The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell

Chapter 22

"What do you see?" Berkk whispered.

"Nothing. Dark."

And very quiet. I opened the door all the way and enough light filtered through from the glowing plates to reveal a rough floor littered with debris. A bent sign on the wall spelled out, in glowing letters:

PLEASE LEAVE THIS PLACE AS YOU FOUND IT

They must have found it pretty awful if was like this now. Broken lengths of plastic littered the floor, as well as empty, half—crushed containers. And it stank.

"Yukk," Berkk said. "Something is rotten in here."

"No, not in here. In this entire place, that's the smell I told you about, that came from the dust or sand. I'm back where I started. In Heaven."

"Doesn't smell like Heaven."

"That is because Heaven is up there on the surface. I was grabbed there by that robot with a built—in gravchute. We dropped into a pit and ended up here. Heaven is above."

"It usually is."

"On the planet's surface, you idiot. The planet is named Heaven."

"Great. But how do we get up there?"

"That is a very good question. For which, at this moment, I do not have an answer. So let us start by getting out of this place first. Is that a chink of light over there? Close the door partway—enough. Yes, stay here while I take a look."

I stumbled and kicked my way through the junk to a vertical crack of some kind with a reddish light shining through it. My fingers pulled at the edges, apparently the gap between two thin metal plates. I pressed my eyes close and looked out. A barren landscape with glowing red pits in the ground, some with bursts of flame rising from them. And that smell, blowing in stronger. I was back in the same place in the underworld where I had arrived.

"Berkk."

"Yes?"

"Feel around in the junk and see if you can find something thin to pry with. This wall, or whatever it is, is made of sheet metal plates—and not too well joined."

The first shard of hard plastic bent, then snapped. We tried again with a length of angled metal and managed to make a bigger opening. It was wide enough to get our fingers through, to pull and curse as the sharp edges cut into our flesh.

"Heave now, together," I said. And we did. Something screeched and broke free, leaving a gap big enough for us to push through.

Out of one prison and into another. I kept such defeatist thoughts to myself and looked around. Dark shapes.

"Buildings," I said. "I didn't see them when I was brought here that first time. Not that I had much of a chance to see anything while I was dragged along."

"Shall we take a look?"

"Any choice?"

There was no answer to that one. In the red—shot semi—darkness it was hard to see very far. The landscape was open with no place to hide. But no one moved, there was nothing in sight.

"Let's go."

When were closer we could see that they were buildings, with dark openings cut into their sides. They looked like windows and doors without glass or covering. There were more of the glowing plates inside shedding some light; we approached cautiously. No sound, no one in sight. Looking through the empty rectangle of a window I could see rows of what could only be beds or bunks.

"The women," I whispered, pointing. "They can't work all the time—and some of the bunks are occupied."

"Like us digging rock, two shifts maybe, so work goes on right around the clock."

We skirted around the silent building—and there they were—stretching out of sight in red—lit darkness. The tables. The women bent over them. The sudden rustle of sound, accompanied by the foul odor, as another mass of the finely ground rock was released.

"I want to talk to them," I said. "They will certainly know more than we do about this place. They came here from somewhere—so if there is a way in there must be a way out."

I started up and Berkk held my arm. "Not alone. I'm coming with you."

We ran together to the nearest table, dropped down in its shadows by the legs of one of the workers. If she knew we were there she gave no sign. "Ni estas amikof," I said. "Parolas Esperanto?"

At first she did not answer or respond. Just kept her arms swinging in slow motion over the moving surface of the table, then she stopped but did not look down.

"Yes. Who are you—what are you doing here?"

"Friends. What can you tell us about this place?"

"There is nothing to tell. We work. Finding that which must be found. When we find enough, that thing knows about it. It always knows. Then it comes and takes what we have found and then we can eat and sleep. Then we work again. That is all there is."

As her voice died away her hands began their slow sweeping motions again.

"What thing?" I asked. "What makes you work?"

She lifted her arm, then turned and slowly pointed across the table. "That thing, over there."

I raised my head up just high enough to look—dropped down instantly and fearfully pulled Berkk after me into deeper shadow.

"Her thing is my robot. The one I told you about, that brought me here. It's the devil in this particular corner of hell."

"What do we do?" There was fear in his voice as well—for good reason.

"I tell you what we don't do—we don't let it see us. We'll be dead, or at the very best back with the rocks and our obnoxious keeper, Buboe."

We pressed as hard as we could against the dusty flank of the table. Hoping that we were concealed by the shadows as the robot appeared farther down the line of structures.

A woman was with it, head down, shuffling slowly—along. They walked towards the building we had so recently left. Passed so close that the smears of rust were clearly visible on the robot's flank. That single glowing eye. As they entered one of the doorways I scrambled to my feet.

"Let's go—as far away from that robot as we can get!"

Berkk needed no urging, was in fact well ahead of me in what was possibly a life—or—death race.

No heads turned in our direction as we ran by; the women's aims kept sweeping, brushing.

"Something up ahead there, lights of some kind. Maybe buildings," Berkk said.

I took a look behind us and put on a panic burst of speed; enough to pass him.

"It's seen us. It's coming after us!'~

When I dared to look again it was closer, running faster than us, steel legs pumping like pistons. We couldn't win—

I turned my head back just in time to see one of the women leave her position at the table, just a silhouetted figure against the distant lights. She turned and was stepping out in front of me. I tried to go around her but she put her arms out to grab me. A sudden twist and I was thrown breathless to the ground.

An instant later Berkk fell on top of me. And the robot was almost there!

The woman arrived first. Throwing her body forward so that she landed on top of both of us, her face almost pressing against mine.

"It's about time you showed up," Angelina said.