Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:53:56 +1300
From: Arthur <artcart65@vodafone.co.nz>
Subject: elios 4

				   ELIOS

				 CHAPTER 4

			       NEW AWAKENING

				 BY ARTHUR


ARTCART65@VODAFONE.CO.NZ


When the boys awoke, they still had no idea as to what time of day it was,
they felt they had been searching for days but now it was time to head down
the right hand passage and so they set out in that direction, but not
before Elios had inspected the large strange door, he noticed after a short
time that there were two coloured buttons set on a small square box, one
button was red and the other green, he pushed them in but nothing happened
so he gave it away and they headed out for new discoveries.

Once they had made it too the junction of the passages, the boys rested for
a little and then set off once again, the passage proved to be much like
the other one with doors on both the right and left, each was investigated
and its `MANUALS'. Elios sak was now too heavy with all the `MANUALS' he
now carried so they decided to put all their food in Elam's Sak and Elvan
took half of what Elios was carrying.

Finally they came once again to a large door but this one had different
symbols to the other one, it was marked as being a, `KEEP OUT RESERVOIR'

This made no sense to Elios so he spun the centre wheel and pushed open the
huge metal door then stepped fearlessly through into the dark beyond. Under
his feet was a metal floor and the sound of his steps echoed around him, he
felt the slight chill in the air and a dampness surrounded him, he lowered
his flashlight and gasped in awe of the sight before him.

The two boys followed him inside and, as they also lowered their weakening
lights, the same sense of awe took their breaths away, for as far as they
could see in the dimming lights was water, even from the height that they
stood above it, they could tell it was clear and clean, it was more water
than they had ever seen in one place, from the side of the huge lake, for
that's what they thought it was, large pipes ran down deep until they
disappeared into the darkness below, Elios wondered why the ancients would
put such big pipes into the water unless they could take the water out
somehow, he would have to investigate this mighty lake further.

Too the side of the metal floor that they stood on was the ladder of the
same shining metal, it lead straight down into the water, handing his light
to Elam, he asked them both to keep the light on the ladder while he went
down to taste the water too make sure it was fresh enough to drink from, if
it was they would have to find some way of carrying some back to the main
cave.

Elios carefully made his way down the metal ladder until his feet touched
the water, it was surprisingly cold, Elios carefully lowered his slim body
further down the ladder until he had half his small body in the water, his
skin tingled with the chill but it felt good as his blood cooled, hooking
one arm around the ladder he leant forward and took a little water in his
hand, bringing it to his lips he sipped, the chill and freshness of the
water hit his throat and he sighed with pleasure, the water was pure and
drinkable, they would never have to fear thirst again and, if they could
find a way they could now wash themselves, they had all noticed that their
bodies were now very dirty and had a bad smell about them.

Elios made his way back to the metal floor and then waited as first, Elam
and then Elvan made the same trip down to the water, afterwards the boys,
now dripping wet, decided to make it back to the main cave and end their
adventure, they all now carried so many `MANUALS' that it was going to take
forever to find out the secrets of the ancients, Elios resolved to teach
his friends how to read them, it was the only way he could think of being
able to get through them all.

They finally made it back to the main cave, they were tired and hungry but
felt a sense of elation at what they had done so far, they had no idea how
long they had been in their new home but that didn't worry them, here they
had everything they needed and they were safe from any attacks, after a
good meal they went to the `BUNKROOM' and set about making to bunks into
one by pushing them together, unwrapping another sleeping pad and blankets,
laying them crosswise over the two bunks, a short time later and all three
were collapsed on the makeshift double bunk and fast asleep, too worn out
to play any boy games.

When they finally awoke, all three boys still felt stiff and tired from
their long search but, not being lazy boys they returned to the main cave
and ate their morning meal then Elios set about teaching the others to
learning the `MAUNAL' symbols, it took a while but the other boys were also
quick learners and so it was time to set out and find what the ancients had
hidden for so long.

The largest manuals were from the rooms of the left passage so Elios lay
them on a table and began to slowly read them, the ones from the right
passage went on another table and Elvan began on them, the thin ones that
Elios had found first were Elam's task as he was the slowest of the three
at learning the symbols and the first manuals were smaller, they knew the
task would take a long time and had opened all the boxes with the `BATT
FLASHLIGHT' inside them and taken out all the `BATTS' too use in the ones
they already had.

Slowly as the time passed by the `BATTS' ran lower and lower until there
was barely a glimmer from any of them, the boys had, had too change to the
hand ones and the steady sound of the pump actions echoed around the room
as the continued to learn. Many times they had eaten and slept, Elam had
found one room that was called a `HEAD' that they used for their body
waste, it was a strange room in that it was covered in the white square
blocks of stone from floor to roof and had strange metal seats with a large
hole in it, it was totally by accident that Elam had used it for his waste
but he soon found it was a nice way to discharge when sitting over the
hole, now all three boys used it although the smell did not go away when
one hole filled they had to go to another even though there was a little
water in each hole.

It was also by accident that Elam found out what the white rolls of what he
now knew was called `PAPER' were used for when he ejected his first waste
in the hole he had been looking for something to wipe himself and had only
grabbed the paper in frustration, when it unrolled neatly in his hand he
could do nothing else but use it, he then told the others about it and now
they all did the same, the only thing puzzling them was why the ancients
had not found a way of getting rid of the waste once the hole was full.

The closest the boys could get to numbering the deis that passed was by how
many times they had too sleep, Elios thought they had now been inside for
about two plus ten deis, the last ten plus five days they had spent every
moment learning from the manuals, it was as Elios opened another manual to
start reading that something caught his eye, it was the one marked as
coming from the `GEN ROOM' all the pictures showed a long strip of light
coming from the roof, quickly Elios went to the best form of information in
the manuals, the fig pictures.

Slowly he went through all the fig pictures, his excitement growing as he
read what he now knew was called a page, one after another as he followed
the fig pictures, finally he could hold it in no longer, he jumped up and
did his happy dance around the floor yelping in glee as it all began to
make sense, at last, he knew how the ancients could see down here in the
dark, Elam and Elvan looked at him as though he was one of the mad boys
from a bad breeder, both of them called out to him in unison.

"What, what, what are you doing?"

"It's my happy dance, I've found it, I've found out how the ancients made
light and things, do you remember the rom we found called the `FUEL ROOM'?"

"Yes, what about it, there wasn't much there just those huge tall cylinders
with that foul smelling stuff in them."

Elios mind went back to the room, when they had gone inside it appeared to
be just a very small room with a thick stone wall and two more doors one at
each end, they both had pictures of zigzag yellow things and another
picture of a red fire on them but the symbols had said one was `DEISEL' and
the other had said `GASOLINE' with big symbols that said `DANGER' there had
been nothing of interest in the two rooms and they didn't like the smell in
either one but now Elios had the answer why the ancients would keep such
foul smelling things in their normally neat and tidy cave.

"Well that stuff in there is to make something called a `GENERATOR' work
and it makes something called `POWER' for all the roms and tools in here."

"So how do we make it all work?" asked the ever practical Elam.

"I think I've got it worked out as long as I follow the fig pictures, we
have to go to the `FUEL ROOM' first and then to the `GEN ROOM' down the
other passage, if we get it right then all sorts of things will work, it
says here even the `HEAD' will work to clean itself in some sort of way."

The boys didn't hesitate to grab their lights and pump them up to full
light, leaving everything behind except for the special `GEN MANUAL' they
hurried away to the `FUEL ROOM'.
 Once inside, Elios opened his manual and began to read again the
instructions for opening the pipe for the diesel cylinders that lead to the
`GEN ROOM'. The diesel cylinders were huge, they measured well over four
lengths high and many more lengths around, on the front of each of the two
plus ten cylinders was a number that the boys could not comprehend, the
first two numbers were familiar as they made the sign for ten but after
that were three more 0's and none of the boys had ever seen that many 0's
before, it was a huge amount, it read.

`10,000 GALS'.

Elios went to the last cylinder in the long line and, following the fig
pictures, began to open the round `VALVES' between each of the cylinders
that he now knew were called `TANKS', when he opened the last one he then
went to a square box near the door and opened a larger `VALVE', when all
was ready he looked at the other two boys and they left to do the same in
the `GASOLINE ROOM' next door, now at least he knew that all the fuel
supplies were ready for whatever they were need for and so the boys ran off
towards the `GEN ROOM'.

The boys piled into the `GEN ROOM' and Elios took out the `GEN MANUAL'
starting at fig 1 he began what the ancients called, `START UP PRE CHECK'
following the figs he checked the coolant and oil, next he read the fig
pictures and after they had searched around the large room they found the
shelf that had a lot of oblong black `BATT' on it, there were over four
plus ten of them, next he set up two of the `BATT' on the `GEN' marked as
#1, it took him some time to work out how to put the short metal rope
between the two `BATT' and then hook up the two long metal ropes that ran
from the side of the `GEN' and making sure that he followed the fig
properly and got the red rope on the round knob that was marked with a +
and the black rope on the one marked with a -, next he went to what was
called the `FUEL PRIMER PUMP' and after studying the fig closely he worked
out how to make the fuel fill the pump.

Next came the start up from the `SWITCH BOARD' which was a large metal wall
close to the `GEN' again following the fig picture he turned the first
switch to `MANUAL START' then with shaking hands he turned a yellow metal
key and shakily reached for the red `START BUTTON', instantly there came a
deep rumbling from the `GEN' as it began to turn inside until, with a loud
coughing sound, it roared into life which scared the boys so much that they
ran out into the passage in case it exploded but instead it settled down to
a loud throbbing as it found its tempo, Elios went back inside to look at
the `PANEL' as he had seen in figs, in the round gles fronted dial he
watched as the `REV' stayed steady at 3500 with only a small waver as the
`GEN ` throbbed on, next he turned the first `SWITCH' back to `AUTO' as the
fig showed.

Elios read the next fig as it told him to push the `BREAKER SWITCH TO ON'
he looked at the fig and then saw the first `BREAKER SWITCH' was marked as
`LIGHTING' above it was another smaller `SWITCH' with a red light showing
next to a dull green one, Elios pushed the `BREAKER SWITCH' down to the
`ON' position as in the fig, next he reached up to the smaller one and with
trembling fingers he turned it to the `ON' position, as son as he did that,
many things seemed to happen at the same time. Firstly the red light died
and the green one started to shine, the `GEN' seemed to lose a little of
its throb then came back strong again but, the most amazing thing to happen
was from the passage, it started as a soft bussing and then there was a
flickering and suddenly there was a great glare of bright white light from
the passage although the `GEN ROOM' stayed almost dark apart from the
strong light shining in from the passage.

The three boys ran outside and looked down the passage, in the roof were
long gles strips that were now lit brightly, they could now see as far as
they wanted too without using there flashlights, Elios looked back into the
darker `GEN ROOM' and wondered why there was no light in there so he went
to have a look as the others stood and marvelled at the magic of the
ancients.

It was only by sheer luck that Elios put his hand out too lean against the
wall as he pondered on the problem of the darkness of the room, under his
hand he felt something move and as it did the `GEN ROOM' flooded with the
same bright white light, Elios lifted his hand and looked at the wall, all
he could see was a square plastic box with a thin flat surface, he reached
out and pushed with his finger and almost jumped in surprise when the
lights went out and he was again in darkness, pushing again and the light
returned, `so that was how they did it' he thought to himself, his face
flushed with success he then went back to check everything again.

Returning to the `BREAKER BOARD' he followed the figs and as he turned on
breaker after breaker, each time making the `GEN' slow and then speed up
again as each red light turned green he felt a true sense of accomplishment
as first the `PUMPS' then something called `A/C VENT' then `LIFTS' followed
by such strange things as `ADMIN, SECURITY SYS, REFRIG, and many more green
lights came on until the entire `BOARD' was lit up with green lights, by
then, Elam and Elvan had joined him and they began to ready the other two
`GENS' and set them on `AUTO START' as the fig said, finally they were left
with only the small `GEN' that sat behind the others, this one was marked
as the `EMERG GEN, AUTO START, LIGHT AND VENT ONLY' Elios and the others
set about readying that the same as the others although this one was
smaller and required only one `BATT', then, with light hearts and huge
smiles they ran back to their main room, every where there was bright
light, Elios showed the others how to make the lights come on and off in
the smaller rooms.

When they reached the main room there was another surprise waiting for
them, from the `GALLEY' the could hear the sound of water falling and so
they rushed to the door and, after feeling around for the flat plate by the
door, the lights came on to show the boys where the sound was coming
from. At one side of the `GALLEY' was a line of metal shelves that had had
the middles pushed down in a square shape with a hole at the bottom, but
what was more interesting was the small pipe that ran from the wall, it had
a small lever on top and from its mouth was pouring clean fresh water, the
boys ran to it and with their hands began to scoop up the first fresh water
they had had since the finding of the `KEEP OUT RESERVOIR' the boys drank
their fill and then out of nothing more than curiosity, Elam reached for
the lever and turned it, the water stopped immediately, Elam turned it the
other way and the water ran strong and fresh again.

Elvan had been watching Elam's game with interest until something clicked
inside his head and he ran off towards the room called `HEADS' going inside
he looked at the places they had used to get rid of their wastes, the smell
had gone a little but was still strong even though he could feel a new
brush of fresh air from somewhere in the room.  Taking a step towards the
first and oldest used seat he reached out for the lever that was marked as
`FLUSH' he pushed the lever down and although he was a little surprised at
the result, it didn't surprise him as much as the starting of the `GEN'
had.

>From somewhere came a strong torrent of water which swirled around the
seat and with a speed that made him smile, Elvan watched their built up old
waste disappear through the hole on the bottom of the seat, jumping up with
joy he set about pushing the lever on each seat they had used until all of
them were again nearly clean, there were only some old dark marks around
the edges but already the smell was getting less as new air came into the
room, Elvan ran back to tell the others what he had found out and to let
them know how to keep the `HEAD' cleaner.

The boys sat around one of the tables and discussed their new found skills
while they each ate from another cylinder of `SPAM' and decided what they
would do next, Elvan wanted to find some way of getting hot food and
thought he would like to look into the `GALLEY' as he had been reading
about what it was used for, Elam, wanted to go to the `GARAGE' as something
deep inside him had been moved by the fig pictures of the `MANUALS' he had
read about something called `VEHICLES' Elios decided he would look into the
`ADMIN OFFICE' to see what it was used for, each agreed to meet back here
when they had found out enough of what interested them the most.

Elam had no idea what it was that was pulling him to the `GARAGE' but it
was something deep inside him, once there and with the new help of the
white lights he could see the full extent of the `GARAGE' it was huge and
full of the `VEHICLES' he had been reading about since the first
day. Everything was neatly lined up in its own place, along one wall was a
line of ten `QUADS' next to them was a line of six `JEEPS' and across the
floor against the other wall was a line of eight `HUMVEES' but what really
caught Elam's eyes was parked in the middle of the `GARAGE', there stood in
all their powerful glory were three `APC'.

Of all the `VEHICLES' in the `GARAGE' these were the biggest and most
terrifying to look at, unlike the others these had strange flat plates
instead of the round wheels although they had a lot of small wheels inside
the long flat plates, mounted on the top was a round cylinder from which
projected two thick pipes that pointed to the front, the total `VEHICLE'
had only one door in the side and a larger one at the back, at the very
front were small dark gles windows, this `VEHICLE' was the one most
favoured by Elam when he had read the `MANUALS', it had power, space and it
was said it could go anywhere if the `DRIVER' was well trained, Elam wanted
to be that `DRIVER' he was sure the other `VEHICLES' would be just as much
fun but this one was a giant, he just knew that nothing in their world
would ever stop it, Elam set to work with his `DRIVER MANUAL' as he walked
around his new beast, that was what he was going to call it, `THE BEAST'.

While Elam was salivating over his `BEAST' Elvan had entered the `GALLEY'
at first all was a confusion for him but he took out his favourite `MANUAL'
and began to follow the fig picture just as Elios had taught him, from the
two large metal doors he could hear a humming, he opened the first one and
was met with a blast of such cold air it almost took his breath away, his
skin puckered up in goose bumps at the blast, quickly he closed the door
and went to the next one, it was also humming but on opening the door,
while it was cold, it was not as cold as the one marked `FREEZER', this
would be a good place to stand when he got to hot but the `MANUAL' said it
was for storing food that might spoil in the heat, this would come in handy
if he could work out how to cook a lot of food he could keep it in here and
not have to cook so often.

Elvan's next challenge was to turn on the `OVENS' this he knew would take
time and he had to follow the `MANUAL' carefully to make sure it all
worked, first he found the room marked with yellow flashes and pictures of
red fires, once inside he saw the lines and lines of tall metal cylinders,
these he knew from the figs were `GAS CYLINDERS' and were very dangerous if
he made a mistake, following the figs carefully, he set about connecting
one to a small pipe that went through the wall to the `GALLEY', once it was
connected he carefully turned the `VALVE' and listened for any hissing of
escaping gas as the fig had showed, he returned the `SPANNER' to its place
on the wall where he could find it again and went back to the inner
`GALLEY'.

Going to the first `OVEN' Elvan went through the figs for starting it, it
was only moments later that he tentatively began to push the fire button
after turning on the gas button, he could hear and smell the gas coming
from the small holes around the `ELEMENT' with a trembling finger he began
to push the start button, on the second push there was a soft `WOOSH' and
the `ELEMENT' was alight with small round blue flames, the heat was
extraordinary to Elvan, much more than an open fire like he was used to,
next he went in search of what the manual called a `COOKERY BOOK', these he
found on one of the shelves, in fact he was taken aback a little at the
number of them.

Inside the `COOKERY BOOK' he saw so many food wonders he didn't know where
to start or what to look at first, there was so much and so many words for
everything, turning off the gas on the `OVEN' he picked up one of the
`COOKERY BOOKS' and began to read all the words but without seeing the
items it was very difficult but it did lead him to begin to search all the
cupboards and other rooms for something familiar, the room he liked the
best was the one marked as `LARDER' inside was so much food of all kinds,
most of it not even seen before, things like, 'SPICES, FLOUR, SUGAR,
POWDERED EGGS, POWDERED MILK, SAUCES, MUSTARDS, TINNED CHEESE, TINNED
BUTTER.'  And so much more, all of which he had no idea what it was but he
was determined that in time he would learn about it all, the one thing he
did find six of in a drawer made him smile as he looked at his `MANUAL' to
find out what it was, made him put three of them close to the door so he
would not forget them, they would be a special present for his friends,
Elvan continued on his investigation of what he now considered his `GALLEY'

Not far away Elios stood alone in the `ADMIN OFFICE' the room seemed dead
and still, only the new lighting made it look interesting, all the tables
with their solitary chair looked forlorn as he looked around, he could feel
the cool air on the bare skin of his ankles as the draft came through the
small square holes at the bottom of the walls, Elios decided that most
things would come from the big room that was marked as `O/C OFFICE' going
in there he saw so much more, behind the large wud table was a single large
black chair and in front were two more slightly smaller ones of the same
design, Elios went to the one at the back and sat down only to quickly jump
back on his feet as the chair began to move back and around as he touched
it, he stood back up and played with the chair for a short time until he
thought he understood what it did and finally carefully sat down again, the
first thing he noticed was his legs were to short to touch the floor and as
he leaned back in the chair it tipped back with him until he was almost
lying down in it.

Elios laughed at himself and carefully sat up again, it was then that he
noticed the plastic covered item on the desk, the symbols read, `SYS SETUP'
Elios opened it and looked at all the words, it was headed in red symbols.

"COMMAND BUNKER #42 SECURITY SYSTEMS SETUP, GEN HARPER, EYES ONLY"

Elios read on as the rest of the symbols returned to the normal black.

"Setup procedure: activate Sec. Sys. code 22987002"

"Activate Safe Sec. Sys. Code 13497"

"Activate Sec Card Code. O/C Gen. Harper 11356. Exec. Off. Col. Benson
11357. 3rd Off. Maj. Adams 11358"

"Above codes active all areas."

Elios looked at the meaningless words but he knew deep down inside they
were very important to their new home, he went back to the start and read
again the first of the "Sec Sys codes", there had to be something here he
was missing, he sat back in the comfortable chair and looked around the
room slowly swivelling the marvellous chair as he went, where he had come
in there was a thick gles wall so he could see into the other room where
all the small tables were, to his right was a blank wall that looked as
though it was also made of gles but he couldn't see through it, maybe it
was just a shiny wall like some of the other special rooms like the
`ABLUTION' room he had seen, directly behind him was a green painted stone
wall and too his left was another plain wall with a grey box half way up
the wall.

Elios began to spin around for another look and then stopped dead, slowly
he turned back to the grey box and looked closer, there were small words on
it, he left the chair and walked to the box, he read the two words and
almost hugged himself with glee for it read `SEC SYS' on the front of the
box was a smaller one made from plastic by the look of it but on the
surface was a small plastic pad with the ten numbers he knew so well, Elios
went back to the table and picked up the plastic `FILE'. Carefully he
pushed in the numbers on the `FILE' as he finished the last number there
was a loud "click" and the door opened to reveal two rows of buttons with a
red and green light above each one, the red light was on all of them except
for two marked in green as "ACTIV" all the red ones read "INACTIV" now he
knew what the words meant, active was the same as start and inactive was
the same as stop, quickly he looked at the two rows of buttons and, pulling
a low table over to the box to make it easier for his shorter height, Elios
started to throw all the switches to "ACTIV" as he threw the last one
marked as "Security Systems" he nearly fell off the table as everywhere
around him yellow lights flashed and a loud screaming sound erupted from
the walls, before he could react everything stopped as fast as it had
started but the a light bar at the bottom showed him in green.

"ALL SYSTEMS ACTIVE, COMMAND CODES INTACT AND ACTIVE"

Elios returned to his big chair and looked around, he could see through the
gles wall that all the small boxes on the tables were now lit up and lights
on and in them were flashing as a strange picture went back and forth over
the gles of the small box on the table, Elios spun the chair again and
looked around his room while he read again the next words in the `FILE'
what was a "Safe Sec Sys." Elios kept looking until he saw behind him
another square box with the same number box on it, was it really that easy
for the ancients, he got up and turned around to the new box,

Again following the numbers he pushed them in and got the same result as
before, there was a click and the small light turned green, with a light
pull the door opened to reveal another plastic file, he took it out and
laid it on the table and sat down again, once sitting he opened the new
file. In it there were three small plastic cards with life like picture of
three different men, one was of a very old ancient looking man who must
have been all of six plus ten yarn, he had never seen someone so old, had
he been alive today he would have been a very important man for his age and
the next one also, he must have been about five tens plus five, how they
could live for so long was beyond Elios understanding, the third man was
about as old as he had ever seen a man, about four tens plus five, Elios
matched the names of the men with his first `FILE'

It was as he was putting the three cards in line on the table that he
noticed that the black square box on his table was now lit up with a funny
picture, it was a circle with a large bird in the middle, around the base
of the picture was the now familiar name of the ancient that owned all this
stuff.

`USMC'

A thin white box with a flashing black line caught his eye and he tried to
make sense of the new words.

`ENTER PASSWORD'

What was a `PASSWORD' now Elios was getting really confused, the word
`ENTER' he could now understand but the other one was new too him, Elios
sat back and looked at the flashing thin line, after thinking for some time
and only as a means to stop his frustration at all the strange new words he
kept finding, Elios stretched his finger out to the thin black box in front
of the picture box, on it there were a great number of symbols and numbers
as well as a lot of unknown marks, slowly he pressed the small squares with
the numbers on them and saw that only funny little stars came up in the
box, he continued to make up the numbers he had for the `C/O GEN HARPER'
from the `FILE' as the last number was pushed into the small box he stopped
and waited for something to happen like last time he had used all the
numbers but nothing did.

The white strip continued to flash but this time it kept showing the words,
`PRESS ENTER' below the white strip, Elios sat and looked at they words as
they flashed on and off at last he looked down at the thin black box in
front of him and saw one of the squares had the same word `ENTER' on it,
with one finger he pressed the square and to his amazement there was a
strange whirring sound from a large box below the table and the gles window
in front of him went blue for a short time and then a picture of a strange
scene appeared.

The picture was so real he almost reached out to touch it, the ground was
covered in a deep green the likes of which he had never seen, it covered
the hill from top to bottom, on top was a huge tree but it was a live tree
with green leaves not like all the dead trees he had always seen, above was
a deep blue sky, the picture stirred something deep in Elios mind as he
looked at it, could this have been what it was like before the `HORROR',
just then, from somewhere deep in the `BUNKER #42' Elios heard something
that sounded like two deep loud coughs and then a loud roaring sound, it
was even louder than when they had started the `GEN'.

Elios jumped to his feet and began to run towards the harsh sound and
nearly collided with Elvan as he appeared from the `GALLEY' heading in the
same direction as Elios, each boy gave the other a somewhat fearful look as
the ran, Elam must be in trouble they both thought and kept on running
towards the roaring sound, they could both feel a vibration under their
bare feet as they ran.

By following the sound they soon found themselves standing in the doorway
of the room marked as the `GARAGE', in the middle of the room was a very
large metal box with strange flat metal plates running over a lot of
smaller wheels, from the back there was a small plume of smoke that made
their eyes water, suddenly a flat metal door opened in the front and out
popped the head of Elam, he had what Elios would describe as the biggest
smile he had ever seen on the boys face.

Elam waved at his two friends as his face tried to split into two parts at
his lone victory, Elios tried to shout over the noise of the large box but
Elam waved his hand and disappeared once again into the box only to appear
a short time later as the noise of the box died. The following silence
almost stunned the two boys as they watched a still smiling Elam jump down
from the box and walk over to them.

The boys were not in the habit of using bad words but this was one of those
times that Elios could not avoid it.

"What the frik is that?"

With a sense of pride in his voice, Elam told them.

"It's called an `APC' it's for carrying people and other things, the other
ones are for the same thing but carry less, those over there are called
`QUADS' and those are `JEEP' and the other ones are called `HUMVEE' I think
the ancients used them for fighting, if we use them outside then no one can
hurt us as long as we stay inside them."

Elvan suddenly yelped and rushed out of the `GARAGE' without a word, Elios
looked at the large box in awe.

"How did you get it to start?" He asked the still smiling Elam.

"I did what you have been doing, I found the `MANUAL' and followed all the
fig pictures, the only problem is how do we get it outside, there must be a
way or the ancients could not have got it in here."

"It has to be the big door but I don't know how it opens yet, I think I
might have found a way but it's going to take more work yet." Replied
Elios. "Did you try starting the other ones yet?"

"Not yet, I wanted to try this one first, the others should be easy after
all the problems I had with this one, I think they all work much the same
except for their fuel, this one works with the `DEISEL' but the other ones
work with that other fuel `GASOLINE'."

"Did you carry the `DEISEL' all the way from down at the `TANKS'?"

"No you don't have too, you get it out of those pipes over there. " said
Elam pointing to an oblong box with four pipes attached to it, two were
marked as `DEISEL' and the other two as `GASOLINE'.

Just as Elam was about to go into a long explanation of his deis work, a
loud yell came from way back down the passage, it was Elvan calling them to
come and eat, at the mention of food both boys stomachs rumbled in
complaint at the lack of sustenance, Elios started to giggle at the duet in
their stomachs and they both began to run towards the main room but, as
they neared the `GALLEY' Elvan poked his head out of the door.

"In here."

For the first time the two boys noticed a really nice smell coming from the
`GALLEY' as they walked in, now it was Elvan's turn too smile broadly as
the boys looked at a table which had metal plates and pots on it from which
came the best food smell both boys had ever come across.

"What did you do?" asked Elam.

"It's food the ancients used to cook, its all in the `MANUALS', this one is
called `SPAGHETTI'."

Elvan pointed to a pot full of what looked like white worms, it was covered
in something a lot like blood and had wud dust over the top, to Elios eyes
it didn't look all that good but the smell was like nothing he had ever
smelt before, his mouth was watering just on the smell.

"This one is called a `PIE'."

The two boys looked at the flat metal plate, it had a white top that had
been browned by a fire and mixed underneath was what looked like small
pieces of spam with other vegetables from the `CANS' of food they had taken
from their treasure, it looked a lot better than the `SPAGHETTI' and also
smelt just as good.

What amazed the two boys the most were the three large gles containers
sitting on the table, they were filled with fresh water but what amazed
them the most was the small square pieces of gles floating on the top,
Elios poked one of the squares with a finger, immediately he pulled his
finger out, not only was the gles very cold but the water also was very,
very cold, he looked at Elvan with askance.

"It's called `ICE' that box over there makes it from water."

Elam went to a tall white box on one wall and opened the door just as there
was a rattling sound from inside, Elios and Elam went to the box and
watched as a lot of small squares of the `ICE' dropped into a plastic box
in the bottom, the box was nearly full, Elios picked one out and with
fascination watched as it changed back into water from the heat of his hand
even though his hand was colder than the night wind he couldn't let it go
as he was struck buy the magic of it all.

"Let's eat." Called Elvan as he sat at the table and began to use a strange
tool to pick up a big pile of the `SPAGHETTI' and put it on a metal plate,
next he used a large spoon to pile up some of the `PIE' on the same plate,
with his fingers he picked up a hand full of the white worm looking stuff
and pushed it in his mouth, slurping and sucking until it was all in then
chewed and smiled in triumph, "Come one hurry up before it gets cold again"

Being to hungry to argue with Elvan, the two boys followed his example
although they were a little more circumspect at putting it in their mouths,
that is until they tasted it and then it became a study in gluttony as they
began to try to push more and more into their mouths without swallowing,
this truly was an amazing food and it was also the first hot food they had
had since leaving the breeding caves.


TBC

Artcart65@vodafone.co.nz