The commander of The London walks up to a platform with a microphone and says to the prisoners, “I am Commander Leylan. You are prisoners. You robbed, killed, and bothered all your rights and respectability away. We don’t have to treat you well. If you provoke, just know that all the guards are armed. You may stay here or go in the recreational center in the room right by this one. If you leave these two rooms, the guards have been ordered to shoot you dead. I would consider that a waste of ammo. Don’t make us use it. You may jump out the ship to your death if you like. No ships or buddies will be around to get you. All common sense rules apply.”
Vila walks over to Roj.
“Roj, you a fan of cards?”
“It’s Blake, actually.”
“Don’t you think I don’t know that? I’m glad you’re remembering.”
Roj Blake is led to an empty table which Vila sets a deck of cards on. Vila grabs the attention of Jenna, Gan, Arco, and Selman to join him. They all sit at the table with eight seats. They begin to play.
Vila cuts everyone at the table five cards, including himself.
“What game is this Vila?” asked Selman.
“Liberator. Whoever can take the other player’s cards win-”
“We all know how to play the bloody game,” shouted an annoyed Arco.
Roj Blake looks at his hand, four kings are present. Everyone puts down a single card face down just in front of them. When everyone has a card out, they’re flipped over by Vila.
Everyone except Roj Blake has a card worse than a king.
“Good job, Roj,” said Jenna.
“I’ve come to love the name Blake.”
Vila smiles.
“Alright, Blake,” said Jenna.
The group continues to play. Blake is doing the best of the group.
A prisoner unaffiliated with the group observes their game and walks over.
“I’m Nova, can I cram myself in this?” said the prisoner.
“We’re not betting anything,” said Vila.
“Fine by me.” Nova takes a seat.
…
Del Tarrant stands above the body of his brother. He is filled with emotions he can’t handle. Maja, thinking more rationally, tries to alert Del with, “Del, we have to make an escape.”
Del continues to stand still. He in no way suggested that he heard Maja, but how couldn’t he? She walks over to Del and looks at him, he doesn’t look back. Del continues to look and think about his recently deceased brother. Maja walks to the entrance and listens for any Troopers. She hears nothing. She takes a quick glance at the computer, takes a few steps towards it, then turns away. Maja grabs Del’s arm.
“Del, we need to find a way out of here.”
She looks at Del’s eyes, she follows their path to Dev’s lifeless body.
She grabs the torch on Dev’s person and shines it around the room. She anticipated Del to want to stop her from touching Dev, but Del continued to be still. Making various patterns with the torch on the walls, ceiling, and ground, Maja clearly didn’t know what she was doing, but hoped for something to shift or move. After about five minutes of waving the torch and when Maja was just about to drop her arm due to discomfort, the walls registered the torch and the dirt on the walls moved to the side and a passageway revealed itself.
“Del, let’s go.”
Del turns and leaves with Maja, but he’s still so consumed with the events that have transpired that he doesn’t pay attention to where he’s going. Maja smiled at the fact that he bothered to move at all. Maja leads him in the passageway. She encourages him to be speedier, but Del continues to be in his own head. The two walk through the passageway, which is large enough for the two to walk as opposed to crawl. Maja puts her arm around Del’s shoulder.
“Del, it’s not your fault. It was self defense.”
Del doesn’t look at or acknowledge his partner and by extension anything else around him. If Maja wasn’t directing him, he would likely fall down or stand still. Maja is concerned, but is understanding of what Del has just gone through. Maja holds Del closer and tighter and the two continue on. They proceed with walking for about ten minutes. Maja doesn’t like how plain the tunnel looks, but she’s in awe of how much had been built. It’s quite a spectacle to her. Maja looks back at Del who is just as he has been and she tries not to produce any tears. As Maja is focused on Del and potential Troopers behind them and Del is in his head, neither notice the passageway end. A single step leading down to a big room is missed by Maja and when she makes it to the step she almost loses her balance, but loses her grip on Del and he falls to the ground. Maja picks him up and sits him up against a wall by the entranceway. Maja looks at the big room, not unlike the one they were in, but the one and only thing in it is a little dusty car and a light at the very top of the ceiling to illuminate the space.
Maja sits next to Del and holds him close. She says, “Y’know, we’re all we have.”
…
Cally sits and looks at the building her crew destroyed. In such a short amount of time, so much life was taken. She considers walking in to see if anyone was still alive, but she realizes that she would be prone to being attacked. Cally gets up, dusts herself off and starts walking in the direction she came. She has no compass or map, but she used her and her team’s footprints to get back to her ship. She looked at the big desert space. She was curious as to how this place, of all places, could’ve been chosen as a base or hide out for any given activity. When she got to her ship, she was horrified to see the ship had been taken. Cally turned to see if anyone was around. She saw imprinted in the sand on the ground that the ship had been dragged on the ground a few feet before taking off. In a moment of confusion and heavy emotions, she started to run and run and run to anywhere she could, hoping there would be a village, the ship itself, or literally anything that could help her find her escape from a planet she didn’t particularly like. Despite being tired from running, she continued to run and run and run around and around. Eventually she turned in the direction of the base her team fought at and ran in that direction. Once there, she walked in the building and looked for any computer or aid. She carefully walked by, trying not to look at the bodies. Suddenly, a person stands up with difficulty and stabs her shoulder blade. She screams in pain, takes out a knife and throws it at her attacker. The victim falls over. Cally stumbles out the building and hits the ground. She screams.
…
After several minutes, Blake and Jenna are the only two players in the game left.
“Blake, let’s bet something,” said Jenna. “What do you want?” asked Blake.
“You got any credits?” “What do you need credits for? We’re going to prison!”
“Alright then, um, um, how about your jacket?”
Blake looked down at his jacket. It was dark green with nice quality suede around the whole thing. It was Blake’s favorite jacket, but no article of clothing was particularly important to him.
“I’ll do the deal, but what I want is perhaps more valuable.” “What is it?” Jenna was curious.
“I want your help in escaping this place.”
Gan, Arco, Selman, and Nova moved back, not wanting to be associated with Blake after he said that.
Blake doesn’t understand the problem.
“Blake, we’re being recorded,” says Vila to Blake.
“Well then,” Blake looks to Jenna, “We’ll just have to escape quickly.”
Jenna believes that the risk of trying to escape outweighs the reward, but even then she can’t help but say, “You’re on.”
“Alright Jenna, we’ll do three more rounds of this. The winner of the third round takes the whole pot.”
They both put a card down. Vila flips them over. Blake has a two and Jenna has a nine.
“Jenna wins,” said Vila.
Jenna collects those cards.
They go again. Blake puts down a two and Jenna a Jack.
“Jenna wins.”
They both play again.
Jenna plays a three and Blake plays a four.
Blake smiles, “You shouldn’t have played low.” “I wanted to lose,” said Jenna without it being clear if she was serious.
Blake stands up and walks around, looking closely at the walls. He walks back to the group.
“Who here wants to help me?”
Vila agrees without hesitation. Blake walks to the others.
Everyone sits and watches Blake, unsure of what to do.
“This is your chance at escape,” said Blake.
Arco stands and shakes Blake’s hand.
“You’ve got me.”
Nova follows suit.
“Me too.”
Gan stands to Blake. “I’m sorry Blake, it’s just too risky.”
Blake is a little disappointed. “But why?!”
Gan whispers something in Blake’s ear.
“Alright then, Gan.”
Blake was disappointed as Gan was so big and strong that he would’ve been great help, though he was understanding.
Blake looks to Selman.
Selman says without a verbal prompt, “Sorry, man.”
Selman was so puny that Blake didn’t feel much was lost by his absence.
Blake speaks to the whole group. “I only currently need Vila’s help.”
Vila walks to Blake.
Blake touches a spot on the wall.
“Vila, I think there’s a vent in the wall here, how do I get to it?”
Vila puts his hand on the wall, he can tell it’s a vent cover.
“If we hit it hard enough, the cover will fall,” said Vila.
Blake says quietly, mostly to himself, “The guards would hear that.”
Vila thinks of an idea. He runs to Gan and whispers something in his ear. Gan sighs and punches Vila in the face. Gan runs to him and Vila hits Gan in the gut. Gan grabs Vila’s shoulders and pushes him against the air vent hard. Gan goes to punch Vila in the stomach, but he dodges and Gan almost completely removes the vent. Vila and Gan comically wink at Blake and they make their way to the other side of the room and continue fighting. Blake quickly jumps in the vent.
Blake turns and sees Jenna and Arco sit with their backs to the vent, thus keeping Blake in. He quickly learns just how nasty this little room is. There’s wires everywhere, it’s difficult to breathe, there’s little space to move; Blake considers leaving the room. He turns around again to again see Jenna and Arco.
“I can’t stop now,” said Blake.
…
Commander Leylan is sitting with one of his men.
“Did you know Roj Blake is on this ship?” asked Commander Leylan, trying to kill time with a conversation.
“Yes I’ve heard, we should keep an eye on him,” said the guard Leylan’s with.
“What can he possibly do?”
“That’s what the Federation said.”
“His mind is all wild.”
“I think he should be watched.”
Commander Leylan smugly replies, “Alright Raiker, if you want to keep an eye on him, you can.”
Raiker stands, “Thank you, sir.”
Raiker runs to the recreational center like his life depends on it. He storms in to see many people relaxing and Jenna, Arco, and Nova smushed together conveniently by the vent.
Raiker squints his eyes.
“Blake’s gone.”
…
Blake keeps crawling along, constantly getting tangled in the little wires, and trying not to slip or hurt himself. He eventually finds another vent with a tiny hole cut in it. Blake looks in to see a few workers in a room. He listens as close as he can to what they’re saying and doing.
“Program in-” said one worker.
“Incorporate-” said another.
“Westward-” said another.
Blake could see men at computers working on various aspects of the journey to Cygnus Alpha.
“You all leave, I have to do this part by myself,” said a worker who seemed to be a technician.
Blake thought to himself for ten whole seconds before turning around and returning to the other prisoners. When he got back, only Jenna was sitting by the vent. Blake tapped her shoulder, she moved, and he quickly jumped out.
“How was it in there?” asked Jenna.
“A blast,” said Blake sarcastically.
Blake gathers together Vila, Arco, and Nova to join him and Jenna.
“Team,” said Blake, “if one were to go into the vent, they’d reach a computer room. There’s a technician in there. I need a computer savvy person to take the guy out and take control.”
Blake’s team look at one another, asking without words if they could do that task. They all look at Blake and he can tell what their answer is. Blake is annoyed and looks around the room thinking. He looks to Vila.
“Vila, do you know any computer smart people here?”
Vila thinks.
“Sorry, no.”
Blake, desperate, runs up to people if they “Know computers.” The responses are as followed…
“Sorry, mate.”
“No, sir.”
“Whose askin’?”
“I met one last week, he wasn’t too polite.”
“They ain’t any computers in prison.”
“I don’t, my apologies.”
““Know computers” may not be the best term to use.”
Blake extends his hand to the gentleman so he can shake it, but he stares Blake down and keep his hands still to himself.
“Fair enough,” Blake puts down his hand.
Blake continues, “I would very much like your help Mr.-” Blake signals for the man to respond with his name.
The man takes a breathe to suggest his annoyance, but he still responds with, “Avon, Kerr Avon.”
“Kerr, I need assistance with a little something. I need someone who can run this ship's computer.” “Do you have access to the ship’s computer?” “I do, there’s a vent which leads to a computer room. I need a computer person to take control of it.”
“Why should I help you?”
“You can avoid Cygnus Alpha.”
“Even if I do get dumped there, I could find a way out.”
“What if you don’t?”
Avon’s brow raises.
“All I need is a ship to come by and I can get on it.”
“What if none come?”
Avon sits back.
“Alright, you’ve got me.”
…
Del and Maja sit together for a few minutes. Maja thought about leaving elsewhere and Del thought about Dev. Maja stood and took out the torch. She shines it around the room as she walks around. She covers almost every square inch of the room with the torch and she stood in almost every place possible. She continues walking and hitting the ground with her big, heavy boots. As she continues she steps on one spot, a wooden door covered in dirt. After stepping there one too many times, it gives in and Maja falls through. Del sees this and stands.
“Maja!”
He runs over to the broken door and jumps in.
Del hits the ground on his bum. Without looking, thinking, or breathing, he screams “Maja!”. That word echos through the dark room.
“Del?”
Del hears a familiar voice call his name. He’s hugged tight by something he can’t see. He turns to barely see Maja. The two smile at knowing they’re okay.
Del looks to Maja, “Get out that torch. Maybe we can use it for light.”
The two walk along in the dark pit. After a short walk they get lost. Both are scared but neither can say it.
“What do we do, Del?” “We turn around.”
…
Raiker, looking out a window, thinking of a plan, sees a stationary ship. He is very interested in it. He walks to Leylan who is nearby.
“Sir, there’s a ship out there. No one’s in it,” said Raiker.
“How do you know no one’s in it?”
Raiker tries to think of a lie.
“The oxygen cord is broken, everyone in there must be dead, but our men can put in another one.” There was no such thing as an ‘oxygen cord’ and Raiker knew it, but he knew his commander wouldn’t want to look stupid by asking what it was.
“Alright Raiker, go forth.”
Raiker collects some men who follow his commands without question.
Raiker picks five of them and orders them to put on the black Federation Trooper uniform.
Raiker pulls out a phone, presses just two buttons and reaches a person.
“Give me the password!” demanded Raiker.
“182347.” “We’re boarding a ship, send out a transport cord,” followed Raiker.
The person speaking to Raiker presses some buttons and types in some things.
The man says to Raiker, “Am I sending the cord to the ship I’m seeing on the view screen? With the big green ball at the end of it?” “That’s the one,” replied Raiker.
A cord appears from the London and continually extends out like an accordion. The man controlling it locates an entrance on the ship and directs the cord to it. When the cord connects, he smiles and says to Raiker “It’s go time.”
Raiker and his men walk to a door. Raiker opens the door and his crew looks down the long corridor to the ship’s door on the other side. They walk down in sync like they’re presenting themselves, even though there’s no one to see them. When they get to the ship, one person takes out a small metal rod, with a diameter no more than an inch. The trooper hits the thing on the door and an exceptionally loud bang is produced. He continues at this a few more times, without at all struggling to move or hold the object.
The Commander, Bod, and Rachel; inside the ship are disoriented by the attack. The Commander says to Bod, “You and Rachel hide while I go to get Kad. Both of you arm yourselves.”
Rachel goes to the control panel to send down The Commander, but just before she can the Troopers break in. One Trooper points his gun at Rachel. Rachel stays still. She thins, if she runs, the people might shoot the control panel; if she stays, she’ll get shot. Bod and The Commander run to behind a nearby wall. The Commander pulls out a gun and fires at the Troopers, he hits one. Rachel takes the opportunity to run away, but in the opposite direction of The Commander and Bod.
The Commander runs to Bod.
“Commander, how many of those people are there?” “I’m not sure, but one is down.”
The Commander runs out to hit a Trooper, but is struck in the arm by one of them.
Bod runs off as quietly as he can, but still not particularly quiet.
The Troopers pace their way through the ship, they look at the chair in front of a sea of screens, some at arms reach of the chairs, some farther away on the wall, the Troopers continue to stomp through.
The Commander, runs off in the opposite direction of where Bod went.
One Trooper turns to the other three Troopers. He says, “You two,” he points at two of the Troopers, “Go after the abled man.” The Trooper turns to the remaining Trooper. “Go after the Dame.”
The Trooper receives a message on his phone. Commander Leylan is trying to contact him, he answers.
“How are things going?” asked Commander Leylan.
“One of three are injured, zero dead on their side. One dead on our side. We have control of the situation,” The Trooper says in a neutral tone of voice.
…
Bod runs through many halls past bedrooms, a kitchen, a storage house, and other rooms to a safe in the wall. He puts in a code and it doesn’t work. Bod begins to sweat. He tries another code and it still doesn’t open the safe. He hears the Troopers approaching and says under his breath, “Sorry Commander, Rachel, Kad.” Bod runs to a close by row of escape pods. He opens one up and the loud noise alerts two Troopers. The Troopers quickly make it to the row of escape pods. Bod jumps in and makes eye contact with one of the Troopers. Bod looks at the mask that covers the Trooper’s eyes. He tries to look in, but he can’t. The Trooper fires his gun and shoots Bod dead. He lays lifeless with his head and torso outside the pod, but with his legs in it.
…
Rachel runs into the bridge of the ship.
“Zen,” yelled Rachel, louder than she should, “If we all- Commander, Bod, Kad, and I die, tell whoever comes aboard to get the water on the planet and take it to the planet Aristo.”
Rachel tries her very hardest not to tear up, even though the only thing she’s with is a computer.
“Confirmed,” replied Zen in a cold, neutral voice.
Rachel runs off.
…
The Commander rests on the ground for a few minutes.
“I have to arm myself… with something powerful,” thought The Commander. He struggles to walk, but he makes himself. He limps away, with a trail of blood marking wherever he’s been.
The Commander goes and goes and goes to get a weapon. He’s confused as to why no Trooper has come by for him.
“Wait,” The Commander thought, “if they spotted Rachel, they could be trying to hunt her down.”
The Commander moves even faster until he reaches the safe where the guns are kept.
“Hmmm, it says here an attempt to open this was made recently.”
The Commander opens the safe and retrieves a gun. The gun appears as a little gray box attached to a black curly cord with a clear cylinder to top it off. The Commander tosses the original gun on the ground.
Before The Commander can close the safe, he hears a Trooper near him. He turns around, sees the Trooper, and fires at him. The Commander runs off. After extensive searching, The Commander sees Rachel. He walks to her.
“Rachel.”
She turns.
“Commander? You’re alive?!”
The two run for each other. Before they embrace fully, two Troopers appear. The Commander, seeing this, directs his gun at one of them and fires. One of the Troopers fall.
The Commander fires at the other Trooper, but misses. Both The Commander and Rachel jump to behind a wall. The Commander points his gun by the edge of the wall. The Trooper says, “You three won’t be harmed if you come with me. You are all alive.”
The Commander whispers something at Rachel. The two stand together for a few seconds. The Commander then turns out from behind the wall without a gun and his hands in the air. Though The Commander would not have known this, the Trooper smiles. The Trooper raises his gun. Rachel jumps from behind the wall and fires at the Trooper, killing him. The Commander and Rachel look at each other and smile. The two of them walk to the bridge and close the door that let in the Troopers in the first place. They next go to the transport room.
“Rachel,” The Commander says weakly, “can you get the water?”
“Yes.”
Rachel grabs a bracelet and steps on the transport pad.
The Commander climbs on the booth by the control panel.
“I’ll go look for Bod,” said The Commander about to get up.
“Are you sure I shouldn’t find him now?” Rachel says as she steps off the pad and walks to The Commander.
“Alright, then.”
The Commander stays put as Rachel runs off.
The Commander sits, thinking of all the adventures he’s had with his crew. While he’s usually made it through with his team, he has failed at times. He wonders if he’d be injured if old friends and companions had still been around.
“Dala, San, Calson,” The Commander said very quietly, “All gone.”
The Commander teared up once he thought about the dead bodies, the graves. He didn’t know if it was worse when the graves were empty or full.
Rachel returns from her search. The Commander looks at her.
“I’m sorry Rex, he’s dead.”
Rachel walks to hug The Commander, but a Trooper appears and fires at Rachel. The Commander looks at the door, it hasn’t been opened again. He takes his gun and fires at the Trooper. The Commander looks down at Rachel. He can’t bare to look at her body, so he looks away. Struggling with not crying, he plugs in some information on the control panel and goes to the teleport pad.
“Zen! Goodbye!” The Commander yells right before being sent down.
He’s beamed to Cygnus Beta.
“Kad!” The Commander yells.
The Commander sees where Kad and he had been working. He walks slowly, but the fastest he can do. Once at the top of a hill between where he landed and the spot he was at, he rolls down it. Everytime he moves he feels pain, but he doesn’t care. He almost stands up, but he realizes how easily that could get him shot. He sees the full container of water that he and Kad were working on. He turns and sees two dead bodies lying on the ground. While he knows the two are Thal and Kad, he doesn’t have the guts to look. He crawls to the container, he goes for it eagerly, but only so fast. When he’s almost there, he extends his hand to grab it. Before he quite makes it to the container, he is struck by a flying bullet and his arm falls to the ground.
…
Blake and Avon join the rest of the group, who are sitting around by the vent waiting for Blake.
“Blake, what’s the plan?” asked Jenna.
“We’re going to send Avon,” Avon looks at Blake after hearing his name, “through the vent and he’s going to over power anyone in there. Next, he’s going to alert Vila, Jenna, and me to come join him while he starts changing things, anything he likes, to get attention,” Blake slaps his hand on Avon’s shoulder, “There should be only one person there.”
Avon slowly crawls in the vent. As soon as he’s in, Blake sits in front of the vent, keeping Avon in. “What have I gotten myself into?” Avon says to himself.
Avon continually hits cords to the side, but makes sure not to break them. When he gets to the computer room, he sees the one person in there who is working to themself.
Avon stays still for a moment to think, he then punches the vent so hard it falls off. The man looks at Avon, who jumps out and falls on the man. Avon punches him a few times, and he falls unconscious. He runs to the door and locks it. He runs to the control panel and thinks about it, hesitating to touch anything. He loses any care in the world and starts hitting several switches and buttons at once.
In the recreational center, the light turns off. Blake smiles.
“Come on Jenna, let’s go,” Blake says.
He jumps in the vent and moves quickly. Jenna follows suit. As soon as Jenna is in, Troopers storm in and everyone there, including Vila, stay completely still.
A Trooper points his gun in the center of the room.
“All of you, stand here with your hands behind your heads.”
…
Blake and Jenna get to the computer room and jump in.
“Good job, Avon,” said Blake.
Avon, who is sitting on the ground and reading on how to operate the controls looks to Blake and says, “The controls on this are completely different from what I’ve used in the past.”
“It’s like it was designed to confuse prisoners,” said Jenna.
Avon looks at Blake, “What is the plan from here? What specifically do we do at this second?”
“Find a self destruct button or a button that disables manual control. If we need to we can do something that can land the ship.” Avon stands, “I’ve heard plans like that before, the people who made them are dead.” Avon pauses. “We need to break it up, make it simpler.”
Blake replies with. “What always works for me is succeeding at the first bit and making it up from there.”
“But you’re in here.”
“You are two.”
A screen turns on revealing Commander Leylan’s face.
“Roj,” he says, “if you come out now, you can live.”
“Leylan, you know quite well we have all the power here!” replied Blake.
“Blake, we will find a way in and when we do, you won’t like it.”
Leylan shuts off communications. He turns to Raiker, sitting by him.
“Raiker, I don’t know how we’re going to get them, but do whatever it takes to get them out. Don’t kill Blake or the two with him without my orders.”
“Your wish is my command,” says Raiker immediately before leaving.
Leylan presses a button and a Trooper appears on a small screen.
“How are things going?” asked Commander Leylan.
“Alright then, signing out.”
Leylan sighs, turns from his computer, and looks up.
…
Del and Maja Tarrant walk through all they had previously walked through. They are almost to the room with Dev’s body.
“What will we say when we get out of here?” asked Maja.
“I’m not sure,” Del replied.
There are numerous Federation Troopers swarming about the area. As soon as Del and Maja walk in the room with Dev, a Trooper yells; “There they are!”
Two Troopers grab Del and Maja. They hold their wrists behind their backs.
“You two are under arrest for the death of Dev Tarrant,” said one Trooper. The Trooper waves a torch and a secret entrance appears. Everyone in the room walks into it and in virtually no time they are above the base.
Del and Maja are forced in the back of a typical Federation vehicle. Two Troopers immediately jump in, despite there only being seats for three people. The two Troopers once more hold their wrists.
A Trooper gets in front of the wheel and drives off.
At a hold for accused criminals, the driving Trooper gets out of the car to speak to two others. He goes to the window of the car and tells the two Troopers to bring in Del and Maja. They do as they are told.
Del and Maja look at the cold, dark building they’re in. They can’t believe this is the situation they’re in after such a short time. They’re taken to a cell of people and thrown in. The door is locked and the two sit quietly looking at the door. None of the people in the room take note of them, though this is not observed by the two Tarrants. Del puts his arm around Maja and the two sit still.
…
Blake, Jenna, and Avon sit around in the computer room without anything to do.
Avon sees in the vent where the three entered, a gun pops out of it. He takes his gun and shoots said gun and it falls to the ground. He points the gun at the vent.
“Stay out, sir, the three of us are locked onto that vent. Even if you get one of us, we’ll get you.”
Blake and Jenna are watching the situation intently without moving their bodies.
Avon hears from in the vent, “Team, retreat plan.”
Avon smiles. He keeps listening.
“Tell Raiker Plan A did not work.”
…
Raiker speaks to the prisoners in the Recreational Room.
“All of you stand up… and keep your hands behind your head.”
Raiker turns to some Troopers.
“You two,” Raiker points at two Troopers, “Go look at security audio for accomplices of Janus.”
Raiker points at two more Troopers, “You two, turn on the connection between Blake and me.”
A screen is turned on and Raiker can hear Blake.
“Janus,” said Raiker, “I’ll be nice, I promise on my word that you’ll be safe if you leave within one minute. Come out now.”
“Raiker, I want to be redirected to a nearby planet and have all the prisoners released safely,” Blake smiles with a smug smirk, “Oh by the way, it’s Blake.”
Raiker turns to the bunch of prisoners and shoots one of them nonchalantly.
“Blake, I’ll keep going until you open the door and surrender.”
Blake sweats.
Raiker kills another.
“I surrender!” yelled Blake.
Avon and Jenna look at him with a look of shock.
Raiker shoots another prisoner.
“The door is closed, Blake.”
Blake yells to Avon, “Open that door!”
Avon resists.
Raiker points his gun at another prisoner, Nova.
Avon presses the button that opens the door.
Blake walks to the door and closes his eyes, he raises his hands.
“Blake, you all still have your guns. That doesn’t look like surrendering to me.”
Raiker fires his gun at Nova and he falls. Raiker points his gun at Vila.
Blake, Avon, and Jenna drop their guns.
Commander Leylan and some other guards are waiting for them on the other side of the door. The three are grabbed and taken from the room.
“Leylan, your first officer committed murder. I demand you-”
A Trooper hits Blake.
The three are carried out of the computer room.
“Well Blake, I’ve managed to escape death this long,” said Avon.
…
Leylan calls Raiker into his office.
“Raiker, what were you thinking?”
“You said I could do anything it takes to get them out.”
“You killed four people.” “All we need to do is say they were resisting and we’re fine.”
“Raiker, give me one good reason not to court martial you!”
“Those three are out of the control room.”
Leylan thinks and takes a heavy breath.
“Alright then, what should we do with the prisoners who witnessed all that?” said a defeated Leylan.
“We should kill Blake and company in front of them.”
“We’re ordered not to kill Blake for all he’s caught up in. We shouldn’t kill the other two because if we kill them, we could show the prisoners that they threaten us enough to kill them. Where are we going to put those three to show the prisoner’s that we’re in control?”
“We can send them to the odd ship, our men were killed on board.”
“What?!” Leylan shouted.
Leylan presses a button, no longer paying attention to Raiker. “Hello, hello, anybody?”
There is no answer.
Leylan looks to Raiker.
“Raiker, you can send them aboard.”
Leylan sighs.
Raiker leaves confident.
He walks to Blake, Avon, and Jenna, all sitting in a prison cell.
“We found a ship, we want you to kill the threat on board and give the ship to us.”
Blake, Avon, and Jenna look at each other.
…
At night, Cally uses a cave to sleep in in order to have at least some shelter. She lays on the ground. She looks at the stars. She talks about them to herself, analyzing the color, the shape, the beauty of all the little specks of light in the vast sea of the sky. She can’t help but wonder how many people are out there, what kind of people, what are they doing? She says to herself, “Well I better get used to them, because I’ll be here for a while.” Cally falls asleep, trying to find content in her new situation.
…
Blake, Jenna, and Avon are situated near the entrance of the transport cord.
Blake asks Raiker, “Are we going to be given any guns?”
“No, but you will have this.”
A Trooper walks out with Vila.
“This prisoner is ordered to watch you all. If you try anything funny, he is to report it to me.”
Blake’s brow raises. “Why this prisoner?”
“Why not?”
Blake, Avon, Jenna, and Vila walk through the cord to the ship. They open the door and walk in. They all see no apparent threat, but a litany of dead bodies on the ground.
“Someone’s been decorating.”
The four walk around and see no apparent threat.
“Should we just take this ship?” asked Jenna.
“I second that,” said Avon.
“First they send us on a ship, then they give us Vila, doesn’t it all seem too easy?” asked Blake.
“Maybe they didn’t know he was working with us.” said Jenna.
“One can’t be sure.” said Blake.
…
Raiker is listening to security footage with Troopers.
“Who here wants to help me?” said Blake in the recording.
“Of course I’m on board,” said a confident Vila.
Raiker’s jaw drops.
“That man… he’s on board with them. He’ll escape with them,” said Raiker.
Raiker runs to the end of the door. He says to some Troopers, “Kill anyone else working with Blake!”
“Would Leylan like that?” asked a guard.
“Who cares what Leylan thinks?”
Raiker runs out and to the room where the entrance to the transport cord is. He makes sure his gun is on him and he starts moving in.
…
“This is your chance at escape,” said Blake in the recording.
Arco stands and shakes Blake’s hand.
“You’ve got me.”
Nova follows suit.
“Me too.”
The Troopers, hearing Arco and Nova, get up and go.
They walk to the recreation room and locate Arco.
One of the Troopers calmly states, “Can Arco Trent please come here?”
Arco, sitting with Gan and Selman, gets up and goes to the Troopers.
“What’s happenin’ mate?” said Arco.
A Trooper pulls out a gun and shoots Arco in the gut. He falls to the ground and screams in pain. All the other prisoners watch in horror, not sure of what to do.
The Troopers turn and leave.
Arco, still alive, rolls on the ground in horror of the state he’s in.
Gan and Selman walk to him.
“Selman, what do we do?” “I dunno, I ain’t a doctor.”
…
“Avon,” said Blake, “We got to get out of here.”
“You think?” replied Avon, who walks to the controls and starts punching in programs.
“Is there a manual?” asked Jenna loudly to no one in particular.
“No manual is needed,” said Zen, who turns on.
“What in the world?” asked Vila.
“I am Zen.”
Blake looks to Zen, “Zen, can you get us out of here… and fast.”
“Where, sir?”
“Just anywhere, we’re in a hurry!”
…
Raiker progresses down the transport cord, he’s not too far from the ship.
…
“Zen, our lives are at stake, let’s go!” shouted Blake.
The sound of an engine, though very quiet, starts up. Blake, Jenna, and Vila begin to sweat.
The ship moves away.
“Zen, faster!”
Zen complies.
When the ship disconnects from the transport cord, Raiker attempts to go back to the London. He fails and he falls into the depths of space.
…
Commander Leylan stands at a window, observing the new ship fly away and Raiker float through space. He sits at his desk and types out a letter.
…
Servalan receives Leylan’s letter in real time.
She read allowed, “Janus has escaped in a ship. Raiker is dead.”
Servalan turns to Travis, in the room.
“What are you going to do now?”
“All that means is that Blake’s death will be even more rewarding for me.”
Travis looks through a window at the sky, a ship in the far distance flies by.
…
Blake, Avon, Jenna, and Vila relax on the bridge of the ship.
“Glad to have made it through that one!” said Blake.
“Well Blake,” said Jenna, “What are we to do now?”
“Currently, we should all learn the ship, especially Avon. Then, in a few days when the London reaches Cygnus Alpha, we save the prisoners.”
“What? Do you realize how dangerous that is?!” said Vila.
“Blake, I must agree,” followed Avon.
“I need a crew,” Blake says to them both.
Blake looks to Zen.
“Zen, set a course to Cygnus Alpha. And take your time, we’re in no rush.”
Vila says to Avon, “What have we gotten ourselves into?”
“Some kind of trouble,” replied Avon.
Avon looks to Blake.
“Blake, what are we going to do now?”
“I told you.” “No, I mean now as in this second.”
Blake whispers something in Vila’s ear. The two walk to a table with a curved couch around it. Vila pulls out a pack of playing cards. Jenna joins them. Vila deals out the cards, Blake and Jenna collect them. They all put down a card and after turning them over, it’s revealed Blake has a king.
Blake says, “I win.”
The Way Ahead
By S. B. Ely
roj BLAKE
VILA restal
JENNA stannis
kerr AVON
DEL tarrant
MAJA tarrant
commander LEYLAN
ARCO
NOVA olag GAN
SELMAN rex
BOD
RACHEL
ZEN
CALLY
SERVALAN
TRAVIS
victim
DEV tarrant
THAL
KAD
FEDERATION TROOPERS
FEDERATION WORKERS
FEDERATION GUARDS
prisoners