The Undercollege, Part 8: The Tower/Questions Answered

Originally posted on Facebook Notes, 15th May 2008

They'd been walking for some time now, the organic rock of the natural cavern giving way to a crudely blasted man-made passage. Its floor sloped gently upwards. Here the luminous algae did not grow, so that Mike was forced to use his Maglite to illuminate the path in front of them. Just as they were beginning to grow accustomed to the routine of trudging along in silence, a new space opened up before them. Rudolf swore as he nearly pitched forward into nothingness, dislodging a few skittering stones.

Flicking the beam of the torch upwards revealed that their corridor had opened onto a broad shaft, stretching into the blackness above and below them as far as the eye could see. It was circular in diameter, and the pathway spiralled both up and down in a deep groove around the circumference.

Rudolf surveyed their options. "Upwards or downwards?" he asked.

"While a journey to the centre of the earth might be appealing under other circumstances," Mike replied grimly, "right now a girl's life is at stake. We go upwards."

The taller man nodded. "Whatever you say, Chief." Without further words, they began to climb.

Neither of them noticed the wooden plaque affixed to the wall by the entrance to the passage. In worn, barely legible letters, it read:

THE TOWER
STRICTLY NO ENTRY UNLESS ALL SEALS BROKEN

*

"Me," Cat repeated, barely able to believe what she was hearing. She stared incredulously across at her dark-haired co-prisoner. "You were looking for me."

Mirabelle emitted a short sigh, and glanced at the stone flags beneath her feet. "I probably shouldn't have started by saying that. But yes, I was sent here to find you and two others..." She stopped short as Cat laughed abruptly. "What?"

"I don't even know where to begin with my questions," the mousey-haired girl responded ruefully, shaking her head. "Fine. Never mind. Let's start with: where exactly is here?"

"That, at least, I can answer," Mirabelle returned, stretching out her legs into a more comfortable position and crossing them at the ankle. Her voice had the confidence of a woman accustomed to teaching. "This place was one of the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, although technically its name has been stricken from all records. It was known as Midwinter College, after its founding in 1358 on the 25th of December. Seven years later, the Master and Fellows of the College were found guilty of all manner of terrible crimes, not least among them necromancy and daemonology."

"Necromancy and daemonology?" Cat queried matter-of-factly, brushing hair out of her eyes as if it would help her see the issue more clearly. When she received a nod in response, she smiled. "Okay. Carry on."

Mirabelle was evidently taken aback by Cat's nonchalance, because it took her a moment to resume what she was saying. "Well... the Fellows of other colleges got together to protest, and the end result was that, by the Chancellor's decree, four of their number enacted a spell of banishment that spirited the whole college away to this dank pit. Which is where their members have been trapped ever since... until recently, that is."

"Magic," Cat mused. "Magic exists. That makes a lot of sense, I suppose." She shook her head and smiled. "So what happened recently to change the situation?"

"A lot of things," was Mirabelle's terse response. "But the result was that the spells of banishment were weakened. It became possible for individuals to travel from Cambridge to here, and vice versa, except for the most powerful of beings. Which is how you got here."

"And you," Cat prompted.

The dark-haired woman looked surprised at being asked about herself, then nodded. "Yes. Me too."

*

They had reached the top of the tower.

A massive plate of flat, dark metal cut all the way across the shaft above them, preventing all upward progress. It was smooth and unmarked except for two hatches. The smaller of the two was ahead of them on the path, which spiralled up to it and stopped. It was only just large enough for a person to pass through. The larger was circular and sat above the shaft proper, with no obvious access to it.

"I wonder what that's for?" Rudolf thought aloud.

"They must use it to haul things up and down from the surface," Mike replied. "Larger things, that wouldn't fit down the path. Imagine trying to get a grand piano down here. Or an Austin Seven."

"An Austin Seven?" Rudolf queried.

"You never heard that story? I'll have to tell you about it some time," the engineer responded. "Right now, let's get this door open." He grabbed the wheel-shaped handle on the hatch and turned it first clockwise, then anticlockwise, then grunted. "Huh. It's locked."

"There's a keyhole just above it," Rudolf pointed out. "Try the porter's keys."

Mike examined the lock for a few seconds, then shook his head. "Wouldn't do any good. The porter's keys are all lever lock keys. This one's a tubular pin tumbler lock - it needs a different type of key."

Rudolf, hunched over where the path spiralled into the metal disc above them, sighed and sat down. "Can't you get through it somehow with your special tool thing?"

"No," Mike shot back. "Can't you get through it somehow with your razor sharp wit?" They sat in resigned silence for a few seconds, then Mike reached into his pocket and pulled out the copper casket he'd picked up from the Praelector's room. It clicked open, and the first item within it was a long tubular key. Mike shook his head. "Well, I'll be damned." He pushed the key into the lock. It fitted, and the hatch slid upwards and backwards away from them.

They weren't greeted by sunlight. In fact, the room before them was as dark as the rest of the shaft. It was circular, fitting neatly on top of the tower, and about three metres in height. The walls and ceiling were formed entirely from plates of the same dark metal that formed the floor, welded solidly together.

"This floor is over a foot thick," the tall rower remarked as he emerged through the hatch after Mike. It slid shut behind him. "Somebody really wants to keep these people in."

"Smells strange in here," Mike muttered. "Like salt."

"Yeah, well shall we let in a bit of fresh air?" Rudolf responded, making his way over to a ladder set into the wall which led to another, similar hatch in the ceiling. "There's no keyhole on this one. God, I'll be glad to get out of here. How long have we been down here? A day?" There was no response from Mike. "Well, it seems like forever. Come on, let's go." He began to turn the wheel. There was some initial resistance, and then with a metallic screech it started to rotate.

"Wait," Mike said suddenly. "Rudolf, don't open it. I don't think this is all designed to keep us in. What if it's designed to keep something else out?"

But the taller man wasn't listening. The wheel reached its final position, and the hatch swung open.

*

"It's a good thing the spells are weakened," Cat continued, "or my friends wouldn't be able to get out."

Mirabelle's eyebrows drew together in concern. "There are others? Where did you see them?"

"I met them a while ago," Cat replied. "We couldn't find the way out, so we sneaked into the building - the College - and stole a map. I think the other two got away, so they'll be heading for the surface if they have any sense."

The older woman's already pale face blanched even further. "No... the surface..."

"What?" Cat demanded. "What's wrong? They'll be coming back to rescue us! Once word gets out that we're down here..." She trailed off.

Mirabelle was shaking her head. "I didn't tell you the full story," she said urgently. "This place... it's not just underground. It's in... what you might call a parallel world. Another version of Earth. Getting to the surface won't get them back to Cambridge. This world was never inhabited by humans."

"So?" Cat inquired. "Surely they'll just figure it out and come back. What's so bad about the surface?"

"The average temperature of this world has been a fraction of a degree higher than on ours for the last three thousand years," Mirabelle responded heavily. "And there were no Dutch engineers to build channels and drain the Fens."

It took a second for the implications to sink in, then Cat's eyes widened.

*

Cold saline water crashed in upon them.

The Undercollege, Part 7: Captured

Originally posted on Facebook Notes, 30th March 2008

Less than an hour ago they'd been hiding behind the same stalagmite-tree. But back then, there'd been three of them, and they'd been filled with an optimism that certainly wasn't present any more.

Four skeletal porters were making their along the riverbank toward the bridge, flanking a heavyset man in a gown. Draped over one of this man's broad shoulders was the bedraggled, unconscious form of Cat, who he bore as if she weighed nothing at all.

Across the narrow space between them, Rudolf could feel Mike's hackles rise. "Steady," the historian murmured, glancing over at him. "Rushing in there isn't going to improve our situation. There's five of them, and only two of us. Now I'm no mathmo, but those odds don't sound good to me."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Mike shot back. "Just sit and watch while they take her back in there to be killed?"

The engineer's tetchiness was almost contagious, and Rudolf had to force himself to keep a cool head as he replied. "Who said anything about killing? If they wanted to kill her, don't you think they'd have done so by now? They've had ample opportunity." He could see that his words did little to calm the other man, but persisted anyway. "Look, I just don't think it's a good idea. And I know you've got the hots for Miss Cat, but believe me, I want to see her rescued just as much as you do."

These were even more evidently the wrong words. Mike's visage darkened like a stormfront, and his knuckles paled to white. The taller man took an involuntary half-step backwards and hastily continued. "Hey... I'm sorry. It was just an observation. One fella to another. Forget I said it if you like. But the point is, she's still alive, and so are we. If we charge down there, they might just decide to kill all of us. Or, best case scenario, take all of us prisoner. On the other hand, we have the map now. If we get the hell out of here, we can come back later, with backup."

Now Rudolf's words did seem to be reaching Mike, but he still shook his spiky-haired head. "You're ascribing logical common sense to the sort of people who hobnob with the living dead and cultivate man-eating lawns," he pointed out sullenly. "I'm still not sure they won't just kill her once they get her inside."

"Believe it or not," Rudolf replied earnestly, "it doesn't change the way things are. We've got nothing to gain from showing ourselves now. If we..." He trailed off as Mike prodded his lycra-clad arm. Someone was emerging from the college. Tall and slender, he walked with purpose and grace. His most distinctive feature was the colour of his eyes, which were crimson red.

"It's him," Mike whispered. "I saw him when we were upstairs in the room, back in the College. I think he's the Praelector."

Words were being exchanged between the bulky man and the dinner-jacket-clad newcomer, and Rudolf strained to make out what they were saying. However, only the red-eyed man's final words were clear enough to be perceived. "The Master wants her alive." His crisp, clear voice was laced with distaste. "Take her to the Old Cellars."

Rudolf turned to Mike as the procession proceeded over the bridge and into the College, and grinned. "I do so love being right."

Mike didn't take the bait. "Just get the map out. If we're going, then let's go."

Rudolf shrugged, and opened out the piece of paper they'd stolen. For the next few minutes the two men pored over the map in silence.

*

For the second time in one day, Cat opened her eyes to find herself in a dark place. It took her a few seconds to remember where she'd been when she was last awake. She'd been fighting futilely against the current, and then...

"Mike!" she called. "Rudolf!"

Details of the room she was in began to make themselves clear to her. No light entered into it from any source, and the ceiling above was vaulted like a chapel - or a crypt. Her clothes were already drying off well, perhaps because the room gave off an air of mustiness. The bowler hat she'd been wearing was gone. She realised she was cold, and shivered.

"Good. You're awake."

Cat cast around for the speaker. Seated against the opposite wall, with her knees up to her chest, was a woman in a plain but elegant black dress. She was plump and ruddy-cheeked, but young-looking; Cat judged that she couldn't have been out of her late twenties. Her curly dark brown-black hair didn't quite reach to her shoulders.

A pang of fear jolted through Cat. "Are you... one of them? From the College?"

The woman laughed shortly, a rich, resonant sound. "If I was, would I be locked in here with you?" She gestured to a thick metal door, which rather reminded Cat of the ancient door to the safe room of her village bank. "I'm sorry. My conversation skills may be a little rusty - I haven't had anyone to talk to for at least a few weeks, although I've lost count of the exact amount of time I've been down here. My name's Mirabelle, anyway."

"I'm Cat." Cat didn't move from her position against the wall, although she shifted herself into a more comfortable angle to talk to the newcomer. "If..." she began. "If you're not from the College, then... where are you from?"

The woman who called herself Mirabelle seemed to laugh again, a little ruefully. "I could ask you the same question," she replied lazily. "But since you asked first, I suppose I should give you an answer. I'm at Darwin. I'm reading for a PhD in Philosophy. Or perhaps I should say was."

Cat was still a little suspicious of the dark-haired woman, and so she asked a further question. "Then how did you end up down here?"

"My supervisor sent me," came the immediate response. "I was looking for you."

The Undercollege, Part 6: The Raid

Originally posted on Facebook Notes, 16th March 2008

Mike sucked air in through his teeth. Rudolf and Cat remained silent.

The river was deep, wide and fast-flowing. Much like the Cam, it was opaque to the point that one could only guess at what horrors were to be found in its depths. Its near bank was, as one would expect, bare of vegetation. The far side of the river did not have a bank; instead a sheer wall of black basalt rose fiercely into the heights of the great cavern, supported by flying buttresses plunging back into the murky water. Unlike the garden, this cavern did not have a ceiling covered in luminous algae, and the tops of the serrated spires thrusting upwards were shrouded in darkness. The cavern's light came from the series of blood-orange lamps that flanked the path to the only bridge across the river, a slender, single-span construction, and from the building itself, whose narrow vaulted windows seemed to glare down at the three intruders.

Mike hadn't been easily convinced of the merit of Rudolf's plan, but eventually he'd acquiesced. After all, as Cat had rightly pointed out, it was the only plan they had that didn't involve sitting around doing nothing. Furthermore, it quickly became clear that Cat was quite taken with the idea, which in itself made up Mike's mind. He wasn't about to leave her to go it alone with the tall, cocky historian.

Cat waved frantically at him to get down, and Mike ducked behind a stalagmite-tree with the others. A skeletal porter was emerging from a small door set into the college's studded metal gate, making its way unhurriedly across the bridge. The engineer held his breath until it had disappeared into a side passage, then let it out in a long sigh of relief. "So this is your Midwinter College," he stated. There was a hint of reluctance in his voice despite his best efforts. Until the building had come into view, he'd still secretly been hoping that Rudolf had been making it up, and that by accompanying him he and Cat would be calling his bluff. However, the evidence in front of him was too stark to be ignored. He jerked a thumb towards the cavern opening into which the porter had disappeared. "If they're in league with the animated skeletons, I don't imagine we'll have much luck if we simply walk in and ask for their help."

"You're probably right there," Rudolf conceded. Annoyingly, he seemed unfazed. "We should take a stealthier approach. Perhaps we could take a look further down the bank, see if there's a side entrance. All colleges have a side entrance. If we - " He was cut off by a curse from Mike. Cat had emerged from behind the stalagmite-tree and was rapidly picking her way down the scree-covered slope towards the bridge and the gatehouse beyond. A second later, Mike took off after her. Shrugging his broad shoulders, Rudolf followed, his longer strides easily enabling him to catch up with the other two.

Mike reached Cat first, just as they had traversed the bridge, grabbing her by the arms and pulling her into an alcove under the archway. Seconds later Rudolf piled in. "What were you thinking?" Mike hissed to Cat. "Any number of people could have seen us crossing the bridge. If another one of those skeletons had come out..."

Cat glanced back with something like amusement in her expression. "That was why I took the opportunity," she explained in a patient tone. "I'd be willing to bet they patrol at regular intervals. If we go now, we probably won't run into another one for another few minutes at least."

Mike was too exasperated for words, but Rudolf regarded her with eyebrows raised. "You're actually enjoying this, aren't you?"

"And this is a college, after all," Cat continued, ignoring both of them. "I doubt it has any security other than the porters. Since we're finding it difficult to get out to the surface, I'm guessing they don't have many visitors, especially unwanted ones. I bet that door isn't even locked." So saying, she wriggled out of Mike's grasp and made for the door handle. It clicked open on her touch, and the door swung inwards. She disappeared through it.

Rudolf let out a low whistle. "She's a woman who knows what she wants," he remarked.

Mike glared as he made to follow her. "If you can't come out with anything useful," he muttered, "then don't say anything at all."

*

Cat found herself in a quadrangle that could have been part of any college in Cambridge - save, perhaps, for the forbidding black stonework and the utter darkness above. Two paved paths crossed the courtyard, slicing the lawns into four neat squares. She noticed that the grass had a strange purple tinge to it.

"Nobody about," came the voice of Mike in an undertone behind her. "I'd say we're lucky. Come on, let's get out of the open." He began to move rapidly off to the left, heading for a corner of the quadrangle where a door stood ajar. Cat once again marvelled at Mike's almost unnatural ability to make the best of even the worst situations. Brushing a strand of hair back behind her ear, she followed closely. Both of them almost ran straight into the man who emerged from the doorway.

The newcomer, of a similar age to their own, was dressed all in black with bowl-cut blonde hair and pale pink skin. He wore a gown, and his left forearm was bare, showing a simple red tattoo in the shape of a serpent biting its own tail. For a few seconds he was too shocked to move or speak, his eyes flitting from Mike to Cat to Rudolf in amazement. The broad rower was first to spring into action, barrelling past Cat and rugby-tackling the blonde man to the ground - but the man reacted by rolling away, reaching a leg out to trip him as he moved closer. Losing his balance, Rudolf sprawled heavily into Mike, and both went down in a heap.

As the blonde man rose unsteadily to his feet, Cat let out a fearsome howl and ploughed into him. Her scare-tactic certainly had the desired effect, for the man's expression changed from one of puzzlement to utter incomprehension. Arms windmilling, he staggered backwards and tripped over the border of the neatly cut lawn, his feet becoming entangled with Cat's as he fell. She landed heavily atop him on the lawn and could feel his wheezing breath through her hair. But now his expression wasn't just one of confusion. It was one of horror. He screamed.

Cat barely had time to ponder this before strong arms were grasping her shoulders and she was hauled off the man and the grass. With the benefit of a wider field of view, she could see what had so terrified him. The purple-tinted lawn was starting to move, long blades of grass rising to encircle and bind the blonde man's arms and legs. Other, sharper blades were tearing at his clothing, ripping his gown, shirt and trousers to shreds before starting work on his skin and the muscles beneath. He tried to free himself, but to no avail. Blood spattered across the dark paving stones as the lawn began to unweave and digest him, steadily and systematically. Bile started to rise in Cat's throat.

"Come on." Rudolf's voice sounded firmly in her ear, and he shook her gently. The man was screeching incoherently now. "We have to keep moving. Soon the whole college will be down here." Cat allowed herself to be led to the doorway through which the unfortunate Midwinter member had just emerged, and up a narrow spiral staircase.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Mike, who was taking up the rear, spoke urgently.

"I don't know," Rudolf replied. For the first time since Cat had known him, there was more than a hint of worry in his voice. "Somewhere... anywhere. We have to keep moving." At the top of the third flight he stopped for breath, glancing around frantically. "We should try this room." The tall man indicated a door to their left, marked 'Praelector's Office'. A sliding sign attached to the frame proclaimed that the room's occupant was OUT. "Praelector's an important college official," Rudolf panted. "If anyone has a map of how to get out of here, he will." Raised voices could now be heard from below. He released Cat, who almost fell back down the staircase, and tried the handle. "Locked, damn it."

Mike reached into his pocket and produced a set of keys, as the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs was added to the noise. "These were on the skeleton we... knocked out," he stated, trying one in the lock at random. Amazingly, it worked: there was a metallic clunk, and when he tried the door it opened.

"A skeleton key," observed Rudolf with a grin.

"Shut it," Mike responded; and Rudolf did, hurrying them into the room and slamming the door shut behind them.

The room was austerely decorated. Its bare walls were mostly covered in bookcases, one of which Mike and Rudolf were already moving to block the doorway. Cat glanced at some of the titles. The Necromancer's Handbook. Applied Haematology. The Science of Eternal Life: Problems and Perspectives. The Night Climbers of Cambridge. Shadowcraft. She frowned. An eclectic collection, to say the least...

While Rudolf was shifting the Praelector's heavy oak desk to support the bookcase blocking the doorway, Mike was ransacking cupboards, drawers and shelves. "We need to find something that tells us how to get out of here," he called across to Cat.

"I've blocked it up as much as I can," Rudolf reported. "I don't know if it will stop them, but it should at least slow them down."

Cat's eyes wandered to the blackboard on the wall by the window. On it were written various combinations of words and letters:

(DR?) DELIA MAINWARING
IDEA LAIN WARMING
AID IN A MINGLE WAR
RAW GLEAM IN INDIA
RADIAN(T?) ANGEL (IIMW?)

A muffled, cruel voice could be heard from the corridor. "Fleshies! Open up, or we'll break you open!"

Cat reached out to touch the blackboard, and it fell off its mounting. Behind it was a recess in the wall. In it was a pile of papers, several spiders, and a lot of dust. A thud sounded against the door; the bookcase shook, and several books fell off its shelves.

"We don't have much time!" Rudolf called.

Cat brushed off the top sheet of paper. It showed the river, the buildings, the 'garden'... it was definitely a map. "I've found it!" she almost shrieked.

In an instant both Rudolf and Mike were at her side. Rudolf snatched the piece of paper out of her hand and looked it up and down. "I'll take it," he announced, stuffing it down the front of his lycra. "I'm the best swimmer. I'm the most likely to be able to keep it dry."

"Swimmer...?" Mike queried. The room shook again as whoever was outside made another attempt to enter, and the bookcase shifted visibly.

Rudolf shrugged his broad shoulders and pointed out of the room's single window. Three floors below, the underground river rushed mercilessly past. "How else are we going to get out of here? Now let's go!"

"One minute," Mike replied distractedly. A small copper casket on a high shelf seemed to call out to him. He grabbed it and stuffed it into a pocket of his jeans.

"Hurry!" Rudolf grated. He pushed at the window, and when it did not open he gave it a vicious kick. The window and most of its lead frame tumbled outwards and into the river below. Wasting no time, he scrambled through the opening and jumped.

"You next!" Mike ordered. When Cat hesitated, he shot her a small smile. "Ladies first. Go!" Cat returned the smile, then disappeared through the window and was gone.

Reluctantly Mike kicked off his precious steel-capped boots and clambered onto the sill, where he sat for a second. He hadn't been swimming since secondary school, and wasn't much of a fan of water. But then the door burst open, and the alternative revealed itself. A tall, rake-thin man stood outside, terrible blood-red eyes blazing out of his gaunt, pale face. Momentarily Mike felt compelled to give it all up, then and there, and to sink into the fiery oblivion of his gaze... but then for some reason he thought of Cat, and the trance was broken. He spun around on the windowsill and leapt out into space.

The fall seemed to last an eternity, but suddenly he was in the water, fighting to stay afloat. Summoning every last reserve of strength he possessed, Mike began to fight the flow, striking out for the far bank. For a moment he knew he wasn't going to make it, sank beneath the surface - and then he hit a rock and was unceremoniously flung out of the river onto the shore. He gasped, retched and coughed up a lungful of water, rubbing his eyes clear to see Rudolf making his way along the bank towards him.

They both asked the question at the same time. "Where's Cat?"

The Undercollege, Part 5: Plans

Originally posted on Facebook Notes, 30th December 2007

It had been a bad day for Rudolf. He'd dragged himself out of a river, covered in muddy weeds and with gashes in his one-piece lycra rowing kit, and found himself in the grounds of an underground college. He'd followed the two young people he'd come across because he couldn't think of anything better to do about his situation. When they'd disappeared into a tunnel barely wide enough to accommodate his broad shoulders, he'd had his doubts, but eventually he'd followed them both rather than be left out in the open on his own. Now the shorter man was lunging at him with what appeared to be some sort of knife. Rudolf instinctively drew himself backwards and upwards, and in the process the crown of his head made involuntary contact with the ceiling of the tunnel. He swore in a way that could only be interpreted as human.

The boy with the knife halted momentarily, confusion etched into his features, and Rudolf took the opportunity to press forward. "Bloody hell," he murmured, raising a hand to his injured pate. As he did so, he dislodged a particularly slithery frond of pondweed from his mop of russet brown hair. "Put that thing away before you take someone's eye out."

"I'm sorry," the assailant replied sheepishly, tucking the multitool away. "We... I thought you were some sort of... monster." The girl, whose face was in shadow behind the light from the small torch, nodded.

Rudolf considered this. "Huh," he responded after a few seconds and smiled broadly. "Well, you're not exactly picture perfect yourself, you know." Mike frowned at this, but Rudolf pressed on. "Although since I've just crawled out of a river, I'll forgive you this once. And it's understandable that you were a bit jumpy, given your encounter with Mr. Bones back there. Looks like you smashed him up pretty good, incidentally."

Cat and Mike exchanged glances, but neither spoke, so Rudolf continued as he crawled forward out of the tunnel mouth into the chamber. "Nice place you have here. This your love nest?"

"Sorry, what?" Mike replied, but was cut off by Cat. "No, no. We're not... together."

Rudolf laughed. "Oh. Sorry. In that case we'd better do the Freshers' Week thing." He cleared his throat. "I'm Rudolf, and I'm a second-year historian at Trinity."

It was the girl who responded first. "I'm Cat, and I'm a first year studying maths at Clare." She smiled self-deprecatingly. "Although I'm thinking of switching to Philosophy."

"Mike," Mike replied tersely after a few seconds' silence. "Fourth year engineer at Emma. You say you fell into a river. Was that how you ended up down here?"

Rudolf wagged a finger at him. "I said that I crawled out of a river," he corrected, "not that I fell in. But as a matter of fact I did fall in. I was rowing on the Cam with my crew, and my boat tipped over. Felt myself being dragged down..." He took a deep breath. The memories weren't pleasant ones. "I must have lost consciousness. Anyway, later, I woke up on the bank of a river. But it was a different river. An underground one. That's how I got here." He turned his dark eyes, which had been roving the ceiling of the chamber, on Mike. "What about you?"

"I was trying to fix some electrics at the ADC," Mike replied. "Something short-circuited - I think the sheathing on a cable must have been damaged. Anyway, I blacked out, and when I came round I was down here." He sighed. "Wherever here is."

"Well, I was in the UL, and something hit me on the back of the head," Cat added. "You can guess the rest. I think I've only been conscious for half an hour or so. I was running, and then I came across the skeleton..."

"He knew that much," Mike interrupted. "He saw it, remember?" The engineer turned his gaze, along with a healthy dose of sarcasm, on Rudolf. "Thank you ever so much for intervening and bravely helping us out, by the way."

Rudolf threw up his hands, which he only just had space to do in the low-ceilinged cave. "Hey!" he protested. "I only saw what was left of it, and then you two, scooting guiltily off into the distance. At least I came to the right conclusion. Although I'm sure you'll plead self-defence."

"It was a walking skeleton!" Mike burst out. "It didn't look like it was going to listen to reason."

"Even if it did resemble a College porter," Cat added absently.

Rudolf nodded. Things were starting to come together now. "That makes sense," he mused.

"Sense?" Mike was virtually screeching now, and his knuckles were white. "We're somewhere underground in a mysterious tunnel, we have no idea how we got here, and we've just been attacked by the living dead. How can any of this be making any sense to you?"

Rudolf clenched a fist, too. The engineer's self-righteous manner was starting to irritate him. Inwardly he forced himself to remain calm and continue. "Because I think I've seen some things you haven't," he replied, perhaps a little bluntly. "The river's in a massive cavern, and when I washed up on the shore I saw a building. A massive one, built in some sort of black stone. It looked a bit like Clare's Old Court," he added to Cat, who nodded. "I only caught a brief glimpse through the gates, but I think there was an open quadrant inside, and lawns of some kind. The sign on the gate said... Midwinter College."

"Right," Cat answered slowly. "I see what you mean."

There was another uncomfortable silence, during which Mike sighed frustratedly. "So, now that we have this wonderful new information, what do you propose we do?"

"I know what I'd suggest," Rudolf replied immediately, with enthusiasm. "We want to get out of here, right? Well, I've spent an hour wandering around down here myself without finding a way to the surface, and I guess you've both done the same." Mike nodded reluctantly, and the tall historian continued. "Then you'll have seen that it's like a maze, or another world. We could bugger about until we all die of starvation down here before we even get close to finding an exit. But the best way to find an answer is to look in that building. The College."

Cat's eyes widened, and Mike's face was set into a disbelieving grimace.

"They write in English," Rudolf persisted, "and they use flashlights." He indicated the device at Mike's side. "So they must know a way out of here. If they're friendly - which I doubt - we can ask them. If not, we can sneak or fight our way in, because there must be a map somewhere, or someone we can ask. And I've already told you the alternative."

The looming rower lowered himself to the ground, sitting with his legs crossed, and directed a winning smile at Cat. "So. Who's with me?"