Here's a how-de-do!
They all stood there at the bottom of the two staircases and stared. The bar that stood in the middle of the foyer, normally locked and closed with shutters, had been opened up. But rather than taps and bottle holders, it was full of strange and oddly shaped machinery, small glowing screens and buttons, dials and switches.
In the midst of it all sat Will. He was concentrating on one screen in particular, with one hand on a large dial and the other on a lever set into the side of the bar.
"What the...?" asked Ernest, looking at the machinery in wonder.
"Will, what are you doing?" Sarah, Will's girlfriend cried. Will looked up.
"I suggest you all find something to hold on to- now!" he said loudly.
"I suggest you explain what the hell is going on," David replied angrily. Will didn't reply, but concentrated on the screen in front of him. David stepped forward, followed by Ben and Nick, but before they could get near him Zoe straightened up from where she had been bent down behind the bar. She was holding a large metal rod with a box on one end. They didn't need to be told that it was a weapon.
"Stop there, and do what he says," Zoe said. Patrick looked at her, trying to work out if she had been hypnotised. But the expression in her eyes was totally different from that of the others when they had been chasing them. He didn't think she was. Suddenly he remembered the first voice he had heard when he woke up after the conditioning. He hadn't been able to place it before, but now he knew. It was Zoe.
"Don't hurt anyone," Will said. He sounded stressed, and was concentrating hard on the screen and dial.
"Don't hurt anyone?" Tom said incredulously. "You hypnotised us against our will and tried to force us to do what you wanted! And now you say don't hurt anyone!"
"Listen, just do what he says and find something to hold onto. We'll explain later. You'll regret it if you don't..."
All this time the building had continued shaking. Patrick remembered the old story that the hall was slowly sinking into the lake. Was the shaking connected to the draining of the lake? What was Will doing?
"I think we should do as he says," Emma said, looking from Will's face to Zoe's. Slowly the others spread out across the foyer and found things to sit on or hold on to. A screen had slid across the doors, Patrick noticed, trapping them inside. What was happening?
Zoe had turned back to the bar once the others had moved away, but she still kept the weapon close to her. She too was peering at a screen, and her hands moved across a small keyboard.
"All clear," Zoe said.
"Almost there," Will replied, "NOW!"
The shaking increased to a point where Patrick was sure the building was going to fall to pieces around them. Someone screamed. Natalie clung to Ben, who put an arm around her and tried to comfort her, but without much conviction. Ernest had drawn Emma close to him, but that didn't stop them both looking apprehensive.
Will was counting. "Ten...nine...eight..."
Tom had run to one of the emergency exits and was tugging at the bar, but it wouldn't open."
"It's stuck," he cried.
"No, they're locked," replied Zoe. "Opening the doors now would be very dangerous."
"Let us out!" David shouted.
"Hold on!" Will cried. "Five...four..."
"What's going on?" Tom yelled.
"Two...one..."
Will pushed the big lever next to him and the movement of the building changed. The shaking ceased.
"Lift off!"
The story continues...
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