Shock Diamonds

by E. R. Mason

  Here were the small rooms that were designated for the workers. They lined the long, morbid hallway. Big heavy metal doors with small, barred windows and waist-high locked access hatches for food or water to be passed in. There was an individual in the very first we looked into. She was asleep on the floor. No blanket, no sleeping pad. Orange hair splayed over the face. Sunburned-red hands and arms, a filthy gray work uniform, a fresh new one hanging on the wall. We began our search, one door at a time. Wilson took the right. I took the left.

  By the time we reached the end of the first corridor, we were both soul-sick. We had not spotted Emma, though every single cell was occupied. A few had blankets or rags, but that was it. A few of them had looked up, but regarded our blackened faces as just more of the enemy. We did not have to sneak here. No one was coming. Hand scanners showed no cameras or other monitoring devices. If you became ill in your cell here, you were on your own.

  Wilson looked at me with an expression of desperation I had never seen from him. He spoke in a half whisper. “My god, Adrian. What are we going to do?”

  “Yeah, I know what you’re going to say.”

  “More than half of them are human, probably from Earth. We can’t just leave them.”

  “The Griffin’s designed for eight, Wilson. POM says the air handler can take up to sixteen. There’s six of us already. There’s just no way, even if we could get all these people aboard. There’s just no way.”

  “What the hell can we do?”

  “Come back with bigger guns.”

  “My god, my god.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are we in deep shit anyway? She can’t pick us up.”

  “I don’t think so. She’ll hide on the opposite side of the planet. As soon as that arriving spacecraft gets settled into orbit, she’ll match it and stay out of sight. In a standard orbit, she should come around in about forty-five minutes.”

  “We’ll never finish searching the rest of these shit cells in forty-five.”

  “Yeah, if we haven’t gotten lucky and located her, we’ll take a chance and let the Griffin make another spin so we can keep searching.”

  “We’ll be cutting the pickup time close to sunrise.”

  “Should still be dark enough. We’ll jump straight to light as soon as we leave the atmosphere. Be a trillion miles away before they know we were here.”

  “Place makes me sick,” he said.

  “Goes without saying,” I replied.

  Thirty minutes later we had still not found Emma. Our com units suddenly came alive and vibrated with a signal from Danica.

  I keyed in. “Go ahead. It’s clear.”

  “Adrian, you’re not going to believe this.”

  “Is everything alright with the ship?”

  “Yes. It’s not that. They’re keeping a 240. We can stay out of phase with that no problem. It’s you guys that may be in trouble.”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “They dispatched a small shuttle from their ship and it put down right where you are. We thought maybe you had been discovered, but a short time later two large transports came up to rendezvous with their ship. We think they are transporting cargo or something down to your location.”

  “No shit.” said Wilson.

  “It wouldn’t be cargo, Danica. It would be new slaves.”

  There was a long pause. “Oh…”

  “Dan, we’re going to need at least another orbit to complete the search. Can you handle it?”

  “Sure. We won’t be picking you up while all that’s going on, anyway.”

  “It’s okay. Wilson and I can hold up for a day if we have to. Can you guys stay safe?”

  “No problem. We have mini-probes set out keeping track of them. Worst case scenario, we can jump at any time and come back later.”

  “Be careful, Danica.”

  “That’s what I was going to tell you.”

  I signed off. Wilson looked at me with a wrinkled brow. “Is it just me, or is it getting deeper?”

  “It’s not you.”

  Chapter 26

  We spent more than an hour searching the remaining maze of lost souls. No luck. There was no choice but to explore the upper levels. At least we knew the place well. We returned to the winding stairwell and ascended to the first floor. It was still just as deserted. It was a place of formal, cold emptiness. The rear section was yet another network of cells. Only a few were occupied by the vanquished. The front section was quite different. The lights were off. Shadowy street light from outside seeped through the doors and windows. There was a reception area that surrounded the entrance, a pristine and colorful sitting area with an oval desk. To the right of the entrance, a double-wide elevator trimmed in gold waited. To the left, ominous steel double doors were brightened by a mural of various happy individuals of many different species.

  In an adjacent front room, we found another winding stairway that led to the second floor. We climbed it, expecting the upper area to be just as abandoned. We emerged into a wide open area with dozens of cubicle desk stations with computers. Some of the computer stations were on, periodically refreshing their data. There was an electronics hum in the air and the smell of air conditioning. We scanned a few of the stations, being careful to avoid affecting them.

  Hope for Emma was fading fast. It was beginning to look as though we would make the scheduled pickup time, empty-handed. But as Wilson and I turned the last cubicle corner, we abruptly ran headlong into janitor lady again, and this time there was no hiding from her. All three of us jerked to attention and stood appraising one another. To our surprise, it was not the layered face of the janitor lady.

  It was Emma.

  She stared wide-eyed at our blackened faces for a frozen moment, then hurriedly stepped aside, folding her hands at her waist, looking down at the floor as though she expected to be admonished for being in the way.

  As the shock wore off, I spoke, “Emma?”

  She started to look up, thought better of it, and returned to her withdrawal.

  “Emma, I’m Adrian Tarn. This is Wilson Mirtos. We’re here to take you back to your father.”

  Her head snapped up. Hesitantly, she reevaluated both of us. She had trouble allowing herself to speak. “My father?”

  “He’s aboard my ship. It’s orbiting XiTau. We’re taking you back to Earth.”

  She stared in disbelief, still afraid to speak out loud. “My father has come for me?”

  Very slowly, I reached out one hand and touched her arm. “Yes. He’s been worried sick since you’ve been gone. We’re here to take you back.”

  She looked at the weapons hanging from our shoulders and the paint on our faces, and as believing set in, the tears began to flow. She staggered, forcing me to catch her. She was terribly underweight, a feather in my arms.

  Wilson became nervous. “Adrian, we’re too out in the open. Let’s get out of here.”

  Suddenly, a bright glow from the windows began to cast shadows everywhere. Quickly it became intense white light, as bright as day. We ducked down and took refuge behind the stairwell wall, stealing glances at the sudden daylight. As we watched, a shuttle dropped down and landed on the lawn in front of the building.

  Emma wiped away her tears and spoke. “It’s today. The new arrivals. They’re right on schedule. I’m supposed to be finished by now. If they find me or my cart up here, I’ll be punished severely.”

  I held her in front of me. “No, Emma. It’s over. You’re never coming back here. No one is ever going to punish you again. Now, what are you talking about, new arrivals?”

  She looked up at me, eyes streaked. “The new slaves. They’ll be indoctrinated on the first floor. Then the other ship will arrive.”

  “Other ship?”

  “The one that picks up the mine workers. The ones who can’t be used here or the ones who flunked out. If you flunk out here, they send you to work the mines.”

  Just as she finished saying it, my com unit vibrated. “Go a
head, Danica. We’re clear.”

  “Adrian, a second ship has arrived. It’s docked with the first. They’re both heavy drafts.”

  “We just had a shuttle land here, Danica. We won’t be able to make the scheduled pickup. Stand by for further instructions. Break silence only if there’s an emergency.”

  Danica cut in. “Expect a second shuttle shortly, Adrian. One has just separated from the ship that just arrived and it’s departing down.”

  “Roger that, and Danica, tell Patrick we have Emma. Assign R.J. to keep him settled down.”

  R.J.’s voice cut in. “I heard that, Adrian. Unbelievable. I’ll do my best.”

  “We’ve got to move. Tarn out.”

  We dared a look out a nearby window. Below, people were beginning to emerge from the shuttle. They were gathering around a ramp deployed from an open forward hatch. They were well armed and wearing combat apparel. As we watched, a line of beat-up individuals with their hands tied behind their backs and a line of rope around their necks emerged and headed down the ramp. They were ushered along by men with prods. They were a diverse collection of species. I did not see any humans until the very end of the line. He was tall and muscular, head bowed, unshaven, wearing a dirty brown dress shirt, torn black slacks, wingtips. It looked like he had put up a pretty good fight. He had a bright star-shaped emblem tattooed on his left cheek. The parade was marched across the lawn and into the front entrance.

  I turned to Emma. “What was that tattoo on the human guy’s face?”

  “It’s not a tattoo. It peels right off. It’s an identity chip and it was red. That means he’s designated for the mines unless somebody here wants him, but nobody will. They don’t like human males here. Too hard to control. But they love human females. They are considered the most beautiful. I kept running away. That’s why I got sent here. One more infraction and I’ll be sent to the refuse section. That’s where they turn you into pet food.”

  “What will happen to those new prisoners now?”

  “They will be assigned cells on the first floor, evaluated, and then scheduled for training or designated for mine work. The ones being sent to the mines will be taken up to the lizard ship as soon as they’re ready. We can’t stay here. People will be coming to begin entering the computer records.”

  “Lizard ship, you said?”

  “Yes, the next shuttle will take the mine workers up to the lizard ship and it will go on to the mines. We need to go. They’ll be coming soon.”

  “Where is the best place to hide, Emma?”

  She looked at me with a regretful stare. “There’s no choice. I have to get back to my cell in the basement, otherwise when the maitre d' comes in and checks us, they’ll think I’ve run away again and all hell will break loose.”

  Wilson said, “That sounds like a great place to hide, Adrian. Who’d look for us in jail?”

  Emma shook her head. “But you can’t get out until midnight. You’ll both be locked in.”

  Wilson smiled. “No, we’ll fix the locks so they think you’re locked in, but you won’t be.” He looked at me. “We’d better use the back stairwell.”

  Emma said, “I have to take my cart down to the basement. I need to use the elevator. We need to hurry.”

  We started to leave when something happening down by the shuttle caught my eye. The prisoners were all gone. Three people who looked like VIPs emerged through the hatch. The last of them caused a flush of anger in me. There was no mistaking him.

  Cigar man Silas Killian.

  He wore a long black trench coat that fanned out behind as he walked. Black gloves with no fingers. Black boots up to the knee. Hair shaved down to a bristle. Beard shadow. He and his two compatriots were giddy. They slapped each other on the back as they entered the building.

  “Please, we must go, now,” begged Emma.

  I quickly regained my composure. “Go ahead. We’ll meet you downstairs at the elevator.”

  The trip to the stairwell and down was uneventful, but the sighting of Silas Killion plagued me. It wasn’t so much what he had done to me as it was his absolute resolve to do it to so many.

  We blended in with the corner walls and watched the elevator descend and the doors open. Emma hurried her cart out and motioned us to follow quickly. She turned down the first hallway, stopped at a utility closet and shoved the cart in, then trotted a short distance to a cell on the left. Wilson already had his pen torch ready.

  We found the laser diode sensor in one of the bolt holes in the cell doorjamb. I held the door steady as Wilson cut slots in the locking bolts so that they were only holding by a thread. We could kick the door open at any time and the locking bolts would break off and stay in place, making the electronic monitoring system think the door was still bolted. We closed ourselves in and heard the ominous click of the latches, a daily reminder to the occupant that he or she was a prisoner forever without hope.

  “What happens now?” asked Wilson of Emma.

  “The maitre d' will walk the halls and release the day workers and make a visual check that the night workers are in like they’re supposed to be. The day workers will tend to the gardens and lawns and other facilities and then be brought back here before dark.”

  “What about the slave delivery? How does that go?” I asked.

  “The lizard ship will be here until 6:00 P.M. or so. That’s to give the accountants time to advertise the ones that are scheduled for the mines. If no one is interested, they’ll be loaded on the lizard ship tonight and it will leave for the mines. The other ship, the one that brought the new slaves, they hang out here until the lizard ship leaves and the accountants have finished their work so they can get paid. Then tonight a three-day party begins to celebrate the new deal. The slaver VIP’s all head out to a big estate somewhere with the XiTau higher-ups and they live it up.”

  “When do you eat?” asked Wilson.

  “At dinner, we get the food that’s left over from the high-rise kitchens.”

  Wilson looked at me with even more disdain. “I really hate this place, Adrian.” He dug in an upper leg pocket of his suit and pulled out a candy bar wrapped in bright red foil. “Any rule about you having dessert early, Emma?”

  Her eyes went wide and she dove at him, snatching the candy from his hand. She peeled it away and chomped on it, moaning with each bite. After a few moments, she realized her savagery and straightened up, trying to look more like a proper slave. “Sorry,” she said, and after a moment’s hesitation, she licked her fingers.

  Wilson spoke in a low tone, “Don’t worry, girl. I feel the same way about ‘em.”

  “Emma, you have no tracking collar or anything else I see. How do they keep tabs on you?”

  “In my leg. An implant. The same type like they use in dogs.”

  Wilson looked at me. “Not a problem. Right now it shows her here where she should be, and when we leave we’ll be so quick about it we’ll be out of range before it’s any use to them.”

  I checked through the bars of the door window. There was no one around. My mind kept back-flipping to the cigar man. Without my consent, a devious little plan kept piecing itself together in my mind, a plan completely unnecessary, yet irresistible. “Emma, that human prisoner with the red star chip on his face, would there be any way to find where they’re holding him without having to search every cell on the first floor?”

  “Oh, yeah. No problem. He’s scheduled for the mines so they’ll put him in one of the cells closest to the front entrance 'cause they know he’s going right back out.”

  “Tell me something else. They hold a lot of angry prisoners in this place. Is there an office where they keep drugs to help subdue them?”

  “Sure. In the front section there’s a kitchen area right near the temporary suites where the slaver VIP's wait. In the kitchen area, there’s a separate room for special refrigerators. There’s two glass units with keypads that hold all the drugs. The drugs are set up to be used quick, too. But you got to have the keypad c
ode.”

  Wilson looked at me and wrinkled his brow. “Adrian, you’re not thinking of…”

  “I might take a short stroll later.”

  “Adrian, we’ve achieved the mission objective. You gonna risk blowing everything to try for one more?”

  “With Emma we’ve got a crew of seven right now. Ship is designed for eight. Hate to fly with an empty seat.”

  “This ain’t the airlines, Adrian.”

  “That man is going to the mines, Wilson. Even if some kind of rescue mission is set up, he won’t be alive when it gets here.”

  “Well, I didn’t say I wouldn’t join you.”

  “No. Your job is to get Emma to the pickup point on time. I’ll take care of the other.”

  Wilson carefully crossed over in front of the cell door and pulled a scanner off his belt. He pointed it at me and began a scan.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You still have the homing device in your arm. I’m setting up a continuous link. This scanner has the building floor plan. I’ll be able to tell where you are every second.”

  We watched and waited. A short time later, echoes of activity began to carry down the halls. Harsh voices roused the beaten souls behind the dirty steel doors. There was a clanging and clanking of lock bolts snapping, and the sandpaper shuffle of tired feet dragging on the coarse cement floors. The sound of it was so medieval it made Wilson and I sink deeper into our corners on each side of the door, our hands resting lovingly on our comfort weapons.

  They all went away. The place again became a hollow shell. Like good lifers, we used our hand-held mirrors to periodically check the corridors through the bars. On her next fly-over, Danica called in and we set the pickup time for 8:00 P.M., XiTau time. The lizard shuttle and ship would be gone by then. Enough darkness would offer a fair visual cloak. Even if we were seen by someone, we would depart and be at light before anyone could do anything about it.