Tunnels 03, Freefall

before he continued. "So, you were a Styx from birth and Will was a Colonist..." Taking off his glasses, Dr. Burrows kneaded the bridge of his nose. "But you... he... you are... he was..." he said, his words tripping over each other. Finally, as he replaced his glasses, it was as if his various thoughts were also coming back into focus again. "Then how did we end up adopting both of you?"
    "Luck of the draw. You and Mum took Will in, and the Styx Panoply decreed I should be there too, to keep tabs on him," the Rebecca twin said, giving Dr. Burrows a half smile. "Why, do you disapprove of th omething?"
    "Well, quite frankly, yes... I think we should have been told," Dr. Burrows huffed.
    The Rebecca twin laughed snidely. "But you didn't tell Will or me we were adopted," she fired back, playing with him. "Don't you think we had a right to know that?"
    "That's not the same at all. It seems you knew all along that you were adopted -- but that aside, your mother and I were going to tell you when the time was right," Dr. Burrows said. He frowned and inspected a broken fingernail as he tried to deal with what he'd just learnt.
    Rebecca had told him as much of the story as suited her, but nothing like the whole story. And she certainly wasn't going to reveal that she had an identical sister.
    "It all seems a bit irregular," he said finally, squinting through his crooked glasses at the taciturn Limiter, who was lingering behind the Styx girl's shoulder. "We went through the proper channels for adoption, so I really don't understand who we got you as well."
    "You talk about me as though you were buying a second car."
    "Don't be silly, Rebecca. It wasn't like that at all," Dr. Burrows said in an exasperated tone. "I just don't understand how it could happen."
    "And I honestly couldn't care less how it happened," the Rebecca twin replied, beginning to look slightly bored. "We had friends in the adoption agency. We have friends everywhere."
    "But I feel as though we've been tricked... as though your mother and I have been horribly deceived," Dr. Burrows said. "And I don't like that," he added categorically.
    "And I suppose you don't like my people, either," the Rebecca twin said.
    "Your people...?" Dr. Burrows began, not failing to notice the edge to her voice.
    "Yes, my people. They didn't treat you badly in the Colony, did they? Are you saying you disapprove of their methods?" The Rebecca twin was bristling now, and the Limiter stirring behind her.
    Dr. Burrows held his hands up in alarm. "No, I didn't mean that at all. It's not my place to judge. My role is to observe and record -- I don't get involved."
    The Rebecca twin yawned as she got to her feet, brushing herself down. "So you're my stepfather, yet you're saying you're not involved. How does that work?" Her mood seemed to have suddenly changed, as if her anger had been put on purely for effect.
    Dr. Burrows, his mouth open but with no idea how to respond, was all at sea now. Heaped upon his chronic confusion, this person before him -- who he'd thought was his little girl -- was someone formidable, and although he didn't admit it to himself, he was actually quite intimidated by her. Particularly as the Styx soldier was staring at him from the shadows with his dead eyes, the eyes of a killer.
    "So, Dad," the Rebecca twin said, emphasizing Dad as if she had absolutely no respect for the title, "I've made sure you've been fed, just like in the good old days, and I can see you're feeling yourself again. So tell me about these," she demanded, producing the small stone tablets from inside her jacket. Dr. Burrows immediately touched his trouser pocket, finding that it was empty. "They look like a map of some sort, and that's just what we need right now," she said. "You're going to find us a way out of this place, and we're going to help you to do it."
    "Oh, great," Dr. Burrows replied timidly, taking the tablets she was proffering at him.

8

    "Hi, Jean," Mrs. Burrows puffed as she answered a call from her sister on her mobile phone. She was looking flustered as she hurried along
    Highfield Street
    .
    "Out of breath? Yes, just been to the gym," she said, hiking up a shoulder to stop the strap of her bag from sliding off. She held the phone away from her ear in response to a hoot of laughter from Auntie Jean, which was loud enough to be heard by a man passing in the opposite direction. "Yes, can't tell you how good it makes me feel. I've booked a month's worth of sessions with a