VI
The wait for the elevator dragged on. Though of small capacity, that elevator was, apart from the spiral staircase, the only way to deliver food from the warehouses to the residential block and the kitchen.
Nick thought in frustration that he should arrange some elevator privileges for people of particular importance, but he cast the idea aside.
Just because he was in a hurry to get to the warehouse didn't mean he could interrupt the delivery of supplies to the kitchen.
The elevator was the lifeline between the warehouses three floors up and the kitchen, which today had prepared spaghetti with tomato sauce.
So it had been announced, at least, by an unnamed announcer over the P.A. The announcer wasn't Nika, because Erik and Nick had left her in the laboratory while she solved some problems with devices that wouldn't start.
That girl had a pleasant voice, but she lacked that southern sexy accent.
She sounded more local, Zagreb. At that moment the elevator doors opened and Nick let two carts pass with boxes holding jars of tomato sauce.
The guys in charge of transport just nodded silently and went on pushing the carts toward the kitchen.
Nick stepped in and thought how the announcement that there was another elevator in the shelter had gone over quite well.
He'd expected questions about why it hadn't been announced earlier, but no one objected when Nick opened the hidden elevator doors on the fourth level to the council members during the afternoon meeting.
The only problem was securing the central computer, but Erik had quickly solved that by posting his best man to sit bored at the entrance to the heart of the complex.
Pressing the button with the number four, Nick turned toward the entrance and let Erik pass.
He felt a light bump at his hip, where his now fairly emptied pack of keys and cards sat.
Most of the cards had passed into the possession of various guild or shelter members, while Erik had kept a good part of the things he deemed necessary. Remembering, Nick asked:
"Have you figured out what we'll do with the weapons?"
Erik grunted something unintelligible, cleared his throat, and answered shortly: "No."
"That could easily grow into a problem, and we should resolve it before people settle in. That hallway sees the most traffic, and it'll be terribly hard to move the weapons with everyone watching."
The elevator slowed and stopped on the fourth floor.
Stepping out into the short corridor, from which the scientific equipment that had been there during his first exploration had now vanished, Nick headed toward the wide-open entrance, beside which a guard now stood,
barring entry to everyone except people with boxes or workers with special permits issued by the council.
Nick nodded to the guard while still thinking about the weapons in the security room deep below them. So he suggested:
"Can we put all those weapons in the room with the central computer?"
You could see Erik thinking about the idea.
"Hmm… I'm not sure there's enough room," he finally replied.
Nick agreed with him, and Tomi would have a nervous breakdown if they brought weapons preserved in oil into the space he frequented most.
He always claimed the sensitive components had to have filtered air.
And he was probably right. Their survival now depended on the central computer.
Better not to touch any of the automatic processes for now, so as not to ruin the shelter's ventilation.
Nick didn't even want to think about the consequences.
No, the weapons couldn't go into the central room.
They'd have to find some other place. But he simply saw no place or possibility.
He wanted to deal with it while there was still time and while big things, like moving a pile of deadly tools, could pass unnoticed.
"And why not move them to the office?" Erik suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Nick was caught off guard by Erik's sudden question.
"The office, up on the entrance level. It's spacious enough, it has an elevator, and it's full of security people," Erik explained.
"You know what…" Nick was thinking about the suggestion. "That idea isn't bad. There's a changing room that can be turned into an armory with minor alterations, and security is always there. Yes, really good idea!" Nick brightened. "We should start moving them as soon as possible."
"Uh-huh. We'll start tonight." Erik was already thinking about whom he'd choose for the task.
"You mean when everyone's asleep?" Nick looked at him as they walked toward the central part with the large elevator.
"Uh-huh. The least traffic and the fastest to move." Erik waved in farewell and headed toward the staircase.
For a moment Nick watched Erik's broad back and thought how that man of few words was a very good choice.
He was devoted to his duty, honest, and had good ideas.
He'd know how to bring order to the shelter.
Then he remembered he had to get to the warehouse where Irena had set up her office.
He headed through the foyer toward the elevator when he noticed an enormous crowd and feverish bustle in the part where the bar and rest rooms were.
The large elevator was just descending, and on it were three workers with a pile of boxes.
The pictures on the boxes betrayed furniture and things related to decor.
The workers glanced at Nick and hurriedly began unloading the boxes onto the foyer floor. Nick asked:
"Where are those boxes going?"
One of the guys, who was sweatily dragging a heavy box from the elevator onto the foyer floor, tossed out: "To the bar. They're redoing it there."
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and returned to unloading the remaining boxes.
Nick didn't pursue further questions, because the elevator had to be unloaded as soon as possible to free it up for the next load.
A few people then came out of the spacious room and began carrying boxes.
It all seemed practiced, and Nick thought they'd surely been doing this for a while.
The project must be big and have been going on for some time, and he was surprised he'd heard nothing about it.
It must have all been arranged over the radio.
He'd given his to Denis to coordinate his crew and the whole process of setting up the infrastructure on the farms.
Nick sighed. There were more important projects at the moment than his wandering; he felt as if he wasn't contributing to the shelter's bustle at all.
Though people knew him and greeted him wherever he went, he felt useless.
He had no task except to be an occasional messenger for someone like Irena, whom he was just now going to see.
He stepped onto the elevator platform, which began rising toward the warehouses.
He lifted his gaze and noticed heads looking over the safety railing.
Even those people were more important than him, he thought.
They brought food and comfort to the rest of the shelter, and where in all of it was Nick?
He thought about his friends who really contributed to life and survival.
Tomi inspected the electronic equipment, not to mention that he'd gotten the P.A. system working.
Ana was the true manager of the shelter.
With charm she managed to steer people onto the right path while at the same time assigning them tasks that seemed perfectly reasonable at the moment.
All that time she never took that incredible smile off her face as her red hair fell over her beautiful face.
Nick thought how, that day, many people fell in love with the ever-present Ana.
Nika, on the other hand, reigned supreme in the laboratory, keeping people under control.
She had a vision for the entire fifth floor and seemed completely sure of herself.
Nika was a warlike Amazon who wouldn't allow a small problem — some stubborn piece of equipment that wouldn't start — to become a stumbling block.
She relied greatly on Tomi's help, who in turn spent all his free time in the laboratory and silently did everything Nika instructed him to.
Erik patrolled the shelter. He knew his security boys, and those he hadn't known before he made an effort to get to know.
He assessed possible problems and organized his people at various places in the shelter.
He was constantly on alert, with his pregnant wife on his mind, who was turning the outdated clinic into a hospital and, with her small but educated team, working on extracting insulin from the young bodies of many volunteers.
Nick recalled the sharp pain he'd felt when she gently drove the long needle into his abdomen.
The whole process took some fifteen minutes and hurt like the devil.
He'd managed to endure it while Vlasta encouraged him.
He rubbed the still-sore spot and thought it would take more than Nika's pleasant voice to persuade him to give insulin again.
Luckily, there was no shortage of volunteers who still didn't know what awaited them, so Vlasta had her hands full, and their supply of human insulin in the fridge kept growing.
Everyone seemed seriously devoted to their work, only he wasn't employed.
Maybe he lacked certain abilities or knowledge to help?
He couldn't judge, but he tried as best he could to at least carry messages or give advice to anyone who asked.
He came out of the elevator and headed into the warehouse, where through the shelves he could already make out the table over which Irena stood.
She noticed him coming and greeted him briefly:
"Hi Nick, great that you came so fast."
Nick nodded without a word as he watched the busy people working around the warehouse. Then he noticed a few little bags on the table. He looked closer and noticed dried button mushrooms, porcini, and oyster mushrooms. Irena explained:
"Nika asked earlier that everything related to mushrooms be searched out."
Nick recalled that she'd asked him something about spores or mycelium while he was up in the warehouse, and he nodded. "Yes, I know. She asked me too."
"This is everything we found in the warehouses. Dried mushrooms used as a seasoning in food. Do you think it'll help her?" Irena was curious.
"I don't know. Maybe." Nick took one jar and examined the contents. Dried button mushrooms meant nothing to him.
"Hmm… Yeah. Be a dear and take it to her," Irena suggested.