Tunnels 04, Closer

helicopters and the soldiers milling around them. "Who are they? They aren't Styx, are they?"
    Both girls fell silent as they saw the Limiter General was on his way over to them. He was accompanied by Colonel Bismarck and one of his men, who was carrying a piece of bulky equipment.
    "Think we're needed for a second," Rebecca One said. "Keep the two prisoners warm for us, Coxy."
    "Nice 'n' toasty," he confirmed, squinting up at the sun as he bobbed from foot to foot in eager anticipation.

    * * * * *

    As Colonel Bismarck and the New Germanian soldier held back, the Limiter General brought the twins up to speed.
    "You need to see this," he said, speaking quietly so he wouldn't be overheard by Will or Dr. Burrows. He produced a pouch and emptied its contents into his gloved hand. There were pieces of both a vial and another bottle of brown glass, along with some desiccated blades of grass.
    "White stopper," Rebecca Two noted, exchanging glances with her sister. "But what's this?" She carefully picked out a label still stuck to a fragment of the brown glass and held it up.
    "It's in Russian, so it must be from the medicine bay of the submarine you found," the Limiter General replied. "I'd hazard a guess that both the vials were being kept in the bottle, with a wad of grass around them for protection."
    Rebecca One considered this. "So if that's all that's left of the vial with the white top, we're down one vaccine. And there's no sign at all of our virus?"
    The Limiter General continued with his report. "No. Our stalkers made short work of ferreting out where this had been buried in the ground. Someone's been there very recently -- in the last hour or two, we estimate. The earth's been freshly dug, and the turf was laid back over it in an effort to hide it from us."
    "So we can assume that Elliott tried to retrieve both vials and, in the process, the idiot broke one. Either accidentally or on purpose. And she probably has the Dominion with her right now," Rebecca One concluded. She contemplated the white stopper in the Limiter General's palm. "Pity about that, but it doesn't really matter -- we can always manufacture more vaccine after we've got the virus back." The she glanced over to where the New Germanian soldier was attaching a large khaki-colored speaker to the top of a tripod, and one of his comrades was connecting up a box with dials on it to a large battery. "Is the PA system ready?" she asked, directing the question at Colonel Bismarck."
    "Almost," he confirmed. "We're just bringing up the rest of the speakers now."

    * * * * *

    Elliott was watching from her treetop vantage point when the amplified voice carried toward her.
    "Elliott -- whether or not you've got a visual on us, we know you'll be hearing this."
    It was so loud it startled a flock of birds, which took to the air from a nearby tree. Elliott zeroed in on the Rebecca twin holding the microphone. An array of large horn speakers had been set up on the top of the pyramid, not far from where Will and Dr. Burrows were being held.
    Elliott had been watching as Cox lashed out at Will with the scythe, and her trigger finger had tightened. But she didn't fire, knowing she should let things play out for a little longer, just in case an opportunity presented itself. If Will and Dr. Burrows were moved, she might be able to jump in and rescue them. She knew the Styx weren't about to helicopter them out, not until they'd got their hands on the Dominion virus. In the meantime, she thought it unlikely any real harm would come to them. Not while the Rebecca twins were attempting to negotiate and needed their two hostages as leverage. And Elliott's instincts told her she wouldn't have to wait long to hear what the deal was. There was always some sort of deal with these two conniving Styx girls.
    Elliott nodded to herself as one of the twins continued. "Bring us the Dominion virus, and all three of you will be spared. You've got five minutes to give us a sign that you agree to this... all you have to do is fire your weapon twice. Then we want the Dominion virus here at the pyramid within the next hour. It's that simple."
    "Yeah, sure," Elliott muttered.
    "To show you we're serious, your boyfriend here, with such a fetching tan, is going to do a karaoke act... especially for you," the Rebecca twin said.
    Elliott watched as the twin put her hand over the microphone to confer with Cox, then they both moved to where Will was. As the Rebecca twin stood before him, she