A Passing Storm
1140 Words
Almost an hour had passed since Kaleb had entered the room. The two men remained silent and the old man continued reading the papers in front of him. Having given up on the old manual he was now reading some old manuscripts of Prospect. Kaleb had read them all at least a hundred times already. The pertained old diagrams and floor plans. Of course the city had changed a great deal since the original designs, but they did reveal numerous ancient passageways no longer in use. Kaleb had memorised them all in addition to hundreds of current updates.
As Kaleb was coding in new data into the computer, the old man shifted his gaze from the papers to Kaleb and then the clock on the wall behind.
'Eh up kid abit early for you shift' he gasped as he looked back at Kaleb, who refused to respond instead choosing to continue entering code into the keypad in front of him. As the old man was about to continue a small Red light began to flash in the corner of the uppermost screen. 's**t, looks like we got a leak in the cooling room again' the old man said as he glanced at the flashing light. 'looks like a bloody big one too'. Kaleb touched the monitor next to the red light, causing a larger hollographic screen to appear on the far left wall. It had enlarged the image of the smaller screen, where it was clear to see a large amount of steaming blue liquid pouring out of the tank and flooding the room.
's**t!!' Kaleb couldn't believe his eyes. Meanwhile the old man began hurriedly flicking switches and pressed the emergency button on the panel. Within seconds a loud alarm starting booming from behind the door.
'BEST GET JOHN ON THIS ONE, BOY!!' the man shouted over the noise. 'NEEDS THE HAND OF EXPERIENCE, NOT THOSE SISSY GITS!'. And with that Kaleb lent forward flicking an orange switch and shifting a few wires on the board next to it. He held his hand to the headset and spoke, 'HEY JOHN, CATEGORY 4 LEAK, COOLER ROOM 5. HAZARDOUS LIQUID FLOODING THE ROOM!' ... 'FOR f**k SAKE MAN, THATS THE THIRD TIME THIS WEEK!' a voice shouted from the other end. 'IM CUTTING THE PRESSURE NOW, GET PADDY TO SHUT DOWN ROOM 5 COMPLETELY, AND SEND US A BIOHAZARD AND MEDICAL TEAM' the voice continued. 'SURE THING' Kaleb replied over the noise before ending the transmission.
He looked across at Paddy, Who was frantically contacting other trams and diverting them to the main power rooms.
'PADDY, LOOKS LIKE 5 IS OUT OF ACTION'
'f**k' and with that Paddy sounded a second emergency alarm and a voice called over the tannoy system. 'biohazard detected, please evacuate sector 5. Self destruct set for t minus 30' the called sounded 5times before the countdown started. Meanwhile Kaleb alerted the X5 Biohazard division and a nearby medical team to be on standby. As the countdown reach zero Paddy and Kaleb watched the monitor of cooler room 5 go blank. Paddy switched the boards into standby and shut off the alarms, before slumping down in his chair.
'If we Lose anymore cooling rooms the systems will start to back up' Paddy sighed. Kaleb turned to see the old mans dark brown eyes staring at him with a toothy grin. 'So Kiddo, let me guess Jamie?'
'Do you even need to ask Paddy and I'm not a kid anymore' Kaleb snapped back, his thoughts momentarily taken away from those now suffering in sector 5. As a dark shadow began to glaze over his eyes, Paddy took hold of his shoulder.
'Look that lot down there, they are fighters. Don't start blaming yourself again for things out of your control. And to answer your question, don't suppose I did, plus anyone younger than me is a kid' his eyes soften as he gave a weary smile beneath his grey beard
Kaleb glanced at the man and returned a soft smile, 'Paddy more than 90% of prospect is younger than you'
'woah bit of a low blow their kid' Paddy grunted
'Just stating a fact' he mused.
Paddy just mumbled and grunted as he slammed the manual near him shut. 'Finished reading there paddy' Kaleb chuckled.
'I finish this manual decades ago kid, can't teach you youngins my years of experience' he retorted as he proceeded to pass the dirty, worn manual across the desk. Kaleb picked it up and began to play with the pages. The silence between them was filled with the continuous hum of machinery, before Kaleb finally broke it.
'Hey Paddy, dont suppose you have any news regarding the recent surface storm'
'Now look who's asking the good old 10% of prospect for some valuable news ... It'll cost you'
Kaleb gritted his teeth, he despised making deals with Paddy. They often involved extra scrubbing duities, losings rations or worst of all hanging out with his naive grandson, Oliver. Please anything but that he thought. 'what's your price this time?' he asked reluctantly.
'well you know my grandson .....', oh no here we go again more babysitting duties Kaleb thought as he sunk his head into his hands.
'... Well his parents were stationed in the north sector, so now I'm stuck with the numpty ....'. It wasn't exactly reassuring to hear even Oliver's own family got sick of him.
'.... The kiddos got no clue about what its like out here, his mam aint doing no good hiding him away. The little s**t is 17, he should be taking care of himself. A dog eat dog world afterall, I had to fend for myself back in the days ya know'
'Get on with it Paddy, I dont need the damn life story. So what is it this time, take him to the night club, get afew drinks down him and hook him up'
Paddy let out a roar of laughter 'If I wanted someone to help pop the kids cherry I would ask someone with more experience kid, Actually I want you to take him with you' a short silence followed as the price dawned on him.
'You're f*****g kidding right? that ditzy grandson of yours wouldn't last 2 seconds on the surface'
'I know its a big ask, but the boy needs to see.More dangerous him living this lie ... So what do you say?'
'Me teaching him how to operate the machinery is a big ask Paddy, what your asing for is a hell of alot more than that'
'Well looks like you aint going either then', those words were like a smack in the head. Kaleb knew he couldnt get the information he needed from a better source. Paddy was his only connection and it could be months before his next opportuinity. 'Fine but dont blame me if he dies up there'
And with that Kaleb got all the intel he needed to make a trip to the surface.
- Writer
