We head along the tracks until one of the team finds the panel that I told Owl Man about. It’s cleverly disguised to look like just another part of a standard wall. If you weren’t looking for it, you’d never notice it.
A couple of engineers dismantle the panel to reveal the low, narrow tunnel beyond. Josh steps forward and nods for me to join him. We stare into the gloom.
“Even smaller and tighter than you led us to believe,” Josh mutters. “And you say there’s a maze of tunnels like this one?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ll be able to find your way through it?”
I nod. “I wasn’t paying much attention when the babies brought me this way, but Mr. Dowling has mental maps of all the tunnels and I copied those over when I bonded with him.”
“And you think it took about half an hour to make it to the clown’s lair?” Josh presses.
“Yeah.”
Josh rubs his chin unhappily. “We’ll be vulnerable. The tunnel’s just a couple of meters high, maybe less in places from what I can see of it. Many of my people will have to advance in a crouch.”
“You should have hired Munchkins for the job,” Rage jokes.
“Are you having second thoughts?” Dr. Oystein asks.
“No,” Josh sighs. “It’s too late for those. I’m just saying it’s going to be hard. I’ve a bad feeling about this. Maybe we can send a small team ahead with Becky to check that the way is clear before the rest of us follow.”
“We have no time for that,” Zhang snaps. “Dowling knows we are coming. We must strike swiftly, before he can organize his forces.”
“Besides, you would be equally vulnerable here,” Dr. Oystein adds. “Albrecht might have set explosives in the roof above us. He could bring it crashing down on your heads at any given moment.”
Josh looks up sharply. “If he’s wired this one, he might have wired the roofs of the tunnels too.”
“Perhaps,” the doc says. “I do not think he will risk killing me by bringing them down–he finds the world a more interesting place with me in it to plot and battle against–but if he is more desperate than I imagine…”
Josh curses, then forces a shaky smile. “What the hell. Let’s push on. Take the lead, Becky. We’ll be close behind.”
I move into the tunnel, flanked by Dr. Oystein and Owl Man, Sakarias and Rage just behind us. We proceed in a straight line until we come to the first branch. I stop and stare, waiting for Mr. Dowling’s memories to snap into place.
“Make sure you take the correct turn,” Owl Man whispers. “At this and every other junction. Do not lead us astray.”
“The thought never crossed my mind,” I lie, because of course it had. But now that Owl Man has commanded me to follow the right path, the chance to strand them in the tunnels is lost. Although, that having been said, he still hasn’t ordered me to stay close by his side, so I cling to the desperate hope that I can slip free at some point.
As the map forms inside my head, I find myself turning left. I try to fight it and turn right, to lead my captors a merry dance, but Owl Man’s hold over me is too great.
We progress, an army at my heels, me up front guiding them, a puppet in Owl Man’s hands, the figurehead on the prow of the good ship Destruction.