by Lisa Lace
My toe barely touched the knife. It was a good thing I had taken off my shoes in my cell, even though I had wished for them many times. I had stubbed my toes and cut my feet on the way down into the dungeon.
Unfortunately, the knife moved in the wrong direction. It spun slightly and went further away from my body. I let out a small moan. The sound of my voice made me sick to my stomach. If I couldn't find inner strength, I was going to die.
I would do whatever I needed to do. I took a deep breath and reached as far as I could, farther than before, feeling the rope bite into my wrists and my muscles stretch to their limit. My toe touched it, and I carefully pulled it back towards me within reach.
I wanted to jump for joy, but ropes still bound me, and I wasn't free yet. I reached for the knife and tried to put it between my toes. It took many tries, but I finally picked it up. Now that I was an expert in foot-knife movement, I promptly dropped the blade when I tried to move it to my hand. I had to make three more attempts before I could lift my foot high enough and simultaneously grab the handle with my fingers.
I held onto the knife carefully and began sawing at the rope. Eventually, I cut through the last strand, and one hand was free. In a moment, I had the other hand loose, and I headed for the door.
It was locked, of course.
"You won't get out that way," a voice croaked from a dark corner of the room.
I froze. The knife was still in my hand.
"Who's there?"
"Just Jemima. I'm nobody, really."
I grabbed a torch from its sconce on the wall and slowly approached the sound. When I got close enough to see who had spoken, I gasped.
The elderly woman was so skinny her face looked like a skull and her eyes bulged out. How had she survived here by herself? There was a spark of light in her dark green eyes.
"Jemima? I'm glad to meet you, but I have to get out of here. Can you help me?"
She nodded with a cunning smile.
"How can I escape if I can't get out the door?"
"I shan't tell you," she said. "The man went down to the river to bathe and said 'Help me! Help me!' to the pretty maid," she sang.
"I'll do whatever it takes."
"Will you give me your first-born child?" she cackled.
I was prepared to do almost whatever it took. Was she crazy?
"It was only a jest. I will tell you what I know. I will never escape from here, but there is a chance for you."
I waited patiently. It seemed unlikely Jemima would have any information that was helpful to me, but I had no other options.
"There is a door which leads into the adjoining cell from earlier times. Once, these cells were filled with traitors, those who participated in the destruction of our world. The ones who had set off the bombs. Back in the day, I hear they were piled fifty to a cell. The door let air flow into this room so the prisoners wouldn't suffocate. The other cell has a window. Can you see it?"
She looked up at me and pointed to the window. I nodded.
"The current guards have forgotten what this place once was. You can reach the door, but I cannot. At the bottom is a small mouse hole. If you reach into the hole, you will find a key from long ago."
If I had to reach into a dark mouse hole and get a few bites, so be it.
"After you go through the door, open the window and pull yourself out. I'm not sure what lies beyond. From there, your fate is in your hands."
"Thank you." I reached up to touch the woman's shaky hand for a moment. "If there's anything I can do to get you out, I will help you."
She nodded, but I knew she didn't believe me. My wrists hurt badly from where the rope had cut through my skin. My head throbbed, and I hoped I had enough strength remaining.
I didn't hesitate at the mouse hole, shoving my hand in and moving my fingers around. I groped around for a moment and found a metal skeleton key, but no mice, thank goodness. It was a small blessing in the midst of chaos and horror.
I put the key in the lock and turned.
Nothing happened. It was stuck. Just my luck.
I turned it again. This time, I heard the soft screech of metal and the lock clicked. I pulled on the door handle, and it slowly moved as if no one had opened it for a long time. I grabbed a torch and brought it with me.
On the other side, I ran for the window and wrenched it open. I needed both hands to pull me up, so I had to leave my only light source. Even though every part of my body was in pain, the adrenaline and fear gave me the strength to lift my body up and out of the window.
Once I was outside, I stayed in the shadow of the buildings and ran. I found a road. I didn't know where it went, but at least it wasn't here. If I got away, I planned to leave this planet and never come back.
Jesse was welcome to come with me, but I had no desire to live in a place where the authorities threw people into dungeons. I understood that I broke the law, but what they did to me was inhumane.
Following the road led me to sparse trees which grew into a forest. Walking became a burden. All I could think about was moving one foot after the other.
I was growing more tired with every step, but I wouldn't give in until I was free.
The night began to lighten in the morning sky. First Sun was about to break. I felt a strange feeling. Was someone watching me?
Suddenly a man jumped up from behind me and grabbed me from the rear, trapping my arms. His hand covered my mouth.
I couldn't believe they caught me again so quickly.
Chapter Fifteen
JESSE
Porter lightly landed the ship so lightly that I hardly noticed. He touched it down in a forest behind the Bureau of Purity headquarters. He shut off the engine but left the cloak running.
The Underground rarely used hovercraft on Yordbrook, but when we did it was important to engage the cloaking device and keep the ship hidden. We didn't need the general public to panic because they thought aliens were invading them. It would take a big leap in logic to guess their people were flying an illegal vessel.
I took a quick look at myself in the mirror. I had changed into more practical clothes from the storage compartment. I was wearing a black T-shirt and black pants. They felt comfortable. I noticed I had a black eye and cut lip from the fights.
I laughed to myself. I looked rakish, like a bandit. It was a far cry from the respectable farmer I had been a short while ago. My current appearance was a closer match to how I thought about myself.
I had wanted to please my father, of course, and have security. A farm was the only way to guarantee freedom on Yordbrook. But the inheritance had never been about what I wanted, but what my father needed to make himself feel safe.
Porter was waiting for me in another room. "Are you ready to go?" I asked. I don't think Annalee has a lot of time to waste.
"Don't worry about her, Jesse. The Bureau treats its prisoners well. She'll have clean sheets and a private cell for her last night on the planet."
"I suppose you're right," I said, but I couldn't shake the feeling that she was in trouble. It was probably paranoia. "Better safe than sorry. Let's get moving."
Porter nodded and opened the door.
We sneaked through the woods until we reached the edge of the forest. Crouching down, we surveyed the compound. Porter pointed to a building that looked the same as all the other buildings.
"There," he said. "That's the wing where they keep the prisoners."
We needed to get this right. There wouldn't be any second chances tonight. By the moonlight, I estimated the night was half over. Annalee would die at the first light of Second Sun.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," Porter said.
"You mean, I'll be back as soon as I can. She's my wife."
"No, I don't. You're not going in there, Jesse. They want to catch you. That's why they took Annalee."
"Aren't you one of the leaders, too? They would be happy to get either one of us."
"They won't be looking for me. Especially sinc
e they think I'm still a Bureau employee." He held up a purple stone which identified him as a Bureau worker.
The Bureau controlled the distribution of the stones. They were impossible to counterfeit. The only way to get one was to be a Bureau employee. They were a practical identifier of who was with the Bureau and who wasn't. If anyone captured them, they were instructed to destroy their stone.
Of course, Porter kept his stone when he left the Bureau and went into hiding. He started changing into a dark navy Bureau of Purity outfit. His clothes and stone would probably be enough to get him deep into the compound.
It wouldn't help if anyone examined the stone in detail, then realized that it had been missing for years. But if it worked, I suspected he would be able to go places I wouldn't be able to reach by breaking in.
I frowned at him. "This wasn't the plan."
"I don't know what your plan was. It was always the plan for me," he said, shrugging. "I need to go, Jesse. Annalee doesn't have much time."
He turned and began to walk away.
"Porter. Be careful."
He nodded once before he disappeared, leaving me to wait alone in the dark.
"What do you mean, she wasn't there?" I asked, feeling an empty sensation in my gut.
"I got in without any problems and made it all the way to her cell. The guard in the hallway said she had been taken down to the cellar."
"The cellar?" A horrified expression appeared on my face.
"That's where they torture people."
"I know! You don't need to say it!"
"I went down and found the guard who was assigned to 'educate' her and talked to him."
"Did you 'educate' him back?"
"No, I needed the information, Jesse. He was in his room already. Apparently he thought she was going to pass out, so he gave her a break. He planned to return soon so I asked if I could talk to her. When I got there, she was gone."
"Where could she go? Did the guard know she escaped?"
Porter shook his head. "There wasn't any commotion while I was there."
"Do you think he helped her escape?"
"I don't know. Maybe. It didn't bother him when I told him the prisoner had escaped."
It didn't matter. What mattered was her current location.
"I think she would have headed for the forest. She wouldn't know where to go, but the trees would provide natural cover. I'm not sure how I missed her, though."
"Maybe she came out on the other side and hid among the trees across from you. If you looked the other way for only a moment, it would be enough for her to disappear into the trees."
I pulled out a pair of night vision goggles. The Underground advocated technology, but it still felt odd to me every time I used it. They would help me see in darkness and detect a person's body heat from a distance, making Annalee easier to spot than if I were looking for her with my naked eyes. I snapped them onto my face. In an instant, I could see as well as if it were daytime.
"You should prepare yourself, Jesse." Porter put his hand on my shoulder.
"For what?" I asked. I felt impatient and wanted to get going.
"She may not be the same person you married," he said. "You know what I mean?"
"It doesn't matter," I said. I tried not to think of the terrible images Porter had conjured. "Let's go."
It was slow. We moved back and forth in a coordinated pattern, making sure we didn't miss any section of the forest. When First dawn broke, we avoided looking at each other. The Bureau would be coming after her. If they didn't know she had escaped yet, they would soon, and there would be Bureau agents everywhere.
I didn't say anything to him but kept moving. We both knew there was nothing to say. If we didn't find her and vacate the area quickly, we would have to leave without her.
That's when I saw movement in my peripheral vision. I removed the goggles; I didn't need to rely on gadgets after all. The gray light of morning was bright enough for me to see without them. The movement was from a human form.
"Is it her?" Porter asked.
The woman was beaten almost beyond recognition. Her dress was torn and disheveled. Ann had been wearing pants and a T-shirt when she left. I couldn't see her face very well, but it wasn't Annalee.
I shook my head.
"No matter who she is, she must have escaped the Bureau. We have to help her, Jesse. We don't know if we can help Annalee, but we can help a person in front of us."
He looked at me and then quickly ran toward the woman. I didn't want to move. Grief filled me, and I thought helping this stranger would be like giving up on Annalee. He went behind her, covering her mouth so she wouldn't scream and give away our location.
I saw her jump at first, but her body fell limp in defeat. I sighed, walking towards them. He was right. At least we could help someone get away from the Bureau.
"Jesse, I've got bad news. You can't recognize your own wife. She's badly hurt." I broke into a run.
ANNALEE
I tried to scream but a hand covered over my mouth, muffling my cries. Someone's arm held me tightly, and I couldn't get away from it.
I wasn't going back there, no matter what. I struggled and moved my arms and legs in any direction. My captor adjusted his grip. I was able to move slightly, and I decided to take a chance. I wouldn't let the Bureau get me again.
Somehow I managed to stomp on his foot, and he cursed. Then I shoved my elbow into his stomach as hard as I could. I succeeded in making him bend over, but he didn't let go of me. I wriggled my arms furiously. I managed to get one of my arms free and I flailed around, managing to hit him in the head.
Success! He grunted and relaxed his hold on me. I slid out of his grasp and started moving away as quickly as possible. I never saw his face. I didn't want to.
"Wait." There was something vaguely familiar about his voice, but I couldn't tell what it was. I only knew I wanted to run.
I took off as fast as I could. I wasn't exhausted anymore. My fear gave me energy and speed. I heard the sound of someone crashing through the vegetation behind me. I did my best to lose him, but my best wasn't good enough. Not only was he fast, but I also suspected no one had recently beaten him.
My pursuer caught up with me and went for my legs, tackling me. I didn't have much energy remaining at this point, and I went down hard. It felt like I landed on all my wounds simultaneously. I cried out, but they wouldn't take me again. I crawled forward on my belly, kicking with my feet and trying to get him off me.
He wasn't willing to let me leave, of course. When he got up, he pulled me with him and twisted my arms behind my back, making me yell out again.
"No!" I screamed. Like he was going to listen to me. But strangely, he released one of my arms and turned me around to look at my face.
"Annalee?" he said. "Is that you? I can hardly recognize you."
"Porter?" I ripped my arm violently out of his grip. "Why are you attacking me?"
"We were looking for you. Hang on a second." He cried out for Jesse.
"Why were you chasing me down like I was an animal?" Now that the excitement was over, my body started to shake from all the adrenaline.
"I didn't know it was you," he said. In fact, when he looked at me, it seemed like he still wasn't sure who I was. He pulled out a knife and began gently cutting the ropes on my wrists, which were cutting into my skin. I winced, and his eyebrows drew together.
Jesse burst into the clearing. "What is it?" he said, looking at Porter. "What's wrong?"
"This is why you didn't recognize her." Porter directed his gaze toward me.
A shocked expression passed over Jesse's face. I realized I must look pretty hideous. I didn't have a mirror, but I moved my hand up to touch my face. There was a cut and swelling on my forehead, and I imagined there were bruises on my cheek. My wrists were rubbed raw by the rope. My dress flapped at the back, revealing welts. The rest of the garment had been torn to shreds when it caught on bushes during my flight.
When I reali
zed everything that had happened to me, I started to feel light-headed. Jesse was by my side in an instant, catching me as I fell. I didn't black out because I felt the first rays of sunlight coming through the trees.
Shouting arose in the distance.
"We have to get back to the ship, Porter." Jesse stood up, still carrying me in his arms. He looked like he was ready to run all the way back with me as baggage.
"You're going to have to put her down. If we're all going to live, she needs to run."
Jesse gently set me on my feet again. I tried to concentrate, but the pain made it difficult. It was starting to come back as the adrenaline faded.
"Annalee, you heard us," Porter said. "You know what you need to do."
We started moving. I had a man on either side of me. Each held one of my hands and helped pull me along. It was hard for me to keep up but when I stumbled, they caught me and helped get me on my feet again.
I wasn't sure how long we ran. Eventually, Porter said, "We're almost there." It could have been a few minutes, or it could have been an eternity. My muscles had stiffened up long ago. It was hard for me to move at all, but somehow I was still going, with their assistance.
When we reached the ship, Porter entered the code for the door. It made a soft beep. I leaned heavily on Jesse, my legs feeling weak. I was ready to sit down.
The door didn't open.
"What's wrong?" Jesse asked.
Porter shrugged his shoulders and entered the code again. The door still didn't open. We heard the sounds of someone moving behind us in the forest.
I willed the door to open with my mind, but that didn't have any effect either.
"I'm sure I'm using the correct code. Let me try one more time."
"What if they're using a scrambler?" Jesse suggested.
Porter froze. "I think you're right."
"So we can't get in?" I asked.
"Not if the Bureau's locking us out." Jesse turned around to look at us and immediately dropped to the ground.
I looked at the new threat. A group of Bureau agents had emerged and surrounded us. They were all pointing crossbows directly at our heads.