Tunnels 05 - Spiral

— Drake had said that they’d collapse the mouth of the tunnel so the Topsoil authorities wouldn’t find it.
    Elliott spoke to several of them in the Styx language, then she and Will entered the tunnel, quickly moving to the far end of the crescent-shaped grotto. Will showed her the iron door with the three handles down one side that he and Chester had first discovered together.
    “This was where it all kicked off,” he told her, rapping its battered surface with his knuckles. It rang with a low, resounding tone, until he touched it again, tracing around an area of shiny black paint with a fingertip, and remembering. “There was no turning back when I found this door — well, not for me, anyway. I don’t think Chester was happy about it at the time, but he still came along.”
    “Poor old Chester — he’s like that. He’s a loyal friend to you,” Elliott said.
    And look where it got him,
Will was thinking as Drake appeared. “You can open up. I’ve checked for Styx antipersonnel mines,” Drake said.
    Will immediately clunked up the three handles on the side of the door, then stepped back. “Ladies first,” he said to Elliott.
    She leaned on the door and it groaned open on its hinges. Then she stepped over the metal lip at the base of the doorframe and went into the cylindrical chamber. Once they’d gone the short distance to the other side, Drake joined them, and Will cranked the three handles on the second door, which was identical to the first.
    Then, without even troubling to glance through the hazy porthole, he heaved it open. There was a sibilant hiss as the air pressure equalized.
    “At least that means the Fan Stations are still operating, doesn’t it? So the Colony’s getting air,” Will said to Drake.
    “I hope so,” Drake replied noncommittally.
    Will and Elliott moved through the antechamber, the beam from Will’s miner’s light lancing the moisture-laden air. The walls themselves were a patchwork quilt of rusted metal plates studded with rivets.
    Will caught his breath as he made out the shaft up ahead. There, waiting for them, was the cage elevator itself, ready to take them down.
    Will went to open the trellis door to the elevator but glanced at Drake to see if he should proceed.
    Drake nodded, his miner’s light bouncing up, then Will slid the gate back and went in.
    “Safe as houses,” he whispered to himself, but this time he didn’t feel like jumping up and down.
    The equipment and nuclear weapons were ferried down in several trips because Drake didn’t want to overload the old elevator. When it had all been moved and everyone was down, too, Will started for the door to the second metal chamber.
    “Hold up,” Drake said. “I need to investigate that airlock first. I haven’t risked opening it yet, in case it’s alarmed.” He turned to everyone. “Weapons at the ready. And you should also have your tranquilizer guns close to hand in case we bump into any Colonists.” He paused for a moment. “There’s something you should be aware of. When we were last in London, I picked up a distress signal from the Colony.”
    “What do you mean?” Mrs. Burrows asked.
    “I left a radio beacon with your friend the Second Officer. It was tuned to a specific frequency, and I told him to use it if things got difficult in the Colony and he needed help. Well, he did.”
    Mrs. Burrows looked troubled. “Why didn’t you mention this before n —”
    “Because we had bigger fish to fry at the time,” Drake interrupted. “So I’ve really no idea quite what we’re going to find when we go through that airlock.”
    Mrs. Burrows was shaking her head as she placed her hand protectively on the Hunter at her side, who immediately began to purr loudly. “I brought Colly along because I wanted to take her home. If I’d known what you’ve just told me, I’d have made other plans — I’d have left her with Sergeant Finch.”
    “She’ll be fine. She can come with us on the journey — she looks healthy enough,” Drake argued.
    “Yes, she’s healthy enough,” Mrs. Burrows said a little curtly. “But do you really expect her to have her litter on the hoof?”
    Everyone turned to look at the Hunter who, aware of the sudden interest in her, stopped purring.
    “Litter?” Will said.
    “Yes, Bartleby’s offspring,” Mrs. Burrows answered. “Why do you think she’s put on so much weight?”
    Drake sighed. “Look, let’s see what the situation is in the Colony, then