His offer was too good to refuse, Elsa thought, as she followed Noak up the dark stairs. This wasn’t a mistake. This was an opportunity.

She imagined a reality where she no longer had to feel fear, where her uncle didn’t need to protect her and she could go out into the world as a real Junker, not just an apprentice. Excitement filled her, stronger than her apprehension.

They reached the top of the staircase. A large chamber without windows lay beyond. Ornate wall brackets held a dozen electric lights. Less than half were working and the dim illumination painted the room with different shades of black and grey. Noak took a cautious step forward, his larger body shielding hers while he scanned the space.

“It’s clear,” he whispered over his shoulder.

Inside, a map covered a large square table, the thick hide stretched from corner to corner. It drew Elsa across the room.

“It’s a map of the underground.”

She found Haven City and the Sun Caves at the top, both dominating the highest reaches of the mountain, both rendered in exquisite detail. Beneath was the great underground lake with its two ports, Night and Day. Moving further down she tracked a small winding path connecting the underground to the surface entrance. She then looked to the centre, where the Darkzone consumed the greatest portion of the map. Elsa located the Alley and its numerous lanes, and near the Darkzone marketplace she found the Chimney.

Noak paused beside her.

“I’ve never seen the underground laid out like this before,” Elsa said. “I’ve seen maps of the Darkzone, but never one this meticulous in detail.” She pointed to the Chimney, which was separated from Haven’s Light Well by hundreds of metres at most. “Look at that, Haven is so close to my home. They’re practically next to each other and I never knew.”

Map markers and candlesticks scattered the map’s surface. Hounds carved in black stone were placed in packs across the lakeshore and at intervals along the path to the surface.

“This must be how Melker keeps track of his patrols,” Elsa said.

Four orange stone markers stood out amongst the rest. Shaped like chess pawns, two graced the Alley and a third Quarry Lane. Elsa reached for the final marker where it stood alone in the courtyard outside her uncle’s workshop. The stone felt smooth and cool. Elsa tipped the figure into the light and saw a carved name at its base, Junker. The other markers also bore labels. Elsa read Madame, Distiller and Dealer in neat evenly spaced letters. It seemed Melker had eyes on the Kings of the Darkzone.

“My uncle isn’t going to be happy about this.”

She returned the pawns to their places.

Noak had gone quiet. Elsa crossed the room to his side. Two black banners bordered the entrance to the next spiral staircase. Together, they climbed the steps until they reached another doorway.

“Ready?” Noak asked.

The enormity and danger of their situation hit her as he reached for the handle. Calm and determined, Noak tugged it open the smallest crack and peeked through.

“We’ve found the dining room,” Noak whispered, “but we’ve got company.”

A woman’s voice floated into the stairwell, her words unclear.

In the large room beyond, the guards had pushed the dining table against two wide glass doors, blocking access to the balcony beyond. Medical charts and papers covered the table’s maple wood surface. A humming transformer fed several cold storage units and on the opposite wall, next to another door, a glowing cabinet showed images of a human ribcage from different angles. A fat smear of white ran down the middle of each picture and in some images the object had even been circled in thick red marker.

There was an additional room off the dining hall. Through the wide arch, Elsa could make out a silver trolley, a stone basin and part of a cabinet holding plates and crockery. A figure passed in front of the doorway and both Elsa and Noak recoiled into the shadows.

“That’s the kitchen,” Noak hissed. “We have to get closer.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I need to know what’s happening. You stay here.”

“Forget it. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

He pointed to the right of the kitchen door. “Do you see that hanging canvas, next to the stack of boxes and chairs? I think we could both fit beneath it. Can you make it there?”

She nodded.

“Follow behind me then and stay low.”

Noak left the safety of the dark room without waiting for her reply. He stole across the flagstone, crouching behind odd bits of equipment and furniture until he reached the canvas tarp.

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Elsa counted to ten and dashed for Noak’s position. A moment later she squeezed into the space between the boxes and wall. Noak lifted the edge of the tarp and made room for her.

She found a tall apparatus beneath, made of coils, terminals and tubes filled with strange liquids and gases.

“I think we’ve found the machine sucking up all the power,” Elsa whispered.

Noak nodded. He brushed aside a thick cable and peeked over the narrow service window into the room beyond.

The woman in the kitchen chamber was still speaking, her voice clearer now. “Incision number twelve. Bleeding is contained, but the wound remains open. Healing is now restricted to dermis level. Additional X-rays needed to determine effect on internal specimen.”

Metal clanged against metal.

“The evidence gathered so far suggests the internal specimen is weakened from overuse. Healing is now limited to essential functions only. Next step is to test the boundaries of this survival mode. Incision to primary blood vessels necessary.”

Elsa shifted her weight forward and tilted her head until she could see into the other chamber. The space had been reordered to make room for a trolley on wheels and several tall poles holding bags of clear liquid. Elsa searched passed a harsh spotlight for the owner of the voice and her gaze fell on another, more familiar face. Melker. She reared back and Noak grabbed her shoulder to steady her. Elsa shrugged off his touch and leant forward again.

Melker bent over a narrow table, his dark hair glossy under the bright light above, his body blocking the object of study from Elsa’s view. A woman moved beside him, a small scalpel in her hand. Melker straightened and grabbed her wrist.

“No,” he said. “You’ve done enough.”

The blonde woman faced Melker and Elsa recognised Doctor Orsay. Tall and thin, the researcher was like a harvested kenafi stalk. She pulled her wrist from Melker’s grasp.

“It is not for you to decide where my research starts and stops. I am the scientist. You are the guard.”

“I’m captain here.”

The lines around Doctor Orsay’s mouth deepened. “Captain of a dark wasteland!” She sneered. “Captain of vagrants and criminals!”

“Even so, he’s my prisoner and I’ll dictate how far we go.”

Doctor Orsay returned the blade to the stand. “I’ve never thought of you as squeamish.”

“Even the hardest of men would find your methods…extreme.”

“What were you expecting when you called me out here? That I’d take a blood sample and all would be revealed?”

“No, of course not,” Melker said. “But if the boy dies, no one benefits.”

Doctor Orsay wiped her stained hands on a cloth. “Captain, progress means sacrifice. If you don’t like how I work, then let me return with the boy to my laboratory in Haven. There I have sophisticated equipment at my disposal, an uninterrupted supply of power and assistants who can help me in my work.”

“No,” Melker said. “I told you, we will bring you what you require, just as we did your x-ray machine.”

The doctor drew herself to her full height and hit Melker with a look of pure contempt. “My machines are instruments of precision and balance. One does not box up irreplaceable equipment and ship it across a lake!”

“My decision remains unchanged. He stays.”

Doctor Orsay dropped the blood-smeared cloth on the tray and picked up the blade again. “Then you must allow me to work within the restrictions you have given me. That is the trade-off.”

Melker glanced at the table and nodded. “Fine. Do what you must. How long before you have answers?

Doctor Orsay shook her head. “I have never seen a symbiotic relationship of this kind. It is both fascinating and frustrating. I will need to run many more experiments—”

“Doctor,” Melker interrupted. “You haven’t answered my question. How long?”

For the first time Doctor Orsay hesitated. “Weeks, months. Maybe even years.”

“That’s unacceptable,” Melker said.

A door opened and footsteps approached. A guard knocked on the doorframe above Elsa’s head. Noak pressed her deeper into the shadows and canvas. She looked up through a frosted glass pane on the machine to see the young guard’s blurry face. She prayed he wouldn’t glance down.

“Captain,” the man called.

“I told you not to interrupt me.”

“Yes, Captain. But, the Keeper’s assistant is here.”

Melker froze. He turned. “He’s here, in person?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Well, what does he want?”

The guard cleared his throat. “He wants you to go to the city. He said the Keeper would like a report on the, ah…”

Melker followed the guard’s gaze to the table behind him.

“For darkness sake!” Melker said and the messenger paled. Melker took a deep breath. “Where is he?”

“Returned to the port, Captain. He said he’d wait for you on the Keeper’s vessel.”

“We’ll be there shortly.”

The guard nodded and made a hasty exit outside.

Melker picked up a dinner plate from a nearby shelf and hurled it across the room. Elsa flinched as the porcelain shattered near their heads.

“How the hell does the Keeper know already?” Melker shouted.

Doctor Orsay scoffed. “You didn’t really think you could keep this a secret from her, did you? She probably knew about the incident with the boy before I did.”

Melker buttoned his coat to the top with one gloved hand. “Let’s get this done then.”

“I have work to do,” Doctor Orsay said. “See her on your own.”

Melker stepped closer to the table, his voice low and threatening. “You will return with me to Haven, Doctor Orsay. You will give a full report to the council of what you have seen today and verify I am not a madman. You will impress upon the council the importance of this study and urge them to give us their backing. And, when they ask you why I didn’t bring this matter before them straight away, you will tell them my reasons were security based, not selfish. Is that clear?”

They stared at each other, two rigid bodies, both unwilling to bend. Finally, Doctor Orsay placed the scalpel onto the tray.

“Have it your way.”

She stormed past Elsa’s hiding place and exited through the main door.

Melker followed. He gave orders to the men outside. “Stop anyone who tries to enter this room without me. That includes Doctor Orsay.”

The door shut, sealing off the rest of his words. Elsa turned back to the kitchen chamber and the object of their study. The blood drained from her face. A small boy lay within, his body a pattern of perfect measured cuts.