THE TOWERS FAMILY SAGA
        Episode 82
The headlights of the SUV
cut through the thick gloom
of the Salt River basin.
Robert drove with a steady
hand, his eyes tracking
the GPS coordinates that
Shirley had locked in.
The road was little more
than a dry wash, choked
with tumbleweed and shale.
"The signal is getting
stronger," Shirley said,
her tablet glowing bright.
"It’s coming from inside
the old 'C-Level' shaft."
Minnie sat in the back,
her hand resting on a
heavy iron flashlight.
"That mine hasn't been
active since the fifties."
"Why would the old FDC
choose a graveyard, Rob?"
"Because you can't see a
transmission from inside
a mountain," Robert said.
They pulled to a stop in
front of a rusted gate.
The lock had been freshly
oiled, the silver metal
gleaming in the beams.
Virginia stepped out first,
her medical kit secured
to her tactical belt.
"The air coming out of
the tunnel is filtered."
"Someone has a climate
system running down there."
Robert took the brass key
from his pocket and held
it up to the moonlight.
He felt the weight of
the Towers' name pulling
him toward the darkness.
They walked in a line,
the radical honesty of
their mission acting as
the torch for their path.
Deep in the cavern, the
rough rock gave way to
smooth, poured concrete.
A heavy steel door stood
at the end of the hall.
There was no keypad, only
a manual telegraph lever.
Robert stepped forward and
tapped out his initials.
The door groaned open with
the sound of heavy gears.
Inside was a room filled
with stacks of the same
folding units they built.
But these were different;
they were filled with the
paper records of the war.
"The real ledger," Robert
whispered, looking around.
"Everything the titan
didn't want the world to
know was hidden in iron."
A shadow moved in the
corner of the bunker.
"Welcome home, Operator."
The voice was ancient and
echoed off the high walls.
The saga had reached the
vault of the true blood.
The Towers stood together.
The history was waiting.
The truth was the prize.

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