Tunnels 05 - Spiral

blood from his nostrils. “I needed to get your full and undivided attention. If I’d simply shown up, you wouldn’t have taken me seriously. And you seem to be overlooking the good turn I’ve done you. After you tossed Emily Rawls back into the pond, I stepped in to save her, and now I’ve delivered her safely back to you.”
    “Back into the pond? What does he mean?” Will asked Drake.
    “It was her choice,” Drake defended himself, but Will could see that Eddie had him on the back foot. “Emily was dead set on helping, and I needed a way to keep tabs on what the Styx were planning next.”
    “So you’re saying that what I did to Chester was worse than leaving his mother to the wolves,” Eddie leveled at Drake, then took a breath. “But, look, this isn’t getting us anywhere, and I have to brief you on a matter wh —”
    Drake was clearly angered by Eddie’s accusation, and now cut him off belligerently. “What’s so bloody important you’ve gone to all this trouble to speak to me? If it’s about your daughter, you’re wasting your time. She doesn’t want to know.”
    “Yes . . . and no,” the Styx answered in a measured way. “No, I didn’t come for Elliott, but have you observed anything different about her? Any changes?”
    Drake frowned, not understanding why Eddie had asked the question. “Well, she’s growing up fast,” he replied. “Same as any normal girl in her teens.”
    “Normal girl,” Eddie repeated in barely a whisper, opening and closing his hand stiffly. It was a small but uncharacter-istic sign of anxiety, and one that Will and Drake immediately picked up on. The Styx then locked eyes with Drake. “I’m going to tell you something that no human has ever heard before. It will explain why my people have ramped up their operations here on the surface.”
    “Go on,” Drake urged, crossing his arms as he leaned back. “I’m all ears.”
    “I need to tell you about . . . ,” Eddie said, faltering for a moment as though his lips were refusing to obey him, “about
the Phase
.”

    Manned by two New Germanians, the factory gates swung open and Captain Franz steered the Mercedes to an area of tarmac designated visitors’ parking, where he pulled up. In a flash he’d left his seat and was at the rear of the car to let the Rebecca twins out. He then hurried ahead to do the same again, opening the door into the office building. But, for a moment, the Rebeccas hung back in the parking area as they admired the ranks of expensive cars.
    “Makes you proud,” Rebecca One said as she spotted a Bugatti Veyron next to an Enzo Ferrari.
    Her sister hummed in agreement, then they continued to the office building, where Captain Franz was still propping the door open.
    “Very kind. Thank you,” Rebecca Two said as she slipped by him.
    “Very kind. Thank you,” Rebecca One repeated in a gushing Marilyn Monroe voice as she passed the captain, topping off the impersonation with a small curtsey.
    Rebecca Two ignored her sister’s taunt as a Limiter in full combats strode forward to meet them. “I see from the cars they’re all here,” she said to him. “Show them into the boardroom.”
    Moving quickly on from the reception area, the twins passed along a corridor and through an open doorway. It was a sizable room, dominated by a table some twenty feet in length with chairs arranged around it. The Rebecca twins made their way directly to the head of the table and sat down. Captain Franz positioned himself behind them as if he was standing at attention, his hands behind his back.
    In less than a minute, a procession of fully grown Styx women began to enter the boardroom. They came from all walks of Topsoil life, and their appearances differed accordingly. Some had kept their raven-black hair, but others had bleached or dyed it, and their clothes were just as varied. Far from hiding away in the shadows like their male counterparts, many of these women had insinuated themselves into prime areas of Topsoil commerce and the upper echelons of government, and were regularly in the limelight. They were important and valued members of English society, many of them key decision makers in their chosen fields.
    There were forty women in total. And although their appearances were diverse, the one thing that they all had in common was their exceptional beauty. With their high cheekbones and piercing eyes, they were all incredibly tall and slender. In Topsoil terms, each and every one of