Dragon: A Histories of Purga Novel

Chapter Twenty-Five

"NO!" Darvian yelled and Rone had to forcefully hold onto his friend to keep him from getting killed.

Everyone was staring at the tunnel as it collapsed in a roar of sound. The reinforced concrete floor above it, mercifully, stayed intact.

"Fiona!" Darvian shouted again.

"Stop, Darv!" Rone shouted. "Just stop. You'll kill yourself."

Darvian wasn't listening. He kept struggling, trying to get free. He needed to get free. He had to save her. He had to get to Fiona.

"Dying won't help her," Rone said. His voice was soft. Soothing.

The words finally sank in and Darvian stopped struggling. Tears stood out on his face. He looked at Rone, his eyes pleading.

"Help her," he said. "We have to help her."

"I know." Rone turned to Quel. The big man edged forward, surveying the collapsed tunnel. "What can you do?"

"The tunnel supports that we put in had to have been damaged by those blasted Blak Soldiers. It's the only explanation. They're too sturdy to just fall apart." He paused, taking a deep breath. "We can tunnel again. The gear we use is very effective on collapsed tunnels, but I don't know if it would be in time to save them."

"What about underneath? To that chamber you and your men broke into?" Rone asked. "If they managed to get in there and stop it from collapsing, will that keep them safe?"

"It will for the moment, if they made it there in time, but breathable air is the issue. I don't know how much oxygen they have left in there," he explained.

"Then start digging, and go as fast as you can," Rone ordered.

Quel barked orders to his men and they got moving without hesitation. Everyone backed away from the hole to give them room to work, but they kept their eyes glued to the engineers. Including Rone and Darvian. They watched as first Quel and then his men scanned their blueprints. After selecting what was needed, the nanos quickly created car-sized drills. The massive bits on the ends were sharp and deadly and behind them were compartments where the operator controlled the vehicle. Underneath were a set of treads that were at least two inches deep in the gaps.

Each of the engineers started up their machines and they all rumbled to life together. Then they moved forward, toward the collapsed tunnel.

Quel came to the two-foot deep depression and charged forward, heedless of the drop. The bit tipped forward and chewed through the dirt and rocks. In minutes, he was gone. The rest of the drillers repeated Quel's procedure and plummeted forward. The only thing left was the hole they had recreated. All that loose rock from the collapsed tunnel had been super-compressed by the advanced tech Quel used and the walls looked pretty stable.

Rone wasn't sure how much time went by. Mostly, it just lost all meaning. He thought it might've been a couple of hours, but he couldn't say for sure. He never thought to ask Bastion and, truthfully, he didn't much care. The only thing he cared about was getting his people out safely. He'd never forgive himself if they died, especially Fiona. They had grown up together and had been friends for a long time. He looked at Darvian, who seemed sick with worry and knew that if she died, his best friend wouldn't forgive him either. Then he would lose both of them, which was something he wasn't prepared to do. He put his faith in Quel and in Quel's abilities.

He glanced at the recreated tunnel. It stretched on, but he wasn't able to guess what its true depth was. The shadows obscured everything only a couple of feet into it. The only real thing he had to judge Quel and his team's progress was by the noise their machines made as they tunneled. They had been loud, but their sounds were growing fainter. He hoped that was a good sign.