“Certainly, Lord Allistor.” The doors closed and the lift rose silently, with no machine noise or vibration that Allistor could detect.  A moment later the doors opened onto a wide covered balcony.   There was a half-wall that encircled the entire area, leaving a four-foot glass window that provided a breathtaking view of the city all the way around the tower.

Fuzzy immediately put his paws up on the wall to look out the window, then just as quickly shrank back and cowered against the wall.  He gave a little bear whimper and put his paws over his nose.

“Don’t like heights, buddy?” Allistor reached down and scratched his ears.  “I don’t blame you.  We’re pretty high up here.”

Between the newly risen hill and the height of the tower, Allistor estimated they stood something like twenty stories above the city’s ground level.  The view was amazing, with the forest and the mountains in the distance.  They could easily see the walls of the Silo not so far away.  Allistor thought this would be the perfect place for a lookout.  They could place telescopes up here, and observe any activity for miles around.  He walked around the outer edge, taking in his surroundings.  Most of which was now under his control.  On the back side of the elevator shaft, he found a step ladder leading to a hatch in the ceiling.  Climbing up, he stuck his head through long enough to observe a platform with a railing around it.  “Perfect place to mount that .50 cal,” he whispered.

Also on this back side was an open trap door to a staircase leading downward.  He called to Helen and Fuzzy, who was more than happy to leave the high, open space.  They walked down one level to find a large open room with rounded walls and windows facing each of the cardinal directions.  It was completely empty, just the stairs leading up, and another leading down on the opposite side of the room.   To one side was a small enclosed bathroom.  Helen whistled, and the sound echoed off the walls.  “This place is huge.  This room must be… what? Forty feet across? So thirteen hundred square feet?”

“Yeah, I’m thinking we could make this a guard station.  Put a few beds up here, a desk, dining table and chairs, store some weapons and ammo.  The upper level is a perfect lookout.”

They descended the stairs to the next level, which was more sectioned off.  The stairs stopped at a short landing, then continued straight down rather than being across the room.  This was because a wall blocked off the remainder of the space, with a thick metal door standing open at the landing.