Tunnels 05 - Spiral

American Gulf Coast, hostility toward Britain has never been higher than in the past few years. And this incident, in which one of our own citizens has somehow been coerced into perpetrating a horrific act of terrorism on US soil, has taken anti-British sentiment to a new high. There have been demonstrations outside the British Embassy in New York and several British consulates across the country.”
    The picture switched to a heaving crowd bristling with placards.
    “Our American sons gave their lives to help England conquer Germany in the last war. And this . . . this is how they repay us!”
a man fumed as he brandished a fist at the camera.
    “Just look at all the terrorist factions they’ve let into their country. This was going to happen — it was only a matter of time,”
another man said.
    Then a woman began to chant,
“Nuke the Brits! Nuke the Brits!”
    “Very clever. The Styx have made sure there’ll be no help coming from our cousins across the Atlantic,” Danforth said.
    “That’s enough,” Parry decided. “Turn it off.”
    As the screen went dark, everyone turned to Mrs. Burrows. “They used Ben. He must have been Darklit to oblivion,” she said quietly, her head bowed. “He didn’t deserve to die like that.”
    Parry cleared his throat uncomfortably. Exchanging a glance with Old Wilkie, he went over to Stephanie. “I think the time has come for you and me to have a proper chat.”
    Stephanie didn’t respond with any of her usual shrill exuberance, but instead nodded meekly. Chester felt a surge of sympathy for the girl — it was obvious that she hadn’t yet been told quite how serious the situation was.
    “And the rest of you check in with Sergeant Finch about your rooms,” Parry said. “At least you’ll be comfortable here — the sleeping quarters in the level below aren’t far off a five-star hotel.”

WILL HAD NEVER seen Drake look so worried, as he drew his gaze up to Eddie’s face and then spoke. “Tell me something,” he said. “How do you know for certain that this so-called Phase is really taking place? Have any of your men seen it with their own eyes? And where’s it going on?” he asked in quick succession.
    “Oh, it’s going on all right, but we don’t know where,” Eddie replied. “If you’re a Styx, it’s the most powerful force you ever encounter. . . . You can sense it with every single cell in your body. All my men can. We’ve known it was on the way for a while. And the Styx women, wherever they are, will have felt it long before us. The urge is far more powerful in them. It’s the irresistible and overwhelming summons to reproduce. It’s . . .” — Eddie paused as he chose the right way to express himself — “it’s as though a clarion call is transmitted through the air . . . a chemical trigger.”
    “Pheromones,” Drake suggested, drawing in a breath.
    Eddie appeared to be so deep in thought that he hadn’t heard. “The trigger instigates . . . coordinates . . . the Phase, whether anybody wants it or not. Our women transform into something different, something terrifying. And what they unleash — the Warrior Class — wipes the board clean of any species that aren’t regarded as food stocks.
Out with the old
.”
    “Us included?” Drake said.
    “Yes, any life-form that poses even the remotest threat to Styx dominance will be eradicated. That means open season on all humans.” Catching a movement outside the Humvee, Eddie noticed a red squirrel as it shinnied down a tree trunk. He pointed at it. “In the same way that species was once the dominant one, before the gray variety pushed it out.”
    “But this Warrior Class you’re talking about — they’re still only physical. Even if they’re some kind of mega-Limiter, well-armed Topsoilers could stop them, couldn’t they?” Drake asked. “Particularly if we get ourselves organized.”
    “That’s a monumentally big
if
. They thrive on chaos. They
are
chaos,” Eddie said. “And if you engage them, and somehow manage to gain the upper hand, there’s the possibility of a second stage.”
    “I don’t think I want to hear this,” Drake groaned as Eddie hunted for a page in the
Book of Proliferation
, then held it up.
    “What the heck are those?” Will asked.
    The woodcut illustration occupied a full page but was divided into three boxes, which showed the sky, the land, and, at the bottom, an area of water covered in spume and waves, which was probably meant to