“We’re good so far. They’re taking us into their Hall of Justice to a holding cell. Ah, here comes Pedrina Rossi. Let’s see if things stay on course. Be ready to improvise.”
Oh, boy… I’m not too good at improvising…
“She is too dangerous! I don’t know what she is, but we can’t take any chances. Keep her chained in the cell. I’ll get the presiding judge,” bellowed Pedrina Rossi, her voice leaving no doubt who was in charge.
I kept my eyes closed as they rolled me down a long hallway, through three doors, and the clinking of thick metal and quick drop in temperature told me we were entering the holding cell. The men pushing the stretcher backed away at a sprint and the door to the cell clanged shut.
“Whew! I’m glad that’s over,” one of the men hissed.
“It’s not over yet,” the other soldier whispered. They’re going to make us move her again as soon as Rossi gets back.”
“What is a civil rights attorney doing with this situation? Shouldn’t she be on the girl’s side?”
“Huh. I guess this is a special case.”
“You can say that again.”
These chains feel heavy… let’s see… they’re around my shins, my waist, and my chest and it feels like… two sets at each spot, so six chains all together… and two sets of handcuffs, but I think they’re just normal ones… then, straps around my chest and knees, tying me to the stretcher… we really got them scared…
“Careful, sonny boy… hold still for now. Let’s hope Pedrina Rossi can convince a judge to come down here so they can see for themselves what we can do. If not, then it’ll be the time for our first bit of improvising. It’s a minor miracle that every bit of our plan has gone like clockwork so far.”
The sound of scraping and clomping feet came from outside the cell. “Oh, good, you’re here. We were lucky that those nurses could sneak up on her before, but we’re not taking any chances like that again.”
“I’ve never seen one of those before, let’s see.”
“Sorry, you have to be certified to handle one of these. The dart mechanism is a bit tricky.”
So, they plan to shoot me with a dart gun if I get out of hand? That will call for more acting on my part… Ava, if they shoot me with that thing, is there a way to… I don’t know, soften the spot where it hits me so it sticks?
“Way ahead of you. Never fear, Ava is here.”
Are you going to rhyme everything now?
“Could be. You must wait and see.”
Oh, boy…
More footsteps in the distance, including a woman’s heels clicking along the concrete floor. The sound stopped nearby, and then came a tapping on the metal bars, along with the faint scent of cologne and soap. “This is the emergency you disturbed me for? This teenage girl, chained as if she were a gorilla?” came a booming, mushy voice that I imagined belonged to a person who is seriously overweight.
“Wait a minute, Max, you didn’t see her out there. She’s… I don’t know what she is, but she’s dangerous.”
“Are you kidding? She can’t even move; how dangerous could she be? And it’s Judge Max to you. You better have something better than this, or I am holding you in contempt. And shouldn’t you be on her side? Protecting her civil rights, that kind of thing?”
“Listen, Max, I’m telling you, she…”
“Okay, sonny boy, you’re on.”
I opened my eyes and shouted, “Hey. HEY.”
The practically round judge, his body covered by a long, black robe, stared at Pedrina Rossi. “I thought you said they anesthetized her.”
“They did, enough to stop a buffalo. I told you, this is not a normal person.”
I rose my head off the stretcher so the judge could see me clearly, and said, “I am here to kill Leitao, and you cannot stop me.”
The judge’s head seemed as big as a beach ball, and his eyes were sad and bulging as he gazed at me. “Listen, young lady, I am no fan of him either, but you can’t go around threatening to kill the president.”
In response, I twisted the chain connecting one of the sets of handcuffs together, and snapped it in two.
The judge’s eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open.
“How… how did she do that?”
“I’ve been trying to tell you; do you believe me now?” Pedrina Rossi hissed, her face next to his.
I went for the second set of handcuffs and snapped their chain as well. I waved my hands at them and said, “You see? It’s just a matter of time. I don’t want to hurt any of you, but I must kill Leitao. These chains and this cell will not stop me.”
“How… oh my God, how is this possible?” cried the judge, clutching the bars of the holding cell.
“I don’t know, but we need to get her to a more secure place. The most secure in the country is at Goiânia. There are cells there lined with two-centimeter thick steel. That will hold her while you and your cohort decide what to do with her.”
He turned his gaze on her, his eyes narrow. “You have this all worked out, don’t you?”
“You know me. I always have a plan.”
“Yes. Some might say a scheme, but either way, this time I agree. Write up the papers, I’ll sign.”
Just then, I broke through the strap holding my chest to the stretcher and sat up. “It’s just a matter of time. You can’t stop me,” I growled.
‘Shoot, you fool! Shoot!” the judge roared to the dart man, and he did as he was ordered.
29
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
MEETING WITH SVC
121552 21:14
-So, do the Bright Hand have Concannon, or did they just make contact with him?
-Just contact. To answer your next question, he was hiding out at the home of one of the other soldiers… let’s see… ah, yes. Margaret ‘Margie’ Bravo. The home is registered to a distant relative, so it took a while to track down.
-And the Americans never found him? Seems like the second place you’d look, after his family, is the other three soldiers who were under his lead, wouldn’t you?
-One would think so, but as I said, it was difficult for the Bright Hand to track him down, and either the Americans are not that interested in him, or they have eyes on him and are observing.
-What do you think about sending Oakes to see him and make our pitch?
-Hmm… on first blush, I don’t see a problem with it. They share a military background, and both are dedicated to the boy, albeit for different reasons.
-Okay, let’s get him up to Temecula ASA F’n P.
-I’ll recall him right away.
-Next issue: the kid is in jail now? Is that good or bad?
-It’s all part of their plan, which seems to be right on target so far. It gets much more difficult from here.
-You know, despite all the risk, it’s kind of exciting, right? I almost wish I was there in person to see it, fly-on-the-wall style. Oh, and what happened with our Russian observers?
-They are still ‘sleeping’ in the park, but should come around in the next hour or two.
-All right, we’ve gotten what we’re going to get from them, so let’s cut them loose.
-Very well. Shall I do it ASA F’n P?
-Very funny. It stands for ‘freakin’ by the way. All the kids are saying it. Did you think it stood for the other thing?
-…
-Look, I would never say ‘fart’. That’s gross. Speaking of that, though, how about some beans and rice?
****
T he dart stuck in my left bicep, and my next acting job began. I looked at the dart, then slowly lowered my head to the stretcher and closed my eyes. I don’t know… I could have done better… maybe I should try again… no, that’s not a good idea…
“Is one enough?” one of the soldiers asked, gulping.
“I don’t know; maybe I should shoot her again.”
“She already had a ton of anesthetic in her. We don’t want to kill her, so don’t shoot her again, at least not yet.
” It was the voice of Jose Silva, who apparently had just entered the space outside my cell. “Good day, Judge Carniero.”
“Good day, Mr. Silva. You see that, Ms. Rossi? He addresses me with respect. I like that.”
“Okay, Max. I’ll go get the papers ready. We’d better move quickly, before she wakes up again, eh?”
Following the sound of scurrying feet and swishing robes trailing off in the distance, Jose Silva whispered, “Are we good?”
“We’ll know in about two days,” came Pedrina Rossi’s hissed reply. “Let’s get out of here. The rest is up to her.”
More shuffling and clicking heels, then a muffled dialogue, and more footsteps; boots this time. “I’ll be glad when this is over. I’m really spooked.”
“Me too. Do you think bullets would even stop her?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t want to find out. Why did they only send us in here? Shouldn’t there be more on this job?”
“Let’s just keep quiet so we don’t wake her up, okay?”
“Oh, right.” Then, in a whisper: “So, what do you think she is? I think a robot, but we don’t have that kind of technology here in Brazil. Who would send a robot here? It’s crazy if you ask me.”
“No one’s asking, and she’s not a robot. Look at her, she’s breathing. Robots don’t breathe.”
“Oh. Then she’s a witch?”
“Shut up, you idiot.”
“An alien, then.”
They kept up the whispered dialogue for the next forty-five minutes, debating what exactly I was, then rejecting each option.
“Will you please be quiet, you… oh, crap, she moved.”
I flexed my left index finger just to see if they would notice, and they did. I heard fumbling sounds, and through the barest crack in my eyelashes I saw them shaking and holding their pistols. I guess I really do scare them… I wish I could tell them they have nothing to be afraid of…
“Their reaction would be hysterical, but we have to maintain for now. Ahh, here we go.”
The clicking coming down the concrete hall told me Pedrina Rossi was returning. Then: “Okay, you two, let’s move her out. There is an armored car just outside. Quickly, now, while she’s unconscious.”
“She moved just now,” one of the soldiers said, his voice quivering.
“How did she move?”
“Her finger, it moved. A little.”
“And you think that means she’s conscious? That couldn’t have just been a movement of the kind we all make when we’re asleep?”
“Well… I guess it could be.”
“Get in there and get her out and quit stalling.”
The key clanked in the lock, and the door to the holding cell creaked open. In the men scurried, and within moments I was out of the cell and into a vehicle of some kind, my calves still strapped to the stretcher, the rest of me confined with heavy chains.
Pedrina Rossi’s authoritative voice boomed above the rumble of the idling engine: “Step aside. I’ll ride in the rear with her, you two up front.”
“Are… are you sure, Ms. Rossi? She… we’re taking her to Goiânia because of how dangerous she is, right?”
Through my lashes, I saw her hold up a syringe. “I’m not worried. If she moves, I’ll give her this. Now get in the front.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Soon we were underway, the vehicle roaring. After a few minutes, Pedrina Rossi leaned close and whispered, “That was quite a performance. Are you okay?”
“Yes, thank you. Would you mind pulling out the dart from my arm? It’s starting to annoy me,” I mouthed.
She snatched the dart away and hissed, “I don’t know how you did all that, but I’ve never seen anything like it. Or like you. We have a three-hour drive. Perhaps you could fill me in.”
Ava?
“I guess it would be okay. I am scanning her, and her vitals seem legit. Don’t tell her about me, though. I prefer to remain incognito.”
Legit?
“Yeah, legit. Legitimate. You know what that means, don’t you?”
Yeah, I just wanted to hear you say it again.
“Oh, now you’re a comedian? You will hurt my purely synthetic feelings if you keep it up.”
Sorry.
“All right, focus now.”
Over the next three hours I told Pedrina Rossi almost everything. She was good at asking the right kinds of questions to keep me talking; I described everything from becoming conscious in the hospital room, to our desperate escape, destroying the lab, traveling on Alexy’s boat, the battle in Melbourne, racing across Australia, discovering that I can fly, almost everything. I left out the Bright Hand and their cavern, the nation’s cavern, the prehistoric animals, and Ava, of course. Those things are all other people’s secrets and I don’t have the right to reveal them.
She was good at controlling her reactions; even at the parts that would have been shocking to anyone, she remained calm and kept asking questions. I guess that’s why she’s a lawyer.
I felt the vehicle slowing, and what felt like a series of speed bumps bounced us around. Pedrina Rossi patted me on the shoulder and said, “Well, it looks like we made it without getting attacked or blown up. Seems like our luck is holding for now. Thanks for telling me your amazing story, Lucas. Let’s not let it end here, in the most dangerous prison on earth.”
That doesn’t make me feel too confident… oh, boy…
30
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
MEETING WITH SVC
121552 23:18
-They actually did it? They got the kid to the prison?
-Yes, to the most notorious prison on the planet.
-Yeah, yeah, it’s bad. I can’t hardly believe they’ve even gotten this far. The bribes are in place, we have some guards who will ‘look the other way’ when the time comes?
-Half down, half on completion, as usual.
-All right, so the plan is to get the guards to release him, who looks like a her, in some way that allows her to get into the general population. They’re going to be all over him.
-Yes, that’s part of the plan.
-Holy crap, I hope this works. I have a hard time remembering that part of this is a test of the kid’s system and not some kind of horror movie. What’s the word on Oakes?
-He’s in the process of convincing his American superiors that he is no longer needed in Brazil, but barring something unforeseen, should be in the air soon.
-And then over to see Concannon?
-Yes, ASA F’n P.
-Hilarious. What’s up with the aboriginal and the rest of that group?
-It appears they’ve arrived at their nation’s cavern without complications.
-I thought we had him with Lazenbee, but I guess we’ll have to come up with some other way to get him to help with our fusion project in New Zealand. He’s not motivated by money, eh?
-It does not appear so. His motivations seem to be loyalty and friendship.
-Hm. What if we could convince him that helping with our fusion project would result in helping get John Taylor back from the Americans?
-How would it do that, exactly?
-I don’t know. I’m just brainstorming. Why don’t you put on your thinking cap and see if you can come up with some brilliant plan for a change? In fact, you know what, it’s getting late. Instead of your thinking cap, why don’t you put on your nightcap. And then, let’s have a little nightcap, eh?
****
“ I hope you know what your client is getting into, Ms. Rossi,” came a gruff, booming voice as I was being wheeled down a long hall, the smell of dust, smoke, and spoiling food filling my nose.
“I assume you have spoken with Mr. Carvalho, Warden?”
“Well, yes, yes, of course. Still, she is entering a dangerous place. We have done the best we can, but it will not be easy.”
“Warden Gama, do you see the heavy chains around her?”
“Certainly. What is your point?”
“Those
chains are there for a reason. Mr. Carvalho made the appropriate ‘arrangements’ with you?”
‘Yes, he did, and I have done the best I can to fulfill my part.”
“Then the rest is up to her. Will you be needing me for anything further?”
“No ma’am, I will take it from here.”
“I will wait to hear that you have done as we have asked, and assuming you have, you will receive the rest of your compensation. If not, we will have a different kind of discussion. Is that clear?”
“It couldn’t be clearer. Good day, Ms. Rossi.”
The clicking of her heels faded as she strode away, and they rolled me further into the bowels of the prison.
“Did you catch their little inside joke?”
No, I guess not. What is an inside joke?
“It’s a joke that the two of them would get, but others hearing it would not realize it was a joke. They used the name ‘Mr. Carvalho’. Carvalho means ‘Oak’ in Portuguese.”
Oak? Why… oh, they used that in place of Mr. Oakes. I get it. But why is it a joke?
“Because… oh, never mind. Let’s just focus on what we need to do from here, okay?”
The path began to slope down, and the temperature was dropping as we went. The buzz of hundreds of voices was near, and we made a turn; from behind us came the sound of a hefty door clanging shut, then an equally substantial door in front of us snapping open, and I felt the warmth of the late afternoon sun filling the space. The buzzing of voices turned into a roar, and through slitted eyelashes I saw the immense open space in the center of the prison, filled almost completely by prisoners. Male prisoners, all wearing yellow, striped prison uniforms, many with holes, all looking faded and threadbare. Some had worn-out shoes, but many did not.
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