Freedom

by Maureen Toonkel

  “How dare you insinuate that Captain Torgenson is insane,” shouted Shasta. “He is my commanding officer and I will carry out his orders.” Shasta turned his back to the caged officers and walked off. Dave and Marlana turned around and faced the crowd of silent slaves staring at them from the perimeter of the massive cage.

  “Captain!” shouted Keith Hampton. “Captain!”

  Josh Stoner looked up from the desk drawer he was rummaging through. Keith’s voice was coming through the wall.

  “I saw him go into the master bedroom,” said Colonel Flax. “It’s down the hallway on the other side of this room.”

  The Captain fled down the hall and into the bedroom with the Colonel racing behind him.

  “What is it, Keith?” asked Stoner.

  “Look, Captain,” said Keith pointing to the closet.

  “Well, I’ll be,” said Josh shaking his head.

  “I don’t believe it,” said Colonel Flax also shaking his head.

  The three men stepped into the closet to get a closer look. Rather than a wall, the back of the closet was a sliding steel door. A round button on a silver plate was affixed to the molding on the left side. The button was labeled DOWN. They were looking at an elevator.

  Josh pushed the down button and it lit up. The door slid open. Josh held the door ajar, and they all squeezed in. Inside was a panel of three vertical buttons, labeled from top to bottom.

  The men got out of the elevator, and the Captain let the door close.

  “Colonel, did you know there was a Tradian Headquarters beneath Brisula City?” Josh asked.

  “No, Captain. You must believe me,” answered the Colonel. “I thought the only way to get to the sewer was through the manholes.”

  “Well, now we know where General Platt is. Are you coming with us?”

  “I would like to accompany you but I must return to work. My absence would look suspicious. I am already very late for my meeting with Mox.”

  “Yes, you are right,” agreed Captain Stoner. “Please inform Commander Andrews and Dr. Berg of my whereabouts. Tell them if Lieutenant Hampton and I do not establish contact in two hours they are to come after us.”

  “I will do so,” said the Colonel. He watched as Lieutenant Hampton pressed the Down button on the wall plate. The elevator door opened, and the two officers boarded. The door closed.

  Colonel Flax left General Platt’s apartment and quickly hurried down the J Lane. He stopped at his apartment and called out for Salton.

  “Where is the doctor and the other Gladiator officer?” he asked when Salton appeared.

  “Um, Mrs. Flax had them arrested.”

  “Arrested? What for?”

  “I do not know for sure, Master. I think, because they are intruders maybe.”

  “Why would she have done that? They are here to help,” said Flax sadly. “How are the children?”

  “I am following the doctor’s advice, and they are doing better.”

  The Colonel bid Salton goodbye, took off north up the 7 Passageway past the K Lane, and jogged down the L Lane to the Zoo where he found Mox pacing angrily back and forth outside his office. He explained that he had an emergency at home with two very sick children who needed his attention. Mox calmed down and informed him that his three children were also quite ill. They compared symptoms and found that their children along with others at the school were all suffering from apparently the same mysterious ailment. Flax told his delivery manager to stop by his apartment on the way back to work and consult with Salton for the treatment that seemed to be helping Tommie and Tossie.

  After Mox’s departure, Colonel Flax sat alone in his office with his head in his hands. He was perplexed by Gina’s behavior. Here were a group of strangers willing to risk their freedom to help the children, and she paid them back by having them arrested. They had rescued Joban and his girlfriend. They had offered freedom to Salton. The Captain had kept his word to send help to free all the slaves. At first things were working as planned but then something changed. Flax was glad to see that the Captain had come back to Brisula to check on the progress. Now Flax was embarrassed to face him again knowing that his wife had betrayed his officers. And he had promised to convey a message to them. How was he to keep that promise? What if some harm comes to the Captain and Lieutenant Hampton under the sewer? I need to find where they are holding the doctor and the other gentleman, he concluded. But how?

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  June 24, 1500 Hours

  Keith pushed the button for Tradian Central. The elevator began to descend. It did not travel very far when it came to a stop. A number 2 flashed above the door as it slid open. A man in a green military uniform stood outside waiting to board. He looked at Josh and Keith impatiently.

  “Aren’t you getting off?” the man said.

  “No,” answered Josh. “This isn’t our stop.”

  “This is going down,” said the man.

  “Yes,” answered Josh.

  “Slaves cannot go down unescorted,” responded the man. “How did you even get on the elevator?”

  “We are not slaves,” said Josh. “We are officers of the United Galaxy Command.”

  “Since when do officers dress as slaves?”

  Josh looked at Keith and realized that they had forgotten to remove the shirts that Flax had given them when they departed from his apartment. He nodded at Keith then grabbed the man and pulled him into the elevator. They pushed him to the back of the elevator and exited just as the doors closed, and the elevator left. They were in the sewer.

  “We’ll need to hide out here for a while as I am sure once that guy gives a report, they will come looking for us,” said the Captain. “Let’s find somewhere we can lay low. Be careful. It’s pretty gross down here. Wayne got sick when he and I were here before.”

  Keith got a flashlight out of his backpack and surveyed the area. After a short walk he observed a section further ahead that appeared to be dry and clean. They approached with caution. The flashlight beam suddenly was illuminated on something shiny and they saw their reflections wiggly below. Only it wasn’t in silver. It was in water and things were floating around. Angling the light so he could make out what was in their path, Keith whispered, “Captain, it’s a giant tub of water.” He walked up to the tub, shined the flashlight straight in, and added, “It’s filled with apples.”

  There were long rows of tables lined up along the walkway. On top of the tables were crates of apples. Stacked in tall piles at the foot of each table were smaller containers for holding apples. These small containers were labeled with what appeared to be apartment numbers. Josh and Keith concluded that this must be where the Brisulans were putting together the daily allotment of apples being delivered each morning to all of the citizens. But why they wondered was it being done in the sewer of all places? Why not in the Greenhouses or the Deliveries section?

  All at once there was the sound of footsteps coming down the tunnels. Quickly rotating the flashlight around the rest of the area, Keith noticed some very large barrels resting against the back walls. He opened up some of the lids and realized they were not all completely filled to the brim with apples.

  “Captain, we can get into these barrels and hide,” Keith suggested to the Captain.

  Josh did not hesitate. He started lifting barrel lids, and as soon as he found a fairly empty one he climbed in and shut the lid above his head. Keith found a partially full one for himself. From inside the barrels Josh and Keith heard the rush of the guards go by.

  Diane Pearson was worried about her husband. He had barely slept in the last forty-eight hours, and other than some chicken noodle soup he had barely eaten. She also had a sneaky suspicion that he was being less than honest with his reports to United Galaxy Command. The log transmissions he had entered since he assumed command were vague and actually completely devoid of their presence on Brisula. There was no mention of their work on liquefying the force field or of the lack of communication with the landing party
. In fact it sounded like the Gladiator was actually tending to its scheduled mission on Lexter. As communications officer it was her responsibility to make sure that all transmissions were accurate before being sent and to point out any discrepancies. When she asked Dennis if he was sure he wanted her to send the first log entry, his response was that she was to transmit his logs exactly as they were, and he would take full responsibility for their contents.

  She entered the Conference Room and saw Dennis already seated at the head of the table with his head tucked among a bunch of schematics.

  “Hi, honey,” she greeted him. “I brought you a snack. Please eat it. You need to consume something to keep going.” She set down a tray with a cup of coffee, a banana and a jelly donut.

  “Why, thank you dear. How thoughtful.” Dennis looked up from his drawings and smiled. He reached up and buried his hand in Diane’s thick, red curls. What he wouldn’t give to just chuck everything and crawl into bed with his gorgeous wife. Not only was he tired, stressed out, and worried, but he was missing the passion he normally shared with Diane.

  The Conference Room door opened, and Jackson Greene entered along with Bonnie Shea and Ben Rubin. Dennis worked on untangling his fingers from Diane’s hair while Bonnie watched with a smirk on her face.

  Something new for her to pass around the gossip mill, sighed Dennis to himself.

  Calling the meeting to order, Dennis munched on his donut and banana while he listened to Greene report on the potential weight and volume of the liquefied metal. Apparently it was going to take six bags to hold all of the water. That meant that Dennis would need to go back to the drawing board and refigure his design to entrap the water into the recycling bags. He would need a few more hours to complete the device before they could run a test. He had, however, been able to confirm that the bags were one hundred percent leakproof. Dennis had also determined that once they confined the water in the bags and sealed them, the bags could be towed to the nearest Sanitation Center for disposal. This was SC 6, which was a six day trip from Lexter. Dennis ordered Diane to prepare a communiqué to the disposal station telling them of the Gladiator’s impending visit. She was to send it as soon as the bags were actually secured and in tow. He then adjourned the meeting and headed for his work station on the Engineering Deck.

  Colin Evans looked up from the architectural drawings he had been studying for the past couple of hours. That is the ones he had been trying to study. His mind kept drifting to his last conversation with Beverly and to that briefing report he had read online. Bev and that Hampton fellow had spent days chained to one another convinced that they were going to spend the rest of their lives together as slaves. Bev never told him she had a boyfriend. That she was getting married. Instead she let Hampton fall in love with her. Even when she broke it off with him, she didn’t tell him she was engaged. Why not? Wasn’t that the logical reason to end things? She really didn’t love Hampton? Or did she? Not like she loves me? It had to be like she said, the idea that they were never going to be rescued. But, damn it, they were rescued and she still didn’t tell Hampton that she was engaged. Why? Colin laid down the drawing he had been concentrating on and reached for a different one.

  A rustling of the tent flap caught his attention, and he turned his head to see Commodore Naper entering.

  “Lieutenant Evans,” said the Commodore. “I am somewhat surprised to see you here. I thought you would still be at the Boulder Entrance with Ensign Glenna. Unless, of course, Captain Stoner has returned to the surface.”

  “No, sir,” responded Colin, rising and standing at attention. “I returned here to attend to my regular duties.”

  “Do you think that is wise to leave an officer on post alone with no means of communication?” asked Naper. He scrutinized the Lieutenant and added, “We certainly wouldn’t want any harm to come to your lovely bride-to-be. Would we?”

  “No, sir.”

  “OK then, you can take your work with you down to the Boulder Entrance and remain there on duty until Captain Stoner returns. Carry on.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The Commodore started to bend his head to duck out the tent flap then rose up instead and said, “Lovers’ quarrels are par for the course. They are no big deal. Just give her a kiss and a hug, and tell her you still love her.” Then he did duck his head and exited.

  Colin stood for a moment staring at the tent flap before gathering up the architectural drawings and leaving the tent. He took his time traveling down the trail to the other side of the Lake, his thoughts still muddled on his feelings for Beverly.

  It was quiet at the landing site. Colin did not see anyone outside. He knocked softly on the door of the James T. Kirk space pod. Ensign Glenna appeared at the entrance. Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot. Her nose was red and looked sore from rubbing. Just looking at her made Colin’s heart melt, and he swept her up in his arms and carried her to the back of the spacecraft. He lowered her to the floor where the blankets from the night before were still spread out. Then he got down beside her. Holding her, he followed the Commodore’s orders, kissing her, cuddling her, and whispering in her ear how much he loved her. She kissed him back and said she loved him too.

  Marlana twisted the iron chains around her wrists and grimaced. She couldn’t believe that she again found herself shackled to the ground. Was this what life aboard a spaceship was all about? Was this really what she had signed up for? It was true she had longed for adventure but this certainly was not what she had in mind. She wondered where the Captain and Keith Hampton were. Had they found the General they were looking for? Or had they, too, been captured? If they were taken as Wayne Shasta thought they were, they were not being held here in the Cages. Since she and Commander Andrews arrived a few hours earlier, a guard had entered the compound shortly after Shasta left and had attached chains to their hands and legs. The chains were then tied to the mesh fence. Numbers were stapled to their uniforms, and they were told not to talk. The hay-covered ground was cold, and although Marlana tried to fight it, she could not keep her body from shivering. Dave offered himself to her. Their hand chains were lengthy enough so that Dave could wrap his long arms around her, giving her whatever body heat he could muster. It felt good. Really good. She couldn’t actually remember the last time she had been this close to a man. She looked at Dave, closed her eyes, and pictured herself in the arms of a lover. They were lying face up on the beach, the warm sun beating down on them, the ocean waves tickling their toes, and the sea gulls chirping in their ears. After a while she turned over to kiss her lover. To her surprise she was face-to-face with Joshua Stoner. Marlana opened her eyes and moved away quickly from Dave Andrews.

  “What’s wrong?” exclaimed Andrews. “Are you all right?”

  Marlana appeared startled and didn’t answer.

  “No talking,” shouted a guard. He shoved a cattle prod through the fence and stuck Andrews in the back. Andrews yelped, and Marlana crept to his aid. Once the guard left she whispered in Dave’s ear, “I am so sorry. Just a bad dream. That’s all.”

  Dave pulled Marlana close to his side and replaced his arms around her torso. He positioned his head on her shoulder, closed his eyes, and whispered, “I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

  They remained pinned together until the rattling of the cage aroused them. A group of slaves had arrived home from their day of work. The cage door opened and the ragged, dusty men and women sauntered in. They obediently waited while the guards attached their chains to the fences.

  Suddenly wooden buckets on ropes were lowered from the ceiling. Marlana watched in amazement as the slaves rushed forward grabbing for the dented metal cups attached to the buckets. They dipped the cups repeatedly into the bucket, gulping down as much water as they could before the buckets started their ascent up toward the ceiling.

  Marlana was further amazed when the men and women next lined up along the cage walls with their arms extending out through the slats. Guards began walking along the cage t
hrowing raw, slippery fish into the outstretched hands. Dave Andrews quickly stood up and reached out. He snagged a fish by the tip of its tail with his thumb and index finger just as the guard passed by.

  Andrews sat down alongside Marlana and examined the fish. It did not appear very appetizing. But he remembered Josh and the others talking about all the fish they had been forced to eat when they were captured. They did it to survive. And he certainly wanted to survive. The only thing he had eaten today was an apple. He looked over at Marlana. She had not even eaten an apple today. He held out the fish to her. Marlana scrunched up her nose and shook her head. Dave shrugged his shoulders and bit into the fish.

  “Bridge to Lieutenant Commander Pearson.”

  Dennis pressed the speaker button on the satellite phone lying on his work station console.

  “Pearson, here,” he said out loud.

  He sounded tired thought Diane as she pushed the response switch on the communications console.

  “I have a call for you from Admiral Wilcox,” said Diane’s voice coming through the speaker on Dennis’ phone.

  “Give me a minute and then transfer it to my office phone,” he ordered. Dennis hung up his satellite phone and hurried down the short hallway from the engineering station to his office. He shut the door and answered the phone, which was already ringing. “Go ahead, Lieutenant.”

  “Connecting you to Admiral Wilcox,” said Diane Pearson.” She pushed the button that transferred the Admiral’s call from hold to Dennis’ office. Normally, Diane would then push another button that would cut off the transmission from her line so she could no longer hear the conversation. However, this time, Diane did not disconnect her line. She remained on the line, continuing to monitor the conversation between Dennis and Admiral Wilcox.