Camping Ch 8

 

The stairs led up to a higher platform- another catwalk though thankfully the fumes weren't as bad up here. Joon and Maia struggled to catch their breath as they reached the platform. Joon's commpiece crackled to life. 

"Joon, report. How you making out?" 

"Well, we're trying to find our way out of here. Any idea where the cooling areas are in relation to... wherever you are?"

"No idea."

"Hmmmm. Alrighty."

"I don't frequent the cooling areas."

"No, I guess not."

The communit went quiet. 

Joon, sighing, began to look around the platform. There were terminals here, machinery and what appeared to be several exits. 

"Joon."

"Yes?"

"Where are you exactly? Your comm location is pinging you as being in the ops center." 

"What? Oh... right. I'm on someone else's comm. Mine got lost. I don't even know where my phone is."

"Alright. I was like..."

"I don't have a clue where we are or when- if- we'll even reach you."

"Who's we?"

"I have... Maia with me. She's a Level 3 tech."

"Seems unessential."

"Nice. Thanks."

Joon picked an exit at random- it was an access tunnel, sort of cylindrical in shape and lit all the way around. There was a humming and deep rumbles from below, occasional bursts of steam from behind them in the cooling area. The access tunnel ended at an intersection and the steam gradually gave way to quiet. Joon looked over at Maia and she gave him a tentative smile. 

"Joon, I'm pinging this unit. You're way off in... sheesh, I don't even know where that is. You must be two quadrants away."

"That's awesome," he replied with fake enthusiasm. "Any idea how I find you?" 

"Nope. We'll keep trying though. Or Mallory will. I'm trying to reach the president." 

"I thought the president was not in the loop." 

"Yeah, that'll be awkward. Hello, Mr. President, I'm with the secret interdimensional research lab you know nothing about, and it just went fuckways. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that conversation." 

"Better you than me."

"F off. Anywho, stay smart."

"Unessential," Maia muttered as they trudged along. 

"That's just Stella," Joon replied. "She's not bad once you... well," he laughed, "yeah she is." 

They both smiled. Joon was a little uneasy about what would happen if they did get to Command. Would they let Maia in? 

Around a corner and lo, there was another tube transport. Thank the gods. They rushed over to it and boarded. 

"Command Center #36."

"Isn't it...?" Maia began. 

"Error. There are malfunctions in the network. That destination is offline." 

"Where can you go?"

"Most of the destinations are accessible. ETA for network repairs indeterminate." 

"Alright, let's go..."

That's when they heard howling.