Chapter 7

Eoin squinted, letting his eyes refocus. The lantern gave off a bright clean light that spread in a three meter diameter around them, but the enormous height and width of the space meant they only pierced a fraction of the darkness. Releasing his arm from Ally's back he walked to the left side, peering at the curved wall. With a sweep of his arm, following the curve, he realized that the tunnel was a proper circle, the same as the hole they'd fallen through. Giving more weight to his original hypothesis, but the mesh…

Unless the mesh was to keep all that junk out, he thought suddenly, remembering how much leaf and soil matter had poured down with them. Still, it hadn't blocked everything. The floor beneath their feet was dirt packed, and vines trailed in as far as the sparse sunlight reached. Reaching the wall, he extended a hand and stroked it, then held the lantern up. Ally moved quietly behind him, making the most of her advanced night vision.

'Ally, I think this might be A.D.' The words sounded doubtful, how many structures from the age before this age, Quom Epidemia, were found in such condition? But the longer and closer he examined the wall, the more the idea made sense. Cool and smooth, the metal walls appeared seamless, but Eoin knew that couldn't have been possible. He'd not seen so much metal in one place before. Usually they were scavenged centuries, millennia ago, to help rebuild. Stepping back to study the wall again, Eoin turned, peering at the entrance way. The slightest indent caught his eye.

Ally followed Eoin to the circular, flat bottomed entrance way.

'What is it?' she asked.

'I think this might have had a door here once,' Eoin said, studying the edges. 'See this indent?'

Ally stared at where he indicated then slowly followed that slight indent up and around the top edge.

'Perhaps,' she agreed. 'But where did it go? This place hasn't been touched in forever.'

Eoin shrugged, a hand extended as he stared at the wall.

Rolling her eyes in frustration, Ally reached out and plucked the lantern from his hand.

'Hey!'

'You can see. I want to explore.'

Wanting both hands free, Ally tugged the handle on the lantern, extending it so she could loop her head through, the LENR motor heating it just enough that it spread a pleasant warmth where it rested against her chest. Eoin joined her a moment later and they ventured on.

Keeping to the centre of the tunnel they walked slowly, looking for any signs of life or identification. Surely a tunnel this size served some kind of purpose. Ally considered Eoin's thought that it might be A.D. He'd brought back pre Epidemia items before, and they'd made discoveries of A.D sites together when she joined his meagre team of one. With her hunter instincts she made a suitable partner, but it hadn't thrilled her father. He'd expected her to settle down with another hunter, to stay close to home. Instead here they were, venturing forth across land many wouldn't even know of, let alone consider traversing.

An odd smell caused Ally's nose to twitch. Metallic, which she assumed was the tunnel itself, and a strange harsh chemical scent.

It concerned her and she slowed her pace. Reaching out to touch Eoin's arm, she turned to ask if he could smell it.

A gasp of shock snaked out of her throat.

Dead centre on Eoin's forehead danced the red dot of a laser light.

'Get down!' Ally hissed in a whisper, yanking him to the floor.

The little red dot followed.

Panic caused a massive release of stimulants into her bloodstream as Ally desperately darted this way and that, trying to shake the focus of whatever tracked them. Her speed increased while Eoin gasped and protested at being hauled around. Back against a rounded metal wall, Ally did the last thing she could think of, and knocked Eoin flat crouching over his body, spreading herself to cover him as much as she could.

Another red dot appeared and another, more blinking to life and all zoomed through the dark to settle on her.

'Ally!' Eoin struggled beneath her. 'Don't!'

'WARNING! This is a restricted zone!'

The foreign sounding mechanical voice made them freeze. With the lamp hanging between them, Ally could see Eoin's astonished expression. Half a second later and all around them erupted in light. Ally cried out in pain at the unexpected intensity, covering her eyes as they swiftly adjusted. It took pico seconds and she lifted her head, staring cautiously around.

Still pinned beneath, Eoin patted her arm. She absently lifted off him, mouth ajar as she stared at the massive oval structure perched on five skinny legs. All made of steel from the looks of it. Protruding from the smooth surface where a row of tiny bulbs, from which the red laser lights seemed to emit. Frowning at each other, Ally and Eoin slowly straightened. Ally's body was braced and ready while Eoin flicked his thumb over his nails repeatedly, mind rapidly working at making sense of the device.

'WARNING! Restricted zone! Approved personnel ONLY!'

The acoustics of the tunnel made the voice boom from all around. But Eoin spotted the source. He tapped Ally's arm and pointed. One of the tiny bulbs had no light, but an opening.

'WARNING! Restricted zone!'

'Is it going to shout that the whole time?' Ally said with a grimace, fingers in her ears now she'd decided it wasn't a threat.

'I don't know,' Eoin said and he walked closer.

'Hey! Be care-'

'WARNING! Restricted zone! Present hand for identification.'

The sharp tone left an echo in Eoin's head then a smooth sound caught their attention. A piece of flat rectangular metal popped out the structure, between two of the legs. It unfolded itself to the ground, creating steps to a doorway that became visible the instant the bottom step met the dirty steel floor of the tunnel. Beside the doorway a hand shape in the steel glowed.

Eoin moved without thinking.

'No!' Ally stood between him and the stairs a moment later. 'Don't be ridiculous!'

'Oh come on, listen, it's speaking in old English. This has to be pre Epidemia, Ally. This is the find of a lifetime!'