Contest

landing heavily on its back -- right next to Swain -- in a cloud of dust and shattered plastic.

A minute passed.

Slowly, Swain lifted his head.

The first thing he saw was the dark wrinkled snout and the enormous white fangs of the Karanadon, right in front of his eyes.

He started. But the beast did not move.

Swain quickly looked at his wristband and sighed. The green light was back on. The Karanadon was out cold.

He lifted his body and all sorts of debris fell from his back onto the floor. Half the roof of the old, wide elevator had fallen in under the weight of the big beast, and pieces of the ceiling and shards of fluorescent light bulbs lay strewn all over the elevator.

Christ, he thought, it looked as if a bomb had gone off here: white dust floating through the air, the roof caved in, half the lights flickering, the other half destroyed beyond recognition.

Swain stood up. He touched the large bruise that was forming on the back of his head. His lower back ached from the thunderous impact. He lifted his arm off Holly.

'Holly?' he said, quietly. 'Are you okay?'

She stirred gently, as if coming out of a deep, painful sleep.

'Wha... what?'

Swain shut his eyes in relief and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

'Are we there yet, Daddy?' she whimpered, her head still buried in her forearms.

'Yes, honey, we're here,' he smiled.

Across the lift, Selexin groaned. He slowly raised his head and stared, unfocused, at Swain. Then he looked across the lift at the limp -- but live -- body of the Karanadon.

'Oh my goodness...'

'Tell me about it,' Swain said dryly.

'Where are we?'

'We're at the bottom of the shaft, I guess. We took the quick trip down.'

'Oh,' Selexin said absently.

He didn't seem too worried about anything right now, and for that matter, neither did Swain. He figured they could stay here for a while. The Karanadon wouldn't be waking up in the very near future, and no-one would be able to find them here.

He sat up, gently placing his daughter's head in his lap, and leaned up against the wall of the semi-destroyed elevator and smiled sadly at the destruction all around him.

----ooo0ooo------

Bob Charlton stopped his Chevy at a red light and dialled his office. It had barely rung once when Rudy answered. 'Robert Charlton's phone.'

'Rudy?' Charlton said.

'Yes, sir. Where are you?

'At the moment, stuck in downtown traffic. I'm on my way. I'll be back in about five minutes.'

At the other end of the line, Rudy Baker paused, and glanced nervously around Charlton's office.

'Okay, sir,' he said. 'Is there anything you want me to do in the meantime? Look up something for you?'

Charlton's voice said, 'Good idea, yes. While you're waiting, check the computer. See if the New York State Library was linked up with the main when we did that National Register of Historic Places thing a few months back. If it was, run down to Records and pull the plans. Get the blueprints and see if you can find out where the damn booster valve is.'

'Uh... okay, sure,' he hesitated again.

'What is it, son?' Charlton said. 'Something wrong down there?

'No, sir. Not here,' Rudy lied. 'I'll see you when you get back.'

'All right then.' Charlton hung up.

In the office, Rudy leaned forward and switched off the speakerphone.

'Well done, son,' a voice behind him said. 'Now, why don't you just take a seat with the rest of us, and we can all wait here together until your boss comes back.'

Charlton hurried out of the elevator and walked quickly down the hallway to his office.

He looked at his watch.

It was 7:55 p.m.

He hoped that Rudy had got those files on the State Library. If he had, with a bit of luck they might be able to have the main up and running again by midnight.

Charlton charged into his office and stopped instantly.

Rudy was sitting in the chair behind Charlton's desk. He looked up helplessly.

Five other men, all dressed in dark suits, sat in a neat row in front of the desk.

As Charlton walked in, one of the men stood up and walked over to him. He was short and stocky, with red hair and a big orange walrus-style moustache.

'Mr Charlton, Special Agent John Levine,' he flashed his wallet, revealing a photo ID. 'I'm from the National Security Agency.'

Charlton examined the ID card. He wondered what the NSA would want with Con Ed.

'What seems to be the problem, Mr Levine?'

'Oh, there's no problem,' Levine said quickly.

'Then what can I do for you?' Charlton's eyes wandered warily around his office, scanning the four other men seated there.

They were all big men, broad-shouldered. Two wore sunglasses even though it was nearly eight in the evening. They were very intimidating.

'Please, Mr Charlton, take a seat. We just came by to ask you a few questions about your inquiry into the New York State Library.'

'I'm not looking at the Library itself,' Charlton said, sitting down in a spare chair. Levine sat opposite him. 'I'm just looking for a break in our main electrical line. We've had quite a few calls from that area, complaints about the power cutting out on people.'

Levine nodded. 'Uh-huh. So. Apart from being in the same area, what is the connection between these complaints and the State Library?'

'Well,' Charlton said, 'the Library is on the National Register of Historic Places, you know, one of those lists of old buildings that aren't allowed to be demolished.'

'I know it.'

'Anyway, we linked a few of them up to the main a few months back, and we've found that when they go down, sometimes they take the whole damn system with them.'

Levine nodded again. 'So why have you begun to focus on this building? Surely there are others in the area that deserve similar attention?'

'Mr Levine, I've been doing this sort of thing for ten years now and when you get a break in the main it can mean a shitload of problems. And that means you have to check everything. Every possibility. Sometimes it's kids hacking at the cables with daddy's chainsaw, sometimes it's just an overload. I've always found it prudent to go down and check with the police and see if they've pulled in someone from that area lately.'

'You went to the police?' Levine raised an eyebrow.

'Yes.'

'And did you find anything?'