Chapter 11 — A Promise At The Cable Car Station

The road to the upper station was cut off by a patch of ground that had just collapsed. The mud stream poured down from the North slope, carrying rocks and tree roots, blocking the path not far from the suspension bridge. The wind beat against the cliff, bringing with it the dry cracking sound of shifting rocks.

The captain called over the radio: "Don't continue. The rescue team is looking for a detour."

Duy looked at the box in the waterproof bag. “Cabin 17 is going to the lower station.”

"We've locked down the system. If the cabin moves, someone is using manual power."

Linh asked: "Where is the captain?"

No one answered.

Tu looked towards the collapsed road. “He could be at the upper station.”

“Or at the cabin,” Duy said.

Mr. Khang sat leaning against a tree, his face pale. Mai wrapped a bandage around his head. “I can't walk through mud.”

“I have to go,” Mr. Khang replied.

“I need to be taken to the hospital,” Linh said.

Mr. Khang looked at her. “If we don't block the cabin, the fake box will end up in someone else's hands.”

Duy turned. “Are you sure it's a fake box?”

"I know the real box has a dent in the left corner. The one in the operating room cabinet doesn't."

Linh remembers the dent in the box she once saw. “The person who took the box changed it.”

“They want to make people run after the wrong thing,” Mr. Khang said. “Meanwhile, they took the cabin to the lower station, where the truck was waiting.”

Duy looked at the map. “There's a path leading to pillar number 4. From there you can reach the cabin if it's not over yet.”

“That road is collapsing,” Tu reminded.

“So we don't go that way.”

Tu pointed down the rock crevice. "There is a maintenance road in the stream bed. It's shorter, but the water is rising."

Linh looked at Duy's anemometer. “If I go, what are the risks?”

“Slip, get stuck, or encounter strong currents.”

“If you don't go?”

“Cabin to lower station in ten minutes.”

Mai stood up. “I'll go.”

Duy shook his head. “I'll take Mr. Khang back to the village.”

“If the box helps keep the house, I have to go.”

“It's none of your business.”

"It was that debt that caused me to lose my scholarship. Don't tell me it wasn't."

Duy was silent. Linh realized that that sentence had been kept in Mai for a long time. She walked between the two brothers.

"Mai has the right to decide. But you must follow safety rules."

Mai nodded.

Mr. Khang held Tu's hand. “You take me down to Hanh's house.”

“I can't walk on the muddy road.”

“I walked this way before you guys were born.”

Tu looked at Duy. "I'll stay with you. You two go to pillar number 4."

Duy did not answer immediately. He checked the seat belt, hooked one end into Linh's bag, the other end into Mai. "No more than three meters apart. If I say stop, stop now."

They left the tree. The path under the stream bed begins with a smooth stone step. The cold water reached up to my ankles, flowing faster with each passage. Linh followed Duy, holding the flashlight low so the light wouldn't reflect into the mist.

Above, cabin 17 passed pillar number 3. Duy looked at his watch. “Seven minutes.”

Mai pointed to the wall. “There are iron steps.”

That is the way to pillar number 4, but the first three steps have been covered with soil. Duy used a folding shovel to dig quickly, Linh cleared the rocks. A small block fell into the water, dragging a piece of mud with it.

"Stop!" Duy shouted.

Everyone pressed against the wall. The mud slid over Mai's feet, rolling one of Mai's shoes away. She almost fell, Linh pulled her back with a rope.

“Are you okay?” Duy asked.

“Just lost my shoes.”

“Don't continue walking barefoot.”

Mai smiled wryly. “I'm so worried.”

“I'm working.”

“I always call worrying work.”

Duy did not reply. He took off the extra pair of boots from his bag and gave them to Mai. I wear socks on the stone floor.

Linh looked at him. “You will love."

"I know."

They climbed up the iron steps. Pillar number 4 shakes in the wind. Cabin 17 was less than a mile away from them. There was no one inside the cabin, but there was a reflective vest covering the seat.

“Maybe the operator is on the roof,” Duy said.

“Are you going to the roof of the cabin?” Mai asked.

“No. I will lock the gear from the cylinder.”

He opened the technical box, but the lock had been changed. The scratch is still new.

Linh gave Mr. Khang his card. “Can this card be opened?”

Duy scanned. Red light.

“Secondary code?” Linh asked.

He entered 08:40. The light turns yellow, then turns off.

The cabin continued to slide.

Duy removed the cover and connected the two wires with alligator clips. The control panel displays an overload warning. You need to hold both ends of the rope while locking the mechanism. Linh shines the light, Mai holds the seat belt.

“I need ten seconds,” Duy said.

“You have ten seconds.”

The cabin vibrates strongly. Duy reached for the lock lever. A spark burst out, causing his arm to jerk. Linh held his shoulder to keep balance.

“Don't touch the bare wire.”

"I know."

“I just touched.”

"I know."

He pulled the lever. The drive wheel jammed, the cabin stopped in the middle of the pillar. From inside there was the sound of metal colliding. A person is hiding behind the chair.

“There is someone!” Mai shouted.

Duy opened the small technical door on the floor. A gloved hand reached out, trying to pull the rope. Linh used a flashlight to hit that person's wrist. The hand retracts.

“Don't open the cabin door,” Duy said. “If they fall, we won't be able to save them in time.”

“That person has a fake box,” Linh replied.

“We'll get it back after it's securely locked.”

Duy called the rescue team. They asked to stay in place and not enter the cabin. From afar, an auxiliary tow line is launched onto the pillar. Duy attached to the guide wheel, gradually lowering the cabin speed to the maintenance platform.

People in the cabin banged on the door. “You guys don't know what you're doing!”

Linh called through the loudspeaker: “We know there is a fake box. Put your hand out, we will unlock the safety lock.”

Don't reply.

“If you jump, you'll break your leg.”

“Who are you?”

“The person holding a copy of Vinh's contract.”

Inside was silent.

Duy turned to her. “Are you telling the truth?”

“I want to know if he is Vinh or not.”

A hoarse male voice rang out: "You don't know anything about Vinh."

“So you know?”

“I know he's not the only one who changed his name.”

“I need a name.”

“Open the front door.”

Duy shook his head. “No negotiating while in the cabin.”

Rescue team arrives at the maintenance platform. They blocked the wheel and installed the bridge. People in the cabin were asked to put their hands through the slot. He followed. There is no red string on the wrist, just a triangle tattoo.

When the door was opened, he was detained. On the chair is a blue tin box but the left corner is not dented.

Linh stood outside, looking at the man's face. Not Vinh; about fifty years old, deep-set eyes, mottled beard. The employee card in the bag read "Do Thanh Nam — maintenance contractor".

“Where did you get the box from?” Duy asked.

“I take orders.”

"Whose?"

Nam looks towards the upper station. “From the holder of the second key.”

Linh and Duy both thought of their captain.

Nam continued: “But I don't know if he wants to erase the record or save people. I was just paid to drop off the fake box.”

“Do you know where the real box is?” Linh asked.

Nam looked at the box she was holding in her pocket. “I thought you guys already had it.”

The wind hit the pillar strongly. The captain called over the radio, his voice urgent: "Bring the arrested person down immediately." No one leaves the line voluntarily.”

Duy looked at the device. “Captain, who issued the order to the contractor?”

No answer.

Nam smiled faintly. “You guys still don't understand. Order not to go from above station. It came from the bank.”

Mai looked at the contract in Linh's hand. “The bank knows the box?”

“They know the debt,” Nam replied. “The box is just the thing that can make it disappear.”

The rescue team brought Nam to the cabin safely. Duy checked everyone again, then looked at the real box in his pocket.

“Let's go back to the lower station,” he said.

“Can't find the captain?” Linh asked.

“Find. But first we have to take Mai and Mr. Khang to a place where there are witnesses."

Mai put on a temporary shoe and looked at the muddy road. “This time I don't object.”

From the radio, a new signal popped up. The captain's voice was no longer urgent:

“You kept the right box. Then bring it to the lower station before 08:40. Otherwise, the bank will sell Duy's house tomorrow."

Linh looked at the clock. 08:40 is less than an hour left.

Mai pulled her brother's sleeve. “If the bank issues it tomorrow, can they do it right away?”

“They need notice.”

“The notice was sent to the house last week. I didn't say it because you were busy looking for the box.”

Duy turned to her, his face darkening. “Why don't you say it?”

“Because I would drop everything to handle it for you, and then owe another debt.”

Linh listened to the two brothers and suddenly realized that the debt was not just on paper. It has turned into the way they talk, the way Mai hides bad news so Duy doesn't have to bear the burden, the way Duy turns every worry into a task that can be fixed with tools.

Mr. Khang called them back. “Don't run after 08:40. That is the time people use to pressure you. The box has no value if opened in a panic.”

“But we need to get to the lower station,” Duy said.

“Come, but there must be witnesses. Call Mrs. Nam, call the rescue team, call the district police. Don't bring the box into a room full of people who already know the story.”

Linh opened her phone and sent copies of receipts and contracts to a local lawyer who had worked with the archive. She also sent the current position to Ms. Nam. Duy called the captain and asked to record all exchanges.

Tu watched them prepare, his voice lower than before: "I know a way to the lower station to avoid the truck route."

Duy didn't look at him. “Lead the way.”

This time no one argued. They followed the stream, holding on to the rope and keeping their distance. High above, cabin 17 stood still like a clock whose hands had stopped. 08:40 is no longer an appointment between the dead and the living; it becomes a deadline that others use to push them into a wrong decision.