Tunnels 04, Closer

was ashamed of what he was about to do. "I have a favor to ask of you, old friend," he began softly.
    "And what might that be?"
    The Second Officer raised his head to glance beyond the iron gateway to where the Laboratories lay, an almost identical pair of rectangular buildings connected by a walkway. They were both two stories high and constructed from dirty-looking granite. The main difference between them was that behind the right-hand building, known as the South Block, a large chimney duct of red brick ran up the cavern wall. Resembling a swollen vein the way it stood proud of the smooth rock, it was said to convey fumes away from an incinerator in the basement and up to the surface. An incinerator where the Scientists burnt their experiments that had gone wrong.
    And also people.
    And according to the rumors in the Colony, sometimes even a combination of the two.
    However, the rumors weren't that fanciful because the South Block was where the Scientists practiced eugenics and genetic manipulation -- specifically the controlled breeding of Styx and the modification of their genome for the betterment of their race.
    "I need you to let me through," the Second Officer ventured, meeting the eyes of the guard. "I need to go into the North Block."
    The guard blew through his lips. "Let you through? Let you through? Now why would I put my job -- and my life -- on the line, and allow you to do that?" he asked.
    "Because I have this." The Second Officer unbuttoned a pocket in his tunic and produced his warrant card. "As far as you're concerned I'm here on official business, and if there's any comeback, I'll take the blame."
    "Well, in that case... I suppose I could..." the guard considered, then gave a shake of his head. "Look, don't think I'm making a judgment of you, but I know why you want to go in there. I saw the Topsoil woman being carried in." He stepped outside his sentry box and toward the Second Officer. "But just let me say this." He laid his hand on the arm of his friend. "Maeve and I were talking about you at the weekend. I know in your job you've seen and heard a lot of what goes on -- just as I have at this butcher's palace -- but you mustn't let it get to you. You've still go time to find yourself a wife, a nice wife from below grass , and settle down... and have some children. You need that... some good to balance out all the bad. You shouldn't be spending your life like this -- taking pity on lost causes and half-dead Topsoilers."
    The Second Officer patted his friend's hand before pulling his arm away. "Thank you." Then he put his warrant card back into his pocket. "If anyone happens to ask, just say I'm here to collect some clothes for my sister." He glanced at Colly. "And maybe I should leave old puss-in-boots here with you."
    The guard gave a small smile. "You'd better. It's late and there's no one in the North Block at the moment, but if they were and they came across an unattended Hunter, they'd probably throw her on the slab and cut her open just for laughs. That's what those damned people do in there."
    The Second Officer seemed to look unwell at this.
    "Are you all right?" the guard asked him.
    "In time I will be... maybe," the Second Officer replied as he started toward the grim building.
    Once inside, he took the stairs to the second floor. He'd been in the North Block many times before when he'd been assigned the task of escorting Topsoilers there, most of them abducted from the surface by the Styx. As a matter of course, they were kept in the Hold for a few weeks while they were softened up and Darklit, to make them more 'amenable' (in Styx parlance) to lending their skills for the benefit of the Colony. Often he found he was transporting Topsoil scientists, because these were the people with the expertise that the Styx wanted to exploit, but the journey was nearly always one way -- they were rarely, if ever, returned to the surface afterwards.
    He walked down the wide corridor, glancing through the observation ports in the doors on either side as he went. There didn't seem to be anyone in the rooms to his right where the abducted Topsoilers were usually locked up as they toiled on Styx projects. For the last six months, since the incident when Mrs. Burrows' son and his younger brother had broken out, the Styx had locked the Colony down and there wasn't nearly as much to-ing and fro-ing from the surface. Not that he'd been aware of, anyway.
    Then he came to the rooms where he thought that