The Death Detail (The Securus Trilogy Book 1)

by Anthony Maldonado

  Subtly, I reach to activate my communicator to call for help, but it has been disabled. Apparently I chose the wrong bio-suit. I take a deep breath and search for a way to defend myself. The only things around are the tools we brought. Moving to the pile of equipment, I make sure to keep him in the edge of my vision. Most of the tools are useless as a weapon or for defense. The only viable option is the replacement Solar Panel segment. I pull the panel out and pretend to be attaching it to the rope, intentionally facing away from the Sun. Balum slips behind me. His long shadow tells me exactly what he is doing. My adrenaline surges as he draws near. His shadow raises the spear in a position to strike.

  Balum lets out a yell as he plunges the spear down, aimed at my back. I dodge to the side and raise my shield to catch the spear, but he pulls back at the last moment. We now face each other. Balum circles around me, looking for another opening to attack. While mirroring his movements and keeping my shield between us, I see someone else coming in the distance. I really hope the person coming is Nyree, because if it is Eldin, any chance for me to survive this attack will be erased.

  Balum again lunges at me with his spear. I step slightly to the side and angle my shield to deflect the blow. Even with the shield, I cannot keep doing this for long. The past few days has left me too weak for a prolonged fight. Balum will eventually connect with one of his thrusts. Determined to keep fighting, I regulate my breaths and keep my movements measured to conserve my limited energy.

  Any time I take step toward the Grinder, he moves to block my only escape. I watch his eyes, searching for any clue to anticipate his next move. Balum looks disoriented and even downright psychotic through his tinted visor. Nyree might have been right about him. Unfortunately, that makes him even more dangerous. I need to do something, fast.

  Without any other options, only one thing comes to mind. Releasing a guttural scream, I attack. Balum was not expecting my aggressive move and is slow to react. By the time he raises his spear to defend himself I am already bringing down my shield onto his arms. The thud of contused flesh and crack of breaking bone rings through the air with the blow. His weapon falls to the ground. Before he has a chance to regain his balance, I leap onto him. We both spin to the ground, struggling to gain a superior position. The ground and sky twirl in my vision as we wrestle for an advantage. Somehow, I manage to get on top of him. Before he slips away, I lock my legs around his to secure myself. Balum continues flailing at me, ignoring his broken arm.

  He is not going to stop unless I break his will to fight. So, I sit up in a better position to attack. Avoiding the harder helmet, I focus on his exposed ribs and reign down blow after blow. The rage that has been building since the night Merrick was murdered takes over. All I see while pummeling Balum are the soldiers who killed Merrick and Aamon’s conniving face.

  I am lost in my fury until a familiar sensation stops me. Beneath my fists, I feel the same crunching and nauseating grinding that comes while trying to save a life with chest compressions. Except this time, I feel it as Balum’s ribs crumble against the savage onslaught of my blows. Even though Balum deserves to be punished, I need to control myself and calm my emotions. I stop my attack. With my rage abating, I nearly fall over from the exertion. I take gulping breaths while holding Balum down

  The other person coming is now close enough to see. To my relief Ardal runs toward us instead of Eldin. Balum no longer resists, so I slowly get off of him. While getting the rope to tie him up, I imagine Aamon’s inevitable explanation of how Balum had a psychotic reaction to the medications.

  “What happened?” Ardal asks as he approaches.

  “Balum lost it. He tried to spear me. Help me tie him up. Then we can return him to Securus. He needs to get to the infirmary.” I am glad Ardal is here because with the adrenaline wearing off, my entire body feels broken.

  “Okay, hold him still and I’ll tie up his legs,” Ardal offers. “I can’t believe he flipped out.”

  Carefully, I circle Balum and fall back on top of him before has a chance to kick me. Surprisingly he still does not resist. The broken arm and ribs have finally taken the fight out of him. As Ardal binds Balum’s feet, I sit on the ground, needing the rest. When Ardal’s shuffling feet go quiet, I look back to check his progress. My head turns in time to see the segment that was my shield come crashing down onto my helmet with a resonating blow. My vision instantly blurs. I fall to the ground with my ears ringing, unable to see anything past my visor. The disorientation is brief, but lasts long enough for Ardal to help Balum up.

  “Did you really think I was all alone out here, Kagen? You’re not as smart as you think,” Balum laughs. His smile is ghastly, showing the moist glistening of fresh blood stains covering his teeth. Behind them, another person approaches. Eldin is on his way to join them. I might have had a chance against the two of them, but not with Eldin helping. Fighting off all of them would be impossible. I carefully inch backward while rising to my feet. Maybe if I distract them for long enough, I can find a way to escape.

  “I knew you would have help, Balum. There’s no way Leadership would trust someone so incompetent to do anything by himself,” I say, slowly moving into a position to run.

  Ardal anticipates my plan and moves to cut me off from the Grinder. “You’re so sure of yourself, Kagen. Don’t you realize it’s over? Even if by some miracle you get away from us, Aamon will never let you back into Securus. You’re locked out,” Ardal says.

  “We’ll see about that,” I say. “He isn’t alone in the Control Room today.”

  Balum moves in closer to Ardal. Both men tense up as they prepare to attack.

  “Are you going to call Eldin to come save you now?” I taunt them, stalling for a moment longer.

  Ardal laughs. “That brute. He’s too thick to realize what’s going on. He never even figured out I rigged his Grinder with a remote control to make him run you over. My aim was a little off, but I’ll fix that mistake now.”

  His words confuse me. Eldin did not try to kill me? Then why is he standing with them right now? I look again and realize he is not standing with them, but behind them. They are not even aware of his presence.

  “Is that so?” Eldin asks.

  His voice startles the other two long enough for me to react. I do not know whose side Eldin is on, but right now it does not matter. I lunge forward and kick Ardal square in the chest. He was already unbalanced because of the distraction, so the blow knocks him into Eldin, causing them both to fall.

  I turn to run for the Grinder. The vehicle is farther away than expected. I sprint as fast as my legs can carry me toward its shelter. For some reason, the others do not follow me. When reaching the Grinder, I jump inside and attempt to power on the engine. The machine does not respond. I try again to engage the machine, but it remains lifeless. No wonder they were in no hurry to run after me. Ardal must have tampered with this Grinder as well. I cannot sit in here and wait for them to surround me. My only choices are to face them here or run all the way back to the exit chamber.

  I get out and look for an opening. The three men appear to be helping each other get to their feet. Why are they still not coming after me? My blurred vision returns to focus. Now I see what is really happening. Instead of helping him to his feet, Ardal and Balum are attacking Eldin.

  I race back to them. Ardal turns in time to see me coming, but he is not fast enough to avoid the blow right in the soft spot between his stomach and chest. He collapses to the ground in a panic, unable to breath. Alone, he is easily controlled. Without Ardal helping, Eldin quickly subdues Balum as well. I get the rope and tie both of them together.

  “I thought you were with them,” I tell Eldin while securing the two attackers.

  “You really don’t remember me, do you?” he asks.

  “I knew you were familiar, but couldn’t place where or when we’ve met before,” I say.

  “Two years ago, we met in the infirmary,” he explains. “My mother had a bad accident, and you saved h
er life. I volunteered for this detail after your punishment was announced figuring if the chance arose, I could pay you back for what you did for us.”

  The memory floods back as he speaks. His mother was caught under some large equipment that was knocked over during an earthquake. By the time she got to me, she was near death from a ruptured spleen. She barely made it through the surgery but did end up recovering over the next few weeks.

  “I remember her alright,” I say. “She was such a strong fighter. Apparently you got that from her. Thank you for helping me. Does your communicator work? Mine has been disabled.”

  “Yeah, it works fine. Should I tell the Controllers what happened?” he asks.

  “No, they’ll find out soon enough. Can you get Nyree over here? Use a private channel though,” I tell him.

  *

  Either Eldin told Nyree what happened, or Jadyn really annoyed her because when they arrive, Jadyn is tied up to the back hatch of the Grinder.

  “Real subtle, Nyree,” I say, laughing at the sight of Jadyn as a decoration on Nyree’s Grinder.

  “I didn’t want any problems,” she says. “What’s the next move?”

  “I can’t risk this detail anymore. I need to go to The Caves now, before Aamon realizes his plan has failed again. Can you show me that entrance or at least give me some good directions?” I ask.

  “Umm, what exactly is going on?” Eldin asks.

  I give him a shortened explanation of the situation while we tie Jadyn up to the other two. I do not know or care if she is involved, but we cannot afford to trust her right now. We pack into Nyree’s Grinder and drive back to the exit hatch, leaving the trio for Leadership to save later. As we drive, Aamon’s voice fills the Grinder through its inbuilt speakers instead of our communicators.

  “What’s going on? Why aren’t you working, Nyree?” he demands.

  “Jadyn had a bit of an issue. I need to get her back into Securus,” she tells him.

  “Negative, no reentry until you tell me exactly what happened,” he insists.

  We are getting close to the chamber. As soon as I get out of the Grinder he will see me and know what is going on. I whisper for Nyree to make sure Talia is listening.

  “This sort of issue would be better understood by another woman,” Nyree explains. “Is Talia Vaden there?”

  “I’m here, Nyree. What’s wrong?” Talia’s voice responds through the speakers, strengthening my hope.

  “Talia, make sure the hatch is unsealed. I’m coming in now,” I yell to her as we all jump out of the Grinder and run to the hatch.

  I grab the handle and turn it to open the portal. It does not budge. If Talia cannot get this unlocked, all three of us will die. We look around to for another way to pry the hatch open. Nothing nearby is strong enough. Eldin and I try again. This time the handle turns. The hatch opens, releasing a hiss of air. We are in. Now we need to get pass the Guards that will be coming at any moment.

  We do not have any time to change out of our bio-suits, but I insist on using the decontamination chamber. Doing so costs us precious time, but I will not risk exposing the entire colony to The Agent for our own self-preservation. As we exit the decontamination chamber, the door to the hallway opens. We get in position to fight, but instead of the Guards we expected, Talia bursts into the room.

  “We have no time. The Guards are on their way,” she says in broken words, struggling to catch her breath.

  “I have an idea. Eldin, turn your communicator on and run down the hallway. Pretend like you’re talking to us and don’t realize you turned the communicator on. It may give us enough time to escape,” I tell him, hoping he will not object.

  “Okay, good luck,” he says to us before running down the corridor. I hear him ranting as he disappears around the corner. “What the hell is going on and why are we running? Kagen, you’re not making any sense. We should wait for Leadership to…”

  Talia, Nyree and I go in the opposite direction, on our way down toward the Deep Vents.

  “We need Hadwin, or this is going to be useless. The rocks in the tunnel are too big for us to move alone,” I say as we rush down the stairs.

  “That’s taken care of. Before I left the Control Room, I instructed Cyrina to have him meet us down there,” Talia says.

  “I’m glad you were more prepared for this than me. How did you even get out of there with Aamon around?” I ask.

  “When I unlocked the exit hatch he tried to have me detained. But the Guard is my friend, so he refused. After that, Aamon tried to grab me himself. So I kicked him in the groin and ran out,” she answers in a calm tone, as if it were no big deal.

  “I can’t even count how many times I owe you now,” I say, wishing I was there to see that happen.

  “I’m just trying to keep you alive so I can collect,” she answers.

  The trip down so far has been surprisingly quiet. There are no Guards following us yet. I hope Eldin did not get injured distracting them for us. Every surveillance camera we pass makes me cringe. It is only a matter of time before they figure out where we are. Even so, they have no way of knowing where we are going. That is only a small advantage, but we will take anything we can get.

  Chapter 28

  As we move down the stairway near the entrance to the Deep Vents, muted voices become audible from below us. We slow down, straining to hear the words. When we get a little closer, I recognize the voices.

  “Hadwin, Sayda? It’s us. Did anyone see you guys come down here?” I ask.

  “No, I don’t think so. When this is over, we need to talk about your planning and get your watch fixed. This isn’t exactly on schedule,” Hadwin says with a reassuring smile.

  “Nyree, are you coming with us or are you staying in Securus?” I ask.

  “I’m coming with you. If they catch me here, there’s nowhere else to go except the Detention Center,” she says.

  “Okay, we need to move fast. Don’t stop for anything. Just get in the tunnel and go. Is everyone ready?” I ask.

  I look everyone in the eyes one last time. They are all prepared to continue. Nyree is the first to exit the stairs. The rest of us follow her. Talia is careful to stay between Hadwin and Sayda to decrease the chances of her being noticed. I follow behind the group, keeping watch.

  We pass through a short, narrow hallway that looks like any other in Securus before we enter the main chamber. Nyree uses her identification code to open the door. Inside, the area looks more like The Caves than a part of Securus. We enter a chamber with a highly vaulted ceiling and jagged rock walls all around, except for the steel wall of the entrance. The biggest difference from The Caves is all of the natural formations have been cleared.

  We head directly toward the massive, metal spires built around the thermal vents. The sheer size of these energy harnessing machines rivals that of the Solar Panels above. While we march, my eyes follow the spires upward. High above us, the towers taper, eventually merging with the rock ceiling into elaborate channels that ultimately vent on the surface. Even with the surface vents, we are not in danger of being exposed to The Agent down here because the pressure and constant flow of the rising hot air prevents any backdraft. I am thankful for that, because these recent events have already brought me far closer to The Agent than I ever wish to be again.

  The other thing that strikes me is the relative lack of workers. I expected the area to be teeming with activity, but there are only a few scattered workers in the distance. This is a fortuitous break, since we can make it through here unnoticed, even in our bio-suits. We stop at a work station set up near one of the closer towers to grab some extra illuminators and tools.

  “Look over there,” Nyree says, pointing to the far end of the chamber. “Follow the tower halfway up. Look where the stairs go next to the rock wall. You see a dark spot under the ledge? That’s where we’re going.”

  My eyes follow her extended finger to the tower and the spiraling stairs wrapped around it. The stairs are normally used
by the workers for maintenance of the inner turbines that harness power from the movement of the heated air, but for us they are an escape route. She was right about the tunnel being completely hidden. From here, the spot she points at merely looks like another shadow on the wall. The veiled passage gives me hope we can make it out and back without Leadership finding our portal.

  We continue toward the tunnel. To get there, we need to walk in the open. When we do, the workers on the other side of the chamber notice our unusual group for the first time. Like Nyree, most of the workers in the Deep Vents keep to themselves, so I doubt they would be in a rush to report us to Leadership. Still, I urge the others to move quicker. We near the base of the tower without anyone attempting to stop us. As we reach the stairs, a voice calls out to me.

  “Going somewhere, Kagen Meldon?” the man says in a mocking tone.

  I turn around and almost stumble from the shock of seeing a group of Leadership Guards waiting in ambush for us. How did they know we were here, and how did they get into position so fast?

  “Just going for a stroll,” I say casually, stalling them as we back toward the stairs. They were waiting for us, but they do not know our escape plan. Otherwise, the tower would have been blocked. Standing firm, I nudge Talia and Sayda up onto the stairs. I feel Hadwin and Nyree standing next to me, facing the Guards. They form an arc around us, blocking what they think is our only escape.

  “You have nowhere to go. Release your hostage. Then we can calmly talk this over,” the lead Guard offers.

  So, Mr. Vaden has declared his daughter my hostage now. That was clever. For all of his faults, he obviously loves his daughter and keeps trying to protect her.