Alien Proliferation

the last thing. But it was up there on the list.
    The floor moved down.
    I managed not to scream, though I had Chuckie’s hand in a death grip.
    He stepped away from the wall and looked around. “Interesting. Whole floor’s an elevator. But the gate’s stationary.” He didn’t sound freaked out at all. “This normal?”
    “Not for A-Cs, at least, not that I’ve ever seen.”
    He nodded. “Wonder how long it’s been here.”
    “Uh, don’t these sorts of things have to be created as the building’s being built?”
    “Not always. I mean, it’s easier, sure. But if you’ve got plenty of time, tons of money, and the will, there’s always a way.”
    The floor was still moving. “Think there’s anything in the boxes?”
    “Yeah, but not what we’re after. Assume it’s supplies. They have the boxes and crates in here so you can’t see the floor and wall aren’t butted up together. No one looks around behind the gate, and if they do, it’s for the light switch, which everyone other than us would know about.”
    “This couldn’t have been here when Jeff and Christopher were kids. They’d have found it. They were here alone a lot and were inquisitive little boys with a healthy distrust of authority.”
    “Huh, explains Martini’s attitude toward authority other than his own now. However, doesn’t mean they couldn’t have missed this.”
    I dug my phone out. “No service. Hope we don’t run into trouble.”
    “I’m taking trouble as a given. You have a gun?”
    “Nope, Jeff took it away. Do you?”
    “Yeah, he can’t take mine away.”
    We stopped moving. I estimated we were three stories down. “Um, now what?” I was expecting a door or something, but it looked like we were still in a basement, just one for storing the Jolly Green Giant. The lighting was dim since the lights were a long way away.
    “Look for another switch or set of switches.”
    “Here’s one.”
    “Don’t!” Chuckie said at the exact moment I flipped it. We started moving up. He gave me a dirty look.
    “Sorry.”
    “Do you do things like that all the time?”
    Considered lying, figured he’d know. “Yeah, pretty much.”
    “And Martini somehow thinks it’s cute and doesn’t try to strangle you or just lock you up in your room where you can’t do any damage?”
    “Yeah, pretty much.”
    Chuckie nodded. “I think you married the right guy.”
    “Thanks, I think.”
    Took time to think as we took the boring trip to the surface. If we were going to go exploring, which was a possibility, I didn’t want it to be just me and Chuckie, for a variety of reasons, all of them connected with keeping us alive. Considered who’d handle the horror the best. Probably the guy who’d been handling it for decades. “I think I want Richard to come with us. So it won’t be a waste that we’re going back upstairs.”
    Chuckie gave me a long look. “I’m not buying that as a good enough excuse for, ah, your impetuous decision to flip a random switch in a danger situation.”
    “But it works for me. Oooh, look, reception.” I dialed. “Mister White. Changed our minds. Would like you, and only you, to come along.”
    “I’m ecstatic, Missus Martini. Jeffrey looks very pleased for some reason.”
    “Yeah, Chuckie’s had the realization of how I roll thrust upon him.”
    There was a pause. “Are you both uninjured?”
    “So far.”
    “So, you just did something typical for you that Mister Reynolds viewed as foolhardy, dangerous, and unthinking?”
    “Sarcasm is really one of your fortés, isn’t it? Yes. Please meet us in the basement.”
    “On my way.”
    He arrived as we came to a full stop. Chuckie sighed. “Since we’re all the way back up, you want to tell us if you knew about the elevator?”
    “We have two elevators in the building. Neither one goes down to the basement.”
    “No, I mean the hidden one.” Chuckie was watching White carefully.
    “What hidden one?” He wasn’t trying to lie or be evasive—he didn’t know. We pointed out the switch. White shook his head. “It wasn’t here when my wife was our head diplomat.”
    “Okay, so it was put in after. The Colemans had two decades to do the work, after all.”
    White looked angry. “I wonder how many problems they caused for us, over the years. I find it difficult to believe they ever had our best interests at heart.”
    Chuckie flipped the switch and we started back down. “No idea. After this is over, however, I promise you I’m