by K M Lovold
He returned to his table and stared at his now-full tray, and his stomach churned. None of it looked appetizing. He scanned the room again, searching for Levi. He spotted Nikolina on the other end of the room sitting with the usual keeper.
He stabbed a piece of meat and forked it into his mouth, swallowing it like his throat was sandpaper. He continued throwing food into his mouth, all the while examining the rest of the room. Directly opposite him and to the right was the outline of a door, but he could barely see it. He’d never noticed it until now. Most of the prisoners probably didn’t know it was there, much less a room below them. Only the keepers. They knew. It had been strategically placed under the common room because this room was only used once per day for meals, and besides that, there would be no threat of any prisoner ever hearing or feeling any vibrations or sounds. If Ian remembered correctly, alarms could go off at times in the room below.
Ian peered at the contour of the door while he chewed the bland piece of meat. He didn’t want to stare at it too long, but that was where Ian had to go. That’s where he’d get the vials. But that would come later. First, he had to find a way back to the cave, the train. There was another room in that cave, and from there, the flag. He had to get to it.
“Hey.” Levi dropped his tray onto the table space across from Ian. “Took me forever to get my quota met. And I started way before you. I can’t believe how fast you got done today. All I was pulling out was small pieces of memroth. Lately they’ve been so huge, but not today.”
“Too bad.” Ian pushed his almost-empty tray away from him, set his elbows on the table, and tapped his fingers together in front of him. “I luckily managed to dig out nothing but huge ones.” He didn’t want to say the real reason he met his quota so fast.
Could he tell Levi any of this? Could he tell him the truth of who he was? Could he be trusted? Ian had trusted Jack completely, but he didn’t know Levi as well. For now, the answer was no. He couldn’t tell anybody who he was; there was nobody here he trusted. Not anymore. Except maybe Nikolina…
“Lately you’ve been so fast, you’re killing it.” Levi spoke while he chewed. “Jack trained you well.”
Ian nodded. “I know. I still wish I was training with him.”
Levi pressed his lips together. “Yeah. Yeah. I’d rather you’d still be training with Jack, too.”
“By the way, have you heard anything new about what happened? Why they were suspicious of him?”
Levi raised his eyebrows and said nothing.
How could Ian get it across to Levi that they could speak freely in this room without giving away how he knew it? “I think it’s OK to speak here,” Ian whispered and wiped his mouth with his fingers, hoping it looked as if he were trying to hide his words anyway. “I don’t think they can hear us in this room.”
Levi tilted his head to one side, staring at him with wide eyes, remaining silent.
Ian took a deep breath. “It’s something Jack told me. Before he died.” He stared down at Levi’s food still on his tray. “Just keep eating, like we’re not saying anything out of the ordinary, but I think it’s all right to speak in this room. Like I said… something Jack told me.”
Levi picked up his fork and glanced around the room and so did Ian. Everyone, including keepers, continued what they were doing—eating, talking, some of them leaned their heads back with eyes closed. No one paid any attention to them, and then Levi pegged Ian with his gaze.
“See?” Ian said. “I told you. We can say pretty much anything we want in this room.”
“Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” Levi started eating again, a bit slower, as his gaze continued to inspect the room around them.
Ian shrugged. “Wasn’t sure if I could trust you with it.”
“I find it hard to believe this is something Jack knew. We were cellmates and friends long before you arrived, and he trusted me. Why wouldn’t he have told me this? It’s pretty significant information.” Levi’s dark brown eyes peered at Ian.
“I know.” Ian dropped his chin to his chest, then lifted it again. “He had only been learning a few new things. From the keepers. Because he was going to be one, too. You knew that didn’t you?”
Levi dragged a piece of meatloaf along the bottom of the tray, picking up remnants of mashed potatoes with it. “Yeah. I knew that.”
“So, he’d only just learned a few new things. Before he died. And he told me.” Ian leaned back and folded his hands in his lap. “You know, at the train.”
“Hmmm.” Levi scooped some of the greens into his mouth.
“So? Have you heard anything new about him? Why he was targeted and killed? What they were suspecting him of?”
Levi turned and spit on the floor. Not an uncommon thing on Reathran, inside the buildings or out. Then he narrowed his eyes at Ian. “So far I haven’t heard anything, and at this point, I don’t know how we’re ever gonna find out what he was doing.”
****
Nikolina played with the slab of meatloaf on her tray, taking slow bites, forcing herself to chew and swallow each bite. “So, what about me being keeper? What have you heard?”
David finished the last of his food. “Klaus isn’t ready just yet—”
“What?” Nikolina dropped her fork.
“Just wait.” David held his hand out. “After everything that happened with Jack, he’s being more careful than ever about promoting prisoners to keeper. And since you’re the first female that has ever been considered, he’s even more cautious.”
“Figures.” But she wanted to talk more about Jack. “What was so wrong with Jack that no new keepers are being considered?” Nikolina shrugged, attempting to sound monotone, like she really didn’t care.
David leaned back in his chair and slicked his hand through his brown hair. “I probably shouldn’t be talking to you about this.”
“Why not?” Nikolina held the palms of her hand up. “I think you should know me by now. I’m just curious is all.” She scooped some potatoes into her mouth. She didn’t want David to change the subject and start harassing her to eat.
David crossed his arms over his chest. “Well. It’s just—it’s just he had discovered something he shouldn’t have, and Klaus didn’t know why he’d been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. What was he up to, you know?”
Now they were getting somewhere.
Nikolina continued eating. “What did he discover?” She stopped chewing and stared at David. “I mean, if you can tell me. It’s not like I’m gonna blab about it. I am, after all, getting kind of excited about the opportunity to be the first female keeper.”
David rubbed his chin, seeming to contemplate. “You know Jack worked at the train, didn’t you?”
Nikolina nodded. “Of course. He’d had that job for a while. Everyone knew that.” She continued to sound as uninterested as she could, but her heart thumped loudly against her chest. “What does that have to do with anything? I thought Jack was super trusted. That’s why he had the job at the train to begin with.”
“You’re right.” David scratched his cheek. “He was very trusted. One of the most trusted prisoners here, which is why he was next in line to be keeper.”
Nikolina rolled her eyes. “What the hell did he do to make Klaus so suspicious of him then?”
“If Klaus hears you cuss, you’re gonna be in trouble, so watch it.”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” She had to be more careful and get back to the topic at hand. “So, what was Jack digging into?”
David pinched the bridge of his nose and tightly squeezed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Then he reopened them and clasped his hands in front of him. “There’s a room in the train’s cave. Only the keepers know about it. It’s vital to our operations. It’s not even near the room where Jack would go to work to run the train.”
David glanced around them cautiously. “But Jack went poking around the cave, the tunnel where the train goes, and he found it. He was wearing the security band”�
��David clutched one fist around the wrist on his other hand—“that one has to wear to enter the cave. What he didn’t know is if someone goes into that particular room, the security band sets off a kind of alarm. Nothing major, just a tone sounds, alerting a keeper that someone’s gone in there. No one should’ve been in that room at the time, so he knew it was Jack, who was the only one at the cave because he was tending to the train. He was found to be entering that room not once, but twice, and after Klaus found out, he could hardly believe it. Why was Jack poking around? And then, when Jack started asking questions about the spacecraft, that was the last straw.”
“Spacecraft?” Nikolina finished her meal while David spoke, and she picked up her tray and set it on David’s empty one. “What was he asking about spacecraft?”
“Only questioning how they run, how one drives one, etcetera. Why would he be asking that? I mean, that’s not good. First poking around that room at the train site, and then asking keepers about how spacecraft run and how to fly them… I don’t know about you, but I’m not surprised Klaus got suspicious and took him out. Before he had a chance to share what he knew with any other prisoners.”
Nikolina nodded. “I think you’re right. Jack was one of my best friends here, but obviously he was onto something, or he was investigating something. It’s a good thing he got found out because what could he have accomplished if he’d kept going into that room in the cave?”
“Well, it’s an important room. It’s kind of a communications room. There’s not a ton of communication going on from here to other places, so it’s only occupied certain days and at certain times of the day, but still, it’s where communication from Reathran to Earth takes place when it needs to. Jack shouldn’t have been in there. It could’ve been bad if he’d started monkeying around with any of the equipment.”
“Did Klaus think Jack could’ve actually made contact with someone on Earth?” Nikolina’s pulse raced.
“Well, it’s not as easy as that, but Earth has no idea what goes on up here, minus a small group of people. The rest of the world doesn’t even know Reathran exists. And they don’t need to know.”
“Do you honestly think Jack could’ve made contact with someone on Earth to the point of uncovering Reathran to someone?” Nikolina leaned forward, lowering her voice. Would she soon be punished for having this conversation with David? If so, then David would be, too, but as long as he kept talking to her about it, so would she. She didn’t care anymore. Not with Jack dead.
“I don’t know. That’s the thing. I don’t know. But Klaus sure got mad about it, and he killed Jack.” David shrugged. “I guess you never know.”
“Yeah. I guess you never know.” Nikolina stood and picked up her and David’s trays, glancing about, hoping they weren’t being listened to. “Well, I better get back to my cell. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
David jumped up and put his hand on her arm. “Remember, this is just between you and me.”
“You got it.” Nikolina winked at him and strode away, a small grin tugging at her face as she left the common room.
CHAPTER NINE
Ian had just met his quota for the day, much earlier than most, like he’d been doing more and more lately, and he strode to his cell. A couple months had gone by since all his memories had returned, and if there was one thing Malaki and Ian discussed incessantly before his trek up here, it was to be patient. Because of Ian being a divergent, and just generally intelligent and the mastermind behind so much that went on here, Malaki was certain Ian would excel and eventually be noticed by Klaus. Possibly be given more responsibility, maybe a bit more freedom to accomplish what he had to do.
So he waited.
He entered his building and turned into his cell but stopped short. A tall man stood with his back to him, and Ian knew immediately who it was.
Klaus.
He turned around, and Ian braced himself to fake being taken control of, because that was something Klaus would do right away, just to show his power.
“Ian Knockshine.” Klaus did not touch his wristband but instead took a couple steps toward him, his dark brown hair combed perfectly like always. “Prisoner number 4158.”
“Yes, sir.” Ian had to keep his cool and his cover. He knew what this keeper was capable of. Ian tightened the grip on his ax and lifted his eyebrows, not taking his focus off Klaus.
“You’ve been doing well here on Reathran. Quite well.” Klaus stopped a few inches from Ian, his eyes narrowing, a thin layer of whiskers on his unshaved face.
“I hope so, sir.” Ian stared directly into Klaus’s wicked, gray eyes.
“I know you were there when we had to dispose of… Jack some months back, and I know you weren’t very happy about it.” Klaus smirked at him.
Ian stared at the man’s grimy, yellowing teeth. “That’s correct. I was not happy about it. Jack was my friend.” His voice was monotone, and hatred brewed inside him towards this man. He clenched his free hand into a tight fist.
“Yes… yes. Well, I want to talk to you about a different matter.” Klaus took a few steps backwards. He still did not take control of Ian.
“What’s that, sir?” Ian stiffened his posture.
“You did well with Jack, I must say.” Klaus held his hands loosely behind him. “What I’m talking about is, with the train. I know Jack trained you there, but you bypassed him in a matter of weeks. The train departures never went smoother than when you were there.” He rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Why is that?”
Ian relaxed some, loosening the grip on his ax, and stared down at his boots. “I guess I just have a knack for that type of thing. I wonder if I did something like that back on Earth… What do you think?” He fixed his gaze back on Klaus. “I can’t remember. But do you think if I did that back on Earth, it would come back to me naturally here on Reathran?” Ian made his voice sound hopeful, as if this was something he’d just thought of.
A look of amusement flashed across Klaus’s face, and he smiled. “You might be right. You might be right. I’ve been thinking about this, and I’m going to do something I’ve not done before. You haven’t been here two years yet, but I liked the way you learned things at the train. And so fast at that.”
Ian’s heart thumped against his chest.
“Therefore, I’d like to have you continue your work there.” Klaus tapped his fingertips together. “I’d like to have you go back there and keep on with what you were doing with Jack. Do you think you can manage the job without him?”
Ian exhaled while he looked upward, then he met Klaus’s stare. “Yes. I can manage without Jack. He taught me well.”
“Very well then.” Klaus approached Ian. “I don’t normally talk to prisoners, but I have a feeling about you Ian, prisoner 4158, and I think you’ll do well.”
“Thank you, sir.” Ian held his gaze, unblinking. “I’ll do my best. I’ll do all that Jack taught me.”
“And then some, I hope!” Klaus barked out a laugh and strode to the doorway. “You’ll return to the train tomorrow, after you meet your quota, which won’t take that long based on your past few months of digging.”
“Very well, sir.” Ian looked away from Klaus. He couldn’t stomach looking at the killer again.
“Good, good. And I’ll be hearing how you’re doing there. On your own now, without Jack.”
“Yes. Without Jack.” Ian faced him one last time. “I’ll do fine without him.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” Klaus marched out of the cell, and Ian let out a deep breath.
He was going back. The exact place he needed to be. That’s where the other room was… where the flag was.
Malaki, I’ll get there. You’ll hear from me soon.
****
Nikolina was one large memroth away from meeting her quota, so she could help Ian. He’d been meeting his quota so fast these days, she never finished in time to help him, so today she’d pounded harder and faster than she’d done in ages. She needed to speak to him, as mu
ch as she could anyway. She had to tell him she was in line to be a keeper. That she could help him. Eventually.
“You’re fast today.” David sounded behind her.
“I know. I have a lot of energy. I figured I could help others if I get done right away.” She spotted the last memroth she’d need to meet her goal.
“I know you like to help others when you can, but since when is it this important to you?” David’s brow wrinkled.
“Since I’m sick of the same ole same ole on this prison-planet.” She glared at him. “I’m sick of it.” She turned and hit the ground with her ax, then dropped it and began digging around the memroth with her fingers. “Just let me be so I can meet my quota and help others. At least then I feel as if I’m doing something different around here.” She twisted and gazed at him again. “At least until I’m a keeper, like you say I’ll be. Eventually.”
David shook his head at her and put his finger to his lips, a reminder she shouldn’t speak of that out where they were. What difference did it make if she spoke of it here, or in the common room, or in her cell, or wherever? No matter what, they were listened to!
The guards were always listening.
She shrugged and returned to pulling the memroth, the muscles in her arms swelling, sweat dripping down her neck and back, and she yanked with all her strength, finally pulling the gem from the mountain. It was so huge she fell back on her bottom with the weight of it.
“Wow,” she uttered.
“Another dandy.” David stood there, not offering her any assistance, which she didn’t need anyway.
She pushed herself to standing and wiped the dirt and dust off the memroth, then threw it into her cart.
“That should do it,” David said. “You wanted to do something different today by helping others, so be on your way.” He motioned with his hand to move towards the drop-off zone. “And I’ll meet you at mealtime, all right?” He raised his eyebrows.