Broken Mirror: Apophis 2029 by Michel Savage Page A

few shovels and a crowbar stashed in the garage maintenance room and we decided to take another walk outside. 
      Serena and I kept guard after we made our way off the balcony and around the rear of the building.  Cautiously, we made our way to the fresh break in the ground along the exterior fence.  Roy was brave enough to tap on the circular metal plate that was now submerged a few feet below the dirt.  He jumped back, expecting something to happen, but we all relaxed when it did not react after several moments. 
      "Let's dig around this thing and see what we find," he ordered.  Felix and Thorn swapped turns shoveling as Roy helped with an empty bucket to remove the soil from the hole.  The ditch grew ever wider as they slowly exposed metal plate rimmed by reinforced cement nearly twelve feet wide in diameter.  In the center sat the edge of the cylinder we had seen before which was imbedded with sensors.  We were all a little on edge, not knowing if the thing was going to shoot up at any moment and zap one of us.  We took turns listened to the plate cover, but we couldn't detect any sound coming from below.
      "So, now what?" Felix huffed as he leaned on the shovel and wiped the tired sweat from his brow, "Maybe we should just bang on this thing until somebody answers," he suggested halfheartedly as he raised the handle to strike the metal plate below their feet.  Quick as an asp, Roy grabbed the shovels handle to stay his blow.  By the reaction shown on his face, it was obvious Felix was a little surprised at how fast the old man could move. 
      "How about if we don't act so rashly, and actually try to proceed with a measure of caution first, son," Roy shot back, with the derogatory note in his voice to respect his age, "if there is anybody down there, we don't want to give them the impression that we're hostile," he added while lowering the shovel back down gently, "...that could end badly for some of us," he offered with final resolution.
      Thorn took a moment to confer with Felix, who finally admitted that they did not wish to trip a reactionary response from any automated defense system that might be in place.  So far, digging the area clear of earth had not gotten us detected, and we wanted to keep it that way for now.  At the edge of the supporting wall, Felix noted one side had a slanted edge and found what appeared to be the rim of a hatch after digging a few more feet down the exterior wall.  After clearing to top section off, we discovered that the panel opening itself was simply too small to accommodate an adult sized person.  That is when the crowbar we had found earlier came in handy.  Prying off the hatch, we discovered a mass of live electronics embedded inside.  It actually took Felix less than a minute to crosswire the connections and we all jumped back when the entire plate lifted from its seal as chunks of dirt fell within the open casing.
      We stood back with guns drawn and waited in silence for a few moments while the dust settled, only to be startled once again when a section of the plate folded in to reveal a metal staircase that descended into the darkness beyond.  Serena returned to our camp to grab some extra flashlights and gear for us to use on the decent down the shaft.  Felix was a little reluctant to venture down into the pit, but it was clear that we would likely need his expertise if we came across any additional electrical panels.  Haiti accompanied the dark haired girl when they came back down, and Thorn scolded him for leaving the child up there all alone. 
      "Serena, stay up top and keep an eye on the boy while we take a look below," Thorn instructed the girl while motioning to his previous position up on top the roof, "we don't know how long this will take, but we will try to make it out before nightfall," he stated, which would be roughly another five to six hours.  Haiti had his trusty machete stuffed in the back of his belt, and Thorn handed his