When the scientists and engineers finally got to enter the base, they moved along the corridor, and then into the main briefing rooms. Off to one side was the communication center, next were the dining facilities, and then some of the sleeping quarters and lavatories. The rooms were Spartan, and were as much used for storage as human habitation. It was below ground where most of the action took place.
The facilities constructed on the surface were little more than a cap over many levels of industrious activity below. Access was via an elevator that descended hundreds of feet to the mining platforms and miles of tunnel work.
Sublevels contained laboratories that used sophisticated processes of oxidization, acid baths, and crystallization to remove the valuable minerals, so the few tons of finished produce could be easily, and secretly, transported. Gadolinium, the soft and strange metal, was used in lasers, computer memory, and fluorescent tubes. Already global demand had outstripped supply, and China’s appetite for that metal, and other RREs such as terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, and dozens more, needed to be constantly fed.
“Comrade.” Wu Yang reappeared, pointed at Shenjung Xing’s chest, and then clicked his fingers.
Shenjung hated that, but swallowed it down for the good of the party. He turned to Soong, who had unzipped her coat. “Come with me.”
Together they hurried after the PLA leader. Shenjung’s feet skidded in something jelly-like. He ignored it, trying to keep up with the longer legs of Wu Yang. At the shaft room he stopped. Several of Yang’s men were standing around the elevator shaft — the only thing in the center of the room.
Beside him Soong crinkled her nose. It was here that the source of the smell was emanating from. The cage elevator that sat on top of the shaft was flattened open, its walls now like the petals of a flower. It was as if something had exploded within it and blown all four sides out each way. The heavy, metal roof of the elevator box was lying against the wall, with a huge dent in its center.
“Gas explosion?” Yang asked.
Shenjung approached the twisted metal of one of the cage sides, and crouched to look at the thick bars, twisted like softened rubber. They were coated in something that he dabbed at with his finger and brought to his nose. He recoiled as Soong crouched beside him. He offered his fingers to her. She sniffed at the residue.
“Phew, ammonia?” she asked softly.
“Maybe firedamp,” Shenjung said. He motioned to the peeled cage. Firedamp was a term used by miners as a catchall name for the myriad pockets of flammable gas found, especially in ancient strata. It was usually highly pressurized, easily ignited, and exploded with lethal force.
Shenjung rested his hands on his knees. “Maybe a vent that was ignited by the drilling…” He looked at the ceiling; there was a glistening hue as if the mucus was up there as well. “There are no scorch marks anywhere.”
He leaned forward and peered down into the shaft. The mechanisms and railings were all still in place, just the capping cage at the top had been obliterated. It was as if something had boiled up from below, refused to be contained, and like a massive fist, had punched upwards, and then reached on into the base. He shook his head, staring down into the darkness that stretched away, well beyond his vision. He knew the first shaft landing was a good five hundred feet down, and that there were lower horizontal shafts beyond that. Even more, before they reached the floor tunnels where the last work was being carried out.
“So, explosion, yes?” Yang asked. “And what is that smell?”
“It is highly likely it was a pocket of dirty methane that ignited. And then air blowback after the initial explosive expansion caused the damage.” Shenjung got to his feet.
“I concur,” Soong said, also rising. “As for the smell; it is strange, but the gases can be trapped for many millennia, and other compounds leach in, such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, carbon monoxide, and maybe even ammonia sulphides. Caves can smell like old shoes, rose gardens, or even graveyards.”
“So, you two both think the explosion killed them all? Then, where are the bodies?” Yang’s eyes slid from Soong to Shenjung.
“No, no,” Shenjung said quickly. “There are no signs of incineration on the internal superstructure.”
Yang looked back to the elevator shaft. “So, Zhang Li took them all down into the tunnel for mining duties — the soldiers, the communications specialists, even the cook?”
Shenjung tried to put himself in Zhang Li’s place, trying to determine if there was any reason for him to commandeer the entire outpost’s staff. “Cave-in. Maybe there was a cave-in that trapped his mining and engineering team, and he needed the others to form a rescue party. To help him dig.”
Yang stared for a moment. “And then the explosion occurred, trapping them all.” His eyes narrowed. “Hmm.”
Shenjung gazed back at the shaft. “I knew Zhang Li. He was an excellent engineer and mining specialist. I cannot imagine any other reason for him to take non-mining personnel into the deep tunnel systems.”
“Yes, perhaps this makes sense.” Yang’s mouth turned down. “If there was a cave-in, and he needed extra hands, he would have used all resources available. It is what I would do.” He turned, his expression flat. “But I also would have sent a message to my superiors.”
Shenjung stayed silent, and after a moment Yang shrugged.
“If they are trapped, then until we fix that elevator car, no one is going down.” He barked instructions, and then turned back to Shenjung. “Get your engineers to repair the cage. My men will assist.”
He spun and left, followed by the enormous Mungoi. Several of the soldiers stayed behind, awaiting their instructions.
Soong stared into the dark elevator shaft. She held up a hand, palm outward. “It’s warm. The air rising feels warm.” She smiled weakly. “Like breathing.”
Shenjung grunted. “It’s not unusual for the earth to be a few degrees warmer within the deeper geology.”
She looked back at him, not convinced. “Would you have taken novice men and women into the tunnels?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. If I was confronted by a cave-in emergency, then I would like to think I would do anything and everything to rescue those trapped.”
She nodded and then sniffed deeply. “That smell.”
“Stay focused. It’s nothing unusual.” He exhaled, knowing that didn’t feel true.
“Yi!’ Soong jumped as shouts and a commotion came from one of the outer rooms. Yang’s soldiers ordered them to stay put before vanishing toward the din.
A few seconds later, one soldier stuck his head back in the room. “Captain needs you — there’s a survivor.”
The figure was a tiny ball of fear in the ring of soldiers. The huge steel refrigerator door hung open, and inside Shenjung could see that shelves had been shoved aside to accommodate a single occupant.
Shenjung looked back at the miserable being. The man had his hands thrown up over his head and he rocked back and forth, mumbling a single word, like a chant, over and over.
Yang stood over him, his arms folded and his brow creased. When he saw Shenjung, he pointed down at the man.
“This fool’s mind is gone. See what you can find out.” He went to turn away, but then spun back and delivered a kick to the side of the man’s rump. “And make him stop that constant wailing.”
The man screamed and rolled onto his side, curling up into an even tighter ball. Shenjung hissed his annoyance at the PLA captain and knelt beside the man. Up close, he could smell his body odor, excrement, and the sharp tang of fear. He had obviously been locked in the freezer for days and not bothered to exit, or even undress, for anything.