VI #3
Ana nodded in confirmation of her words and stepped back from the bars. She paused for a moment and looked at Nika.
"I'm glad we met, I believe the two of us could work together very well in the future," she smiled sincerely at the girl.
Nika blushed slightly again. That woman in front of her literally radiated something.
And it would be hard to resist Ana's charm and those blue eyes.
Nika nodded, and Ana turned to greet the newcomers with a broad smile.
Nika stepped aside and sat on a step. She was getting tired; the exertions her body had been through were taking their toll.
And the stress of the whole situation only wore out her body, which craved rest.
Nika yawned. Her gaze fixed on the gate that blocked the descent to the laboratory.
She was intensely curious what kind of laboratory it was and what equipment was inside, but the gate blocked the passage, and she could only hope that the cards Nick carried would manage to unlock it so she could explore it all.
She yawned again, and her heavy head dropped onto her knees.
Her thoughts wandered and she almost fell asleep when someone's hand gently landed on her shoulder.
She flinched in panic and sprang upright.
"Hey, careful, I didn't mean to scare you," Nick stepped back onto the step above with his hands in the air.
"Nick, for God's sake, you scared the crap out of me," she relaxed and leaned her back against the wall, "I almost filled my pants."
Nick smiled and came down to the mezzanine beside her.
"Good thing you didn't, because I think we're short on underwear."
Nika smiled and looked past Nick toward the staircase.
"And where's Tomi?" she asked.
"He stayed in the control room, he was mentioning something about having to remember how DOS programs work. He reached ecstasy in the control room," Nick muttered as he rummaged through his pack, looking for something.
"There's a control room down there? Where?" Nika asked with interest.
Having found what he was looking for in the pack — the card he'd previously worn around his neck and had since stowed with the others — Nick looked at the girl.
"Oh right, you weren't with us. Down there is a whole hidden complex and, wouldn't you know it, there's a hidden elevator on this floor that leads to the control room."
Nika was delighted.
"I knew there was something like that, I was always curious how the technicians got the equipment down to the laboratory below," she nodded toward the gate behind her.
"And you were right, now we know how."
Nick approached the gate and passed the magnetic card over the lock of the fourth-floor gate. The lock clicked and the sound of unlocking was heard. Nick smiled.
"They're no longer locked…" He tapped a code on the lock, which locked again. "But better the lock stays locked for now."
"Why?" Nika didn't understand.
"So your idea can take shape and order can prevail. When it comes to that, the lock will be permanently unlocked."
Nick stared at the crowd of marshals surrounding a group of people arguing loudly. He believed Ana was there and only hoped she had all the threads in her hands and kept everything under control. After a moment's thought, Nika silently agreed with his statement. Then she asked:
"And what about this gate?" she pointed at the gate that blocked the descent down the stairs.
Nick turned and handed her the card.
"I don't know, try it — it should work now that control has been established in the room below."
She took the card and approached the gate. She passed the card over the magnetic reader, which lit up red. She asked:
"What's the code? It's asking for a code."
Nick was still watching the commotion inside the room and only tossed over his shoulder:
"835421."
The girl tapped in the sequence of numbers and the door unlocked. She huffed with satisfaction.
"Hey Nick, it works, here's your card," she approached the gate where Nick stood and held out the piece of plastic.
Nick didn't take the card, but was watching tensely toward the ever-louder crowd; even the marshals had grown uneasy.
A group of about a dozen people was clearly arguing, and in the center of it all you could see red hair and Erik's enormous bulk.
Nick only hoped Ana would manage to establish order, and if she didn't, Erik was always behind her as security.
At that very moment Erik swung like lightning, and even across the distance and the crowd the loud sound of a slap was heard.
The group suddenly stirred, until Ana's raised voice rang out clearly.
"That's enough now, we're taking a short break, everyone stays here except you," Ana pointed at the slapped man. "You go back where you came from while you still can. Show him out."
The slapped man shot a look of hatred toward Erik and Ana and headed toward the room where, hours earlier, fans of electronic music had partied.
The crowd thinned a little as the security relaxed, and the councilors scattered around the room in pairs or small groups to discuss something.
Nick hoped he'd be able to talk to Ana for a moment, but she was too busy in a lively conversation with three people.
At that moment a cheerful female voice rang out.
"Nick, is that you? It is! What are you doing over there, sir?" A thoroughbred blonde was approaching the gate from somewhere.
Nick grew uneasy and unconsciously stepped back from the gate.
Nika thought his whole demeanor reeked of discomfort.
She wondered why, because the blonde, who had stopped on the other side of the gate, was gorgeous, and you could see she put a lot of effort into her presentation.
That made Nick's behavior all the stranger, but the girl decided to keep quiet and see how the drama played out. Then he spoke in a neutral voice:
"Hey Tina, having fun?"
The blonde smiled charmingly and tossed her head, sweeping her well-kept hair off her face in a typically feminine gesture.
With long, thin fingers she grasped the cold metal of the gate, clearly careful not to damage her long natural nails.
Those hands did nothing physical when the nails were grown so long, and they still looked well-groomed.
Then the blonde noticed Nika in the background and her smile froze.
She looked the girl over with a long gaze and returned her eyes to Nick.
"I see I'm not the only one having fun," she huffed contemptuously at Nika.
Nick positioned himself protectively between her and Nika, who was about to speak. In a calm, emotionless voice he replied:
"If you consider restoring power and sanitation fun, then you're right. It was a phenomenal activity for the two of us here."
Tina shook the massive gate, which barely noticed her efforts.
"And how come you're over there, and not here with us?" Tina changed the subject.
"Well, with a certain position come certain privileges."
"Ah, I see," Tina gave up trying to shake the gate and fixed Nick with her gaze. "And the girl held your tools while you shoved around the fittings."
"More like I held the threads for her while she patched up the situation," Nick gave as good as he got.
Nika gave him a grateful but also amused look. She decided to keep quiet, because it looked like he had all the threads in his hands. Tina turned away to hide her discomfort, then remarked:
"Ah, looks like everything's calmed down and people are gathering around Ana again. I should get back to the council," her shoulders straightened.
"You were elected?" Nick was surprised.
"Of course." An overemphasized smile was visible on Tina's face as she importantly straightened her figure.
"Ana can't do without me, I'm irreplaceable to her there," she nodded toward the crowd, then sized up the gate between them.
"I'm terribly sorry you can't attend, Nick, but I'm sure the two of you will be quite all right, patching up some utilities over there," she finished contemptuously and turned from the gate, heading with sensual steps toward the biggest crowd.
"Which one is she to you?" Nika finally asked.
"Better you don't know," Nick waved through the gate, catching Erik's attention.
Soon Erik appeared in front of the gate with a big smile.
"Hey you two, we have to stop meeting like this, my wife will start to get suspicious," he said jokingly.
The sincerity of his smile, as well as the presence of his large body, drew smiles from them. The sheer opposite of the earlier tension and sparring with Tina. Erik continued:
"I noticed Tina at the gate, did she manage to annoy you two as well?" he asked cheerfully.
"She tried, but in vain," Nick replied. Erik nodded.
"She managed to stir up a fuss, I had to react," the giant almost apologized.
"That fuss was Tina's doing?" Nick asked.
"Oh yeah, she didn't like it when Ana told her that having fun isn't a priority in the current situation."
"And Tina was elected to the council? For which position?"
"Oh, she wasn't elected — that idiot of hers was, as the representative for morale, and she was obviously running him, so he got it in the head because of her."
"Typical of Tina, she cooks things up and reaps the laurels in the end," Nick concluded.
"That woman knows how to get by, and there'll always be an idiot who falls for her charms."
"You're right there, friend," Nick agreed. "Anyway, what happened over there that you had to react?" Nick asked his friend.
"Oh, nothing, the guy was terribly arrogant toward Ana and kept undermining her words, saying no lesbo was going to boss him around. That's where he earned a slap."
"Completely deserved, typical Balkan machismo," Nika chimed in.
Erik sized the girl up and nodded.
"Yeah, you're right there, but we're not all like that. Me, for instance — my wife runs my every day. And no one happier than me." He smiled at the girl.
"Yes, indeed, how's your wife, isn't her due date near?" Nick asked.
"It is, we're counting down the weeks, but now…" Erik fell silent and with a gesture of his body took in the surroundings, "I'm not sure this institution has any facilities for childbirth, or do we have to improvise?" He looked at them.
Nick grew uneasy because he wasn't sure, but Nika didn't let herself be thrown and lied: