Polly Pippin and The Tunnel of Death (26 page)

'Hiding? Why didn't they come with you?'

'Well, because Alison, Lily and Gemma are
with them, and they wanted to keep them safe.'

'What?' Piers and Miles said. We have to try
and get into those tunnels, come on Polly this way. And the boys
jumped into the cavern and helped Polly down.

Fifi jumped out of Polly's arms, and started
to sniff at Miles.

'Fifi come here.' Polly tried to drag Fifi
off, but she was staying. She jumped up at Miles, and sniffed his
tunic.

'Four beautiful eyes with exceptionally long
eyelashes appeared under Miles chin.

'It's the Liddles,' Polly said, her eyes
wide open with surprise.

Piers looked at Miles, and the four little
eyes looked at him. 'You brought those animals?'

'I forgot I had them.'

'Where did you get them from?' Polly
asked.

Miles suddenly decided it was time to change
the subject.

'Any idea how to get out of here?' Miles
smiled.

'Don't change the bloody subject, Miles, you
are good at that,' Piers said. 'Tell me the whole story.'

Miles sat on a rock. He was about to tell
the story of how he got the Liddles, when the wall started to move.
They heard the rumbling under the floor and look down to see a
slither of light beamed into the cavern. Slowly, the light widened,
and right there were the three tunnels.

'Bloody hell, it was the rock I sat on that
closed the entrances - that simple.' Piers shook his head.

'I don't think we should go down there,'
Polly cautioned. 'Terrible things happen.'

'Polly, we have no choice if we want to
rescue Hamish, Lucy and Steve. Anyway, why don't you want to go
down there?'

'Because I've been down there before. If we
get to the end - and that's a big if - the Rebels will be waiting
for us.' Polly looked very uneasy.

'That's okay, you're supposed to be bringing
in Piers and Miles. They will think we captured you, after all
right now we are Zack and Knox. Then we can rescue everyone and
take them back home.'

Polly looked doubtful.

'Well what else do you suggest, Polly?'
Miles asked.

'I think we should go back to the
church.'

'Church? What church?'

'That's where I came from, and Event and
Salute are there with the girls.'

'I still think we should go down the
tunnel.' Piers was obstinate. He had been locked out of the tunnel
before and was intrigued by what was down there.

'I know! Let Fifi decide,' Polly
suggested.

'Definitely not,' Piers said, remembering
what happened when the bear cub chose. 'Look, we've wasted enough
time. Come on let's get going Miles, I'll go first, and you bring
up the rear. Polly, you go back to the church.'

'No, I'm coming with you, and I should go
first,' Polly said.

The boys were about to object, and Polly
turned on her watch and turned it off again.

'A watch that makes you invisible. Well that
changes everything,' Miles said. 'If we follow you, will we be
invisible too?'

'Yes. But you have to hold on to me. What
fun.'

Piers took the opportunity to hold Polly's
hand. 'I'll go second,' Piers pushed past Miles.

'Okay,' Miles said, 'if you say so. But give
me your other hand Piers, even though I'm not in love with
you.'

Piers chose to ignore him as Polly checked
the time. 'Forty minutes to go, and I have to be in the
kitchen.'

'What kitchen?' Miles asked.

'The church's kitchen,' Polly said. 'Anyway,
I know the way. Just follow me.'

The Kitchen

Commander Rekrap was seriously fed up.
Commander Pope had taken off with Bean to de-pneuma the Freeflyers
Hamish and Steve, and more seriously before Bean had made his
lunch. He wandered into the kitchen.

Before Event or Salute could react, Rekrap
said, 'Thank goodness, kitchen staff. Now who is the chef?'

'Me, sir,' Alison, knowing that Event and
Salute could possibly be recognised, pushed forward and walked
towards the Commander.

Event and Salute turned away and pretended
to be washing up.

'Oh, I am glad. Now my dear, can you make me
a nice cup of tea? I have so much to do. Commander Pope asked me to
do something, and I seem to have forgotten what it was. I'm sure a
bite to eat with the tea will bring back my memory.'

'Of course,' Ali said. 'Gemma, would you
find a nice comfortable seat for this gentleman by the fire in the
dining room?'

Gemma took Rekrap's arm and led him out of
the kitchen.

'That was close,' Event said. 'What's the
time? How much longer before Polly's due back?'

'Forty minutes.'

'Contact her and see what's happening.'

Salute tuned in. 'It's dead. Hang on, I'll
look in the location finder.' Again, no response. Things were not
looking good, and Event and Salute were more than worried.

'What could possibly have happened to
her?'

'I'm going to try and find her. You stay
here and protect the girls.'

'No Salute. Leave Polly till nearer the end
of the time limit. You know what she's like. If you check up on her
too soon and everything is going well, she'll throw a tush.'

'Better throw a tush than throw a life,'
Salute retorted.

'True, but let's meet in the middle. Give
her twenty minutes more.'

'Right. Let's make that silly old bugger in
there some scones and tea and put in a bit of brandy. Maybe it will
render him sillier than he normally is.'

Event suppressed a giggle. 'Right, here
goes: One part tea - Five parts brandy.'

Ali came running into the kitchen. 'That
Rebel just told Gemma, that Polly, Piers and Miles are in the Death
Tunnel. They are walking into a trap - a monstrous trap, he
said.'

'Event, we have to question him. We have to
find out where the Death Tunnel is. We can't expose them to that
much danger.'

Event was really stuck. He did not want to
let Commander Rekrap know they were there, let alone the girls.

'Rekrap is an old idiot Event,' Salute said.
'He could be exaggerating. I still say wait.'

~

As Polly and the boys crept silently down
the death tunnel, Fifi was desperate to run on ahead. She wriggled
and wriggled, and as Polly could see a fair way ahead, she let her
get down.

'How much farther does the tunnel go?' Miles
complained. 'I'm getting claustrophobic.'

'Miles, we've only been going ten
minutes.'

'Shush, quiet,' Polly said,

'What is it?' Piers whispered.

'Some sort of running water. Shush.'

They stood still and listened.

'Its only water,' Miles said. 'What do you
want to do?'

Polly took a few steps forward. 'Where's
Fifi? Fifi! Fifi!' She started to run down the tunnel and
disappeared. The boys heard a scream.

Piers and Miles started after her. 'Where
did she go? Polly, Polly, turn off your invisible watch thing!'
Piers shouted.

Miles joined in the yelling as they kept
running. The sound of running water was getting louder. 'Polly!'
the boys were both yelling.

Piers stopped dead, ahead of them was a huge
waterfall. He put his arm out to stop Miles and they both peered
over the edge.

'Wow,' said Miles.

'Miles, you go that way. See if there is a
way round.'

They walked to the edges. Not only was the
water right to the edge of the tunnel path, but the sides of it
were starting to crumble.

'How the hell could Polly get round that?'
Miles said. 'Maybe she didn't.' Miles did not want say what he was
thinking - she had fallen in.

'What now?' Piers was beside himself. He
looked over the edge of the waterfall, it was a long way down.

'Can Rebels swim?' Miles asked.

'I don't know. Where the hell is she? I
can't believe she would run so far ahead. Bloody stupid thing to
do.'

'Shall I call the dog?' Miles suggested.

'Why not?' Piers returned. He looked at the
buttons and levers on the Rebel suit. 'Rebels can fly. Is it the
suit or them?'

'Shall we jump over the edge and see?' Miles
suggested.

'Any other suggestion that won't kill us?'
Piers said. 'All I hope is she got across before that waterfall
appeared in the Tunnel of Death.'

'Seriously, Piers, shall we go back?'

'I really don't know, Miles. I hate to give
up, and after what we have both been through. And go back to what
or where?'

'Right, fools rush in Piers, so what are we
waiting for?' Miles put out his hand, Piers grabbed it and they ran
to the edge of the waterfall and jumped.

Zack

'Two hours left before Knox is free. I
wonder if he will think to come here.' He looked at the small
window. 'I could have escaped but didn't want to break Commander
Rhettnor's heart or put him on guard.' He started to sing, 'How
much is that doggie in the window?' He looked at his time watcher.
These last two hours were dragging. Then the door flew open, and in
walked a high-ranking Freeflyer, followed by three others.

'Good afternoon, Zack. Your turn.'

Zack yawned. 'Not that I'm overly
interested, but my turn for what?'

'Well your mate Knox was very chatty… with a
little persuasion, of course.'

Zack could not have cared less, it was Miles
they were torturing, and it seemed he had held out. They still
thought he was Knox. So, in a very short time, Knox would have a
totally free hand. Whoopee doo.

'Please don't hurt me,' Knox said, and he
lifted his hands like little paws, made rabbit teeth, sucked his
bottom teeth and squatted begging them for his life.

'Very funny Zack. Strip him of his
powers.'

Zack realised he had better cooperate. He
had no idea what Miles had said. He stood quite still as all of his
powers were either taken away or disconnected. The Freeflyers were
thorough, nothing was left, except one. He held his breath. Then he
was frog marched to the soundproof room and thrown in.

'Sugar-fish! Knox will never find me in
here, I have to get out.' He looked around - no windows, energy
protected walls twelve inches thick. And time was ticking away.
What to do…? Hidden in a contact lens in his left eye was an
initiator, but this was only to be used in an extreme emergency.
Death could result if The Creator felt it was used for something
that was not an extreme emergency. What would the creator deem an
extreme emergency? Zack could only guess. He looked at his time
watcher - one hour to go. I'll leave it till the very last
minute.

The door opened again, and the Commander
walked in.

Zack got up and bowed. 'The Commander again?
To what do I owe this great honour?'

'Cut it out Zack, and give me what you have
in your hand.'

Silently, Zack breathed a sigh of relief. 'I
assure you I have nothing in my hand, Commander.'

'Zack, our highly sensitive prisoner escape
alarm system has gone off, you have something hidden.'

'Commander, you have stripped me bare, and
look where I am. No windows… concrete walls. And probably deep in
the bowels of your black hole. How can I possibly escape? You are
being ridiculous.'

Another Freeflyer, who was standing behind
Zack, hit him on the back of the head hard with the flat of his
hand. 'Mind your manners, Zack.'

'Sorry, Commander, but I have nothing.'

'That's not what Knox said,' bluffed the
Freeflyer.

But it was a double bluff. Zack was trying
to spin out the time till the Rebel Knox would be released. He
would read the message, and the future of the Earth would be in the
Rebels' hands.

'Commander,' Zack said and smiled. 'I would
be happy to change my allegiance to your side, having met Piers and
Miles and finding them such nice chaps.' He crossed his fingers.
'Would you accept me?'

'If you were to pass the test, of
course.'

'Which is?'

'Give us what you have either in your hand,
or on some part of your body, that set our escape alarm going.' The
Freeflyer held out his hands.

'I don't know what you're talking
about.'

'Lock him up and throw away the key. No, on
second thoughts, dump him in his own Tunnel of Death.'

'Goodbye Zack.'

'Nooo!'

The End. Or Is It?

Polly finally caught up with the little dog.
'Fifi, you are a bad little girl,' she said as she picked her up.
'Whew! I'm puffed.' Polly sat down on the dusty floor. She looked
back up the tunnel. 'Okay Fifi, where are the boys? Come on, we had
better go back and find the slowcoaches. I'm going to carry you so
you can't run away again.'

Polly started to walk back up the tunnel. 'I
didn' t think we had got this far ahead, Fifi. Piers! Miles!' she
called. 'Oh God Fifi, the tunnel could be playing tricks.' She
couldn't hear any running water, and she hadn't found the boys. She
stood still and started to get very frightened. What to do next?
Hang on! She looked at her feet. No one can see me, so what am I
worried about? 'Fifi which way - left or right? Well I'm
left-handed, so left it is.' Polly looked at her transparency watch
- only twenty-five minutes left. She walked for another five
minutes, and the roof of the tunnel was definitely getting lower,
and it began to get darker and hotter.

'I'm going to turn back, Fifi. I think we
are walking into a dead end.' She turned round and walked back to
where she hoped the boys would be. Once again, the tunnel started
to change, and she began to worry. Being invisible doesn't matter
when you are on your own. She switched the watch off and sat down
with Fifi on her lap. She had no idea what to do next, so she
leaned back, closed her eyes and dozed.

~

Zack was spinning faster than the speed of
two scannuls. He began to wish he had stayed at home. He had no
powers, the Freeflyers had stripped him bare but, for some reason,
had not exiled him to The Garden of Creation in the First Universe.
Wait! The Creator's Initiator! I still have it! Surely this has to
be an emergency! The thought was all it needed, and he started to
think of what he could say to save himself.