Tunnels 03, Freefall

away merrily to itself, but there was still no sign of anything below -- just the crimson glow from the incandescent rock on the sides of the void as he plummeted past. He felt the intense heat on his exposed skin for the milliseconds as he sped past these red-hot rocks, and heard the hiss as some of the cascades of brine were instantly turned to steam.
    Then he was absolutely sure he wasn't falling so fast.
    He could mop the moisture from the lens on his headset without going into a helter-skelter tumble. And he could study the sides of the void passing by, and take in the patterns created by the shifting water droplets as they accompanied him down.
    Some time later, he began to feel as if he was actually floating, but he realized that this might be his brain playing tricks on him because he'd been falling for so long. It was also about this time that he began to hear a low rumbling sound. Maybe it had always been there but he had been too preoccupied to notice it.
    As he listened further, the sound seemed to be growing louder, much louder even than the rush of air in his ears. He scanned down below him.
    What could be causing it?
    A bizarre picture of monstrously huge cogs and gearwheels flashed through his mind -- maybe it was a vague memory of some children's story he had read when he was young. He tried to laugh it off, but the picture persisted. Perhaps he was heading towards the Earth's engine room, full of giants operating equally giant machines.
    He shook his head, as if he was trying to shake himself from a ludicrous dream.
    Due to the rumbling sound he couldn't hear the clicking from the tracker any more, but he could see the needle was going crazy.
    He scanned below him.
    There!
    In the corner of his eye he caught a tiny pinprick of light far far below.
    As a gust of wind buffeted him and he rotated in his flight, he lost sight of it and couldn't locate it again. Had it really been a light that he'd seen? It wasn't lava -- that much was for sure -- wrong color.
    Then he spotted the light again. And the display on the tracker seemed to show a higher signal when Will pointed it in the direction of the light. He angled his limbs and maneuvered his flight path towards it.
    As the light grew in size, he became less certain. Was this such a good idea? Although the tracker was indicating that his father's radio beacon was somewhere close to the light, he also couldn't dismiss the possibility that it might be the Styx.
    By now his speed had diminished to the point that he hardly felt as if he was falling at all, more like a soap bubble being buoyed along by the wind.
    The light grew bigger. It was giving off a blue glow, but he couldn't judge how far away it was.
    Making sure he had his Sten ready, he continued to glide towards the light.
    Just as he made out a long sleek shape below him, it came up much faster than he expected, and he crashed straight into it. It wasn't a hard impact by any means, but he banged his head and felt a little dazed.
    Someone helped him up.
    "Get off!" he shouted, immediately assuming it was the Styx. He tried to struggle with whoever it was, then saw the glint from a pair of glasses.
    It was his father. Will saw the intense blue glow coming from behind him; Dr. Burrows had evidently set off one of Drake's flares. And it took Will a couple of seconds to appreciate that he was actually standing on the submarine. He hadn't recognized it straight away because it was tipped over onto its side. Will had landed near one end of its hull, although he couldn't tell if it was the prow or the stern.
    Not knowing if he felt so euphoric because he was still alive, or because now he wasn't alone in this remote and isolated place at the bottom of the world, Will flung his arms around Dr. Burrows. Even that small movement sent them both shooting along the hull of the submarine for quite some distance. Talk about being weightless!
    As Will got himself back on his feet, he could almost feel himself drifting off the surface of the hull. He saw his father was wagging his finger at him, then he put his thumb and forefinger together to form a circle. Zero gravity -- that was what Dr. Burrows was trying to tell him. It wasn't quite zero gravity, but Will was going to have to be extremely careful about how he moved around, unless he wanted to float over into the void, like a spacewalk gone wrong. Will nodded at his father to show he understood, and tried to talk to him, but his voice was lost under the