Tunnels 04, Closer

dial on top of the unit. "Yes, through rock -- no matter how thick the strata."
    "Useful," Eddie said.
    "Yep, I gave Will a pair of these and a batch of radio beacons so he could find his..." Drake trailed off. He got to his feet and pressed the trigger on the device.
    As he pointed it downriver, there was a very faint clicking and the needle gauge on top of the device moved the smallest degree. "That must be the fallout shelter, unless he marked one of the way stations."
    Then as he happened to turn around to where the river emerged from the other end of the harbor, the detector emitted a much louder burst of clicking and the needle went wild. "That's funny," he said. He homed in on the signal, finding it led him toward the opening in the breeze blocks. "It's even stronger here," he noted, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I wonder..."

    * * * * *

    Rebecca Two and the Limiter General were being driven in a large black limousine, with military vehicles in front and behind, and a pair of motorcycle outriders leading the way.
    "What do they take me for?" Rebecca Two grumbled, as she looked down at the skirt of the pure white cotton dress she'd been given, decorated with cream ribbons. "At least you don't look like the sugarplum fairy," she muttered to the taciturn Limiter General beside her. She would have been far more comfortable in a version of the dark gray military uniform with which he'd been provided.
    They had glimpses of the ocean as the motorcade skirted the docks area, and then cut in toward the center of the metropolis. Through the tinted windows in the rear of the limousine, Rebecca Two gazed at the people on the streets and the different sights. As they passed a school, a crocodile of young children was leaving the gates, all of them wearing wide-brimmed hats to protect them from the sun. Rebecca Two was astounded at the scale of the city; endless terraces of houses flashed by, interspersed with boulevards of shops. These eventually gave way to buildings the size of hangars: imposing neoclassical structures constructed from granite or lighter chalk-like stone, with names on their facades such as Institut der Geologie and Zentrum fuer Medizinische Forschung .
    Then the motorcade dipped into an underpass and came up again in a tree-lined avenue. Rebecca Two saw that beyond these trees and directly ahead was some kind of immense plaza. Across this huge open space, many intersecting roads buzzed with heavy traffic. But her eyes were drawn to the figures of men standing on granite plinths. 'Frederick the Great,' she read on one of them.
    "And in the place of honor, Albert Speer," the Limiter General said. Rebecca Two craned her neck to see the large besuited figure with a set of plans spread open in its hands. It was the final statue in the row and, unlike the other figures, its head wasn't facing its counterpart on the opposite side of the road, but was instead staring at the giant arch the limousine was fast approaching. There were also armored vehicles stationed all around the plaza, and the Limiter General was particularly interested in a long rank of tanks, some painted neutral gray and others in a woodland camouflage. "Panzers?" he asked himself, under his breath.
    "Hey, I know this arch -- I could see it from the mountains," Rebecca Two said, realizing why it looked so familiar to her.
    The motorcade drew up by one of the two monolithic legs of the arch, and the doors of the limousine were opened for her and the Limiter General. The soldiers from the military escort quickly disembarked and encircled them in a protective cordon. The arch was built on a large island in the middle of the plaza, around which traffic was passing, and the soldiers arranged themselves so that the curious faces in these vehicles could see very little of the two Styx.
    As she stepped across the pavement, Rebecca Two recognized one of the soldiers in their escort -- it was the young officer who'd been in command of the squad at the city gates. As the officer checked that his detail was positioned correctly, he appeared far more at ease than he had done on that first occasion.
    "We meet again," Rebecca Two announced.
    Giving her a fleeting smile, the officer nodded once in response. It was obvious that he wanted her to keep moving toward the arch, but she remained where she was.
    "I want to thank you for standing your men down," she said. "It could have very easily gone all Wild West, but you kept your cool and saved your men's