Tunnels 05 - Spiral

father again, slapping his other cheek with equal vehemence.
    “Eddie’s been getting a lot of that lately,” Will said. This elicited a sidelong glance from Drake, before he whispered another directive to Sweeney.
    “I think we’re out of the woods,” he said. “You can give them some space now.”
    Sweeney started down the passageway toward the Hub. Much to Will’s amazement, Elliott and her father had begun to talk, albeit Elliott was shouting.
    As Will considered what had just taken place, he was puzzled. “How could you be sure she wasn’t going to shoot him?” he asked Drake.
    Mrs. Burrows opened her hand, revealing the contents to her son. “That would be difficult . . . without these.”
    “Bullets?” Will said, then realized why his mother had them. He glanced at the long-barreled weapon Sweeney was holding as he ambled into the Hub. “So Elliott’s rifle wasn’t even loaded?”
    Drake nodded. “Eddie’s vital to us right now — I couldn’t afford to let anything happen to him. So I rang ahead and asked your mum to make safe the rifle. She’s just about the only person I know with the ability to sneak in and do it without waking Elliott up.” Drake looked directly at Will. “You don’t think I’d leave something like that to chance, do you?”
    “Thanks for telling me,” Will grumbled, annoyed that he’d been left in the dark. “And you’d better make sure they’re back in her rifle before she finds out. Otherwise she’ll never trust you again.”
    Parry had come over. “So we’re allowing the enemy onto the base now,” he said disapprovingly to his son. “Are you handing out tickets? It’s getting like bloody Piccadilly Circus down here.”
    “Eddie’s not our enemy, and what Will and I learned from him this morning explains exactly what the Styx are up to,” Drake said firmly. “And it’s worse than any of us could ever have imagined.” He produced the
Book of Proliferation
from an inner pocket and passed it to Will. “I want you to gather everyone together in one of the briefing rooms and bring them up to speed. And that includes Old Wilkie and his granddaughter, the Colonel and Sergeant Finch — they all need to hear, too.”
    “Me? You want
me
to do it?” Will said, aghast. He wasn’t sure yet if he himself was wholly convinced by what Eddie had told them, and he also felt that he lacked Drake’s authority to deliver such an earth-shattering revelation.
    Drake nodded.
    “So I tell them everything?” Will asked.
    “Everything,” Drake confirmed.
    Will couldn’t have felt more uncomfortable with Drake’s answer, because in telling everyone about the Phase, he’d also implicate Elliott. The fact that the Phase could change her into something alien and hostile hadn’t been out of his thoughts since Eddie had revealed it in the Humvee that morning. She was Will’s friend, and he’d been doing his best not to view her any differently. And if Will was the one who broke the news about Elliott to everyone, it would make him feel very disloyal toward her.
    “You really mean
everything
?” Will asked again.
    “Yes, chapter and verse,” Drake answered a little tetchily.
    “Why are you lumping this on the lad? What’s so important that you and this Eddie fellow can’t give us the sitrep yourselves?” Parry demanded of his son.
    “Because I have something I need to see to right now,” Drake said, inclining his head toward the entrance tunnel where Elliott and Eddie were deep in conversation. Elliott’s voice was no longer raised, and from the way it was going between her and her father, it certainly appeared as though there wouldn’t be any trouble between them. Nevertheless, Drake was far from relaxed. This was made even more evident when he drew his Beretta from its holster and made sure it was loaded before replacing it.
    Parry seemed to realize that his son had other priorities and didn’t push the point. Drake took a step toward the entrance tunnel, but then stopped and swung around to his father. “Tell me — does the medical bay in this place have an X-ray machine?” he asked.
    “Check with Finch, but I’m pretty sure it does. The bay was fully reequipped in the seventies,” Parry replied. “Even if the machine needs some coaxing to get it working, Danforth’s your man. He’ll be able to do it.”
    Parry stayed behind to summon Stephanie and the others from their rooms, using the intercom, while Will and Chester began to walk