Tunnels 03, Freefall

as cautious as he had been in the Deeps.
    "Is all this cloak-and-dagger stuff really necessary?" Dr. Burrows grumbled to his son. "I mean what can anyone do to us here? This is Highfield, for God's sake!"
    "They tried to snatch me and Chester on the way home from school, and that was only a couple of Colonists. If the Limiters come for us..." Will said, but didn't finish the sentence.
    Dr. Burrows mouthed a silent 'pah!' as he and Will hurried to catch up with Drake, who showed them through an iron gate, then led them down a narrow alley.
    "
    Martineau Square
    . That's where you're taking us, isn't it?" Dr. Burrows asked, as he saw that the alley extended behind a row of Georgian terraced houses.
    "Yeah, but not the front way," Drake answered.
    Both sides of the alley were bordered by red-brick walls and it was paved with tread-worn cobblestones, between which grass and weeds grew in abundance. Clusters of old dustbins and heaps of empty cardboard boxes impeded the trio's progress, particularly when Dr. Burrows lost his footing on a soggy pizza carton and fell over. "Get a move on," Drake urged, as Dr. Burrows picked himself up.
    Drake stopped at a wooden door, which was coated with chipped black paint and its bottom-most edge rotted away. They slipped through it, finding they were in a small backyard, a concreted area with what looked like the original outdoor privy still in one corner. Drake used a key to let them through the back door of the house and into a hallway, which was a dismal dark brown color. From the state of it, Will reckoned that it hadn't been decorated for many decades.
    They climbed several flights of stairs with cast-iron metal banisters, the treads creaking with every step, and at the very top Drake ushered them through a doorway so low they had to duck to the through it. They found themselves in a dingy room, the only light filtering through a small cobwebbed window. Will knew they must be in the attic of one of the terraced houses that lined
    Martineau Square
    .
    Drake shut the small door and drew two bolts across, immediately crossing the bare floorboards to the window. He stopped short of going right up to it, instead peering at the view outside through the dusty panes.
    "What's there?" Dr. Burrows asked as he ambled straight up to the window and pressed his face against it. In the blink of an eye, Drake had hauled him back.
    "For God's sake, man, don't show yourself like that!" he growled.
    Dr. Burrows made a sharp movement, shoving Drake's hand away, then squared up to him. "Don't you dare touch me!" he simmered. "I don't know what your game is, but if you do that again, you'll be sorry."
    Will had never seen his father like this before -- he had always gone out of his way to avoid even the mildest confrontation. Dr. Burrows was several inches shorter than Drake, and it was difficult to imagine him faring well in a fight against anyone, let alone this man who regularly came up against Limiters, and won. Nevertheless, Dr. Burrows' whole body was quivering like a bantam cockerel about to attack.
    As Dr. Burrows and Drake's eyes remained locked on each other, the two men radiated an angry calm which seemed to fill the small room. Will had the wildest sensation that he was back with Chester and Cal again. Time after time they had rubbed each other the wrong way and he'd been forced to smooth things over. And Will didn't like the way this was going at all, and felt he had to intervene. "Dad, you've got to be careful. Remember what just happened with that old woman. She was going to stab you."
    His upper lip curled with anger, Dr. Burrows turned his head stiffly from Drake and towards his son. "You don't really know who this person is, or what he's done. Remember what I told you about strangers -- you should never tr--"
    "He's not a stranger! He saved my life in the Deeps!" Will burst out. "He looked after us there. He knows what's going on."
    "Dr. Burrows, what will it take to convince you that our lives are at risk?" Drake asked in an even voice.
    "Please just listen to him, Dad," Will implored his father.
    Dr. Burrows humphed, then withdrew to a corner of the attic where he sat down heavily on an old trunk.
    Drake didn't appear to be the slightest bit fazed by the confrontation, and turned immediately to Will, smiling.
    "Right, bring me up to speed."
    "Okay," the boy replied, throwing a glance at the shadows where his father was sitting in a brooding silence. "I've got something for