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more inquisitive than anything else. Their clothing was a little better, although life in the tunnels meant everything had earthy tones. Eventually, everything lost its colour, the buildings, the clothing, the people.
    As he arrived at the huge timber gates leading down into the Underworld, Harrison paused and looked back. He couldn’t be sure, but his instincts told him she was still out there, somewhere behind him, following cautiously. While he stood there chatting with the main guard on the gate, the sound of a woman screaming echoed down the tunnel. To the bemusement of all, Susan came running through the cave waving her hands wildly around her head, darting from one side to another. At first glance it looked like she was trying to pull out her own hair. One of the guards grabbed her from behind, gripping her wrists and holding her tight. She continued to struggle, swinging her head from side to side as the guard lumbered over toward Harrison, standing by the gate.
    “ I’m guessing she’s with you,” the chief of the guards said as he leaned up against the gate, his plasma rifle slung over his shoulder.
    “ Yeah,” replied Harrison, lighting up a half-chewed soggy cigar. “I guess she is.”
    For her part, Susan was crying out. “Let me down. Put me down,” as the guard held her in a bear hug, lifting her light frame well off the ground. A set of petite legs swung wildly as the guard smiled proudly at his catch, his yellow teeth all crooked and bent.
    “ You want to look out for her,” the chief said. “Pretty girls don’t last long down here.”
    The guard carrying Susan dropped her at Harrison’s feet. She sat there in the dust, ruffling her hair, running her fingers madly through her golden locks. Harrison reached out and picked a couple of cave bugs from her hair.
    “ Is this what was bothering you?” he asked, turning one of the bugs over on its back so its eight legs flayed through the air.
    “ I can look after myself,” she replied with indignation, slowly getting to her feet.
    “ I can see that,” replied Harrison with a laugh. The guards were enjoying this too much. A scantily clad young girl all dolled up with no place to go. That didn’t happen every day.
    “ Are you going to take responsibility for her in there?” asked the chief.
    “ Yeah,” replied Harrison, signing the registry. “Put her down with me.”
    “ OK,” said the chief. “You two love-birds have a nice stay, now.”
    To which the guards laughed as the two of them walked off into the Underworld.
    “ You know they bite,” said Harrison, turning toward Susan with a smile.
    “ I know,” she replied, rubbing a small red mark on the back of her neck.
    She was growing on him. He wasn’t sure why, but she was. She had a kind of annoying charm all of her own. And besides, Harrison thought, the company was welcome and she wasn’t half bad on the eyes. Not bad at all.

Chapter 04: Brains

    “ I thought this place was a myth,” said Susan, looking around in awe at the Underworld.
    “ Oh, it’s real, alright,” replied Harrison.
    Rusting iron pipes carried steam from one section of the Underworld to another. Pressure valves released plumes of vapour in bursts, regulating the flow. Water dripped from the ceiling onto the metal walkway suspended from the cave wall.
    The sounds of industry churned away in the background. Miners chipped away at veins of coal on one side of the vast chamber while a series of railway tracks crisscrossed the floor, some forty feet below, carrying ore and stone, tools and workers around the cavern. Harrison pointed at a robotic flyer darting around the cave; a remote control camera watched their every move.
    “ Don’t be fooled by the antiquated technology. They don’t miss much. This is just one of the nodes. There’s about twenty in all, spread out beneath the city. They’re linked by a series of tunnels, some man made, others naturally formed. Each node serves a different purpose.