darkness. diller and urioste's voices heard o.s. in hushed tones. the scraping of metal-on-metal.
diller turns away from the winch and peers into and beyond the access tunnel leading outside. urioste's voice floats up out of the shaft.
diller crosses to the wall-mounted winch. on the mechanism's side is a luminous digital counter giving the current cable depth in meters. he pulls a throw-switch, and the display slowly changes from "8" to "9.5" as the cable feeds out.
urioste's voice echoes up out of the pit.
diller whirls in response to the choked cry from below. he sees the winch tripod above the shaft rattle, the cable going taut as an angler's line. the wall-mounted drum is yanked so hard the lever leaps from it's 'clamped' position, freely unspooling cable at a frightening rate. the digital counter flickers rapidly; "11. 11.5. 12. 12.5. 13" diller watches the tripod's tubular legs buckle and collapse under the tremendous strain. he scrambles for the winch-lever and only just manages to lock it firmly into place; the over-stressed cable vibrating with a low metallic twang as it hits the shaft's edge. diller's moment of satisfaction is short-lived; the deep-sunk bolts attaching the mechanism to the wall are pull outward by the colossal force from below. he leaps aside, avoiding the heavy piece of machinery as it hurtles towards him. watches it disappear noisily into the conduit.
diller's on his feet and shakily heading for the exit as another alien's claws emerge from the exposed hole. he races across the threshold and slams the thin inner door closed.