by Elin Wyn
“Speaking of small spaces,” I said as we entered the mess. “I'm glad to know you’re not claustrophobic.”
She raised her eyebrows but we didn't say anything else as we moved through the lines in the mess.
Word must have spread through the prison that something was going down. Several inmates went out of their way to walk by the table we occupied, pausing to glance at us, look us over, evaluate and weigh.
No one said anything, just nodded and moved on.
“Does everyone know?” Zayda whispered as she glared at the mound of greenish-gray goo on her tray.
“I suspect a lot more people than we realize are making our project possible.” I put down my spoon. If we were going to be out of here soon, I'd eat real food on Orem. If not, well, I’d resign myself to a life of this sludge when it came up.
“You're right.” Zayda pushed her tray away, obviously of the same mind. “And I suspect they're afraid of Jado enough to stay in line.”
“I'm putting my credits on Ardelle,” I answered, “I’m scared of her myself.”
Zayda's laugh echoed throughout the mess hall.
This time we didn't bother with the pretense of drinks, just went straight back to the small apartment behind the Down Low to meet with Jado and Ardelle.
A stranger sat with them, an older woman, short gray hair framing an angular face.
Zayda stopped, looked her over. “You the techie?”
“Was,” the woman's gravelly voice dragged out of her, surly, bored. “Before I got stuck up here and had all access removed.”
“Have I got a present for you.” Zayda smiled and slipped the tablet out from my shirt. She flipped to a certain page and handed it over.
The woman's eyes lit up and in moments the two of them were hunched over the tablet, flipping screens and muttering what sounded to me like babble, but obviously was a shared language between them.
“Think you can do it?” Jado asked.
The woman looked up, her eyes not entirely focused on him, still running through the codes in her head. “Yeah, this part is easy. But she got us a lot more. I need to think through some of it.”
Zayda stood up, and I noticed she braced herself. I shifted to stand closer, and wondered what was coming.
“We have a couple complications.”
Jado shook his head. “I really don't like that word.”
“This wasn't avoidable. I used the hand scanner from the clinic to generate the frequencies before. But, if I try to leave the clinic with it, it'll trigger an alarm.” Her hands clenched in frustration. “I tried to remove that section of the wiring, but even tampering with it would set it off.”
Jado scowled and started to say something, but was interrupted.
“No problem.” The gray-haired woman looked up from the tablet, eyes bright. “You just need a frequency generator?”
Zayda nodded. “Can you build it?”
“Yeah, sure, back in a few.” The woman wandered off, still muttering schematics and codes.
“And there's something else we need to talk about,” Zayda continued.
Jado started to speak again, but this time Ardelle cut him off. “And we’ll figure it out, too. What’s up?”
“Most of the cuffs are programmed to check for a pulse every ten minutes or so,” Zayda explained. “In case someone dies in their sleep, or needs medical attention. Once we get them off, if we don't put them on someone else, they'll send a signal.” She sat, and I stood behind her, hands resting on her shoulders. “I don't know how many layers of bureaucracy it would have to go through, but it wouldn't be long before it ended up in front of the governor.”
Jado rocked back in his chair, thinking. “Is it possible to disable the punishment subroutine?” he asked.
“There's an override for that in the controls,” Zayda answered.
“But if we keep ours on,” I added, “the governor and his staff would be able to track us. Even if they can't use the shock to punish us, we can't risk it.”
Zayda bit her lip, her finger tapping as she thought. “It's not ideal, but if we disabled the punishment subroutine, everyone could keep their cuffs on here until your tech is able to secure Minor from outside interference.”
Jado nodded slowly. “Everybody's used to them, I don't expect it to take her too long to get it together.”
“But what do we do about Zayda and Mack’s cuffs?” Ardelle asked.
“It just needs a heartbeat, right? Any heartbeat?” Jado asked.
Zayda nodded.
“Fine, I'll put one on, Adam can wear the other. If the subroutine for punishment is disabled, not a big deal, right? And, if it's not, we’re the best choices for being able to take a doubled dose.”
Ardelle and Zayda's eyes met, but no one said anything. It was the best choice, but no one had to like it.
Before the silence stretched on too long, the gray-haired woman was back. “Let's give this a shot.” She held up what looked like a random collection of wires wrapped around pieces of scrap circuit board.
“Never said it would be pretty, just that it would work. Gimme a wrist.”
Ardelle bounced up. “Take mine off, even if it’s just for a minute,” she held out her arm, waiting. “I’ve had an itch for a week that I can’t get at.”
“In a minute, babe.” Jado pulled her into his lap and stuck out his own arm. “On the off-chance there's an additional booby-trap stuck into these things, you're not getting hit with the shock.”
The tech ran her homemade frequency generator over the cuff. Pressure mounted in the back of my skull with every second the high pitched whine continued. I clamped my jaw, determined to ignore it. Just when I thought I was going to have to leave the room, with a ‘pop’, Jado's cuff clattered to the floor.
We all stared at it.
“It really worked,” and for once the lazy drawl was gone from his voice.
In minutes, we all had our cuffs removed, rubbing and scratching the abraded skin.
“They have to be replaced soon. I'm sorry,” Zayda said.
“You don't have to be sorry for anything ever again as far as I'm concerned,” the tech said. “Even just a minute of not being pulled sideways by that stupid thing is fantastic. I hate to put it back on, but knowing that soon it will be gone forever? We’re good.”
“What about the rest of it?” Ardelle asked “Do you think you can lock down Minor, keep the station from connecting with our system?”
“I can keep this?” the tech held the tablet up and Zayda nodded.
“Right now I'm at 86, maybe 87% certainty. I'll try to have a higher number by the morning.” She wandered out again.
“She’s never going to get to 100%,” I said. “No matter how good she it, there’s always a chance of failure.”
“Sure,” Jado’s tone regained its swagger. “But I’ve never had those good of odds for anything. Doubt anyone else has, either. We’ll take it.”
“Well,” Ardelle said, “I think we should all plan on an early start tomorrow. It’ll take a while to get you into position and test the oxygen.”
She stood up, tugged on Jado’s hand until he followed her. “Have a good night you two!” She called over her shoulder. “Don’t stay up too late!”
“That was… odd.”
Zayda reached for my hands, still at her shoulders. “I think she’s trying to give us some privacy before whatever happens tomorrow.”
“Mack?” The tentative note in her voice struck alarms. “I’m worried about tomorrow. What if the trip is longer than we figured? What if the tanks don’t last?”
She spun in the chair, her eyes wild with worry. “We don’t know how they unload on Minor, what they check for, or...”
“Hey, hey.” I reached down to stroke her hair. “We’ve done everything we can. The hidden compartment is built down to the last micron to get us through. No one is expecting a breakout. As far as anyone knows, it’s impossible.”
Zayda didn’t say a word,
but I could see her lost in lists. Nothing I said reached her. “Come on,” I leaned over the back of her chair, lifted her over it. “Let’s go to bed.”
“What?” The change of topic caught her off guard. “Mack, I’m not sure if…”
I sat her on the bed and turned to the privacy booth. “Just to sleep, darlin’.” The door to the privacy booth closed behind me, and I called out over my shoulder. “Besides, who else is going to keep me safe from the nightmares?”
Zayda
It didn’t work, of course. But this time I was already nestled against him, my back curled into his chest, when I felt his arms tighten against me. “Mack, wake up,” I whispered, rubbing his forearm. A deep sigh, as if something was letting go, and he relaxed.
“Thanks.” He dropped a kiss on the top of my head.
“Fair trade,” I mumbled. He’d stayed awake until my mind quieted and I had drifted off, as safe with him as anywhere I could possibly be. But now the endless lists of things that could go wrong spooled through my mind again. Was I going to get us killed? Was our escape going to bring retribution down on the entire satellite?
“Stop thinking,” Mack commanded. “Plenty of time for that once we’re in the compartment.”
And surprisingly, I did.
When the lights brightened for day shift, I woke in the bed alone.
“Mack?” I called out, confused. And was then angry with myself. We’d known each other for two days, by the end of today I'd never see him again. So why was it so bewildering to wake without him beside me?
I slipped out of bed and found him on the other side of the screen. The chairs had been pushed to the side, and he flowed through a series of stretches, positions that hovered on the line between looking uncomfortable and lethal, his eyes closed, and his movements sure.
When I stepped past the chairs, he froze, eyes snapping open.
“Where did you learn that,” I breathed.
He shook his head. “No idea. But it seemed like a good idea to get some stretching in this morning. You may want to, as well. We’re going to be pretty cramped in there.”
We skipped the mess, even though the bitter kaf in the hall called my name. We both knew we'd be better off with nothing in our systems during the trip.
I paused, uncertain of where to go first. “I think if I don't show up at the clinic, Denon will just assume I was taken last night. I'm sure he's been expecting it. Let's just go, get ready to load up.”
Mack said nothing, just looked grim as he checked outside the small apartment, and then held the curtain aside for me. The guard had changed during the night.
“Big day, eh?”
“Everything goes to plan, it’ll be a quiet day, actually.” Mack shook the man’s hand. “Thanks.”
Ardelle met us in the corridor outside the Down Low. “You've got to see this,” she whispered. “Elsu has done an amazing job.”
I might have been expecting a buzz of activity at the loading bay, but, at first glance, everyone looked bored, waiting for the shuttle to arrive so they could get on with this task and get back to their day.
Eight strong men and women lounged on overturned crates. One side of the bay held a line of what looked like shelving units, except each shelf burst with greens, tubes running down the sides in a confusing tangle.
“Wouldn't it make more sense for the station to have us harvest the greens and package them here?” I asked, confused.
Ardelle smiled, humor sparkling in her eyes. “Probably, but, apparently, so many people want the absolute freshest food possible, and are willing to pay for it, that they do the final stage there.” She shrugged. “Saves us time and labor, and they send back the empty racks on the next shuttle.”
“Of course, if things go as we hope, that won't be happening for a while.” I added. “This will be the last they get, won’t it?”
“Until they’re willing to deal. We can always make more racks if we need them, but there’s more than enough to keep Minor fed.”
Each of the racks had an enclosed cabinet at the bottom.
Mack tapped one as we got closer. “That's where the water filtration and nutrient system goes. And that's where we’ll be. The plants won't be as happy, but it’s a sacrifice we’re willing to take.”
I looked at the cabinet and then back at Mack. “How exactly are you going to fit in there?”
“Like a pretzel,” he grimaced. “But it works, believe me. We tried it out a dozen times yesterday. It’ll work.”
Jado and the tech whose name I never caught last night came into the room, her arms waving wildly. While I wondered if Jado was taking in every bit of jargon, he was certainly smart enough to know where she was going with things. He looked happy, so I’d bet she’d raised her prediction estimates for a successful takeover. Good.
Lights flashed and a low siren wailed.
“Incoming shuttle,” Jado called out to the group. “Everybody behind the line.”
We hurried to make sure we were behind the scuffed yellow line painted on the floor, walls, and ceiling before the field snapped into place.
Through its shimmer, I could see the landing bay doors begin to open into the cold blackness.
I shivered, and my hand crept into Mack’s. “I don't think I've ever seen this before. It's so easy to forget we’re floating in a thin shell of metal in the middle of space.”
He squeezed my hand, and I noticed he didn't seem fazed at all. Whoever he was, wherever he'd come from, it wasn't the first time he'd seen this terrifying sight.
The shuttle glided in, and we could feel its engines cut even as the loading bay doors sealed behind it.
The fields dropped, and Jado's crew rushed to the slowly extending loading ramp, ready to check for incoming prisoners before loading the racks.
Our attention was so fixed that none of us heard the rush of oncoming footsteps.
“You bitch,” was the only thing I heard as my hand was ripped away from Mack by a rough grip on my shoulder.
I had no time to notice anything else before a stinging blow landed on my cheek and I stumbled backwards.
Larko crouched over me, features contorted with rage. “You’re still just station trash, you-”
Mack leapt on him with a low growl, cutting off anything else he planned to spew.
The force of impact carried the two of them back, away from the shuttle, where everyone had frozen to their spots.
I shook my head and climbed to my feet, ears ringing. “Larko, what the hell is your problem?”
What I saw tore the rest of the rant from my lips. I stopped talking and rushed forward.
Mack held Larko's throat in one hand. The creep’s hands scrabbled at Mack’s fingers, his feet kicking air, his eyes beginning to bulge.
Jado stood next to Mack, voice even, ignoring Larko’s quickly reddening face. “Hey, man, you got him. We’ll take him from here. No one’s going to hurt her.”
But Mack gave no sign of hearing him.
I slipped under Mack’s arm, wrapped my arms around his waist, and rested my head on his chest.
Void, I could hear his heart beating loud and fierce, even as one arm wrapped around me, held me closer.
“Mack, I'm right here. I’m fine.” He didn’t move. “Please put him down. Let’s go, please?”
Gradually, Mack lowered Larko's now limp body to the deck. His other arm came around me and I could hear his breathing ease, become regular.
Jado wandered over to Larko's limp form, prodded it with his foot. “Think we figured out what to do with those cuffs. Nice of him to volunteer.” He flashed a slightly nervous smile at Mack, who still stood unmoving. “Good job you left him with a pulse.”
The tech popped our cuffs off and replaced mine on Larko's right arm, and Mack’s around one of his legs.
“Maybe we'll just see how many he can carry,” Ardelle spat.
A commotion at the door to the loading bay had Mack spinning, shoving me behind him. The sound of an odd, high-pi
tched voice was the last thing I expected to snap him out of it, but he suddenly relaxed.
“Let him in,” he called.
A skinny, older man shuffled forward, hunched over a bundle of fabric he held to his chest. His eyes lit up when he saw Mack.
“I heard, I heard the whispers,” his eyes slid back and forth, weighing the trustworthiness of our band of rogues and scoundrels. “You’ll need something, I made it, I did.”
With a little bow, he handed me one of the bundles. I turned it over in my hands, then gasped, shaking it out to flow before me like a slice of midnight, shaped into a halter necked dress with a flared skirt. “It’s lovely!”
Beaming, the little man handed the second bundle to Mack. As Mack unfolded the black pants and short sleeved green shirt, he patted Mack’s arm, chattering all the while. “Can’t go down looking like us, can’t do it. Need to look like them, blend in.”
If you knew the clothes had been refashioned from standard regulation uniforms, you might be able to tell how he'd done it, but no one passing by on a glide on Orem would give us a second look.
“These are amazing!” I couldn’t help but hug the little man. "Thank you so much!"
He started patting my arm, now. "I was a tailor, I was. Had a wife and little girl." His bloodshot eyes grew misty. "All gone now."
Ardelle wrapped her arm around his thin shoulders. "Would you like to be a tailor again?" she asked softly.
He blinked, looking surprised. "Can I?"
"Things are changing around here. I'm going to have all sorts of projects for you. Why don’t you wait for me, and we’ll head back together and talk some.”
He beamed at her. Maybe things could get better up here after all.
“Okay, boys and girls, let’s get moving.” All of the grow racks had been loaded except for one. Jado stood by it, while an older gray-haired man slid open the short panel at the end, revealing the empty chamber within.
Mack nodded goodbye to his tailor friend. “We’ll need these. Even before we get there, we could use the padding.”
I looked at the compartment dubiously. “How do we even get into this?”
