Tunnels 05 - Spiral

Fourth Officer nodded, then spotted the greyhound. “See you’ve made a friend.”
    The Second Officer looked at his new companion and gave a shrug in response before continuing down the rest of the slope.
    As soon as he came to the level ground at the bottom, he heard the sound of many feet striking the cobblestones in unison. A group of New Germanians — around fifty of them — were running in formation, as a Division soldier on horseback set the pace.
    The greyhound hid behind the Second Officer’s legs as the group thundered past. The men were like automatons, staring straight ahead as they moved in perfect synchronization. He knew why their expressions were so vacant — they had all been heavily Darklit.
    Maneuvers like this were a common sight in the Colony these days — and just as common was the sight of these men collapsing from exhaustion during their training, some even dying from heart failure. The Second Officer had heard through the grapevine that the Styx were pushing the soldiers so hard because they wanted to acclimatize them to higher levels of gravity than they were used to in their world.
    “C’mon, boy. It’s nothing to be frightened of,” the Second Officer assured the dog as the soldiers retreated into the distance. He entered one of the outlying streets of the Colony. But rather than heading directly toward the North Cavern, he instead made a detour to his house.
    As he walked in, Eliza emerged from the sitting room. “What are you doing back so early?” his sister demanded. “Do you kn —” she began, then her eyes fell on the little greyhound. “Oh no! You haven’t!” she exclaimed.
    “I couldn’t just leave the little fella out in the cold,” the Second Officer said. He knelt down, his knee joints cracking like rifle shots, and stroked the dog. The greyhound’s nervous eyes met his briefly. “I’m expected in the North now, but I’ll find out where he lives when I come back.”
    Eliza crossed her arms disapprovingly. “The patron saint of waifs, strays, and Topsoilers,” she fumed at him. “I would’ve thought you’d learned your lesson by now.”
    The Second Officer grunted and straightened up. “Where’s Mother?” he asked.
    “She’s upstairs, rest —” Eliza began, then interrupted herself as she remembered what she’d been wanting to tell her brother. “You’ll never guess what happened today. The Smiths were moved out.”
    The Second Officer nodded. The Smiths were neighbors two doors down, and they’d lived there as long as anyone could remember — certainly for several decades before he was born.
    “Mother’s taken it very badly. There are hardly any of us left on the street now.” Eliza frowned. “We’re being pushed out for all these New Germanian soldiers, and they never so much as answer if you speak to them. They act as if you’re not there. It’s not right what’s going on.” Her voice was wavering, she was so distraught, but she now lowered it in case someone overheard her. “I don’t even know if our people are actually being taken to the North or not — there are rumors down the market that whole families are disappearing, lock, stock, and barrel.” She put her hand on her brother’s arm. “Can’t you do something? Can’t you talk to the Styx?”
    “You are joking? Me?” the Second Officer asked.
    “Yes, you. The only reason
we
haven’t been uprooted yet is because the Styx believe you’re a hero, taking on those Topsoilers all on your own when they came to rescue your lady love.” The Second Officer found it hard to bear the withering look Eliza gave him. He may have been able to deceive the Styx, with his old friend the watchman from the Laboratories to corroborate his story, but his sister knew him too well. “And if they think you’re so
bloody
marvelous, perhaps they’ll listen to what you have to say.”
    The Second Officer wasn’t sure if he was more shocked by his sister’s swearing or by her outlandish suggestion that he somehow tackle the Styx over what they were doing in the Colony.
    He shook his head as he crossed to the front door, careful to shut it behind him because he didn’t want the dog to follow. He left the fuggy warmth of the house with huge reluctance, uneasy about what he would be expected to do in the North Cavern, and generally very unhappy with his lot in life.

    Parry waited until they had all gathered in the hall. Elliott was the last to arrive as she floated down the stairs,