"Anything from Stella yet ?" asked Frank.
"No. The KORPS agent isn't talking," said Rose.
Frank watched as the six agents switched on their torches and ran through the gap in the rocks, before disappearing from sight.
The team ran into the tunnel, their head torches making bobbing motions up and down in front of them. Oscar felt the familiar dread settling over him as he ran through the dark, dank, claustrophobic tunnels. It was being surrounded by his team which kept him going in these situations. He had never really got over his fear of the dark even after all these years of sneaking around SKUL and KORPS underground bases. Why these people always wanted to live underground was a mystery to him. As if reading his mind, Carrie reached across and squeezed his arm. Knowing she couldn't see him, he turned and smiled at her anyway.
They seemed to be running for ages. Oscar checked his watch and saw that they had been jogging through the empty tunnels for over five minutes. Surely they would be approaching some usable tunnels by this time. Finally he saw a glow of light up ahead. Edward signalled for them to slow down as they approached a junction into a tunnel with lighting. They divided between the two walls of the tunnel as they reached the intersection. Oscar glanced around and saw that Tom was puffing heavily inside his suit. He wasn't as physically conditioned as the others. Aneisha seemed to be holding up a lot better. He guessed that as the team's technical expert, Tom didn't spend as much time in the field.
Edward had been peering round the corner into the lit tunnel and signalled that someone was approaching. They all pressed up against one wall. When the KORPS operative came level with them, Edward and Ilya leapt out and grabbed the surprised agent and with Ilya's hand over their mouth, pulled them into the tunnel. The agent looked around at the suited team, looking frightened. Edward put his face up against the enemy agent's face and spoke to him. "Do you know where the MI9 agents are being held ?" he demanded. The KORPS agent nodded, his arms still pinned behind his back by Ilya. "Can you take us to them ?" asked Edward. The KORPS agent frowned, obviously confused. Edward nodded to Ilya to remove his hand. "What's the problem ?" asked Edward.
"They are in different places," explained the KORPS agent.
"Where are they ?" asked Edward.
"The girl is in central being assessed and the boy is in the cells," explained the man.
"Which is closest ?" asked Edward.
"Central," replied the agent. Edward looked at the others.
"I don't want to split the team. We'll go for Zoe first," he said. "Be ready for attack. We're going to encounter other KORPS agents. Try to stop them raising the alarm," he instructed. The others nodded tensely. Edward glanced uncertainly at Tom who was visibly shaking. "Go !" he ordered the KORPS agent. Ilya pushed the man out into the corridor and the agent nodded to indicate which direction to take. The rest of the team followed, Ilya and Edward in the lead, Oscar and Carrie watching the rear. Aneisha and Tom were sandwiched in the middle.
It only took a minute to reach the end of their tunnel and arrive at a junction between multiple tunnels. The KORPS man nodded towards one of the tunnels. Edward leaned in close and whispered in his ear. The man was looking sweaty and nervous. After only a few seconds they encountered their first KORPS agents. A man and woman turned the corner and came up behind them. Too shocked to react, they were easily knocked out by Carrie and Oscar, who dragged their unconscious bodies further round the corner and laid them up against the wall. The others had started jogging down the tunnel ahead and Oscar and Carrie ran to catch up.
At the end of the tunnel they entered a large room where they saw Zoe strapped in a chair, attached to a variety of monitoring equipment. It looked as though they were giving her a medical. The two people with her jumped in alarm when they saw the MI9 agents entering the room. One of them ran to a button on the wall. Before Carrie could get to her, she had pressed the button and an alarm started to blare out. They could hear its echoes throughout the tunnels around them. Carrie and Oscar again knocked out the KORPS agents while Tom and Aneisha rushed to free Zoe.
"Dan's locked in a cell. He's hurt !" blurted out Zoe.
"Can you show us the way ?" asked Edward.
"I think so," said Zoe. Ilya promptly knocked out their captured KORPS agent. Edward looked at Ilya.
"He was getting heavy," complained Ilya. Edward shrugged and they followed Zoe to the entrance. She ran down the corridor and they had to run to keep up with her.
"Hey, slow down a bit Zoe. We're going to run into trouble soon !" called out Aneisha. Zoe glanced back at Aneisha. Worry and guilt were written all over her face. Sure enough, KORPS agents started to appear from all angles. They reached the cross-road of tunnels after a minute and swarms of KORPS agents started to appear from all angles. The whole team had to stand back-to-back and fight them off. Zoe was furiously kicking and gouging at the attacking KORPS people. One of the KORPS agents threw a gas grenade which exploded in the air. Unfortunately for KORPS, the MI9 agents were wearing protective clothing and the casualties were all KORPS agents, with one exception. Zoe slumped to the ground, unable to move.
"Now we can't find Dan !" shouted Aneisha. "How are we going to find him ?"
"We're not now. We're going to have to get out," replied Edward grimly. "Ilya, get Zoe will you ?" he asked. Ilya bent down, picked up Zoe and slung her over his shoulder. More KORPS agents were coming down the corridors towards them. "Head back for our tunnel !" shouted Edward. They ran towards the tunnel they had come through.
Tom became confused, trying to remember which tunnel he was looking for. When all the team dashed for the tunnel they had come in through, he headed for a different one. He was instantly cut off from the team by a group of KORPS agents. He fought as hard as he could, but was soon captured and dragged away from the rest of the team. "Aneisha ! Help !" he shouted, but was soon pulled away down the corridor leaving the others behind.
"Tom !" shouted Aneisha in panic. "Edward, he's not a fighter ! We need to help him !" she said desperately.
Edward shook his head. "Sorry Aneisha. We have to go now. Otherwise we're going to lose the whole team. Retreat everyone. Back to the entrance !" ordered Edward. With tears in her eyes, Aneisha reluctantly ran with the others. It seemed much further this time. As Ilya tired carrying Zoe, Oscar took her off his shoulder. Finally they ran out into the fresh air of the entrance. There were a series of dull booms behind them and dust rushed out of the tunnel entrance behind them. Carrie pointed to an area of heather and scrub about fifty yards away as it collapsed down.
"They've brought the tunnel down !" she said. "We're not going to get in that way again," she exclaimed in frustration. "Oh man, what a mare !" she complained, throwing her gas mask to the ground and putting her hands on her hips. Oscar carefully lowered Zoe's body to the ground. Frank and one of the other MI9 agents went to check her over. Gradually she recovered and started to cry.
"We've lost him !" she said to Frank.
"We've lost both of them," said Aneisha bitterly. Zoe looked at her in confusion.
"They took Tom as well," said Aneisha.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," whispered Zoe. "What are we going to do ?"
"We're going to think of a way to get them both back !" said Edward emphatically.
"How are we going to get back in ?" asked Aneisha.
Frank touched his earpiece. "Rose, what's the situation with the main entrance ?" he asked.
"It's under heavy guard now," reported Rose's voice. "It looks like they've sent for reinforcements too. More KORPS people have turned up in vans. You're not going to get in that way," she said.
They all looked at one another. "We've got to do something "! said Aneisha.