Read Sink: Old Man's Tale for Free Online Page B

you’ve got money you can push the rest of us around.”
    “I don’t think I can push you around,” Graham said.
    “It certainly felt like pushing,” Jeremiah said. “Your boss is a real piece of work.”
    “I’m not my boss,” Graham said.
    “Same suit, same hairstyle,” Jeremiah said. “If the suit fits.”
    Graham ground his teeth.
    “What does it matter now, anyway?” he said. “We’re trapped miles beneath the surface, in some kind of midget hell. It doesn’t matter what I’m wearing or where I work. We have to figure out a way to get out of here.”
    “You ran the length of the town,” Jeremiah said. “What did you see?”
    “Tunnels,” Graham said. “Lots and lots of tunnels.”
    “One of them must lead back up to the surface, don’t you think?” Jeremiah said.
    “Maybe,” Graham said. “But if one does, why are all these people still here?”
    The tall doors opened and a small figure entered. He was dressed in a long red flowing cloak that trailed ten feet behind him. He wore a large gold amulet and walked with the grandeur of a Caesar before the Senate, head held high, chest out, taking long loping strides. He wore shoes with high heels and hair brushed up to look taller.
    He looked Graham and Jeremiah over, barely moving his head, only his eyes working up and down. Then his harsh expression melted and he smiled broadly at them.
    “Hello there!” he said. “I am Leader. Welcome to Api Penyucian.”

Chapter Thirteen
     
     
    Graham and Jeremiah just stared at the little figure. Graham was the first to find his tongue.
    “You speak English?” he said.
    “We all can,” Leader said.
    “But none of the others spoke to me when I asked them questions,” Jeremiah said.
    “Or when I swore at them,” Graham said.
    “They’re under orders never to speak unless during the course of duty,” Leader said. “Makes for dull conversation, but very efficient guards.”
    Graham and Jeremiah exchanged a glance.
    “I apologize if our guards were not careful with you,” Leader said. “They are not used to handling Surfacers.”
    “Surfacers?” Jeremiah said. “What’s a Surfacer?”
    “Our word for people like you – from up top,” Leader said, “and not down here like us.”
    “What are you called?” Graham said with a snort. “Undergrounders?”
    “Actually, yes,” Leader said.
    “Oh,” Graham said.
    “Do you get many Surfacers down here?” Jeremiah said.
    “No,” Leader said. “It’s been quite a while since we had a fresh Surfacer down here.”
    Fresh. Maybe they were going to eat them after all. Graham gulped.
    “Are you hungry?” Leader said. “You look a little thin.”
    Graham vehemently shook his head.
    “Where exactly are we?” Jeremiah said.
    Leader smiled.
    “If we knew that, we would have been out of here decades ago,” Leader said. “We know we’re underground – far underground – but we don’t precisely know where.”
    “Deep underground?” Graham said. “But… we didn’t fall far. Did we?”
    “I wish you hadn’t,” Leader said. “But you may have fallen farther than you realize.”
    Jeremiah cocked his head to one side. Something about Leader’s statement had piqued his interest, but he said nothing.
    “How did you and your people come to be here?” Graham said.
    “Rather like you,” Leader said. “Our tribe fell through a sinkhole hundreds of years ago. A huge one. Our ancestors were tribesmen, out on a small island off the coast of Indonesia. Our whole island was swallowed. We’ve been down here ever since.”
    “Centuries?” Jeremiah said. “Why haven’t you found a way out yet?”
    “We’ve been digging,” Leader said. “Digging in every direction we can, trying to pick up hints of where we are and where we should be heading. It’s tough when you don’t know your starting place.”
    “What do you do for food?” Jeremiah said.
    Graham glared at him. Of all the questions to ask.
    “Roots, mainly,” Leader