CHAPTER FOURTEEN - SLAVERY
Sammy miserably found himself being pushed into a seat in front of a computer screen by Heather. This was it. His first day of working for the Gerai. His first day of betraying his friends.
He rubbed his sore eyes, red and raw after a restless sleep. Nothing but uneasy nightmares had come to him and his body ached for proper rest. He had not been able to stop thinking about B. He had begged Heather that he be allowed to stay with him, but she had been unable to grant his request. B was sick though and he needed to be looked after. Sammy had known that the teenager had been suffering from flu, but he had hoped that it would have cleared up by now. He shuddered as her remembered the lab from yesterday. His mind had not taken much of the place in, but he still remembered the examination table with the restraints. Was that were B was sleeping? B would be scared to death.
He stared glumly at the computer screen. He didn’t think he could do this, not even if he wanted to. His mind would not focus on anything except his brother.
Heather leaned over his shoulder, brining her face close to his own as she always did when she spoke to him. “I assume that you know how to use this?” she said as she waved a slender hand over the computer and keyboard.
Sammy gulped and nodded. It was a little less advanced than the one he was used to working with, but he could handle it. He understood computers.
“We have planted a bug in your base’s computer so you should be able to remote access it. We want you to obliterate all the security measures you put into place,” heather said, keeping her voice cool and calm.
“It will take me a long time,” Sammy replied. It wasn’t a lie either. It wouldn’t be easy to disable all of the security protocols remotely. In the base it would be child’s play to him, but remotely it would take days, probably over a week.
But that was good. It gave him more time to think of a plan to get out of here before he could actually betray his friends and before the Gerai could hurt B.
“I’m sure you’ll have it up and working soon,” Heather said. “I have confidence in you. And I’m sure B does as well.”
It stung him. A piercing blow was striking his heart and his lip trembled slightly. The threat was as subtle as heavy rainfall, but much more dangerous. She was reminding him what he was fighting for.
He closed his eyes for a moment and he could see his little brother’s smiling face from one of the rare times when b had actually been happy. Maybe one day after all this was over, there would still be time for B to be happy and smile again. Sammy would give his own life just to know that B would be okay and that he would be bale to live in peace.
Sammy slowly flicked on the computer and pushed the distracting thoughts of B away. He would fight for him and he would get him away from the Gerai. No one messed with B when Sammy was around. They would pay dearly for this… Sammy was through with them torturing B.
He scrutinised the screen as the computer booted up and wondered how much access they would give him to the systems in the base. Maybe he could turn this opportunity to his advantage…
But what if they caught him? What if they hurt B more than they already had?
He was trapped. For now, he had to play it how the Gerai wanted it. Anything else was too risky. Soon, he would figure something out though…
… at least he hoped so.
He suddenly shivered as he realised that Heather had a hand on his shoulder and was gently running her fingers down his arm. He spun around to stare at her curiously, but then the trailing hand and its fingers were removed and Heather was stepping back, giving him space to work.
He had been a wreck when she had returned him to Kevin and the others. His hands had trembled from the awful shock at seeing B and then being so brutally separated from him again. For days he had worried about him. The pain and the anxiety had gnawed slowly away inside of him until Sammy had feared that it might consume him entirely. He had not wanted to sleep. He had found that he couldn’t sleep with the knowledge that B was missing and that Brian had been hurt so badly. They had both haunted his dreams and he was feeling the strain. His chest had a heavy ache that made him feel sick and he was permanently cold. He could remember what it felt like to lose someone you loved. He could remember losing Brian and the way the freshly opened wound had almost drowned him in his own blood of despair. He could feel it rising now, threatening to engulf him again. This time he might lose the struggle in the precious battle for air.
It hadn’t taken long for him to spill the story out to Kevin either and he had agreed that Sammy must, for now at least, cooperate with the Gerai. Paul had then promised that they would work on a plan as quickly as they could to get all of them, including B, out of here.
Sammy wanted that to be as quick as possible. They needed to get B out and to a doctor as soon as possible, but there was something lumpy and cold wedged within Sammy’s throat that told him that this was due to more than just the flu.
The computer gave a soft bleep as the screen finally lit up and Sammy gulped as he slowly set about finding the controls and testing the potential of the computer. He needed to find out what he could and couldn’t do without Heather getting too suspicious. Maybe he could access some of the Gerai major system and…
There was a sudden warning blip and a rather nasty error message appeared on the screen. The Gerai were not stupid. He was locked out of all the main systems. He stared at it for a moment and the ghost of a smile flickered upon his face for the first time since he had been parted with B. B was an excellent computer hacker and Sammy had learnt a few tricks from him over the years. He could hack this system…
“Naughty naughty,” Heather said, suddenly appearing behind him. She leaned over his shoulder and tapped a few controls to disband the error message which showed her that Sammy was not behaving himself. She pressed her face close to him and stared into his blue eyes. “You weren’t supposed to be doing that.”
Sammy’s mouth had turned dry, but he did his best to appear calm. “It was an accident. I was just seeing how this computer worked. I haven’t worked on this model before and I’m not feeling too well either. Give me a break.”
Her face was so close to his. He could see that her blue eyes were flicked with grey and that she had pale freckles at the side of her face. He could feel her breath upon him. Why the hell did she have to lean so close all the time? He’d never seen her do it to the other prisoners. She did not even talk to them.
She reached a hand up and cupped his face. “Don’t do it again. Accident or no accident.” She stared into his eyes. “I’m watching you,” she breathed. “Like a hawk.”
Sammy was tired of her trying to intimidate him and he moved his own face closer to hers so that they were only a few centimetres apart. “So I noticed,” he whispered back.
She seemed a little taken back at his movement, but refused to step down. Sammy found himself staring at her red lips. Cal and Paul were right. She was hot.
“Why don’t you get back to work? I expect you to behave around me.”
“If I do, can I see my brother?” he asked. He kept the pleading tone from his voice, deciding that he had to remain strong, no matter how much his heart screamed inside at the mental torment. He may be far away from Brian and be unable to help him, but B was a different matter.
“I’ll see what I can arrange,” she said. “It is up to Marlowe though.”
He had expected her to say no and the surprise at receiving that answer caught him off guard. “T-thank you,” he stammered. She was still staring at him and uncomfortably he turned away from her face and back to the screen in front of him. He could feel her eyes watching him for a moment before she backed away. He snuck a glance over his shoulder to watch her back away and then shook his head in confusion. He never would understand the Gerai.
For a brief moment he stared about the large, circular room, hoping for a glimpse of Kevin or one of their new friends. Early this morning the guards had brought them a meagre breakfast of cheese, bread and water before marching them off to work. They were not as many slaves as Sammy had first though. Paul had whispered to him grimly that a lot of them had been killed.
“They don’t want too many of us. That increases the chance of a rebellion. I’m not sure but I think with the amount of prisoners they have already the Gerai only just outnumber them,” Paul has hissed while they led down a long corridor.
That was interesting to note. Maybe they would find a way out of here soon. Sammy just hoped it was before he could betray his friends and before they could hurt B. He stared at the screen again. Luckily he was skilled enough to be able to progress slowly and still make it look as if he was working hard.
Grimly he began to tap away at the controls. First he would have to establish a remote link with the computer in Darren’s base and then he would start with the security protocols, erasing them as slowly as he possibly could.
On the screen he saw Heather’s reflection and smiled slightly. Maybe she could arrange for a little visit between him and B. Sammy needed to know that they were taking care of his brother and that they wouldn’t go back on their threat to kill him.
‘Maybe that’s the reason they wanted him. Maybe they’re not that interested in the virus and just needed him to blackmail me.’
Why did he doubt that?
He shuddered at the thought of the virus, remembering the awful symptoms that Nick had described. Suddenly something cold hit him and he felt warmth being sucked from his body like the way death pulls the soul from a body. B was sick… what if it had something to do with that virus?
‘No, I’m being paranoid.’
B had been ill back home and probably still had the same bug. All the same though, something dark had lodged itself firmly within Sammy’s mind and it refused to allow any light to melt away its ugly form.
Heather suddenly appeared over his shoulder again and leaned over to stare at the work, but Sammy had the eeriest impression that she was more interested in him than anything he was working on. Her breath tickled the side of his neck and he shivered slightly, but tried to ignore her as his fingers tapped across the keyboard. He fumbled on the keys, typing the wrong ones and receiving an angry error message on the screen.
“How’s it going?” Heather whispered in his ear, her lisp uncomfortably close to his face.
Sammy glared at her and moved his face away from her. “I can’t work with you breathing down my neck like that,” he snapped.
“Does it make you uncomfortable?” she asked, a smile curving those wine red lips.
“Yes.” He stared back at the screen. Did she want him to work or not? His work would be even slower if he spent time talking with her. He paused in thought and smiled as he turned to face her. He needed his work to be as slow as possible… “Why are you watching me so closely?” he asked trying to sound casual despite the unease he felt at conversing with her.
“Can you blame me?” She was leaning closer again, her eyes gazing at him deeply. “I don’t want you to try anything you shouldn’t be doing.”
“How can I when you’re blackmailing me with my brother’s life?” he hissed harshly.
Heather did not back away. “If you do as we say then you will get what we want. I’m sure we’ll all get what we want.” There was a strange emphasis upon that phrase and Sammy raised an eyebrow slightly. He doubted if the Gerai would be willing to let himself and B go after all this was over. Most likely they would kill, them both.
Sammy did not intend to let it get that far however. Him and his friends would be long gone before the Gerai had a chance to win this battle.
There was something else in Heather’s voice that Sammy could not seem to decipher as well. She stared at him for a moment longer before turning away and striding over to inspect the other prisoners. Sammy’s eyes furrowed in confusion, still unable to grasp why she staring at him. He shrugged and turned back to work. It was probably nothing.
***************************
Kevin stared down at the computer panel in his hand and grimaced. He was working for the Gerai. He was their slave. He felt sick.
He had been intending to refuse to help the Gerai at all, until he saw Sammy’s tears. The younger man had been distraught, but it hadn’t taken long for Kevin to figure out why. These bastard Gerai did have B after all and they were using him to coerce Sammy into working for them. Kevin had no doubt that their threat to murder B was a bluff, but they couldn’t risk it. They had time to figure out a plan before Sammy did any damage, but if they had come up with nothing before then, then they might have to consider rebelling even if it would cost B’s life. They couldn’t allow the Gerai into Darren’s base though!
Heather had collected all of them this morning and led them over to the strange, two levelled circular room which she had shown Kevin and Sammy when they arrived. It was not quite as bad as Kevin had remembered it. He had initially believed that there were many Gerai guards down here to keep an eye on the slaves, but he had been wrong. There were more prisoners than there was slaves. That was useful to note. Sammy however had been separated from them. At one end of the room there was a glassed off section where some Gerai scientists appeared to be working with some prisoners. A little way from them was another glass room which looked to be some sort of office. Sammy was there under close watch by heather. Kevin frowned slightly. There was something about the way she stared at Sammy all the time that unnerved Kevin.
“Pass me that panel, Kevin,” Paul said as he held his hand out for the panel.
Kevin handed it over and glanced about them to make sure that no guard was listening in on their conversation. “I thought there would be more guards than this,” he whispered.
Paul shook his head. “Occasionally they do increase security, especially if they suspect something but normally it’s like this. There may be more guards than prisoners, but they have big guns and they have the ability to lock this room down if they need to,” he said as he fitted the panel back into the computer he was repairing. He pulled another one out. “These things are always blowing themselves out. The Gerai really do have some terrible equipment. This is nothing like what we have at our resistance bases.” He smiled slightly. “It gives us the advantage though because it means their system keep breaking down!”
Kevin took another long look about the room. Most of the prisoners were repairing various computer consoles or panels in the walls and Paul had informed him that prisoners were taken to other parts of the base whenever anything needed fixing. “What else do they make us do?” he asked.
“They drag some people off to science or weapons depot. Rumour has it that some people are used for experiments as well,” Paul explained. He fixed the panel and then leaned in and purposefully snapped something inside the console. “That will make it break down in another few days.”
Kevin had stopped listing at the word ‘experiments’. His thoughts had suddenly rocketed towards B. Was that what b was undergoing? How would he cope? Kevin remembered the trauma that had struck B the first time this happened and had thought that he would never recover then. Would he survive a second time?
“Do you think he’s okay?”
Kevin looked up and saw that Paul was nodding towards Sammy. Heather was still subjecting him to her scrutinising stare in the glass office. He sighed slightly. “I don’t know. He’s worried about betraying Darren and our base, but he’ll be worried sick about B. B is the most important thing in his life,” he said softly.
“We’ll get them out of here,” Paul said determinedly. “You’ll see.” He paused for a moment and Kevin could see lines of thought running through his eyes. He turned and saw that Paul was watching intently as Heather peered over Sammy’s shoulder. She was always floating about him as if she didn’t trust him. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him most of the time… she was not nearly so suspicious of the other prisoners. Kevin guessed it was because of the fact that he was related to Brian, and Brian was a nemesis to the Gerai.
“An idea?” Kevin asked curiously.
Paul turned to him and flashed him a grin. “A suspicion really, but it could well be to our advantage.”
Kevin tilted his head. He could see hope within Paul’s eyes. He knew that Paul and some of the other prisoners had been hindering the Gear as much as they could, but what they could do was limited. Their sabotage was not on a grand scale and they could not directly help any other bases. Now though, Kevin could see that something had sparked off Paul’s interest. “What kind of suspicion?” he asked.
“I’ll let you know when I have it all figured out,” Paul assured him. “But I think I know how we can get out of here.” He stared across at Sammy and Heather again and grinned. “In fact, I’m certain I know how we can get out of here.”