Tunnels 03, Freefall

window as she sang along to the radio.
    With a nudge from her elbow, Elliott brought Will back to the present. She was pointing at something. It was difficult to see them because their dun camouflage merged so effectively with the rusty metal, but there were... two Limiter combat smocks... hanging on something at the rear corner of the hut.
    The Rebecca twins' jackets.
    Will couldn't believe it.
    His eyes met with Elliott's. He knew she was thinking the same thing -- he was willing to bet that if the twins were taking a plunge in the pool or whatever it was, they would have left the phials somewhere for safekeeping. And where better than their jackets? He caught himself... maybe they'd left them with the Limiter. Where is that damned Limiter? He asked himself again.
    As Elliott gave the sign for them to withdraw, will was grateful beyond words that he didn't have to remain so close to the Styx girls or the so far unaccounted for Limiter. As he edged back, it felt a little as if he'd just put his head in the mouth of a particularly bed-tempered and hungry lion, and got away with it.
    Once he and Elliott were around the curve in the passage and far enough from the cove, she quickly took off her Bergen and began to delve in it. She took out two large explosive charges with timers attached to them -- they were from the batch that Drake had asked Will to deliver to her.
    Then she moved close to Will and whispered into his ear. "I'm going to set these along here. Go back to the start of the passage and keep watch. If one of these charges goes off, or you hear shots, just clear out -- and fast. Bartleby knows the way home."
    Will nodded, then crawled off down the passage. Once he was back at the escarpment, he found himself a sheltered spot behind a tree and watched the passage, waiting for Elliott.
    As he waited, he began to feel more and more uncomfortable. Elliott's words were resonating in his head. It was obvious that she was taking it all on her own shoulders, so Will didn't have to put himself in any danger at all. Indeed, it sounded as if she was ready to sacrifice herself in order to deal with the Styx. As he mulled it over in his mind, he wasn't going to let her do that. It was his battle too, and it was only right he played his part in it.
    He was incredibly relieved when she reappeared at the mouth of the passage. He had begun to wonder if he'd ever see her again -- alive.
    She spoke into his ear. "Two charges set on twenty-minute fuses, mounted high so I can snipe them if I need to. I'm going to see if I can climb the cliff and get a proper view of what's going on."
    "Why don't I do--" he began to ask.
    "No, better that I try. I know how to use this," she interrupted him, patting her Limiter rifle with the telescopic sight. "I just need you to cover this area."
    "What if they come out?" he asked quickly.
    "Open up with the Sten. Whatever you do, keep them pinned down inside the passage. Contain them," she said, glancing over at the opening in the escarpment. "I'm going to see if I can pick them off, starting with the Limiter. Once he's down, the twins should be easier to deal with."
    Will nodded grimly, and Elliott immediately moved towards the escarpment, looking for a place to climb it.
    Finding himself a better vantage point behind the trunk of an acacia, Will lay down. His palms were leaving smears of sweat on the blued steel of his Sten as he adjusted his grip on the weapon. "Keep them pinned down inside," he repeated, staring so hard at the opening of the passage that it seemed to become something unreal, like an illustration.
    He tried to make himself less tense by moving his shoulders around, but that didn't work. He couldn't stop himself from jumping at even the smallest movement, to the extent that he almost fired on a leaf as it dropped from a branch. He could feel the sun heating the shirt on his back as he lay there. He was suddenly hit with the realization that this was one of those pivotal moments in his life, one of those moments when he could step up to the plate and prove himself. If he didn't and it all went terribly wrong, then he would have to live with that. And he felt as if he already had far too many regrets in his short life. He wasn't just going to sit there and let everything happen around him, like some passenger in a car. He had to do something. He was going to do something.
    "Come on," he said to himself. He didn't know exactly what he was going to do, but he began to formulate a