[Quinn 01] - The Cleaner

In the left-hand pocket of his jacket was the key Duke had given him and a small but powerful flashlight. Quinn removed the key but left the flashlight. For the moment there was enough residual light to see what he was doing. As he neared the door the silence that had enveloped the street was replaced by a muffled, low-level hum. It took him a second before he realized it was coming from inside the building.

He slipped the key into the lock and turned it. The lock was a little sticky, but it appeared to be old, so that wasn't surprising. After he heard the latch click, he slowly pulled the door open. There was no light coming from inside. He took a deep breath, then stepped into the building and closed the door behind him.

He was instantly enveloped by total darkness. He remained motionless for several moments, listening. Other than the loud hum, there was no other noise. He shoved the key back in his pocket, pulled out the flashlight, and turned it on. A quick sweep of the beam revealed he was alone.

'Nate, how's the street?' Quinn asked.

'Freezing,' Nate said, then added, 'all quiet.'

'You should be used to the cold by now,' Orlando said.

'I seem to remember you not being too happy when you had to stand in front of the Dorint,' Nate said.

'I was just faking it,' she said. 'Thought it might make you feel better.' 'Enough,' Quinn said. 'In case anyone's interested, I'm in.'

He aimed the light at the front of the building and began to make a more thorough investigation of his new surroundings. It didn't take long to discover why it was so dark inside. Wooden baffles had been erected over the inside of the windows and were secured firmly to the walls. As an added precaution, thick cloth strips had been affixed to where each baffle met the wall, guaranteeing no light from outside could seep in.

To the side of the door was a steel reinforced panel. The panel was mounted on tracks and could easily slide in front of the entrance, effectively sealing off the room.

He uttered aloud, 'What the hell do they need that for?'

'What're you talking about?' Orlando asked.

He described the baffled windows and the security door to her. 'Everything looks recently installed.' He noticed there was a distinct odor in the room, too. Not offensive. In fact, quite the opposite. Clean,

almost antiseptic. But not like a hospital. The antiseptic smell of a hospital was tinged with medicine and death. This smell was the clean of a room thoroughly disinfected, scrubbed from top to bottom and then wiped down with an abundance of ammonia.

'What do you think it means?' she asked after Quinn described the odor to her.

'I don't know.'

'Tell me about the rest of the room.'

He pointed the flashlight toward the ceiling. 'The room's big all right. Just like Duke said. Cavernous. Maybe seventy feet to the ceiling.'

'What's that noise?' Orlando asked.

Slowly, so he wouldn't miss anything important, he swung the flashlight around to his right.

'What the hell?' he said.

'What did you find?'

'I'm not sure,' he told her. 'Give me a few minutes.'

At first Quinn wasn't sure what he was looking at. The object took up over half the length of the room, side to side, and almost reached the ceiling. It was a giant sphere, not unlike a hot-air balloon, except it seemed to be sitting on a black pedestal. From where Quinn stood near the front door, it looked like the sphere was made of a thick white fabric. Maybe canvas. The black pedestal, a wide ring around the bottom of the sphere, looked to be about seven feet high. Unlike the sphere, it appeared to be made of something solid – metal, wood, or hard plastic. He wouldn't know for sure until he took a closer look. The whole thing made Quinn think of a giant golf ball sitting on a black tee.

He moved the flashlight across the object. A quarter of the way around to the left was a solid-looking scaffolding tower. Up one side of the tower ran a metal staircase. Quinn followed it with his light. It ended at a platform that was then connected to the sphere by a fifteen-foot-long canvas tunnel.