Tunnels 06 - Terminal

said, as he brushed the dirt from one of the pipes. ‘They’re made of the same stuff as the pyramid. And they look so new, too.’
    ‘Despite being buried here for what must be many millennia,’ Jürgen said. He raised a hand to indicate the direction of the pipes. ‘And it appears that they start at the pyramid and …’ he swung around to face the opposite direction, ‘… run all the way over to the tower.’ He paused for a second. ‘It could be that the other pyramids are connected too?’
    Rather than climb down into it, Elliott was circumventing the trench in the ground. Will noticed that she sounded quite frightened as she spoke. ‘So neither of you can explain to me what happened back there when I touched that panel? That wasn’t electricity, or an explosion, so what was it? And can’t either of you feel it – the power?’
    ‘Huh?’ Will swallowed, peering up at her. ‘What power?’
    ‘In those pipes … in the pyramid … all around us,’ she went on.
    Will and Jürgen exchanged glances.
    ‘Elliott?’ Will called, but she’d gone, moving even faster towards the tower.

 
     
     
    Chapter Six

    ‘ Y ou’ve got yourself a real situation over there,’ the US President was saying. ‘Our bases in England are on full DEFCON and we’re already well down the road of recalling military personnel and assets, particularly our fighter planes. We can’t have those Styx getting their paws on them.’
    He pronounced Styx as Stikes , which prompted Chester’s eyebrows to jump up for a moment, but he’d already upset the Homeland Security woman when he’d tried to correct her. And this was the President after all, so he could pronounce it how he liked.
    ‘We’ve implemented full body monitoring and Purger checks on all arrivals at our airports and seaports, and anyone entering our borders,’ the President was saying. ‘After the atrocity on Capitol Hill, we were already on the lookout for body bombers, but now we’re also screening for Darklit passengers too. Bob tells me that we owe you one for supplying us with the schematics for the Purger. Also, and more importantly, you gave him the heads-up about the Stikes’ activity early on, Commander, so we had a contingency plan ready toroll out when all this flared up last year. America is deeply indebted to you for that.’
    The President was looking intently at Parry now, who briefly bowed his head in response. Then the President knitted his fingers together and leant back in his seat. ‘So what can we do for you, Commander?’
    ‘Well, as you say, we’re in real trouble over here,’ Parry began. ‘The UK has effectively been put into isolation by the rest of its NATO partners. Not one of them wants to gets close for fear of the rot spreading. To cut to the chase, sir, I’m reaching out to you for military intervention. I can’t see how we can fix things here without a conventional land force taking control and weeding out the Styx.’
    The President lowered his gaze as if what he was about to say was difficult, but Parry carried on regardless. ‘Mr President, sir, our two countries have always been united by their special relationship, and this is a dark hour for us – perhaps the darkest in our history. We need your assistance to help pull us through. And how we came to this crisis, well … I want you to hear direct from my friend Chester here about how the situation evolved … about how he and Will Burrows stumbled upon the subterranean city, and how while they were on the run from the Styx they uncovered their plot to deploy the Dominion virus.’
    Chester couldn’t believe he’d suddenly been pulled into the conversation. He looked in desperation at Parry. He couldn’t talk to the President about all this. He wasn’t important enough.
    ‘And because of the intel we obtained from Chester and Will,’ Parry continued, ‘we were ahead of the curve on the Phase. I don’t think there would still be an England to savetoday if these two lads hadn’t been on the ground and running recon for us.’
    ‘Ah, yes, Chester,’ the President said, switching his gaze to the boy. Before he spoke again, the President pressed his lips together in an expression of sympathy. Chester had seen him do it on television in the aftermath of floods, bombings and other large-scale disasters in America. ‘I understand that you recently suffered a terrible sacrifice in the pursuit of duty – the death of your mother and father. I am very