The Escape Part 2

Chapter 3

After eating, we head into town to run some errands and to gather information about detainees.  Iwakuni is a small, well-kept town with one store for each category of items and the school, The Iwakuni Academy, known across the planet for good and bad.  No one really comes here, except for the school.  Chris' and my parents worked at the school and we've been attending since we were small.  Reaching town, we seem to be gathering attention, not information.  Odd but the dirt roads don't seem as blue as usual.  It's almost as if they've been damaged somehow.  As we enter the clothing store, the proprietor pulls us aside to say "Someone is looking for you.  It’s not safe in town."  He looks shocked and says "You’re the boy who’s been missing for two years!"  Chris nods as if he can’t talk and the man hurriedly draws a map and fills a bag with clothes and sends us out the back door.

The map has us headed to the next town just south of here.  It wouldn’t be far by transport but there isn’t any public transport along the way.  For hours, we walk alongside the road without a passing vehicle.  It’s strangely quiet, as the insects and birds seem absent, as well.  We see a wide spot in the road and as we draw closer, there is a restaurant.  We enter the building, but it seems to be empty.  A woman arrives from the back and ushers us back there quickly.  "Boys, you must not dawdle.  If they find you, who knows what they’ll do.  They think you’re a threat to them."  I look at her and ask "Who?", to which she replies "The Fortine Imperium".  Once again, I ask "Who?" and she gives me a worried "I don’t know really but they were here and we’re moving you as far as we can, so you’ll be safe."  Once again, we’re given a bag and sent out the back door and it’s really annoying since we’re not sure where we’re going.  This time, there is an animal-drawn cart with a man telling us to get into it.  We comply and sit down inside the back of the cart much like the vegetables beside us.  He points to the bag and says to eat, as he boards the driver’s seat and signals the animals to move.  Finally, at noon, we’re having first meal.  It’s a thin stew, short on meat, but with many vegetables, and a watery gravy.  Almost anything is better than the nothing we’ve had and we eat quickly, trying not to notice the smell of dried fertilizer in the cart.

As we reach the town, the driver asks for the map and Chris hands it to him.  The man scribbles some address on it with some simple directions and points across the road where there is a creek.  I take the bag of clothes and Chris takes the map and we go to the other side of the creek, as the cart returns to the restaurant.  As instructed, we change clothes, leaving our old clothes in the bag, putting it in the creek, and letting it find its way far down stream, hopefully, to confuse any trackers attempting to find us.

Following the map, we make our way into town and find the address without help.  Almost as the door opens, they rush us into the cellar.  A girl and boy, twins apparently, about our age move us into a room hidden from the stairway.  Enticed by the lack of several buttons on Chris’ shirt, both embarrass him by peeping inside it, nodding, and giggling.  Hearing their thoughts, I’m seeing that they’ve recently tied a friend to the wall in this room and enjoyed him together.  I blurt out "We don’t have time for that." and they turn in disbelief and reply "What?" in unison.  I mutter something about pleasure and Chris’ face turns bright purple.  They move toward him and they open his shirt by ripping it and say "There is always time for pleasure, Wistandian, especially with so many of you to pleasure us."

The door behind me is opened and a third person enters the room, but with 3 eyes and somewhat translucent yellow skin and he apparently, tells them to move away from Chris.  I move toward him and stand directly in front in order to protect him.  The brother and sister transform into the same shape as the adult, quite a bit taller than they were and half a meter taller than us.  He explains that they’re from a planet called Sekido and their people have been our protectors for millennia.  He also explains with a very gruff voice that they’re not supposed to engage Wistandians in pleasure, to which the twins look the other way, and he continues with an apology.

They take us into another room and train us in the use of their communications technology, as well as a device they call a portable translocator.  They explain that a number of stationary translocators have been placed around the planet and the closest device will transport up to four people who are in contact with the portable unit.  We’re also cautioned that the Fortine Imperium may have learned how to track the signals, so it’s wise not to use a certain remote too often without re-configuring it.  In order to test it, they’ve opened communications with the closest stationary unit’s operators.  So, we stow the communicator and both grab the remote translocator and activate it.

Chapter 4

Everything seems indistinct suddenly and I hear the thoughts of what seems to be the entire galaxy in a loud whisper.  Chris and I seem to be one.  There is a loud popping sound and I lose consciousness.  The world seems to reappear and Chris is leaning over me, worried, trying to revive me.  I look at him, push his shirt to the side a bit, and say "They were right, you are here to pleasure us." and this time he laughs.  He helps me off the floor and we meet more Sekidonians.  "There was an unexpected imbalance in your brain chemistry that was incompatible with the translocator.  We have run simulations on a fix and believe that you will no longer lose consciousness when using the device.  The fix has been transmitted to all stations on the planet.  Your brain scan shows that you both have certain mental capabilities that are not consistent with our knowledge of Wistandians."

As I regain my footing, I explain that I have no knowledge of any link with another species or people but that I have felt the presence of people or creatures unknown to me.  I also explain that they bear some resemblance to that feeling of presence but that there are others and that I’ve never been aware of off-worlders.  They seem delighted in that I didn’t recognize them in their Wistandian form, despite my abilities.  As they complete their bioscans, they give us some general tonics to increase our ability to heal rapidly.  As I relate the story of our dimensional traversal and Chris’ captivity, they promise to search for my dad.  I push memories of him, the place containing the portal, and the other side into their collective consciousness and they start to process them.

In exchange for their help, they’ve given us a task to place items in certain locations on the way to another translocation facility and to retrieve other items from an Imperium outpost.  While it sounds dangerous, what would be more dangerous about our lives now that we’re being hunted?  We quickly agree and they give us electronic maps and instructions, more devices, and show us the way out of the facility.

As we leave, we both seem to have the feeling that we’re not two people on our own now and maybe, just maybe, things are a bit less desperate.  We try to busy ourselves with the map and instructions, to find purpose in our immediate destiny since the Sekidonians have taken over our search.  As the map shows a blinking location, we see that we’re to plant a device.  When the map indicates we’re right above the spot, we take out one of several cylinders, activate it, and set it on the ground at that spot.  Holding the translocator remote above the device, we activate it in alternate mode, the device seems to vanish, and the map shows positive placement.  It seems we’re doing okay and with another six to do, we continue to follow the map.

We apparently haven’t been quick enough as it’s become rather dark and we’ve still another cylinder to place.  We also haven’t been eating because we’ve seen nothing to eat in these out-of-the-way locations.  I suppose it would be paranoid to claim that we’re being watched since we know we’re being watched by the Sekidonians already but it seems more than just them.  The map finally indicates our proximity and we proceed with the final cylinder.  We plant the device and as a group of soldiers has just appeared, we gather everything and activate the remote translocator before we’re captured.