Jack figured that Sphinx, coming through here first, had deliberately allowed this under-tunnel to fill with water and plug entirely with greystone.

But then one of the other groups in here—probably the Omega monks, given the dying man Jack had seen—had come prepared with a device to dig through the concrete-like greystone.

‘Lily, go go go,’ he urged. ‘Easton, you, too.’

Into the tight space they went, bellycrawling on their chests, hurrying as fast as they could.

Jack went third and Smiley brought up the rear.

After about a minute of wriggling, they emerged in a new, long section of the main tunnel—lit by red orbs again—and they ran headlong down it.

After a minute or so, the booming of the goldman’s footfalls faded into the distance and they figured it hadn’t been able, or willing, to crawl through the greystone hole.

It was only once they had run for about ten full minutes that Jack dared to stop and let them all catch their breath.

‘Goddamn,’ he said, ‘this is one vicious labyrinth.’

They pressed onward, down the tunnel.

They encountered a dozen more under-tunnels—two of which were clogged with greystone yet also jackhammered with crawl-holes—and three more goldmen, which they skirted in silence, always careful not to look at their faces.

But in the main, the tunnel just continued in long sweeping stretches, maintaining its gentle downward grade.

They walked for almost a whole day, covering miles in the crimson gloom.

‘I hope we chose the right tunnel,’ Lily said. ‘You wouldn’t want to come all this way and hit a dead end.’

Jack nodded. ‘I think that’s what Dion did. Took the wrong tunnel, wandered for hours and then had to turn around.’

At one point in their travels, Jack paused to examine one of the red orbs in the ceiling.

Climbing onto Smiley’s shoulders, he gently extracted one from the ceiling and peered closely at it.

The little orb pulsed with red light, throbbing.

Very carefully, Jack pressed it with his titanium left index finger.

The orb’s outer skin flexed under the gentle pressure.

‘Looks like it’s a liquid inside a thin membrane. Doesn’t seem like it would take much of an impact to crack the membrane, either. “Beware the liquid fire.”’

‘You think this is what melted all those other guys’ skin and clothing?’ Lily asked. ‘And those bronzemen, too?’

‘Yep,’ Jack said.

They kept walking, onward and downward.

After a time, they reached a point where Jack knew they had to risk getting some sleep.

And so Smiley stood guard while they slept for a few hours.

Jack slept fitfully, his dreams shot through with nightmares.

When he woke, he found Lily sitting over him, stroking his shoulder saying, ‘Easy now. It’s okay, Dad.’

‘Thanks, kiddo.’