by Jaleta Clegg
The others shuffled out. Jhon came last. He paused to close the window. He shut the door behind himself.
"Can you lock it?" he asked me. "Confuse them for a while. They won't notice we're gone until they do the morning head count."
I relocked it with the wire.
Jhon had the others moving towards the next building. They hid in the shadows along one side while Jhon tapped on the door. There was an answering tap.
"Open it," Jhon whispered to me.
I used the wire again. Five more joined us.
We repeated the same thing at the next two buildings. We had a group of almost thirty when we finished.
"The fence is weak there," Jhon said, pointing. "I tested it yesterday. The wires are shorted out."
He stepped into the open space between the buildings and the fence. I glanced at the guard tower. I couldn't see anyone up there. Everything stayed quiet. I ran quickly across the open space to the fence.
Jhon crouched in the shadows. He pulled on the bottom of the fence. It lifted just enough that I could squirm underneath. He waved to the others, motioning them to hurry. They ran over and crawled through the space, one by one.
I watched them spread out, running into the night in different directions.
"Here," Jhon whispered to me. He shoved a bundle under the fence, blankets he'd taken. I pulled them free and wrapped one around me like a shawl. I was freezing. I held the fence up so he could crawl through.
I let go of the fence. He started pulling it back together. There was a sudden sizzle of sound and a flash of purple light. He jerked back from the fence with a curse.
"They're on to us," he said. "Come on."
He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a run away from the compound. I pulled my hand free. We stumbled across the fields, tripped by unseen ditches. Ridges of frozen mud scraped my hands more than once as I scrambled up to run again.
The guards shouted behind us. The perimeter lights blazed. We ran faster, now that we could see. The problem was that the guards could see, too. Shots rang out behind us.
We caught up with some of the other prisoners. Some of them had already given up, sitting on the frozen ground and waiting, their heads bowed. I kept running, following the few stronger prisoners. The shadow in front of me was Jhon.
The shouts faded behind us as we crossed the farthest field. We jumped the last ditch and kept running.
We were in the wild lands beyond. The ground was more broken, covered with clumps of tough grass and rounded lumps of stone. The clouds broke up allowing the moon to spill some light across the frozen landscape. We stopped to catch our breath on the other side of a rolling hill that hid the work farm.
"We have to keep moving," Jhon panted. "They'll keep searching for us."
"Not until daylight," one of the others who'd kept up with us said. We were only thirteen, out of the thirty who'd broken out.
Jhon just shook his head.
We started off again, moving at a slower pace, one we could sustain for a long time. At least I hoped the others could. It reminded me of training missions at the Academy. I'd only gone on three, the fewest I could and still graduate. I hadn't planned on needing the skills later. I hadn't planned on ever joining the Patrol or working for Lowell.
That thought led to others. I'd never have met Jasyn. Or Tayvis. But Tayvis was dead. And nothing really mattered anymore. Except something still did matter, otherwise I would have curled up and died already. I could say it was just a force of habit to keep surviving. The truth was that even anger at Lowell wasn't driving me anymore. I just wanted this to be over, so I could go back to my ship and never leave again. I wanted to be with Jasyn and Clark. I wanted to live a normal life. Or as close as I could get.
The clouds drifted farther apart. The moon was high overhead, spreading silver light over the weeds and snowdrifts. We kept going, pausing only when we had to rest. The running helped keep me warm. I pulled my blanket tighter as the wind picked up. It didn't help much.
The land rose. The bulk of the mountains grew ahead. We stopped for another rest break. Half of those with us stumbled, unable to go much farther.
"We can't stop here," Jhon said. "We have to keep going."
"How far?" one woman gasped. She was bent over, clutching her side.
"Up into the mountains, where we can find a place to hide. We have to reach it by daylight." Jhon didn't wait any longer. He started off again.
The others trailed behind him. They weren't running anymore, none of us had that much stamina. Except for Jhon.
The woman who had asked how far didn't move. She slowly sat down, breathing hard. I tugged her sleeve. She shook her head.
"I can't go any farther," she said.
"I can't leave you here," I said.
She shook her head and waved me away.
I hesitated. I didn't want to leave her. She'd either freeze to death or get recaptured. I didn't have much choice. I trudged away, after the others. I glanced back only once. She was sitting, hunched over, a dark hump in the night.
Six others were left behind before we reached the trees coating the slopes of the mountains. The moon had set, leaving us in deep dark. We kept moving ahead. It was either that, or give up and die.
I tripped over something in the dark and went sprawling to the cold ground. I scraped my face along a patch of ice under a tree, one crusted with ice. It stung. I couldn't make myself get up. Jhon pulled me to my feet and pushed me into motion again. I was too tired to fight him. I wondered why he hadn't left me like he had left the others. Some tickle of suspicion awoke. Who was he and why was he so concerned about me in particular?
We kept moving up the slope, picking our way through trees and snow. The night slowly faded overhead.
We stumbled onto a trail. It was easier to walk on than the crusted snow and leaves under the trees. Those of us still left started up the trail. Jhon grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. I blinked wearily at him.
"It's too easy. It's a trap." His blue eyes searched my face. I noticed how cold they were, calculating and hard, not warm and trusting as I'd first thought.
I tried to pull my arm out of his grip. I was too weak to fight him. He kept his hand locked on my elbow.
"Who would set traps here?" I asked him.
"You should know. You're the leader of their rebellion, aren't you?"
I yanked my arm free. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about."
I got three steps up the path when the screaming started. I hurried up the trail, Jhon at my heels.
One of the others, a man barely out of boyhood, dangled by his feet from a rope. He twisted above us, out of reach. The rope was secured to a tree top. He screamed as the rope swung him back and forth.
"We can't help him," Jhon announced. He was staring back, down at the valley we'd come from. The trees were more open here, giving us a glimpse of the flat valley floor. Plumes of smoke rose from objects racing over the ground. The faint sound of engines floated up to us. "They're hunting us already," Jhon said. "We have to keep moving."
"We can't leave him here," the only other woman left objected.
"Then stay with him and be caught," Jhon snapped. "Move," he ordered as he shoved me. "Off the trail," he added.
The other two men shook their heads and kept going up the trail. Jhon fastened his hand on my arm, dragging me with him into the trees. He was too strong, I had no choice but to stumble beside him. The screams faded behind us.
We crossed the slope, climbing higher with each step. I gasped for breath. Jhon's hold on my arm was the only thing keeping me upright. I had the blanket clutched around me in fingers so numb I couldn't feel them anymore.
The trees gave way to different trees. These were tall, dark green, their leaves pointed spikes. They grew close together, blocking the light from above. Few plants grew underneath them. They creaked in a predawn breeze. Snow broke through, falling in clumps to land on the ground in broken piles.
Jhon kep
t pulling me with him. I stumbled more and more. He wouldn't let me stop. His grip on my arm kept me from falling to the ground.
We passed through the growth of thick trees and came out in a meadow. Snow covered most of the ground, a thin crust refrozen into ice. It crunched under our feet. The sky overhead was brightening. The clouds were tinted pink and gold. The wind picked up, tugging my hair and freezing my face.
The trees ahead of us stretched bare limbs to the sky, like clawed fingers. The ground under them was a tangled mass of leafless bushes. Jhon stubbornly waded into them, breaking a path and pulling me after him.
I'd had enough. I dug in my heels and jerked at his hold. He stopped and turned around to face me.
"We have to keep moving," he said.
"There isn't any point," I argued. "What are we going to do? Live off roots and berries all winter?"
"What of the villages? What of the rebellion?"
"I don't know anything about them. Why do you care so much about finding them?"
He turned away, yanking me into motion.
I stumbled one step then stopped again, planting myself firmly. "Let me go," I insisted.
"Dace," he started, a wheedling note in his voice that made my skin crawl.
I shook my head, denying what my suspicious mind was whispering. I jerked at his hand on my arm. He grabbed both my arms and shook me.
"Don't lose it. You can't give up now. Not when we're so close."
"What do you want from me?" I screamed at him. "Let me go!"
He slapped his hand over my mouth, his own face gone hard and stony as he looked past me. "Be quiet."
I bit his hand. He let go, pushing me away. I staggered into a bush, catching myself on a tree trunk. The bark was rough under my hands. I leaned on it, unable to run any farther. Shapes rose from the bushes around us.
I didn't dare let go of the tree trunk to rub my eyes. I would have fallen on my face. I blinked rapidly. The shapes were still there. They were people, wearing clothing the colors of the wintry woods. They came close. I lost my grip on the tree and sat down heavily.
Jhon turned to me, smiling, his face transformed again. He crouched next to me, patting my shoulder gently. "You did it, Dace."
I cringed away from him.
The people came closer. They watched us suspiciously, eyes narrowed. I just sat, too tired and cold to run any more.
Jhon stood, arms spread wide in greeting. One of the forest people flicked his fingers at Jhon. Jhon staggered and crumpled to the ground. The forest people closed around us. One of them plucked a sliver of wood and feathers from Jhon's neck. They looked down at me, judging how much of a threat I was. They must have decided I was safe. They didn't dart me like Jhon.
A man pulled me to my feet and pushed me into a shambling walk. Two others picked up Jhon and dragged him. They said nothing.
We hiked up the ridge and down the other side. They followed a faint path through the forest. I clutched my blanket around me and put one foot in front of the other. The promise of dawn was swallowed in another storm. Dark clouds rolled in and shut out the sunlight. The wind gusted.
I ducked my head and just followed the feet of the man in front of me. The flanks of the mountain grew steeper and more rocky. The trees changed varieties with each slope.
We came to a rocky defile, a narrow gorge through steep cliffs of gray stone. The path led into it. We didn't walk far. It ended in a dead end, a steep slot that no one could have climbed. Ice trickled down the stone face. There was a hollow at the base, floored with coarse sand but mostly sheltered from the growing storm.
They dropped Jhon on the sand and pushed me after him. A crude gate of wood was pulled shut across the narrow mouth of the hollow. I sank down to sit on the ground. I was too cold to shiver. I was hungry and thirsty. I was bone tired. I was also trapped. Again.
The wood gate was pulled back. More people were herded through, most of the ones who'd made it to the woods with us including the young man caught by the rope. The wood gate was shoved back into place. The others looked around, frightened and just as miserable as I was.
"What do they want of us?" one of the women moaned.
"Do you think they'll kill us?" a man whispered.
"Maybe they'll feed us," another man said hopefully.
Their speculation died out as snow began to fall. We crowded into the shallow shelter where it was marginally warmer. We were left to wonder in silence as the day faded into gray snow.
Chapter 14
"Citizen Prime, it is so good of you to meet with me." Lowell very carefully kept any hint of sarcasm out of his voice. Potokos had kept him cooling his heels for over two weeks before finally relenting to a meeting.
Lowell stood at the end of the long conference table. Potokos and two others were seated at the other end, a subtle positioning. Lowell was the supplicant here, or so they wanted him to subconsciously believe. However good they may be at manipulating their own people, they weren't even close to Lowell's league.
"Admiral," Potokos said, bowing his head slightly. He sat waiting for Lowell to speak.
They gave every impression that all was well on Tivor, Potokos and his silent councilors. Lowell pulled out a chair and sat. He spent a few moments arranging his sheets of mem paper.
"We are very busy people," Potokos said, a tight edge to his voice. You are wasting our time, his unspoken message said very clearly.
Lowell smiled, the unfocused bland smile that had disarmed better opponents than Potokos.
"I'm sure you'll be interested in what I have to say," Lowell answered. He wasted a few more minutes squaring the edges of his mem paper and lining them up across the table.
Potokos sat frozen, a frown creasing his cheeks.
Lowell wondered what would happen if he actually pushed Potokos into cracking. It was idle speculation. He really didn't have time for that sort of game.
"The Emperor is concerned," Lowell said without preamble. He saw the minute flick of Potokos's eyes that betrayed nervousness. "He sent me to assure him of your continued loyalty to the Empire."
"But of course," Potokos said. He smiled but Lowell noted the slight twitch of his hands. Potokos had something to hide.
Lowell tapped one of the mem sheets. A map of the sector blossomed over the table. Lowell watched Potokos. The other man glanced at the projection then back to Lowell's face. No surprise. Lowell briefly wondered how Tivor could stay so updated when they were so isolated. No, he didn't have to wonder. He knew where their information was coming from.
He leaned forward, close to the map. "As you can see, Tivor is now in a position of great importance to the Emperor. This ill-conceived rebellion is spreading."
"Ill-conceived?" Potokos sounded smug, superior.
"The Empire is strong. They have no chance of succeeding. All they do is cut off their own supply lines." Lowell knew he sounded like an overconfident Admiral, he'd practiced. He didn't miss the shift to a sneer on Potokos's face.
"They can survive without the Inner Worlds," Potokos said. "In fact, they will prosper without the burden of supporting worlds that have outgrown their ability to support themselves."
Lowell leaned back, away from the table. "Your words could be construed as treason," he said, challenging Potokos.
"Merely a statement of truth." Potokos backed away from outright treason, but not very far.
Lowell studied Potokos, drawing out the silence in the room. Outside, snow fell in wet flurries. It never stuck long in Milaga. It melted almost as fast as it fell.
Potokos finally shifted in his chair. "Why have you really come, Admiral? I do not believe it was merely to inspect an outdated and almost abandoned base on our world."
Emphasis on our, Lowell thought to himself. Tivor was not part of the Federation, not yet. He tapped the page in front of him, letting the map of the sector die.
"I was sent to assure myself of your continued loyalty, but that seems to be in question," Lowell said. "What would it
take to buy your loyalties, Citizen Prime? Food? Troops? Equipment? Currency?"
"Bribery, Admiral? How very unoriginal." Potokos sat ramrod straight, as he had the whole meeting. He pressed his thin lips together.
"Perhaps a solution to your uprising?" He had the satisfaction of watching Potokos twitch. "Half your population is in rebellion, Citizen Prime. How long do you think your government can stand in the face of outright revolution?"
"Our internal affairs are none of the Patrol's business," Potokos snapped.
"They are when they infringe on the security of the Empire." Lowell brought the map back up. "If we allow Tivor to dissolve into chaos, we lose the rest of the sector. A dozen systems. And more. My orders are to prevent just such an occurrence. Using whatever means are necessary."
"You threaten me?" Potokos sneered openly. "With what, Admiral? The pitiful few troops still stationed here? A handful of engineers and paper pushers. You have one ship, a small cruiser. You cannot hope to win."
Lowell didn't flinch, as Potokos expected. He smiled instead. "Perhaps I should offer my assistance to the rebels. They might appreciate my help." He shifted as if ready to stand.
Potokos leaned forward. "Go ahead, Admiral. My police will arrest you and your people the moment they step foot on Tivoran soil. This discussion is over." Potokos stood, flanked by the other two men.
"Is that an open declaration of war against the Empire?" Lowell stayed in his seat. His manner changed ever so slightly. It was enough to shift the balance of power in the room.
"It is whatever you wish to read into it," Potokos said.
"Then perhaps I should have you arrested and sent to Linas-Drias for your execution." Lowell waited until he had Potokos' full attention. "Or perhaps I should exercise my authority and just have you shot immediately."
Potokos must have pushed a hidden button. The door burst open and six heavily armed guards in police uniform thundered in.
"Don't be stupid," Lowell said mildly. He pulled a tiny transmitter from his pocket and laid it on the table. "You shoot me and my ship has orders to incinerate this entire building. Captain," he spoke at the transmitter, "confirm my orders."