The Ghost Below by Ariele Sieling

Author:Ariele Sieling
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fairy tale retellings
Publisher: Ariele Sieling, author
Published: 2023-01-11T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 4

Achieng's torch lit up the tunnel in all directions, in a way that was much more helpful than Fia's head lamp. Every inch of the walls boasted colors and lines, making up massive images. Fia thought they might tell a story.

"Wh... what do those mean?" she asked, pointing at one depicting a man hanging from a ladder by one hand, and a speech bubble pointing upwards with the words, "You can die down there!" carefully lettered on white.

"These tell the story of our mothers and fathers," Achieng stated, shining her light on a couple more images.

"Many, many years ago, though we don’t know exactly how long, our first mother, Josephine, escaped from the prison through the same entry that you came through. She discovered that the bilge was actually a massive space, parts of which had once been used for storage but had long been forgotten. So she made a home. Not long after, a man name Leonard escaped from prison. They made a life together and had several children. When their children grew older, three others escaped from the prison, and as far as we could tell, none of the guards could figure out how, so our many times great grandparents made a civilization down here, stealing food, sharing resources, and keeping our children as safe as possible."

Fia gulped. Everyone down here was descended from prisoners. Images flashed in her head: a hand grabbing her arm, the request to talk, “We’re people too!” echoing through the halls.

Her heart pounded again, and the stuttering returned.

"B... but w... weren't th... they dangerous? Th... th... the prisoners?" Her stuttering worsened as she imagined prisoners hiding in the shadows.

"No. Many of the prisoners in their time were simply convicted to make space for wealthier families. So they made their own space down here. And down here, we have our own system of laws. Then, in the third generation, Imamu came and helped us further build our civilization."

"I... I... I... see."

"Now you must answer a question for me." Achieng looked over at Fia with a smile. "Why are there still wire runners? You are far too young to be one. Didn't they mostly die out when our city went wireless?"

"N... n... no, well, y... yes, b... but," Fia took a deep breath to stop stuttering, focusing her mind on what she knew best: the wires. "B... but the computer virus killed other sh... ships and we couldn't, couldn't stop it, so we had to go analog, and... and now there are wire runners again."

"What virus is that?"

"The Otieno Virus," she answered, and then smiled a little, realizing that she hadn't stuttered that time.

"What?" Imamu's voice resounded. His form flickered in and out and then disappeared again. "Otieno Virus?"

"Yes," she said. "Why?"

"That's..." he paused for a second and then continued, "...that's when I died. Or didn't die, rather. The Otieno virus had killed every other ship but mine..."

"Yes, many were lost, but not ours—Rove City." Fia could feel herself getting excited and noted that her stutter had vanished.

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