Tunnels 03, Freefall

again.
    Her body still felt as though it was a length of wood bowed almost to the breaking point, but the evil hedgehog didn't seem to be quite so energetic or effective any more.
    'I pray that I might not let those about me spoil my peace of mind.' As she continued to repeat this mantra and maintain the rhythm of her deep breathing, the strangest thing happened.
    Where there had been darkness was light.
    It was as though she'd been flipped into a completely different reality, the one she'd left behind as the Styx had activated the Dark Light. For starters, she could see around her, see that she was back in the brightly-lit room again. She watched the Styx. One of them was repeating the constant cycle of questions at her while his companion was asking about completely different matters. And, to her astonishment, she found she was replying voluntarily to these questions, and in some detail too. Voluntarily, but involuntarily.
    He was asking her everything she knew about Drake; what he had told her when she was Topsoil with him, where he'd taken her, and if she'd met any of the other people in his network.
    That's enough of that , the part of her mind that was in the brilliantly-lit room decided, and in mid-sentence Mrs. Burrows stopped what she'd been saying about Drake. Frowning, the Styx looked at her askance.
    "Continue," he barked.
    "You can sod off! You've had as much as you're going to get from me!" she screamed, then clamped her mouth shut.
    The other Styx abruptly ceased the cycle of repetitive questions and they both glanced at each other. Then the Styx behind the light made an adjustment to it, and it flared an even brighter orange. The evil hedgehog swelled in size, to the size of a cat, and became more powerful, its spines sizzling with pure energy. As Mrs. Burrows kept the meditation exercise running endlessly through her mind, she felt the presence of the hedgehog circling around her head. But it just didn't seem to be able to find a way in.
    The Styx adjusted the light again, so the orange light flooding out of the bulb was even brighter than before. The hedgehog grew to the size of a dog but Mrs. Burrows found she could still repel it, and stay in the well-lit room a the same time. She had a picture of herself simultaneously riding a bicycle and juggling. If there's one thing we women are good at, it's multi-tasking , she thought jubilantly.
    The Styx ramped the output of the Dark Light up several more times, until Mrs. Burrows could stand it no longer.
    "I pray that I might not let those about me spoil my peace of mind," she enunciated quite clearly -- certain that she was actually saying the words aloud this time -- then passed out. Every ounce of energy had been drained from her.
    In an instant, the Second Officer, now accompanied by the slightly younger First Officer, came into the room. The Second Officer began to release Mrs. Burrows' restraints.
    "So you got what you wanted?" the First Officer asked, sensing that all was not right.
    "She was shutting us out," one of the Styx said, and the Second Officer stopped what he was doing as both he and his colleague stared at the saturnine man.
    "But nobody's done that before," the Second Officer gasped in astonishment.
    The Styx were silent.
    "So you're not finished with her?" the First Officer ventured.
    "No, and in a few hours when she regains consciousness, we start all over again. We do it as many times as it takes," the Styx behind the Dark Light said.
    "We will break her," the other Styx agreed.
    "Even if it kills her?" the Second Officer asked.
    Both Styx shrugged indifferently.
    "So be it," they said, almost in unison.

    * * * * *

    Having climbed back to where his father was waiting, it took Will a while to persuade him that they should give the new passage a try. Complaining loudly, Dr. Burrows eventually agreed, and lowered himself down the rope. Will repeated the trip several times to fetch all their gear, then he planted a radio beacon before they set off down the passage only to find themselves at a fork. They chose which way to go at random, and were almost immediately faced with another intersection, then yet more, so that before long they had absolutely no idea what direction they were actually heading.
    But more significantly, they found that they were encountering some very steep gradients.
    "I reckon we've dipped quite some way below the seam now, Will observed as he leapt down an incline.
    Dr. Burrows wasn't happy. He hadn't been in