Tunnels 05 - Spiral

outlook’s not good for us, old friend. Not good at all.”
    The Second Officer had been half listening as he racked his brains to try to remember his superior’s real name, but it wasn’t coming to him. Then something the First Officer had said struck him. “Sir, what was that about people missing? Has there been an incident?”
    Like everyone else, the Second Officer had heard the rumors, but he was inclined to believe that it was pure hearsay and that the people were somewhere in the sprawling shantytown in the North Cavern.
    The First Officer blinked as smoke wandered into his good eye, then he located a message scroll by his elbow and pushed it across the desk. “The Fifth Officer submitted a report while you were resting. You and I have both fielded a couple of unsubstantiated claims about missing citizens, but this is different. One of our own is unaccounted for. No one’s seen hide nor hair of the Third Officer for twenty-four hours.”
    “But he’s been doing the beat in the North,” the Second Officer said, referring to the rural cavern. “I saw him not long ago. Isn’t he over there right n —?”
    “He didn’t report for duty this morning,” the First Officer interrupted. “And he hasn’t been home. Word is, something went on in the North overnight and, whatever it was, my guess is he got caught up in it. Look at this edict from the Styx,” he said, jabbing his pipe stem in the direction of the scroll. “We’re being refused access.”
    “The North? Off-limits to us?” the Second Officer said. “Why? We’re police officers.”
    The First Officer nodded. “Highly irregular, isn’t it?”
    The Second Officer read the message. “Why on earth would the Styx impose a full restriction order?” He got to his feet with a sudden snort of indignation. “I’m going down there to take a look for myself,” he resolved on the spur of the moment.
    “Really?” the First Officer said, his eyebrows arching with a detached amusement as the strong tobacco began to work on his strained nerves. “Then you’re a braver man than I am, Patrick.”

    No one came out to check the Second Officer’s credentials as he approached the Skull Gate, but that didn’t necessarily mean he hadn’t been observed by a Styx. He passed through it and, twenty minutes later, reached the final incline down to the South Cavern where he could look out over the streets and houses. As the thrumming from the Fan Stations resonated in his ears, it seemed to be louder than usual, as if it was the only sound in the whole of the city.
    Even when he entered the built-up area, he had the sense that he was the last person left in the Colony. There would normally be somebody out at that time in the morning as they went to their places of work or opened up their shops ready for the day, but now the streets were completely empty.
    Despite the fact that he wasn’t on speaking terms with his mother and sister, the Second Officer was so concerned that he stopped off there first. Finding that the front door was locked, he managed to drop his key with a clatter on the top step as he tried to open it. As he bent to retrieve his key and then stood up, he again became aware of the eerie calm all around him.
    With their curtains drawn, the windows in the terrace opposite were dark and unfriendly, like many black eyes glaring at him. For a while the street had been crammed to capacity with New Germanians, but the Styx had since taken them Topsoil. Over the weeks, he’d heard the New Germanian troops being mobilized at all sorts of odd hours during the night, their feet beating a tattoo on the pavement in perfect unison. But even though they’d now gone, very few Colonist families had been allowed to move back into their homes. He was beginning to wonder if they’d ever return and if his street would ever be the same again. Particularly if something untoward had gone on in the North Cavern.
    He finally let himself in and went inside. His first port of call was the kitchen, and not finding his mother or sister there, he tried the sitting room, then the bedrooms upstairs. The beds were unmade, the covers pulled back.
    Of course, Eliza might have taken their mother out somewhere, but the Second Officer couldn’t imagine quite where at that early hour. He was trying to stop himself from thinking the worst — that the Styx had paid a visit — as he descended the stairs. Pausing in the hallway, he heard a sound, which seemed to come from