Tunnels 06 - Terminal

quickly.
    Jürgen shook his head. ‘Never. And the bushmen were careful not to let us observe them doing this,’ he said,
    Woody had obviously finished the lengthy sequence. As he hopped quickly out of the way, there was a grinding sound.
    ‘Get back!’ Will warned. He wasn’t about to be caught out again.
    The wall below the squares and a section of the ledge just in front of where Will and the others were standing seemed to have simply vanished, revealing a flight of shallow stone stairs leading into the depths of the pyramid.
    Jürgen was blinking with surprise. ‘I don’t understand. Did the masonry just retract somewhere?’ he asked,
    ‘If it did, I didn’t see it,’ Elliott said, equally bemused.
    Everyone remained where they were except for Will, who had stepped to the edge of the opening and was peering down into it. ‘So that’s where we went … that day,’ he said quietly.
    Woody uttered a few words and was suddenly off, racing down the dusty steps.
    ‘He said to follow him,’ Elliott translated.
    ‘Hold on!’ Jürgen shouted. ‘Tell him not to be so hasty,will you? If we blunder inside, we’ll be carrying the virus straight in with us.’
    Elliott called to Woody, who held back for a moment on the steps as he replied quickly.
    ‘He’s saying what we want is further in,’ Elliott told them.
    ‘So we should take the gear with us and set up inside?’ Will proposed.
    Jürgen considered the situation. ‘I suppose we don’t have a choice. We don’t know how close the other tribesmen are,’ he said with a shrug. ‘Once we locate them, we can put up the decontamination tent and attempt some basic sterilisation. And if that’s not practical, we’ll just have to administer the vaccine and hope for the best.’
    ‘Let’s go then,’ Will said, and Jürgen tugged a flashlight from his pocket and switched it on so they had at least some idea where they were putting their feet. Then the three of them picked up their crates and began down the steps, into the murky darkness.
    ‘This is where Dad and me ended up,’ Will said, as they came to the bottom of the steps and found themselves on a level surface, their footfalls echoing around the enclosed space. He couldn’t help but recall the roller coaster of emotions he had experienced the last time that he’d tumbled into this very same chamber with his father. Will’s terror at being chased by the Limiters had been transformed into elation as he realised that by some miracle he and Dr Burrows were suddenly out of their reach, even if that elation was short-lived as they were surrounded by less-than-friendly bushmen.
    Then Will remembered what Dr Burrows had discovered there. ‘Take a look at the floor,’ he said to the others. Jürgen shone his flashlight where Will was indicating.
    ‘A mural,’ Elliott said. ‘Or is that what it’s called when it’s painted on the wall?’
    Will smiled. ‘Maybe it’s a flooral then?’ He turned to Jürgen. ‘Actually it’s carved into the flagstones, then painted. My dad reckoned that the people responsible for building the pyramids – the Ancients, as he called them – had trade routes through to all the continents. That’s how they were able to put together this map.’
    Jürgen edged carefully around the carved outlines of the continents on the stone floor, as if he was worried that he might damage them by treading on them. ‘Yes, but this must be from several millennia ago … and it’s all in perfect proportion. So how could they possibly have the means to compile a map with this level of detail or accuracy?’ he asked.
    As Woody suddenly reappeared with a burning torch, the chamber was filled with light.
    ‘And you’ve got to see this,’ Will said, now the flames were illuminating the rest of the space. He took Elliott and Jürgen to where the procession of large figures had been painted on the wall, the king and queen in their finery and decked with golden jewellery like something an Egyptian ruler might wear. ‘Dad thought this was amazing,’ Will said, as he remembered how Dr Burrows had lit match after match as he studied all the figures.
    ‘There’s that symbol from Tam’s pendant again,’ Elliott said, as she spotted the three converging lines on the king’s crown, and then on a warrior’s breastplate. ‘It’s all over the place.’
    Will was about to answer when Woody began to jabber rapidly in Styx.
    ‘He wants us to go with him,’ Elliott said.
    Taking