...And Into The Fire

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

    Chapter 5

I sat at the edge of the drop off, my arms wrapped around my
legs, watching the silhouette of someone on the cat walk
above. I was barely in the duct, in fact my tail was hanging
down into huge shaft.

I had been sitting there for at least an hour, watching the
person above me do what ever they where doing. The small
light with them casting a long shadow onto the walls of the
shaft.

The pounding that had brought me here had stopped, and I
really didn't know what the person was doing. The catwalk
just spanned the huge shaft, but wasn't (as far as I could
see) in a position to work on anything.

I looked back down the way I came. Then down at my paw where
some fur had been ripped off when I was trying to get that
first vent back in. I had left a trail of scraps of fur and
clothing, and probably a strong sent. It was only a matter
of time before the guards found me.

Pulling my arms a bit tighter around my legs, I let out a
quite sigh. There really wasn't much I could do in this
situation. The tunnel that I used to get here was a long
strait one. I really didn't want to go back down it as I
didn't know how close the guards where.

Looking down into the depths of the shaft, I felt the air
blow past my face, ruffling my fur a bit, and pushing on my
ears. Slowly I looked back up at the catwalk. I had already
considered trying to climb up the walls, but there where so
slick I wouldn't have been able to do it back when I still
practiced daily.

There was only one thing I could do, as I saw it. Call to
who ever it was on the catwalk, and hope they could come and
get me, or tell me how to get up to them.

Cupping my paws around my muzzle, I called out. "You, on the
catwalk!" I could here my voice echo in the huge vertical
shaft, and inside the smaller horizontal shafts.

The person on the catwalk shifted, and knocked the light
off. I watched it descend about fifty feet before it came to
the full extension of the cable it was attached to. It
snapped to a sudden stop, then slowly started swinging.

As it swung I could see the full extent of the shaft. It was
about a hundred feet square, and had hundreds of shafts
leading off of it. I wondered where the all lead, and how
deep I was into the Hall.

Looking back up I saw the person on the catwalk looking over
the side at me. Or at least looking in silhouette. "Hello?"
He said. His normal voice echoing as badly as mine.

"Down here!" I said. Knowing that with all of the echoes the
guards would have a much easier time finding me.

The person on the catwalk turned his head, and looked in my
direction. I could barely make out a pointed ear on his
head. "I think I see you, what are you doing down there?"

"I'm..." I stopped, I really didn't want to tell him (the
voice was male) that I was running from the guards. "I'm
lost."

He shook his head. "Nice trick that."

"Do you know how I can get up to you?"

He nodded. "Yes. I hope you have strong arms." Then he
vanished on the catwalk.

I heard him walking around above me, then a rope ladder fell
from the catwalk. Rolling out it stopped about two feet
below the shaft I was in, and just out of reach.

"There you go." He said, pulling his light back up.

I looked at it, then slowly reach out for it, sticking a leg
back to try and keep balanced. Finally after having my
fingers brush it four or five times I was able to get a hold
of it.

Pulling it closer to me, I gripped the rope rungs of the
ladder. Slowly I pulled my self out of the tunnel with just
my arms until I was able to swing one leg out, and catch my
foot on the ladder.

Putting the other leg onto it, I felt the ladder swing
sideways a bit, away from the shaft, then back again. I
gripped so hard onto the ladder I was sure you could see my
knuckles turn white through my fur.

I pulled myself up the ladder, keeping my eyes looking
strait up, and trying not to think of how far the drop was
below me.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably no more then
five minutes, I finally reached the catwalk. Pulling myself
off the swinging rope, I scrambled onto the metal, and
rolled on my back.

Laying there I panted, looking up into the distance.
Suddenly a furry paw held a fork above my face, with a piece
of white meat hanging of the end. "Bird?" The person holding
the fork asked.

Rolling my head back, I saw the person who had throw down
the ladder. He was a fox, and in poor condition. There was
black and brown streaks through his white fur, his clothing
was little more then rags that looked like they might have
once been a suit.

One of his ears was mostly gone, the end shredded off a bit,
the other ear was tipped with a splotch of black fur, as
well as the tip of his muzzle.

He grinned, showing he had at least a full set of teeth.
"You look hungry. Are you going to eat?"

I nodded, moving myself into a sitting position. Then taking
the fork from him, I nibbled a bit on the meat.

He looked me over, then went back to the rest of the bird,
which was cooking on some sort of grill.

Flipping the bird over, he said. "My name is Marn, what's
your's?"

"Rachel," I said, finishing what was on the fork.

He moved over a bit, giving me room next to his grill. "Well
Rachel, feel free to rip off a slap of food to eat."

I moved next to him, picking up a knife, and cutting of some
of the bird.

He grinned at me again. "Now look at this. You just ran into
me, and now where playing buddy-buddy. Neither one of us
knows the other, yet here we are sharing a meal. Doesn't
that seam a bit strange to you?"

I nodded. "Very strange, but considering you didn't react to
my name, I guess your safe enough."

He tilted his head a bit. "Reacted to your name? What,
should I be bowing at your feet or something?"

"No, I'm sorta being chased by the Hall's guards."

He tilted his head the other way. "Oh, and you're hiding in
the air system? Not a very smart choice, if I do say so
myself."

I shrugged. "I didn't have much of a choice in the matter.
Though you're one to talk."

He pointed his fork at me. "Oh contrar. I wasn't running
from anything. I accidentally opened one of the service
entrances in the Park above. Went exploring... and well,
here I am."

I nodded, taking another bite of the cooked bird. Looking
him up and down again, I asked. "How long ago was that?"

"Two years I now believe."

I looked at him, and scuttled away a bit. "How did you
survive in here?"

He pointed up. "About a thousand feet above us is one of the
big fans for the air system. It sucks more the a few birds
in every day, enough to live by."

I looked up the shaft. The Hall had five big air fans, each
one on top of there own little mountain. They where used to
keep the air flowing most of the time.

"Strange thing though," Marn continued, "a few hours ago, a
pair of huge doors close over the fan. Otherwise you would
be able to see the stars.

I nodded, looking back at him. "Where did you get the other
stuff?"

He shrugged. "Here and there. Every know and then I'll run
into an old work sight during my explorations. They leave
some of the most interesting things here."

I looked at the light. "And where are you getting power?"

He tapped the catwalk. "There's a power line right under us,
I just plugged the light, and the grill, in."

I nodded again, setting the fork down. "Have you tried to
find a way out?"

He nodded. "Yes, I've tried a lot. These halls here," he
pointed to the hallways on both sides of the catwalk, "are
just bigger the normal ducts, with stairs. There still the
same complex maze as the normal ducts. I've been exploring
them sense I got down here. I leave a mark here or there. So
I can find my way back."

I was about to say something else, when he put a finger to
his muzzle. I stopped, and listed. In the distance I could
here voice.

Marn looked at me, the got up, and pushed passed. Grabbing
the rope ladder, he started to pull it up, folding it in a
small pile on the catwalk. Finishing, he moved back over to
me, and shut off the light, plunging us into darkness.

* * *

I pulled the carrying case for the video phone equipment
over my shoulder. Then check to make sure I didn't leave
anything behind, I slipped out the door, and in the hall.

I moved slowly down the halls, every few feet, ducking into
a doorway, and making sure the rest of the hallway was
clear.

I was only being this careful as I just wanted to get to
where I was going, I didn't have to worry about anyone
thinking I was me. Simply put, I had found a form in the
Matrix chip that would be a perfect mask for me. A
skunk-morph, more accurately a male skunk-morph.

Slowly I worked my way up a few levels, finding the lack of
people inside the Hall strange. 'They must have moved
everyone someplace.' I thought to myself, ducking around a
corner.

Eventually I made my way just outside of the council
chambers. Taking a deep breath, and hopping I was right, I
turned and walked into the waiting room.

It was empty.

Letting out a breath I didn't even know I had been holding,
I slipped inside the halls of the Council. Moving through
them with practiced ease, I slowly made my way back to an
unmarked back room.

Sliding my paw along the frame of the door, I heard a slight
popping sound. Reaching down I slowly twisted the handle,
and pushed the door open. With a final glance I slipped into
the room, and closed the door behind me.

I found myself in the small office where we had convinced
(forced, if you ask him) Fox to join are conspiracy against
the Hammerheads. Only a few times after that had the office
seen use, and that was what I was counting on.

When Rachel had made this small office, she had certain
things out of the ordinary added. One was the hidden lock,
another was the anti-bug system, there was one specific
thing that I had come to that room for.

Sitting down behind the desk, I turned on the video-phone,
and dialed an number outside of the Hall.

There was a pause, and the static cleared, showing a
'Ringing' message. Quickly dropping the connection, I leaned
back and grinned.

This was what I wanted. All of the communications in the
office went over two data lines, dedicated souly to this
office, and where totally separated from the rest of the
Hall's communications.

And they weren't blocked...