Ascent: (Book 1) The Ladder by Thackston Anthony

Author:Thackston, Anthony [Thackston, Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Anthony Thackston
Published: 2015-12-02T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The metal door flies open and floods the tunnel and Joe’s eyes with light. He shuts his eyes tightly to shield them from it. The brightness still manages to shine through his eyelids.

He slowly eases the tension over his eyes so that they are gently closed. A furrow forms on his brow when he realizes there is no heat coming from the light. There is no breeze brushing by him. The air feels cool and slightly cleaner than compared to the Mines but it is not rushing past him.

Joe’s eyes open slowly and the same white light from the Gear Hall and the Doctor’s office floods his vision.

As his eyes adjust to the piercing light, Joe takes in his new surroundings. The room looks almost like the Doctor’s office, except there is no steel table in the center. The floor is a hard gray stone. Except for a few cracks in its surface, the floor looks as though it could have been one giant rock that was ground down to a smooth floor.

On three sides of the room the walls are made up of different sized sections of white panels. Each panel has a dull shine. The fourth wall looks black. A deep, dense black. None of the lights in the ceiling reflect off of it. There is a dull buzzing sound in the room. The sound causes Joe to feel slightly disoriented. Or maybe it’s just the coming Sick.

Scraggle stands in front of a small mirror. His appearance is completely different. Even his height has changed as he stands straighter. His clothes are no longer dirty and disheveled and his hair is now shorter. Joe watches him while he trims away at his long white beard.

“Welcome. Make yourself at home, dear Dreamer.”

Even his voice and the way he now speaks is different. Scraggle places a hand on a panel and a large door slides down into the floor. From the opening extends a surface very different from anything Joe has seen before. It is rectangular and chair-shaped, covered in cloth along the top, back and sides of it.

“Please. Sit. I assure you it is more comfortable than that dreadful Vocal Hall, or your Bunks for that matter.”

Joe climbs out of the tunnel and steps onto the stone floor. He slowly approaches the seat.

“Who did teach you manners, child?” Scraggle says in a calm but scolding way.

“What?” Joe replies, not understanding.

Scraggle points to the hatch door in the floor through which Joe climbed. Joe walks to the other side of it and pushes it closed. It falls to the floor with a clang, closing far more easily than it opened. Aside from being made of different materials, the door is the only part of the floor that is not even with the rest of the floor. It rises almost half a foot up. A large metal handle sticks out of its surface.

Scraggle waves Joe to take seat. Joe sits down on the bench and he sinks into it. He quickly rises for fear of being sucked below.

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