Chapter 117 - Pulling Out/Pushing Forth

"Commence a full withdrawal," Marvin ordered as soon as he reached the temporary underground facility. 

"Yes, sir!" In the dugout cave, no one hesitated even for a second. As soon as the order was given, Marvin's family rushed into action. 

"I will get the cables out!" Someone shouted, rushing towards the hole in the metallic dome. 

"I will cover our tracks!" Someone else announced while rushing to the corner of the cave where all the tools were kept. 

"I need three more to help with pressurizing the barrier!" One of the older men and a chief engineer of the operation shouted, moving out before anyone could react to his words. 

"Will that be really necessary?" Marvin grabbed the old man's arm before he could leave for the crossing site. "If we pressurize the rift, he won't be able to get back to us once he returns," he said, looking intently in the man's eye. 

"Son, you are an excellent commander.. Your father and uncle taught you well," the old man said with a gentle smile appearing on his face. Yet, his smile soured pretty quickly. "But there is one lesson that you still need to learn. And it's about when to start cutting losses," the old man said. 

For a moment, the two of them just stood there, in silence. Surrounded by the noises of people rushing about, a young man and an old man stood in place, staring at each other. 

"I'm not giving up on Tom," Marvin said, clenching his hands into fists. 

"I never asked you to do so," the old man answered before shaking his head. "Listen, for now, we lost contact with him. Even after waiting twice as long as the procedures recommend, he failed to get back to us," he said before biting on his lip and lowering his head. "At this point, we cannot risk the safety of everyone just to give Tom more chances. I bet he would make that decision if he were in your shoes," the old man added before patting Marvin's shoulder again. 

"What if he will return soon?" Marvin asked, still looking for a way to get his dear friend a way out of trouble. "If we pressurize the entrance, then he won't be able to break into the tunnels even if he somehow manages to find out the exact spot where he entered before," Marvin said, bringing up how problematic the situation was. 

The entire process of pressurizing the entrance was nothing more but a code-naming. In this instance, it was taken from the space marines dictionary, one that a selected few of the family elites learned during their service. 

On its own, it had very little to do with the pressure itself. After all, even if the rift in the metallic sheet that made up the dome around the dungeon's entrance wasn't sealed completely, there would be no difference in pressure on either side of it. But even if the tiniest of the holes were to remain, detecting the opening would be a piece of cake for anyone actually looking for it. 

Once the rift in the metal sheet would be fully mended came the problem of actually pressurizing it. But instead of the meaning that was originally derived from space physics where the insides of one's space ship had to be filled with oxygen and other elements for people to work in it properly, in this particular scenario, the situation was greatly different.

Because pressurizing the metal plate meant turning it to be as stable as it was before the tunnel was dug out, revealing it to Tom's family in the first place. 

"Think about it," the old man said before releasing a deep sigh. "There are only two options for you to consider right now. Tom is either dead or alive," the old man said. His head froze in place, and so did his eyes, stuck in a contest of stares with Marvin. "If he is dead, then what we are doing right now is the best thing we can," he stated the obvious. 

"But if he is alive, then the situation complicates a little, doesn't it?" Marvin instantly changed the tone of the talk. For him, even considering the option of his friend dying while exploring that unknown place was nothing less but a blasphemy. "If he is alive, then the situation complicates a lot, doesn't it?" he asked, squinting his eyes. 'I just can't help but feel that you don't want him to return alive,' Marvin thought, using all of his willpower to stop those words from escaping through his mouth. 

"If he is alive, then the situation has two routes to go as well," the old man said, pulling Marvin along. They already wasted enough time standing in place and doing nothing but talking. "Starting with the positive option, let's assume his guesses were right," the old man said. "Let's assume that there really is something on the other end of that portal that is worth declaring war on the entire world. In that case, he will be able to destroy the entire dome just to get out of it. Do we agree on that point?" the man asked, turning his head around as he continued to move deeper and deeper into the tunnel. 

"That's right," Marvin replied without elaborating on that point. The potential content of what was inside the portal visible in the very center of the dome appeared to be pretty obvious. The online hub that controlled this place and many others like it across the entire world paid some insane amount of effort to construct such a dome. For such an insane investment to go through, there had to be even greater money to be found from exploring those portals. 

"But there is also the chance that our dear Tom's guesses will be proven wrong. What do you think we, as the family, should do in that case?" the old man asked. To prove just how important this question was, he even stopped in his tracks, even though he was known for not liking to waste any of his time. 

"Then we lost," Marvin said with a straight face as if he was reporting that some ice cream melted in the fridge rather than declaring the fate of the entire family, its fortune, and the fates of everyone in it. "If he won't be able to find anything of value even close to what he believed he would, then there will be no point in acting up," Marvin brought his hand up and bit on his thumb. "In that case, we would just need to grovel, promise to keep silent, and pay some reparations," he said after thinking for a moment. 

"See?" The old man smiled. He then patted Marvin's back and picked his pace back. "That's why pressurizing the rift right now takes the absolute priority," he said, sternly looking ahead. "Not because it makes things harder for Tom once he returns, but because it gives us more time to react in case the online hub will be the first one to find out about the entire thing."

*********

"I apologize for her!" Karter shouted before falling to his knees. Then, without even a shred of hesitation, he slammed his forehead against the cold stones of the dungeon's floor. "She seems to be still out of her mind, please, forgive her insults!" he pleaded, pressing his forehead tightly to the floor. 

"There is no point in minding that," Tom replied with a small smile, behind which hid a sea of anxiety and focus. "For people as weak as you, it's no wonder that we would appear like monsters," he added before sharply raising his head. "No, I apologize," Tom lowered his head. "It was unbecoming of me to call you weak, only because we are way stronger than you guys," he said, lowering his head in an apology. 

"Death, death, death, death," Celestia continued to mutter, unable to tear her eyes away from Tom's face. 

"Miss," Tom finally dared to look at the elven girl. 'The terror in her eyes...' he thought, clenching his firsts a little. 'It's real,' he noticed before taking the first step. And then another. And soon, he appeared within a hand's reach away from the terrified girl. "Little miss, I'm aware how we are likely to appear to you," Tom said as he pushed his hand forward, only to grab the delicate fingers of the elf and cover it with his palms. "Please, look in my eyes for a moment," he requested in a calm, composed voice. 

Still shaken by the terror, the girl silently followed the order. 

"Now, looking in my eyes, I want you to see for yourself if I will lie now," Tom said before taking a short break. He took a breath and slowly released the air back. For a moment, he closed his eyes as if he wanted to gather up his wits and sort out his thoughts. 

"I'm here not to put you or your friends in danger. I'm here only because I need to find my missing father. That's my priority and the only thing I care about. That's why, unless someone attempts to do me harm, I'm not going to needlessly put them in danger either," he said, looking right into the beautiful eyes of the elven girl. Then, he slid his palms off the girl's delicate hand only to stop when her fingers were about to completely feel off his reach. Then, he pulled his hands up, bringing the girl's hands along. "Now tell me," Tom said in his calm voice. "Looking in my eyes, did you see any hint of falsehood or dishonesty?"