They walked through the concourse and down a set of stairs passing from the light into the underground part of Rockefeller Center. "Is that where we're going?" Dar pointed to a sign that simply said, 'Subway'.
"Yeah, that's the Sixth Ave, you know? Independent line," Scuzzy said, as they started for the stairs. "You guys are gonna have a big problem getting from there to the IRT, you know?"
"The what?" Kerry asked.
"Don't the tunnels all connect?" Dar asked.
"Well, sure." Scuzzy led the way down the steps. "Like, eventually." She continued, "but not here on Sixth, maybe near the shuttle, like where we met, you know? This subway was built like after the other one. The IRT, that was the first."
"I see." Dar grunted.
"I don't." Kerry chimed in. 'There's more than one subway?"
"Well, not now. Now they're all one system." Scuzzy explained. "But back in the day they were all fighting with each other putting tracks down everywhere."
"Uh huh." Dar looked around the lower mezzanine. "So where do we go from here?"
"Camera, let me show ya." Scuzzy led them over to big map on the wall sealed behind scratched plastic. "See, we're here." She pointed at an orange line. "This subway, it goes over here, and then over toward Roosevelt, see?"
"Right." Kerry nodded.
"But them guys, they're coming up here, on the East side line."Scuzzy pointed at a green tracing, that wound its way up the map. "'Cause that's the closest to the Exchange, you know? Maybe they're going down the kiosk there, or something. I don't think there's any opening down below the building or nothing."
Dar looked from one line to the other. "Do they connect here?" She pointed at a blue line north of them.
"Well, that's where they eventually come in," Scuzzy said. "They sorta cross around there, but there's like long corridors and stuff and stairs and escalators--"
"Oh boy." Kerry muttered.
"Okay." Dar held a hand up. "First things first. Let's find a way to get a cable from our offices down into one of these tunnels. Is this one the closest?" She pointed at the orange line.
"Sixth Avenue, sure." Scuzzy nodded. "So we can go to the basement of 30 Rock, and go down into the subway from there, and see what we can find. Okay by you? We can ride down to the 53rd, and see if that crosses over, and then get over to the Lexington from there."
"Right. Let's go." Dar paused and looked around at the busy activity underground. She pictured the buildings above them and started off down the corridor. "Mark, do we have a line we can start running down from our offices?"
"I got some guys up there," Mark said. "Kannan decided to stick it out, now that we're hanging around here so he's up doing some prep. I wouldn't try to bring out a fiber line from our side, boss. Melding those pipettes underground is gonna suck."
"I'm glad he decided it was okay to stay," Kerry said. "He's very nice."
"He's a freaking awesome fiber tech," Mark replied. "So I am too, especially since the next guy I could get up here is in Miami."
They walked along the concourse which now sloped downward a bit and widened, gaining shops on either side. "We're under 30 Rock now." Scuzzy announced confidently. "They got some cool shops here now. Not like it used to be, all the windows empty."
Kerry found it somewhat incongruous. She understood the logic of having things underground when the weather above sucked, and also how they had to use pretty much any square footage they could find in an island as small as Manhattan, but she still found an underground shopping center weird and depressing.
Or maybe she was still in a bad mood. She walked alongside Dar and tried to put that aside as they traveled along a thick wall that looked like it had been veneered over more than once. "So our offices are over this."
Dar stopped near a large set of stairs. She peered up them. "Elevator stacks don't go down this far."
"No." Scuzzy shook her head. "I heard this was going to be the big entrance to the subway from the Rock, only the shops kinda died off so they made it into the skating rink and all that stuff."
Dar folded her arms. "Okay, so let's go up one level first and see where we can bring a line down." She started up the steps with the rest of her little group behind her. They ended up in the main lobby of the building where their office was located.
It was full of people. "Doesn't look like anything's here, Dar," Kerry murmured. "Where's the demarc?"
"Mark--"
"I'm on it." Mark headed off toward an information desk.
"There's the entrance to the subway in that corner." Shaun pointed toward the front of the building. "I can see the sign from here."
"Okay. Let's go back downstairs then." Dar removed the radio from her belt. "Mark, we're going back down to find the subway entrance."
"Gotcha boss." Mark's voice crackled back.
Kerry followed Dar back downstairs, trying to ignore the people who were staring curiously at them. She felt a bit like they were going in circles. "There has to be pipes coming in here, right?"
"Sure," Scuzzy said. "Lots of pipes under here, but not the kind we put our stuff in. Big pipes, water, sewer, steam pipes--"
"Steam pipes?" Shaun asked. "For what?"
"Heat."
"Oh." Kerry scratched the bridge of her nose. "Of course."
They crossed the busy concourse and headed over toward the front corner where people were streaming in and out at a rapid pace. Dar dodged several on comers, then she pulled them all over to one side against the wall.
"Sheesh." Kerry looked back the way they came. "That's going to be tricky to run a cable through."
"When was this built?" Dar asked Scuzzy.
"Thirties, something like that."
Dar's radio crackled.
"Hey Boss?" Mark's voice cackled from the radio. "I found the door to the demarc. You might want to come over here to check it out," he said. "I'm down here behind the stairwell."
"Uh oh." Kerry murmured.
"You folks stay here." Dar motioned to the rest of them. "Think about how we can run a thick cable--the kind we ran yesterday, Shaun--across that floor if we have to." She bumped Kerry. "C'mon.Let's go see what the bad news is."
Kerry willingly went along with her as they crossed the floor, yet again, back the way they came. "We're starting off kinda slow today huh?"
"Ungh." Dar rolled her eyes. "I swear I feel like packing everyone into that damn bus and driving south." She led Kerry around the stairs,spotting Mark behind them near a thick metal door accompanied by a dour looking man with a ring of keys. "Ah."
Mark indicated the door with his thumb. "In there."
"Least you people got the sense to dress fer this." The man with the keys shook his head and sorted through the ring, finally coming up with one of the keys and trying it in the lock. He turned it three times, and then a loud clank was heard. "That's it." He pulled the key out and turned the door handle, pulling the door open to release a puff of musty, dusty air.
It was dark inside. "Any lights in there?"
The man muttered and felt around inside the door, finally slapping at something which resulted in a weak yellow illumination. Then he backed out and gave them a gruff jerk of his head in the direction of the door. "I ain't going in there."
Dar stepped to the entrance and looked around. "All right, lets--"
"Got bit by a rat in there once." The man wandered off. "I'm getting coffee. You're on your own."
"Thanks." Dar had stopped dead, her eyes flicking down at the ground in search of rodents that might attempt to snack on her toes. "Appreciate the warning." She glanced behind her. "Anyone coming with me?"
Only Kerry stepped forward immediately. "Right here."
After an awkward pause, Mark followed her, fishing his flashlight out of his pocket. "I don't like rats."
"I had mice in college." Kerry edged past her partner and entered the room without hesitation. "As pets." She paused and looked back over her shoulder. "Not for lunch." She flicked her flashlight on and went further into the room that was full to the rafters with dust covered wall boxes and wires hanging down low enough to almost brush her head.