Free Fade to Black by Francis Knight

them.”
    Left them there to die of the synth. I shook my head in shock, but it was likely true. In the ’Pit, who knew? It was sealed, but the tainted run-off from Upside was likely still filtering through: the water had to go somewhere. Now here was Tam, saying that people lived in that horror? The thought made me squirm. Not least because it looked like that was where I was headed.
    “Why would they take girls down there?” I asked. “And how can I get her back?”
    Tam grinned at me, but it wasn’t a pleasant one. “I can get you down there, so you can look for your niece. Papers that will get you through the Ministry checks. I can give you a name once you’re in there, a man who might help.” His head bobbed up and down as though it were on a string. “For a price. And there’s no one else can do that, excepting the Ministry.”
    There it was. He was right. For all my contacts, I’d never even known there was anyone down there, never mind how to get there, and Tam was offering me a way in. A chance, the only one I was likely to get.
    “How much?”
    In the end, it was easy. I should have known really. Tam got a young lad to show me where, and it was right under my nose, only more cleverly disguised than Dwarf’s shop. Under a dripping stairwell that had been propped and patched so many times you couldn’t see the original, a door lurked in the darkness. A maintenance door, it looked like, with a stout padlock and a small sign that said danger, alchemical storage and a picture of someone blowing themselves up. Hidden in plain view. It took the lad under a minute to pick the padlock and then I was in.
    Right up to my neck.
    Inside was a space about the size of a roomy coffin, which seemed appropriate. A dirty yellow Glow globe twitched on and off erratically with a highpitched whine that did nothing for my state of mind. Across from me stood another door.
    Tam had told me what to expect and I didn’t like the sound of it. At all. But needs must when Namrat has you by the balls and is ready to twist them off with a grin and a wink. There was a complicated button, lever and pulley arrangement by the door and I pushed it. While I waited, I fiddled with the false papers Tam had given me, along with a pin that I’d stuckto my coat. The pin was shaped like a tiger, with black stripes done in enamel. So they’d know I was Ministry, Tam had said.
    The inner door ratcheted open, each clink and clank echoing damply and twisting my nerves to breaking. It was a long way down, and a long way down is something I try to avoid. I stepped into the compartment and tried not to think how far, or how this thing worked and whether it ever got any maintenance. Or whether whatever held it up was rusting, corroded by synth and…
Stop it
. I took a deep, not quite steady breath and pushed the button/lever thing on the inside. The world fell away from my feet.
    I was thrust downwards at what seemed to be an excessive speed that made my insides want to come out through my ears and had me thinking that maybe, just maybe, it would be nice to believe in a god or two so you could pray to them at times like this, when all you wanted to do was either cry or crap yourself.
    The compartment finally shuddered to an abrupt halt that made my knees crumple. The door swished open and I pulled myself together enough to step out purposefully into a clammy chamber where dark liquid dripped down the walls and steamed sullenly in pools on the floor. Synth-tainted water. Stronger than I’d smelled it in years.
    Two soldiers stood facing me, armoured and armed to the hilt, their eyes hidden by dark visors on their helmets. Ministry Specials, from their uniform and insignia, though the helmets were new. One stepped forward smartly andlooked at my papers. I was immediately reassured that Tam had been worth the money. The soldier snapped off a salute so sharp you could have shaved with it, and there was a hungry awe in his voice when he spoke. “Any