Down Deep

Chapter Thirty Six - Grant

Zdana knew the equipment better than anyone and Grant was confident that she could do this. It did not stop his stomach from twisting in worry or the nervous sweat that was running down his forehead into his eyes.

'We are on script from here on out.' Zdana warned. The two nodded and Grant watched as her hands flew expertly over the controls of the terminal. Someone had set up and table and chair for her to work on. He knew she kept telling everyone she was fine, but she was pale now and he could see a small tremor in her hands as she worked. As soon as they finished here, he fully planned to drag her back home and stuff her full of food before putting her to bed. Zdana nodded giving them the signal to start.

'Are you sure this is going to work?' Stine asked looking worried. He looked up and over to the right. They had turned off all the lights and closed the door leading upstairs to make the basement pitch black. The only light was Stine's small lantern. 'I cannot see anything up here.'

'Zdana?' Grant asked looking toward the old terminal that was transmitting their image.

'I think it is broadcasting.' She said 'This thing is older than the Fens. I had to scrap everything we had to get it to work in the first place.' A grainy picture of the council chambers appeared. There was only one man standing there frowning at the broadcast.

'There it is.' Stine said. 'You there. Can you hear and see us?'

'Yes I can. Who are you? How did you connect to this,' He started.

'There is no time.' Stine said cutting him off. 'We do not know how long we can maintain this connection. I am Mayor Stine who managed the Fens when we were slaves. We need to speak to the council now.' The man scowled at him and did not move for a moment. Zdana made the connection waver for a moment and that seemed to make up the man's mind. He left the image for a moment and Grant had to fight the urge to smile. He knew that this would be recorded for their records. Zdana disconnected them and he looked to her surprised.

'For effect.' She told him. 'I will reconnect it in a moment. You need to relax. You are sweating off your dirt. The mines are cold, remember?' He sighed nodding. After taking a few deep breaths he forced himself to calm down. 'Okay, going live again.' The screen came back and the man was scowling at them.

'There Zdana!' Stine said excited. 'We have it back.'

'I cannot promise we will keep it.' Zdana replied. 'The connection is very weak. We should have climbed higher.'

'Later.' Stine promised. 'Let's not discuss it right now.'

'The rest of the council is on the way.' The man said scowling at them. 'I am Counselor Kavison. You are Stine, and I cannot make out who that is beside you.'

'Grant.' He growled. He had never meet Kavison before, but the man's name was all over a lot of dark projects that resulted in the gruesome deaths of hundreds of citizens, including children. 'Mores knows me.' He nodded before moving around the table and sitting down. Within a few moments, the council filtered in. As the last one took a seat, he saw Zdana give the signal that Waldon was in the terminal.

'Hello Grant.' Mores said squinting at the image. 'You look surprisingly well for living in the mines.'

'We found a lake full of fish and enough meat from the giant rats to feed everyone.' Grant said felling smug and not bothering to hide it. Most of the faces watching them did not look at all happy to see them in such good shape. 'We do not need you people as much as you thought we did.'

'Enough Grant.' Stine scolded. 'We did not call them for this.'

'What did you call us for.' Franis demanded. 'You know we are looking for you. Why risk giving your position away now?'