by M. Garnet
Both of his friends and crew agreed, and he grabbed his leather jacket and headed down to the side exit. Once in the work area with a lot of people, most in the black suits, Keenan approached one with his question.
"Blessing. May I help you?"
"Yes, I need to get to an entrance to the library."
The woman smiled; they all smiled. "Of course. There are forty-seven thousand, seven hundred and twelve entrances to the library. Which one is it you desire?"
With a sigh, Keenan raised a hand. "How about the closest one."
"Be blessed." The woman spoke and pointed a finger to a square entrance across the work area.
He turned and looked at the large square the woman indicated. There were no signs and no doors, just a big square opening and some lights on the walls on both sides.
"Well, I guess they don't need signs since this whole place is just one big library," Keenan mumbled as he started across the street. He made his way through a lot of foot traffic of people who all looked alike in black suits. Some small shuttles moved slowly so that anyone could move out of their way.
Entering the dim area, Keenan was surprised because he was suddenly inside a large room that was very high and seemed to have shelves in the distance. Approaching a low counter, there was another smiling monk. Okay.
"Welcome to the library and blessings. How may I help you?"
"I need to find where the prison is location."
Smiling, the monk nodded. "I can provide you an angel to help you get through the library. Will that suffice?"
"Will it lead me to your prison?" Keenan stared down at the small smiling monk from his additional height.
"Sir, we have so many books and chips on prisons across the many worlds. Can I get you an angel to help you find your way in our library?" The young monk never lost his smile.
"I'm only interested in the prison on your planet right here. I don't want an angel; I want someone in authority to find where that prison is located." Now Keenan slammed his hand on the counter.
The smile was still there, but it did get a little smaller. "Sir, we do not allow anger or demonstrations in the library. I would have to call some other friends to escort you out. Now please state your preference."
One of Keenan's hands expanded, and the nail began to grow to make deep indentations on the counter. "How many are you going to call to help escort me out? It would be better to call only one to take me to someone of authority, to tell me where the prison is located."
It was at this point that Keenan noticed the young monk had one hand under the counter. He didn't believe the man had a weapon, so the monk was probably signally for the backup team. Maybe this was what he wanted. He could start in a cell and move up into the prison. But he didn't intend to make it easy.
"You have incoming." It was Poly's soft voice in his ear.
"Confirmed." Unfortunately, he had to speak out loud, and the monk looked at him in confusion.
Four monks came in before Keenan had time to remove his hands from the counter. This meant that they had been close and ready for trouble. They were all smiling and in the black suits. The difference was that two were built like large wrestlers. One was a woman who also looked like she could handle herself in a bar fight. Despite the smiles and suits, this was the law gang.
Making up his mind that he was going to let them take him to a cell, he also decided it was not going to be easy.
"Sir, we need to please ask you to step outside the library." With these words, the four circling around him, one made the mistake of placing a hand on Keenan's arm.
It was what he was waiting for, as he swung around with a fist into the man's shoulder that threw the male across the area and out of sight. This made the other three react, and the fight began in earnest. The big guys were nothing more than muscles, without good coordination, but the female was good at doing her job.
Her elbow in his gut hurt, and he allowed it to take him down as he felt the prick of electricity from a Taser. He could ignore or use this power, as it was his from mother earth, but he played the game and dropped to the floor. He allowed them to drag him out of the area into the hallway before he stumbled up to find himself in automatic cuffs. They led him down a short distance and through an office into a comfortable but small holding cell.
There were the usual cameras, and the cell had an electrical screen for a front wall. Deciding he would get more attention by putting on a passive show, he turned so that the cameras could see his cuffed hands on his back. There was a click and a louder noise as the cuffs opened and fell to the metal base where he stood.
The next act of his performance was to step up to the electrical waving front wall that was mostly invisible, slowly place a hand on it and stood there for a minute. It only took to a count of ten, and there was a flicker, and the wall went away. But Keenan didn't step out into the hall—he turned and walked back to sit down on the bunk.
The wait was not long, as the sound of several heavy boots came down the hall, bringing a group of monks. A couple of them had Tasers in their hands, along with more of the larger size males. None of them were smiling. There was no talk as they inspected the front of his cell and looked at him sitting on the bunk.
The group suddenly stepped back and hung their heads. They separated and allowed an older man to come forward. This monk was dressed in a long floor-length robe and had his head shaved. Looking up as the male approached, Keenan smiled. At last, a fucking person in authority had finally come out to be met.
This monk or priest did not display a big welcoming smile. He had dark eyes under busy eyebrows that proved he probably shaved off dark hair. There was no decoration on his robe, and he wore no jewelry, no rings or long necklace with some symbol. He was just a bald-headed man in a long black robe. Keenan had learned over his interesting life that sometimes; the most dangerous people did not display their prosperity or ability.
"What is your desire, Veldan?" The leader stepped forward and spoke in a calm voice.
Well, well, this man was one smart bastard. But after all, the man ran the largest library in the universe. "I wish to visit a person in your prison."
Stepping back and looking at the others in the hall, the priest nodded. "I will allow you ten minutes with the person of your choice. It will take about two hours to transport you to the correct position."
Chapter Three
They put a helmet on Keenan to block out sound and cover his eyes. He was then led to what he recognized as a small transport, and off they went somewhere else on the small planet. Although the planet was small, it had a heavy metal core that made a standard one gravity well.
With Poly's inserted contact and natural abilities, Keenan just relaxed to wait for the end of this trip. Within twenty or more minutes, standard time, they stopped, and he was led off the vehicle. He could tell by the cooler temperature that they were going down into a building.
At last, they stopped, and the helmet was removed. Looking around and hearing the sounds and getting the smells, Keenan nodded. This was not the library. Plain grey cement walls with solid doors and hard floors told a story of serious business. No one smiled in this place. One of the heavy doors was opened, and it was indicated that he should enter.
The man behind the desk didn't look up. He was dressed in black, but it was not the neat suit of the monks out where the visitors would see the smiling and welcoming residents. It was just a black shirt and pants.
"I have a pass for a ten-minute visit with a person of your choice. Please state name of the person you wish to see."
"Yes, I need to see teacher, ah," Keenan realized he hadn't looked at the papers to see the name of the female that was the first choice that he had taken to do a favor for the Preacher. Then he heard the proper voice of Poly in his ear.
"The name be Theadore Megan."
Clearing his throat, Keenan spoke. "Sorry. The person I need to visit is Theadore Megan."
The man looked at his desk that was glowing
with a flat-screen, and then touched a couple of lit buttons. A chip popped out that he picked up and handed over to the standing man. "Down the hall and to your left."
It seemed he was on his own as he turned, and there were no escorts behind him. Taking the rude man's instructions, Keenan went down the hall, and after about one hundred feet, a door responded to the chip in his hand. A light above it began to blink, and there was a click that he thought was the lock. He reached out and pushed the door aside to look into the standard prison cell.
There, on a chain long enough to let her get to all the facilities, was the prisoner. But he had a moment of hesitation, thinking there must be a mistake. This couldn't be a staid old teacher who had stolen a book. "Theadore Megan?" Keenan had to ask the question.
The female in the chains ignored him as she sat on the edge of the bunk. She had her long legs crossed, and still, he could see something that did not say teacher unless they were teaching sex at the school where Sih Bolder had been attending. This young woman was what any male would call a bombshell.
She was dressed in a figure-hugging black outfit that was tight from her feet up to her full breasts and then was sleeveless with a few straps to hold everything in place—a small waist with just the right size breast that was not too obvious. The ass was perfect, as he inspected what he could see when she stood to the clank of her heavy necklace. That was when he saw the toned thighs and calves, and it was difficult to pull his eyes away to look up to the face.
This face did not belong in prison. Smooth skin, pert nose, and full lips were all complemented by long blond hair that hung down in back to the edge of the curve of that ass. What the hell did this female teach in that far away academy?
"Are you Theadore Megan?" Keenan asked again, thinking maybe he was in the wrong cell.
"Who the hell are you?" Standing with a part of the chain in her hand, she looked like she was going to attack, even chained and in prison.
Okay, this one was a spitfire. "I'm here to help Theadore Megan escape. But if you're not Mistress Megan, I'm in the wrong place." Keenan raised an eyebrow and waited for a second.
"Well, asshole, this hidden prison is hard to get out of—so where is your army?" The woman wiggled the chain to make noise.
He would have to examine later for reasons that he was beginning to like this sexy lady in the unusual black outfit. "How about I take care of the chain first?"
Stepping forward, he took the chain from her hands as that seemed to be a nice length of the entire long span. The woman frowned but refused to be afraid and didn't step back from him. Keenan knelt and placed his other hand on the floor and drew strength from the mother earth to let it flow. His hand holding the chain heated up, and in seconds the chain parted.
Now she took a step back as the chains made the noises, one hitting her stomach and the rest falling to the floor.
"Great trick, can you make us float up out of the roof?" She made the comment with a smirk.
"Can you keep up with me as I make our way out of here?" Keenan answered with just as must snide tone in his voice. At this time, he got a message from Poly in his ear.
"Captain, your position located. We above you."
"Confirmed, Poly," Keenan answered out loud.
"What the hell? Who is Poly?" Mistress's voice was loud as Keenan turned and stepped out into the hall.
"Our ride is here. Don't slow me down." With those words, Keenan started down the hallway and, without hesitation, slugged the first guy that stuck his head out of one of the doors as it opened. This man fell sideways and had a long shock stick in his hands. Still moving, Keenan grabbed the rod and used it as a club on the next head that came out of an open door. That man was the one who had given Keenan the chip to find the right prisoner.
Trying to keep his movements steady, but not too fast, so that the female could keep up with him, he turned a corner and faced two more of what he called guards. These men, all in black, had been warned by the flicking red lights and were coming with their shock sticks raised. Keenan went low to avoid the first one's swing and took the man out with an upper swing into the man's gut.
This caused the man to fall backward into the second one who was too close behind him. As Keenan came up onto his feet, he swung his stick at the second man, who had lost his stance. But the girl was flying past Keenan, ducked under the second guard, and was off down the hall. Damn, the woman's long legs were fast.
Taking a long stride of his own, he was over the first body and brought his stick down on the second one, who was distracted by the lady. This let Keenan put on speed and catch up with the gorgeous lady in the tight black costume. Not slowing down, as he passed her, he had discovered that she could make those toned legs cover a lot of ground. He made one more turn in the opposite direction and came to what he was looking for, stairs.
"Up." He grunted the word to the lady and hoped she would follow. After all, she was a teacher, so she would be smart. They needed to get up to the surface of this area to where the Adamant was waiting.
It was turning into a race up the stairs, as the teacher was ahead of him, and even with him skipping steps, he could hardly keep on her heels. Damn, this female was in shape in more ways than just the way she filled out that black ensemble. Keenan worked to draw some strength from the earth mother, eased his breathing, and knew that they would soon be at the top and in an area that meant more running.
They were in worse trouble, as sirens were sounding loud and lights, both red and some large bright white, were shining everywhere. This showed a large amount of the black-clad guards with the shock sticks coming out from distant buildings. Some were getting onto open carts to move out in different directions. Keenan decided that was a good sign, as he and the woman had not been identified yet.
Stopping for a moment, the woman ran past but turned and returned near him. "Problem," she inquired?
Raising a hand with one finger up, he contacted his ship. "Poly, where are you?"
"Problem. Cover up on prison. Run north." Poly was speaking into his ear, and Theadore could only hear him talking.
"Poly, we don't have a compass. Which way is north?" Keenan looked at the woman, who had a pretty frown on her pouty lips. Fuck she was a beauty.
Poly's stilted voice came through again. "Lookup. I light sky."
Standing up straight with his hands on his hips and his head tilted back, Keenan began to turn slowly.
"What the hell are you doing? We need to get out of this damn place."
While looking for a flashing light in the sky, Keenan had a quick thought that this teacher was just his kind of woman when it came to her mouth. Then he saw the flash off to the side, but with relief as it wasn't very far away.
"There." He pointed at the flashing light in the sky above all the bright prison lights. "We need to get over there. Think you can handle the run?"
"Race you, brawny brain." She was yelling over her shoulder as she took off, running before she finished her words. Shaking his head, he took a big breath and let his legs carry him across the flat area that soon turned into rough land.
He figured out that the flat area was the paved cement around the prison, and they soon ran off into fields. The zones were not used but kept low of growth and kept free of high material to give the cameras a view of anyone going in that direction. Keenan figured that the two of them would soon be spotted on this field by the guards from whatever was used to observe these areas.
So far, the people on this planet had not used weapons other than shock sticks. But if they did, they would be in serious trouble out in the open on this damn rough field.
"Poly, can you track us? How far until you can pick us up?" Looking over his shoulder, he saw a greater threat. There were floating vehicles leaving a building and starting after them. Those floaters could reach them before they could reach the ship.
"I see problem. Carts coming. I come."
"Are you talking to your ship?" The woman's words were now showing t
hat she was breathing heavy.
"Yes. Help is coming from it. Don't be surprised." Keenan had an idea of what was going to happen next, but he wasn't sure how it would work. He still kept the woman and his own feet moving, thinking every inch would improve their chances.
Letting the female stay ahead of him for protection, he did know that if everything went belly up, he could shift, and the beast could take out the attackers. She would be able to escape, and the ship would pick her up. That was last resort as he watched over her shoulder at the far flashing light of the Adamant.
But finally, with the strength of his unusual eyes, he saw another tiny light coming towards them. It was a small pink glow. He would recognize that tiny spot anywhere but was still thankful to spot it outside his ship.
Chapter Four
The female in front of Keenan, who had been running like an animal, screamed. A small monster with a pink eye suddenly appeared out of the darkness and grabbed her. Keenan leaped and had a handout to be grasped by a metal extension that closed around his hand.
"What the hell is going on? Have the damn guards caught us?" The female was kicking as they were lifted and now traveling faster than they could run, back towards the white light of his ship.
"Will you shut up? You are being saved, but if you keep up the noise, you will have every fucking guard within miles on top of us."
That made her legs stop their action, but she did talk at least a little quieter. "What is this damn thing?"
"Lady, don't curse at my crew. This is Poly, and be nice to her, or she will drop you here and take me back to my ship."
That did bring some quiet from the female, as the wind was cold, and the night flew past. Poly was able to travel faster, even with the load she was carrying, to get the two humans to the ship. Hanging on, Keenan was watching the light that he knew was the Adamant get closer; and at last, he could see the shape of the silver ship reflecting lights.