Tunnels 03, Freefall

actually be on the surface of the moon!"
    "More like the planet Zog," Will suggested.
    "But just think about it, Will. It's as if we've got extra powers, like we're superheroes or something. We can jump over buildings and all that stuff."
    "Sure, if there were any," Will muttered, rolling his eyes at his friend as they ambled back to the cave.
    Taking the greatest care, Will used a length of the rope he'd found to bind Elliott's arm across her chess, securing it the best he could. She didn't stir or make any sort of sound during the process.
    "That should do it," he said. "Now let's pack everything up and get out of here." He was tying the flap on a side pocket of his rucksack when Chester spoke up.
    "Will," he said, " was sorting through Elliott's stuff and there are loads of charges and stove guns in there."
    "Yes. So?" Will replied, not sure where Chester was going with this.
    "Well, it got me thinking... are there any of those fireworks left?"
    "The Roman candles?"
    "No, the rockets."
    Will nodded. "Yes, two. Why?" he asked.
    "I was just wondering... if we let them off, somebody at the top of the Pore might see them and send help down."
    Will considered this for a moment. "I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to try. I don't know if they'll be any good -- the damp might have got to them." He delved around in the bottom of his rucksack and pulled out the pair of rocket, then sniffed at them. "They seem to be okay," he said. "I just hope the sticks are in one piece." He fished them out, only to find that one of them had been broken at the end and was a little short. "That's a shame," he tutted, but nonetheless slotted both of them into the bodies of the rockets.
    As he and Chester walked together towards the edge of the shelf, Will experienced a resurgence of the irrational urge he'd had before when he'd been driven to throw himself into the Pore. He slowed to a crawl. Much as he wanted to tell Chester about what he was feeling, he decided that he didn't want to worry him needlessly. Besides, his friend would just think he was losing his marbles, which Will thought might actually be the case. He wanted more than anything else to turn around and head back to the cave. Instead he dropped to his knees and began to crawl. It made him feel a little more secure and in control, as if the urge would have a harder job to get him right to the brink and make him leap headlong from it.
    "What are you doing down there?" Chester asked, as he noticed his friend on the ground.
    "You should watch it -- there are really strong winds by the edge," Will lied. "Wouldn't stay up there if I were you."
    Chester looked around, not feeling anything more than the occasional light breeze, and shrugged. "Okay, if you say so," he replied, and also got down onto his hands and knees.
    As soon as they'd cleared the overhang of the ledge above, Will suggested they stop. It was as close as he wanted to get to the void. Using his penknife, he punctured the skin of the fungus twice. "We haven't got any milk bottles, so this will just have to do," he said. He stuck the rockets into the holes he'd made, ramming the sticks right in so that both of them were standing vertically.
    "Make sure you get the angles right," Chester advised.
    "Thank you, professor Hawking," Will replied in a good-natured way. He made some final adjustments to the rocket with the shorter stick, which looked a little lacking as it stood next to the other one. Satisfying himself that both were aiming up into the middle of the Pore, he went to light the shorter of the two, spinning the little wheel on the lighter.
    "T minus five," he announced in an American accent.
    "Imagine if someone spots them, and they come down to get us," Chester said, his voice brimming with optimism.
    Will switched back to his normal voice. "Um, Chester, two things about that. The first is that we probably fell miles, so even if they did happen to see the rockets, they'd have to climb down a bloody long way to reach us," he said, glancing at the gargantuan hole before them before resuming his efforts with the lighter. "The second is that we might get more than we've bargained for. It might be the Styx who notice them."
    Chester moved closer to Will as if he was going to stop him from lighting the rocket. "Well, in that case, maybe we shouldn't--"
    "But, I want to see just how far these things go," Will said, with school-boyish enthusiasm.
    "Yeah, what the hell, let's just go for it," Chester agreed.
    "Not sure