Tunnels 05 - Spiral

on the entrance. But then he struck out for the Citadel itself. When he was some forty feet away from it, he bent to pick up a stone, which he slung at its doors. The stone struck them, clattering down the front steps. Nothing happened, so Drake began to move closer to the building.
    “Stop!” the First Officer shouted. “It’ll knock you down!”
    It wasn’t just the portals that the Styx had protected with their subaural fields. The First Officer had already been called out to rescue several unconscious Colonists who’d been incapacitated by the one around this building.
    Drake paid him no notice, mounting the steps at the entrance.
    “How can he do that?” the First Officer asked as Drake appeared to be completely unaffected by the field. He was checking all around the entrance, pushing on the huge stone slab where the doorway had previously been. Then he walked backward from the building, examining the windows, which began on the upper floors.
    As he rejoined everybody, Drake was yawning and working his jaw as if he had chronic earache. “There’s an immensely strong field around it,” he said to Will and Mrs. Burrows. Then he addressed the First Officer. “The Styx have brought down protective barriers inside the building and completely sealed it, so I have no way of telling if there are any left inside.”
    The First Officer looked extremely uncomfortable at this. “You know that it’s rumored there are various Topsoil routes down into the building, so” — he turned to regard the Citadel — “so this might be where they return to take control of us again.”
    “They can try,” Drake said.
    “But you’ll be ready for them,” Mrs. Burrows chipped in.
    “Let’s investigate the Garrison building,” Drake suggested to Will.
    “Um,” Joseph began. He still couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off Will.
    “What is it?” the First Officer said.
    “Can I accompany you?” Joseph asked Drake. “You see, I used to work there.”
    The First Officer was about to object to this request when Drake reached into a pouch on his belt and took out a spare pair of earplugs. “Put these in,” he said to Joseph.
    As Drake set off toward the Garrison, Will and Joseph were following a short distance behind him.
    “Seth?” Joseph began nervously.
    Will turned to him. “It’s really
Will
. I’m not called that anymore.”
    “Sorry,” the man whispered, running his hand over the stubbly white hair on his scalp. Then he spoke with more assurance. “I knew Sarah, your mother.”
    “You did?” Will asked.
    “We were friends when we were young.” Joseph frowned and seemed to have difficulty in continuing. “The last time she was here . . . when the White Necks trapped her and brought her back, we saw each other again. I looked after her for the weeks she stayed in the Garrison.”
    Although Joseph had lowered his head, Will could see that his expression was incredibly sad. And when the man gave Will a fleeting look, his pale blue eyes — with identical coloration to Will’s own eyes — seemed to reflect the light as if they were brimming with tears.
    “I think she knew what was coming,” Joseph mumbled. “She could tell it wasn’t going to end well for her.”
    Will suddenly felt such a strong kinship with this massive man that he briefly put his arm around him as they continued to walk. Like Joseph, Will, too, was overcome with sadness, but at that moment they reached the entrance. Will could feel the buzzing in his skull — there was a field around the steel doors, but, surprisingly, they were unlocked.
    They entered the building, and Will walked the polished stone floor that his real mother had once trod, with her friend beside him.
    “I don’t think she ever really believed a single word of what the White Necks were trying to fill her head with about you,” Joseph said in a low voice. “She went along with them because she wanted to find you.”
    “Thank you for telling me that,” the boy said.
    “Are you two OK?” Drake asked, eyeing them curiously as he noticed they both appeared rather overwrought.
    “We’re just fine,” Will replied.
    “Good, then let’s put a stop to the subaural field in this place. I know there’s an armory in here, so if you show us where it is, Joseph, let’s break in and see what the Styx have left behind,” Drake said. “You’ll want something a little more businesslike than that pickax handle if they pop up here again.”

    Will, Drake, and