Escape from Helmira: The Great Civil War Prison Escape (Dyna-Tyme Genetics Time Travel Series Book 2)

by Fred Holmes

  The three traveled a short distance into the mountains when they found a two-horse buggy and traveled about seventy-five miles. They again hid in the mountains and lay over until night when they found another horse and rode twenty-five more miles.

  * * * * *

  When Lida and Dee returned to Legacy Woods from another unsuccessful attempt to shanghai Rummy, Lida appeared depressed. That the two remaining members of SS&G hadn’t skipped town left them with a small ray of hope. She and Dee took turns relating the events, and the enthusiasm of the group soon pulled her out of her funk.

  Erik took charge. “I‘ve been studying Traweek’s recollections, and it looks to me that the best place to intercept them would be at Mr. Rhodes’ place, after which the Yankees start turning up regularly, and we don’t want to deal with them. I’m afraid that we need more than three of us to control the situation. Bunny can’t go. Even if I’m part of the team, I can’t control my episodes, and that still only gives us three.”

  Lida shook her head. “They said they’d kill us if we tried again. We need to wait till Jenkins Island when they’re about done.”

  “There will be too many people at Jenkins Island or farm. If we don’t get Rummy soon, we’ll lose him. He doesn’t want to come back. Maybe we should just forget him and do the dealing ourselves.”

  Lida was desperate. “Let’s try one more time! Rhodes’ Farm would be a good place. I can time it, so we get there before they do, and we can ambush them. But I don’t think Dee and I can handle it alone.”

  Vinnie entered the room. “You guys don’t stand a chance. Outside of Dee, and he’s marginal, you got no muscle.”

  “So what do you suggest?”

  He grinned. “For a price, I’ll go.”

  “You would, huh? How much, though?”

  He bent over and whispered in her ear.

  “Well that’s not too much, but you’ve never traveled in time.”

  “No, but I’ve watched you all do it, and you can make me a pouch. I might have a problem if I had to find clothes, but we’re going to be done so quickly they won’t know what hit them. I’ll be back before I’m even cold. I think if Lida jumps Crawford, he’ll be happy to feel her naked body holding him down. Dee you’ll have to handle Traweek, and I’ll cold cock Rummy and force feed him the capsule. It’ll be over before they know what hit them. No talk. Hit ’em, and hit ’em hard. Get in and get out.”

  “Hold it right there. Who’s going to cover us on this end?”

  “Bruno and Erik.”

  “Do you think he can be tr—?”

  “Don’t even think about it, much less say it. Bruno is the most loyal person you will find. I’ll give him his job in explicit terms. He’ll carry it out or die trying.”

  “The three of them are getting irritated over our attempts to extract Rummy,” Lida added. “He even threatened to kill us if we try to take him again.”

  “They’re not murderers, they’re soldiers, and they’re not violent. Don’t worry. What do they have, a pepperbox pistol? Gimme a break. Just get the capsules, and we’ll jerk Rummy outta there.”

  Lida addressed SS&G. “I have to go to Dyna-Tyme to catch up on my normal work. Fortunately, I work completely flex-time, so they’re used to me coming and going at strange hours. I’ll meet you back here in four hours with the capsules and the Doc, and soon we’ll be ready to go.”

  “’Atta girl.”

  The rest gave an arm pump and yelled, “Let’s go!”

  Chapter 22

  ROSCOE KNOCKED on Tony’s door at Ferragamo’s Fine Meats.

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s me. Roscoe.”

  “Well, come on in.”

  Roscoe stepped into the office and looked around. It always surprised him when he was in Tony’s office. It was large, maybe fifteen feet wide with walnut paneling and wide, wood flooring that creaked when you walked across the room.

  But what seemed strange to him was the lack of decorations, pictures, or photos. No plants. Just a scarred wood desk with two wood chairs in front, which backed up to a large window overlooking 6th Street in downtown Trenton.

  Tony sat in a wooden swivel chair with his Italian leather shoes propped up on a partially open desk drawer. He gazed out the window, watching the raindrops splattering off the neon sign.

  Roscoe stood in front of the desk. He was a hulking man, head shaven skin-tight with a thick roll of flesh on the nape. His head perched on a powerful neck with shoulders sloping to a short, thick upper body over bowed legs. Beady, black, eyes gazed from under a heavy brow.

  “Well?”

  “There’s a couple of Chinks out front boss.”

  “Chinks? You mean Chinamen?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t think they like to be called Chinks. That’d be like calling you a Wop.”

  Roscoe bristled. “You calling me a Wop?”

  “No, no, Roscoe.” Tony pulled his lean body up from his desk, straightened his jacket, smoothed his jet black hair back, walked to the front of the desk, and put his arm around the man. “I mean the Chinese don’t like the label ‘Chink’ like you don’t like the label ‘Wop.’ It’s insulting. You know what I mean?”

  Tony walked him out into the hall, where two Oriental men in gray suits, starched white shirts, and red ties were holding gray Fedora hats in their hands. One of the men carried a black attaché case in his other hand. They could be twins, other than the fact that the man on the left was taller and obviously older.

  Tony smiled, opened the door, escorted the two men into his office, and directed them to the chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat, gentlemen.” Tony sat down in his swivel chair.

  They sat, one holding his hat on his lap. The other held his attaché case on his lap and set his hat on his case.

  “What can I do for you, gentlemen?”

  The older man spoke nearly flawless English. “We’re from North Korea. We have been negotiating with a Lida Mitushi, who works at a Genetic company in Virginia. We’re trying to buy a time machine system from her, and we have been not making much progress.”

  Tony played it tight. “I’m aware of the proposed transaction and Miss Mitushi’s involvement through one of my men. He thinks she can produce the system. She hired two of my men as bodyguards, but we’re not involved, other than security.”

  The other man spoke so softly that Tony had to lean forward to hear. “We also need some DNA, PINs, and, of course, the software with the instructions to make it work.”

  “I understand what you want, but you’re not dealing with me. You need to talk to Lida.”

  The younger man spoke. “She keeps telling us ‘soon we’ll have it, soon.’ But we have not received the system. So, we want you and your men to get the system, and we’ll pay you instead of her.”

  Tony sat up. “How much will you pay me, and when do you need it? Drop dead date.”

  “Drop dead?” The older man asked.

  “When … when do you absolutely need it?”

  “We must leave with it in one week. One week only.”

  Tony thought for a minute. “One week is not much time. How much will you pay for it?”

  “One million dollars. In cash.”

  Tony put his hands together with the index fingers pointing under his chin as if in prayer and thought for a few seconds. “I don’t know; I think RTSL’s worth way more than that. Say, three million.” The hats jumped on their laps.

  The younger man countered. “One million five hundred thousand dollars.”

  Tony stood up and leaned over the desk.

  “Last offer gentlemen, two million even. Take it or leave it.”

  He extended his hand.

  The older man made the deal and shook Tony’s hand. They picked up their hats and attaché case and headed to the door.

  “Just one minute. We need a deposit of ten percent.”

  The young man sat down, opened the attache case, pulled out two stacks of bills, and sla
pped them on Tony’s desk. “There, Mr. Ferragamo; count it.”

  He opened his desk drawer and swept the money across the desk. “Nah, I trust you. Next week, eh?”

  “Yes, sir.” The men turned to face Tony and bowed. “One week.” They left.

  Roscoe reentered into the office. “What’d the Chinks want?”

  He put his arm around Roscoe. “They just hired me, you, Vinnie, and Bruno to do a little job. Now pour us some of that smooth scotch. I have some thinking to do.”

  He sipped his scotch and made a few notes. In about a half hour, he picked up the phone and dialed Legacy Woods.

  Vinnie picked up, and Tony explained the Korean’s dilemma. “You’re in the middle of it. So tell me how we can pull this off. I have two hundred thousand, and I think the rest of the two million just walked out the door. I hated to see the money go, but I didn’t want to create an international incident.”

  “We need three or four components,” said Vinnie. “First, we need someone to copy the RTSL program. Next, we need to obtain the ancient DNA samples and the method of creating the capsules.

  “We need SS&G to steal the program. They probably have most of it, except the parts where Mike has stopped them from hacking in. Then, we need Beasley to furnish us the missing programs and PIN codes to enter the Ancient DNA storage area.”

  “Why do we need him?”

  “Because we can’t use Lida. We’re double crossing her.”

  “It’s just business, Vinnie. You know that.”

  “Maybe, but she won’t like it.”

  “Well, we’ll have two million bucks. We can take care of Lida, and there’ll be a few others. There’ll be some that we can eliminate. You, Bruno, and Roscoe are on salary, but there’ll be a nice bonus in it for you. If we use it judiciously, we’ll have a bundle left for us.

  “Jud … what?”

  “Carefully.”

  “I have one problem.”

  Vinnie explained that he had committed to traveling in time and bringing Rummy back. To renege now would make it harder to obtain the cooperation of Erik and Mike when he returned.

  “You could oversee a little accident back in time. That would be the best thing to happen to Rummy and Lida. Then we would have clear sailing to the system.”

  “You’re a genius, Tony, a real genius. I’ll see what I can do.”

  Chapter 23

  AFTER WHAT seemed an eternity, everyone finally arrived at Legacy Woods.

  “Okay, here’s the final plan,” Lida began. “Bunny, Erik, and Bruno will give us the injections one after another to send us to Rhodes’ place. Dee will go first, me second, and Vinnie last. We’re all programmed to arrive in Rhodes’ front yard. As soon as Dee arrives, he’ll check to see if the three targets are in the house or have yet to arrive. If they’re in the house, we’ll charge the front door. Dee will neutralize Traweek, I’ll handle Crawford, and Vinnie will put Rummy down, shove the capsule in his mouth, and force him to swallow. Even if he resists swallowing, the capsule will dissolve in the saliva in about thirty seconds, and Rummy will travel back here to Legacy Woods. Once here, Bruno will cuff him and tie him to a chair.”

  Dee asked, “What’s the plan if they haven’t entered the house?”

  “We’ll enter, take care of Mr. Rhodes, and prepare for our targets. As soon as Rummy’s sent back, we squeeze our capsules. Twenty seconds later, we’re with Rummy, Bunny, Erik, and Bruno. We’ll have clothes when we return. Any more questions? Speed is important, so no dilly-dallying. Ready?”

  Everyone nodded and as a group took a deep breath.

  Bunny, Erik, and Bruno were each injected, in turn. One after another, they shimmered and left.

  * * * * *

  When their horse tired, Traweek, Crawford, and Rummy walked a short distance and spent the night in the mountains. The next morning, Traweek told them his plan. “We’re going to walk to Mr. Rhodes place, probably eight or ten miles. Rhodes’ would make a great place to get ambushed either by Yankees or by the people after Rummy. I don’t know how they know so accurately where we are, but we need to be prepared for them if they show up. Crawford and I will go to the house while Rummy hangs back until I give a bobwhite whistle. Got it?”

  Crawford agreed and so did Rummy.

  “If you need help, just holler ‘help’, and I’ll come in kicking butts,” said Rummy. “I can handle myself. I’m a brown belt in Karate.”

  Wash laughed. “Carahtee, what the devil is that?”

  “Never mind. Just believe me. I can handle myself in a fight.”

  The walk turned out to be about ten miles, and they timed it to arrive just before sundown to gain some cover from the coming darkness.

  * * * * *

  Dee arrived at Rhodes’ Farm first, eased up to the house, listened carefully, and then peeked in the window. Satisfied that Rummy and his cohorts weren’t there, he reported to Vinnie and Lida that it was a go.

  Vinnie whispered, “I’ll go in and neutralize the old man, and then you can come in.”

  “Okay. Whistle when it’s clear for us to enter.”

  Vinnie approached the house and entered. A few minutes later there was a low whistle.

  They entered, and Vinnie threw Dee a blanket. Then he tossed a blanket and coat to Lida. Vinnie had tied Mr. Rhodes to a kitchen chair, gagged him, and then wrapped another blanket around himself.

  “These blankets will work. Just throw them over each person. The blankets will immobilize them and make it difficult to fight back.”

  “We need to stay quiet,” Lida whispered. “Darkness is our friend.” She reached over and turned down the oil lamp.

  * * * * *

  Traweek and Crawford approached the small house cautiously, staying off the noisy gravel path.

  Rummy followed them for a few yards, then hunkered down beside a bush.

  When Traweek saw the light inside the cabin dim, he slowed and motioned Crawford to stop. Traweek continued until he reached the wooden door. He stopped and listened, then knocked lightly. He called, “Mr. Rhodes! Mr. Rhodes, hello!”

  There was no answer. Traweek pushed on the door, and it swung open. He stepped into a small living/kitchen area with a three-by-three table in the center, flanked by four wooden chairs. The lamp centered on the table flickered a dim halo of light. That was the last thing Traweek saw as Dee tossed the blanket over his head.

  Dee wrapped the blanket tight and pulled

  Traweek, struggling, to the floor.

  Outside, Crawford heard the sounds of the scuffle and pushed through the door. Lida greeted him with a similar blanket. She wrapped him tightly and pushed him to the floor. Mr. Rhodes finally worked out the hastily applied gag and screamed, “Help! Help! They’re robbing us.”

  Rummy approached the house. He could tell by the noise that the boys were having a problem, so he looked around for a weapon. He spied a couple of round rocks that fit his hands, scooped them, and thought for a second. Going through the door didn’t seem like a smart move, so he yelled, “Come on out. I give up! I give up!”

  Rummy backed up next to the door so that it opened away from him and waited. Vinnie leaned his head out the door looked to his left and then to his right. The last thing he saw was a rock in Rummy’s hand growing bigger as it smashed between his eyes into his forehead. He fell facedown with a crunch.

  By this time, both Traweek and Crawford’s struggles were paying off, and Dee and Lida were busy trying to hold the two men down. Mr. Rhodes finally wiggled out of his bonds and stepped into the bedroom, returning with a double-barreled shotgun. He pointed it first at Dee and then waved it towards Lida.

  “I don’t know who you are, but coming into my house naked strikes me as insulting! Now, keep your hands up and sit in those chairs! Don’t make a move or I’ll blow you to Hades!”

  Traweek and Crawford escaped the blankets. After obtaining some additional rope from Rhodes, Traweek tied Dee and Lida securely to the chairs.

  “Thanks, M
r. Rhodes. Your brother-in-law told us to stop and see you. We escaped from a Yankee prison, and we’re making our way south to rejoin our units.”

  “You all okay in there?” Rummy called out.

  Traweek yelled back. “We’re fine here! Where is that big fellow?”

  “I knocked him out, but he’ll be coming around in a few minutes. We need to get moving. I can hear what sounds like Yankee cavalry heading our way.”

  Mr. Rhodes pointed them to some bread and cheese. They grabbed as much as they could carry and turned to the door.

  “My son came from Edwards Ferry today, and there were no Yankees there,” said Mr. Rhodes. He gave the escapees some quick directions to the ferry. “What should I do with these two?”

  Rummy stuck his head in the door and spotted Lida and Dee.

  “Lida, Dee, I told you not to try and get me! I ought to let Mr. Rhodes shoot you.”

  “No, no, I ain’t no killer.”

  Traweek told him to turn them over to the Yankees and tell them the Injun was one of the escaped prisoners, and that Lida was his girlfriend.

  “She sure is pretty,” Crawford said.

  “Oh, shut up!” Lida snapped at him.

  Traweek and Crawford dashed out the door and jumped over an awakening Vinnie. Rummy joined them and they headed for the ferry.

  “Rummy, maybe you ought to go with them. They seem to want you in a bad way. I don’t know why, but they do.”

  “The girl was my lover, Traweek, but I think she double-crossed me. And I don’t know the other ones or what they’re after. I have a suspicion it’s an invention—discovery— that they want. It’s very valuable. I don’t want to go back. I want to stay here and help you boys get home.”

  “Where are you from?”

  “It’s a long story, Crawford. I’ll tell you when we get to a place for the night. Right now, we need to keep moving.”

  When the three-some reached the mouth of the lane, they met several Federal Cavalry. As they passed them, one of the Calvary soldiers said, “Dang it if those ain’t Rebels.”