Chapter Twenty-Four #3
He gave Madelaine an uncertain look and tried once more, using both hands and both thumbs. The door was sealed shut hard, likely because of the lockdown. He shouldn’t be surprised, but a vague sense that they might be trapped here crossed his mind, making him even more uneasy.
“I think the corridor on the other side of this door leads to the area next to the arched opening and landing pad where we left the airship. But the door is locked tight.” He tried not to sound worried.
Madelaine peeked out the window and tried the handle, with the same results. “Thoughts?” she asked. “I know you’d be against going back up all those flights of stairs.”
“You’ve got that right.” Jack looked around for a pry bar, a sledgehammer or any helpful tool beneath the dark area of the final flight of stairs, but didn’t see anything that might pry open or, better yet, bash open the door.
Madelaine said, “What’s this?”
“What?” Jack turned as she walked to the corner opposite of where the door would open. Then he saw what had caught her attention. A dark panel was mounted on the wall, attached a few inches below the level of the window.
He joined her as she said, “What do you think that is?”
Jack touched the center of the panel with the pad of his finger and a digital screen the size of a tablet lit up. “I think it is promising.”
Centered in the middle of the screen was a white crescent against a dark blue background.
Jack pressed the screen again and a narrow rectangular box appeared. It looked like a password was required. He wished he knew what it was. He pressed inside the box and nothing happened. No keyboard appeared to type in a code or password.
He felt around the edge of the digital panel. His fingers brushed something familiar along the bottom. “Okay. I’ve got a port.”
“A what?” she asked. “I know you are saving us, but how are you doing it?”
Jack smiled as he reached into a pocket and grabbed his special communication device for use in Alienn, Arkansas, and the surrounding towns.
It looked like an old BlackBerry and, most importantly, had a built-in keyboard. Jack fished a connecting cable from his other pocket and plugged it into the panel’s universal port and his communication device.
He tried a universal code that often overrode any need for a password.
It didn’t work.
A new message appeared above the rectangular box. Two more attempts before lockout. Harsh, but not unexpected.
Jack tried another of his almost-never-fails codes. He held his breath as he pressed Enter.
One more attempt before lockout.
Now he had to think. He didn’t have a third secret code to try.
“I don’t know what the password is and I’ve tried the two possible override codes and they didn’t work. If I don’t enter the correct one this time, we’re stuck here.”
Madelaine said, “Okay. Let’s take a minute, maybe take a breath or two, and work through this.
” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
She inhaled a second time, and slowly pushed the breath out again.
A third slow, measured breath. All the while, she stared at the screen as if it would give her inspiration for what needed to be input.
He decided to do the same thing. The breathing didn’t hurt, but all he saw when he looked at the screen was the failure of his first two attempts taunting him.
“Wait,” she said, sounding hopeful. She pointed to the screen. “Does that look like a moon to you? A crescent moon, maybe?”
Jack squinted. “Maybe. Yes. Why?”
“Veyre said when the silent moon asks for a name, give it yours.”
Jack rocked back on his heels. “You’re right. It does look like a moon,” he said, glancing up. “And I don’t hear the klaxon as loud here, either. So I would count this as a silent moon.”
Madelaine crossed her fingers as he entered his name into the rectangular box. Nothing happened for a count of three. Before Jack’s hopes could crash and burn, they heard the glorious sound of the door unlocking and it swung open several inches.
He pulled his cable from the panel, shoved it and his communication device into his pocket and together they headed out into the corridor, where the alarm blared full force.
“I think this is the corridor that leads to the area next to the arched opening and landing pad where we left the ship,” Jack said.
“It looks a lot different with only the red flashing light and the blaring klaxon ringing in my head,” Madelaine said.
“Truth.”
“And where is everyone?”
“No telling. There must be an evacuate order when the klaxon sounds and the red lights flash or something. If it’s a runner, maybe that’s a spectator sport here.”
“Maybe.”
The last time the corridor had people here and there.
Now, it was empty. That was unnerving, given that there was supposedly a prison riot, a runner or something unforeseen going on.
He’d expected to see prison guards with weapons and riot gear marching in squads, ready to resolve whatever problem existed.
Jack tightened his grip on the cardboard box as they walked through the doorway and into the corridor. He immediately noticed someone waiting.
Warden Marcus Draven.
Calm. So annoyingly calm. He stood in the middle of the corridor as if nothing was going on. As if there was not a screaming klaxon roaring. As if the red lights did not flash chaotically around them.
Jack wanted to punch him. Madelaine probably did, too. If she didn’t, Jack wanted to punch him enough for the both of them.
“What are you doing here? I thought the elevator was locked down.”
“It was. Things change quickly here.” Draven shrugged.
“Besides, you weren’t trapped for an undetermined time in the unheated tower.
The stairs were a viable backup.” He smiled in that annoyingly superior way he excelled at.
“You didn’t think you were going to get special treatment going up and down from the tower, did you? ”