was drawn to the two nearest boards labeled "LABORATORY FOR BIOLOGY AND GENETICS OF MICROORGANISMS" and "LABORATORY FOR THE TECHNOLOGY OF ANTIBIOTICS, PROBIOTICS, AND ENZYMES."
She was ecstatic. In this zone alone one could fully research and produce seeds that could be planted somewhere within the shelter.
She hadn't expected it. Her heart pounded with excitement.
She turned, meaning to share her joy at the discovery with someone, but only Tomi stood there, watching the sequencer with interest.
Nika went up to him and hugged him tightly with the words:
"Tomi, we're in the saddle, this is incredible!" She felt him tremble.
Tomi went mute. His brain froze and he couldn't hide the uncontrolled jolts of his body.
His whole body trembled as her scent filled his nostrils.
He felt himself reacting and beginning to stiffen.
That finally returned control to his limbs, and he returned the hug, gently pulling his lower half back so she wouldn't feel the growing bulge.
For the first time in his life, he didn't want a girl to notice his arousal.
He didn't want to spoil his image in her beautiful eyes.
He didn't want her to pull away from him in disgust, as girls had done until now.
He didn't want to lose her; he only wanted to hold her and be near her and revel in the ecstasy her enchanting smile awoke in him.
He knew he had problems and was, with a literally superhuman effort, restraining his urges.
His glasses fogged up, but that didn't matter.
What mattered was this moment while her body pressed against his, and he knew he was now building a memory he'd keep for the rest of his life.
He wanted the moment to last as long as possible.
Nika was completely unaware of Tomi's predicament.
She only wanted to share her joy at the discovery with someone.
At last they had confirmation of the hope of survival.
A hope she'd awoken with her words. At last she could practically confirm what she'd claimed earlier at the meeting.
She pulled away from Tomi and noticed he'd blushed and that his glasses were fogged. She asked him, alarmed:
"Everything okay with you? You look like you're having a heart attack."
Tomi blushed further and turned away from her, taking off his glasses, which he began wiping with the inevitable tissue he pulled out of a pocket somewhere.
"Oh yeah, it's just that these glasses get dirty really fast," he muttered as he wiped.
Nika didn't pursue other questions, but turned toward one of the nearest cave openings.
"Okay, we have the equipment, now we need to find a place to set up the farms."
Then she headed down the passage toward a wall of natural stone where there was a dark opening of an obvious cave.
Power cables descended from the ceiling, and after a few moments she found a large switch.
A dim light spread through the space. Nika noticed a semicircular cave with uneven walls stretching into the distance.
Not much had changed in this cave. Not even lighting had been installed, though the conditions were there.
As if someone had wanted the residents to decide the space's purpose themselves.
The cave's width was some twenty meters, while its depth couldn't be gauged.