253
I looked between the three girls and shivered. I’d always just played along on this planet. Anything I’d had to do to survive, I’d done. Never once had I been strong and stood up to my captors. Today I had my chance.
Kennedy was staring up at me. I saw the determination in her features, as well as the uncertainty. She wasn’t afraid and she wanted to proceed, but she knew I was fearful.
Either choice I made may fail my children. If I did not help, I was weak and ineffective. Should Nu-reeh catch me, she might kill me, but I decided for the first time to fight back. My children should see the same strength in me that they embodied.
“I don’t know where they are,”I whispered to Hannah.
Ra handed me a map. I should give it to the men once they were free. It would lead me to them and then them out. A strange device was given to me that would unlock any lock. Hannah showed me how to use it. Lastly they gave me fifteen wrapped pieces of food, each the size of acandy bar.
“It is called something that means ‘power of a thousand suns’,” Hannah told me. “It’s a little like… probablycocainein anenergy bar, but it will give the men strength long enough to get out.”
Everything I was to carry was placed in Kennedy’s sling and she lay on top of it. That was the perfect hiding place. I was set.
Ra thanked me and told me to hurry, so did Hannah. After thebust outI should leave and get as far away as I could. The women would be livid the men had gotten away.
I walked the deserted halls with Kennedy. The map showed right where the men were. It was a place I’d walked infrequently before. It was boring and deep inside the mountain. Hannah and Ra were right. It would not be hard for me to avoid the cameras here. It would have been impossible for them to get this far without being spotted.Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.
The escape route the men should take was clearly marked out. Surprisingly it took them deep into the center of the mountain. It appeared that the men were actually going to walk beneath the mountains in a hidden tunnel. Strange, but then these mines may be many generations old. Who knew what strange passages may exist.
I started to pass men as I walked, but they ignored me. They talked about the strange men they were guarding and what they must have done. The women weren’t even feeding these prisoners. The women taunted them with a bucket of water they could not reach. The strange mouth-guards they wore prevented the prisoners from even speaking.
“They’ll be dead by five turns of the sun, if not sooner,” I heard one man laugh.
I stumbled hearing that and the men started to look alert. In terror I clung to my silent child and slunk into the shadows of the cave. I barely breathed until the men started to walk again.
A family stood guard at a leather drape. This was where the captured men were held. I wondered how I was supposed to get in. Standing and staring at the drape for several moments I realized no one went out or came in. The family standing guard just sat outside.
The men didn’t see me walking around, but would they see the leather drape move?
There was really only one way to find out.
Keeping my head down I walked slowly to the leather curtain. I stood less than an arm length away from the man on that side of the drape. My feet were soundless as I slipped past the cover and into the room. They had not seen me.
Inside the room was a horror show. The women had been torturing these men. I saw clumps on the floor and shuddered at what they were. The whole area was sandy, to catch and congeal the blood.
Fifteen abused bodies were hung on the walls. Slashes cut across their chests where whips had bitten them. Short chains prevented them from even being able to sit down. I imagined they had been awake for days. The women were trying to break their spirit.
I moved to the man closest to me and his wary eyes watched me. I took the device from under Kennedy and undid his wrists with shaking hands. Reaching up to undo his neck and the mouth guard I dropped the device, but the man caught it.
Taking a deep breath I worked on his mouth guard and the chain at his neck. Once he was free I handed him the food package Hannah had given me. He ate it quickly and put the wrapper in his pocket before going to drink from the pail in the middle of the room.
I moved quickly from one to another. Now they weren’t wary of me at all. The third man even reached under Kennedy to get his own snack. I was horrified as he touched her and jerked back, holding her to my chest.
Trembling slightly, I realized how foolish I must look. Obviously he only wanted his food. I looked up embarrassed and then was surprised.
The man met my eyes and bowed his head. His left arm was crossed in front of his chest. It was a sincere apology and nothing I ever expected from someone here.
I smiled and handed him hispower bar. He took it gingerly from my fingers and returned the smile. No one reached to touch Kennedy after that and I felt grateful they honored my unspoken request.
The fifth man was so tall I could not reach his neck. Strong hands took the device from me and the first man undid the tall man. Once he was released the tall man put his palm out, waiting patiently for the food, which I quickly gave him.
The sixth man slumped to the ground once the first man released him. He refused to rise. It was instinctive to crouch next to him and coax him to eat.
The man looked haunted. His breathtaking blue eyes pierced mine and I felt like I could have been looking at Evan. The only difference was his badly cut hair.
Oh God, his hair…