Tunnels 04, Closer

believe in zero tolerance. We don't give concessions bec--"
    There was an explosion like a thunderclap from the jungle on the other side of the pyramid. Foliage and broken branches were ripped from the trees and thrown into the sky.
    "What's going on?" Rebecca Two shouted. "Damn it! We can't see a thing from here."
    "Get over to the north side," the Limiter General yelled at a couple of patrols of Limiters, who emerged from the tree line.
    "Come along. We'll get a better view from up here," Rebecca One said. Both twins swung around as if they were about to clamber back onto the top of the pyramid.
    "No, not a good idea," the Limiter General advised them. "This might be a ruse to coax you out into the open again. Better you stay down on this level."
    The twins did as he said, but began to run along the tier of the pyramid. They'd gone around the corner and were halfway along the next stretch when there was a second explosion. More foliage burst into the air, followed by a creaking as a tree crashed down into the clearing. This time it was much closer, and to the south of the pyramid -- on the side the Rebecca twins had just left.
    "This is like musical chairs," Rebecca One scowled as they slid to a halt and did an about turn.
    As Limiters ran in different directions below, the Rebecca twins retraced their steps. The Limiter General was still standing in the same spot as they arrived.
    "No question it's Elliott," he told them. "Doing party tricks with her C4."
    "Little show-off. What's she hoping to achieve with these theatricals?" Rebecca One said.
    "Why don't you ask her?" Rebecca Two replied, thrusting a finger at the small figure walking purposefully toward the pyramid from the south. "Here come the original Drain Baby herself."
    Elliott appeared to be unarmed. She had a Bergen on her back, and was holding one hand out in front of her, with something gripped in it.
    "How nice of you to join us!" Rebecca one shouted gleefully, then her voice changed as she adopted a cold tone. "Now stop right there!"
    "Don't tell me what to do!" Elliott answered, as the Limiters in the clearing regrouped and began to assemble around her, their rifles trained on her. "And tell your goons that if one of them comes too close, I'll release this. And..." She raised her clenched fist to head height. "And... bang!" she said, a wry smile spreading on her lips. "The charge in my rucksack will go off and you can kiss goodbye to your virus. I've packed a good twenty pounds of explosive around the vial."
    "What do you advise?" Rebecca Two asked, speaking to the Limiter General from the corner of her mouth. "Take her out with a head shot?"
    "If we do that and she's using a dead-man's trigger, her grip will relax and the C4 will detonate. As she says, our virus will be incinerated," he replied.
    "Dead man's trigger?" Rebecca One repeated.
    "It's a fail-deadly mechanism," the Limiter General explained to her. "If she loses motor control even for a second, her hand comes off the switch and contact is made. It's a suicide bomber's favorite."
    "So we find out what she wants," Rebecca Two decided. "Come up here!" she shouted to the girl.
    Elliott walked at a leisurely pace to the east side of the pyramid, then used the steps to ascend it -- she didn't want to risk leaping up the tiers in case she slipped and let go of the dead man's trigger.
    The Rebecca twins, the Limiter General and Colonel Bismarck were waiting for her on the top of the pyramid as she arrived there. She hardly gave them a glance, going straight over to Will.
    "I'm so sorry," she said in a subdued voice as she stood beside him.
    He jerked his head around to look up at her, blinking as if he'd woken from a deep sleep. "Elliott! What are you doing here? You should've made a run for it," he said hoarsely. "You know we can't win."
    As Elliott offered no response, he gave a small shrug, then turned away from her.
    For a moment she remained beside him, looking at Dr. Burrows where he lay face-down in an ever-increasing pool of blood. Then she swung about, her expression determined. She slid her eyes over the girls, then the Limiter General, finally allowing them to rest on Colonel Bismarck. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded.
    "I'm a colonel in the New Germanian army," he answered.
    "So they're your flying machines. How did you get mixed up with these butchers... these murderers?" Elliott asked. She didn't give him time to respond as she spoke again. "I want you to get one of your men