FIC: Summer 2008: "In For The Long Haul": For clwilson2006
Title: In For the Long Haul
Author: Keenir (
rodlox) / Rock Hudson
Recipient: (
clwilson2006)
Characters: Colby, Megan; Don (briefly)
Spoilers: None aside from where Colby’s from.
Rating: PG
Warning: Trapped in an elevator, and not even elevator music? Huh.
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine. Sato-Aldred Industries is, though; ask, and you can borrow it.
Summary: Colby and Megan are trapped in the longest elevator on Earth.
MOD Note: When I was handing out assignments, clwilson2006 ended up having two people writing for her (don't make me go into the details of how that happened, I've got a flight to catch!). Both writers used the elevator prompt, but I'm sure you'll find that both fics are very different and unique and special in their own way.
Ironically, clwilson2006 also ended up writing two fics for her recipient. She's submitted one, I'll ask her to submit the other as a bonus type fic. Enjoy - DB
In For The Long Haul
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sato-Aldred Industries. Home to one of the archives of most of the known languages, home to research in determining true universals in language and behavior. Home to The Cord. And the site of two consecutive FBI investigations.
It is generally regarded as an axiom that the bigger they are, the harder they fall. This is why city officials the world over prefer specially-trained explosives experts to be the ones who demolish skyscrapers and multi-story warehouses: to minimize damage.
That is why the FBI brought a team in to investigate Sato-Aldred Industries: just in case the Cord had to be brought down. Because any risk, any error, no matter how tiny a fraction, was far too much where the Earth’s first and only space elevator was concerned. If the Cord were to fall, there would be devastation no matter what.
* * * * *
“Ŋemeles-pla tekjol. Ŋeales-pla tsens oi!”
Colby looked up at the intercom. “Ever hear that language before?” he asked Megan.
Shaking her head, “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
He grinned. “And?”
From where she sat, “I don’t know if you know it.”
Sitting across from her, “C’mon, with all your profiler superpowers?”
“I don’t have any powers, super or not. Besides, I’m not a mind-reader.”
“Seems like it sometimes,” he kidded. “Seriously, if I knew what they were saying, I’d translate.”
“Same here. And no, I can’t tell anything about them from the message.”
“Hopefully they’re saying they’re working on the problem.”
“Ditto,” she replied and didn’t mention that the computerized voice was most likely a recording. If he hasn’t figured that out, there’s no sense in panicking him.
Each grabbed their radios and said “Hello?” And got nothing but static in answer.
Setting his down beside him, Colby sighed. “No change,” and eyed the intercom grate: there were no screws or clips or buttons. No way to get behind it, not without literally breaking the wall open - and nothing on hand to break it.
Damn kick-proof materials. “At least this proves the batteries haven’t quit.”
“And neither will we!” Megan said.
“Damn tootin’!”
One Hour In:
Silence.
Complete quiet, the both of them. The silence of the grave. A stillness so profound that -
Megan shifted ever-so-slightly, feeling a hint of a charlie-horse on the way and wanting to cut it off at the pass. And then there was her curiosity bubbling over: Granger was sitting on his side of the elevator car, eyes relaxed and looking out…at nothing; he was the very picture of sloth, and yet he simultaneously gave the impression that he could be up and on his feet in a second if the need arose. If it were Larry doing this, she’d put it down to meditation plain and simple. But Granger… “You learn how to do that in the Army?”
“Nope?” Colby said.
“Rangers?”
“Nope.”
“Undercover?”
“Sort of. Idaho.”
“Idaho?”
“Idaho.”
“Huh. So -”
“Ŋeales-pla tsens oi!” the intercom interrupted. “Ŋemeles-pla tekjol.”
“When there’s something to do,” Colby said, “it gets done. When there’s nothing to do, no sense running around.”
“Like a chicken with your head cut off?”
“We weren’t that rural.”
Ninety Minutes In:
“Why’d you volunteer?” Megan asked.
Nobody had known that the elevator would shut itself and start the car on the long upward climb. But even so, given the dangers that’d been present for the first case here, Don had asked for two volunteers to go in and look around.
“I figured why not?” Colby said. “For one, its something new. For another, I did it not just for me, but for all my buddies who might not - for one reason or another - get the chance to get in one of these things.”
“Good reasons.”
“Thanks.” Changing the subject a little, “So did you and Charlie have a nice chit-chat on the drive over here?”
“Yes, we did. We discussed how the prisoner’s dilemma could be applied to wildlife conservation. You?”
“David was driving and pointedly keeping out of the little discussion I was having with Amita and Larry.”
Megan’s lips quirked. “That must’ve been fun.”
“Oh it was. We mostly talked about the Cord - or rather, about the Brahmasphutasiddhanta II,” as that was its proper name. “Named after the first book to use the number Zero for anything.”
“Bet that caught them off guard,” Megan remarked.
“Larry was definitely surprised, if not a little shocked that I knew about it. Amita seemed more amused at Larry’s expression than anything I’d done.”
“And you knew about the zero book, how, if I can ask?”
“Sure. I learned about it in high school,” Colby said. “During lunch periods, I’d go to the school library.”
“Huh. Just when we think we’ve got you all figured out, Granger, you pull something like this.”
Colby shrugged. Like learning they named this elevator the “Brahmasphutasiddhanta II” after the first text on Earth to use the number Zero.
Two Hours In:
“Turns out,” Don updated them, now that the radios were working, “the building’s computer systems were why the radios didn’t work - sending up deliberate interference.”
“And the message?” Colby asked.
“Chuck wrote a bit of programming for this place a while back, and he was a little overzealous in getting everything streamlined. It’s a constructed language made for the Language Universals program; it’s been saying what the elevator’s been programmed to say: ‘we’re sorry’ and ‘please be patient.’
Nobody asked if anybody was doing anything to catch those responsible for this part of and it was quite interesting - in the abstract - that someone had waited for the FBI to come in to investigate and solve another case, to unleash another incident, one designed to catch two agents they knew everyone was already working at full tilt.
“And this place?” Colby asked.
“Well, that’s gonna take a while longer. See, we have to slow it down before we can have it come back down. And according to Larry, if the two of you were outside right now, you’d both need gas tanks and really strong sunscreen.”
“I did not,” they could hear Larry say over the radio, “say that last part.”
“Yeah you did: in more words.”
“How high?” Megan asked. “Exactly.”
“Five hundred feet above Everest, when you said ‘exactly.’”
Ten Minutes After That:
“So,” Colby asked, “what about you?”
“What do you mean?” Megan asked.
“You know why I’m in here. What about you?”
“I figured why not.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What?” laughing a bit.
“Larry didn’t factor in any?” Seeing the awkward look on her face, “Aw man, I was kidding. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, Granger. You might not’ve been serious, but I’m presuming you based it on all available evidence.”
Colby nodded.
“And, believe it or not, you’re right.”
“Well since we’re going to be stuck up here for a while yet, and my lips are sealed on the matter, was it to be up here before Larry or to go to space?” the ‘where he’s been’ implicit.
“A bit of both, actually.”
“Nothing wrong with that.”
“Why thank you, Granger; I’m so relieved I’ve got your approval.”
“What’re friends for?”
“Bail money.”
“You sure you’re not from Idaho?” Suspecting the conversation was getting weird, he told her, “Like it or not, we’re setting a record.”
“Yeah. First people trapped in a space elevator. Great. How long does it take to reach orbit anyway?”
“One or three months - I know it’s an odd number.”
“At least it’s not six.”
The look in reply was, quite simply, ‘don’t go there!’
The End
x-x-x-x-x-x
Half An Hour In:
Author: Keenir (
rodlox) / Rock Hudson
Recipient: (
clwilson2006)
Characters: Colby, Megan; Don (briefly)
Spoilers: None aside from where Colby’s from.
Rating: PG
Warning: Trapped in an elevator, and not even elevator music? Huh.
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine. Sato-Aldred Industries is, though; ask, and you can borrow it.
Summary: Colby and Megan are trapped in the longest elevator on Earth.
MOD Note: When I was handing out assignments, clwilson2006 ended up having two people writing for her (don't make me go into the details of how that happened, I've got a flight to catch!). Both writers used the elevator prompt, but I'm sure you'll find that both fics are very different and unique and special in their own way.
Ironically, clwilson2006 also ended up writing two fics for her recipient. She's submitted one, I'll ask her to submit the other as a bonus type fic. Enjoy - DB
In For The Long Haul
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sato-Aldred Industries. Home to one of the archives of most of the known languages, home to research in determining true universals in language and behavior. Home to The Cord. And the site of two consecutive FBI investigations.
It is generally regarded as an axiom that the bigger they are, the harder they fall. This is why city officials the world over prefer specially-trained explosives experts to be the ones who demolish skyscrapers and multi-story warehouses: to minimize damage.
That is why the FBI brought a team in to investigate Sato-Aldred Industries: just in case the Cord had to be brought down. Because any risk, any error, no matter how tiny a fraction, was far too much where the Earth’s first and only space elevator was concerned. If the Cord were to fall, there would be devastation no matter what.
* * * * *
“Ŋemeles-pla tekjol. Ŋeales-pla tsens oi!”
Colby looked up at the intercom. “Ever hear that language before?” he asked Megan.
Shaking her head, “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
He grinned. “And?”
From where she sat, “I don’t know if you know it.”
Sitting across from her, “C’mon, with all your profiler superpowers?”
“I don’t have any powers, super or not. Besides, I’m not a mind-reader.”
“Seems like it sometimes,” he kidded. “Seriously, if I knew what they were saying, I’d translate.”
“Same here. And no, I can’t tell anything about them from the message.”
“Hopefully they’re saying they’re working on the problem.”
“Ditto,” she replied and didn’t mention that the computerized voice was most likely a recording. If he hasn’t figured that out, there’s no sense in panicking him.
Each grabbed their radios and said “Hello?” And got nothing but static in answer.
Setting his down beside him, Colby sighed. “No change,” and eyed the intercom grate: there were no screws or clips or buttons. No way to get behind it, not without literally breaking the wall open - and nothing on hand to break it.
Damn kick-proof materials. “At least this proves the batteries haven’t quit.”
“And neither will we!” Megan said.
“Damn tootin’!”
One Hour In:
Silence.
Complete quiet, the both of them. The silence of the grave. A stillness so profound that -
Megan shifted ever-so-slightly, feeling a hint of a charlie-horse on the way and wanting to cut it off at the pass. And then there was her curiosity bubbling over: Granger was sitting on his side of the elevator car, eyes relaxed and looking out…at nothing; he was the very picture of sloth, and yet he simultaneously gave the impression that he could be up and on his feet in a second if the need arose. If it were Larry doing this, she’d put it down to meditation plain and simple. But Granger… “You learn how to do that in the Army?”
“Nope?” Colby said.
“Rangers?”
“Nope.”
“Undercover?”
“Sort of. Idaho.”
“Idaho?”
“Idaho.”
“Huh. So -”
“Ŋeales-pla tsens oi!” the intercom interrupted. “Ŋemeles-pla tekjol.”
“When there’s something to do,” Colby said, “it gets done. When there’s nothing to do, no sense running around.”
“Like a chicken with your head cut off?”
“We weren’t that rural.”
Ninety Minutes In:
“Why’d you volunteer?” Megan asked.
Nobody had known that the elevator would shut itself and start the car on the long upward climb. But even so, given the dangers that’d been present for the first case here, Don had asked for two volunteers to go in and look around.
“I figured why not?” Colby said. “For one, its something new. For another, I did it not just for me, but for all my buddies who might not - for one reason or another - get the chance to get in one of these things.”
“Good reasons.”
“Thanks.” Changing the subject a little, “So did you and Charlie have a nice chit-chat on the drive over here?”
“Yes, we did. We discussed how the prisoner’s dilemma could be applied to wildlife conservation. You?”
“David was driving and pointedly keeping out of the little discussion I was having with Amita and Larry.”
Megan’s lips quirked. “That must’ve been fun.”
“Oh it was. We mostly talked about the Cord - or rather, about the Brahmasphutasiddhanta II,” as that was its proper name. “Named after the first book to use the number Zero for anything.”
“Bet that caught them off guard,” Megan remarked.
“Larry was definitely surprised, if not a little shocked that I knew about it. Amita seemed more amused at Larry’s expression than anything I’d done.”
“And you knew about the zero book, how, if I can ask?”
“Sure. I learned about it in high school,” Colby said. “During lunch periods, I’d go to the school library.”
“Huh. Just when we think we’ve got you all figured out, Granger, you pull something like this.”
Colby shrugged. Like learning they named this elevator the “Brahmasphutasiddhanta II” after the first text on Earth to use the number Zero.
Two Hours In:
“Turns out,” Don updated them, now that the radios were working, “the building’s computer systems were why the radios didn’t work - sending up deliberate interference.”
“And the message?” Colby asked.
“Chuck wrote a bit of programming for this place a while back, and he was a little overzealous in getting everything streamlined. It’s a constructed language made for the Language Universals program; it’s been saying what the elevator’s been programmed to say: ‘we’re sorry’ and ‘please be patient.’
Nobody asked if anybody was doing anything to catch those responsible for this part of and it was quite interesting - in the abstract - that someone had waited for the FBI to come in to investigate and solve another case, to unleash another incident, one designed to catch two agents they knew everyone was already working at full tilt.
“And this place?” Colby asked.
“Well, that’s gonna take a while longer. See, we have to slow it down before we can have it come back down. And according to Larry, if the two of you were outside right now, you’d both need gas tanks and really strong sunscreen.”
“I did not,” they could hear Larry say over the radio, “say that last part.”
“Yeah you did: in more words.”
“How high?” Megan asked. “Exactly.”
“Five hundred feet above Everest, when you said ‘exactly.’”
Ten Minutes After That:
“So,” Colby asked, “what about you?”
“What do you mean?” Megan asked.
“You know why I’m in here. What about you?”
“I figured why not.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What?” laughing a bit.
“Larry didn’t factor in any?” Seeing the awkward look on her face, “Aw man, I was kidding. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, Granger. You might not’ve been serious, but I’m presuming you based it on all available evidence.”
Colby nodded.
“And, believe it or not, you’re right.”
“Well since we’re going to be stuck up here for a while yet, and my lips are sealed on the matter, was it to be up here before Larry or to go to space?” the ‘where he’s been’ implicit.
“A bit of both, actually.”
“Nothing wrong with that.”
“Why thank you, Granger; I’m so relieved I’ve got your approval.”
“What’re friends for?”
“Bail money.”
“You sure you’re not from Idaho?” Suspecting the conversation was getting weird, he told her, “Like it or not, we’re setting a record.”
“Yeah. First people trapped in a space elevator. Great. How long does it take to reach orbit anyway?”
“One or three months - I know it’s an odd number.”
“At least it’s not six.”
The look in reply was, quite simply, ‘don’t go there!’
The End
x-x-x-x-x-x
Half An Hour In: