by Lisa Lace
I didn't get any mercy, and now I was going to die. In retrospect, all of my decisions seemed bad. Coming to this planet, keeping the phone, marrying Jesse, and dragging him into this nonsense.
Becoming a teacher wasn't that important. I did good work with those three-year-olds. Kyle loved me...if he still remembered Miss Annalee. Maybe he had forgotten me by now, and I had risked my life to keep an empty promise to him.
Strangely, I didn't regret it, not even now in the middle of a disaster. I looked around and saw sympathy in some eyes but disgust in others. One thing I didn't see was a single face in the crowd that looked like they might help me. That included my new husband's. I stepped forward and held my hands out together, not looking at anyone and trying to be brave.
Someone spoke. "Sir, she's new to Yordbrook. She doesn't understand our ways." It was Mrs. Boyko. She was defending me, bless her heart.
"Ignorance of the law is no excuse," the Bureau man said curtly.
Before they pushed me into the cart, I heard Jesse's deep voice ring out across the yard.
"May I say good-bye?"
"Who is speaking?"
"I am," Jesse said calmly. "She's my wife."
"Be brief," the Bureau man said, stepping away to converse with his companion. I didn't turn to Jesse. Instead, I listened to his footsteps as he approached.
I thought about how he had made me feel last night and our aborted year together. I wasn't planning on staying longer than that.
When Jesse walked around and put his hand under my chin, making me lift my head and meet his eyes, I wondered if I might change my mind before the year was up.
He didn't hesitate but leaned in and kissed me slowly, deeply, as if he were learning my lips by heart and storing up the feeling to remember me by when I wouldn't be here anymore. It was hard to believe that he was the same grumpy man I married yesterday.
I lost myself in him as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tightly against him. As his lips brushed my ear, I heard him whisper only four words, but they gave me hope.
"Be ready. Don't sleep."
I held my breath as he stepped back. There wasn't an indication on his face that he had said anything to me.
"I will see you on the other side of death," he said, loudly enough for the crowd to hear. There was the sound of a woman's muffled sobbing.
He whispered, "It's something we say when we think we're seeing someone for the last time."
I nodded, unable to speak. Jesse backed away as one of the Bureau men came around and shoved me roughly into the cart.
"The execution will take place in two days." He smiled cruelly at Jesse. "You're welcome to come and watch her die. It serves you right for marrying an off-worlder."
I saw Jesse's lips tighten, but he didn't say anything. The Bureau terrified all the natives here. I didn't blame them. I was intimidated myself.
But Jesse had implied he would try to come and save me. I couldn't imagine Jesse the farmer rescuing me. Hadn't that been what he meant? I didn't know for certain, but I clung to the small hope and infinitesimal amount of comfort it gave me.
As my cart bumped and bounced down the road, I started to cry. How had I ended up here? Would my grand adventure end tragically? I would have to wait and see what kind of an alien I had married.
As if things weren't bad enough, now it was raining.
I still wore the long blue dress given to me when I arrived at the planet. It went all the way down to my toes and was long-sleeved, covering me completely. Right now, I was thankful it had a hood. I drew it to my face as the rain drizzled down on me. It had been pouring for hours. Pulling it closer didn't really make a difference. The water had soaked through my clothes, and I was shivering with cold, but doing something proactive made me feel better.
There weren't many things I could do to comfort myself. I wrapped my arms around my middle and huddled against the side of the cart, hoping the day would end peacefully with a washroom. I would kill for a chance to relieve myself.
The jolting of the cart had rattled my head all day long. I lost my glasses somewhere in the mud, and I wanted to get out and dry myself. I wasn't anxious to go to sleep. If I didn't escape or get busted out by someone, I would have the opportunity to sleep forever starting tomorrow. The thought gave me chills.
Abruptly the cart stopped. A Bureau man came down and unhitched the back of the wagon, pulling it out roughly.
"Get down," he said, jerking me off the back of the cart without warning. My legs had fallen asleep. They buckled under me, but I managed to stand my ground after a slight sway. I didn't want to collapse and show weakness in front of these men. "We're staying here tonight."
"I need to use the restroom," I said. "And change into dry clothes."
He snorted at the audacity of a woman asking for what she needed, but he reluctantly brought me to a small building on the side of the main one. It appeared we were at an inn, but a more desolate and less prosperous one than the inn near Jesse's home.
I went to the privy and discovered another problem. It was difficult to relieve myself when my hands tied in front of me. The guards refused to untie me when I went in, so I was forced to be creative, especially considering my dress and various layers of underclothes.
I managed to do my business and get my hands washed in the basin. I even managed to put all of my clothing back in its proper place and get back out without asking for help. My reward at the end was a stern-faced man shaking his head at me as I emerged.
I ignored him and followed in silence as he made his way around the puddles and moved toward the primary building of the inn. He brought me to a small room with no bed or furniture of any kind. It might have been a storage room before its present use as a cell. There were no windows.
It wasn't a modern jail cell, but I knew it would keep me confined as well as the highest security prison on Earth. I hesitated in the doorway. The Bureau man gave me a hard push. I fell, twisting to avoid landing on my hands and possibly breaking a bone. I didn't need to add that to my list of problems. Instead, I took a hard hit on my hip, and my head smashed into the floor.
I lay stunned for a moment before I could sit up. I held my head, trying to remove the dizziness. Once I felt well enough to stand, the door had been shut and locked for a long time.
There wasn't a way out of the small room. Aside from the door, there was no opening other than a vent, which was so high off the ground that I couldn't see where it went. The door was made of solid wood. I threw my body against it, trying to force it open, but I didn't weigh enough. It wasn't going anywhere, and picking the lock was beyond my abilities.
I felt like I should do something but there wasn't anything to do, so I sat down and waited. After a few minutes, I stood up and started to pace. The day stretched into the night and soon I was in total darkness.
I hadn't done much all day, but I felt dead on my feet. I hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. Jesse had kept me busy doing anything but sleeping. I didn't dare sleep now, though, since Jesse had told me to stay alert.
My eyelids were terribly heavy. To keep myself awake, I walked up and down in the room and talked to myself. I recited the multiplication tables. I sang every song I could remember. I tried to avoid certain thoughts. Things like Jesse never coming, and that if I fell asleep, I might never wake up.
I felt sick to my stomach without eating any food all day. Someone had put some water into my cell at some point during the day, but it was no substitute for the delicious bread they made here that's like nothing I had ever tasted on Earth.
I had eaten many loaves of it since my arrival on Yordbrook. Surprisingly, I hadn't gained a lot of weight, but Porter said they used a different type of grain for bread here. Apparently it both tasted great and had fewer calories.
Finally, I felt so tired that I leaned against the wall and tapped out a rhythm with my hand to keep myself awake. If I sat down, I would certainly fall asleep.
I tapped on the wall. Tap, t
ap, tap-ta, tap-ta, tap. Over and over, until a rustle inside the room made me stop.
What was that? Were there rats at this inn? On our way to Jesse's home, Porter had sometimes made us press on late into the night to reach the best inns. We often would pass by two or three because he said their service was subpar.
When I asked him about it, he explained he meant they watered down the wine, used the same sheets for multiple guests, and had cellars full of rats that ran wild through the building at night while the unsuspecting guests snored away.
This place had not looked prosperous, and I wouldn't be surprised if it were infested. The thought of being trapped in the dark with an unknown number of rats was as terrifying as anything I had encountered so far, including the thought of my death tomorrow. The rodents were with me right now.
I held my breath, listening attentively for another rustle or the feeling of something running over my shoe. It was hard to hear anything because blood was rushing through my ears. At least I no longer felt sleepy. Then I heard it.
Tap, tap, tap-ta, tap-ta, tap.
And again after a moment.
Tap, tap, tap-ta, tap-ta, tap.
It was the same rhythm I had been tapping on the wall. I froze for a moment, but when it came again, I was ready and tapped it back.
Someone was here. I hoped it was Jesse.
Chapter Ten
JESSE
I didn't know if anyone occupied the house or not, but it was my best chance. It was where Porter usually stayed while in the area. I was sure he had a hangover, and he couldn't have gone far. Porter said he was leaving, but didn't go into specifics about where he was going. If he was still in the vicinity, there was a good chance he was staying here for the night.
I hoped he was there. I needed his help if I was going to save Annalee.
"Porter!" I yelled as loud as I could. "Open up!"
There was no answer or movement from inside. Nothing. If I couldn't find him, I would have to try and break Annalee out by myself. I had some skills, but I doubted I could do everything alone.
I heard a small sound and followed it around the house to a window. I peeked in and saw Porter and a beautiful young woman in the middle of a moment of passion.
Immediately I averted my eyes from the sight of their tangled bodies which were barely hidden by the sheets. I didn't need to see that. I couldn't hide from the sounds of their fucking. They were too loud to ignore as they both reached their climax at almost the same moment. It was impressive, even for Porter. It deserved applause.
I walked back around to the entrance. Porter had definitely not heard me yelling at him. After a few minutes, I began calling out to Porter again. I leaned against the door, waiting for something to happen.
Without warning, it opened, and I fell inside to see the lovely young girl standing in her shift. I shook my head. Of course the beautiful girl would be opening Porter's door for him. He was too lazy to do it himself.
"Where is he?" I said, dispensing with the pleasantries. I needed his help immediately. Night was falling, and Annalee's execution was in two days. The sooner we could get her out of the Bureau of Purity's grasp, the better. If they brought her to Willford, we would have to deal with heavy security. The best opportunity to free her was right now.
"He's not here."
"Yes," I said, interrupting her and staring her down. "He is."
Apparently my gaze was not intimidating this girl at all. She wasn't afraid of me. "He said to tell whoever it was to go away."
"The bastard," I muttered. The woman was shocked at my choice of language, but he knew my voice as well as his own. I was sure he could hear me yelling.
When I threw the door open, Porter was sitting up in bed, looking sour.
"I wanted to have her for the third time, Jesse. Couldn't you have waited a while? Or not shown up at all."
I didn't waste any words.
"Annalee's been taken by the Bureau of Purity. I need your help."
Porter sprang out of bed in an instant, holding the sheet up to cover himself.
"How did this happen?"
I shook my head. "She smuggled in some tech, Porter. I didn't know anything about it, and I couldn't do anything to help her."
"It's not a mistake?"
"I saw everything happen in front of my eyes," I said. All the ramifications of Annalee's actions suddenly struck me. Before I had only been concerned with the thought of losing Annalee. When I wanted to get Porter's help, I could only think about finding him. Now my mind had nothing to occupy itself. His question brought everything to the front of my brain.
I would be badly affected by all of this because she was my wife. Not only would I lose my Annalee, but I might also lose my home. Much depended on the Bureau of Purity investigation and whether they thought, as her husband, I had been helping her to conceal her items.
If I sat back silently and let her die, they would probably find me innocent because we had only been husband and wife for a short time. But that path would abandon Annalee.
On the flip side, not abandoning Annalee meant we would be assisting a criminal, someone charged with the worst crime imaginable on Yordbrook. Once we helped her, we would no longer be considered innocent in the eyes of the Bureau of Purity.
In fact, we would be on their shit list forever. We would have to go on the run or possibly leave the planet. As a side note, they would seize the farm.
All my dreams shattered in an instant. I felt a thick darkness come over me as I realized it was over. All the work...all the striving...everything my father wanted was now gone.
But my father would never let me abandon Annalee if I could prevent her death. I wouldn't let myself abandon her.
When I remembered her, I saw in my mind's eye how she looked when I made love to her this morning. I knew I had to see her again, even if it was only to chastise her for being foolish and risking her life.
"Jesse? You still there?" Porter said. He put his hand on my shoulder. "We'll get her back. Don't worry."
"Sure. Now that I know you'll help, I'm not worried about that anymore." I sighed. "This is really the end, Porter. We have to turn our backs on our lives this time. There's no coming back."
He nodded, his face looking different without its usual cheerfulness.
"We knew it would come to this eventually. You can't do what we do and expect to live a normal life."
"No," I said, feeling sad. "I guess not. But that didn't stop me from hoping I could have everything."
"That's impossible. Everyone has to choose a side. It's time for you to decide." I stared at him, not wanting to admit that he was right. "Since you think Annalee is worth risking everything, it looks like you've made your decision already."
I nodded. And in my heart, I felt an ache as I let go of the dream of running my father's farm and turned my face toward an uncertain future.
"I have what we need," he said.
"We have to get her away from them before they get to the populated areas where they will have more assistance. Heaven help us if we have to deal with the security at Willford."
"That's right. We'll have the greatest chance of success if we grab her tonight."
A few minutes later, Porter was kissing his latest conquest goodbye. She stared at us as we strode into the gathering darkness.
We crawled through the bushes on our stomachs to avoid a guard standing watch outside the building. I assumed there was also someone on alert on the inside of the building, but I doubted they would be paying attention unless their partner sounded an alarm.
Although we had carefully wrapped the contents of Porter's backpack, it still made noise. Porter glanced at me and nodded at the guard. Now that we were closer, we could see their setup. Annalee was in a storeroom inside the inn. There was one guard outside and another man positioned in the building.
The exterior guard wielded a crossbow. The Bureau had a reputation for carefully training its men. We didn't want to get his attention. He could e
asily shoot both of us from this distance.
"Are you ready?" Porter whispered, making sure to avoid speaking too loudly. The wind was blowing in the guard's direction, and we weren't sure how easily they could hear our conversation.
We had already decided what to do. Porter wanted confirmation.
"We move ahead with the original plan," I said. "I'll meet you inside."
"Aye, aye, captain," he whispered. His words sounded brave, but I could see he was worried from his body language.
"What's on your mind, Porter," I said, putting my hand out to stop him before he crawled away. I needed him to focus on the task at hand, not distracted by random thoughts.
"Nothing," he said, looking away from me. I didn't say anything. "Okay, it's something. We've done this before, but it was never someone we cared about."
"We?" I asked wryly.
"She and I got to be friends while we traveled," he said innocently.
There was truth in his face, but there was something he wasn't saying. "I guess you've known her longer than I have," I said, hating that it was true.
He nodded. "It makes a difference," he said. "I don't want to screw this up."
"We haven't made a mistake so far," I said confidently. Internally, his nervousness was infecting me. If the Bureau agents guarding Annalee suspected we were trying to break her out, they would kill her immediately, and us soon after.
The Bureau was given a lot of flexibility when it came to dealing with enemies of the state. The law required them to give Annalee time before her execution, but there were ways around the minor technicalities. They could say she was resisting or attempting to escape when they shot her. No one would question their decisions.
I hoped we could get Annalee out. Porter and I had helped many people escape before, and we knew a bit about evading Bureau men. Porter had briefly worked for the Bureau of Purity. He knew how they thought and their protocols. It was useful knowledge in a situation like this.
We looked at each other briefly, then touched our fists to our foreheads. Porter held my gaze for a moment before he turned away and silently crawled off.