Tunnels 03, Freefall

rough plan as he left his position and entered the passage. Twenty minutes , he reminded himself as he spotted Elliott's charges where she'd fixed them on the upper branches of the trees on opposing sides of the passage. It was clever -- when they both went off, the passage would cave in and the Styx should be trapped in the circular cove -- unless, that was, they could somehow climb the sheer walls.
    Crawling slowly, he reached the spot where he and Elliott had been before. He could see the twins were now sitting beside each other. He felt incredibly exposed, and he had an awful sinking feeling in his stomach because he knew he wasn't going to stop there.
    Exactly what do I do now? Will asked himself. He assumed Elliott hadn't reached the top of the escarpment yet, and the charges still had a good fifteen minutes left before they detonated.
    Then he decided what he was going to do.
    Swallowing hard, he began to crawl to his right. Bit by bit, he inched himself forward on a route that would take him round to the rear of the hut. He figured he could get there without the Rebecca twins seeing him because they were on the other side of the hut, and it also helped that they were distracted as they talked to each other.
    Clearing his path of any dry leaves or twigs, he continued to crawl, pausing every couple of meters to check in front. He kept glancing at the two jackets. He fixed in his mind the image of himself reaching them -- that was his goal, his reward.
    Where's the Limiter? He thought to himself yet again.
    The sweat was running into his eyes, but he didn't wipe them, trying instead to blink it away because every movement he made was crucial. And every second could mean the difference between success and failure. He kept his whole body low to the ground, all the time checking he was taking the best route between the shrubs, one which would provide him with cover in case either of the Rebecca twins decided to take a stroll round to the rear of the hut. Or if the Limiter did.
    He kept crawling, closing on the corrugated hut. He didn't have far to go, but the vegetation was particularly dry here, the walls of white rock focusing the full force of the sun on it. He took even more care to check for twigs -- if he made a noise, the game was up.
    Then the jackets were mere meters away from him.
    He'd made it this far!
    He had a quick look and the coast seemed clear. The twins were still on the other side of the hut, and there was absolutely no sign of the Limiter.
    He got to his feet, but remained in a half crouch as he stepped slowly to the jackets and lifted them off a rusty nail where they were hanging.
    He wondered if Elliott had managed to get to the top of the escarpment and was watching him through her telescopic sight. If so, what would she be thinking right now? Probably swearing like a trooper.
    He laid the jackets down on the frazzled grass and, kneeling beside them, quickly went through the pockets, pulling all their contents out. Bits of paper, luminescent orbs, some objects in small leather cases that he decided to take in case they held the phials. He didn't have time to open them, not there and then.
    Then, in an upper pocket, he found what he was looking for. The pocket had a flap over it with a popper. It made a tiny click as he undid it. He held his breath, waiting and listening out for anything, but all he could hear was the murmur of occasional conversation between the Rebecca twins drifting over to him. He felt inside the pocket, and his fingers came across two small objects. He lifted them out. Wrapped in a square of camouflaged material, there were the phials, both of them. He couldn't believe it. He heard the Rebeccas laughing. They wouldn't be laughing any more when they found out what he'd done. He put the phials carefully in his pocket, and went through the rest of the jackets just in case there were any more phials. He didn't want to have done all this only to end up with more phony phials containing Ultra Bug specimens.
    He was finished. He felt light-headed, and his face was streaming with sweat as he began to crawl away.
    He'd gone about twenty meters, keeping carefully to his original route through the undergrowth when he heard one of the twins shriek. He twisted his head around.
    Fear exploded in his mind.
    The Rebecca twin was standing where he'd left the jackets on the ground. Dripping with water, her face was pulled into a vile, angry mask, and she was looking straight at him.
    "You