***** Vol.5 Chap.28 The shaft *****

“I will go first.” Frank volunteered.

“Be my guest.”

Frank started climbing down the shaft using the handholds one at a time. The progress was slow but the alternative was unthinkable. Frank had no idea what would happen if he fell down the shaft.

He could imagine himself being sliced up instantly by the fan blades. The thought was very unsettling. His body shook involuntarily. He almost missed a step and had to hang on to the handhold while he steadied himself.

After clumsily managing the light and at the same time attempting to hold on to the handholds for a while, he and May-Ling eventually worked out a system. She would first shine her flashlight down to show the way while Frank went down a few steps. Then Frank would shine his flashlight up for her to see while she was climbing down.

After they have descended for another five feet, Frank thought that he heard a low humming sound and was wondering what that sound was about. At the same time, they felt that the air current was getting very strong.

“Do you hear anything?”

“Yes, I hear a humming sound.”

“I wonder what that is.”

Frank looked down and he realized what that was. They were rapidly approaching an exhaust fan. Frank got as close to the fan as possible and stopped.

“We have a problem.” Frank said to May-Ling.

“What is that? How come you stop?”

“There is a fan blocking our way.”

“Really?”

“I don’t remember that the fan was there in the schematic.”

“I don’t remember seeing that either. So that was that humming sound I heard. Is the fan moving?”

“Yes. Very fast also.”

“Can we stop it somehow? Can we jam something down to stop it?”

“Let me see.” Gingerly, Frank lowered himself on to the fan. He carefully stepped at the edge so that he was not stepping on the blade area. He shuddered at his demise if he had. He shone his flashlight all around the fan. After studying it for a while, he yelled back to May-Ling.

“I see the electric plug. Let me see if I can unplug the fan.”

Frank reached down but was unable to reach the plug.

“I need something long, I can’t reach the plug.”

“How far down is the plug?”

“About four feet on the other side.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“That is too far to reach by hand.”

“We need a pole.”

“We don’t have a pole, we only have some rope.”

“We need something to slip through the fan housing and unplug the fan.”

“How about tying a rope around the shears?”

“That may work.”

She fumbled around for the rope. “Here is the rope.” She lowered the rope to him. He tied the rope around the shears and carefully lowered the contraption to the plug. Then he pulled the rope up making sure that the shears caught the wire leading to the plug. He tightened the slack and tucked on the rope. The shears seemed to be holding.

With a strong pull, the rope came up, but the fan was still going. He did notice that some of the insulation on the wire was stripped off by the shear. He carefully repositioned the make shift contraception and tried again. Again, there was insufficient catch by the shear to pull off the plug.

Eventually, after a few more tries, the shears cut one of the wires and the fan came to a grinding halt.

“You did it.” May-Ling shouted in joy.

“Thank you.” Frank made a fake bow.

After the fan came to a halt, Frank has a little more leeway to study how the fan was secured. He noticed that there was no room to squeeze around the fan and definitely insufficient clearance for them to squeeze through the blades.

So they have to dismantle the fan some how.

The fan was secured to both sides of the wall through some hefty bolts. They did not have the right equipment to take those bolts out. Frank stood on top of the fan wondering what he should do next. As he was studying the structure, he started to swing on the fan case. The case seemed to respond to his swing.

“Hey, can you twist the fan case from its horizontal position to a vertical position?”

“That is a good idea, let me see.”

He stood on the two anchor points where the fan was connected to the wall and started to pull up on the fan case. The soft metal began to bend. It did not take long before Frank forged a hole large enough to get through.

“I think we can get through now.”

“Looks good, Frank. I am so glad you came along.”

Frank slipped through the opening and began the descent again. May-Ling landed on the fan structure and shone the light for Frank. Then she slipped through the opening and followed.

Without the fan, the ventilation was stifling. But they pushed on nevertheless. It was a long stretch down. They alternated climbing down and shining the light for one another. With steady progress, they arrived at the bottom of the shaft.

He was relieved and she was happy that there was no fan at the bottom of the shaft. Instead the fan was mounted vertically along the opening at the side. Still they have to somehow break through this obstacle to get inside.

It was hard standing at the bottom because of the sucking action of the fan, so they hanged a few feet above the shaft as they pondered their next step.

While hanging on to the handholds, Frank began to kick at the corner of the fan structure. Years of operation and metal fatigue had taken its toll. The anchor bolts were weakened and could be dislodged from the wall with a little work.

After Frank kicked loose one corner of the fan, he dropped down to the floor and began working at the other corner of the structure. Soon he was able to dislodge the structure enough so that he could force the fan sideways.

“Squeeze through from the back of the fan and be careful of the wires.”

“Okay, you too.”

Gently, they both took their turn to squeeze past the opening. Frank was going to kick the structure back into place, but stopped himself thinking that he may need a quick get away.

As soon as they were through the exhaust fan, Frank took the shears and punched a hole in the duct. With all the noise that they have created, he wanted to make sure that the room was clear. He peeked out the hole and saw no one. He relaxed a little bit and began to use the shears to cut through the duct work.

He made the hole just large enough for one person to get through. Then he poked his head through. After making sure that there was indeed no one around, he went out feet first and tumbled onto the floor. Then he helped May-Ling come through the opening. He carefully bent the sheet metal back to restore the airflow.

He looked up and all of a sudden he noticed that there is a surveillance camera panning above the room. Quickly, he motioned to her and they scuttled to the wall underneath the camera. They have no idea if they have been discovered or not. But one way or another, they had to work fast. He had to get to a terminal quickly so that he can disable the security system. Meanwhile May-Ling had to get to the lab and exchange the deadly vial with the one that she was carrying.