Down Deep

Chapter Ten -Zdana

'Well boy,' Orick snarled 'what the hell are you waiting for? An invitation? Open the damn thing.' Grant was seated to Zdana's right in one of the folding chairs in her and Orick's home. The sheriff and mayor were also there looking torn between excited and terrified. Grant had been smart and waited an hour after the guards had left the Fens to hunt them all down.

Tearing open the seal, he pulled out a few sheets of paper and looked them over before scowling and shaking his head.

'What is it?' Zdana asked 'Same thing as the terminal?'

'Yes. Mores apologizing for having to send me here and I am the only one he could trust with this. I am supposed to read this then burn it. In three days, he wants me to be on Main Street. They will storm the Fens and take a few of the residents including me for interrogation. He will meet with me and we can go over details of the plan.'

Zdana's stomach turned at the news. She remembered what happened last time the guard stormed the Fens and took people for their idea of questioning. Xavier swore and her poppa just shook his head looking sad.

'That is not good.' Stine sighed. 'Not good at all. Is there a time? Maybe we can stock Main Street with people they will not want to take.' Orick let out a snort of disgust.

'Are you stupid Stine? If they don't see good victims, then they will just drag people from their homes.'

'Wait.' Grant said looking confused. Zdana felt so sorry for the man. He did not understand what he was in for down here. 'What do you mean victims?'

'Every time the Uptop thinks we are hiding something,' Zdana explained with a sigh. 'They raid Main Street and drag people away to interrogate them. Every one of them that come back are covered in bruises and some even have broken bones. It is what happened to Grady's face. He spit in the face of the man beating on him. In return, the monster carved his jaw apart with a knife. Grady would have died if it hadn't been for a woman of the Deeps finding him unconscious near the elevators.'

'This happens every time we hit a slow spell with the ore.' Stine added. 'They cannot seem to get it through their heads that the people of the Fens and the Deeps have been mining down here for almost a thousand years. Ore does not replenish itself. Every year we have to dig out father and father to find more. It is the same with the Deeps.'

'You missed the trade caravan that came through a few days ago.' Xavier said. 'They came from North Fen. That's another mining town to the far north. It takes a whole week to walk out there, but they have more mines and we hoped to find more ore to send up. The Capital does not want to accept that these mines will run dry sooner than later.'

'Aye, and when that happens,' Stine sighed 'I think they will seal us down here.'

'We'll be fine.' Orick said and Zdana nodded her agreement. 'We have the lights we needed. Found them waiting for me when I went to cover my store room.'

'I agree with poppa.' She added. 'Even if they shut down the elevator thinking they have sealed us in, they do not know about the other routes. Poppa knows these mines better than anyone. We can get what we need from the Uptop and none will be the wiser.'

'It is why I wanted to claim independence in the first place.' Stine sighed. 'I know we can survive without them. I am just so sick and tired of t,'

'We know.' Xavier said cutting him off. 'We all know Stine. Why don't we deal with the problem at hand? What are we going to do in three days' time when they come for Grant? I think the less people who know about this the better.'

'Aye.' Orick agreed. 'It would be best if it kept between the five of us. You ask for your volunteers if you want. It won't make a difference, but if they ask how you knew, just tell them Zdana saw it on the Citynet.'