As the Light Dies Read Online Free PDF Page A

Lars, making Sven cringe.
    Before anyone else said anything the platform dropped below a ceiling in the bedrock and the sides shot out in all directions away from the group on the platform taking everybod y’ s breath away!
    The shaft opened out all around them and the ground dropped away far below them forming an area twice the size as the dock they had descended from. It was enormous!
    The group spread out as everyone moved over to the safety railing for a better look.
    Lars and Sven listened to them as they watched in awe, amazed at the sheer scale of the operation as they dropped down to the base level docking station.
    “ That was getting a little hot !’ said Sven. Lars shrugged his shoulders ,“ I t’ s to be expected ,” he said, w e’ re telling them that the y’ re doing things wrong and no one likes to be told the y’ re doing it wrong, especially by someone the y’ ve never met and the y’ ve invested billions doing it ! ”
    The platform lowered past a layer of internal cranes and pulleys with impossibly thick chains looped through them. Ventilation shafts ran in all directions littered with vents that blew out cool air humming quietly. On the ground there was another observation office identical to the one in the upper leve l’ s loading dock but this one had the addition of a tower sprouting up from it resembling an air control tower. Opposite there were two large parking bays, one for forklifts of varying size and other mobile lifting machines, and the other was for maintenance vehicles of varying shapes and sizes.
    The platform landed softly and no one was happier than Jade Anderson, the Greenpeace representative, as she stepped off on to solid ground. She had been teetering on the edge of vomiting since the platform started to move. Opposite them behind the observation office was another section of the oversized grey pipe that disappeared in opposite directions down enormous tunnels that had been bored through the bed rock, a crew of men in orange boiler suits rode off down one of the tunnels in what looked like an oversized golf buggy with six wheels shod with balloon tyres. It sped off at quite a rate!
    “ So, what is that thing part of ?” asked the Defence Minister.
    “I’ m about to show you ,” said Lars and he started to make his way across the huge open floor towards the right hand tunnel that followed the giant pipe.
    “ Please follow me ,” he said walking briskly towards the tunnel and the group followed him as he walked with Sven leading the way in to the subterranean lair.
    They walked along a designated pathway at the edge of the tunnel that ran parallel to the giant pipe and its maintenance levels looming high above them. There were constant murmurings from the group as they discussed their surroundings, its cost, who built it and how, without being known about. They mentioned the effect its construction might have to the local geography and ultimately what on earth it could be used for.
    *****
    Lars walked in silence partly listening to the comments being made behind him as the dock shrank behind them. The view ahead meanwhile did n’ t change. It just seemed to reach on forever in to the distance gradually curving out of sight.
    After a while of brisk walking when the dock behind them was only just visible Lars came to an abrupt stop beside a pair of double doors set into the tunnel wall.
    He typed in a code on the small keypad beside the doors that read his fingerprint and scanned his retina at the same time . Beep . Lars pushed open one door and turned to Physicist David Smith who was standing right behind him and said ,“ This is where we make the magic ! ”
    David did n’ t answer, he just nodded and flashed a slight grin. Lars led them in.
    They descended down a steel stairway in to a large dimly lit room. The floor was split up in to a grid of shoulder height baffle boards behind which people were busy at their desks beavering away quietly. Ahead of them the end