Tunnels 06 - Terminal

dark as bruises under her eyes. He lowered his voice as he spoke to her again. ‘Elliott, I need to know what’s going on with you. And we’d agreed that you and I were going to stick together because we don’t know wh—’
    ‘Something’s not right,’ she interrupted him.
    ‘What – over here?’ He went over to the wall she was still facing, and had a cursory look at it for himself. Nothing seemed to be any different there, so he returned to her. ‘And what do you mean? What’s not right? And why did you sneak up here?’ he asked gently, trying to take her hand.
    She pulled away from him, then moved to the nearest of the four consoles around the central well. ‘A long time ago,’ she began, ‘something was taken from here.’
    ‘You mean from the next level?’ Will asked, pointing at the floor above as he recalled what she’d said up there.
    She nodded slowly. ‘It was never meant to be away for long, but something happened, and it was lost. I have to get it back. It’s in the wrong place. We’re all in the wrong place.’
    Will rubbed his chin, wondering how much he dared ask her in her present state. She didn’t look herself at all, as if she’d been in the grip of a terrible nightmare and wasn’t fully awake yet. But he had to find out what she was talking about, what was troubling her so much. ‘Right … so if this something’s notin the right place, how do we go about fixing that?’
    Elliott laid a hand on the edge of the console, continuing to speak as if she hadn’t heard his question. ‘I have to find it.’ She switched her gaze to Will. ‘And I have to bring it back.’
    Will shrugged. ‘Fine. We’ll do it together. Where is it? Somewhere close?’
    Without even looking at what she was doing, she stretched out and touched the top of the console. There was a burst of light from the wall behind Will, which settled down in a shimmering square of silver.
    He needed a couple of seconds to collect himself after the surprise. ‘What’s that? That’s not another aerial view. What have you done?’
    ‘It’ll take me close to where the object is.’ Although she’d removed her hand from the console, the large silver square remained. ‘I’m going Topsoil to find it.’
    As he absorbed what she’d just said, Will was shaking his head. ‘You mean that’s a way to get to the surface? But how, precisely?’
    Elliott just looked at him blankly, so he began to move towards the flickering square. It was around seven feet square, and while the surface appeared to be in constant flux, the edges didn’t vary at all.
    ‘Don’t get too close,’ Elliott warned.
    It seemed vaguely reflective – he could just about see himself and Elliott in it. ‘Mirror, mirror,’ Will mumbled, transfixed by the square. He made himself focus on what he should be doing. ‘So, what, does this magically transport us somewhere?’
    ‘Yes,’ Elliott answered.
    Will thought for a moment. ‘Okay, let’s put that to the test, shall we?’ he suggested dubiously. He hunted around inhis jacket until he found something with suitable mass. ‘He’d never forgive me for this,’ he said, as he held up Dr Burrows’ old brass compass.
    Will got himself ready then gently lobbed the compass at the silver square. When it was approximately a foot from the surface of the square, its trajectory was completely altered, as if something had hit it. The compass was pulled at such speed into the square that in the time it took Will to blink, it had simply vanished. And there was no sound to suggest that it had struck any kind of surface such as the wall behind, or dropped on the floor below. ‘Wow!’ he whispered. ‘Now you see it, now you don’t!’
    He turned to Elliott. Her eyes were gleaming – the haunted look almost gone. ‘Does that mean you’ll come with me? Please will you?’ she begged.
    He took a breath. ‘You’re really telling me that if we walk into that square, we’ll instantly be in London?’ Will said. ‘Where Dad’s compass has just gone? Just like magic?’
    ‘That’s right,’ she confirmed. ‘And it’s not magic.’
    ‘And you’re absolutely sure it’ll be London? Not outer space or somewhere else?’
    ‘London … absolutely. That’s where I have to go.’
    Will took in a breath as his mind raced with the possibilities. ‘So if you’re correct, and we don’t just get vaporised or something, I can come along and help you, and I’ll also be able to find out what’s