Runners: Escape Prison World or Die (Empire of Time Series) by John Argo

Page 22.

Amela accepted the light-weight gadget, whose main portion fit into her palm like a smooth, oval stone. It was designed to be held with the thumb and forefinger looped through a pair of handles like those on primitive scissors. Rising from between the handles was a short arm that broadened into a little display platform that fit over the webbing between her thumb and fore finger. On the display, which was now asleep, Amela could see the outlines of readout patches: wiggling lines, numbers, dots, icons.

"You wear it properly, like so, and point with your forefinger. Your body energy keeps it charged. The detector picks up your ki energy and reads the field contours of what you are picking up without knowing it otherwise. I'll show you in a few moments. But first I have to make a confession."

"More?" Amela said with growing impatience. Her rage to live made her want to take the boat at gunpoint and force things along a path of her liking. For now, she was going with the flow of things, but she was afraid of betrayal. Ultimately, something about Vigri and this whole setup reeked.

"I had to speak carefully at the galley when we were drinking cafir, because this whole boat is rigged for Sekurita to spy on its travelers."

"Of course. Everything on Manaul 5 reaches their eyes and ears."

"We're in a little dead spot right here. Listen. Major Texel wanted you to escape because of a deal I made involving your life. This is Texel's little project. She hopes to be promoted and live out her years closer to the equator. You know, beaches, nice food, balmy breezes, sunlight. Same things you and I want. I'm going to live out my short time there. You will get out to search for the Pitz Boat. But Major Texel wants you to lead her to the escaped prisoners. There is a colony living somewhere, hidden by the endless jungle. If you can find them, or they find you, there is a bug implanted in your neck that lets Sekurita monitor your every move."

"I see," said Amela, holding up the circuit detector. "So that's why this was all so easy."

"I'm sorry," Vigri said. "Find the bug implanted in your neck, when the time is right, and cut it out. You'll require surgery, so don't try it on your own."

"It sounds like you're not planning to be with me."

Vigri ignored Amela's speculation. "Let's join our pilot," Vigri said. "Don't be surprised at anything that happens. Above all, don't worry. You'll be perfectly safe."

Now worried again, Amela strapped on Denla's right.

Vigri strapped in one the pilot's left.

Denla sat straightforward, hardly batting an eyelash in her freckled, attractive face. Her dark eyelashes looked long and out-swept in a way that Amela had never seen before. Maybe they were artificial ones, the kind of thing a woman would use in her makeup. But who did makeup in a prison colony?

Strangely, Vigri began reciting the holy anima, the prayer for those crossing the river of forgetfulness to enter the house of all mercies with the welcoming ancestors.

Amela, horrified, knew someone was about to die. Was it she herself? No. Then it must be Vigri. Was this the moment Vigri had planned for her exit? No…

"Sorry," Vigri said as she took the needle-pointed awl from her pocket, and plunged it into a specific spot at the left cranial base of Denla's skull.

Denla started making gagging sounds, and did not resist, but kept piloting onward. As Amela froze in horror, the pilot on her left started convulsing. Denla still held her controls and stared straight ahead, but her body was racked with a seemingly endless series of vibrations and undulations.

Vigri writhed as she shoved and forced all the strength in her wiry, ancient frame so that the weapon plunged deep into Denla's brain.

Horrified, Amela watched as the pilot's cute little mouth opened, and milky liquid ran and frothed out over a pale jaw. Her small lips turned purple, with the lower lip hanging slack to reveal tiny, perfect, pearly teeth. The tip of a pink tongue protruded from her upper and lower front teeth. She bit off the tip of her tongue and worked with jerky lips to swallow it. Black blood and gore crawled out from between her clamped mouth. Her mouth fell open, revealing an interior that was a black lake covered with floating lube-foam. All luster left her lively brown eyes which now took on a robotic, metallic sheen. She kept her gaze focused ahead, and her pale hands gripping the controls on either side of her knees. Black liquid flowed down the bleach-blue front of her uniform, puddling in the clothing folds at her lap.

"She's such a doll," Vigri said. "She's just a doll now, that's all."

Was Vigri insane? Criminally, violently committable?

Amela gripped her seat in terror, and ice water terror shot through her body.

"It can still fly us for the time being," Vigri said, "but it can no longer betray us."

Amela reached out to touch Denla's hand as it rested on one of a bank of control levers on either side of her seat. The hand was ice cold and rubbery to the touch.

Vigri wasn't done yet. She reached overhead with her awl, and fiercely stabbed, again and again, at certain controls. "There goes the master snooper," she said through gritted teeth. "It will take Tower 78 a while to realize their inner lines are down. Telemetry will pick up trouble on routine inspection packets and signal for human intervention."

Thank you for reading. If you love it, tell your friends. Please post a favorable review at Amazon, Good Reads, and other online resources. If you want to thank the author, you may also buy a copy for the low price of a cup of coffee. It's called Read-a-Latte: similar (or lower) price as a latte at your favorite coffeeshop, but the book lasts forever while the beverage is quickly gone. Thank you (JTC).

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