Tunnels 03, Freefall

she'll have me to deal with if she tries anything."
    "Why do you keep calling her that?" Chester piped up. "It's not her name."
    "Don't you start," Will warned him.
    "No, really, I'd like to know what her name is. Rebecca was given to her by Topsoilers, so it can't be her real name. Besides, there can't be two Rebeccas, can there? So what is your real name?" he demanded of the girl.
    "It wouldn't mean anything to you," Rebecca replied. "It's in my language."
    "Try me," Chester insisted.
    Rebecca uttered a short word in the Styx nasal tongue, which sounded uncannily like a hyena's bark.
    "No, you're right," Chester said, shaking his head. "Don't expect me to call you th--"
    He fell silent as Elliott began to writhe against her ties on the stretcher.
    "I don't think anyone should speak Styx around Elliott," Chester observed. "Seems to upset her."

    * * * * *

    On the seventh day of the journey, the boys were feeling the strain of carrying the stretcher, despite the assistance from the reduced gravity. Will had no idea how many kilometers of tunnel they'd trudged through, or how many vertical descents they'd made, but he hung on to the thought that Martha had said they should reach the ship at some point during the next day. That was if she could remember the rest of the route correctly.
    They'd backtracked on several occasions when Martha realized she'd taken the wrong turning, but this had cost them a few hours at most. She didn't use a map or compass (and Will wasn't sure that one would work down here in any case), but instead seemed to have all the directions committed to memory.
    The most difficult and perilous moments were when they lowered themselves down huge crevasses, particularly because they had to be so careful with Elliott. But with all four of them on the ropes, they managed to get Elliott and the stretcher down time after time without mishap. And any hostility between Martha and Rebecca was put aside on these occasions as they each had a part to play.
    There were other times when they had to worm their way through hundreds of meters of horribly claustrophobic passages, dragging their kit behind them because the ceiling was so low. It took much pushing and pulling to get Elliott through these stretches.
    Then they suddenly came upon an area where the air was so arid they were all panting and loosening their clothing. As they descended a steep incline, it became unbearably hot. Will was peering at the way ahead when he noticed it seemed to be glowing with a dull redness. It looked luminous, and he wasn't at all surprised when Martha called a halt.
    "What's up?" Chester asked.
    Martha didn't reply, but instead produced two full bladders of water. Then she beckoned Rebecca over.
    "Styx, get some more water out," she ordered bluntly.
    As Rebecca did what she was told, Martha explained. "Through here the lava flows close to the rock. It's very hot, and very dangerous."
    "So what do we do?" Will asked.
    "Can't we go a different way?" Chester asked at the same time.
    Martha shook her head. "There's no way round. Just don't stop for anything -- do you understand that? If you do, you'll die."
    Chester smiled. "Death by barbecue," he commented, then stopped smiling because he realized it wasn't funny at all.
    Martha helped Will to wrap some rags over Bartleby's paws and to secure them in place with twine. The cat seemed to enjoy the attention from Will, and was purring away merrily until Martha tipped water all over his legs and his new cloth bootees. He growled indignantly at her, and Will had to hold him in place so she could finish the job. Chester had been tasked with sousing both the stretcher and Elliott with water, and was halfway through when he suddenly stopped.
    "Will," he said.
    "Yeah, what?"
    "You know this is Elliott's?" He indicated the rucksack secured on the stretcher just below the girl's feet, which he had insisted they brought with them.
    Will's eyes widened. "Explosives! And there's ammunition in our rifles! Martha, what if it gets so hot it all goes off?"
    "The rifles should be fine -- just make sure that rucksack's soaked," she advised, upending the bladder and tipping water all over herself, directing most of it over her legs and feet. Once the boys and Elliott were similarly drenched, Martha called them together again.
    "Remember -- whatever happens, don't stop. Not for anything. Otherwise the heat will get you," she said.
    Then they were off, dashing down the rest of the incline and into