Tunnels 03, Freefall

them."
    "They're in dug-outs, probably with their scopes on us this very moment. And we'll have more people carefully positioned at strategic points around the perimeter. I want you to know we are doing everything we can to protect you."
    "Can I ask you an obvious question?" she began.
    "Fire away," he replied.
    "Have the Styx got tunnels under here? From what you tell me, they have a warren of them everywhere."
    "We did a geophysics survey, and found a few vague shadows. It probably means there were some underground chambers once, but they've collapsed, or been filled in."
    Mrs. Burrows smiled. "How very Time Team ," she said.
    Drake pushed himself off the fountain and they headed back down the hill, still talking as they went. "Look, even if the Styx do try to play dirty, we'll be ready for them," Drake assured her, rubbing his hands together as if he relished it. "No, we're going to have fun once we turn the tables on them and nab whoever comes to the meeting."
    "But you don't actually expect their Mr. Big to come, do you?" Mrs. Burrows asked.
    "I don't know him well enough to confirm his identity even if he does make a star appearance.. But whoever they send, we'll interrogate him. He'll add something to our intelligence about their operations. But that's not the point of all this -- the fact they've agreed to a meeting in the first place tells us all we want to know -- it tells us that they don't have the virus."
    Mrs. Burrows shrugged. "Maybe it's yet another double bluff. Maybe they already have the virus, and they just want to find out how much we know, or silence us."
    Drake didn't answer as they reached the bottom of the hill.

32

    There was a tightness in Mrs. Burrows' chest as she strode up the hill a day later. She took a series of deep breaths to try to quell her rising anxiety. You'll be fine. This will soon be over with , she tried to reassure herself. Yeah, one way or another , came the unwelcome response from somewhere else in her head.
    Although she hadn't said anything to Drake, she was scared stiff. From what she'd heard about the Styx, she knew she was up against an adversary capable of the most savage acts imaginable. And adversary that would think nothing of killing anyone that got in its way. And she felt thoroughly unprepared, as if she'd been dropped between the battle lines of a war in some foreign land, and hadn't the slightest idea where the enemy was lurking.
    She consoled herself that at least she was doing her bit to help Will. He was probably already deep in the bowels of the Earth, where he might be facing the megalomaniac twins again. This thought didn't do much to ease Mrs. Burrows' state of mind. She should have fought tooth and claw to stop him going back. But she hadn't, and her remorse was so strong it was like a physical pain in her guts. It had been criminal to ask so much from someone so young, and she found that hard to live with.
    A small yapping dog drew Mrs. Burrows' attention and she looked down the slope to the base of the hill. She sought out the animal, then located its owner, who was throwing a ball for it. As she continued to walk briskly up the gravel path, she ran her eyes over the rest of the scene, scrutinizing the other people there that afternoon.
    About thirty meters away, two teenage girls were sitting next to each other on the side of the hill, a traveling rug spread beneath them. They didn't show any interest in Mrs. Burrows or anyone else for that matter, their noses buried in their books. Then she caught loud voices and located a trio of tramps on a bench down by the east side of the hill, which was just now coming into view as she continued up the slope. The were passing round a half bottle of something and smoking. Drake had told her the Styx sometimes posed as vagrants, so she kept her eyes on them for several seconds. She remembered the images of the thin Styx and stocky Colonists caught on Leatherman's surveillance films. No, the tramps appeared to be the real thing. Indeed, no one looked out of place, no one looked suspicious.
    She checked the time.
    2:55
    Five minutes to go.
    Perhaps she was just working herself up over nothing. Maybe the important Styx whom Drake was hoping to grab had rumbled what he and Leatherman were up to and wasn't going to make an appearance. So be it , she told herself. If this operation was all a waste of time, then she should just try to enjoy a pleasant afternoon in the setting of the Common as best she could. But