The Lost Princess

by Richard Dee

  She had been so busy; I couldn’t wait to see her, to thank her. Hanford continued.

  “Once that lie was uncovered, it was only a matter of time. His friends, seeing which way the wind was blowing, stepped away, refused to help or cover for him anymore. He was looking for any sort of mitigation, and the only way he could get traction for leniency was by admitting that Gaynor was right, that he had used his influence to set you up as retaliation for the raid on his club.”

  “So what happened to him?”

  “He’s been deported back to Dalyster. The word is that the government are very disappointed with him. I think it’s safe to say that he won’t be around again.”

  “When do I go back to the planet?”

  “I wanted to take you now. Unfortunately, that’s not possible, there’s paperwork that has to be ratified. You’re to be released on the next shuttle, it’s a week from now but you’ll be moved from your cell to the non-secure area until then. I’ve left clothes and some other things for you with the governor.”

  I shook his hand, revelling in the contact. “Thank you,” I kept saying; until he blushed.

  I was taken from my cell to a room that would not have been out of place in a hotel. As I walked out for the last time, I saw that the number had gone. It felt symbolic.

  Life in my new room was luxurious, the food was better, probably the same as the guards ate. There were ports and I could see the planet below me, my excitement built as the days passed. As well as the room, there was a lounge, where the food was served by a row of machines. There was no video news feed but a few ancient magazines scattered around made me remember my old life. I scanned them; they were not what I had been writing, no celebrity gossip, just new cars and boats, with a bit about space travel.

  By the time the shuttle arrived, there were four of us waiting for the trip. I had been alone for the first two days, which suited me. I was starting to relax and accept the fact that I would soon be free. Then I was joined by a large, bearded man, which made me want to go into my own room and hide.

  “Hi,” he said, when I had to come out for food, “are you OK?”

  “I’ve been in solitary for a year, I’m still a bit nervous around people,” I replied.

  “Sure.” He shook my hand. “I can relate to that, I’m Carl Travis.”

  I shook warily. “Miles Goram,” I said.

  To my alarm, he grabbed me and hugged me. “You’re my saviour,” he said, “the reason I’m getting out of here. I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “Steady,” I said, wriggling free. “I don’t have a clue what you’re on about.”

  He looked puzzled for a moment. “Of course, the solitary thing. Well, I’m here because of the Delegate from Dalyster, just like you were. He says that I stole from him, but it was a set-up. Now that you’ve got him imprisoned, they’ve looked at his past, decided I was innocent. So I’m a free man, I owe you.”

  It was nice to know that I had been useful.

  Then another man arrived, which was another surprise. It turned out that I had lived next to him but we had never spoken. “Hi,” he said. “I’m Janos Vik, I was in solitary.”

  Carl introduced himself and Vik explained that he was a political prisoner. Carl looked decidedly unimpressed. “I’ve learned not to talk politics in here,” he said, “it’s a sure way of getting your throat cut.”

  Larvik gave him a look of disbelief. “We should all be political,” he said, “the establishment wants us all to be apathetic, it suits their agenda.”

  I agreed with him but said nothing. Carl shrugged. “Whatever. Maybe in the real world, it’s different in the cells. There’s a lot of violence, the guards leave us to it, just collect the bodies every now and then. You soon learn, say what you want, as long as you can back it up with your fists. I just kept my head down, made myself invisible.”

  “Good advice,” I said, “with only a few days to go, worth taking.”

  “Works for me,” Vik said. “I’ll keep quiet. It won’t be hard; I’m not used to seeing anyone. I expect everyone’s moved on from what I was arrested for anyway.”

  “Can I give you a word of warning?” said Carl. “You need to know; there’s another prisoner being released with us, his name is Kelvin. Be careful around him, he’s not a nice person.”

  Kelvin arrived next morning, skinny and looking undernourished, he had a furtive gaze and scars all over his face and arms. He was a bit wary of Carl. I sensed animosity, maybe some unfinished business, as they nodded and said hi.

  “What about you?” he said. “I don’t recognise the name.”

  “I nearly caused a war,” I said simply.

  “Respect!” Kelvin slapped me on the back. “Hey Carl, what was it about this man?”

  “The Delegate, Mattias,” Carl said. “He was stitched up, just like me by that bastard.”

  “Another one,” Kelvin replied. “He deserved all he got.”

  Vik appeared and the mood changed. Kelvin saw him. “You!” he shouted and grabbed Vik around the throat, wrestling him to the ground.

  “Oh crap,” said Carl. “That must be the man who Kelvin was on about every day, he blames him for everything. He’s no political, he was in solitary for his own safety.”

  “Are you just going to let them kill each other then?”

  “Don’t get involved, rule one,” Carl replied.

  I couldn’t do that. “If we don’t stop it, we’re never getting out of here,” I said and waded in. I managed to separate them. Carl must have seen the truth in what I had said and helped out. We ended up with me holding Vik and he had Kelvin pinned against the bulkhead.

  “Listen,” I said, “I don’t care if you want to kill each other, but you’re not stopping me getting out of this hole.”

  Carl joined in. “Likewise, save it till we’re on the ground.”

  “OK,” said Vik. Kelvin nodded and we let them go. “Keep out of each other’s way,” I said.

  There was silence. The look I got from Kelvin suggested that this wasn’t over.

  “That wasn’t very clever,” Carl said when we were alone, later. “Releasing them both at the same time. Now we’re stuck, watching our backs, just as likely they’ll gang up on us.”

  “Surely they’re not that stupid, they’ll never get out.”

  “Kelvin’s a career criminal. It’s all part of life for him, he won’t care. Don’t worry, I’ve got your back, nobody’s stopping me going home.”

  * * *

  The shuttle looked like the same one that had brought me up, the Balcom logo was even more faded than last time. Overall, it felt even older and more decrepit. There were no guards, who cared? We were no longer prisoners. And no crew, I remembered that it was all automatic, which I still found unnerving.

  We strapped in and dropped away from the prison with a gut-wrenching manoeuvre. We all exchanged glances, was that supposed to happen?

  I tried to tune my rising terror out as we continued our descent, the whole craft started to shake. “It’s just the re-entry,” said Kel. “I’ve been released three times now, it’s always a bit bumpy. Don’t worry.”

  Through the port, I could see that the wings were flexing and as I watched they started to glow red; that must be the start of the atmosphere.

  We lurched; that was definitely not meant to happen. We lurched twice more, if it hadn’t been for the straps we would all have been sprawling. I felt fear; this was unlike any flight I had ever taken. I didn’t want to die on the way home.

  “Tell me again, Kelvin,” said Carl. “I need to be reminded just how normal this is.”

  There was another lurch and the craft rolled on its side, it suddenly felt difficult to breathe. Panels opened in the deck-head and oxygen masks fell, a mechanical voice started repeating, “Cabin pressure is low, please don a mask and breathe normally.”

  The masks all hung away from us with the list of the shuttle and we had to release our straps to get to them. No sooner did we gra
b one than the motion of the shuttle tore it away from our grasp. Half of them didn’t seem to work. It turned into a desperate fight to get air, the masks were ripped from the supply tubes as we bounced around and we had to try and grab new ones. The whole thing turned nasty, punches were thrown; then Carl and Kelvin produced improvised knives. Blood splashed as the struggles became more desperate. Every time we lurched we had to avoid bodies as well as the sharp edges of the seating. I was tossed across the cabin, saw stars and briefly lost consciousness.

  While I was unconscious, we broke through the clouds into the lower atmosphere, when I came to the warning voice had stopped. We had regained level flight, now that we were more stable I could see that we were all seated. For a moment we had reverted to animal behaviour in the quest for survival. There was something wrong with Vik; I moved my head and looked more closely. His head was tipped back, eyes staring and blood dripping from his throat. He looked pretty dead to me. Kelvin was unconscious, still holding what looked like a sharpened comb.

  Carl said nothing, he was breathing heavily, his arm was cut and blood ran down his fingers, dripping onto the deck. He held a toothbrush, the handle had been whittled away, giving it a vicious point.

  “He can help me,” he said simply, pointing at Kelvin. “I’m not going back up there. Look away if you have to.” I did and there was a noise like I never wanted to hear again. “You can look back now,” I turned back, keeping my eyes off Kelvin. Carl put his knife in Larvik’s hand. “Here’s what you’ve got to say.”

  It was brutal but I shared his sentiments. I was never going back either. As he spoke, I felt the shuttle land. I was home; this time, I was going nowhere.

  As I walked through the corridors, I saw a familiar face. We rushed together and embraced, Before long, both of us were sobbing.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Thank you, Gaynor,” I said as we separated. It sounded so inadequate. I had hoped that I would see her again one day, but now it had happened, it was overwhelming. “Thank you for everything, I never knew that anyone was on my side.”

  “No problem,” she replied, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve been fighting for you since you were sentenced. I knew you were innocent; I just had to convince enough people to take a proper look, without the distortion that the Delegate was applying to things. I did get lucky in the end, but then the harder you work, the luckier you seem to be. It’s so good to see you again. Let’s get you home first, then I can tell you everything.”

  We took a cab, I had to close my eyes, my senses were overloading. The horizon seemed so far away, the crowds and the traffic felt like they were all coming at me. And the noise was almost physical in its assault. I made it into my apartment, pulled all the blinds and collapsed onto the couch.

  “Why did you pull the blinds,” shouted Gaynor, who had gone into the kitchen.

  “I can’t stand it, all the open space, the stimulation.”

  “I guess it must be a shock, there’s a lot to process. I can go if you want to be left alone, give you time to adjust. I won’t be offended.”

  “Please don’t take it personally, but it’s all a bit much. I have no idea about anything that’s happened since I’ve been gone; part of me doesn’t want anything to do with this life.”

  She came back in with coffee and sat beside me and put her arms around my shoulders. I flinched away from her touch.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I’m not used to contact. Apart from the last week, I’ve been in solitary confinement since they took me away. I’ll need time to adjust to real life, to people.” I took a sip of coffee, it was filter, not instant. It tasted like I remembered it. The memory almost brought tears to my eyes.

  “I do understand,” she replied, moving away. “You poor thing. I hate what’s been done to you, take your time.”

  I could feel myself welling up. “What am I going to do now, Gaynor? I might be out but what comes next? Will I get my job back?” Why did I feel so bad on what should have been a happy day?

  She shook her head, moved closer and held me while I sobbed. This time, I let her. “Miles, why do I have to pile on the bad news?” she said. “Hendrix won’t have you back. Donna Markes has managed to convince him that there’s no smoke without fire. You might have been released and officially pardoned but there are plenty of people who still think that you’re guilty, that you got off on a technicality.”

  At the mention of Donna Markes, I remembered the reason for everything. I had put Layla out of my mind, now it all came flooding back. I had to ask.

  “Has Layla reappeared? What about Brian?” Surely she was part of the scene again, wasn’t she? “I remember now, you said that Donna and the Delegate were friends.”

  “We don’t know where Layla is,” she said. “We’ve neither seen nor heard anything of her since this all started. Igor has retreated, he married Donna and we hardly hear anything about him now either. We never found any more evidence about Donna and the Delegate, as far as Getaway is concerned, she’s off-limits. As for Brian, we managed to get him released from Dalyster to finish his sentence here. He was in a land-based open prison near Mantic, he got out on tag a couple of months ago.”

  I was surprised to hear that Layla had never shown up, I thought she was sure to have surfaced. As for Brian, I was relieved. He should never have been caught up in the shambles on Dalyster.

  “Nat, the dolphin girl has never shown up either,” Gaynor added. “Linda won’t talk about anything, she’s hardly ever at the stand now; Kim does all the work.”

  This was getting too much. Even though I had vowed not to drag up all the Layla stuff; I had to know, to make sense of it all. From my cell, I had assumed that it would all be sorted out by now, with Layla home and taunting the paparazzi; just like she used to. It seemed like it was still unfinished business. And I was shocked to hear that there were still people who thought I was guilty of something. Did they think I’d killed the girl? I might have been free but I needed a job. Journalism was all I knew; was that option closed to me? I started to panic, to wish for the comforting routine and security of my cell.

  “If I haven’t got a job, how am I going to get any money?” I was starting to gabble, my words were not keeping up with the stream of thoughts. “Nobody will employ an ex-con. I need to live, to eat. Will I end up down at Expressway Dave’s camp? What about this apartment, my boat?”

  Gaynor saw my agitation. “The boat’s gone. I’m sorry, I couldn’t afford all the bills, the yacht club kicked you out, so I had nowhere to moor her anyway. But I’ve managed to hang on to this place. It was owned outright by you anyway, which helped. I’ve been keeping it clean, paid all the bills for you and I filled the fridge up today, with everything I knew you used to like. I can cook you dinner, I’m guessing that you don’t want to go out somewhere. I’ll stay and talk all night if you want.”

  Suddenly, I wanted to be alone. I had longed for this moment; dreamed of it, yet now it was here I was frightened of it.

  “Can you leave me alone,” I asked. “I don’t want to upset you, I appreciate all you’ve done but I need to adjust, in my own way. I’m not used to talking so much, or any of this, give me a couple of days, please.”

  “Sure,” she said, I noticed that she was red-eyed and trying not to cry herself. “I understand. Just call when you feel more like talking.”

  She left me, I felt better to be on my own. I hoped that she understood. I went to the kitchen. She was right, all my favourites were there. I cooked the first decent meal I had tasted for a year. Then I went to bed and stomach ache kept me awake for hours. When I finally slept, I relived the aftermath of the flight from the prison. That was something that I hadn’t told Gaynor.

  When the shuttle’s door had opened, Carl and I had staggered out.

  “Are you alright?” asked the boiler-suited tech. “We lost telemetry on the way down, I managed to override the automatic and regain control in the end, the main systems are all fried. You’re lucky to be alive.”


  Carl and I exchanged glances, so there would be no record of what had happened, not that I needed to be reminded. The mad scramble for air, the fighting and over it all, the thought that I might not make it were burned in my mind.

  “Where’s the other two?” demanded a border guard, pushing the tech aside. “They didn’t make it,” Carl replied.

  “Out of my way,” he shouted, he shoved past us and peered inside. There was a moment’s silence, he stumbled out and vomited on the ground.

  He turned to me, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His face was drained of all colour, eyes wide staring. “You, Goram, what happened?”

  I told him the story we had agreed on. The masks had come down, we had tried to grab them. We had seen Kelvin and Vik fighting over the masks. Carl had tried to stop them, till he was thrown sideways by the shuttle’s motion. I had been unable to get air and had passed out. When I had come around, they were both dead. Carl must have fixed my mask and put me into a seat.

  The guard gave us a suspicious look. “I believe you, Goram,” he said. “You’re not a man of violence, but this one?”

  Carl looked him in the eye. “Prove it,” he said.

  They questioned us for another two hours, but we stuck to our story. With the lack of any video evidence, there was little the guards could do. As we walked through towards the gate, Carl shook my hand. “Thanks,” he said. “If you ever need anything, anything at all, come and find me.”

  Chapter Twenty One

  The end

  Even though I didn’t have to, I woke at six, wondering why I couldn’t hear the hooter. In a way, I was disappointed when it didn’t sound. Then I remembered, I was free and had nothing to do, no routine and it unsettled me. It almost seemed as bad as imprisonment. The lights didn’t come on automatically, I had to get up and turn them on myself. As I blundered around my bedroom, cracking my shins on the unfamiliar furniture and cursing, I realised that I actually had a whole list of things to do, all the things I hadn’t been able to. I had been thinking and imagining doing them, the prospect had helped keep me sane. I switched the light on; before I could do any of them, I had the most important thing to face.