Interlude of Pain (Zaran Journals, Book 3)

By Scott Seldon

Independent galactic trader Ven Zaran’s life and career threaten to collapse around him when his wife and daughter are killed in a tragic accident. In frustration and grief, he turns to drugs and a takes on a string of dangerous smuggling jobs. He drops his ship off for a major upgrade and goes on a journey of self-discovery. His path crosses that of a grieving young woman, now in search of her father. He takes on the challenge intending to help her, but the search takes unexpected turns and leads Ven to a strange guru who has the answers to both Ven’s grief and finding the young woman’s father. But uncovering the answers takes time and he risks losing his crew and his career in the process.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scott Seldon
• Release date: Nov 23, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301129881

Scott Seldon

Scott Seldon lives in Colorado with his wife and family in a house brimming with old and new computers. He is a student of technology, history, anthropology, languages, and cosmology. Each separate direction of study has enriched his imagination, but he credits the creative output of George Lucas and Isaac Asimov for the direction it has taken. He turned his creativity to science fiction in his teens and has never looked back.In his writing, Scott strives to create rich worlds and characters. Although his stories take place in the future, he often looks to the past to give his stories a solid background. He’s is more likely to watch Captain Blood than Star Wars to find inspiration on the feel of a story. He reads the latest titles by Jack McDevitt followed by C. L. Moore’s stories of Northwest Smith written decades ago with Les Miserables and the Princess of Mars next on his reading list.

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Interlude of Pain

Zaran Journals Book 3

Scott Seldon

Published by Arrano-Taldea Group

at Smashwords

2012

Discover other titles by Scott Seldon at

sites.google.com/site/scottrseldon

Arrano-Taldea Group is a collective association of independent authors of genre fiction. Each author accepts full responsibility for the content of their own publications. Please contact the author directly to report any problems with this ebook. [e-mail]

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

INTERLUDE OF PAIN

Copyright © 2012 by Scott Seldon

Cover Art by: Yotsuya

Visit him at: yotsuya-sama.deviantart.com

All rights reserved.

The copyright holder has licensed this ebook for use by a single reader. The reader may read this ebook using any compatible software or hardware and may copy this ebook to each such device they own and make reasonable backups. All other copying, hiring, modification, reselling, or republishing, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited in accordance with US and international copyright laws.

ebook Edition

First Edition: November 23, 2012

ISBN:978-1-3011-2988-1

Revision 2

For Isaac, Anne, and Robert

Thanks for the dreams

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Index

About the Author

Interlude of Pain

4614 GCE*

Chapter One

How’s your first week on Josdon’s ship been? Ven asked his son Chup as they spoke on the hypercomm.

It’s been great so far. Lots of hard work, but you prepared me for all that.

Talked to your Mother yet?

Of course. I talked to her first.

Hey, who got you that job?

I know, Dad, but I also know who raised me.

You’re right, I can’t compete with that. And isn’t it time you started calling me Ven, like everyone else. I know I’m your father and it just seems more professional if you call me by name.

I’ll see if I can get used to the idea.

Chup had just finished his first week as a full-fledged apprentice crew-member on a mid-sized freighter. He’d kept trying to get Ven to let him serve on his ship, Nova Trango, but the rules that governed traders were pretty strict when it came to family. Ven could have had him on board from the day he was born as part of his family, but when it came to serving on the crew, he had to have at least one previous job after finishing his apprenticeship.

Captain Filten Josdon often took on apprentices. Ven couldn’t say he was a good friend, but they knew each other. Josdon’s Mineara was a larger, mid-sized freighter. Most of his runs took them through Quetle Station.

As Ven and Chup talked, Ven couldn’t help feeling a bit sad. While he’d been growing up planet-side, Chup had been busy, but Ven could always check the local time and have some idea if he’d be at school, asleep, or might be out. Now that he was an apprentice trader, his schedule would be as crazy as Ven’s and it would be hard to find time for conversations such as this. Ven didn’t let his thoughts impact the conversation. Chup was excited and had been ready for this step for a long time.

Well, Dad... I mean Ven, I gotta go. We’re taking off for Gar’a’be.

It’s been good talking to you, Chup. Take care.

I will. Tell Mom not to worry.

Ven laughed. I’m not a miracle worker.

I know, but tell her anyway.

I will.

The transmission cut off and Ven settled back into his chair. Chup was off to a good start. The comm buzzed and Ven keyed it on.

Captain, his first mate Laren said over the comm, the cargo is here.

I’ll be right there. Ven stood up and pulled his mind back to business.

* * *

Kotula found a message from Ven when she got up the next morning. He’d talked to Chup and passed on Chup’s message that she shouldn’t worry. It brought a smile to her face. They both knew that she would worry anyway.

She had a busy day planned. Maybe busy enough to not worry about her son and husband, both out traveling the hyperspace streams. She went into her daughter’s room.

It’s time to get up, Ash, she called.

I don’t want to.

You have to. You have your evaluation today.

But I’m so much better and they won’t see it.

You don’t know that, Ash.

It’ll be the same thing they always say. I’m a little better but still not perfect.

You’ve got a long life ahead of you, sweetheart. You don’t want to carry any of this around, do you?

No. Ash reluctantly got up.

Now get ready so we can go.

Kotula had long ago gotten used to her daughter’s little moods. She was right, she was getting better, but so were the doctors. Her problems still affected her daily life. Kotula again cursed the criminals who had kidnapped them six years ago. She and Chup and come out without any problems, but Ash had developed a severe fear of strangers, the dark, and a host of other quirks. Six years of treatment and she was starting to act like a normal child again. Just in time to grow up, she thought with a wave of sadness. But at least she would have a chance to grow up and might just turn out normal.

* * *

Roldan rechecked the course one last time before finalizing it. It was a two-day jump to Yarbovan and the route was very narrow. It had to plotted just right to make it safely. When he was satisfied, he finalized it and waited for Wally to pilot the ship to a safe hyperspace distance.

Approaching beacon, Wally said in his raspy Zeccan voice, his dark green webbed fingers flying over the controls, making last moment course adjustments.

As usual, Wally had aligned the ship to the perfect entry attitude and all Roldan had to do was initiate the hyperspace course he’d programmed. The space in front of the ship ripped open to the hyperspace streams and Nova Trango crossed the threshold from sub-light to super-luminal.

Roldan checked the course one last time to make sure the transition had happened as programmed, then keyed the comm to the Captain’s cabin. Ven, we’re on course for Yarbovan.

Good work, Ven’s voice came back. I know that course wasn’t an easy one.

No problem. Do I get a bonus for it? he joked.

Not if they are as stingy as usual.

Roldan smiled. Their client was known for putting out as little money as possible for anything he did. They usually made a profit only by getting it delivered as soon as possible and moving on to their next cargo or finding a fill-in cargo.

His own thoughts had been strange lately. Everything was fine here on the ship and everything was fine with Aurrel, but something wasn’t fine with him. He kept thinking of other options, but he’d be hard pressed to find anything better than what Ven offered. He was very generous when he shared the bonuses they earned, and Roldan’s account was steadily growing. He just couldn’t put his finger on what the problem was, but there was something.

* * *

Ven sat in his cabin going over the upcoming schedule. He didn’t really need to be told they’d translated to hyperspace, he could feel it. At the same time he liked how his crew kept him in the loop, even though he never asked for it. He was going to take these two days of quiet in hyperspace to get caught up on the logs. He had to keep a running log for each false identity that he kept active which required a lot of creative work. He kept a genuine log of their activities, but that wasn’t something he could ever show the authorities. He kept it coded so no one else would know what it was if they found it.

He also used the real log to track his accounts. Nova Trango was almost paid for he was nearing what he needed to get the AI installed. With some luck, he might have enough in a little over a year, just after he paid off the ship. He regretted he hadn’t been able to do it sooner to spend more time with Chup, but he intended to hire him on as a crew-member at some point, if Chup was willing. Once he had the ship paid off and the AI installed, he wouldn’t need as large a crew and could reconfigure the interior fittings of the ship and move Kotula and Ash onboard. That was his goal. He was already two years behind with the setbacks he’d had on a few occasions. Mostly it had been the first year he’d had Nova Trango. Dealing with that pirate leader out of I’ab hadn’t helped much either, but there had been other small incidents and they added up.

Once the real log was updated, he copied most of that information into the official Nova Trango log. He hadn’t used any of the aliases for a while which made the official log much easier. In order to make fake log entries to cover up the occasions when he was using an alias, he had to record destinations and flight plans that Customs couldn’t check. It had taken him a while to get the hang of it, but he was getting pretty good at it. Maybe when he got an AI, he could teach it the tricks and have it do it. That would take so much less time.

Since the logs for his aliases were all bogus, he sometimes would duplicate information while he was running as Nova Trango. While it would be much better to have a separate story for each one, he didn’t always have the time, so he copied.

The Shey Talong-var log went with his most frequently used alias. He usually paid special attention to it and if he didn’t have time for the others it was usually the source of what he copied to he others. When he had time, he liked to at least do the first four logs and then copy to the last couple that he rarely used.

Sometimes the clerical work that went with being a captain made his head swim. Normally it was bad enough, but he added the fake logs to it and he had his work cut out for him. It kept him busy as they traveled through hyperspace. Not much chance to let his mind wander and crave the blissful forgetfulness of the drug Tint. He’d had a serious problem when he was young, before he met Kotula and it had reared its ugly head six years ago when his family had been kidnapped. He’d kept himself clean for nearly six years.

His weakness six years ago had provided one huge benefit, it had proved that his Hilven first mate would one day make an excellent captain in his own right. Since then Ven had found himself in a mentoring role, teaching Laren everything he knew about being an independent trade captain. That meant sharing some of the clerical tasks, leaving Ven to the logs and the many hours it took to get them just right so a Custom’s official wouldn’t detect them as forgeries. Traveling as constantly as he did, he often had to submit to Customs inspections.

* * *

Kotula sat and waited outside the office. Ash had been through this testing before and every time, Kotula had to remain in the deserted waiting area. She couldn’t keep herself from worrying. The first few times she’d been here there had been little progress. After spending time at that wonderful resort that Ven had found, Ash had quickly made several leaps and steady progress ever since. Kotula hoped that this test showed further progress.

For some reason, the complete silence in the waiting area was bothering her more than it usually did. She pulled out her data pad to see if the local news would distract her. She read a couple of short news clips, but found she couldn’t concentrate on them. She put the data pad away and let her thoughts wander to all the worse possibilities.

It was a long two hours until the door opened and the doctor called her in. She rushed into the office and took the seat next to Ash. Dr. Urveh took a seat behind his desk.

Kotula, I am happy to report that Ash is indeed much improved. There are a number of things we still need to work on, but my colleagues and I feel that she has passed the hump.

Kotula looked at Ash and smiled. She let out a long sigh as she gave her attention back to the doctor. So what is next.

We still have a lot of work to do. She is now fully on the path to recovery, but we must keep up the work to maintain what we have achieved and to finalize the process. She is still in a dangerous area.

What do you mean?

We have brought her to a level where we can be sure of the progress she is going to make. Eighteen more months of intensive treatment and I don’t think she will need more than the occasional follow-up. She is at a point where we know exactly how to proceed, but still in a dangerous area where given the right triggers, we could lose what we have achieved.

I want to get better, Ash said.

I know, Ash, Dr. Urveh said, and we will do our best to make sure you do.

For the next hour, Dr. Urveh went over the process for the upcoming months. He was serious when he said intensive. But unlike any of the previous treatments, this time he was making pronouncements as to what Ash’s progress should be after each month. It was a proven treatment plan that would be carried out with some certainty. Kotula didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t expected for the doctor to give her a date when Ash would be back to a normal girl. It would be just after her thirteenth birthday.

Do you have any questions, Kotula? Dr. Urveh asked.

No, not this time. I think you’ve covered everything.

I will caution you not to let this good news let down your guard. Following my instructions to the letter is probably more important now than ever. If you follow my plan precisely, this will work. If you get careless, I can’t guarantee the results or the time frame.

Don’t worry, Doctor. I know how important that is.

They left the office and when the doors to the lift closed, Kotula and Ash both let their excitement at the news explode.

Since we have the rest of the day, Kotula said when they reached the lobby, what would you like to do?

Right now I’m hungry. Can we eat?

Of course. But I think our good news deserves something special, don’t you?

Ash knew where she was talking about and readily agreed. Each time she had achieved a milestone, Kotula took her to The Glass Tower, a special restaurant not far from Dr. Urveh's office.

When they got there, it was practically deserted and they had their choice of where to sit. Ash headed strait for a table by the windows with a panoramic view of the city. She always liked to sit on that side because she could see all the ships arriving and departing from the port.

I wish Dad was coming in right now, Ash said as she stared at the ships on approach for landing.

We could send him a message.

It's not the same.

No, it isn't. But he does give us a good life, even if he isn't around much.

Ash nodded, and then turned her attention to the menu. Kotula always smiled when she did that. Maybe one day her search would pay off, but she knew Ash would order the same she always did.

He'll be at Yarbovan tomorrow, we can try to call him then.

That will work. Hypercomm is almost as good as in person.

Kotula kept her face neutral. Ash should be happy, but she was missing the rest of their family. This wasn't the first such celebration they'd had without Chup and Ven, but it was the first where neither of them was even close to Leywan. Ash didn't mention Chup, but Kotula knew she was missing her brother.

They both made their food selections and minutes later Ash was relishing her meal, the absence of the others put out of her mind. Soon Ash was chatting and eating and looking at the ships in the air over the port.

Since it's just us now, can we take a trip somewhere? Ash asked.

Did you have anything in mind?

Somewhere Dad has never been to.

That could be tough.

I know, but it would be fun.

I'll see if I can get him to send me a copy of his log, then we can cross all those places off.

So can we go?

I don't see why not. The boys are having their fun so we girls can, too.

They stayed at the table far longer than it took to eat. Ash now was not just thinking of Chup and Ven, but of where she might soon be going. Kotula waited for her to be ready before suggesting they head for home.

The Glass Tower was in the center of the old city. The building had been the showcase of a redevelopment of the area several hundred years ago and now it was considered a landmark. The old city was now the cultural hub, filled with the choicest offerings in entertainment. Dr. Urveh was the best counselor on Leywan so it was no surprise that his office was in the old city.

The route to the transport terminal took them through the heart of the old city. Ash was looking around at the beautiful old buildings and the rich and professional people going about their business. Usually their walk from Dr. Urveh's office took them on a more direct route to the transport terminal. The difference of just a fraction of a kilometer made a big difference in the type of people they saw and Kotula had to smile at how happy that made Ash. The highlight was a woman in a deep red flowing outfit. Ash avoided staring directly but as soon as they had passed her, Ash looked back and then up at Kotula.

Mom, did you see that. She looked like the people at the Senator's party last month.

She's probably meeting someone for a late lunch.

I bet you are right. Ash looked back one last time before she was distracted by more new sights.

By going to the Glass Tower, they were one transport station further from home than when they went directly from the appointment. They arrived just as the transport came into the station. Ash pulled Kotula along so they wouldn’t miss it. Come on, Mom, she called when Kotula didn’t move fast enough.

They made it and Ash found a good seat and Kotula landed next to her. Kotula just looked at her daughter as they waited for the doors to close. When the doors finally slid closed Kotula said, We didn’t have to hurry quick so much.

Ash started giggling.

* * *

In orbit over Leywan, the Insad Corporation’s cargo transport 299 had just received clearance to land. The pilot initiated the descent moments before an explosion rocked the ship. The pilot quickly realized that the ship was decelerating to land and the controls were responding sluggishly. None of the main systems were functioning and he could not reverse the deceleration. As he fought with the damaged ship, the captain came racing onto the bridge.

What happened? he demanded.

There was some sort of explosion aft in engineering, the navigator told him. The course was already set for landing and now we can’t reverse it.

Call port control and get their advice.

The navigator tried to connect, but soon turned to the captain and said, The comm system is out.

What are our options?

We need to know if there is anyone in engineering to work on fixing this, the pilot said as he fought to keep the ship on course.

They quickly found that the explosion had blown a hole in the hull and there was no one left alive in engineering and no one who could make any repairs in the limited lime they had left. The cargo transport was supposed to have redundant systems, but it seemed as if all the back up systems were in disrepair or also damaged.

The pilot soon realized that there was no way to safely land the ship and tried in vain to redirect the ship, but his options were limited. The navigator was doing his best to search out a better place to land with their limited resources. The pilot didn’t have the heart to tell him they were headed for a crash, not a landing.

The solution appeared as they started to drift off course. A large entertainment complex, which appeared to be deserted in the middle of the local work day, lay amid office buildings and apartments, but it was large enough that there was a chance the destruction would be contained. The pilot could feel gravity taking over and fought to keep the ship on its new course. He didn’t quite make it.

* * *

The port control went into panic mode. There had been an anomaly just as the ship had been given landing clearance, but the ship had maintained course. They tried in vain to raise the ship, but it wasn’t responding, not even to the automatic telemetry links. The ship appeared to be somewhat in control until the last minute.

Seeing one of the full sized cargo ships spin out of control was something that none of the controllers would ever forget. It hit tail first into the side of the entertainment complex and exploded. The light was blinding and seconds later the windows in the control tower shook from the concussion wave from the explosion.

They were suddenly swamped with calls from the other ships in the air and frantically worked to reroute ships away from that sector of the city’s airspace. The only collateral damage from their perspective was one light freighter that had been caught in the concussion wave and had to make an emergency landing due to the damage.

None of them had any time to spare on the inferno on the ground.

* * *

Kotula came to her senses in utter darkness. It took her a moment to realize it was her arm shielding her face. She moved her arm and found she was still in the transport car, but there was something very wrong. The emergency lights were on, providing a dim bluish glow that was barely enough to see. The car was tilted at a strange angle. It took her a moment to realize that part of it was that the car was twisted and bent.

She crawled toward the front of the car and saw large chunks of concrete had ripped open the front and crushed the car in front of them. From the amount of debris she could see in the dim light, something had collapsed the tunnel. All she could remember was a deafening sound and then blackness.

As her senses slowly came back, she spun around to find Ash. At first she couldn’t find her and started to panic. The view of the back of the car didn’t help. It was a mangled mess of metal, plastic, and concrete. Ash lay on the floor off to one side. She rushed to her and found her breathing but unconscious. She resisted the urge to scoop her daughter up in her arms. She needed to wake her up first and check her for injuries or risk doing more harm.

Ash. She spoke in a soft tone, but in the complete quite it sounded like she was shouting. Ash, she called again.

Ash moved her head slightly and slowly opened her eyes. Kotula could tell instantly that everything was not okay. Ash was in pain. What happened? she asked.

I don’t know. Where does it hurt?

All over.

Kotula slowly check Ash over. After the kidnapping, she had been scared of everything and had taken an emergency medical course. She'd practiced on both her children, with Ash that had usually ended up with her laughing because it would tickle. Now Kotula followed the set steps and tried to think clinically. Ash's right forearm was broken and a large bruise was forming. She had a slight scrape on her forehead. Kotula had to stop the moment she touched Ash's stomach. Something was very wrong. She pulled out her comm to get help and found a message she hadn't seen before. What does grid not available mean?

She hadn't realized she spoke out loud until Ash said, It means it can't connect to the comm system.

Kotula was dumbfounded. That shouldn't be possible. She checked Ash's comm and it said the same thing. She had no way to call for help. The only other option was to go for help, if she could find a way out.

Ash, just stay still. I need to look around for a minute.

Okay.

Kotula got up and took in her surroundings. Before she'd only seen the general extent of the damage. Now she was looking for a way out. Her eyes found the seat they had been sitting in and she almost collapsed. It had originally been a single unit, but a piece of debris had crashed into it from behind and ripped it in two. She and Ash were lucky to be alive. Maybe not so lucky a part of mind thought but she quickly suppressed that line of thinking. She had to remain positive if Ash was to have any hope. She concentrated on the luck of being thrown forward instead of being cut in half.

The car they were in was barely recognizable. She tried to remember where the doors were from where they had been sitting. As she mentally tried to picture how the car had looked before, she realized that the doors they had come in were part of the mangled mess behind them. Instead she went forward to see if she could find the other set of doors. These cars always had six, four on each side and one on each end. She knew the ends were cut off, but maybe the other set of doors might lead somewhere.

She found one set of doors, but the way the car had bent had crushed them in a way that they would never open. On the other side, where the doors should be, the various panels were pulled apart and each piece looked like a door. She tried one because she could see through a crack, but quickly realized that it was part of the wall. They designed these things to be aesthetically pleasing in normal conditions and if there was a problem they were supposed to light up and open automatically. That part of the system had evidently been destroyed and there was nothing to separate the doors from the walls. She tried to examine the decking for wear, but they kept these cars up far too well and the light was too dim. If the seats hadn't broken free, it would have been easier.

After what seemed like ages, but was really only about ten minutes according to her chron, she found a panel that moved when she pushed. The panel next to it moved as well, but they wouldn't open. She maneuvered one of the seats and shoved it as hard as she could against the two panels and they gave slightly. She pulled it back and shoved it again and the left panel snapped off and crashed to the tunnel outside with a loud noise.

I found the door, Ash. I'm going to look around. I'll be right back.

Okay. Don't go far.

I won't.

Outside the door was a service platform and more emergency lighting. Half of the lights were out. She carefully jumped down and made her way forward. She wasn't able to go far. The car in front of them had been forced to the left as their car had plowed forward to the right. The tunnel was completely blocked by the cars and she could see that just beyond the roof of the tunnel had caved in and chunks of concrete had come down and crushed both cars.

She turned around and went to the back of their car, but there wasn't much to see that way either. The car behind them and crashed directly into their car and the roof had caved in even closer to them. The service platform was narrow and there were no doors or compartments that she could see.

The maglev that usually held the car off the floor of the tunnel was inactive and the cars sat directly on the floor. Even with the damage, the car's exterior was too smooth to try to climb over to see what might be on the other side. They were trapped with no way to communicate.

Kotula tried to compose herself. She couldn't let Ash see her break down. Their only hope was for the comm system to come back online so they could call help. Ash was hurt and she needed to be strong. Part of her knew what the likely outcome might be, but she didn't let herself carry that thought.

She climbed back inside and went to Ash. She laid down next to her on the floor. I didn’t find anything, but the comm shouldn’t be down too long and then we can get out of here.

Ash smiled.

* * *

On the surface, the emergency responders didn’t know where to begin. The entertainment complex sat on top of a main hub in the transport tube system and all of them had collapsed from the crash the explosion and the inferno that raged where the complex had once stood. The pulse from the explosion of the ship’s engines had knocked the comm system out for a quarter of the planet. It was playing havoc with coordinating the emergency crews.

Malbor Genzar was a twenty-year veteran of the port emergency response team and he had seen his fair share of crashes, but the moment he got on scene he knew this was the worst he had ever seen. While on the surface the carnage wasn’t too bad, only the crew of twenty from the ship and six missing custodial workers from the entertainment complex, it was what was below the surface that was disturbing. Six transport lines ran below the complex and at least three of them had been in use at the moment of the crash. There were tunnel collapses, fires, and who knew what else that wasn’t visible that would turn this from just another crash to a major tragedy.

It was Malbor, or Malb to his teammates, who quickly realized that if they didn’t have a comm system that they needed to have people run the messages and only thirty minutes after he was on scene the mob became a coordinated emergency force.

We have to get these fires under control before we can even go into the tunnels, the emergency contact from the transportation authority told Malb.

We are working on that. But there may be people down there.

And if we don’t know the extent of the fire, how are we supposed to know how far down the fire has spread?

I can only compromise so far. The safety of the people who might be in those tunnels is my highest priority. I want to start with the lowest tunnel and assess its condition and we will work up. We will just assess until we have a better idea what the fire is doing.

When he got back the reports on the lowest tunnel some minutes later, it was not encouraging. While the tunnel was passable, it was heavily damaged. The worst news was the condition of the terminal access. While the doors to disembark were intact and they cold see into the rooms beyond, the rooms were heavily damaged and seemed impassable. He’d promised to just assess the situation so he sent them up to the next tunnel.

A transport had been heading into the terminal on the next level up when the ship had crashed. It had been forced to make an emergency stop and the passengers had all been evacuated safely following the emergency protocols. Malb’s team found the tunnel on the other side mostly intact with barely more damage than they’d found in the lowest one until they got to the terminal. Several of the doors had been blown into the tunnel and the openings filled with rubble. Their scanners detected that the temperature in the terminal was rising, indicating that the fire might be reaching that depth.

His men were willing to take the chance to explore the terminal, but he pulled them back and sent them to the next level up. They soon reported that the east end of the tunnel was completely blocked. It took time for them to get to the west end and they made the same report. It was completely blocked. So their only hope of accessing anything from below would be