Tunnels 04, Closer

spoke over the PA again. "Elliott, we want you to listen to this. It's called The Nine Finger Rap ." The twin giggled, then held the microphone in front of Will.
    "Stay away, Ell--" he managed to get out before one of the Limiters tightened an arm around his neck.
    "What are they up to?" Elliott asked herself. She could see that Dr. Burrows was gesticulating madly as he pleaded with the Rebecca twins, but they were both ignoring him. One of the Limiters guarding Will seized his arm and held it out. Will was straining and trying to wrest it away from the soldier, but it was hopeless -- the Limiter was just too strong.
    "If you haven't caught on yet, we're gonna chop his finger off," the Rebecca twin announced. "And for every ten minutes it takes you to show up here, he's going to lose another."
    "Oh, God," Elliott exhaled. She couldn't just stand by and watch Will suffer like that. She knew that the Rebecca twins probably hadn't the slightest intention of letting any of them go free -- that wasn't how the Styx ran things. She remembered the moment on the Great Plain, back in the Deeps, when she and Will had thought they were putting Drake out of his misery by shooting him. She hadn't been able to do it then, but she was ready to now. She sighted up on Will's head, her finger poised on the trigger.
    Cox took Will's hand and held the scythe above the base of his index finger.
    "No! I can't!" Elliott cried, as she saw Will's face contort with fear.
    As he opened his mouth to yell, she switched targets and pulled the trigger.

18

    Everyone on the pyramid heard the distant report of a weapon going off. There was a fraction of a second's delay before the bullet found its mark.
    Cox's face exploded with the sound of an overripe melon bursting open. The grimy shawl over his head billowed as if the wind had suddenly caught it. He wavered on his feet for an instant, then keeled backwards, the scythe dropping from his hand.
    All those with military training had either flung themselves to the ground or were crouching low, leaving only the Rebecca twins and a bemused Dr. Burrows still standing upright.
    "Nice to hear from you, Elliott," Rebecca Two said into the microphone as she regarded the body several meters away from her. The twin was completely composed as she went over to it and bent to pick up the scythe. "Poor old Coxy. That was uncalled for. And I'm also rather disappointed with you, Elliott, because I was sure we'd be able to come to some sort of agreement. We both want th--"
    Rebecca Two was interrupted by a second shot from the jungle. The military contingent reacted to it again, and there were shouts from the Limiters around the base of the pyramid.
    "Anyone down? Has anyone been hit?" the Limiter General called out several times, but everyone was accounted for.
    "The Styx girl's eyes met, and Rebecca One laughed. "I guess that was the second shot we were looking for. I guess Elliott's just given us the signal that we do have a deal."
    Rebecca Two joined in with her sister's laughter. "Suppose so. It's quite amusing, really, but bad manners can't go unpunished." She took her hand from the microphone and spoke into it.
    "All right, we have a deal, but that was very rude of you. You killed one of our friends without our permission... and so you've changed the terms of the deal. And, be warned, if you're thinking of sniping anyone else up here, we'll execute both Will and Dr. Buckwheat." She took a breath. "Right, the new deal is that we'll do the exchange for one of the hostages -- I repeat -- one of the hostages, and I'm betting you'd want that to be Mole Boy here, unless you've developed a thing for older men? We give you our word that we'll stick to the new deal. Just come in with the virus, okay?"
    Dr. Burrows seemed to recover from the shock of Cox's shooting. "This is all so unnecessary," he exhorted one of the Rebecca twins. "Can't we talk it over before anyone else loses their life?" He glanced at his son, who was being held on his knees -- Will's eyes were wide with fear.
    "You want to talk?" Rebecca One said, in a voice that sounded like something from a cartoon as she opened and closed her raised hand to mimic a flapping mouth. Then she lowered her hand and reverted to her normal voice. Her eyes were cold and unamused. "Maybe I don't want to talk to you," she said. "Because you're so old and boring."
    "No, I mean it -- I'm sure we can agree to something. Give me the microphone and I'll persuade Elliott to