Find Violet Hyde: Secrets In Space

Spero

Zia's arms and back ached from escaping the ship and she didn't know if she could muster the energy to traverse thousands of winding steps. Rickety stairs spiraling into Ickwall wrapped around the lining of the abyss. Gusts of hot air swept up and over her, tasting of smoke and oil. She wrinkled her small nose and wondered what caused the smell. Probably mining, she told herself.

She scanned her surroundings for a less taxing method of entering Ickwall. Several caged lifts lined the walls of Ickwall, but not all of them looked fit for travel. Ever-cautious, Zia checked them for safety and most had missing gates, rusted out floors, or broken control panels. She wondered how the people of Ickwall managed to travel down to Ickwall every day with treacherous stairs and lifts that barely functioned.

When she found one suitable for use she tip-toed inside, but she did not trust it. The small enclosure swayed back and forth, causing her to grip caging in haste, she laced her fingers through the wire and held with all her might. When she glanced past her feet and through the metal grates of the flooring her stomach dropped and blood whooshed in her ears, pinpricks of light coming from the city far below rocked with the lift. She blew a wavy coal lock of hair out of her eyes and adjusted her red glasses.

From the top, Ickwall looked far away, but in the lift with nothing but iffy metal separating her from plummeting to her death, the bottom appeared miles away. Zia took a deep breath, pulled the door shut with one arm, locked it, jabbed the button for the descent and returned her hand to the clutching position.

"If the chains were to snap...," she thought as she inched down deeper towards the city. Structures clung to the walls of the deep cylindrical hole while massive tunnels wormed through the ground horizontally. She spotted small lights in the entrances of these channels and wondered if they were still in use and if so, what use they held.

"If the floor caved...," she worried when the lift halted suddenly, making knees buckle. It jerked and swayed and stalled, creaking and grinding the entire journey.

"If the door opened and I fell out...," she dared to imagine when the metal cage rocked violently from a strong upward gust from below. Zia shuddered and licked her lips, wishing she had just taken the stairs.

The lift moved at a snail's pace, but when she finally reached the bottom-most section of the pit, the real city in all of it's squalid majesty sprawled in front of her. Taking her time, she allowed herself to appreciate the details of the city. Zia squinted against the artificial light beaming down from thousands of lights above. A booming mechanical noise reverberated off the walls of the city without cessation, but to her, it sounded musical.

Buildings huddled together and squashed into blocks. Many stood tall while others sat squat. Most were brick or concrete, but many were made of stone. With no sunlight to allow inside, windows appeared to be a luxury. Alleys narrowed paper thin, one was so tiny Zia had to turn sideways to scoot through. She followed her ears and found the Square.

The shop keepers yelled and beckoned people closer. The half-crumbling culinary shops boasted fresh soups and broths, cheese and meat, vegetables and fruit, all for an affordable price in comparison to Genesis. There were barbers and apothecaries, news-stalls and tailors, tattoo's and piercings, electronics and mechanics. Ickwall possessed everything a person could want and there seemed to be room enough for thousands, but the city was sparsely populated. Zia wondered where all the citizens had gone.

People stood in small groups chatting while pulling rolling carts filled with goods. As she glanced around the square she noticed everyone looked years older than her. Whisperings of Genesis, Lucille, and the Farm Project dominated most conversations she overheard. Zia strained to listen and tried not to appear interested.