by K M Lovold
Ian wrote: They are listening?
Jack sat next to Ian and swiped up one of the pieces of paper and began his reply. After a couple minutes, he slid the paper to Ian.
There is only one place we can speak without being heard. I’ll do my best to get you there. Do not say another word about not remembering your crime. Not one word.
Confusion flooded Ian. He scrunched up the paper and tossed it across the room to where his messed-up blanket now lay.
“Fine,” he said. “I’m going to attempt to get some sleep in this godforsaken place.” He grabbed his dirty blanket off the floor and flopped onto his ludicrous mattress.
“Alrighty.” Jack picked up the ball of paper and lay back down in his own bed, confidence returning to his voice. “Have a good first night sleep here on Reathran, new Reaman.”
“Yeah.” Levi was still at the bar pulling himself up and down, up and down. “Good night, new Reaman.”
Eventually, Ian was able to relax, but still, his brain struggled to remember more. Why could he remember his soft, thick mattress back home? Home… A flash of a log house came to him. More memories trickled into his thoughts, but he couldn’t piece them together.
Why was he here? Deep down in his gut he felt there was a reason for him being here, and it wasn’t because he’d committed a crime so vile he’d been sentenced to death. But why else would he be here? And why the difference between his and Jack’s memories? What about Levi? Did he remember? What else was in there? He pounded his forehead with his fist, but nothing came to him.
Just his bed, his log home, and hundreds of tall electrical polls on a long, country road.
****
Earth, years earlier
“Well? How did it go?” Ian asked Malaki the moment he got into Ian’s BMW and slammed the door shut.
“It went brilliantly. James Caldwell is one hundred percent in and ready to go. All in The Circle gave him a very confident and warm welcome.” Malaki let out a sigh, his head falling back against the seat.
Ian pressed his fingers to the memroth pod. His car started, and he sped out of the parking ramp. “Tell me how it went—you explaining to him, with everyone in The Circle present, about D.R.O.P. and about what he’ll be doing. I want to hear everything, all the details. I never miss these types of meetings. It was terrifically unbearable not being there.”
It had taken everything within Ian to stay back. And it was the first time he’d ever missed a meeting such as this. But he knew he and Caldwell could not meet. It would obliterate their plan. It had taken a superabundance of excuses to miss that gathering, but in the end, everything fell into place.
Malaki ran his hand across his trim beard. “We started out explaining to James in great detail about Death Row Outpost. How we choose which prisoners will enter D.R.O.P., what we look for physically, mentally, etcetera, and then we explained precisely how Tetracaphoxin works in each prisoner.” Malaki’s hands moved as he spoke. “We explained to him about the drug and how, through the years, we’ve mastered it in a spectacular fashion, so it attaches to the brain receptors via the prisoner’s own true guilt.”
Ian nodded vigorously. “Yes. Yes. Did you explain about how it’s a natural phenomenon? That even if the prisoner claims innocence time and time again, until the very moment they’re given the lethal injection, that if they truly committed the crime, the Tetracaphoxin chemical will attach to their brain receptors because of their true guilt? That inside their brain, they know what they’ve done, no matter how many times they—”
“We explained all of that, including that if the prisoner is actually innocent and falsely accused, the Tetracaphoxin will not attach to the brain receptors very well, and could interrupt the keepers’ power and control… up there… Thus, we have to make sure each and every prisoner is, indeed, guilty of their crime.”
“Good, good. I’m glad to hear it went as planned.” Ian focused on the road, many cars weaving in and out in front of him. “Should we go to my house? Or do you want to stop and grab a bite to eat? And then we can discuss further?”
“Out to eat for sure. How ’bout Red Lobster? I’m starving.” Malaki rubbed his hands together. “And after the anticipation of that meeting, and it going brilliantly, I could use a glass of wine as well.”
“I agree.” Ian turned at the next light and headed toward the restaurant.
Twenty minutes later, wine in hand and dinners ordered, Malaki loosened his tie and ran his fingers through his frizzy black hair. “Caldwell and I spoke after the meeting, when it was just the two of us, and I told him more about the new prison joining D.R.O.P. We had already told him he’d be in charge of this prison. Since Henry is only a couple years into his marriage—newlywed to us—we didn’t want to put him in charge. He’s used to being second-in-command, and he’ll have enough to deal with in his personal life, so he’ll remain an assistant just as he was to Stanton, may he rest in peace.” He cleared his throat. “So Caldwell is fully aware of all of that, but I gave him much more details. Told him a little bit about the training process, why I’ll be there with him for at least the first couple months and dropping by from time to time over the next year or so. He was all for it and, in fact, quite excited.”
“Stupendous. Everything’s falling into place. And Caldwell was OK with moving to Virginia? Did you inform him the prison is somewhat situated in the woods? A kind of, out-of-the-way spot?” Ian fidgeted with the cloth napkin in front of him.
“He was more than OK; he was thrilled. He’s a woodsy man to begin with, kind of a loner, which is why he’s excelled so fantastically in his job here. All he’s done is isolate and learn and study and grow and become the mastermind that he is today. And now he’s one of us.”
Ian took a sip. “Was my name mentioned at all? Were you able to steer the conversation in such a way as to keep my name out of it?”
Malaki nodded and wiped his lips with his fist. “Yes. That’s why I dominated the conversation. I wouldn’t let others in The Circle get a word in edgewise. I’d met with The Circle beforehand, told them of your circumstances and that you were unable to attend the meeting, and since Caldwell was my guy to begin with—because I’m training him and you’re not—that I wanted to be in charge of what was said, how we informed Mr. Caldwell of D.R.O.P. and so forth.” Malaki took another drink of wine. “They agreed wholeheartedly, and so we never brought your name up once. I’m guessing the rest in The Circle assume you and Mr. Caldwell have already met on multiple occasions, and so it wasn’t odd in any way to not mention you. They didn’t seem suspicious.”
“So then, it’s settled.” Ian took a deep breath. “You’ll be going with Caldwell to the prison? When do you plan to leave?”
Malaki leaned back in his chair. “Well, you know when we go through the training process with a new one, it’s somewhat time-consuming, so I just have to make sure my schedule is cleared, but I should say”—Malaki drummed his fingers on the table—”I could be ready to head to Virginia in no more than a week to begin the training.”
“This is it, my friend.” Ian swallowed, a weighed-down feeling in his gut. “Once Caldwell is situated there, it’s only a matter of time. I’ll have to isolate myself more and more, and you’ll move forward with things within The Circle, and communicate to them what we always said we would when this time comes.”
“Yep, this is it. So, to a job well done. Very well done.” Malaki held his glass of wine up for a toast, and they clinked their glasses.
CHAPTER FIVE
Reathran
It must’ve been at least six months since Ian arrived on Reathran, he wasn’t sure since it was easy to lose track of the monotonous days and weeks.
“Today, I’m taking you somewhere new, somewhere you haven’t been before.” Jack tromped a little ways in front of Ian.
“Really? Good.” Ian took long strides to keep up with him. “Where?”
“You’ll see.” Jack spoke quietly, avoiding eye contact and instead staring s
traight ahead. They were heading in the opposite direction of where they’d gone every morning since he’d arrived, which was to the mountainous rocks where they mined and dug for memroth.
More bits and pieces of memories had been floating into Ian’s mind, but nothing he could ever grab hold of and put his finger on. Nothing solid. And there was no opportunity to speak to Jack either, since he adamantly refused to talk to him about it. He wrote a few things down now and again, but he always told Ian to wait until the time was right. Jack would press his lips together and shake his head, and then change the subject or walk away, or tell him to get to pounding on the rock again. And again. And again. Never-ending slamming the rock with his pick ax.
They hiked up a small hill, the sun blasting down on them. Ian pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, given to him by Jack when he’d first arrived, and wiped the sweat off his brow and the back of his neck. “I cannot get over how much closer to the sun we are here. It is so blasted hot.”
“I can’t remember much of Earth or how far away or close to the sun we were there.” Jack cleared his throat.
“We weren’t this close, I can tell you that,” Ian said nonchalantly and then like a light slap in the face, it dawned on him that he remembered that. He remembered the sun shining in the sky back on Earth, he remembered the lake, the water glistening from the sunlight.
Lake? That was the first time he’d remembered a lake…
“Stop talking about your remembering.” Jack slashed his hands through the air. “Got it? Just. Stop.” He narrowed his eyes at Ian.
Ian complied.
After they got to the top of the hill, Ian saw the other side, and it was nothing but mountains for miles and miles. Stones and boulders dotted the landscape. Off in the distance, a tunnel carved out of a mountain had a track running into it.
“Is that a train track?” Ian pointed to it.
Jack twisted around and gaped at Ian. “Like I said, stop talking about your remembering.”
“What? A train is that big of a deal?” Ian held his hands out to the side, one hand still clutching his handkerchief.
“Yeah. For someone who’s been here such a short time, it is.” He gave Ian’s shoulder a light shove. “Now, keep silent about anything popping into that head of yours. Let’s go.”
They trekked down the steep slope. Fissures covered the rock-and-pebble-strewn ground, and then he caught sight of something he hadn’t seen on Reathran before—water. A waterfall pouring into a ravine. It wasn’t huge, but the sight of it put a grin on his face, and then a second flash of a lake in his mind. Did he live on one back on Earth?
“So, why do we get to go to this new place today?” Ian changed the subject.
“’Cause tending to the train is part of my job. I’ve been doing it for a couple years, even while you’ve been here, ya just didn’t know. But you’ve been here awhile now, so I asked if you could come with me today, and I got the A-OK. Wasn’t expecting to, but I did.” Jack sniffed loudly. “You can be thankful, ’cause you’ll get to learn this part of Reathran, too.”
“But why—” Ian stopped short. “I mean, what kind of tending does the train need?”
“It’s nothin’ I can tell ya. I have to show ya.” Jack wiped his brow with a handkerchief he yanked out of his back pocket. Once they reached the bottom of the hill, they strode toward a large cave in one of the mountains, the one next to the cave with the train tracks. At the entrance, Jack came to a halt, reached in his front pants pocket, and yanked out a black leather band.
“Put this on your wrist.” Jack held the band out to Ian.
“All right.” Ian buckled it on, noticing the tiniest little bumps on it—four to be exact—that looked like miniature diamonds.
Jack, who wore the same kind of bracelet, pointed his finger at the band on Ian’s wrist. “Without that, you could never enter this place. You’re lucky. You’re new, and they’re letting ya come in here with me, and that’s ’cause I’ve been ranting and raving about how good ya are.” He patted his hands on Ian’s shoulders. “They know me, they trust me, so that’s why they’re letting me take ya with me.”
“But how can you tell me this when you haven’t let me utter a single word about my memories? And yet you’re free to tell me all this?” Ian shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
Jack nodded, a smile spreading on his face. “’Cause here. Right here”—Jack pointed his finger to the ground underneath him—“we can’t be heard or listened to. And we’re going to enter that there cave where we also cannot be listened to. So this is when we can finally talk. Come on.”
Ian followed Jack into the dark cave, his heart pounding in his chest a little harder.
****
Earth, years earlier
“Make sure you take this every day until it’s time to go in.” Malaki and Ian sat in Ian’s kitchen, and Malaki handed him a small bottle filled with tiny pills. “We want your brain to be prepped as much as possible before… it happens. “
“I will. Thanks for getting these for me.” Ian set the small bottle on the countertop. “So, hopefully, soon we’ll head over there. Have you narrowed it down to which prisoner?”
“Yes, I have. He’s been sentenced to death for murdering a man and his four-year-old daughter.” Malaki closed his eyes and shook his head. “Despicable. He’s our best bet, yet everything in me despises that he won’t pay for his crime the way he ought to.”
“We have to let one go for this to work. We’ve always known that.” Ian slid a shot glass to Malaki and opened a bottle of Scotch.
“We can let him go, or else I can simply… get rid of him.” Malaki held his glass out to Ian who poured the drink into it.
Ian poured some into his own glass and downed it in one gulp, the liquid burning his throat. “No, you can’t do that.” He coughed. “We agreed it wouldn’t come to that.”
“We’ll see.” Malaki swallowed his drink swiftly. “Now get this in your brain. Let it situate itself there deeply—your name will be Knockshine. You got that? Ian Knockshine. You will no longer be Ian Mitchell, and this is vitally important. You’ve got to know your name.”
“Knockshine,” Ian repeated, staring straight ahead. “It’s different but seems easy to remember.”
“You’ll have at least a year to let it sink into your brain before it happens. Now, take one of those pills every day, and I’ll continue getting them to you while you’re there—somehow or another.” Malaki rubbed his forehead. “I’ll be in touch with you about what day you’ll be going in. Stay here at your house. Just stay out of touch for the time being, like you already have been. I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do once you’re gone. Not to mention a lot of lying.” He scratched his cheek. “And what about Shannon?”
Ian’s shoulders slumped, his chin dropping to his chest. “I can’t hide that I’m gone. And I can’t tell her the truth. It’s going to have to go down as everyone else sees it, the way you’ll explain and describe it, like we always planned. You will be the only one to know the truth.”
Malaki rubbed his chin, nodding. “And Anthony?”
Ian gave a halfhearted shrug. “Same with him. But I’m hoping…” He stared at his friend. “That one day, if I don’t make it back, if our plan fails, that—”
“It won’t fail.” Malaki put his hand on Ian’s shoulder. “I know it won’t.”
“But if it does,” Ian’s voice was monotone, “I trust that you’ll, one day, tell him the truth about me. All right?”
Malaki nodded. “You know I will. But have no fear about that because, as I said, it will work. I promise you it will.”
Ian cleared his throat. “And you’ve got my keys? You’re prepared to check on things here? You know where all the important papers are and all of that? Eventually, you’ll wind up here yourself.”
“I do, and I’ll take care of everything. Just like we planned.”
“Your name’s on the deed to my house, but you know where the
other legal papers are that, if needed, should in turn leave everything to Shannon and Anthony. But… hopefully, it won’t come to that.”
“It won’t.” Malaki’s jaw was set, and he squared his shoulders. “In time, your memory will come back and we will do this.” Malaki tapped his finger on the granite countertop. “And when you’re back, I’m going to want to hear all about it.”
“Unless we’re murdered before we get that chance.” Ian poured another shot of Scotch in his glass. “This is the risk we’re taking, you know? Even if everything goes as planned, we won’t be welcomed back upon my return. We’ll have damaged everything and brought everything out into the open. I cannot see Charles Price letting us survive that.”
“Wrong.” Malaki gripped his empty glass. “Because I’m going to do my best to inform the rest of The Circle of things before you get back, and in the end we’ll have made the world a safer place, and that’s all anyone will know. We’ll be hailed as heroes. We will. You wait and see. Price will run for hiding before he’s arrested and thrown in prison himself.”
Ian clutched his hands in front of him, his elbows on the countertop. “We’ll see.”
****
Reathran
Ian followed Jack through the dark cave and his jaw dropped. From the outside, this looked like a regular ole cave, but after they walked through a narrow tunnel, they stepped into a small, yet very high-tech room. The cave’s natural qualities were used to make the space functional. A flat boulder was used as a type of desk or counter, with a computer situated on it, along with a tall stool. One wall of the room consisted of a huge window.
“What is this place?” Ian asked.
“This is for the train.” Jack marched to the window. “Right down there is where it departs with its cargo. And this room we’re in is so sealed and so thick with the very rock from this cave that no one can hear us in here.” He pounded his fist on the thick window. “Doesn’t matter the device they implanted in us, nothing can be heard in this cave or just outside it. We can speak freely, which is why there’s only a select few who are allowed to work in here. Like I said before, I’ve been here long time, I’m trusted. Someone as new as you would never be allowed to come in the cave, but I fought for it, and it doesn’t hurt that a couple of the guards are friends of mine. They gave in.”