And here we go. The penultimate penultimate chapter, in all likelihood. Might end up being 31 or 32 but we'll have to see.
On with the story!
Chapter 28: Choices
Merrick slapped his baton on the ground.
“Right, firing party! Get yer guns up!”
The standard party-size of 6 Sligs raised their weapons.
Many Sligs in the amphitheatre also aimed at Trevor, imitating and magining that they themselves were performing the execution.
“If ya ain’t loaded already, load up and expect a pay cut!”
1 Slig reluctantly uncocked his rifle, slipping 2 rounds into the firing chamber and snapping the barrel shut again. Merrick grinned.
“Aim and wait!”
He rose his club again as the 6 sighted down their weapons. Many of the would-be marksmen in the crowd kept their guns aimed. A couple put their fingers to the trigger, further heightening the mockery. One finger in the crowd tensed.
Merrick’s baton swung down. A quick burst of gunfire rang out from a rifle in the crowd, cutting not through the mudokon but through his shackles. As Trevor fell from the shackles he clapped his hands together. The chant suppressors did no more than hover, acting purely as eyes in the sky. A burst of light shone from his hands and in an instant the mudokon was gone, the suppressors doing nothing. Merrick’s voice had already barked “Fire!”, but the firing squad’s bullets hit nothing but the wall behind the now empty shackles.
Arthur lowered his rifle and quickly smashed his own body back through the pressing crowd, bursting into the corridor. ‘And now the shit hits the fan.’
Merrick’s eyes registered what happened slowly. No corpse. Broken shackles. Gunfire that rang out before the execution salvo. His eyes flickered to Godrar.
“What the HELL!?”
Godrar’s own eyes snapped into the crowd. He spied a commotion, Sligs looking confusedly at one another and down a corridor. His mind raced and assembled a mental picture rapidly.
“Whoever it is, get after him!”
The Sligs started slow but accelerated through the door.
Arthur sprinted as fast as he could away, turning down a side corridor as the rabble began to give chase. He sprinted down the corridor, through a door, and turned on his heel, rapidly tapping in the standard locking code. Immediately he set off on the move again.
‘OK Trev, time you fulfil your part of the bargain.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interrogation Room the day prior
Arthur glanced at the door. “I reckon I’ve five minutes left ta talk here. Security Centre’s a good 3 minutes from here. Barracks moreso.”
He stood up and punched Trevor, before unholstering his rifle and aiming at the camera. A quick burst of fire, and the camera was blown to pieces.
Trevor yelped “What on Odd was that for!?”
Arthur re-slung his rifle “The camera was so we can talk candidly. The punch was so I’ve an excuse fer shootin’ the camera. The camera was also cause part of my new job involved that.”
‘Shoot a camera eh, Boss? There ya go.’
Arthur gripped Trevor and smashed his face onto the table, before throwing him back in his seat. “I’ll need ta rough ya up a bit so it looks convincin’.”
Trevor spluttered, before regaining his voice “What do you wanna…gack…talk about?
The sound of a security breach buzzer blared in the distance.
Arthur looked Trevor in the eye. “I want out. I’m past my limits, I want out. Trev, you and Larry know this factory an’ its weak points better than anyone. You can get me out.”
Trevor looked back, his eyes uncomprehending. “You’re serious?”
“I wouldn’t joke about this.”
“I’m on death row, Arthur. How in Odd do I break you out when I’m set to die?”
Arthur punched Trevor, keeping up the pretence of roughing him up. “I break you out, you break me out. You’re gettin’ executed tomorrow, if I can interrupt the execution you can bust me outta here.”
“How do you intend to do something as insane as that?!”
Arthur slapped Trevor again “Look at it this way, if it fails I’m out anyway cause I’m dead. Neither of us have anythin’ ta lose. I’ve got a job ta do for the big boss, involves sneakin’ into the security room. I turn off them chant blockers, I break you outta your chains. You can use mudokon powers right?”
Trevor nodded “I’m a Shaman. Well, Shaman in training but I learned most of the skills. If you break me out of the shackles I could teleport out, provided I rested myself up enough for it.”
“Right, then you get me out.”
“How?!”
Arthur slammed Trevor’s head onto the table again. “I dunno! Figure something out! Get a distraction for me or summat!”
Trevor’s mind raced, they had little time left. “Erm…free the others. Find a way to get Larry and the others out. Larry’ll be able to get himself out, and that’ll divert the security. Find a way to tell him about it.”
Arthur punched Trevor again. “Right.”
He pinned Trevor to the desk as 2 oafish Sligs burst through the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Godrar looked to Merrick. “Get after him too, shit head. Whoever the rebel was he just freed a top security prisoner. Your head’s gonna be on a platter fer Skillya! Who the fuck is the mutineer anyway?”
Merrick was already moving “I know just who it’ll be. That Oddamn Arthur.”
Godrar’s eyes flicked at hm “What!? He wouldn’t dare.”
Merrick paused. “What makes ya say that sir?”
The confusion and chaos was making Godrar’s thoughts sluggish, he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “Because after the ordeal with that other Slig he wouldn’t rebel.”
Merrick shook his head “No other Slig woulda done it. If it had been an accident he wouldn’t have turned an’ ran. Has ta be him.”
“Then gun him down ya little Slurg!!” Godrar roared, unfathomable anger bursting forth at the idea of him being tricked by a common guard.
Many Sligs were still in the Amphitheatre. Merrick hurried out, barking orders at Sligs to get moving.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Security Office, the day prior
The Slig turned and left, and Arthur sighed in relief. He turned back to the cameras, and pulled open a compartment, finding a few blank discs. After a few botched attempts and trying the wrong slots, he slid them into a few of the disc drives, picking the cameras that he hadn’t looked at yet. He pressed the relevant “Copy” buttons on the switchboard, and waited for it to finish, worried that he might yet be caught. After another agonising minute, the copying finished and he hurriedly retrieved the discs, stashing them in a compartment of his pants. “There’s Godrar’s job done, cover provided. Now for Trev……” He paused. “Shit. No goin’ back if I do this. I don’t even know all the details about how he’s being executed yet. This is just a fuckup waiting to happen.”
Glancing round the room and spotting an unopened bottle of Brew, Arthur hurried over to it and picked it up. ‘Mine now. This might help me choose easier.’ He took another quick look then turned to the door. ‘I can’t go through with this. Not yet, I don’t know enough.’ He also saw a pen, and stashed that in his pants as well. ‘Might come in handy if I do go on with the plan. Can always write a note sayin’ why I did it, if all else fails.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arthur continued running. No sirens had begun yet, but he ran into enough trouble as he turned into the path of a milling Slig on patrol duty. Wasting no time Arthur swung his rifle into the Slig’s jaw, not missing a step and continuing running. He ducked into another side-room and paused for breath. He was hardly in peak physical shape anyway, and his age was taking a similar toll on his stamina. After a couple of deep breaths of air he ran again, the sounds of his pursuers drawing nearer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Corridor outside security room, the day before
Merrick punched Arthur between the eyes, who collapsed against the wall from the force of the experienced Slig’s blow. The Brew bottle fell to the floor but didn’t break. Merrick was quick to retrieve it before too much leaked out, and he sloshed some of it into his own mouth before spitting down the neck and handing it back to the dazed Arthur.
“I can’t wait till I get yer. I really can’t.”
With that he walked past and left, followed by a cohort of his security drones.
‘Talking to Trevor’s got me in it deep…whether or not I do go through with his plan. Every time I talk to them damn muds it gets me in the shit. Why did I fucking bother? To get out of course. I just hope this risk pays off. I know enough about the execution now, and it’s time I made my choice. I think I’ll go tell Larry what’s happening tomorrow, might cheer me up ta see some hope again…But I can’t just tell him…How ta get a message across…….’
He rummaged in a compartment for his cigarettes as he walked towards the slave quarters. Sorting through the pack, he selected a cigarette and then fumbled for his lighter as he continued on his way. He glanced to ensure the current walkway was empty, and ducked into the shadows, producing his stolen pen. He carefully unrolled the cigarette, carefully letting the tobacco tip onto the top of the cigarette packet and ensuring it wasn’t lost. He scrawled onto the rolled paper, a quick note with as few yet as rudimentary details as possible. Once done he carefully poured the tobacco back into the paper and gently rolled the cigarette back up, licking it to ensure it re-stuck together. He stepped back into the light, and felt an ironic twinge of significance in the gesture, before resuming towards the Mudokon bunks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trevor landed heavily in the Mudokon bunks. Larry turned round to see his Shaman friend lying on the floor, and helped him to his feet, a couple other mudokons stood nearby, one locking shut the cell door on a trio of comatose Sligs.
“Trev, the plan’s working! We got the note.”
“You did…Good, good. Before we go, we gotta help Arthur out. Need to produce a distraction.”
“I saw, and I’ve got one in mind. The Boilers.”
Trevor looked at him “Boilers? As in several?”
Larry nodded “All of them. Gonna try to blow the factory, biggest distraction and toughest one to deal with. Jeff and Max have already taken a bunch of the others to 2 other Zulags, they’re gonna try and open all the cells to get as many guys on it as possible. We’re taking the place down.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mudokon Cells, the evening before
The door to the corridor running past the cells burst open loudly, cutting Larry off. Arthur walked in, a broken brew bottle in his hand, a freshly lit cigarette in his mouth, and an unreadable yet unpleasant look in his eyes.
‘This is the right cig. Just need ta get it in the cell.”
He walked to the bars and pointed at Larry.
……………………………………………………
Arthur’s eyes narrowed “What’s happened to me? I’ve become NORMAL! That’s what! I’m a normal Slig with abnormal shit still happening to him on yer behalf!” He roared, the cigarette fell some distance from his mouth into the cell.
“Now look what yer made me do, lose a perfectly good cig.” Inwardly however, his words were very differently. Inwardly, he simply said one word. “Bingo.”
……………………………………………………
Jeff fiddled with the fag, unable to light it he just started unwrapping the rolled paper cylinder. Larry couldn’t tell whether he was doing it just to have something to occupy him, or whether Jeff wanted to just swallow the tobacco in the centre whole.
A sad sigh from Max. “I wish this factory was as easy to open up and make fall apart as that cigarette, Jeff. Doesn’t look like there’s going to be a light on the horizon this time.”
The unofficial leader of the group nodded “Me and Jeff got lucky once before and Abe busted us out, from separate factories. You and Trev don’t look like you’ll ever get that fortunate chance. And lightning isn’t going to strike twice for us.”
The 3 sat in a trio, still apart from Jeff’s fiddling, entirely silent. Unspoken words hung in the air, unsung lamentations passed through their minds. But then a soft whisper came from the sedate Jeff. “This cig’s not normal. You better see this.”
Larry half crawled, half shuffled over “Jeff, please can this be impor-” he fell silent. Words were on the cig. The top corner had been burned slightly from the fraction of the cigarette that had been smoked, but no meaning had been lost. He read the tiny, cramped writing, kept as simple and grammatically lacking as possible in order to fit the message.
“Larry keep quiet Trevors breaking out tomorrow need a distraction im opening cells think of something you get out too from Arthur.”
Larry glanced at his 2 companions. “Bloody hell.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trevor looked frantic “Won’t they all just head for the exit? And what about Roy and Stan?”
Larry shook his head “I told them to do what I said. Since the plan is working so far, a few are doing that. We always had some guys who supported us, they’re the ones that Jeff and Max have taken. Some probably have gone straight for the exit but that’ll help too, creates another distraction. And Roy and Stan don’t matter. They can’t sell us out now, the plan’s already in motion. They were reluctant but now they’ve not really got a choice.”
“It’s a big gamble nonetheless. I thought your distraction would be just a handful of you making a run for it.” Trevor was still apprehensive.
“It was going to be, but the others wanted to get away too. They seemed to get a fire under them when they saw us breaking out. I wasn’t gonna say no, we need the help.”
“And if this backfires there’s going to be a lot of deaths.”
Larry’s eyes looked uncharacteristically haunted. His optimistic gleam was there, but so was a coldness. The coldness of reality. “There’ll be a lot of deaths anyway Trev. But we’ll get a lot of us out, hopefully the majority. We’d all die in this factory anyway. Nothing to lose. Abe was never gonna come here, can’t sit in blind hope.”
Trevor sighed “That’s similar to what Arthur said. Whatever happens we get out, one way or another.”
Larry nodded. “We’d better go. Got a Boiler to blow ourselves. Can you deal with one yourself, teleport there?”
Trevor nodded “Probably. I’ve got about enough in me for 1 or 2 short distance jumps. But I can only deal with 1 Boiler, otherwise I won’t be able to get out myself.”
Larry nodded “1 should be enough. I’m taking one, Jeff and Max have got 1 each, if we blow 4 Boilers the remaining 2 will follow.”
“I’ll take the one the furthest away, give you the best chance. Good luck.” Trevor began to clear his head, channelling his mind to the task at hand.
“Good luck to you too, Trev.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Corridor, earlier
Arthur punched Hoole in the gut with his free arm, then swung the Slig’s head into the corridor wall, knocking him unconscious. A quick glance around told him nobody and nothing had seen it, and with the cameras set to be examined anyway Arthur could cover things up easy enough. Arthur dragged Hoole’s limp form round the corner, and spied a nearby door. He continued hauling Hoole through the door, which turned out to be to a workstation, empty due to the slave lockdown and forthcoming execution. Leaving Hoole lying there off the beaten track, Arthur muttered another “sorry” and hurried on to the security room.
‘Smooth enough. Amphitheatre’s nearer than the bunks from the security room so I’d better head there when finished, easier ta get lost in the shuffle as Godrar said. Bastard.’
Arthur entered the security room cautiously, and saw that there was 1 Slig on duty. He walked towards him. “Hiya! I uh, need ta use the camera system. Check some stuff fer the boss.” In his mind he had still yet to finalise his decision. Save Trevor, back out. He had seconds to choose.
The other Slig looked back “No ya don’t. I know who ya are, Arthur. Fu-“
Arthur had already produced his truncheon, and struck the Slig over the head. He yelped in pain before another blow silenced him, dropping the Slig into the icy waters of unconsciousness. “Wrong place, wrong time.” Arthur thought, as he dragged the Slig out of sight from the main corridor with a bitterly amusing sense of déj* vu. His decision had been made, no going back now.
Arthur turned to the security console, and saw the section labelled for the Chant Suppressors. A board of dials and switches was situated beneath a small touchscreen, currently showing text, reading “Suppression Trigger 1. Prevents all chanting attempts.” “Trev needs these off fer it ta work.”
He looked over the switches, and saw one labelled “Security Setting.” Currently it was on “1”, there were 4 positions. He flicked the switch to “2” and a message came up on the touchscreen reading “Warning: Suppression Trigger will now only prevent open chanting.” He flicked it to 3, another message came up. “Warning: Suppression Trigger will only activate upon emission of Spooce. This is only recommended in agricultural situations involving Spooceshrub harvesting.” Arthur ignored it and flicked it to 4, watching the screen again. “Warning: Suppression Trigger set to minimal setting. Trigger will now only activate in the event of a large energy field or sustained chanting. This is only recommended for high security, low-slave-intensity work environments.”
Arthur looked at the other dials. He spotted a button labelled “Routine Setup.” He pressed it, and saw the screen bring up a list of options for the Suppressors to run. “Scan area for spooce fields…Scan area for Mudokon bio-readings…Camera scan routine 1…Camera scan routine 2…” He came to one reading “Systems scan” and tapped the touchscreen. Another message “Warning:No internal scan required for Supressors for the next 15 days. Risks system security. Proceed anyway?” Arthur quickly tapped on “Yes”, and hurried out of the office. Before he could go to the amphitheatre, he had to get to the mudokon bunks again. He all but ran.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gunshots were ringing out, drawing closer. Arthur rounded another corner and saw a large group of mudokons. He recognised one amongst them as Max. The burly mudokon seemed to be leading his fellow slaves on a specific purpose. Arthur himself was utterly perplexed.
‘What’s Max doin? Is this the distraction? They’re gonna get massacred if they come this way!”
Arthur quickly turned in the opposite direction to the mudokons. He heard shouts from them, some had spotted him. He prayed they didn’t give chase. He risked a glance over his shoulder and fortunately, they didn’t,, following the purposeful Max down a different route. Unfortunately, as the Mudokons disappeared behind the corner, Arthur’s own pursuers burst into view. The Sligs paused. Arthur one way, a big crowd of mudokons the other. The indecision bought Arthur a few valuable seconds, and he dug down deep and continued to flee, adrenaline powering his unathletic body beyond its normal limits. After the pause, gunfire resumed, and the Sligs turned in 2 directions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mudokon Cells, earlier.
Arthur walked into the mudokon cells. “Oi there!”
The Slig on duty turned from his seat, half asleep at his post. He was soon put into full sleep, Arthur’s baton again proving handy. Arthur snatched the cell keys from the Slig’s hand and rammed them into the lock, quickly turning it. Larry and co. were riusing too their feet, but Arthur didn’t pause to discuss the next move, or even greet them. He was already leaving through the way he had came as he called back “Do whatever you’re doin, quickly.”
Chev idly opened the door to the mudokon cell quarters, due to relieve the current Slig on duty at this time and miss the anticipated execution in doing so. His eyes were looking down, thinking more of his lunchtime plans, and aims to win back his poker money. He was most surprised when he saw the Slig he was to relieve, simply lying against the wall.
“Oi, lazy fuck! Time ta move it.”
Chev slapped the Slig but got no response. He looked up and down the passage, along the row of cells, and everything went green. Then black. Max turned back to the others, quickest to react out of all the mudokons in dealing with Chev.
Larry grinned. “You’d better get on with what you’ve got to do. I’m waiting for Trevor, provided all goes well. Should be a few minutes, but you need all the time you can get.”
~~~~~~~
Godrar, having left the amphitheatre, was on his way to his office, taking a private route and heavily flanked by a quickly drummed up escort of Big Bros. A mutineer Slig, an escapee Mudokon, and he still hadn’t got the proof on his backstabbing colleagues.
A warning siren suddenly went off, and Godrar paused. “What is that?”
One of his guards spoke up “Uh’m…it’s the boiler siren boss. Doncha know?”
“Of course I know that ya prick! Why’s a boiler siren going off!?”
As he said that, another, identical siren went off. The 2 were slightly out of phase, creating a grating and distorting effect that was hell on the ears.
“This can’t be happening. This shouldn’t be happening. I gotta get ta the office now!”
Godrar hurried faster to his office. He needed to access his PA. ‘The idiot Sligs will be so single-minded in pursuing his rebellious guard that they won’t think about the Boilers! How the hell have the Boilers gone on the blink anyway?”
The heavily pressured Glukkon finally reached the office door. Unable to waste time with the entry code, having no available digits himself and unable to rely on the clumisness of his bodyguards in using the panel, he barked out the emergency Voicelock prompt, and the doors hissed open. He looked to Alberto’s desk, and the Chronicler…..wasn’t there. ‘This can’t be happening.’
For the first time, Godrar crumbled.
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So there you have it. Replies are most definitely encouraged now, this was such a pivotal chapter that I'm dying to know what you think. I've had this chapter in my mind for almost 4 years now. I hope it was worth it. Critiscisms encouraged, comments always welcome.
Next chapter should touch down in a week or so. The end's in sight!
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Fuzzle Guy: Apart from going swimming I've never been more wet in my life than when I went to see Take That.
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