Chapter Twenty-Four: Stage Three- Prison Break

‘Celeste!’ Nathan called out.  They were in the front office of the racecourse. Nathan was sitting at the computer.

‘Did you find something?’ Celeste asked.

‘I think so. It took me a while to get in. and I wouldn’t have noticed it if I hadn’t double checked’ Nathan said.

‘Nathan, just tell me what you found’ Celeste told him.

‘I had a look to see if Miles was registered military, and he was from about two years ago. I didn’t think anything of it at first. Soldiers get transferred all the time-‘

‘Nathan. What did you find?’

‘Captain Miles didn’t exist more than two years ago. I went back as far I could in the archives, all the way back to the start of the war in Saudi Arabia. There’s no mention of anyone with the surname Miles dead, alive or missing up until two years ago’ Nathan said.

‘Well maybe he was a new recruit’ Celeste said.

‘Then he wouldn’t have the rank of Captain. Also, when he was first mentioned, he was already Captain’ Nathan told her. Celeste paced the room.

‘A spy? He was right?’ She whispered to herself.

‘What was that?’ Nathan asked.

‘Before the attack at the Showgrounds, Jason theorised that there was a Nexus spy. Could the Nexus do something like that? Falsify Miles’ admission papers?’ Celeste asked.

‘I can’t say for sure but it’s possible’ Nathan answered. Celeste though it through.

‘If he is a spy, then I would consider his little mutiny a declaration of war, wouldn’t you?’ Celeste asked.

‘If he was, then yes I would. If’ Nathan told her.

‘We need to proceed carefully. If Miles thinks we’re onto him, then he’s call Nexus forces and we won’t stand a chance’ Celeste said.

‘How about a mutiny?’ Nathan asked.

‘It won’t work. We don’t hold enough influence to get people to follow us’ Celeste said. There was a loud crash from inside the grandstand. Celeste and Nathan quickly entered the main lobby on the ground floor. The scene was similar to a hostage situation, in reverse and going both ways. A pool table had been over-turned, Celeste presumed that was the loud crash they had heard. The civilians had gained weapons and turned them on the soldiers. The soldiers, for their part, also turned their weapons on the civilians.

‘This is ridiculous’ Celeste said, walking through the crowd that were standing either side of the bar, drinks still sitting on the bench.

‘Lower your weapons’ Carlisle said directly to the civilians.

‘You lot lower yours first. You have no right to treat us like that’ a civilian spat back.

‘Treat you like what?’ Nathan asked.

‘Like second rate citizens. People who are just barely surviving. They’re in this boat with us too’ another one answered.

‘Alright,’ Celeste said. ‘Here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to give me your gun and everyone will lower their weapons’ Celeste said to the civilian closest to her.

‘But-‘ began a soldier.

‘Everyone. Give it to me’ Celeste said sternly holding out her hand. The civilian begrudgingly handed it over and everyone, soldiers included, lowered their weapons.

‘Ok. I’m sure Miles has given you all jobs to do, so go and do them. Now’ Celeste ordered.

‘I don’t recognise your authority’ A soldier called out.

‘Do as she says,’ Carlisle ordered. ‘Because you recognise you my authority and we are not going to shooting anybody, are we corporeal?’

‘No sir, we are not’ the soldier replied.

‘Good. Military, that way,’ Celeste said pointing towards the far end of the grandstand. ‘Everyone else, that way,’ she said, pointing the opposite direction. ‘Disperse, now’ and everyone reluctantly left.

‘Nathan, come with me’ Celeste said as she moved towards the stairs.

‘Where are we going?’ Nathan asked.

‘To have a chat with our Nexus friend,’ Celeste whispered back. ‘And someone fix and clean up that pool table’ she called out.

‘Celeste, shouldn’t you be-‘ said Miles’s voice

‘Working? Yeah I should, but we need to have a little chat. Back where you came from’ she said stepping out onto the landing and walking past him.

‘No. You can talk to me here’ Miles replied.

‘Fine’ Celeste replied, slamming the weapon down on the table. Miles looked at it.

‘Where did you get that? That’s supposed to be in the manifest’ Miles asked.

‘I’m well aware it’s supposed to be in the manifest, because that’s where I put all our weapons before you so kindly removed me of my command’ Celeste growled and then gasped as a sharp pain shot across her stomach.

‘Are you ok?’ Nathan asked.

‘Yeah it’s passing’ Celeste replied dismissively.

‘That doesn’t answer my question. Where did you get that?’ Miles asked again.

‘Were you aware that your men were running a Black Market trade? Weapons for alcohol. Because I wasn’t’ Celeste asked. She began to feel slightly dizzy.

‘No I wasn’t,’ Miles said. ‘If I was I would’ve put a stop to it’

‘Well, I should think it’s in your best interests that the civilians are disarmed. They’re not very happy with your men. Oh,’ Celeste said, picking up handgun she’d confiscated. ‘I’m keeping this. Call it an insurance policy’ she added as she started moving toward the stairs.

‘Jason’s dead Celeste. I know it and deep down you know it’ Miles said. Celeste felt a sharp pain across her stomach, much more intense than last time and her vision became blurred as she hunched over, leaning on the railing.

‘You… You’re wrong…’ She gasped. ‘He’s… he’s coming…’ and her legs gave way and she felt herself fall backwards before staring into a black abyss.

The convulsions stopped and Jason was on his back, on the polished steel floor, gasping for air.

‘Well, that was fun…and new’ Jason said, carefully sitting up.

‘What do you mean Jason?’ he heard Sarah say.

‘Well you’re alive at least’ Jason said staring her. For a girl who’d spent the best part of two months inside an alien prison, she was in near perfect condition. Sarah had not one scratch on her as far as Jason could see.

‘Is that why you’re here? To save me?’ Sarah asked. Jason nodded. ‘You shouldn’t have come. It’s dangerous here’

‘We’re in the middle of a war, Sarah. Everywhere is dangerous’ Jason replied.

‘It’s safer out there. In here, they are Gods. You shouldn’t be here’

‘I promised Celeste’ Jason told her. Sarah’s mouth opened and then shut. Jason stood up, unstable on his own legs, he fell back against a wall.

‘That’ll wear off quickly. What did you promise Cel?’ Sarah asked.

‘That’d I’d keep you safe. After you were taken… after I came to… I promised I’d bring you back’ Jason said. The effects were wearing off fast. Strength returned to his legs and he began walking around the room.

‘Can it be done? Getting out of here?’ Sarah asked.

‘I think so, but we’ve only got one chance and we need to go now,’ Jason said, nodding. ‘Are we allowed out?’

‘Yes. It’s before curfew’ Sarah answered, opening the door. The corridor beyond was dark. Almost pitch black without the light of the room they were in.

‘We’re going to need weapons’ Jason said.

‘Then you’re in luck. The Tallentiri have them locked up for study’ Sarah said.

‘Where?’

‘I’ll go get them. I bring back as much as I can. You release the other prisoners, mostly soldiers captured from the attack. Just knock on the wall, they’ll come out’ Sarah told him and then she ran off down the corridor. Jason walked along, knocking on the wall, and slowly people stuck their heads outside.

‘We’re going’ Jason told them each they asked what was happening. Sarah returned carrying two large bags over her shoulders.

‘What did you take?’ Jason asked.

‘Everything I could get my hands on. I thought you might be interested in this’ Sarah said, pulling the Aug out of a bag.

‘You were right,’ Jason said to her before turning around. ‘Help yourselves’ he said to those gathered around him.

‘There’s plenty of ammo so take as much as you want’ Sarah called out. There was the loud boom of an explosion outside.

‘We’ve got company’ someone said.

‘Go. Now. Find a way out. We’ll find who we can later. Just go’ Jason said.

‘Where are we going?’ Sarah asked.

‘To find Claire’ Jason said, heading off in the way of the main door, which opened as the power went out.

‘It must use power to keep it closed’ Sarah summarised.

‘Yeah. Let’s go. We don’t have much time’ Jason said. They hurried along corridors until Jason heard the pounding of boots from around a corner.

‘Get behind me’ Jason said carefully approaching the corner, the Aug at the ready. Jason peered around the corner and saw three Nexus soldiers moving away from him.

‘What are they doing inside?’ Sarah asked.

‘That’s a good question. We brought them here, but they weren’t supposed to come inside’ Jason replied. He moved forward as the soldiers turned the corner. They ran into Claire, Emilia and Razim moving the opposite way as they turned a corner.

‘You’re out’ Claire said. Jason nodded.

‘Did it work?’ He asked.

‘Yes, Tallentiri forces are focus on the North, East and West side. We have to go out the Southern side of the prison’ Emilia said.

‘South? That’s the other side!’ Sarah exclaimed.

‘Yeah well we don’t have a choice’ Jason said. A shot fired into the wall next to them. A Nexus soldier had found them.

‘Run’ Claire said. Jason fired back as all five of them ran down the corridor. Jason saw the soldier drop to the floor, either dead or in pain. They turned right and then right again to avoid a fire that had started not far from where they had turned originally. Then they turned left to avoid a fire fight between more Nexus forces and a group of prisoners. They quickly ran from one side of the mess hall, which was now pure chaos as everyone had left in a massive rush after the attack, to the other. The final corridor was ahead of them. The exit was so close. They all ran for freedom and then shots were fired. Jason threw himself into the ground and directing himself into a roll around a corner, behind cover. Razim and Emilia had somehow not been hit. Claire had been hit in the shoulder, but Sarah was on the floor. Jason returned fire on the Nexus soldiers who had fired the shots. They soldiers dropped to the floor and Jason rushed over to Sarah. She was losing a lot of blood. Jason slid on the floor towards Sarah.

‘Cover us!’ he yelled at Claire and Razim before turning to Emilia. ‘Do something!’ Emilia stood still while Claire and Razim moved to provide cover fire.

‘Do something!’ Jason repeated.

‘I don’t think anything can be done Jason,’ Emilia said. ‘Even if something could be done, I doubt it would make a difference’

‘Yeah?’ Jason said, pulling off his shirt and stretching it out. ‘Well I’m not just going to let her die’ he added. Carefully, he placed his shirt around Sarah’s body, tying it tight under her. He then pulled up, her now unconscious body, and slowly moved himself towards the freedom that he had planned from the moment he was captured.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Stage Two

‘Alright. We’ve been watching the exits for days and no one can tell me a way out of here?’ Jason asked, slightly pissed off.

‘Jason, you haven’t even gone in yet, can’t we worry about this once you’re out?’ Claire asked.

‘No we can’t. Because once I break Sarah out of there, the Tallentiri are going to hunt us down. We’ve only got one shot here’ Jason answered.

‘Well, anything coming in through the gates is searched, both physically and by radar. Any non-authorised material along with whatever is used to bring it in. Same with anything going out’ Emilia said.

‘Any aircraft bringing things in or out are scanned for foreign material. If it’s carrying anything it isn’t supposed to, it’s shot down. We’re not going to be flying out of here’ Razim said.

‘The perimeter is also watched over by the guard towers. Escape is punishable by death, so we won’t be able to sneak out of here’ Claire told him.

‘That doesn’t leave us with many options,’ Jason said. ‘There has to be something we haven’t considered’ he added. There was silence as all four of them thought, Jason paced around the room. Time was running out. Every second they stayed here, the closer the Tallentiri got to finding the ship. Suddenly, Claire looked at Jason.

‘Did you just have the same thought?’ she asked.

‘Signals?’ Jason replied.

‘Exactly’ Claire answered.

‘Care to fill us in?’ Emilia asked.

‘The Tallentiri react to radio signals. It’s what draws them to military forces’ Claire said.

‘How do you know that?’ Razim asked.

‘Because we’ve used it to our advantage before,’ Jason said. ‘We holed up in the Claremont Showgrounds, and the Nexus forces were approaching it, trying to take it. So we activated the Bastion Shield and we drew the Tallentiri there’

‘They track our signals so they can find us, then they pick us off or capture us’ Razim realised.

‘Right. That time we were calling them in. they watch signals going around the prison, but most likely not those going out from the prison. They have to communicate with other somehow. So we use a Tallentiri computer to send a signal to those outside. The Tallentiri will just think it’s another message from inside to another facility’ Claire said.

‘What’s actually happening is, we’re giving away the location of prison’ Jason said.

‘To who?’ Emilia asked.

‘Our people’ Claire answered.

‘No. Too dangerous. We’ll send it to the Nexus’ Jason said.

‘What? Are you insane? They’ll destroy the prison and they won’t care how many people they kill in the process’ Claire said.

‘Which is exactly why should use them. The more powerful the attackers are, the less worried the Tallentiri are going to be about us, the prisoners’ Jason said.

‘We’ll need a Nexus authentication code. I don’t know them’ Claire said.

‘I think I know someone who does’ Jason said

Celeste was holding her hair back while she leaned over the sink behind the bar. Morning sickness had hit her hard. There was a knock at the door.

‘Celeste?’ she heard Nathan’s voice call out.

‘I’m here’ Celeste managed to spit out before having to lean over the sink again.

‘Oh God, Celeste. Are you alright?’ Nathan said, rushing over to her. ‘Do you need to lie to down?’ he asked. Celeste considered lying to him, but she knew he’d find out eventually.

‘I’m alright. I’m not sick’ she said, spitting into the sink.

‘Then what are you?’ Nathan asked. Celeste said nothing; instead she waited for the penny to drop. Eventually it did.

‘How far along are you?’

‘About two months,’ Celeste answered. ‘Anyway, why did you come to see me?’

‘Miles wants a word with you’ Nathan said.

‘He always does. He’s in his usual spot?’ Celeste asked. Nathan nodded. ‘Ok, tell him I’ll be there in a few minutes’ she added. Nathan nodded and left. Celeste walked over to the sink and poured herself a glass of water, rinsing the taste out of her mouth, before leaving and heading upstairs, to the third floor.

‘Captain’ Celeste said, reaching the third floor platform, walking over to them.

‘I’m not going to bore you with twenty questions. I just want the answer’ Miles asked.

‘Forty-two’ Celeste replied.

‘That’s a funny joke,’ Miles said, his face blank of all expression. ‘Now answer the question’

‘I don’t have an answer’ Celeste said.

‘I indulged you with two weeks to think about it, and you tell me you don’t have an answer!’ Miles yelled.

‘That is correct,’ Celeste said. ‘Now let me ask you a question: do you think can intimidate me? Because if you do, you’re wrong’ Miles stepped up to her, towering over her.

‘Give me an answer now. Yes or no’ Miles said slowly, but dangerously.

‘No. I’m not giving you command’ Celeste said. Miles sighed.

‘Then you leave me with no choice,’ Miles said turning to the soldiers. ‘Round them up’

‘Isn’t that mutiny?’ Celeste asked as the soldiers left.

‘I’m not sure if that applies at the moment. You’re civilian after all’ Miles replied.

‘So what are you going to do? Kill us, lock us up somewhere?’ Nathan asked viciously.

‘Neither,’ Miles told them. ‘Unless you give me a reason too’ he added. Nathan moved to launch himself at Miles, but Celeste held him back.

‘Jason will be back soon, he’ll sort it out. Let’s go’ Celeste said, and she turned and walked back down the stairs.

‘We can’t let him get away with this’ Nathan said.

‘And he won’t’ Celeste replied angrily. ‘Can you hack computers?’

‘Yes I can,’ Nathan replied. ‘Why?’

‘Lock the door behind you’ Celeste said as she entered the Glasshouse. Nathan locked the door.

‘Before Claire captured, Jason asked her to look into an envelope that he found in his dad’s quarters at the Barracks. One of the things in that envelope was the coordinates of the showgrounds. It was the target of an air-strike. The military knew and sent us there anyway’ Celeste told him.

‘You want me to look into that envelope?’ Nathan asked.

‘No. I want you to into Captain Miles. Something’s… not right… about him’ Celeste said.

‘You’re basing that on a mutiny?’ Nathan asked again.

‘Just do it, and make sure no one other than me knows what you’re doing’ Celeste said, unlocking the door and leaving.

‘Heath, we need to talk’ Jason said, walking up to him. They were in the Mess Hall and Heath was surround by his followers.

‘You got balls, I’ll give you that. Showing up at my table’ Heath replied viciously, turning to face him.

‘You and I both who’d have won that fight, had it not been for your intervention’ Jason said, choosing his last few words carefully.

‘What do you want to talk about?’ Heath asked his voice deep and nearly a growl.

‘Actually, I need to talk to you, alone’ Jason asked.

‘About?’

‘I think I’ve found a way out of here, but I’ll need your assistance’ Jason asked. Heath turned his head to those at the table.

‘Go’ He said. They all left and Jason sat down.

‘I know you have military training, but you’re not trained to fight like that in the regular army. So what were you? Special Forces? Secret Service?’ Jason asked.

‘Nexus’ Heath whispered.

‘Sorry, I didn’t hear that’ Jason asked.

‘I was Nexus’ Heath told him. ‘They fired me. When they fire someone they kill them, but not me. I knew what was coming so I escaped’ Heath said.

‘Do you know Colonel Aaron Swift?’ Jason asked.

‘Of course,’ Heath answered. ‘He was supposed to be my executioner’

‘Right, well I killed him. Well, had him killed. How would you like to get one back on the Nexus?’ Jason asked.

‘I’d love it’ Heath replied.

‘Sending their soldiers into a trap going to cover it?’ Jason asked.

‘Hell yeah, they would’ve done the same to me’ Heath told him. ‘What do you need?’

‘The Authentication Codes’ Jason said, signalling for Claire to come over.

‘7-J-0-9-F-H-9-3-X’ Heath said.

‘You’re sure?’ Jason asked.

‘Yes I’m sure’ Heath said. Claire walked off, muttering the code to herself.

‘Ok, now I need a favour, but I warn you, it’s going to hurt’ Jason said, picking up a metal tray and hitting Heath across the side of the head.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ Heath asked, kicking Jason in the chest. Jason was rocketed off across the Hall, sliding across a nearby table. Jason got up and was faced again by Heath who tossed him into the wall.

‘I’m sorry Heath. I had too’ Jason said, as he saw Claire, Emilia and Razim leave.

‘I made the mistake of letting you live last time. This time I won’t’ Heath said, swinging a fist at Jason, who threw himself out of the way. Tallentiri were filling the room. Jason planted his right foot on a table, using it to push himself above Heath, bringing his entire weight back down, Heath had to move to avoid being hit. Jason rolled over his shoulder. He ducked under a hook from Heath before kicking him in the chest, causing Heath to fall over a table. The Tallentiri were advancing on them now, as had been hoped. He had little time left. He ran over to Heath.

‘I’m sorry Heath. I had to’ Jason said and with one swing of a tray he picked up off a table, Heath was unconscious. The Tallentiri were advancing on him now, with long black whips which had small metal spikes attached to it.

‘Come on! Let’s see what you’ve got!’ Jason snarled at them. He needed them aggravated. He needed them to attack.

‘They’ll kill you, idiot!’ Jason heard someone call out as crowd gathered around them.

‘No they won’t’ he muttered, slamming the tray against the face of a Tallentiri that came into range. The others stopped. Then someone hit him from behind. It wasn’t Heath; he was still out cold on the floor, but it was definitely human. As Jason lost his balance and fell, he felt the excruciating pain he’d felt when he was captured. This time he stayed conscious but he was paralysed as the whip wrapped around him. He realised the spikes were conductors as he received a powerful electric shock. He couldn’t move after he was released either. The Tallentiri slipped their talons under him and picked him up. Jason was carried away; all he could see was the ceiling above him, which suddenly changed from white to dark green. He heard a door slide open and he was tossed into a room. He could do nothing as he felt something long pierce his side and he body started to spasm. He heard the door close and he was left, his body convulsing, on the floor.