V #3
The two of them looked at him in confusion, and he pointed at the card slot and the keyholes.
"Does it open simultaneously, or the card before or after — is there some sequence?"
Tomi huffed disdainfully.
"Seems to me you've watched too many spy films, friend. Sequential locks are fiction, or a thing of modern technology. Remember, you're in the eighties now, when that never crossed anyone's mind. Give me the key!" he ordered Nick, who readily handed it over.
Tomi tried the first lock, which the key didn't fit, so he inserted it into the second. He turned the key and the lock clicked. He looked at Nick.
"Now you. And don't forget the card."
Nick obeyed, and a moment later, with a little force, they opened the doors, and the deep hum of machinery running undisturbed reached them.
Two sets of entry doors and a large glass wall filled the short corridor that ended in a large, brightly lit space.
Nick cast a fleeting glance through the glass, where he noticed literally tons of electronic equipment running undisturbed.
In the middle of the room, connected by a web of cables and enormous pipes, stood two turbines.
A few ancient but functional computers stood in front of each turbine.
"Wow!" exclaimed Tomi, who'd arrived from the office behind them.
"Yes, exactly that, wow!" Nick replied in admiration.
"Geothermal energy! Incredible!" Tomi paced the platform.
"You mean those turbines? I thought the same," Nika added.
"Yes, a fantastic idea!" Tomi was still fascinated.
"Well, it's logical to assume it would run on geothermal power. The Pannonian Sea zone is thermally active, after all. Especially in this part," Nika explained, while Tomi nodded with satisfaction, confirming.
"That gives them a constant inflow of hot water and steam, which then drives the turbines, creating a constant supply of energy," Tomi couldn't help interrupting the girl.
"And the sheer size of the turbines speaks of several megawatts of clean energy, which is more than enough to power this shelter."
Nick barely followed the technical discussion playing out around him.
It was logical that a tech freak like Tomi would launch into a lively debate with the scientific mind of a girl who'd devoted her life to learning.
His own mind was more given to practical solutions, and, with thoughts of the power, he climbed down the nearest ladder to the floor.
Having descended, he stopped, again astonished by the mass of offices with familiar windows carved into the rock.
Following with his eyes the wide avenue that ran between the generators, in the depths of the space he noticed heavy, red-painted doors and the massive chains that fenced them off.
Red meant either danger or a call for caution, and the large chains hanging on enormous rails above the doors didn't bode well.
But Nick wasn't interested in the doors at this moment.
He stared at the tangle of cables coming out of one of the generators and set off at an easy pace in the direction the cables led.
Above him, the voices of the debate between Nika and Tomi still carried, as they enjoyed a conversation about all sorts of system capabilities and workmanship.
Nick stopped in front of one of the offices, because the cables he was following ended in the wall beside the entrance door.
He peeked inside and noticed enormous blocks of electronics, some of them blinking with a green light, some with rows of buttons or handles, all of which irresistibly resembled fuse boxes.
He went in and approached the nearest box and noticed the label "MAIN POWER," beside which was a row of switches glowing yellow.
Nick also noticed lights marked in red, as well as ones marked green, which could mean that one indicated no power and the other power.
The yellow, by logic, indicated only the primary supply.
Testing, Nick pressed a switch and was rewarded with a soft hum in the room as the enormous electronics woke from sleep.
On the nearest block he noticed the label "FIRST LEVEL" and a similar row of switches on the side.
He went over and turned all the switches to green.
Then he lifted the radio and called his friends:
"People, please, find the security room of this level."
First he heard the crackle of static, then two confirming voices. It didn't take long before Tomi reported that he was standing by a security console with, in his words, a medieval surveillance system. Nick advised him:
"Tomi, there should be switches on the console for the entire security system, unless this one is separate from ours on the floors above, which I doubt."
"I think it's all part of the same system, wait while I check." Tomi's voice came from the radio.
Nick carefully surveyed the room and the number of blocks that he now believed were enormous batteries responsible for powering each of the floors above them.
He approached the one labeled for the second floor, or the first warehouse section, which Nick knew well.
He figured the yellow light now glowing indicated primary power, and he believed that if he turned the switches to green, he'd establish main power in the warehouse. Tomi came on over the radio:
"It's the same system, except this one has three additional levels I didn't notice on the console up there, which just means additional floors."
"Excellent, do you have video on the second floor or the first warehouse?" Nick asked.
"Wait…" A moment of silence, then Tomi came on, disappointed: "The cameras are dead, no video."
Nick turned the switches to green and asked:
"And now?"
Silence at first, then from the radio came:
"The cameras are on, I see huge racks and shelves crammed with goods."
"Excellent!" Nick was delighted. "Now switch to the section where the party is."
He looked for the block that marked the zone where the crowd of young, trapped people now was. He thought of Ana and hoped everything was all right with her.
"I trust you've found the fuses and the main switches. Well, I'm waiting on the fourth level for power." His friend's voice reached him over the radio.
Nick quickly turned the switches to green and waited for confirmation, which soon came.
"It's working — oh, the screaming up here!!!" Tomi's voice sounded excited.
Nick grew worried and asked:
"What screaming? What's going on?"
"Oh, judging by the video, everyone's screaming with relief, and it looks like the party's continuing — even the light effects have come back on."
"Look at the foyer, is Ana okay?"
"Wait…" A moment of silence, then he reported: "She's there, surrounded by those hooligans of hers, and it looks like she's issuing some kind of orders."
Nick breathed a sigh of relief and then called Nika:
"Nika, could you please come to me?"
Silence. Nika wasn't answering. Nick repeated the call.
"Nika, come in!"
Still silence over the radio. Suddenly a voice rang out behind his back:
"I'm here, what's all the fuss?" Nika was standing in the doorway, smiling at Nick's startled flinch.
"Oh, you're evil!" he replied in relief. "Don't scare me like that, next time I might hit you on reflex."
"And would that blow come before or after the heart attack from fright?" she teased him.
Nick shook his head and reached into the pack, rummaged through it a bit, and found the card he wanted. He handed it to Nika.
"Go, please, to that security room and take a radio from inside that you'll deliver to Ana on the fourth level. We need communication with the people."
Nika took the card and replied jokingly:
"And since when did I go from scientist to ordinary courier?"
"Since the world ended and the rest of us don't need scientists at this moment," Nick replied cuttingly.
Nika huffed in irritation, but decided not to comment and left the room.
"What's with Nika? Did something happen to her?" Tomi's voice came over the radio.
"Oh, she's here, she just surprised me so much I almost shat myself," Nick answered.
Cheerful girlish laughter came from the radio.
"Serves you right, ordering girls around like soldiers."
Nick blushed and was glad no one was there to see it.
He didn't comment, but turned his attention to the rest of the power batteries and began pressing switches, slowly bringing the sleeping shelter back to life.
He turned on the power to the remaining blocks, but at the last one he stopped.
Something wasn't right. First of all, the block had no label, even though it was visually identical to the previous ones.
Nick counted them. Seven blocks for seven floors, but there was an eighth.
"Main breaker, or…?" he muttered into his beard as he turned the switch to green.
A main breaker wouldn't require such a large battery, nor did it serve as the basic power distributor. Nick had a question mark over his head, and he didn't like that. He called over the radio.
"Tomi, how many video-surveillance switches are on the console?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" his friend's voice reached him, somewhat distorted by static.
"How many floors does the video cover?"
"Seven, why?"
"Because I've got a little mystery here, can you come down to me? I'm in the office right across from the red doors."
"I'll be there in a second," Tomi answered.
It didn't take long for Tomi to arrive, and he immediately understood what it was about when he noticed what Nick was standing beside.
"There's an additional level, an eighth."
"That's what I thought too. We need to find some kind of plan or blueprint." Nick headed for the exit.
"This is engineering and maintenance, we have to find the chief engineer's office — the complete blueprint of the shelter should be there." Tomi came out of the office and waited for his friend.
Nick came out and looked around the enormous room and the masses of offices carved into the living rock, sealed in tons of concrete. Then he suggested:
"You take the left side and I'll take the right. We'll meet at those red doors, or once we find the office."
Nick passed several rooms filled with office furniture.
His attention was caught by massive oak doors in front of which stood two desks with telephones.
He called his friend, who quickly appeared.