to shower, and get back Uptown for lunch. When the old man and his dog rounded a bend in the path and were out of sight, the Governor got out of the SUV and grabbed his duffel bag out of the back-end. He took one more glimpse up and down the bike path before crossing it, and headed into the woods and down the bank to the river.
This was the long way to the site where his crew was digging. Above ground, he was about a half a mile north of the Hennepin Avenue Bridge and the Federal Reserve. That wasn’t bad, but underground it was a maze of passages and turns with no direct route to where his crew was working. It was a longer hike than the mill ruins entrance by the Stone Arch Bridge, but he didn’t dare enter the underground caves from there during the day since the bridge was a popular spot for walkers and bikers.
He stood in the sand at the edge of the Mississippi and looked across it to the Boom Island landing. Everything was quiet. The river flowed silently by, its surface shimmering in the morning sun. No paddleboats were loading at this time of day to take sightseers down river through the lock and dam and back again.
The strap of his gear bag dug into his shoulder, reminding him why he was there. He wiped the sweat from his brow and rearranged the strap farther up his shoulder before he turned and continued walking downstream along the bank until he got to the spot he was looking for. The concrete apron for the storm sewer jutted out of the woods, breaking up the wooded shoreline like a scar, an unnatural opening into the earth. It reminded him of an entrance dug by a large underground creature.
He entered the sewer pipe, more like a cave at this point, and moved far enough in to get out of the light, where he was able to change into his caving gear without being seen from outside. The dark sewer, providing a respite from the heat that had been building since he’d woken up, also offered a transition back into the underground.
The Governor hurried through the sewers and tunnels to the site. Almost ninety minutes after he started his trek, he found his small crew watching over a man sitting against the wall.
Standing in the middle of them, the Governor tried to catch his breath. The sweat that had formed on his neck and back under his coveralls was now a cool trickle as it ran down to gather at the small of his back, where it was stopped by the belt around his waist. He nodded at Dave to get him away from the rest of the group so he could get up to speed on what had happened.
Dave walked over and the Governor put his arm around his shoulders. “Who’s our friend?”
“He came up on us while we were working. Caught us by surprise. We’re not sure what he knows or heard.” Dave glanced over at the young man sitting along the wall. “I told him we’re a city crew and that he’s trespassing. Told him I was contacting the supervisor. That’s you.”
The brothers, Steve and Rick, watched nervously.
“OK. You did the right thing. Let me talk to him. Go calm those two down.” The Governor walked over to the young man, knelt down, and smiled.
“Good morning, I’m Mr. Peterson. What are you doing down here? It’s pretty dangerous, especially alone.”
The young man kept hugging his legs. “I was just exploring. Can I leave now?”
“What’s your name?”
“Mike. Mike McDonald.” The twenty-something man looked into the Governor’s eyes and then at the others. “Listen, I know what I’m doing. I can find my way back out. I’m not hurting anything. Can I just go?”
“Tell you what. I can’t just let you go out on your own. This is a great place to explore with all of these caves and passageways, but what if you got hurt on the way out? You’d sue the city; we’d lose our jobs.” The Governor nodded at the others. “You have to understand where we’re coming from. Are you alone?”
“Yeah, just thought I’d explore a little up this way, stay cool in the caves. Trying to find some new routes to show my friends.”
“We need to get you out of here. We’ll all go out together. These guys need a break anyway.” The Governor rose and put out his hand.
He pulled Mike up and turned to his crew. “Hey, guys. I think it’s time for a break. We’ll escort our new friend, Mike, out and I’ll buy us something to eat before we get back at it.” He winked at his crew. “You guys lead us out. Mike and I will follow. Let’s go out by the Chute. I want to check something out on our way.”
The group made their way through the tunnels. The Governor could tell their intruder knew what he was doing. He had the right gear, knew how to move, where to look, how to crawl through the tight spots. Somebody like this could be useful if he was interested in joining them, but he was also dangerous now that he’d seen them.
A low rumble turned into a constant roar as they turned down a passageway.
“The Chute landing is up ahead!” Steve called back.
In the next chamber, they all stood next to a river of water that flowed quickly past them through a half-pipe of concrete before disappearing with a roar through an opening in the far wall.
The Governor took off his hard hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He leaned over and spoke in Mike’s ear.
“Mike, you’ve been exploring these caves before. Have you ever been to the Chute?”
Mike just shook his head.
“No? Well, a couple of crazy guys rode this river in a rubber boat. Went through the Chute and lived to tell about it. Said it was the dumbest thing they ever did.”
The Governor’s crew had worked their way to block the passage ahead and the passage from which they had come. Mike McDonald looked one way then the other and then stared at the Governor.
The Governor stepped back from Mike and yelled.
“Mike, we’re going to give you a chance to make history!” The Governor looked from the young man to the river. “How would you like to be the first to make the trip without a rubber boat?”
Rick, the crazy younger brother, giggled.
“What?” The rest of Mike’s thought hung in the rumble of the passage. He looked towards Rick standing in front of the path they had come from, and Steve in front of the path they were to follow. “Who are you guys?”
The Governor shook his head and pulled a gun from his pocket. “Does it matter?”
Rick giggled again. He took a step forward. “Come on, man, jump in!” he yelled.
The Governor had his light and gun trained on Mike. Mike squinted from the light in his eyes and stood his ground. He turned and looked towards Steve. He shuffled his feet and kept his back facing the wall across the water behind him. Mike took a step to his left and there was a blast. Mike froze, Rick screamed a laugh. Rock dust and sand flew off the wall behind Mike from the bullet that crashed into it.
The Governor pointed the gun at Mike’s chest. “I’m going to count to ten. You can take a ride down the Chute with or without a bullet in you. One, two…”
Mike took a step back, looked at the Governor and his gun, then at the dark water that ran by. He faced the Governor again and raised his hands up. “OK, enough. I’ll leave. Just let me go.” He took a step towards the exit.
“Three, four,” the Governor continued, and pulled the trigger. The flash filled the darkness and the noise echoed through the tunnels.
“Wait!” Mike screamed. He was about twenty feet from the entrance of the Chute, where the water in the stream poured over the edge into a pipe taking the water deeper into the ground. He squatted down and tentatively put his right foot into the stream, trying to get a grip on the bottom while he leaned his arms on the edge for balance. The water was just above his knee. He shifted his weight to move his left foot into the water and his right foot slipped. He splashed into the water which then swept him downstream. The Governor and the crew hurried to the edge and searched for Mike with the lights on their helmets. They spotted him as he bobbed to the surface on his back, arms wrapped around the helmet on his head, the current carrying him along through the wall and out of sight.
“God, he did it!” shouted Rick. He looked at the others. “Fuckin’ crazy!”
“I think that kid was crazier than you, little brother,” Steve said. “He said somebody had gone over this before. You don’t think it was him, do you?”
The Governor continued staring at the wall where the river disappeared. “He was crazy, but he gave himself a shot. He went feet first.”
