“You passed out. We brought you to your bunk,” Nikko said. “How are you feeling?”
Her eyes wandered between him, Nikko, and Kiyanna. For a moment he glimpsed a childlike innocence in her face that was beautiful. “Sick to my stomach.”
“And you haven’t had anything to eat yet,” Kiyanna said, smirking.
Dane’s confusion worried him. Was something more going on medically? Maybe they should take her to the infirmary. Though, since the riot, it had been packed with inmates. Would Dane even be safe there?
“Thank you,” she said.
Thank you? Did she just thank Nikko? He’d never heard her say that before. Maybe she was in bad shape?
“You’re welcome. Just relax,” Nikko said.
She winced as if in physical pain. “Are you okay?” he said.
She tried to sit up, but Kiyanna kept her down. “Don’t push yourself, just relax.”
“No, you don’t understand,” she said, trying again to rise. A gasp escaped her as she collapsed.
“She’s out again,” Nikko said, fearful.
“Let’s get her to the infirmary,” Kiyanna said.
* * * * * *
“We’ll keep her safe,” the nurse said, assuring Mencari. Most of the inmates were tranquilized, or too hurt to be a threat to anyone. Dane’s bed sat just outside the main nurse’s station and next to a curtain which hid away the worst cases, and the inmates that had died.
He looked at the time index on his wrist-guard. Twenty minutes before his next walkabout. “Let me know if anything changes.”
“Of course,” the nurse said, returning to her station.
He did a double take on a large pair of feet protruding just beyond a curtain. A ragged tattoo ran around the ankle, to the underside of the left foot. A shock ran through him. There’s only one person who has a tattoo like that one. But it couldn’t be Naijen. Moving with unintended speed from his D’mok abilities, he dashed toward the curtain.
“Where are you going?” Kiyanna asked.
He’s here? Is he hurt? He’s been missing all day.… But what could have happened?
As he drew back the curtain, he realized it was, in fact, Naijen who lay motionless on the gurney. Mencari gasped at the bloodied bandage that stretched around his torso and stifled his instinct to call out his name. In his panic, Naijen’s alias escaped him. He struggled for a moment, then remembered. “Gravis?” he said, hoping for a response.
There was none. Even the hulk’s color was off—ashen, nearly gray. Was he …alive? A new fear gripped him. Was this possible? He knew Naijen was an idiot sometimes, but for the most part he was indestructible, or so he appeared.
“What’s going on?” Kiyanna said, coming around the other side of the curtain. “Oh hells.” She stood frozen, speechless beyond that.
He reached out to feel for breath. Nothing. Naijen’s chest didn’t even seem to be moving.
Another nurse came to his side. In a firm but reassuring voice, she said, “I’m sorry, we didn’t get a chance to report this.” He looked over then down at her. She stood less than half his height, short to him, a bug to many of the inmates.
“He came in badly wounded, but not as much as the three inmates that jumped him.”
Jumped him? He was attacked?
“We recorded the incident, but the others have already been taken to the crematorium.”
“Is he …”
“Resting.”
Mencari sighed. “It looks bad.”
“It is. He’s still going in and out of consciousness. He also keeps mentioning someone named Speru.”
If only Speru could have heard those words himself.
“What’s the diagnosis?”
“Besides the big gash in his side?” she said. “Some cracked ribs, nearly punctured lung. Overall, I’d say he was lucky.”
“But he will recover?”
“Yes, he’s in good hands.”
“Thank you,” Mencari said. “I’ll be sure to report this to the others.”
“Of course, and I’ll keep a close watch on him.”
As the nurse returned to her station, he looked to Kiyanna. “A new factor for your plan.” Meaning, their quick escape just got more complicated.
Nikko called over, “She’s up again.”
* * * * * *
I have to tell them.
Grasping a thought was like dragging a stick through mud. All she wanted was to close her eyes and sleep again, but she couldn’t. She had to let the others know. It was the whole reason they were there. Her body fought her as she forced her eyes open.
“Just relax, Dane.” Nikko, but her voice garbled, as if under water.
“I …”
“Relax,” Nikko said again.
“No … I … found him,” she said.
“Tal?” Kiyanna said in a hushed tone, covering her with the blanket.
Dane nodded, memories overwhelming her. His face! She couldn’t get the horrid image out of her mind. So gaunt, and malnourished! His beautiful strawberry eyes were bruised, one nearly swollen shut. How much had he endured? She didn’t even recognize him at first.
A sob welled within her. Her eyes burned as crushing guilt gushed inside them. She gripped the bed trying to steady the spin of the room.
Kiyanna’s strong hand pressed down on her shoulder. “You have to relax—”
“No, you don’t understand … I …” She closed her eyes trying to focus. “He was … He was my assignment today.”
“Interrogation?” Nikko said, concerned.
The words hurt to say. “And more …”
“He’s in one of the indoctrination chambers?” Nikko asked.
“No more questions. We need to let her rest,” Kiyanna protested.
Dane shook her head weakly. “I was supposed to get a list of accomplices to the Oledant’s murder. He was so strong … so strong.” The moment she realized it was him, all she wanted to do was save him right there. But she knew it wasn’t the time. She needed the others for them to escape. “I … I had to … to hurt him. I had to …” Hot tears streaked her face.
“I’m going to stay with you. But right now you need to rest,” Kiyanna said, dimming the lights around them.
“I didn’t want to—I had to.”
Vertigo struck. It felt like her body was twisting inside a tornado. She was there to save him, not inflict more harm. The one man she actually loved, she had to hurt to save. He never looked at her, never looked into her eyes. If he had, she would’ve died right there. Causing pain was only something she enjoyed with people who deserved it or wanted it. But this? This was a personal hell made from her own wicked desires.
“I didn’t want …”
How could she? How could she not? Would he ever forgive her? Would she ever be able to forget this?
Everything spun about her. It felt like her mind was being sucked down into a black hole.
* * * * * *
“How’s she doing?” Warden Harrim asked, looking from the nurse’s station over to Dane’s bed. Nikko had swapped out with Kiyanna.
Mencari remained by his side as the nurse gave her update. “She’s been resting a few hours, Warden. There’s some emotional duress, but it looks mostly like fatigue.”
“Maybe she doesn’t enjoy interrogation as much as she implied.” His tone sounded disappointed. “We’ll work on her reassignment when she’s up.”
“And how about that one?” he said, looking toward Naijen.
“He’s staying conscious longer each time he wakes up. I didn’t expect him to be doing half as well as he is. He’s a fighter, I’ll give him that.”
A man in Naldes armor approached. He wore a strange half-sized red cape, and an unfamiliar emblem of white on his chest that at first glance looked like a fist.
“Warden.”
“Rakus. I take it this is on you?”
“You know inmates, Warden, unexpected things happen. Is he going to survive? He was quite useful up until
this accident.”
“What accident? We were told he was jumped by other inmates,” Mencari said.
“That’s what I mean,” Rakus said. “It’s unfortunate. You can’t take your eyes off them for a second before things like this happen. They’re beasts.”.
“When he’s stable, I want him moved back to one of the indoctrination chambers. I’m assuming we want to keep other inmates from opportunistic attacks while he’s vulnerable?”
“Yes, that sounds like a good idea. I’ll make sure it happens. Thank you, Warden.” Rakus turned to the nurse. “Inform me when he’s stable to move.”
“Of course,” she said.
With that he turned sharply on his heel, and marched out.
* * * * * *
“Between Dane and Naijen, things are getting complicated,” Mencari said, leaning up against his bunk. Kiyanna sat across from him, head bobbing in agreement.
“I’ll take what you found on your last walkabout and update the maps,” she said.
“We know where Tal is, we know where Dane and Naijen are,” he said. “We need a way to get them all in one place, and get to the surface.”
“Once we get close to the surface, Toriko’s transmitter will relay to the force waiting in high orbit. I’m not concerned about that part. It’s getting everyone together that I need to figure out. Dane was a big part of my original plan.”
“Sometimes it all comes apart.”
Kiyanna’s face pruned. “Yeah, not for me. There were too many holes in this one, and I knew it.”
“Beat yourself up later. We can figure this out.”
The door to the rest area opened. Dane stumbled through. Nikko followed a few steps behind.
“What are you doing?” Kiyanna asked, rising to stand.
“I’m okay,” Dane said.
“She’s better, but not okay,” Nikko corrected.
“We have a job to do,” Dane insisted.
Kiyanna’s jaw clenched. “I’m not going to argue whether you think you’re good. Fact is, I don’t want to wait around here until something else happens. We need to get everyone together and finish what we came to do.”
“I’m ready,” Dane said.
Kiyanna’s head bobbed as she thought. “Okay … that might work. Listen up.”
CHAPTER 19
Liberation
“This should be it,” Mencari said, comparing the wall to the map of the corridors. He recognized the area where most of the screams were coming from during their past walkabouts.
Narrik’s face lost what little color it had, and contorted. “So the screams—might’ve been from what Dane was doing to Tal?”
“Dane, is it?” Longtime’s voice cackled from the darkness. A shiver ripped through Mencari. “And here I thought her name was Sandra Lockhard.” The old man shuffled into the light.
Mencari opened his mouth, about to cover for Narrik’s mistake. But Longtime cut him off with, “Don’t bother denying it, or saying it’s her nickname, or any of another thousand things to dissuade me. The fact is, you don’t belong here—not as guards anyway.”
“What makes you say that?” Mencari said, probing for how much he knew.
“You made a mistake in not killing those three men. They shared an interesting tale.”
“So you did open the way for them?”
“Of course I did. And I set up the riot, and I had them drop the body where you’d find it. And now I know you are not what you seem. I’m assuming the warden and friends don’t know what you can do? After all, who would send super-soldiers down here as guards?” He cackled, walking slowly around the pair. “I have another theory too. Ms. Lockhard, slash, Dane. I understand she had a bit of a breakdown. From what my informants overheard it dealt with a certain new prisoner, one Tal Kanin.”
The old man looked Mencari directly in the eye. How did this old man have so much worked out? It appeared both inmates and staffers were somehow beholden to him.
“I think you’re here for him. For Tal Kanin. I’m sure it’s not a coincidence you’re standing at the very wall that’s shared with his interrogation chamber.” He and Narrik stood silent. Longtime flashed his rotted grin. “Speechless? Well, this is a first.”
“Mind your own business,” Narrik said, angered.
“Oh, but this is my business, boy.”
“If you know what we can do, then you know we could end you right here.”
The tension gripped Mencari. The arrogance of youth blinded the whelp. Diplomacy, negotiation, that’s what they needed to do.
“Now that’s a disappointment. I thought you understood how things worked. Instead, you’re talking more like that other guard. I think—”
“You’re right,” Mencari interrupted, taking Longtime by surprise. “We are here for Tal. And it’s clear this is your domain.”
“That’s better.”
There was no other choice; he needed to change strategies. “What can we do that will be mutually beneficial to both parties?”
Longtime’s sinister grin both reassured and intimidated.
“I grow weary of this place. We will help you retrieve Tal. And when you make your grand exit, as I’m sure you have planned, I will accompany you.”
“Doesn’t seem like there’s a choice here,” Narrik said, his tone bitter.
“Not really. It would be a shame if somehow your treachery was discovered by the warden, now wouldn’t it? We would make such good allies. Yes?”
Both Mencari and Narrik remained silent.
“Good. Just give me the word, and we’ll free Tal Kanin.”
* * * * * *
“Absolutely not!” Kiyanna yelled. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking we’re exposed and don’t have many options,” Mencari said.
“And why exactly do you think Longtime wants to save Tal for us? So he has leverage over us. He wants to make sure we take him along. We both know we can’t just randomly spring other inmates. Allowing him to use Tal as a pawn to make sure we do his bidding is a bad plan.”
“So what do you propose?” Mencari said, his frustration growing.
“We move before he can, and save Tal.”
“What about warning the warden?” Nikko added.
Kiyanna shook her head. “If the warden knows enough about Longtime, he could suspect he talked to us because he felt he could assuage us.”
“So, betray Longtime outright?” Mencari said.
“We’ll be gone before he can even raise a finger to hurt us.”
* * * * * *
“The warden has ordered us to escort … Gravis … from the infirmary to the open indoctrination chamber,” Mencari said through the communicator. “We’ll resume our walkabout after.”
This worked out well for their overall plan. The one unused chamber was also located near Tal’s interrogation chamber.
“Understood. We’ll monitor from up here,” Kiyanna said through the communicator.
The infirmary was on the far end of the common space for prisoners. Following protocol, they’d have to clear the area, then transfer Naijen up into the indoctrination chamber area. He reviewed the control panel before him. The outgoing guard had briefly explained it before departing. At least in this case, the desired action triggered from the most obvious option. He pressed a large red button.
The lights in the common area turned crimson, and a message to clear the area began to play over the loudspeakers. He and Narrik watched as the horde of prisoners begrudgingly made their way into the cafeteria and prison cell area.
When the area finally cleared and the security gate dropped, blocking off the area to inmates, Mencari and Narrik left the safety of the guard station and entered the common space. An eerie feeling overcame Mencari as they headed toward the infirmary. Longtime stood just on the other side, watching, with his rotten-toothed smile. Something about that unnerved him.
They arrived in the infirmary to find the nurse waiting. “He’s sedated and ready to
be moved,” she said. She stepped out of the way, allowing Mencari and Narrik to flank Naijen’s gurney.
No sooner did they push the floating bed into the common space, Mencari noticed the increase in the number of inmates watching at the gate. “Let’s speed this up,” he said.
“Why?” Narrik asked, puzzled.
The screech of metal being pounded on echoed through the chamber. Looking over, he saw the horde of inmates pounding on the security gate. As if made from aluminum, fist-sized welts formed in the metal.
“Move!” Mencari yelled, pushing the floating bed faster.
An alarm blared along with Kiyanna’s voice through the loudspeaker. “All inmates are to return to their quarters immediately.”
The warning incited them further. In moments the gate was torn from its track and cast aside. As the inmates rushed at Mencari and Narrik, a small force of guards entered. In the chaos, there wasn’t a clear path to get Naijen to safety.
Mencari panicked. They couldn’t use their abilities without blowing their cover. But he had to protect Naijen. Longtime’s voice shrilled from behind him. “You’re in somewhat of a bind.”
He turned to address the traitor, when he found himself flailing abruptly backward. The initial shock wore off, replaced by a throbbing pain in his side. One of the bull brothers stood over him, snorting. He’d been rammed into. Feet from him, Narrik had been similarly knocked down.
Longtime strutted away, escorted by the bull brothers, who pushed Naijen’s bed into the prisoner cells area. In despair, Mencari knew that rescuing Tal would have to wait.
* * * * * *
“What are we going to do?” Kiyanna said. Seated around a table were the five main guards, Mencari and the relief crew, Warden Harrim, and Rakus.
“I’ve never seen them behave like this,” Harrim muttered.
“Longtime claims they’re demanding justice for the death of the wolf-brothers,” Rakus said.
“I thought they jumped him?” Mencari said.
D'mok Revival 4: New Eden Page 20
