by Yajat Sharma
“Good question,” Lynx remarked. “Fortunately, I am aware of the entire process of supplies at the Brentinute. Supplies are through trucks. But each truck is thoroughly checked before it enters. They have the same, but very effective, drill for years.”
“This is our only ticket into the Brentinute,” James said in an excited voice. “I am sure of it.”
Lynx seemed to agree with him. He asked, “You are right, but the question is how. We just need to figure out how to use the truck to go inside.”
“We can’t capture any truck by force,” James said. “I have a plan. One of us can get inside the last truck in the line and knock the driver senseless, wear the driver’s clothes and get inside the Brentinute, unsuspected. Bingo!”
There was silence for a while. Then all started cheering and thumping James’s back.
“We did it!” Daniel cried.
“Not yet, we didn’t,” Lynx said, ending the celebration quickly. “We still need to decide what to do inside the Brentinute.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” The Scavenger rubbed his hands. “First tell me, Lynx. Do you have the details of the Brentinute? I mean, all the things inside it, every minute detail?”
Lynx nodded. “Obviously. I have scrolls and books having everything you need. Even information and details about the remotest and hidden areas.”
The Scavenger smiled. “Well, then, gentlemen, not to worry. I think I have a plan.”
“You have a plan?” James asked. He looked around. “Okay, I think we should start worrying.”
15
The Scavenger hung from the tree branch at the boundary of the town where the Brentinute was, swinging from it slowly. He was dressed in light armour. He needed to be light if he needed to run. He gripped the branch tighter as the sound of rumbling approached his ears. The trucks were nearing.
He went over the hastily made plan again, then prepared himself for what he was about to do.
The first of the trucks approached him. The Scavenger watched as the trucks passed over one by one.
The Scavenger started swinging himself as he noticed the last of the trucks in the distance. He gained momentum faster and faster. The last of the trucks approached nearer. The Scavenger had to get the timing right. He swung faster. Faster.
The truck got nearer. Nearer.
The Scavenger let go.
He flew through the air towards the truck’s side. For a split second, he thought he had miscalculated the distance. Fear overwhelmed him, but a second later, his feet struck the driver’s window and he smashed through into the truck.
Glass rained down inside and the driver glanced around in surprise. The Scavenger didn’t attack immediately. He had to wait for the driver to say something. The Scavenger needed to learn how the driver’s voice sounded.
“What the -” The guard couldn’t complete his sentence. The Scavenger’s punch rendered him unconscious in his seat.
The Scavenger quickly threw the driver to the seat on the side, and took control of the wheel. Then he waited for the right moment. There came a sharp right turn, and the entire convoy of trucks slowly started turning right. The Scavenger slowed his truck and waited for the truck in front to turn right.
As soon as it did, the Scavenger halted his truck. In a jiffy, he put on the driver’s clothes. The driver was completely unconscious.
The Scavenger threw the driver out of the left side window into the thick bushes and started the truck. As the Scavenger turned his truck right, his breath froze. The truck ahead of him had stopped. Its driver had come out and was waving for the Scavenger to stop. The Scavenger had no other option than to stop his truck.
The driver called out to the Scavenger. “You all right, Bones? Why did you stop at the turn? What happened?”
The Scavenger covered his face with a scarf and tried to remember the voice of the driver he had hit – Bones – and mimicked his voice perfectly. “I am okay. Don’t worry. The window glass cracked suddenly. I think it was an animal or something.”
“Yeah, well, take care. You sure you’re fine?”
“Sure as the sky,” the Scavenger said, trying to reassure the driver. “Let’s continue.”
The driver went back to his truck and recommenced his journey.
The Scavenger sighed in relief as he started his truck. The entrance to the Brentinute was very near, and the convoy had slowed down.
The Scavenger waited for things to proceed father.
The chief guard, Elvir, was relaxed at the sight of the last truck. The dreary work was almost over.
His men, who were all around, scurried to the truck and the driver jumped out. Bones. Elvir hated Bones. He didn’t know why, but everything about Bones seemed hateful. Bones was rude, careless and lazy.
“Hello, Bones,” Elvir called.
Bones turned towards him and approached him. He somehow looked different and seemed gentler.
“Hello, Chief.” Bones saluted him.
Elvir’s brows furrowed. In a typical day, Bones would refer to him as just ‘Elvir’ and would snap at him.
“How’s it going?” Elvir asked him. “Your scarf is impressive. Your ugly face looks better with it.” Elvir laughed sarcastically.
Bones shrugged. “Thanks for the compliments, Chief.”
“Oh.” Elvir was becoming suspicious. Bones’ manner had changed completely. He was usually snappy and irritated, but now he was gentle and seemed happy.
“Have you had any medication, Bones?” Elvir asked.
“No, not at all,” Bones said. “What makes you think so?”
Meanwhile, the guards signalled green after checking the truck and finding nothing suspicious.
“Just get the hell out of here,” Elvir rebuked Bones as he signalled his men to allow the truck to pass through the gates.
The Scavenger felt like screaming with joy, but he held on to his emotions. He slowly drove the truck inside the Brentinute as the gates closed behind him.
The Scavenger sighed with relief as he pulled over his truck to the side, where other trucks were getting unloaded. A few people approached his truck and started unloading.
Thoughts were running fast in his mind. The first stage of his plan was complete. Now for the second stage – to disable the traps and the security cameras from the control room.
He looked to his right and saw a paved cemented path leading to a wall that took up the whole area horizontally. There were a lot of doors built into it.
The Scavenger had minutely planned the details with Lynx. He counted the third door from the right. It led to the laboratory and then, from there, the Scavenger would approach the control centre.
He started walking at a fast pace towards the door and slowly sneaked inside the laboratory.
The Scavenger recalled that Lynx had told him that the drivers were not allowed inside the laboratory. He quickly tore off his uniform and threw it to the side. Hopefully, the shadows of the wall would hide it.
The Scavenger had exactly one hour to pull off the plan. The unloading would be over by then, and the trucks had to move out of Brentinute.
The Scavenger waited for the door to open and someone to step out. He needed to get a uniform of the scientists.
He didn’t have to wait long. The door opened. A scientist in an overly long white coat and a cap on top of his head walked out. He was so engrossed in reading something on a pad that he didn’t notice the Scavenger stepping forward. The Scavenger knocked him out with a quick punch and dragged him behind a dustbin on the side path.
He quickly changed into the scientist’s uniform and took a deep breath. There was no going back once he opened the door. He would need to use stealth and speed.
He opened the door and stepped into a room that was like a greenhouse. The ceiling was about a hundred metres above him and was covered with glass panes.
There were strange structures put up against the walls on both sides. There were stranger things around, like a sword emitting brig
ht light, a flexible pipe, a biting cloud and more.
There were tables stacked up against the wall, displaying glasses and tubes. There was also a whole section dedicated to Oculuses.
People in lab coats were milling all around, checking things from time to time and writing things on notepads. They were all engrossed with their tasks and paid no attention to each other.
The Scavenger tore his gaze away from what was happening around him and started walking. The clock was ticking. His eyes were frantically looking for the staircase that Lynx had told him about. He finally noticed the staircase at the far side of the room.
He moved quickly up the stairs to reach the control centre on the fourth floor.
Lynx had already briefed him that no one was allowed in the control centre, except the highest ranked people, like the Commanders, the Captains, the Master Leaders, etc. The control centre was heavily guarded, with about fifty guards or more. The centre was just the size of a big space capsule, about fifty feet wide.
The only way to disable the security measures was to sabotage the control panel. Lynx had given the Scavenger a small circular device called a Jammer and had instructed the Scavenger to replace the original Jammer on the control panel. Their Jammer would jam the electric signals and would disable the traps. The Jammer wouldn’t disable the security cameras. Instead, their fake Jammer would make the cameras malfunction, and the cameras would show the same corridor and place, and would not refresh the images.
The Scavenger took a deep breath, opened the door and stepped inside the control centre. The control panel had a complex array of buttons, levers and handles. There was also a telephone right in the centre of the panel.
There were four chairs in front of the panel, occupied by men in black coats. They turned as the door clicked.
As soon as the Scavenger stepped inside, the guards all around raised their weapons straight at him.
The Scavenger held up his hands. “Wow, wow, easy there.”
“Who are you?” one of the guards standing at the front asked. The guard instructed someone, “Sound the intruder alert.”
“Wait, wait, wait, listen to me!” the Scavenger said. “I am a mechanic!”
“The who?” another man with a sash – the Commander – asked.
“The mechanic!” The Scavenger pointed at the control panel. “To fix the broken Jammer. Remember?”
“We have no broken Jammer here,” the Commander said.
“Of course you have,” the Scavenger said. “I was sent here by Grim himself. He told me you have a faulty Jammer here.”
“It’s working completely fine,” the Commander said.
“No, it isn’t,” the Scavenger said. “It has a cut wire inside it. It can blow any second.”
“You are lying,” the Commander said flatly. “Jerry, sound the alert.”
“No, wait! I can show it to you. I can call Grim on that telephone,” the Scavenger said, looking at his watch subtly. Just thirty seconds left until Lynx followed up with his part of the plan. Thirty seconds until the phone rang.
“No, you can’t.” The Commander said. “We aren’t allowed to.”
Twenty-five seconds. “Then I can pull off the Jammer and show you the circuitry inside. Is that fine?”
The Commander paused. “All right, go ahead.”
The Scavenger put his hand on top of the Jammer and prepared to pull it off. He looked at the watch again. The time was up. Why hadn’t Lynx followed with his part of the plan?
Drops of sweat appeared on the Scavenger’s brow. He couldn’t stop now. The guards would become suspicious.
He pulled the Jammer off.
At the same time, the phone rang.
Every head in the room turned to see the telephone that had rung unexpectedly. The Scavenger jerked his head slightly. A small but sharp knife hanging from a string from his neck fell down, and cut the wire. The Scavenger retracted his head and the string along with the knife flew back, again nestling safe against the Scavenger’s shirt collar.
Only a few seconds had passed when the guards had taken their eyes off from the Scavenger to look at the telephone. Before they looked back again at the Scavenger, the Scavenger had already cut the wires.
“Who called?” the lead guard asked one of the men sitting on the chairs. The man shrugged. “Unknown. Who knows?” But, the Scavenger knew it was Lynx. Everything had gone as per plan.
The Scavenger wore an innocent expression on his face and pointed at the wires. “See? Here is the wire.”
The lead guard stepped forward and examined it.
“All right, all right,” the guard mumbled. “Now fix it quickly.”
“I would need an extra wire,” the Scavenger said, looking at the guard pointedly. “As well as a large amount of circuitry along with few advanced mechanical devices.”
“Aren’t these the things you should have brought along with you?” the guard said.
“Well, I had, but the guards at the gate took them away, saying it was for security purposes.” The Scavenger raised his hand. “But don’t worry. I knew this would happen, that’s why I brought with me a spare Jammer.” He pulled out the fake Jammer and put it on top of the circular hole. It fit perfectly. There was a flicker on the screen, but no one noticed it.
The Scavenger turned and said, “My job is done. The Jammer is working fine now.”
The lead guard motioned with his head towards the door. “Just get out of here.”
The Scavenger saluted him and then walked casually out of the door. He cast another glance at his watch and saw that he had exactly thirty minutes to execute the final phase of the plan and get out of the Brentinute.
To rescue Aronicle, the Scavenger had to get into the prison centre, for which the fingerprints of an authorized person were required.
He already had discussed a separate plan with Lynx to enter the prison centre. Apart from authorized persons, only some workers who offered water, etc., to guards and scientists were allowed into the prison centre. The Scavenger saw two workers standing together in the vicinity, holding plastic water bottles and trays with glasses.
“Do you need anything?” one of the workers asked.
The Scavenger walked silently towards the workers. With a sudden move, he hit both the workers on the neck with his fingers. He snatched the tray from one of them before both the workers fell unconscious. The Scavenger dragged and hid them in a nearby alley. He wore one of the worker’s clothes and also took the other worker’s clothes. Then, he picked up the bottles of water from the ground and started walking towards the prison centre. While approaching the prison centre, he took out sleeping pills from his pocket and poured them in the bottles placed on the tray.
“Easy, Leo,” someone said. “I am thirstier. I am getting it first.”
“No way, Andrew, I am too thirsty to allow you to drink first,” Leo said.
“Oh, please,” someone else said. “I have been standing here for hours! I need water.”
“No, you don’t, Mel,” Leo shot back. “I was the one to call the worker. I make the first move to drink the water.”
“Easy there, folks,” the Scavenger interrupted. “There’s water for everyone.” He handed a bottle to Andrew first.
Andrew gulped, and Leo glared at him. “You useless piece of garbage!”
The Scavenger passed the other bottle to Leo, who instantly grabbed it. .
Mel picked up a bottle from the Scavenger’s tray and emptied it in one glug.
“So... are your duties too hectic?” the Scavenger asked.
Mel glared at him. “Why do you want to know that?”
“Oh, it’s just that I’m a new guy and I’m on trial. I see you guys standing for long hours in duties. Impressive,” the Scavenger chirped.
Mel bloated with the unexpected compliment. He was oblivious of the fact that the Scavenger was just waiting for the pill to do its job.
“When did you join... um, I mean... um, guys... I don’t feel g
ood.”
A second later, Mel’s eyes closed and he fell on the ground. He was followed by the others almost immediately.
The Scavenger smiled, but his happiness was short-lived. On checking his watch, he discovered that he was in a race against time. He needed to get Aronicle out of the Brentinute somehow within the next twenty minutes.
The Scavenger dragged Mel to the door and placed his index finger on the fingerprint scanner at the entrance door of the prison centre. There was a beep from the door, and the door swung open.
The Scavenger threw Mel away and quickly slipped inside the door, closing it from behind. He was in a massive hall. There was a single man inside it, chained to a chair, his head facing the ground.
The Scavenger held his breath and ran towards the man. He reached him and shouted. “Aronicle?”
Aronicle lifted his head, and the Scavenger sighed, happy to observe that he was alive. Aronicle’s face lit up. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Probably, his emotions had overwhelmed him.
“Thank you,” Aronicle managed to croak out.
“You can thank me a ton when I get you out of this,” the Scavenger said. He took out a curved knife and cut the chains.
“Come quick. We need to get out of here before the guards gain consciousness,” the Scavenger said. “Time is running out. Dress in this.” The Scavenger handed him the spare set of worker’s clothes.
Aronicle wore the clothes over his prison uniform, and both of them barged out.
“First floor,” the Scavenger told Aronicle. “Exit the lab; then go outside. Then into the truck. Fast.”
They walked one floor above and entered into the bustle of the lab. Both of them acted as if they belonged there. The Scavenger stopped from time to time, pausing to examine equipment, and Aronicle followed his example. Even though his brain told him not to waste time, the Scavenger knew that he couldn’t appear suspicious. He had come so far. He couldn’t mess up now.
A glance at his watch told him he had less than ten minutes to accomplish his plan. He forced himself not to quicken his pace.