Read Online Skyfall by Anthony Eaton - Free Book Online Page B

then.’
    â€˜Lead on, Dad.’
    The two melted into the gloom.

‘Here.’ The man pulled a panel up from the floor to reveal a tight, narrow space beneath.
    â€˜What is it?’ Kes asked.
    â€˜An old wiring conduit, disused now. Runs across to a low-level res dome. From there, your clearances will work without attracting attention.’
    They’d followed the man through a series of dark, narrow gaps between buildings until they reached the outer wall of the dome. There, he’d led them down a tightly winding staircase into a maintenance level almost identical to the one in Lari’s dome. Even down here, the thump of music reverberated through the walls.
    â€˜Watch your heads,’ the man muttered, as he climbed into the narrow pipe. Then he dropped to his hands and knees and crawled into the darkness. Kes looked at Lari with a resigned expression.
    It was a tight squeeze in the hot, dark space and the air tasted musty. After a short time the thumping pulse of the res-rec dome faded behind and the only sound was their breathing. Sweat poured off Lari. He concentrated on moving his arms and legs and tried to ignore the fact that he was squeezing through an old tube in pitch darkness an unknown distance above the ground.
    The crawl seemed to last forever, until, with a clang, the man shoved another panel aside and dim light trickled into the tube ahead. Relieved, Lari followed Kes out into another maintenance space.
    â€˜You’re on your own from here,’ the man said. ‘Stairs are over that way. Try not to attract any attention and you’ll have no problems.’
    Then he jumped back into the tube and pulled the hatch shut behind him.
    â€˜That was amazing!’ Kes’s eyes gleamed. ‘I had no idea you could get between domes like that! Did you?’
    â€˜No.’ His reply was sharper than he’d intended, and Kes looked surprised.
    â€˜Listen, I’m sorry it got so crazy, Lari. I didn’t think a res-rec dome would be so wild. I just thought it’d be kind of fun.’
    â€˜You didn’t think at all,’ Lari retorted, and he stalked towards the access stairs, Kes scurrying after him. Neither said a word as they climbed up and cautiously opened the upper door.
    When the man said they’d end up in a residential dome, Lari imagined something like his own, so it was a surprise to emerge from the stairwell into a dome only slightly better lit than the one they’d just escaped from.
    â€˜I thought this dome was residental.’
    â€˜It is.’
    â€˜The autotint isn’t working, then. It’s too dark.’
    â€˜It’s working fine. Look up, Lari. This is as bright as it gets down here.’
    Lari did so, and was again shocked by the extent to which the tangled web of the city choked the sky.
    â€˜Wow. Makes you glad we don’t have to live like this, eh?’
    Kes didn’t answer.
    They made their way across to the common and over towards the hub. Somewhere, high up in one of the four res towers, a baby screamed, its thin wail echoing around and off the plascrete walls. Apart from that, the dome was eerily deserted. There was no movement or life anywhere.
    â€˜Where is everyone?’
    â€˜Working, I imagine. It must be second shift by now.’
    They waved their wristbands over the plate, giving Port North Central as their intended destination, and Lari took a longer look around. He’d never been in a low-level residential dome before. Along with the disconcerting lack of light, everything was cramped and grubby. The common was small, and the four towers had more levels and windows than the ones in 3327, and climbed a lot closer to the top of the dome.
    â€˜It’s cosy, I’ll say that for it. Makes you wonder about the people who live here.’
    â€˜Wonder what?’
    â€˜Well, it shouldn’t be this crowded, for one thing. Not if they’ve followed the reproduction