Chapter 4 — A Promise At The Cable Car Station

The power turned back on for less than a minute then turned off again. This time the system did not switch to emergency lights immediately. The whole station above was immersed in the gray of the afternoon, leaving only streaks of light mixed in the mist on the glass window. The siren sounded for a long time, then suddenly stopped.

“No one is leaving the station,” the operations captain said over the loudspeaker. "The north door is locked. The wind has exceeded the safe threshold."

Tu went to check the doors. Duy removed the electrical cabinet cover and looked at the fuse with a flashlight. Linh stood near the control desk, still looking at the map on her phone. The sentence "the debt will be transferred to..." was torn away, making it impossible for her to focus on other things.

“If we wait here, what will happen to Mai?” she asked.

“Tu will call someone from the village above,” Duy replied.

“What if the person who asked to buy the house is still there?”

“Tomorrow knows how to lock the door herself.”

“You talk as if you are used to people coming to your house.”

Duy turned off the flashlight in his hand. "That's right. Since my mother passed away, people have come every few months. Some said they were bankers, some claimed to be brokers. They asked about the debt, asked for documents, asked if we were going to sell or not. Mai was young, often hiding behind the kitchen to listen."

“You didn't notify the authorities?”

"What's the point of reporting when they haven't done anything wrong? Asking to buy a house is not a crime."

“And they know about the box?”

“I don't know where they knew.”

Linh opened the photo of the piece of paper and enlarged the corner of the phone number. "My father chose to send half the ticket to you or your mother. If the other person knew the box, they probably knew my father too."

“What did your father say about the person who wanted the box?”

"He didn't say anything. He just told me not to go alone."

Duy looked at her. “So you got it half right.”

“What is the other half?”

“Don't trust anyone who knows too much.”

A loud crash from the storage room made the two turn around. Tu stood at the door, holding an iron hook. On the floor behind him was a square hatch cover that had just been lifted.

“Does this warehouse have a cellar?” Linh asked.

“Technical tunnel,” Tu replied. “The old cable goes under the foundation.”

Duy stepped forward. “The map doesn't say it.”

“The current map does not record it.”

Cold air rose from the cellar. An iron ladder leads down to a dark space, below there is the sound of dripping water. Tu shined the light, revealing concrete walls, fabric-covered wires and a row of hooks hanging old belts.

“It smells like new oil,” Duy said.

He used a towel to wipe a section of pipe. The oil stain is still wet and cannot have appeared since the last maintenance many months ago.

“There are people down there,” Linh said.

“Or someone just worked without reporting.”

Tu raised his hand. “Let me go down first.”

“No,” Duy said. "I work in engineering. I know this tunnel may have accumulated gas."

"The rescue team hasn't arrived yet. If we wait, the people down there could go away."

“If there is gas, the first person down will pass out before seeing anyone.”

Duy took the small gas meter out of his pocket. The device glowed blue, indicating normal oxygen levels, but in the corner of the tunnel the flammable gas index inched up one line. He wore a filtering mask and tied his seat belt to the railing.

"I'm going down. Linh holds the line. Tu calls the captain."

“I know how to use rope,” Tu replied.

“I'm not asking if you know or not.”

Duy goes step by step. Linh held the rope, feeling the weight gradually shift through her palm. At the bottom step, he shined the light around the tunnel. There are no people. There is only an old cart, two wooden crates and a pipe leading to the north wall.

“Shoe prints,” he called out.

“Is it new?”

“Rubber sole, water not dry yet.”

Duy followed the trail. It stopped first a small door at the end of the tunnel, covered by a tarp. The door has no handle, only two latches.

“Tu, is there a northern exit in the old map?”

Tu looked at the map in Linh's hand. "There is a service road. But it was filled in after the 2009 landslide."

“So that person can't go through.”

Duy removed the tarp. Behind the door is a not-so-deep alcove containing three oil cans and a toolbox. There is no exit. On the lid of the tool box, there is a triangle mark similar to cabinet number 17.

He opened the box. Inside was a small roll of cable, cutting pliers and an old plastic card with the name “Pham Khang”.

“Mr. Khang?” Linh asked when Duy brought up the card.

"The cable guy has retired. He lives near the upper station."

“Why is his card here?”

“Maybe he used to hide the toolbox.”

Duy didn't take anything out of the box. He took a photo, then put it in place. However, underneath the coil there is a thin piece of metal. On it were engraved two numbers: 08 and 40.

Linh looked over his shoulder. “It's that time again.”

“Not really. Maybe the device code.”

“I'm trying to make everything technical so I don't have to name this.”

Duy was silent. He understood that what she was saying was partially correct.

The captain called from above, asking everyone to leave the bunker because the backup power source was about to turn off. Duy tied the rope and climbed up. When the three returned to the platform, he closed the hatch but did not lock it.

“Why not lock?” Linh asked.

“If it's locked and the people below are still there, we'll lock them up ourselves.”

Tu looked at him as if to protest, but the walkie-talkie in his hand suddenly made a crackling sound. Strange channel appears again.

"The box has left the closet. Don't look for it at the station."

This time the voice was clearer. It's the voice of a middle-aged man, speaking slowly, without trying to change his pronunciation.

Tu held the walkie-talkie and asked: "Who are you?"

There was no reply.

Duy snatched the device from Tu's hand and checked the frequency. “This channel is only available in the old maintenance area.”

“You say it as if you know,” Linh replied.

“I know because I used it when I was a student.”

“Tu know too?”

Tu leaned on the railing. "I used to work in the maintenance team. That system was abandoned a long time ago."

“But someone can still use it.”

“Maybe they brought old equipment.”

“Are you pregnant?” Linh asked.

Tu looked at her, not smiling. “You're starting to look like your father.”

“You worked with my father?”

"I was only eighteen years old when Mr. Khai got on the station. I was just an assistant."

“Who did he give the box to?”

Tu turned to face the glass door. The fog outside is so thick that the cable line cannot be seen. "He didn't deliver. He sent it back because the recipient didn't come."

“Who is the recipient?”

"I do not know."

“You said you don't know too many times.”

Tu held the walkie-talkie tightly. “Because it's true.”

Duy walked between the two people. "No arguments here. We need to determine where the box went."

Linh opened the map. The red line indicates the trail under the North slope, leading to the rest hut. If the box leaves the closet, the retriever can go that way before the wind increases.

“How far is the rest hut from here?” she asked.

“If you go on the main road, it will take more than an hour,” Duy replied. “If we follow the old route, it will take forty minutes but there will be many landslides.”

“Can we go?”

“Not when the wind is at this level.”

“So wait until morning?”

“That's the safe way.”

“It's also a way for the other person to bring the box down the mountain.”

Duy looked at her, then looked at Tu. He knew she was forcing him into a decision he'd always avoided: between safety procedures and his only chance to find evidence.

Tu said: "If you go, I will lead the way."

“You can't go,” Duy replied.

“I know the old route.”

“I also know how to hide things patch."

Tu laughed dryly. “You think I took the box?”

“I suspect everyone knows.”

A deep groan echoed from the mountainside. Soil and rocks in the distance slid down, forming a cloud of dust. The captain immediately ordered the station door to be closed and forbidden to go out.

Linh saw through the glass window a figure below the trees. That person was no longer wearing a black raincoat but was wearing an orange reflective vest of the operations team. The figure turned towards the station, then bent down to pick up something.

“Duy, look at that.”

He turned around, but the figure had disappeared in the mist.

Tu quickly went to the operating room. “All the staff from the upper station are here. No one goes out.”

“So who wears reflective vests?” Linh asked.

Tu did not answer.

Duy opened the door to the technical room and took out the shift list. He compared each name. Six people were present. A set of reflective vests was missing from the locker, along with an access card.

“Whose card is it?” Linh asked.

Duy reads the card number. “Pham Khang's old card.”

Mr. Khang has been retired for ten years, but his card can still open the technical warehouse.

Tu looked at Duy. “If we find him, we know where the box is.”

“If he is behind this, we might as well know why.”

Linh put away her phone. “Tomorrow morning we will meet Mr. Khang.”

“No,” Duy said. “Tonight.”

“The wind is strong.”

“His house is two hundred meters from the station, across the paved path. No need to go down to the hut to rest.”

Tu took the flashlight and walked towards the side door. Duy held his hand.

“Tu, you stay and watch the station.”

“I can lead the way.”

"Are not. I know too many ways.”

Tu looked at Duy's hand on his wrist, then slowly removed it. “Do you still believe I was the one who took the box?”

“I don't believe you're innocent yet.”

The wind whistled through the door, bringing with it the smell of wet soil. Linh stood between the two people, seeing that the trip had changed before they could leave the station. The box is no longer an object found in an old warehouse. It became something that made the people who worked with her father look at each other like strangers.

Before opening the door, Duy turned to Linh. “If Mr. Khang doesn't want to meet, we'll go back. Don't force him, don't break the door."

"I agree."

“If there are signs of landslides, we stop.”

"I agree."

“And if I say run, you run. Don't ask.”

Linh looked at him. “I will only agree if you do the same.”

Duy was a bit stunned, then nodded.

They walked into the hallway leading to Mr. Khang's house. Behind, Tu stood in the emergency light, his hand on the walkie-talkie. As the station door closed, a strange signal rang out again.

“Don't go to Mr. Khang's house. He has been dead since afternoon.”

Linh and Duy stopped in the middle of the aisle. Through the frosted glass, at the end of the platform, an empty cabin was automatically moving towards them.

On the cabin seat is a tin box.