by Wayne Basta
Vibrations worked their way from the ship and up Zeric’s body. The shaking was only one of many small distractions he was contending with. Ceta kept whimpering, and Lohcja kept unnecessarily calling out the distance to target every few seconds. He tried to tune all of those out and focus on the biggest distraction – the chillingly close ground.
The YM-82, while capable of sustained atmospheric flight, was not designed for it. Taking off and landing were about all you were supposed to do with something so massive. Flying at high speeds only a few hundred meters above the ground did not fit its design, but Maarkean had insisted on keeping the ships low to avoid orbital and planetary tracking stations.
Zeric understood that ground clutter would interfere with sensors, but he did not see why it mattered. No one would be tracking them until after they got to the prison; before then, they were just civilian transports. Only now they were civilian transports attempting to sneak around.
More importantly, he was all too aware of how easy it would be to go from confusing sensors by getting lost among ground clutter to becoming part of said ground clutter.
The first leg of the journey had been fairly easy. After departing their rendezvous location, they had flown to normal altitudes and headed east over the ocean. Although the prison was on the same continent, it was on the opposite side of it, and the continent was well populated. Going completely around the planet provided them the opportunity to approach from the coast.
The descent had been made over the ocean. Flying low had been easy over the smooth ocean surface. Once they had hit the east coast of the continent, the trouble had begun. Hills and trees provided abundant obstacles to be avoided. The freighter’s controls were far from responsive. Zeric was sure that it would be easy to track them if anyone just followed the trail of decapitated trees.
“The Cutty Sark has reached the prison!” Lohcja called out from the operations station. “They have engaged the prison. One guard tower is in flames!”
The group around Zeric cheered. He attempted to ignore them as he struggled to gain altitude over a fast-approaching rise in the ground. Not for the first time, and he was sure not for the last time, he wished Maarkean had just killed him when they had first met.
“That’s our cue,” Jairyd said, his voice filled with excitement.
Lohcja stood up from the operations console and picked up his pistol, a cheap civilian stun weapon. Pasha inspected his weapon as he led the way down the stairs into the lower decks. Nervously, Ceta started to follow, but Jairyd stopped her.
“You don’t have to go, you know,” he said tenderly. Zeric was surprised at his tone, but he was forced to ignore it.
“Yes, I do,” Ceta said defiantly. “You tried to keep me out of this from the start, but that is my sister down there.”
Slowly, Jairyd stepped aside and let her descend the stairs. He gave a nod to Meyka, who had taken Lohcja’s place, and then he looked in Zeric’s direction. “We’ll see you down there, then.”
Trying to spare as little attention as possible, Zeric replied with a short, “Yep.”
With Jairyd down the stairs, he was left alone on the bridge with Meyka. He did not understand the woman. She had refused to participate in violence, yet Lahkaba had managed to convince her to accompany them on this mission. Granted, she had refused to participate in the infiltration of the prison, but Zeric preferred having someone stay behind to keep the ship warm anyway. He just hoped her pacifism didn’t extend to letting them get killed.
Suddenly the prison leapt into view as he cleared the trees and entered the open plain that contained it. It was lit like a beacon by bright white security lights and crackling, orange-red fires coming off the towers.
Lohcja’s initial scan had indicated one of the towers had been hit. Zeric’s visual scan showed more than that. Meyka confirmed it when she declared that four of the six towers had already been damaged. She said that the Cutty Sark was coming in for another pass on the east side of the prison.
“All right, then we’re coming in on the west side.” It had not been planned in advance, but Zeric assumed Maarkean had cleared the west side first and was now engaging the east so that Zeric would have a clear landing spot. West had been where Gamaly had indicated she and Saracasi were being held.
Covering the remaining distance to the prison quickly, Zeric slowed the freighter down as he went. Slowing down over a hundred thousand tons of freighter did not happen quickly. For the first time, Zeric was glad they were in an atmosphere, as the gravity and air friction were finally helping him do what he wanted to do.
Switching off the engines and going to thrusters and anti-grav fields, Zeric used the ship’s remaining momentum to drift into position over the prison’s west wall, which he fervently hoped had no one inside. Feeling that this situation required somewhat less care than he would normally take in a landing, Zeric let gravity do most of the work of pulling the ship’s mass down onto the wall.
The shudder that ran through the ship, combined with the sound of cracking concrete and screeching metal, was greater than anything they had experienced during the flight. In hindsight, he considered whether the fall might cause some damage to the ship. He wondered how much faith he could place in the reinforced hull.
After another shudder and a slight shift to port, the ship came to a complete stop. The sound of tumbling debris continued for another few moments, and then silence fell. They were slanted to port a few degrees, but that was nothing that should interfere with movement. He hoped that the rubble would not prove a hindrance to exiting or entering the cargo bays.
Putting the engines into standby, Zeric removed himself from the helm and dashed to the stairs off the bridge. He gave a perfunctory word of encouragement to Meyka as he left. Taking the stairs two at a time, he turned the corner at the landing and propelled himself down the second set and into the corridor.
By the time he reached the elevator leading into the cargo bay, he welcomed the break.
The door to the elevator opened, and Zeric drew his pistol. As soon as he emerged, the high-pitched screams of weapon fire filled his ears. The night had an eerie glow of twilight, with buildings cast in darkness and backlit by fires. Building faces were briefly illuminated by the flashes from weapon blasts. The pungent smell of smoke filled the air, but it was not thick enough to interfere with the air quality.
Keeping low, he hugged the bulkhead of the cargo bay and headed for the open bay door. Peering out, he saw the remains of the prison wall littering the short distance from the ship to another building. The building itself had most of the facing wall collapsed. Damn, he thought. He hadn’t meant to catch any other structures in his awkward landing.
He caught a quick glimpse of Pasha as he disappeared around the side of the building and considered his choices. He could follow Pasha or head into the collapsed building. According to the map of the prison, it should be a prisoner barracks. He hoped not too many people had been hurt.
On the other hand, despite the claims that all of the prisoners were innocent political prisoners, Zeric was hesitant to go in alone. Gu’od and Gamaly were prisoners as well. While they were certainly dangerous in the right circumstances, they were not inherently violent. But they were criminals. He was sure there were more than a few real criminals who were far more violent inside this prison.
Hoping he wasn’t going to regret this, Zeric headed for the building. Gamaly had said they were being kept on the west side, and he had come here for a purpose. Climbing over the rubble, Zeric peered into the hole in the side of the building. It was obscured by dust; the first things he perceived were sounds of coughing and a baby wailing.
“Everyone okay in there?” Zeric called.
“No,” a voice replied. “There are many injured. I think some may be trapped under the rubble.”
Zeric cursed the luck, but he knew he should have expected that when he saw the damage. “Get everyone who can walk up out of the building. There is a ship behind me where
the wall used to be. Get everyone aboard.”
“Who are you?”
“That doesn’t matter. But I’m here to get you out; now move! Once everyone who can move is out, see if you can help anyone trapped under the rubble. But don’t take too long. We can’t risk sticking around, or no one’s going to be getting out of here.”
Zeric started scrambling back down the rubble again, knowing he couldn’t afford to wait for a reply. He headed around the opposite side of the building that the others had taken. Ahead of him, he saw the remains of a fence and then another building similar to this one. People were already starting to stream out of it, so he assumed the others had gotten to them first.
Moving past the group of buildings, he headed toward another fenced-in area. These buildings were less affected by the damage, but the fence and one building wall were still down. Dashing between the twisted remains of the fence, he headed for the open courtyard in the middle of three buildings.
Once there, he surveyed the scene and was pleased to find no guards waiting for him. Moving fast, he went to the building that had lost part of its back wall and shot the door a few times. It swung open after the third blast, and he pushed it and went inside. The room was filled with dust, like the previous one, but this time he could clearly see the occupants. He quickly informed them about the freighter and then headed toward the next building.
He cleared the remaining two buildings off the courtyard in the same manner and headed toward the last set of buildings on this side of the prison. This trio was far enough away to have only been showered with debris. The building’s walls and fence were all still intact.
Holstering his pistol, Zeric took the wire cutters out from his belt pouch and began cutting the chain links as quickly as he could. He took the time to cut a wide opening completely out, instead of just a sliver to slip through. This way, the prisoners could use the hole as a direct line toward the freighter. Once the fence piece fell free with a rattle, he headed toward the buildings.
Clearing the first two buildings went quickly, but on the third, he was stopped by a voice. “Zeric?”
Looking over the group in the building, he spotted the blue-skinned figure of Gamaly. Relief overtook him, and he fought through the fleeing group toward her. They embraced, and then he looked around for Gu’od. Not seeing him, he asked the obvious question.
Clearly upset, Gamaly replied, “I have no idea. I haven’t seen him since my first day here.”
Zeric cursed to himself again. “Well, we’re freeing everyone. He must be with one of the other groups.”
Zeric watched the crowd flow out and examined the few people who remained beside him and Gamaly. Recognizing Saracasi from their brief meeting, he was surprised that she seemed concerned for Gamaly. Beside her stood another Liw’kel female, an older Notha male, and a Kowwok male.
“Where’s Maarkean?” Saracasi demanded, pushing past the others toward him.
“He’s flying cover in the Cutty Sark, don’t worry. This was his idea,” Zeric hastily replied.
“It was what?” she replied more quietly. He didn’t expect the look of shock that covered her face.
“We need to get all of you to the ship,” Zeric said, trying to move things along.
“You are trying to clear the entire prison?” the Notha asked. “It is very big. Let us help you.”
Zeric considered the elderly Notha. “We’ve got people already on that.”
“We can help,” the Notha insisted. “You can clear the way while we talk to the people.”
Not wanting to waste any more time, Zeric nodded.
“Gamaly, you and Saracasi get to the ship. Gu is probably already there waiting for you.”
She shook her head stubbornly. “I’m going with you.”
“Me, too,” Saracasi said determinedly. That took him aback. At their first meeting, he had taken Saracasi for someone without a lot of backbone. He should have known she would take after her brother.
“Fine,” he said, rolling his eyes skyward. “But let’s move.”
Zeric led the small group out of the now empty building and toward the gate that opened into the central building of the prison. Not wasting any more time with the wire cutters, Zeric blasted the locked courtyard gate that led to the inner building and pushed it open. It took a few more shots to blast out the lock on the sturdier interior door.
“All right, since you’re here, which way?” Zeric asked.
Upon entering the building, Faide took the lead in moving them through the building. Saracasi kept watch from the group’s rear.
When they turned a corner and came face to face with a group of prison guards, Asirzi let out a fearful scream. Zeric didn’t hesitate; he fired his pistol, taking them each out in quick succession. Picking up the guards’ fallen weapons, Zeric handed one to Gamaly and attempted to hand one to Faide. The Notha refused the gun, and Zeric handed it to Chavatwor.
Saracasi laid a reassuring hand on Asirzi’s arm; it seemed to calm her and she stopped hyperventilating. Faide nodded approvingly at her, and the group continued. Asirzi grasped Saracasi’s hand and refused to let it go as they proceeded.
Several turns later, Saracasi was completely lost. She had only come into the building before for that one meal. With the power out, the building was lit only by the light coming in from the crackling fires outside. In the distance, there were the sounds of weapon fire and an occasional explosion. The whole experience had a surreal feeling.
Faide came to a halt in front of a set of heavy metal doors. He gestured to them. “You may find your friend in here. This is the isolation ward. If he was not released to the general population, he will have been kept here.”
A glimmer of hope appeared on Gamaly’s face as Zeric fired at the door. It took repeated blasts, but eventually the lock weakened, and they were able to pry the door open. Inside was a small cluster of cells along a short corridor. Zeric went down the row, blasting each cell’s door. A handful of people stumbled out, but none of them were Liw’kel.
Gamaly appeared to be on the verge of despair, but Faide laid a gentle hand on her back. “This is a good sign. It means he was released before now. He must be with one of the other groups.”
Nodding with grim determination, Gamaly turned and started leading the group deeper into the building. The group struggled to keep up. When they came across two more guards, Saracasi was startled and impressed by the speed with which Gamaly took both of them down.
Scooping up the guards’ weapons, Zeric handed one to Saracasi and one to Asirzi. Saracasi was not particularly good with blasters, but she knew how to use them. She checked the safety and the weapon charge. She was unsurprised to see that the guards had not set it to stun. It took her a moment to decide, but she changed the setting.
Asirzi was clearly unfamiliar with weapons, so Saracasi pointed out the prominent features. The woman appeared relieved to learn of the stun and safety settings. Following as quickly as they could, they took turns watching the group’s back.
They made their way out of the building before they encountered any more resistance. After exiting a door leading to another courtyard, shots started raining down at them from atop the east wall. Zeric rushed them all back inside the building. Saracasi peeked out the door and was dismayed at what she saw.
The courtyard had apparently already been reached by whoever had come with Zeric. She could see that the barrack doors were open. She also saw that the courtyard was filled with bodies. From up on the wall, the prison guards were shooting at anything that moved in the courtyard.
“We’ve got to take out those guards if those people are going to be able to get out,” Faide said reluctantly. He sounded distressed at the inevitable violent outcome.
“Gamaly and I will head out there and break to the sides for cover against the buildings. The rest of you provide us with some covering fire. Stun won’t work at this range, so you’ll need to switch to full,” Zeric said.
Saracasi had never c
onsidered herself a pacifist. She recognized that violence was necessary in certain situations. Despite that, the idea of keeping her weapon on stun had appealed to her. Switching the setting, she nodded to Zeric and took a position beside the door. Chavatwor moved to the opposite side, and Asirzi nervously took a position beside her.
Zeric looked to Gamaly, and the two shared a look. Saracasi had heard Maarkean talk about the bond that developed between people in combat. Now she thought she had an inkling of how much she had underestimated that connection. After a moment, they turned toward the door, and Zeric said they were ready.
Taking a deep breath, Saracasi stepped out from around the door and started firing. Her shots were wild, but they were aimed generally up at the wall. The shots from Asirzi, Faide and Chavatwor didn’t appear to be any better aimed. Surprisingly, it appeared to be working, as the dim shapes of the guards on the wall dropped from view.
Charging out, Zeric and Gamaly ran through the fence gate and split toward opposite sides of the courtyard. Once they reached the protection of the walls, Saracasi stopped firing and moved back to safety. Chavatwor and Faide stopped a second later, but Asirzi continued firing, screaming wildly.
After several more seconds, her pistol stopping firing and made an artificial clicking noise, indicating that it was out of charge. Asirzi was looking down at the weapon, confused, when she suddenly fell backwards, letting out a howl of pain.
Desperately, Saracasi tried to reach out to her fallen friend, but the space between them filled with deadly shots. Chavatwor and Faide reached their guns around the door and fired wildly back up at the wall. The barrage slackened slightly, and Saracasi found enough courage to go out into it.
Lunging out from the safety of the wall, Saracasi grabbed Asirzi’s arm and dragged the woman out from the open and to the side with her. The woman was covered in blood and shrapnel from the floor and wall. Panic swelled up inside Saracasi and threatened to overwhelm her.
