by R. M. Olson
And now she’d killed them.
Well, it hadn’t been just her. It had been whichever of the damn prisoners had betrayed them. But the kids were as good as dead. So was Tanya.
So was Ysbel, probably. She’d never seen someone look the way Ysbel had looked when her family was condemned to death in front of her. For the second time.
She dropped down onto the cot, because for a moment she thought she was really going to throw up.
And the thing was, it wasn’t just Tanya and the kids.
Radic. He’d actually been her friend. Of everyone in the whole damn prison, he’d actually been her friend. He’d worried about her, played tokens with her, tried to keep her from getting hurt. In his own way, of course, which was kind of a stupid way, but still. The look on his face when she’d told him they could get him out. He hated being locked up almost as much as she did. And now he wasn’t getting out either. If the guards had tracked the five of them down, they sure as hell were going to find him, and Tae’s friend, and the prisoners who had helped them.
Locked up here for years, all of them. She’d thought she could actually do something about it.
It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. The damn warden, and the damn guards, and the damn system that locked people up for stupid things like protesting and reading the wrong damn books, none of it was plaguing fair.
She was going to be locked up forever, of course. So were Lev and Tae and Masha and the rest of them. Maybe sedated too. Thing was, she hardly had the energy even to care.
She tapped her com to the general line.
“Hey, Tae,” she said dully.
For a long moment, no one responded. Finally Tae came on. He sounded like he’d been crying.
“Sorry Jez. There’s no way I get us through these locks before they—before Tanya—” he stopped, his voice choking.
“Yeah. That’s what I thought. Not your fault,” she said dully. “Thought maybe I could break out, get away from the guards. I’ve done it before, right? But then I couldn’t.”
No one spoke for a while. At last Masha’s voice came through the com.
“I’ve thought this through. Unless we can find a way to get one of us out, I—” she paused, and for the first time she could remember, Jez heard actual emotion in her voice. “I’m sorry. I wish I had better news.”
“I’m sorry too,” said Lev quietly. In the background, from his com, Jez could hear Ysbel’s quiet sobs.
She slapped her com off.
She couldn’t listen to it anymore.
She stood and paced in a small circle around the cell. How many hours did they have? She’d never seen a sedation machine, but she’d heard of them.
Once Tanya and the kids were sedated, the guards would almost certainly come for them.
She’d probably care about that, soon.
Finally, she sank back down onto the cot, head in her hands. She winced at the pressure on her sore arm, but she didn’t even have the energy to swear.
She gave a half-smile.
Wouldn’t Vlakta be mad that she wouldn’t get a chance to beat Jez up again.
Wouldn’t that damn Zhurov be mad. Maybe he’d be one of the guards taking her up to be sedated, and she could get in a few more good insults before she went under. Could happen. He was on shift right now.
The thought was almost enough to make her grin, just for a moment.
Then she froze.
No.
No, no, no. Nope. It was a terrible idea. She was definitely not going to do it.
No. The truth was, it was a brilliant idea.
But she couldn’t stop the hot fear spreading through her stomach like an acid wash, cutting away at the numbness.
Her heart was beating too quickly. She swallowed hard, but she found her hands shook as she tapped the com.
“Hey,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “Think I may have figured out a way to get us out of here.”
“What is it?” Lev answered immediately, and practically over top of him Ysbel said, “If you can get us out, pilot—” her voice was desperate.
“Well, see,” said Jez, trying to grin despite the fear creeping up her limbs. Dumb to be afraid. They were going to be sedated anyways, probably. “Well, see, I have a good friend here.”
“Radic got out? How did he—” began Tae.
“Nope. Not him. Got another friend. He really, really wants to see me, I’m pretty sure. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’d make a special trip just to have some one-on-one time with me. And I saw him in this sector, when they were hauling me back to my cell.”
There was a moment’s pause. Then Lev swore violently.
“No, Jez. That’s a terrible idea.”
“It’s a brilliant idea, genius-boy.”
“Zhurov will kill you! Now that you have no protection—he’ll kill you. He’s been wanting to since the day were got here.”
“So?” she shrugged. “Not like he’s had any luck so far.”
“Jez. Lev is right. He’s going to kill you.” It was Tae this time.
“But here’s the thing. I bet I could steal his key while he was trying. He likes to get up close and personal, I’ve noticed.”
“If you’re dead, that won’t do any of us any good.” Lev was clearly trying to keep his voice reasonable, and failing badly.
“He might not kill me. Anyways, bet he’ll have heard of what happened this morning. He’ll want to save me for the sedation.”
Probably.
She clenched down on her fists to keep her hands from shaking.
“And then what?” asked Masha quietly. “Assuming you’re correct, Jez, and he doesn’t kill you, and you manage to steal his key, then what?”
She paused. She hadn’t really thought farther than that.
A small voice inside her whispered that after the guard got through with her, she wouldn’t be up for doing much of anything. Certainly not breaking Tanya and the kids out of their cell.
“I don’t agree with this,” said Tae, his voice strained. “I don’t agree with this at all. But, if she could get the key to me, I could program it into our coms. It should be enough to get us through the doors.”
“There are guards,” Lev said bluntly. “You think we can just walk by them?”
“I could take care of the guards.” Ysbel’s voice was barely audible, and hoarse from tears, but there was something in it that made Jez shiver.
“Ysbel—” Lev began.
“I will not kill them all, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Ysbel said, although Jez wasn’t entirely sure she believe her. “I will only threaten them.”
“Ysbel. They have weapons. We don’t. You used up all your materials on the pin-guns, and the guard confiscated them.”
“Perhaps. But I have this.”
There was a pause.
“What are you going to do, hit them over the head?” asked Lev at last. “That’s the dummy gun, isn’t it?”
“Yes. But they don’t know that.” For a moment, Ysbel sounded a little like her old self. “I think if I threaten them with this, they will get out of the way. If Tae has the key, we can lock them into the cells.”
“We can’t take their weapons. They’re coded to the guards’ DNA. So the dummy weapon’s all we’ll have. You want to break out of prison with a fake weapon?”
“No,” said Ysbel. “I want to break even farther into prison, get Tanya and my children, and possibly kill the warden. I want to take down this whole bloody, corrupt place. It’s long overdue. And then I intend to break out of prison. With a fake weapon.”
Even Jez was impressed at this. She raised her com. “Hey. Ysbel. That’s actually pretty hot.”
“Piss off, Jez. I’m still married.”
“Yeah, well—”
“Piss off, Jez.”
“Jez. I can’t believe you’re encouraging this,” said Lev through his teeth. “This whole scheme is ridiculous.”
“You’re just saying that
because you didn’t think of it,” replied Jez with a smirk.
“No, I—You know what, never mind. I can’t believe we’re having this discussion.” He sounded on the edge of desperation, and for a moment she remembered the bright bruise across his cheek and felt something like sympathy tighten in her chest.
He was a soft-boy. He wasn’t supposed to get beat up. He wasn’t supposed to be desperate.
He certainly wasn’t supposed to be desperate worrying about her.
She swallowed down something in her throat.
“Lev,” said Masha at last. Her voice was still calm, but there was an undercurrent of something—fear? Worry? Jez wasn’t sure. “While I share your assessment of the situation, it appears to me we have two options—Ysbel’s admittedly-risky plan, or waiting to be taken away to be sedated.”
“Risky?!?” snapped Lev. “That’s not risky. That’s suicidal.”
“No,” said Masha quietly. “Doing nothing is suicidal. This, at least, is a chance.”
“I’d be scared of Ysbel. Even without a fake weapon,” Jez volunteered. “That’s why I like her so—”
“Jez. Shut up.”
There was a long moment of silence.
Jez’s hands were shaking. She leaned up against the cot, trying to steady herself. Whatever Lev said, this was the only option, and they all knew it.
But—the look on Zhurov’s face. The hatred in it. The helpless feeling that evening, when Radic had been shoved into the cell and she’d been alone with the guard in the hallway. He could have done whatever he wanted. He’d known she’d known it, and he’d wanted her afraid.
And despite her bluster, deep down inside, she had been. She’d been terrified, and panicking, and so, so afraid.
“Anyways,” she said at last, into her com. Her voice shook slightly. “You’d better figure something out. I’m calling my buddy over.”
“Jez! No!”
“Sorry, tech-head.”
“Jez—” Lev’s voice was shaking too. “I—Masha’s right. This is our only chance. But I—you—”
“Relax. I’ll be careful.” She tried to grin, but she knew he could hear how scared she was. Probably they all could.
“Jez,” said Ysbel, in a low voice. “I—I will owe you everything for this.”
“Well, better be prepared to pay it.”
There was a pause. “I won’t kiss you.”
“You said—”
“Shut up, Jez.”
She took a deep breath. “Well, guess I better make Zhurov’s day,” she said, in what she hoped was a jaunty tone. “Call you when it’s over.”
“Jez—”
She tapped her com off and closed her eyes for a moment.
Nothing to it. It’d be fine. Just another beating. She could handle that. Had plenty of practice in the last two weeks. Like drinking. You had to work your way up to it.
She took a deep breath, the another.
It’d be fine. Nothing to worry about.
Still, her legs were trembling slightly as she walked over to the bars.
“Hey!” she shouted. “How do you tell a prison guard from a brush pig?” She waited a moment. “Don’t know? Well, to be honest, nor do I.”
He should be patrolling this corridor. The routes had probably changed with everything that had happened that morning, but still, he should be there.
“How long do you think it took your mom to figure out she brought the wrong kid home?” she shouted. “And you think she ever felt sorry for the poor brush-pig sow trying to raise a human baby along with the rest of her litter? Hey, I have an idea. You unlock me, and we can go look for the rest of your family!”
There were footsteps coming down the hall now, heavy and purposeful. She swallowed back the bitter taste in her throat. Her stomach was knotted so tight it hurt.
The guard rounded the corner, and she caught a glimpse of his face.
Zhurov.
She swallowed again, tapped her com, and whispered, “Got him. Don’t call me.”
She tapped her com off as he strode up to the door.
Adrenalin flooded through her veins.
She was going to die. She was definitely going to die this time. And she couldn’t stop grinning.
“Hey ugly,” she said. “Like my jokes?”
He came close to the bars and pushed his face up against them.
He had an ugly grin on his face.
“Hello there, Jez,” he said softly. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing. You’re a coward. You don’t want to be sedated, and you thought you could get me to kill you first. Your friends who are looking for you—they said you were all talk.”
Her heart pounded against her chest. This had to work. He had to come in.
“At least I can talk,” she drawled “Some of us, not going to mention names, mostly just grunt. Don’t you agree?”
His grin faded. “You think you can taunt me into coming in to kill you. But I’m not that stupid.”
“Could have fooled me,” she said. “But don’t worry, brains aren’t everything. They say space-jellies don’t even have brains, and they seem to do just fine.” She paused, cocking her head to one side. “‘Course, they look better than you do. Smell better, too. But can’t have everything, I guess.”
His eyes narrowed.
She grinned, every muscle in her body tense.
“But here’s the thing, Solokov,” he whispered. “The thing you didn’t think about. I don’t have to kill you to make you hurt. And believe me, I know so many ways make you hurt.”
“Oh, so there is something you know,” she said. “I wondered why they kept you around. Figured it wasn’t for your personality.”
The lock on the door clicked open.
She had him.
The thought sent a mixture of panic and another shot of adrenalin jolting through her body.
He stepped through, closing the door firmly behind him.
She took an involuntary step backwards, and he smiled. The look was ugly on his thick face.
“I can hurt you without killing you. But sometimes—” he shrugged. “Sometimes I make mistakes.”
She swallowed hard.
His smile broadened, and he cracked his knuckles.
Jez stirred. The movement sent lighting bolts of pain lancing through her body and crackling through her brain.
Everything hurt.
No, hurt wasn’t the word. It was somewhere beyond hurt, somewhere so far beyond that her brain was struggling to make sense of what had happened to her body.
She couldn’t breathe. That was a problem. Some twinge of self-preservation inside her head pulled at her, and, with what seemed like far too much effort, she managed to turn her head to one side and spit a mouthful of blood out onto the floor of the cell. Even that effort made the walls of the cell dance around her.
But she was breathing now. That was good. She knew she was, because of the stabbing pain in her ribs at every shallow gasp.
She closed her eyes and let her head loll back against the wall.
She must’ve been unconscious before. This seemed like a good time for a repeat performance.
No. There was something she was supposed to do.
What was it?
Didn’t seem to matter, since her vision seemed to be fading anyways.
Ysbel. Tanya. Radic.
She blinked, trying to force the encroaching blackness back.
Even blinking hurt.
The key! That’s what she was supposed to do. Had she—and then she realized one hand was clenched into a fist, and inside the fist was something small and sharp that cut into her palm.
Slowly, she opened her hand and glanced down, without moving her head.
Inside her palm sat a small key-chip.
She slumped back against the wall in relief, and took quick stock of her injuries.
One eye was already swollen shut, and her nose was puffy and sticky with blood. There was something wrong with her mouth,
and a throbbing knot of pain on one side of her jaw. Broken, probably. She probed gingerly at the inside of her mouth with her tongue, tasting blood. She still had all her teeth—that was a bit of a surprise, to be honest—but her lips were split wide open, and dripping blood down her chin. Broken ribs, how many she wasn’t sure, but also wasn’t sure it would make much difference. Mostly it just felt like someone was trying to stab her with a rusty spike every time she took a breath. Her left arm—she glanced down, and wished abruptly that she hadn’t.
She was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to bend like that.
Wait. She still had her com.
With much more effort than it should have taken, she reached her good arm over and tapped the com button.
“Miss me?” she mumbled.
Hell. She sounded like crap.
To be fair, she also felt like crap.
“Jez!” Lev sounded frantic. “Are you OK?”
“Define OK.” She had to pause to spit another mouthful of blood.
“Jez.” It was Tae this time. “Listen. Did you get the key?”
“Got it.” Her words were so slurred that she wasn’t sure he’d understand.
She could hardly understand herself at this point.
“OK. Can you unlock your door and get to my cell?”
“Yeah.” It hurt too much to talk. “Coming. Minute.”
“Alright. I don’t want to rush you, but we have maybe an hour left. We need to get going.”
“‘K.”
It was actually quite amazing how many words you could say without moving your mouth. She should remember that. Might come in handy one day.
Her head had dropped back against the wall, her eyes drooping shut.
“Jez. Can you hear me?”
She managed a grimace of annoyance. Whoever it was needed to shut up and leave her alone.
“Jez!”
“Mmm,” she mumbled.
“Jez. You have to get up. Can you get up?”
Ysbel. Ysbel and Tanya.
She forced her eyes back open.
