Once the dormitories were complete Governor Lind had increased the number of guards outside the spaceships. Everyone knew they would be leaving soon and there had been a couple of attempts by other prisoners to board. Today when she went to scout them she saw that they were heavily guarded. There was no way she could sneak on now, not without help.
* * *
The stage had been left up and once again Governor Lind, Judge Jym, Flight Director Royd and the captains of the spaceships stood on it. Governor Lind and Judge Jym looked happy, Royd seemed anxious, and the captains kept looking at their watches.
“It’s been a long time since the last time I spoke with you and so much has happened since then,” Governor Lind began. “We are well on our way to becoming a great society. We have our village, our crops, and many of our laws. I want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make this all possible. Plus I want to thank the captains for their patience while we made sure that we were set up for success before letting them leave.”
This time Gwin was close to the front of the stage and watching Royd. If he saw her he didn’t acknowledge it. He kept his eyes on Governor Lind as if mesmerized by her words. Gwin ignored the speech, concentrating on her mission. She was only waiting for the final words so she could confront Royd when he came off the stage.
“Now before we go further,” Governor Lind looked at Judge Jym who nodded. She smiled at the assembly. “I have a special ceremony to perform, the first wedding on our planet.”
Judge Jym stepped forward and held out his hand to Tame who was mounting the steps. They turned together and faced the governor. She opened a book and began to read the wedding ceremony. At the end she pronounced them husband and wife. The crowd clapped.
“One last announcement before you can return to your dormitories,” Governor Lind said when silence had settled again. “The Association for the Ethical Treatment of Prisoners informed your families of your trip and encouraged them to write each of you a metal note. During the voyage they were sorted into alphabetical order. Go and line up at the dormitory that has the first letter of your name posted at the doorway and you will receive any that were sent to you.”
There was a whoop and then a mass stampede as the prisoners pushed to get away from the meadow and through the trees to their dormitories. Some stumbled and fell and were ignored or tread on.
“Take your time!” Governor Lind yelled into the microphone. “Help those people up! Don’t walk on them!”
None of the prisoners listened. When the mob thinned out there were bodies lying on the grass some writhing in pain, some quiet.
“Get the doctors to look after them,” Governor Lind said to the police officers who had run out of the way of the pressing crowd.
* * *
The group on the podium filed off. At the bottom a hand grabbed Royd’s arm.
“Why did you do it?” Gwin asked in a quiet voice.
Royd shook the hand off and walked towards the Nostra. A few more minutes and he would be aboard.
“Why did you do it?” Gwin asked again, following him.
“Do what?”
“You know what. Frame me for murder.”
“I didn’t.”
“You were part of it and now you have to take me back with you so I can clear my name.”
“I don’t think so.”
“You can’t leave me here. I thought we were friends.”
“Friends can always be bought,” Thanis said, coming up beside them.
Gwin looked at him. “Who are you? Were you part of it, too?”
Thanis ignored her questions.
Royd quickened his pace but Gwin kept up. Suddenly Thanis stopped and looked into the bush. Royd carried on.
“I think you’d better look at this,” Thanis said, pointing to something in the trees.
“I don’t have time,” Royd said.
“It’s important.”
Royd sighed and walked back to him. As far as he was concerned there was nothing that important. When he reached the edge of the trees he saw that Thanis was pointing to a trance gun.
“What’s that doing here?” Royd was surprised. They belonged to the guards and none had been allowed off the ships unless in the hands of a guard.
“Well, actually, I put it here,” Thanis said as he picked it up.
“You put it here?” Royd asked, confused.
“Yes.” He was now pointing it a Royd.
“Why?”
“It’s to make sure that you don’t get back on the ship.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you are staying here on the planet,” Thanis smirked.
“You can’t leave me here!” Royd said, suddenly angry.
“Yes, I can.”
“Zudo won’t like it.”
“It was Zudo’s idea.”
“His idea?”
“Well, actually we discussed killing you, but decided leaving you here would be more of a torture.”
“But we had a deal.”
“Sometimes deals don’t work out.”
“I’ve got money,” Royd said, suddenly desperate. “I’ll give you what I’ve got in my account on Lodigan.”
Thanis laughed. “What makes you think there’s any money in it?”
“Because Zudo said….” Royd stopped. He saw his future disappearing.
“Now you’re catching on.”
“But why are you doing this?”
“Zudo’s instructions.”
“You don’t have to follow them.”
“I’m not really. He said I was supposed to make sure you didn’t get on the return flight, but he didn’t say how to stop you.” Thanis held the gun and pulled the trigger. “This is my idea.”
Royd felt a jolt that knocked the legs out from under him. He lay on the ground unable to do anything although he knew what was going on around him. He watched as Gwin grabbed at Thanis’ arm.
“Take me with you,” she pleaded.
Thanis pointed the gun at her and she backed off. “I’m afraid you are stuck here with your friend.” He laughed as he went over to the Nostra and climbed aboard.
Royd helplessly watched the Nostra join the other spaceships as they lifted off, leaving him on the colony planet.
It was a while before he was able to sit up then work his way into a standing position. He wasn’t fully recovered from his trance gun attack as he stumbled to Government House. He found the governor just opening the door to enter.
He grabbed her arm. “You have to call the Nostra captain and make the ship turn around.”
She shook off his hand and stared at him in surprise. “What are you still doing on the planet? How did the Nostra manage to take off without you?”
In his anger and desperation he hadn’t taken time to make up a plausible reason and he stood glaring at her. Gwin, who had followed him, quickly told the governor her story and the fact that his fellow conspirators had betrayed him.
“Is this true?” Governor Lind asked.
“No, it’s not true,” he’d blustered.
“Then what is the truth?”
Again, he was without an answer and Governor Lind dismissed him. “You can find an empty bed or hammock in the prison dormitories,” she said with distain.
“Just let me take the Federer to Pidleon to catch the returning fleet,” he begged, seizing her arm again.
Pulling her arm free, she’d called in two police officers to escort him and Gwin away. He headed to the Federer, Gwin at his side, but couldn’t convince the captain that he had approval to take the spaceship.
* * *
Georg’s hands shook as he held his metal note and reread it. He wiped away the tear that rolled down his cheek. Around him he could hear sniffling and he knew other prisoners were wiping their eyes, too.
My Dear Georg,
By now you will be on the other planet. I am so sorry that your life has turned out this way. I hope you will be happy there and that life won’t be t
oo hard. I’ve got a job that pays enough to live on. They say that you and Jawn could be back here in ten years. I’ll be waiting for you.
There isn’t much more for me to say except I really miss you. Look after your brother so you both come back safely.
Love, Mom
With a sigh Georg put the note in his pocket. If he behaved himself he would be seeing his mother in ten years. How much would they both have changed by then? What would they have to talk about? And what would he do there? He’d be too old to work at much so he’d probably have to live off of her. Not a happy thought for either of them.
Maybe by the time his sentence was over he’d be considering this his home. So far he liked the place. It felt good to be able to spend the day out in the moderate sun and not have to worry about covering up. He liked watching the clouds that formed and then skittered away. He liked going to the river for a fresh drink of water. He liked the natural life here. He wasn’t sure if he could go back to the structured, artificial life he’d grown up in.
* * *
When she was sure that Royd couldn’t leave the planet, Gwin hurried to her dormitory to read her notes. She opened her mother’s first and was relieved to learn that she thought Gwin was innocent, as did Mikk and Britt. But that knowledge also strengthened her resolve to return and prove it, not only to them, but to the courts and the Space Organization. And her means of doing that sat in the meadow.
The Federer would take her home if she could think of a way to get past the guards posted around it. Once on board she could fly it as soon as she took possession of the command room. But how would she make the crew listen to her? They were under orders to stay for the year and nothing short of taking a hostage would make them disobey their orders. And she had no means of taking a hostage.
She’d have to keep an eye on Royd. She knew he wanted what she did, but she also knew he wouldn’t voluntarily take her with him. If she could keep up with him and see what he was doing maybe when he made his move she’d be ready to take advantage of it. It was either that or wait the year and try to board before the Federer left.
Gwin paced between the beds in her dormitory. She wanted to go back now. She missed her mother, Britt, and most of all, Mikk. She loved him so much and wanted to carry out their plans for marriage and children. She’d decided that once they were married she’d apply to cut back on her trips for the Space Organization. That way she’d be home more often to spend time with Mikk and raise her children. But she had to get back in order to do all that.
Chapter Eight
Much to Royd’s disbelief, he hadn’t been allowed to live on the Federer or in the scientists’ quarters. He spent his days wandering the village in anger and his nights in the one of the dormitories.
Half of the prison guards had returned home, leaving the other half to guard the Federer from any attempted hijacking by the prisoners. But that didn’t stop him from planning his escape from not only from the planet but from Gwin. She’d taken to following him wherever he went. In fact, he knew she was behind him right now as he walked down the street towards the government house.
Something overhead caught his eye. He shielded his eyes from the sun and squinted upwards. It was a spaceship. He could hear shouting around him as others saw it, too. The ship swooped low over the village then turned and made another pass.
“What do you think it is?” Gwin asked coming up behind him.
“My guess is space pirates.” Royd said as he hurried down the street.
“Where are you going?” Gwin kept up with him.
“I want to see where they land.”
They reached Government Avenue where they found the governor standing in front of the building watching the ship as it hovered above the large open area beside Government House. Police officers rushed to the site ahead of the prisoners who swarmed along the streets, their eyes on the ship. The governor gestured to the police to keep the crowd back.
“I didn’t think they came out this far,” Gwin said as she and Royd pushed to the front. “I wonder what they want.”
“What does any pirate want?”
“Well, they’re not going to find it here,” Gwin snorted.
The ship was small enough to land next to Government House. Police Chief Curt quickly summoned the nearest police officers to stand in a line in front of the ship their stun guns ready. They watched as its guns rotated until they faced the crowd of prisoners. Its door slowly opened and five aliens came down the steps, high-powered trance guns in their hands. They were dressed in the red and blue suits that space pirates had taken as their trademark. Once they had formed a line facing the police officers, a sixth stepped down behind them.
He looked at the governor, the police officers, and the throng of prisoners behind them. There was a hush as everyone strained to hear.
“Who is in charge?” he demanded.
“I am Governor Lind,” she said stepping forward. “Who are you?”
“Governor of what?” he asked ignoring her question.
“Governor of this planet.”
“What is this?” He swept his arm to include the whole village.
“We are trying to establish a new colony here. Who are you?” she asked again.
“He’s a space pirate,” Gwin called.
There was some laughter as someone yelled. “What do you think you’re going to loot from here?”
The pirate seemed uncertain as to what to do. “Bring me your valuables or I’ll start shooting,” he said to Governor Lind.
“Do you want food or seeds or animals?”
“Don’t try to be funny,” he said angrily.
“I’m not,” she replied quietly. “We are a penal colony and we have nothing of value.”
Royd stepped through the police line. “I am Flight Director Royd.”
The pirate merely stared at him.
“If you take me to Pidleon, I’ll give you money.”
“How much money?”
“Enough to make it worth your time.” Royd didn’t expect to have any in his account on Pidleon but maybe with the pirates’ help he could scare Zudo into giving him what he owed him.
Before one of them could answer someone called from the crowd. “Take me with you instead. I’d make a good pirate.”
“Me too,” another hollered.
Immediately, the whole crowd pushed forward waving their arms and yelling that they wanted to be taken off the planet by the pirates. The police tried to restrain them while the pirates warily waved their guns. The crowd could not be stopped and the pirates inside the ship opened fire, their guns sending bullets into the throng. The momentum of the prisoners in the back kept the ones in front moving forward. The shooting continued until the rear ones halted. Dozens of bodies lay on the ground. Some were even standing on them.
Governor Lind yelled at Curt to tell his police officer to hold return fire. When it was quiet she faced the leader of the pirates.
“We have nothing here for you.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Then take a look around. The buildings are crude and the people are former prisoners with no money. All we have is what you see.”
Royd didn’t care about the conversation going on between Governor Lind and the space pirate leader. He raised his hands in the air and walked slowly towards him. “Let me go with you,” he said trying not to sound as desperate as he felt.
One of the pirates pointed his trance gun at Royd. Royd stopped walking. “I promise all I have will be yours if you take me.”
The six pirates stood for a few seconds watching the mass of prisoners begin to move towards them again in spite of the previous shooting. Then, on the signal from the leader, they bounded up the stairs and pulled the door closed.
“Wait,” Royd ran after them. He was knocked to the ground by the force of the engines that launched the pirate ship into the air.
Royd lay for a few minutes before slowly climbing to his feet. It would have been a perfect o
pportunity. He could have told them his story and they would have helped him get his money from Zudo. Then he’d have given them a share and headed home on any flight that was going there.
He’d just have to figure out how to get past the guards surrounding the Federer.
* * *
“There’s some guys who want me to help them take over the spaceship and fly it away from here,” Marc said one morning as he and Georg were using hoes to break up the furrows made by the plow. The harrows didn’t break up the large pieces of ground very well. Once they were chopped up, though, the harrows worked fine.
“Do you know anything about operating one of them?” Georg asked.
“Nope, but they want as many as possible so that we can overpower the guards and take away their trance guns.”
“I don’t think you’ll be able to get that close.”
“They’ve been watching the guard’s routine and they usually enter the ship at dusk and come out at sunrise. If we wait for them when they come out in the morning we can do it.”
“Then what?”
“Then we force the crew to take us away from here.”
“Sounds as if you’ve made up your mind to go,” Georg said.
“I’m thinking seriously about it.”
“Where do you plan on heading?”
“We’ll decide that once we’re off here.”
“There has already been a few attempts,” Georg said thinking of the prisoners who were now in the cells behind the police station.
“I know, but they just rushed the guards during the day and were hit by the guns.”
“There are lots of other prisoners with the same idea.” Georg hacked at a lump of soil with the edge of his hoe. “You may have to wait in line for your chance.”
“None of them has developed the perfect plan like we have.”
“When are you going to try it?”
“As soon as we can get more to join us.”
“I wouldn’t think that would be a problem.”
Betrayed (Cry of the Guilty – Silence of the Innocent Book 2) Page 7