Freefall (Tunnels) by Brian Williams & Roderick Gordon

Author:Brian Williams & Roderick Gordon [Williams, Brian & Gordon, Roderick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780545138772
Publisher: The Chicken House
Published: 2011-10-15T05:00:00+00:00

"There are seven of them... called the Seven Sisters. We fell down the one known as the Pore," Will informed him, his voice flat. "Martha took us to another she called Puffing Mary."

"Puffing Mary," Dr. Burrows repeated, nodding. "And those flying creatures?"

"The Brights. They're insects or arachnids, or something," Will said, his head still bowed as he jabbed the point of his cutlass into a slab.

"Do you know," Dr. Burrows began hesitantly, then took a breath. "Do you know when it just appeared from nowhere like that, I actually thought it was an angel," he admitted, giving an embarrassed laugh. "The suggestion just popped into my head... and I call myself educated."

"An angel?" Will mumbled.

"Yes, I suppose because of its white coloration and its wings, and most of all because the light above its head looked uncannily like a halo."

Will nodded, drawing the blade of his cutlass from the fungus with a slurping sound. "Martha said they were around on the surface long before people were."

"How very interesting," Dr. Burrows said as he found himself a small boulder to perch on. "Imagine... imagine if everything we associate with the archetypal image of an angel derives from a prehistoric insect... and if the remote memory of those creatures has been assimilated into our religious iconography, and has remained ingrained deep within our culture." He chuckled. "So Gabriel and Peter on either side of the Pearly Gates could actually be inspired by giant carnivorous insects."

"Or arachnids," Will said.

"Or arachnids," Dr. Burrows conceded, then didn't speak for a few seconds.

"Look, Will, there's a lot I don't know about what's gone on. I mean it was a bolt out of the blue when I found out your sister was a Styx. And also that you're a Colonist. I really had no idea. And then that Rebecca had an identical twin -- well, good God!" He blew through his lips. "And maybe I'm not thinking straight because you're here... because you followed me underground when you should be back at home with your mother."

"Except she's not my mother," Will mumbled, but Dr. Burrows either didn't catch the comment or chose to ignore it as he went on.

"Exactly how you got all the way down here with Chester... well, I haven't the foggiest how you managed it. I never in a million years wanted you to be put in danger like this. You've probably had a tough time of it, just like I have, and I was wrong to say what I did back there. It was rash of me -- I made a snap judgment, without being in possession of all the facts."

Will raised his head to look at his father, then gave him a single nod in acknowledgment. It was the closest Will was going to get to an apology, unless his father had changed dramatically in the past six months. In any case, Will wasn't going to bear a grudge, not when there were more pressing matters to deal with right now, such as trying to stay alive.

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