Tunnels 05 - Spiral

we’re he —”
    With a snarl, Vane yanked the steering wheel around and stood on the brakes. The car went into a 360-degree spin, its tires spewing out snow.
    As the engine stalled, Vane burst from the car, her insect limbs slashing the air.
    Rebecca also stepped from the car, and Vane immediately rounded on her. “What have you done?” the Styx woman screeched.
    Vane began to cough, then doubled over. With a gush of yellow fluid she vomited something from her mouth.
    It was an egg pod.
    She dropped to her knees, taking the pod between her hands and holding it before her as if she was praying.
    “What a terrible,
terrible
waste,” she said huskily. “My babies need a host. They’re going to die.”
    Driven by Captain Franz, the Mercedes sped across the grass and pulled up beside the Veyron. Alex was also in bad shape, stumbling from the vehicle as Rebecca Two opened the door for her. And the Styx woman had to be helped the short distance over to her sister.
    As they saw each other, Alex and Vane didn’t speak, but their insect limbs clicked together in communication. Still on her knees, Vane held up the egg pod to her sister. Alex shook her head, her expression one of deepest despair.
    Vane rose unsteadily to her feet, then the pair of adult twins swung on the younger ones.
    “Why did you do this? You’ve ruined it for all of us,” Alex accused Rebecca Two.
    “I didn’t sanction anything. I don’t know why we’re here,” the girl replied, turning to her sister.
    Vane began to stride toward Rebecca One as if she meant to do her harm. “Why did you make us leave our babies and all those hot bodies?”
    Rebecca One was unfazed. “That’s why,” she said, spinning around on her heels.
    In the distance, smoke drifted up into the sky.
    Vane and Alex tried to absorb what they were seeing. Still in the thrall of the Phase, their faces were gaunt, their almost translucent skin stretched tight over their skulls, and their eyes purple-rimmed.
    “I tried to tell you in the car, but you weren’t listening,” Rebecca One said softly.
    There was a distant flash, then the sound of an explosion rolled toward them.
    “That was our factory?” Vane asked.
    Rebecca One let out a shuddering sigh. “Yes, it’s all gone. All our warehouses will have been taken out, and everyone along with them.”
    “NO! NO!
NO!
” Alex screamed at the top of her lungs.
    “But how did you know this would happen? Was that the call on your cell?” Rebecca Two asked.
    Her sister nodded. “Yes. It was a warning,” she said, her voice cracking. “That little creep, Will Burrows, along with Drake and that half-breed Elliott, and all the others we should have buried months back — they’re behind this. They’re to blame.” She was fighting back the tears and took a moment before she went on. “I knew the force of numbers against us were too great. In the time we couldn’t have done anything.”
    “If we can be got at like this, we’re not safe anywhere,” Alex said.
    “It’s Romania all over again,” Vane added, her voice hollow. “Now there aren’t enough of us to see the Phase through. It’s over.” She opened her hand and let the egg pod fall to the snow.
    “No, it’s not over,” Rebecca One said resolutely. “I wish I could have saved more of the sisters, but at least I got both of you out.” She went to Vane and Alex, and laid her hands on their arms. “And we’re going to split you up to help improve our chances.”
    “Why? To do what?” Rebecca Two asked.
    Rebecca One didn’t look at her sister, switching her gaze between Vane and Alex. “There might still be time to do something Topsoil. I don’t know if it’ll work, but we can attempt to induce some of the younger sisters. Then we might have enough of you to get the Phase under way again.
    “But the main thing . . . ,” she said, letting go of Alex but still leaving her hand on Vane, “. . . is that you and I are going somewhere where these vile Topsoilers can’t touch us. Somewhere where we’ll have all the time in the world. Somewhere where the conditions for the Phase should be perfect . . . just
perfect
.”

DRAKE HAD CONNECTED the hard drive from the factory security system to a laptop. He then typed wildly on this for several minutes before sitting back and stretching his arms. “I could do with some extra pairs of eyes over here,” he said.
    Will, Elliott, Parry, and Sweeney gathered around him. “I’ve broken the encryption