ABANDON

Chapter 37 -- The Hollow Warehouse

Jane took in her surroundings. The tanks, dripping rust from their seams, were connected by an above ground pipeline system of thin pipes that amazingly remained intact. And beyond the tanks were the stacks, huge cylinders rising up to the clouds, driven deep into the ground, the last remains of a terraformer.

Jane resisted the urge to lean out of the dune buggy, she was in awe of the technology before her. "This terraformer was a primary—look at the size of those stacks. I can't believe they are still standing. You know the increase in storage technology is partly what made terraforming possible. We still use the same technology even now. Those tanks are no different fundamentally than the tanks I had to check every day on the Holiday. I bet they still have fuel in them. Well, except that one." The white soldier still stood, attached to the pipeline, half of the tank was gone, the metal edge jagged. The exposed silver recans inside had gone dark.

John motioned to the ridge ahead. "You can get a good look at the hollow warehouse from the top of this hill."

In the near distance was a tall framework, some of the lights on each floor still shone in the dim gray light, kept alive by the photovoltaic cells that managed to beat the odds and survive. The building had once been a colourful myriad of shipping crates, like a child's tower of wooden blocks. "I've seen those on Earth. They are still the sentinel of shipping yards."

John turned the buggy and now they were heading straight for the tanks, the hollow warehouse growing smaller behind them. Ahead was a rectangular brick building surrounded by a wire fence. The metal barbs at the top leaned over menacingly. The entrance into the compound was a large frame complete with the mechanism to automatically open the doors, but the doors were gone.

"We took the doors." John drove through coming to a stop at the door of the brick building. He immediately got out and from the storage behind the drivers seat, he pulled out the power device and four extra weapons besides the ones they already carried. He attached them to various places on him that gave an easy reach. He passed an equal number of weapons and supplies to Jane, who copied how John wore them. Then he looked at Jane. "Ready?"

Jane clutched her rifle tighter and while subtly shaking her head she replied, "Ah."

John paused, considering, but then nodded.

The door to the building had once been made of glass; the entire front wall had once been made of glass, now it lay in tiny cubes littered across the ground. "Guess they wanted to see people coming." John said.

"And show off." Jane said. "Glass is expensive to maintain. You think they would have known about the storms."

"The storms came later." John said.

"Then they are related to the shield."

"The shield? Michael explained that to us, not that I understand."

"And I'm no use either. The ones we need for that are dead." Jane sighed. She could still see Josh's brown eyes. Brown, like John's, and as mischievous as Soon's. Thinking of their arguments brought a smile to her face. Then she thought about Captain. He had been a better father to her than her own had ever been. Captain had told her to come back... Jane shook the memories from her. She had failed, but she had done the best she could at the time. Any other person in that situation would have ended up in the same place. These were Jane's new thoughts, and she did her best not to call them, in her most cynical voice, excuses.

Jane kept close to John as they moved into the building. The walls had remained whole but every window, and there were many, was broken. John and Jane maneuvered through the debris and dirt. John picked up a few things, only to silently set them aside again. Jane's heart rate pounded solidly as they came across a wide, metal stairway that descended into the ground. John took a few steps down, then put his hand back motioning for Jane to stop following and wait. Four more steps and he ducked down, peering into the half moon concrete tunnel.