Down Deep

Chapter Eleven - Grant

'Little bitch freak is lucky we were in a hurry.' The leader of the guards snarled annoyed as he pushed Grant onto the elevator. The others piled in with him pushing Grant to the far back corner. 'Next time we go down, I will give that uppity mutt a taste of a stunner.'

'You will do no such thing.' Came Mores's voice from the speaker on the guard's shoulder. 'You stupid fools are lucky to have gotten out of there alive. Grant who was that woman?' He did not want to answer, but remembered his role and lowered his eyes.

'Her name is Zdana.' He said keeping his voice down. 'She is the one they picked to foster me until I am settled in.'

'Zdana?' Mores replied thoughtfully. 'Why does that sound familiar?' Grant's ears popped at the sudden change in pressure. The uncomfortable change from the fast transition made him long for the hour long walk from the new cave to the Fens. 'Take him to room one Newly.' Mores said the moment the elevator had stopped. 'And be gentle. This one is on our side.' The lead guard nodded but did not look happy about it.

As soon as the elevator stopped, the men, other than Newly left. He led Grant down a hall and stopped before a blank wall. Sliding a panel aside, he exposed a key pad and pressed this thumb to it. The wall slid aside showing another hallway. This hall had doors on each side with numbers on them.

The room he was led to was empty other than a table and single chair in the middle. The wall across from the chair was open and a video screen was broadcasting an image of Mores.

'Take a seat my boy.' He said frowning. 'You look awful.' He looked to Newly. 'Get him something to eat.' The man nodded and left Grant in the room. Grant did as he was told and sat at the table. 'I am sorry it took us so long to contact you.' Mores started and he had to bite his tongue to keep from calling him a liar. 'We had to figure out a way to do it without raising suspicion.' Grant just nodded keeping his gaze on the table. The temptation the curl his hands into fist was hard to fight, but he kept them relaxed on the table. 'How are you holding up Grant?' It was a loaded question and Grant thought hard on how he planned to answer it.

'It is awful down here sir.' He said going for the partial truth. Everyone had told him his adjustment to the gravs in the Fens was not the norm. The three who had come down at the same time as he did, looked much worse than he did and were still having problems moving around for long periods of time. River, the man arrested for assault had died a few days ago. His body could not adapt and just shut down. 'The people are okay, but there is not enough food for everyone. Those of us with orange bands are given the smallest portions of rations so they can feed the children.' He frowned shaking his head. 'They said we would get more as soon as we pulled our own weight, but between the cold and the high gravity, we feel sick all the time.'

Before Mores could speak, the door opened and Newly entered with a tray packed with more food than Grant could eat alone. Newly patted him on the shoulder.

'Eat up pal.' The guard said 'You have earned it.' He turned and left.

'Yes, eat Grant.' Mores encouraged. 'I will go over our full plan with you.' He had not eaten since this morning, but the sight of the thick stake and fresh vegetables just reminded him how much the Fens and Deeps went without. He did not want to raise any alarms however, so he went to work on the stake. 'The processing room you were first taken to. Behind the terminal in the wall is a hidden panel just like what officer Newly used to open the wall. The key is your birthday. Inside is a terminal you can use to contact us when needed. There is also a supply shoot that we will send down extra rations and supplies in.'

'Thank you sir.' Grant said before stuffing a chunk of stake into his mouth to stop him from calling Mores something nasty. When he swallowed, he glanced to the councilman. 'What do you need me to do?' He then thought of something else. 'Sir, when can I come home?'