Tunnels 05 - Spiral

high whir as the machine was activated, followed by a muted thump as the radiograph was taken. This happened once more, then Danforth bustled out of the medical bay. “I’m going to develop these. You need to go back in now,” he told Sweeney.
    “Yes, sir, of course, sir,” Sweeney mumbled sarcastically, as he watched the Professor sail down the corridor to another office. It was almost impossible to read Sweeney’s expression, but there seemed to be no love lost between him and Danforth.
    “I’ll leave this with you,” he said, handing the rifle to Will and then trundling into the bay.
    It seemed ages before Danforth reappeared, wafting two X-ray plates in the air before him to dry them. He completely ignored the boys as he went back into the bay.
    “I can’t stand this,” Chester said. Getting to his feet, he began to walk up and down. “It even smells like a hospital down here.”
    Will remembered how Chester’s younger sister had died in the hospital after a car accident, and how much he loathed them as a result.
    “If you don’t want to hang around here, I’ll come and get you when she’s finished,” Will offered.
    “Yes, think I might nip upstairs for some water,” Chester said, leaning against the wall. “I’m incredibly thirsty.”
    Will noticed that his friend was sweating heavily and looking distinctly peaky.
    “Actually, Will, I think I’m going to be sick.” With that Chester broke into a run toward the lobby, leaving Will watching the empty corridor where he’d been.
    Ten minutes later the door to the medical bay opened, and there was Elliott, with Drake beside her. She was still in the hospital gown, her clothes in a bundle under her arm.
    “Oh, Will,” she said, dropping her clothes as she rushed over to him and hugged him tight.
    “I think we’re in the clear,” Drake said.
    As Elliott continued to cling to Will, hiding her face in his chest, he felt something across her shoulders. It was a large piece of gauze, taped into place, and there was blood soaked into it. Will stared at Drake in shock.
    “Yes, we attempted a limited surgical exploration,” Danforth said, the X-ray plates rolled in his hand like a baton, as he stepped into the corridor with Eddie. Danforth’s tone was so dispassionate he could have been discussing one of his gadgets. “We found evidence of features that are clearly related to the Phase, but they’re only vestigial. Given that she’s a human/Styx cross, it may be that she’s carrying the recessive Phase gene or genes, but the traits will never reveal themselves in anything more than a partial manifestation.”
    Danforth held up the rolled X-ray plates. “However, bearing in mind her age and the fact that she’s still in the throes of adolescence, it’s something we’ll need to keep a close eye on for the future.”
    “But she’s OK? Really OK?” Will asked Drake, ignoring Danforth.
    “Yes, she is,” Drake exhaled.
    Maybe it was due to the intense stress he’d been under, but Will began to chuckle. “So my best friend isn’t a bug after all?”
    As this set Drake off, Elliott raised her head to peer up at Will through her tear-filled eyes.
    “You jerk,” she laughed, then kissed him on the cheek.

    “YOU IMPERIAL PIG!” The grating cry reverberated around the quiet of the police station.
    “Gappy Mulligan?” the Second Officer asked.
    “Gappy Mulligan,” the First Officer confirmed. “It’ll be aimed at me. She was telling me how I should free her . . . and the rest of the prisoners while I’m about it.” Scratching his chest vigorously through his shirt, unbuttoned at the neck, he glanced in the direction of the Hold. “I must’ve left the aisle door open. I should go and close it.”
    “Don’t bother. It’ll give them a bit of air in there,” the Second Officer said. He was studying his hand as the two men played poker on a desk in the main office.
    The First Officer had finished scratching his chest but was examining something intently between his thumb and forefinger. Lice were a permanent problem down in the Colony. Grimacing because he wasn’t sure if he’d caught one or not, he pressed his fingers together and then wiped them on his leg. “You know, we haven’t got much food left in the store, and I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit tired of playing maid to the prisoners now that everyone’s refusing to work here.”
    The Second Officer had been concentrating on his cards but now looked up