I heard faint footsteps coming from the Omega. Standing up again, I joined the others just outside its cold, metallic body.
I kicked my shoe at the tracks. “Do these things connect with the other ones on the other side of your fake wall?”
Cartwright shook his head. “We pulled up the tracks to make it look like a dead end.”
“Do you really think that’ll fool Chase?”
He shrugged. “Probably not.”
I thought for a second. “So even if we got the Omega working, we don’t have the tracks to ride it out of here.”
“That’s right. Not that it matters since we don’t have a third rail.”
“Can we move the Bell?” Beverly asked.
“Move it where? The side tunnels are too small. The only exit big enough is the tube and you can bet those guys are out there waiting for us.” Cartwright paused. “Face it, there’s no way out of here.”
Beverly nodded. “So let’s forget about that then. We should come up with a plan to deal with Chase when he arrives. Then we need to figure out a way to destroy the Bell.”
I turned around. The station was mostly open space with few hiding spots. The only real cover consisted of the Omega and the pile of debris on top of the groove. Since they were both on the north end of the station, they could prove helpful when the time came to stage a defense.
Regardless, once Chase breached the tube, I knew it was only a matter of time. I already knew exactly how it would play out. We’d pick off a few of his men as they stormed into the station. In return, he’d threaten to kill Diane. We’d either surrender and die or fight and die.
Why didn’t I make out a will before I came down here? Although it’s not like I actually own anything.
My eyes swung back to the giant pile of debris. I couldn’t believe how high it stretched. “What’s all that stuff anyways?”
Before he could respond, I hiked over to the pile and began pulling aside empty boxes and rags. I uncovered a flat, shiny, metallic surface.
“That’s Beach’s car,” Cartwright said. “It’s not his original car. That one was smaller and made of wood. This one was built for these tunnels. It’s the reason we positioned our tracks the way we did. When we coasted the Omega into this room, we didn’t want it to crash into the car.”
I wiped sweat off my forehead. “I say we focus on setting up our escape plan first. Then we’ll work on dismantling the Bell.”
Cartwright frowned. “Haven’t you been listening to me? Escape is impossible. The tracks aren’t connected and the third rail is disabled. We’d literally have to push the Omega out of the station.”
“I’m not talking about escaping in the Omega,” I replied. “I’m talking about escaping in Beach’s car.”
Chapter 56
“You’re out of your mind.” Cartwright sneered. “That thing hasn’t been moved in over a century. Let me repeat that for you. A damn century.”
“Have you ever tried to move it?”
“Of course not.”
“Then how do you know for certain?”
“Because it’s over a hundred years old.”
“I saw an air flue near the entrance of the tunnel. Is the necessary equipment inside of it?”
He sighed. “There’s a blower and an engine if I remember correctly, but there’s zero chance that either of them still works.”
“They might.”
“Of course they might. You would know. After all, you’ve been down here for what, a couple of hours? Who cares about my three decades when we’ve got Cyclone Reed in the vicinity?”
I shook my head. “This isn’t about you.”
“Let me put this a different way,” he retorted. “I once had a television set. Nothing special. Black-and-white and cheap. But it lasted me a decade. By the time it ran its course, I found myself looking at color sets of all different shapes and sizes and qualities. Ten years is an eternity in terms of technology. Do you really think that a hundred-and-forty year old system that was never fully operational still works today?”
“If the technology worked then, it might work now.”
“Technology wears out.”
“Only parts wear out. Take your example. I bet you used your television set every day, for a couple of hours at a time. Normal wear and tear eventually took its toll. That’s not the case here. As you said, the blower and engine haven’t been used for over a century.”
Cartwright turned his back and stalked away in a huff. I glanced over at Beverly for help. But instead, I found myself staring at another doubtful face.
“It sounds a bit crazy,” she said.
“It’s worth a try.”
“Maybe we should just start working on the Bell.”
“If we stay here, we’ll die. Our only chance is to find a way to escape.”
“The priority is destroying the Bell.”
“You know as well as I do it’s going to take time to figure that out. Hell, I read most of Hartek’s journal and I barely understood half of it.”
She shook her head. “Let’s assume you’re not crazy. After we get the Bell into Beach’s subway car, where do we take it?”
“Out of these tunnels. We can take it back into the Lexington Avenue Line and out through one of the closed-off stations. With a little luck, we’ll find a place to hide it. Then you and Cartwright can figure out how to dismantle it while I go after Diane.”
“Aren’t you forgetting that little explosion earlier today? There’s now a rock pile standing between us and the other tunnels. We can’t get past it, not without a bulldozer anyway.”
“Cartwright’s got explosives. If worse comes to worst, we can try to blow up the rock pile and escape into the dust.”
She frowned. “There are just so many variables to consider. We don’t know if the car’s brakes will work. We might zip right into the connecting tunnel and crash into the rock pile.”
Cartwright spun around, a crazy gleam in his eyes. “You can talk all you want, but it doesn’t make a difference. These tubes are ancient and unfinished to boot. Beach’s subway car sat here for all of that time, gathering dust. Frankly, I have doubts that it was ever even tested.”
I gave him a determined look. “Is the Bell safe to move?”
“For a few hours, tops. If we don’t plug it in after that, all bets are off.”
“Beach’s car looks like it can hold a nearly airtight seal with the pneumatic tube.” I studied the ground. “The groove’s in good shape although the metal rails might pose a problem. Still, we’ve got an air flue, blower, and engine. Everything we need is right here. We just have to get it all to work.”
Cartwright shrugged. “It’s impossible.”
“There’s only one way to know for sure.”
I walked over to the west wall. After checking to make sure that it was clear of explosives, I pressed the button. The bedrock clicked and yawned opened.
As I entered the maintenance tunnel, I hung a left and walked back to where I’d seen the other door. I stopped outside and twisted the knob. It opened easily. Extending my flashlight, I peered into a stuffy room. It was nearly identical to the one that now held the slain bodies of the Sand Demons.
I shone my light around the room, allowing it to linger on the blower and the metallic shaft.
Cartwright appeared behind me. “It looks in good shape,” I said. “You helped to hook up the power lines to the Bell. You must know something about this stuff.”
He placed his gnarled hand on the blower. “I’ll try. No promises, but I’ll try. However, you need to understand something. Even if I get the blower to work, the metal tracks will act as friction. It’ll take a miracle to overcome them.”