The Project 01 - White Jade

like that. "
    " Yes, but what if we can ' t? "
    " We ' ll get out. "
    " Maybe one of the side entrances we passed back there can take us out. "
    " Yeah, but which one? "
    " If we open them up, something could give us a clue. Those boards they used, they don ' t look strong. We can break them down to get in. "
    " That ' s good thinking. " He smelled her fear, a faint, sour, coppery smell. Or maybe it was him .
    He turned on the light. It was weaker.
    Back up the tunnel they came to a side shaft and Selena held the light while Nick pulled boards away. He tossed a rock through the opening waiting for the sound. T here was a pause, then a splash, a long way below.
    " You heard that? "
    " Yes. "
    " I ' m not up for a swim. Let ' s keep going. "
    The next two were the same, vertical death traps dropping hundreds of feet into the flooded lower levels of the mine. They came to the next entrance. Carter played the light around it.
    " There ' s something written there, " Selena said.
    Chinese characters were scribed into the rock over the entrance.
    " Can you read it? "
    " Yes. It says, ' Dreams ' . "
    " Dreams? "
    " That ' s what it says. "
    " Why would someone write ' dreams ' on a mine shaft wall? "
    " How would I know? "
    He kicked in the boards. They stepped through into a low tunnel and followed it bent over . T he light dimmed. After what seemed a long time the passage opened into a large chamber. The air was better, the ceiling high enough to stand upright.
    The room was about twenty feet square. Against one wall, three low rectangles of wood bore old mattresses, straw spilling out where the rats had gnawed on the rotted fabric. Across the room a broken stool lay on its side by a rough wooden table. On the table was the stub of a candle in a holder. Selena walked over and picked it up, just as the light died.
    Nick f elt the old fear, the childhood demons of nameless, hideous monsters lur king in places without light. He took a deep breath, calmed him self. They weren ' t dead yet.
    " Now all we need is a light, " said Selena.
    " You have a match? "
    " I don ' t smoke. "
    " Neither do I. "
    " Smoking can kill you. "
    They started laughing hysterically.
    When they had calmed down he said, " Stay where you are. "
    He crossed the room with hands stretched out until he banged up against one of the beds. From the tattered mattress he gathered straw and fabric and fumbled his way back to Selena. On the floor he felt around until he found a rock
    He made a little pile of bedding, took his knife and struck it against the rock. After a few tries he got a spark. He chipped at the rock, showering sparks down on the straw. It caught into bright flame.
    She handed him the candle and he lit it. The room came back into view, the smoke from the fire rising upward.
    " Look. " Selena pointed upward.
    The smoke disappeared into a hole in the ceiling.
    " That ' s where the air is coming from. "
    " At least we won ' t suffocate. Be nice if it were bigger. "
    Carter looked around. " What is this place? "
    " I think it was an opium den. No one except Chinese would have come in here. The miners couldn ' t have read the sign over the entrance and wouldn ' t have cared anyway. "
    " That makes sense. That ' s why the beds. And the sign makes sense, too. There might be a way out. I don ' t think there ' d only be one exit to a place like this. "
    He walked slowly around the room. On the back wall was the outline of another entrance, walled up with stone, the mortar crumbling and old. Nick took the pick head he ' d found and began chipping away. Soon there was a pile of dust on the floor . A rock came free, then another. He stuck his hand through the opening and touched empty space.
    He kept chipping and pulling out rocks until the entrance was big enough to climb through. They looked at each other.
    "It's another tunnel," he said.
    " What if it ' s a dead end? "
    " We don't have a choice. Only one way to find out. "
    This tunnel was narrow but it was in good shape. At one point it dipped through water that came to their knees. Nick wondered if he was about to step into a deep, deep hole, but the floor rose again and they were back on dry ground . The candle was almost gone when they came to another blocked entrance, this one walled up with brick.
    " That ' s a change. "
    " The mortar looks old. Maybe I can kick it down. " He handed her the candle.
    He gave it a good kick. Another.
    " Now I know how Bruce Lee must have felt, " he said.
    " Let me