Bruce Wayne

Chapter 29: Mapping and Excavating

Bruce didn't immediately return to the cave following lunch. He made an online purchase and set it to be rush delivered to the house. While waiting for it to arrive, and his muscles to stop complaining, Bruce went with Alfred to explore the house and consider possible changes in relation to the hidden access point to the cave they wanted to create.

Wayne Manor had an abundance of rooms. The numerous guest rooms and storage closets were ideal for the possibility of hiding an elevator, but since Bruce and Alfred were currently unaware of the size and shape of the cavern below the house, they could only make a list of the potential choices. They didn't want to go through all the effort of digging down to reach the cave if there existed a place where the cavern was closer to the surface and more easily accessible.

The items Bruce had placed on order were for creating a laser scanned image of the interior of the cave. Once they knew the full layout, Bruce and Alfred could better determine if putting in an elevator was possible. Additionally, Bruce wanted to make certain the cave wouldn't collapse because of their construction efforts, possibly taking the house with it. He needed to know the thickness of the rock between the cave and Wayne Manor as well as the stability of the stone structure.

Alfred and Bruce had barely completed their inventory of available rooms when a buzzer connected to the front gate sounded.

"I'll get it," Bruce said while hurrying to the front entrance.

Bruce opened the door and walked quickly down the driveway to the gate. He opened the metal gate and picked up a nondescript brown box sitting outside. Six feet long and four feet wide, the sizable container had tape printed with the word fragile stuck to all sides. He closed the gate and carried the box back to the house.

"Is everything in order, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked, joining him outside.

"Perfect," Bruce replied after setting the box down and opening it up to inspect its contents. "The laser system is fully automated, thank goodness. Once we install the enclosed software, we only need to set up the scanner in various places, and it will map out the cave for us."

"What about the thickness of the stone?" Alfred inquired. "Will it be able to tell us?"

"I'm afraid not," Bruce denied. "However, we can figure some of it on our own. Once the scan is complete, we'll know how high the cave extends from the bottom to the ceiling. If we run a tape line down the cliff to the crevice, we can overlay the two sets of measurements and determine how much rock remains between the cave and the surface."

"I do hope you remember your math lessons, Master Bruce," Alfred stated.

"It should be simple, but if not, I can take a few online courses as a refresher," Bruce replied with a grin. "Speaking of online studies, I'll need to look into electrical wiring, computer design, and architecture to start with. Building this cave addition will require more than what I've already learned."

"I can help you with electrical work and some things relating to computers," Alfred offered. "My time with British Intelligence required training along those lines. My computer knowledge may be slightly out of date, but I can share what I know."

"Thanks, Alfred," Bruce accepted. "I'll need every bit of help I can get."

                                                                                       ***

Bruce stood in the center of the lights he'd set in the cave. The nocturnal bats avoided the entrance of the cave whenever possible, preferring the darkness deeper in, so the artificial lights didn't bother the creatures in the slightest. Sitting on a crate was the laptop computer he'd brought in and loaded with the scanning software. The scanner was mounted atop a tripod, flicking a red laser line across the walls horizontally every second. When Bruce activated the program, the motor under the scanner activated, slowly tilting the unit on its base and adjusting the position of the laser. Inch by inch, the scanner sent its flashing beam up the wall in streaks of horizontal light, mapping out every curve, bump, scratch, and indentation in the rock with extreme detail.