by James Goss
I launched myself at him then.
He’d caught me at my most vulnerable. But I was going to show him. I had been carefully trained in restraint procedures.
Looking back, I’d like to think I’d caught him off guard. I’d like to say he wasn’t expecting it. I’d like to think I surprised him. But I’m really not sure. He seemed winded by the assault, and it was halfway down to the ground with him that I remembered how Abesse’s fight with him had gone. I suddenly worried that this hadn’t been the cleverest of moves.
‘Seriously?’ said 428.
We were both lying on the floor, half in and half out of the cell. I had him in a Subdue Lock that should have been going my way. ‘Seriously? The doorframe is really digging into my back and I think you’ve bruised your knee. You’ll probably need some liniment rubbing into it.’
The thing about 428 is that he never turns it off. That’s what suddenly and hugely got to me then. That air of quiet, almost smug amusement. I once threw a surprise birthday party for my wife. I’d arranged it all really carefully, and there was absolutely, definitely, no way she could know – it was a surprise. And yet, on the walk to the house, Helen kept giving me a look, a little smile that said that she knew what was coming.
And that was it. That was what Prisoner 428 was doing now. That slight twinkle in the eyes that says ‘I know what you’re up to. I know what’s happening. There are no surprises. Not for me.’ Damn him. Damn 428. Damn the Doctor.
I started shouting then. I don’t think I need record everything I said to him, but the gist of it was that I was fed up playing his games, I wanted to know what he’d done and what had happened to the prisoners.
‘Actually, so do I,’ said 428.
I let go of him. I stood up, gasping and winded. 428 did the same.
We stood there, warily looking at each other.
‘Something rubbish has happened here,’ said 428 looking up and down the corridor. ‘Rubbish. It’s a technical term.’ He saw my look and held up his hands. ‘Sorry,’ he said, and seemed genuine. ‘If you think I’m annoying now, you’d have hated me when I was young.’
I took a step forward, and winced. 428 was right. I had bruised my knee badly. ‘So … 428.’
‘Governor, sir?’
‘All the prisoners on this block are missing. As are the Custodians. Where are they? What have you done with them? The only thing I find here is you. I find that suspicious.’
‘And the only thing I find here is you. I also find that suspicious.’ He winked. ‘Touché.’
‘I’m the Governor here,’ I said.
‘So you say,’ said 428.
An uncomfortable moment passed.
‘I am the Governor,’ I protested.
‘Really? Perhaps you simply look like him. And, if you are, then where is your Custodian?’
I pointed to the darkness. ‘It went to investigate down there … and … didn’t come back.’
‘Mind you,’ said 428, sitting down on the bunk. ‘If you were an alien shapeshifter, you’d have a better story than that. See?’ He spread out his hands. ‘See how trusting I am? How quick I am to give people the benefit of the doubt? You really should try it some time. You might have fun.’
I slumped next to him on the bunk. ‘Look, why did you get out of your cell?’ I realised how truculent I sounded. ‘Why did you trigger the alarms?’
428 leaned back and clicked his tongue. ‘Normally I’m a bit subtler, aren’t I? But I think we’re both tired. And that alarm had been going on for over six minutes. I say that, just to sound casual and so that I’m not letting on that it had been 6 minutes and thirty-nine seconds. Normally you can feel power being rerouted to cope with the system failure. You know, the air gets a little sticky, the gravity goes by 0.3 per cent and then by 0.8 per cent … Those little tell-tales. But this time nothing. Which meant that this time, before it ended, it was so bad your system was locked out of whatever was going on. It really needed a kick up the backdoor.’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘It takes an expert to open their cell door as badly as I did. I set off all the alarms, didn’t I? It pulled your system out of its loop and gave it something fresh to sink its teeth into.’
‘You’re saying … you escaped to try and help me?’
‘Yes,’ admitted 428. ‘And also because I fancied a walk.’
‘A walk down here … to Level 6. Where. I find you. And nothing else?’
‘Yes,’ said the Doctor. ‘I could see the breach on a diagnostic panel I in no way hacked into on my way out. If you check the logs, you’ll find that the problems started down here before I left my cell. Something was opening the doors and removing the last remaining prisoners down here.’
‘Unless,’ I smiled, ‘You’d already left your cell and the loud alert was you giving yourself some kind of alibi.’
‘Sneaky.’ 428 nodded. ‘That’s really how you think, isn’t it? I guess that’s why you’re the Governor and I’m the prisoner, isn’t it?’
‘You’re mocking me.’
‘Perish the thought, sir.’ 428 sprang to his feet. ‘Come on. Let’s find out what’s been going on here.’
Which was when we found out that the door was locked.
Somehow in our struggle, we’d pulled it closed and it had locked.
‘How embarrassing,’ chuckled the Doctor. ‘Locked inside your own cells. Awkward.’
A silence settled between us.
I folded my arms. ‘So, are you going to show me how you do it? How you unlock the doors?’
428 raised an eyebrow. ‘I really don’t fancy giving all my secrets away, if it’s all the same to you.’
‘Surely not.’
‘Look, if you’ll just glance away …’
‘No.’
There came a distant slamming noise. And then another one. Echoing. Getting closer.
‘And what would that be?’ I asked.
428 gave me a look. ‘It’s your prison. You should know this. That’s the sound of lots of doors.’
‘Yes. But what’s causing it? 428, you must know!’
‘I’m dying to find out.’
‘Well, I’d rather not.’ As soon as I said it, I realized what a coward I sounded like. Perhaps I was. ‘Listen to me 428 – we’re safe in here. The door’s locked.’
‘Really?’ 428 seemed amused. ‘Whatever it is, it’s probably looking for us. And when whatever it is finds that this door is the only one still locked …’
‘Ah. There must be some way to keep it out.’
428 ignored me for a moment, crouched over against the door. I repeated the question.
‘That’s what I’m trying to do.’ He sounded like his teeth were clenched. ‘And you won’t like it. So, seriously, look away, sir.’
‘Oh, come on, you’ve a hidden key, is that it?’
‘Shut up. We’re too late. Listen. It’s coming …’
The slamming got closer and closer as door after door rattled and then bounded open. Then came three loud bangs against the door of our cell. And then … nothing.
‘It knows we’re in here, 428.’ I whispered.
‘Doctor, please,’ said 428. ‘At times like this it’s nice to hear my name. Helps me think. Could you ask me some obvious questions too? That also helps.’
‘All right … Doctor. It knows we’re in here.’
‘Yes. Tricky,’ admitted 428. ‘And there is literally no way I can keep it out.’
Three more bangs. Huge dents appeared in the cell door. The hinges started to buckle.
‘How …’ I was puzzled. ‘How come the door won’t open? The handle’s on the other side.’
‘Ah yes,’ 428 stood up, looking a little sheepish. ‘But the electron magnet is on this side.’
‘What?’
He pointed to a small metal object on the door handle. ‘I, ah, made it in the craft workshop.’
‘You did what?’
‘It’s saving our lives now, isn’t it
? You’re being a tad ungrateful.’
‘How did you …’
Three more dents and a terrible tearing noise. ‘Now, really?’
‘I’d rather not die curious.’
428 gave me a strange look at that. ‘Fine. I didn’t eat the porridge for breakfast but I kept the spoon. They’re iron. I then removed some wiring from a circuit breaker and the battery from an emergency light and a few other things and hey presto. The fiddly bit was jamming the lock just now. I had to reverse the polarity of … of my spoon.’
‘Right.’ I was a little impressed.
‘I have done this before. Sort of.’ 428 coughed. ‘That’s not the point. It won’t hold up against that for long. What we need is another way out of here. Quickly. Any ideas?’
‘No.’
‘Just, you are the Governor. This is your prison.’
‘It’s trying to kill me at the moment.’
‘Ask it not to?’
‘Do you ever stop being like that?’
‘Oh no, sometimes I’m positively breezy.’ The Doctor leaned back against the cell wall. He looked as tired as I felt.
There came a loud wrenching sound and the door heaved slowly out of its socket, taking much of the asteroid wall with it. And for a few seconds something huge and terrible and all in shadow loomed over us and then …
I shut my eyes at that point. Not because I am a coward but because I was tired. I keep telling you. I was very tired that day. I’d slept lightly. Bad dreams.
The last thing I saw was 428 standing between me and whatever it was on the other side of that door. He looked defiant. Even though his back was to me, I knew he was staring at it.
And it went away.
As in, well, what really happened was that I closed my eyes, getting ready for death. Seeing my life. Everything I’d done wrong. Making my peace. Death did not come. I opened my eyes again. No sign of the creature. Just a shredded metal door rocking on the floor.
428 turned to me, and let out a delighted little puff of air.
‘It went away … you stared at the monster and it went away?’
428 considered the idea and then dismissed it. ‘I’m good, but I don’t think I’m that good.’
‘So, what was it?’
‘Not a clue,’ 428 grinned wickedly. ‘Let’s go and find out.’
We stepped out into the corridor. I was theorising out loud.
‘There’s some kind of alien creature hiding in this Prison? Perhaps it was … travelling on the asteroid?’
‘OK,’ 428 was picking his way gently along the darkened corridor. ‘Good notion. Carry on with that.’
‘Asleep … somewhere … throughout the building of the prison … and now it’s woken up and it’s hungry and we’ve given it a lot of food.’
‘Kind of handy, don’t you think? Oh, I’m sleepy, I’ll just hide in some solid rock. Maybe breakfast will deliver itself. Bring me bacon.’ 428 shook his head, running his hands through his hair.
‘Clara’s nice,’ I said for something to say.
‘Yes, yes she is.’ 428 considered then pulled up in the corridor, looking alarmed. ‘You’ve met her? What’s she doing here?’
‘Mounting a one-woman protest for your release on the landing pad. There are placards.’
‘She’ll win,’ said 428, and, despite myself, I found myself nodding. We smiled. We smiled at each other. For a moment, I wondered if, despite everything, 428 was my friend.
Then we heard the crying. 428 noticed it first – he was already running towards it before I’d even cottoned on. In the shadows, something was moving. It was a figure in a wheelchair, crying.
I knew who it was even before I heard the voice.
‘It doesn’t like me,’ the voice wailed. ‘It came for all the others but it ran away from me.’
428 was crouched down by the pathetic figure. ‘What did? What happened to you? Did it do this to you? Who are you?’
I spoke, my voice shaking. ‘That, 428, is Prisoner 117. Marianne Globus.’
Marianne Globus was the first person to try and escape from the Prison. She made it to the landing pad. She didn’t get further.
‘That’s all you’re going to tell me?’ 428 stared in horror at the creature crying to itself in the wheelchair. ‘Those injuries …’ Then he looked closer. ‘Is that chair made out of …’
‘We customised a Custodian,’ I said and, absurdly, horridly, I giggled. ‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘Sorry. Really.’ Prisoner 428 carried on glaring at me and I knew then how that monster must have felt.
‘We had no choice,’ I continued. ‘Marianne … Her injuries were such …’
‘What injuries? What exactly happened?’
Marianne looked up. When she spoke, her voice was a thin croak. That’s all she had left. ‘It got hot. Then it got cold.’ She shuddered, her movement so restricted she simply flapped around in the chair.
I shook my head and talked softly, patting her hand. ‘You did ever so well, Marianne,’ I said gently.
‘I escaped,’ she said. ‘Did I escape?’
‘Yes, yes, of course. You’re free now.’
‘Am I?’ The head moved around blindly and managed an awful smile. ‘I guess I am. I like your voice. Are you my friend?’
‘Of course I am,’ I said softly. ‘Always.’
‘Good.’ The head jerked at Prisoner 428. ‘Beware of friends!’ she snapped, suddenly alert and fierce. ‘They betray you. They always let you down.’
Prisoner 428 stared at me. ‘What happened?’
Marianne Globus was the first person to try and escape from the Prison. She made it to the landing pad. She didn’t get further.
We made our way along the corridor, 428 pushing Marianne’s chair. He didn’t need to. It was gliding by itself. 428 was simply using it as a way of ignoring me. ‘So, Marianne,’ he said, ‘the power to your chair is still working. But not to the lights or to the other Custodians.’
‘Who are now missing,’ I said.
‘Shut up,’ said 428.
‘Don’t tell me to—’
‘Shut up,’ 428 repeated.
We moved on slowly in silence.
Marianne started to sing a song. Her broken voice echoed along the empty corridor.
‘Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high …’
She paused, her voice having long ago left the notes behind.
‘Like a diamond.’ She giggled and then started to cry again. 428 patted her, smoothing down what remained of her hair, and she drifted off into sleep.
Marianne Globus was the first person to try and escape from the Prison. She made it to the landing pad. She didn’t get further.
‘Fine,’ my voice was heavy. ‘Prisoner 117 made it to the landing pad. She waited for a shuttle to come. We didn’t notice she’d gone. When we don’t turn the lights on, it gets very cold out there. There are two places to wait on the landing pad where you won’t be seen on the cameras. She picked the wrong one. The one where the shuttle engines are vented when they come in to land.’
428 carried on stroking Marianne, who whimpered in her sleep as though she was remembering.
‘And …’ My voice cracked, ‘We didn’t find her then. We didn’t find her till a long time afterwards. After we’d turned off the lights and it had got cold. Very cold. We did what we could …’
We finished our circuit of Level 6. There were no prisoners. No Custodians. No monster. Just Marianne. Whatever it was had gone. We reached the lift. 428 held his spoon up. It made a noise.
‘Pretty noise!’ cooed Marianne in her slumber.
‘Yes it is,’ said 428. ‘It’s a sonic spoon. I’m going to use it to access this hatch and try and get some reserve power into the lift.’ The hatch fell off, and 428 reached inside. With a shudder the lifts opened.
428 pushed Marianne into the lift.
‘Are we going on a ride?’ she asked.
&n
bsp; ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘We’re going to get you to a doctor.’
‘A doctor?’ she giggled. ‘I like the sound of a doctor.’
‘So do I,’ agreed 428.
428 and Marianne stood in the lift. I paused on the threshold. Behind me, the empty Level 6 whispered to itself. The air felt foetid. A light flickered. Then another.
I wasn’t invited, but I stepped into the lift anyway. The doors shut. We rode up.
‘We did our best,’ I said. ‘But lying out there for so long in so much pain … We just … keep her … as sedated as we can.’
‘You clearly do that.’
‘He’s my friend,’ Marianne told 428 excitedly.
‘Shut up!’ I heard myself snap at her. ‘I did my best for you, I really did.’
‘Yes,’ 428 murmured into where her ear should have been. ‘Only some people’s best really isn’t very good, is it?’
We took the rest of the ride in silence.
The doors opened. Bentley was waiting with Guardians and Custodians.
‘Governor!’ she said with some surprise, ‘You’re all right. What happened?’
428 started to speak, but Bentley felled him with a blow and he sank down winded.
‘I … I …’ Funny when you sometimes hear your own voice and you think ‘Do I really sound like that? How can people bear to hear that?’ I could see people watching me. I was faltering, weak. I knew I mustn’t show weakness – especially not in front of Bentley. I didn’t deserve anyone’s pity. Instead I pulled myself sharply together. The voice I heard myself speaking in now was a proper voice. A strong voice. A commanding voice. A Governor’s voice.
‘I reached Level 6. The power outages had opened all the doors. When I got there, I found 428 but no other prisoners. The only other witness or survivor is 117. I recommend she be placed in protective custody until she is well enough to speak. If necessary, withdraw pain medication if that helps her become lucid.’
I heard 428’s breathless protest, but one of Bentley’s guardians hit him again, so I continued.