by Bob Cooper
“Which one of you is Dirk Saunders?” the official asked.
O’Malley didn’t wait for an answer but stepped in and pointed to Dirk.
“This is the one,” he said.
“You will come with me,” the official said to Dirk.
Acey jumped in between them.
“He’s not going anyplace! This man is a liar! He and his men are spreading lies about my Grandfather!” Acey shouted.
The two security guards grabbed Acey and shoved her back. Aidan’s right hand smashed into the face of the first security guard. Hillary pushed the other one. The official clubbed Aidan and knocked him to the ground while drawing his weapon.
“Don’t! I will go with you,” Dirk shouted.
Guards shoved Dirk out the door as it slammed shut. Acey watched as they led him down the hallway. She pounded her fists on the door and sobbed. Raina helped Aidan to his feet. He had a nasty bump on his head. Hillary and Chi tried to comfort Acey as she slid down the side of the door.
“He’s gone. I’ll never see him again,” she cried.
“Not necessarily true,” Raina said.
She immediately had their attention as she held out a set of keys.
“I got these from the security guard during the ruckus.”
14
His captors directed Dirk to another cell in a dark part of the building where a justice administrator waited for him. As he walked down the corridor, the other inmates stared at the alien among them. The rarity of seeing other inmates, especially “foreigners”, caused a series of squeals and catcalls, throwing the entire cellblock into a frenzy. The guards turned on strobe lights, blinding the inmates who were unaccustomed to the bright lights in their dingy cells.
As he was pushed into the cell, Dirk saw the administrator waiting for him. He had a calm, peaceful demeanor about him. He looked bored with the whole ordeal. Although O’Malley tried to enter the cell with them, the guards barred him. Dirk stood watching the administrator fidget with his computer and patiently waited for him to speak.
“Are you the one they call Dirk Saunders?” he finally spoke.
“Yes.”
“We are told you are wanted for murder on your home planet. The other known as John O’Malley is here to bring you back,” he said, waiting for Dirk to comment.
“I have murdered no one. O’Malley is the murderer. He had my son killed here on Antares, and we are here to find the proof to bring him to justice.”
The administrator groaned when he heard Dirk’s reply. This was not going to be an open and shut case, and he didn’t try to hide his displeasure.
“And why should I believe you?” he asked.
“There is one who can corroborate my story. She is one of your citizens and is being kept here,” Dirk answered.
“And who might that be?”
“She is Tai-Som, the Governess of your city.”
The administrator almost dropped the computer at the mention of her name. Clearly agitated, he stood up and paced from one end of the room to the other.
“Tai-Som is no longer Governess. It would be wise not to mention her name at your hearing. I cannot defend you if you continue to speak of her.”
“She has the evidence that will clear me of the accused crimes and implicate John O’Malley. Without this evidence, no one can defend me.”
“There is no way you can see her. She is being terminated today.”
“Then, we must act quickly. You must bring me to her now.”
The administrator looked at Dirk and shook his head. He shut down his computer and called for the guards standing outside the door.
“When you feel that you want to cooperate, have the guards contact me,” he said, walking out the door. Dirk could see O’Malley snickering through the slit in the door.
***
Raina watched as the guards disappeared down the corridor. She looked back at Aidan and signaled him to come closer.
“We have to act quickly,” she said fumbling with the keys.
“No! There are security cameras. They will notice us as soon as we leave,” Aidan said.
“I can go.”
They all turned to look at Chi.
“This is the only chance we have. We have to take it.”
She looked at Aidan.
“You will be my prisoner. I will escort you. We will walk together until we find Dirk and my mother.”
“This is very risky,” Hillary said.
“As Chi said, this is our only chance,” Acey replied.
“Besides, does anyone have a better plan?”
“Okay then, let’s do it,” Aidan said, putting his hands behind his back pretending to be shackled.
Chi opened the door with the keys and led Aidan out. She nervously steered him down the corridor and turned right down the intersecting cellblock. The camera swung around and pointed towards them. Chi had no weapon or contingent of armed guards accompanying her and hoped no one would notice right away. The inmates came to their doors, staring out the narrow windows as they passed. Chi could see their jeering faces. As they approached the end of the cellblock, which intersected with another, she looked both ways not sure what direction to take. Aidan sensed her confusion.
“I know where they have taken him,” a voice came from one of the cells.
Startled, Chi squinted through the cell door window. A man pressed his face against the other side. His youthful exuberance was not consistent with his physical appearance.
“It is the older alien you seek, is it not?”
Chi had to decide quickly whether to trust him because she heard voices coming down the hall. She looked at Aidan. He shrugged his shoulders. They had no choice. The guards were approaching. She unlocked the cell door, entered and closed it just in time to watch several guards pass by. Aidan surveyed their newfound friend. He shuffled to the far corner of his cell with a boyish grin on his face. His deformity became apparent when he came back into the light. The left side of his body hung limp as if paralyzed, and he dragged his left foot as he got closer.
“He’s not far from here. I can take you there.”
“Do you know where Tai-Som is located?” Aidan asked.
He studied them carefully before he answered.
“I might. Why is it that you want to know?”
Chi started to talk, but Aidan cut her off.
“It’s crucial that we find her quickly,” he said.
“She’s in the termination area. I can take you there also. But you must take me with you.”
Chi looked at Aidan, who nodded his approval. They left the cell and continued down the right corridor.
“They call me Rom,” he said, leading the way.
Dirk’s cell was not far away. He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. He heard the door being opened and sat up quickly. Chi walked in first followed by Aidan and Rom.
“How did you….”
“No time to explain. We must find Tai-Som. This gentleman says he knows where she is located,” Aidan said.
Rom walked in to get a closer look at Dirk.
“The guards told me that another one from your planet is seeking you for murder. Who did you kill? You look like a man who killed somebody important. Was it a king? Or maybe some other Head of State,” Rom said in child-like excitement.
“I have killed no one,” Dirk replied.
“We have no time for this talk,” Chi said.
“Let us find my mother.”
***
The captain of the guards in the control room was busy filling out paperwork when two of his men approached.
“Go ahead; tell him,” one said to the other.
The other looked straight ahead as the captain waited.
“My keys are missing,” he said in an almost inaudible voice.
“What!” exclaimed the captain.
The young guard fumbled with more words, but the captain wasn’t listening. He swung around to the monitors and stared at them intently until he
found what he was looking for. He sounded the alarm notifying other guard stations of the breach.
“There they are, you fools! Apprehend them now!” he ordered as they scurried through the door.
***
Rom led them out the cellblock to another building where security looked much tighter. A guard stood guard outside the main entrance. The alarm sounded, and the guard looked confused as to what he was supposed to do.
“This place is very inefficient,” Rom said.
He waited for the guard to go inside the cellblock to investigate. Once all the guards were out of sight, Rom signaled the others to follow him across the courtyard to the mess hall. A contingent of guards ran opposite of them towards the building that they just vacated.
“Hurry!” he said.
Rom took them into the food preparation area. No one was there, and they were able to enter the cellblock area on the other side of the mess hall. They found only three cells: two were empty, one was occupied.
“These are the termination cells,” Rom said.
Chi ran in checking each cell for her mother. She found her in the last cell sitting in the corner.
“Mother!”
“Chi, what are you doing here.”
“Hurry, we must leave,” Chi said.
As the guards entered the building from the main corridor, Rom shuffled the group out to the far side of the complex where food was being unloaded from several vehicles. Tai-Som studied Dirk as they quickly moved in between two buildings.
“We must commandeer one of those vehicles and leave quickly. I know a place where we will be safe on the outside,” Rom said.
“Wait! We must get the others,” Aidan said.
“No time for that. We must seize the opportunity now,” Rom shot back.
“I will get the others. You find a way to get into that vehicle,” Chi said, running off as fast as she could.
Tai-Som called out to her, but Chi kept running.
They made their way to the vehicle where an elderly man was unloading some provisions. Rom snuck up behind him and yelled to get his attention. The man turned around, startled, and met Rom’s right hook square in the jaw, knocking him unconscious. Rom squealed with delight as the body slumped to the ground.
“I got him,” he said excitedly to the others jumping up and down.
Aidan and Dirk picked up the limp body and carried it into the back of the vehicle where they tied and gagged him and then hid from the approaching guards. They could hear the guards talking outside. The back door to the vehicle jiggled but Aidan was able to lock it from the inside. He heard loud banging as the guard grew more persistent to open it.
Dirk swung around to the driver’s seat but could not see a steering wheel, gas or brake pedal. Tai-Som showed him how to start the vehicle and steer it. He pushed the appropriate levers, and the vehicle lurched forward nearly missing another vehicle. A weapon fired hitting the back door. Rom squealed with pleasure as they careened down the narrow road swerving to avoid several armed guards. They shot and blew out the side window. Aidan was cut by the flying glass.
Dirk recognized Chi running out of the cellblock with Acey, Hillary, and Raina. Aidan swung the back door open as Acey, Hillary and Raina dove in.
The road narrowed as they came to a ramp with a gate across it. Several guards at the guard shack waited for them with their weapons drawn. Chi struggled to keep up as Dirk tried to keep moving and stay ahead of the guards chasing them.
Acey grabbed onto the frame of the vehicle with one arm and extended her other arm to Chi. Weapon blasts hit the swinging back door leaving it dangling as it smashed into other parked vehicles. Acey was able to pull Chi on as Dirk headed directly for the gate. The guards scattered as he approached.
“Hold on!” he warned as he broke through.
The gate was stronger than it looked and ripped the top off the vehicle. Produce and people went flying into the back of the vehicle, while Rom laughed loudly as they sailed up the ramp.
“Turn right at the next road and continue until you are out of the city,” Rom instructed.
Dirk began to understand how to drive the vehicle. He made a hard right with the back door swinging on one hinge.
“We got more trouble,” Raina said, looking at the three, two-wheeled motorcycle-like vehicles approaching quickly.
“Help me with this stuff,” Acey said, grabbing the crates of fresh fruit in the back.
The girls ripped open the crates and dumped the fruit on the road. The vehicles went flying off the road as Dirk accelerated to the maximum speed of the vehicle. Chi hugged her mother as they sped down the road.
“I cannot thank you enough,” Chi said to Acey and Rom.
***
O’Malley was furious when he heard the news. How could so many people escape in daylight so easily? He walked into the prison administrator’s office, ignoring the commands of the guards to stop.
“This is an outrage! Your incompetent staff let one of Earth’s most wanted criminals escape.”
The administrator was clearly agitated, stood up, and shouted right back.
“I do not care about your problems, sir. One of Antares’ most dangerous fugitives escaped. She has many sympathizers and threatens our way of life. Now please leave, or I will have you removed.”
O’Malley knew he needed their help, so he toned down his voice.
“I can offer you the help of my starship and all its technology to locate them. It could prove beneficial to you now since they have been spotted heading for the surface.”
The administrator thought about O’Malley’s offer, not sure if he could trust him. Once on the surface, the Antarians would be limited in finding them. He had no other alternative but to accept his offer. The High Council made it clear that he would be terminated if he didn’t find Tai-Som.
“Please, then sit down and let me hear what you can do with your starship.”
***
The city street ended abruptly at a mammoth stone wall. The underground city boundaries were clearly delineated and needed no signage. Dirk stopped the vehicle and got out.
“Where do we go from here?” he asked Rom.
“Follow me.”
Aidan released the terrified driver, and he took off running down the road. Rom led them to another air vent where they crawled through it for at least five hundred feet. It ended in a small room where they heard ventilation equipment running. They noticed an elevator like the one that brought them down to the underground city.
“Quickly, we must get to the surface before they shut this elevator down,” Rom said.
“Where are you taking us?” Tai-Som asked.
“I know a place on the surface where my friends are located. They will provide us with shelter and food,” Rom said.
The elevator took them to the top. Aidan stepped out and scanned the area. Rom took them to a small stand of trees about one mile down the dirt path.
“Who are you, and who are your friends?” Tai-Som continued her questioning.
“Why were you in prison?” Dirk asked at the same time.
Rom looked at them, deciding whom to answer first.
“My friends and I support returning to the surface so we can continue to follow the old ways. They arrested me about the same time they took Tai-Som. The current government violently opposes the “old ways” since they would lose their wealth and power. My friends that live on the surface share Tai-Som’s vision and want the current government removed,” Rom continued.
Acey heard movement coming from behind the trees and walked towards a tattered group of Antarians observing them. Aidan held her back from getting too close. The band of ten slowly made their way towards them, calling out Rom’s name. Their clothes were made from a shiny material, and they wore thick goggles.
Probably to protect them from the radiation, Acey thought.
Rom returned the greeting, and the band ran to meet him.
“This is Tai-Som and her daughter Chi,”
he explained to the leader.
They gasped in awe when he mentioned Tai-Som’s name.
“It is an honor to meet you. We pledge our support in any way we can,” the leader said.
“These are visitors who were also imprisoned with me and helped me escape,” Rom said.
Each group suspiciously looked at each other and exchanged pleasantries.
“We must hide before we are seen,” the leader instructed.
He led them through the woods down a steep ravine. It ended at stone cliffs that towered at least a half a mile high. Stone and brush-covered an entrance that when moved away, revealed a small cavern which led into a larger one. Acey noticed females and children as they appeared, staring at them. The leader gave the group food and drinks, told them the story of their escape to the surface, and how they survived with the help from the Guardians.
Tai-Som was astonished to find that there were other groups like this one scattered in caves throughout the surface.
It was Dirk’s turn to tell his story of why they were here. When he was done, Acey spoke.
“The Guardians blessed me with a vision of my parents whom I don’t really remember. My parents were with Tai-Som before O’Malley’s men attacked and killed them. I saw recording devices in the vision. They might still be in the cave. I need to get that evidence and return to our home planet to vindicate my Grandfather,” she said.
Tai-Som looked at her and Dirk and examined their facial features.
“I remember the incident well. Shortly after my capture and imprisonment, my husband and infant son went into hiding. Your parents helped me find a way to protect my people from the radiation so that we could return to the surface. The cave you refer to is not far from here. We will go there in the morning,” she said.
“Do you know the whereabouts of my father,” Chi asked the leader.
The leader looked at his people and turned to Chi.
“There are no reports of him since he went into hiding.”
