OMEGA Guardian (9 page)

I replied, "I noticed that the guards are fed from the same vat of stew that we are. They do not eat here with us, it is carried to them. What we need is to get the person doing that to feed us information. I suspect that we will have to deal with the self-proclaimed Feldon Governor over there."

Jallis looked over at the Feldon that had surrounded himself with females. "Hmm. He surrounds himself with women like he is some kind of emperor or something. He works down the same shaft that I do. Perhaps it’s time he met with an untimely death. Anyone who puts themselves in such a position of power when others are struggling to survive does not deserve to live."

I shook my head. "Perhaps it’s time we had a talk with him instead. He may already have the information we seek."

Garmon grinned. "If he was on our side, we could take over the whole mine!"

Jallis looked over and scowled. "And what are we going to do with a thousand freed miners? No, we need to keep our group small. We need to take control when one of those transports is out there so we can take it and then go take a ship. If we don’t have a ship, we are essentially dead."

I replied, "It's true that we will need a transport to escape this planet and a ship to escape this system. Those are much bigger tasks than escaping from this mine."

Jallis lay back and looked up at the ceiling. "Even so, I would still prefer to die in that jungle out there. Every swing of my pick in here only makes the Talisans wealthier. As I said, my anger inside grows with every swing."

With the fatigue of the day, we were all soon fast asleep. Jallis’s complaints had become part of our nightly bunk ritual. I found the physical labor to be grueling, but easily handled. Jallis was on the verge of breaking.

The following day, I caught Javel Gerkam as he was getting up for his shift. "Mr. Gerkam, I would like to have a word with you."

Javel smiled. "I wondered when you would come crawling. Life in the mines is hard. I can get favors from the guards. Would you be interested in joining my personal security team?"

I shook my head. "I would be interested in information. Who feeds the guards? What are their habits? Do we know how many there really are?"

Javel shook his head. "Grunta, it sounds like you wish to escape. I don’t think you have thought this through. Let’s say that you managed to overpower a guard and to escape down into the jungles. Even if you could protect yourself from the bears, where would you go? They would hunt you down from the air and snuff you out with the press of a button."

I sat on the bunk next to him. "That is why we need a plan that will take us all the way to the spaceport. From there we hijack a shuttle and then take over a ship in orbit. Of course, all the planning in the world for that is useless if we can’t successfully get out of this mine."

Javel again shook his head. "When you said
we
, I felt as if you were looking at me. Are you including me in your plans already?"

I replied, "I am including everyone. However, I must first escape this planet. If you help me by providing the information I desire, I will come back and liberate this planet from the slavers."

Javel laughed out loud before quieting to where he could speak. "Liberate this planet? And just how would one Grunta do that? I will say, you do dream much bigger than any who have come before you. I have been in this mine for two and a half years. During that time I have watched a dozen slaves who attempted escape. Only one made it to the jungle, and I heard the guards talking about how he didn’t last an hour. I don’t know, Grunta; why would I risk providing information to someone I believe to be a high risk? In three and a half years I will be eligible for release. Why would I jeopardize that?"

I stood. "Because you are tired of swinging a pick, you are tired of building wealth for those who hold you captive, you are tired of seeing your fellow Feldons suffer and die. And, because you know deep down that there is no release from being a slave. That is propaganda designed to give hope where there is no hope. Hope keeps people alive, Mr. Gerkam. They will work harder and produce more for the Talisans if they believe that one day they can return to their former life. It is a false promise that will never be fulfilled."

Javel Gerkam spoke. "I have a shift to work. I will think about your offer. I would not discuss this with anyone else. There are those here who would seek favor by outing any discontent. Trust no one."

Javel Gerkam left for his shift. I walked back to my bunk, where an anxious Jallis lay waiting.

I sat. "I don’t think he will help us. And I am concerned that he may take this as an opportunity to turn us in."

Jallis glared at the departing Feldon Governor. "He deserves a pick to the back of the head. I would gladly be the one to deliver it."

I shook my head. "We can’t do such without risking reprisal from the Talisans. There are probably a hundred Javels in this room just waiting to take his place. We will see him again at shift change in two days. He will let us know his decision then."

I lay back in my bunk. As I closed my eyes, I began to think about Joni Salton. Was she still alive? And Garrett Rourke, was he still moving about freely as Ded Williams? I then thought of the New Alliance. Was the decline continuing? Had more colonies rebelled? And what of the war in Andromeda? My head was filled with questions that I could not answer. Sleep came slowly.

As we were coming off shift, I came out of the chow room and headed for Javel Gerkam’s bunk. I took note of the five guards in the room, there was normally only one. I sat on the bunk across from Javel as he prepared himself for the day.

Javel had a nervous look about him as I sat. It was a look I had seen a thousand times before when doing ship inspections. If a party was up to no good, they usually had a way of revealing it through their body language and tone of voice. Javel was smiling nervously as he dressed.

I spoke. "You seem a little unsettled this morning. Is something bothering you?"

Javel stopped. "Why, no. Nothing wrong with me. Is there something you want?"

Through my peripheral vision I could see that all five guards were looking our way. At that moment, I had no doubt that Javel Gerkam was attempting to turn me in. I was certain he possessed a microphone that allowed the Talisans to listen to our conversation. I decided it was time to turn the tables on the traitor.

I replied, "Yes, I wanted to talk to you about what we discussed at our last meeting."

Javel’s expression changed to one of a Mannard cat that had cornered its prey. "Go on, Mr. Beutcher. I am listening."

I lowered my voice and leaned forward as if to not be heard. "I do not want to be involved in your scheme to escape."

Javel’s expression changed. "What?"

I continued, "The Talisans have treated me fairly so far. I can produce for them for six years and get my life back. Why would I jeopardize that with an attempt to escape? Where would I go? I am sorry, Javel, I cannot be the muscle you seek for such a purpose. You will have to find someone else."

I abruptly stood and walked back towards my bunk before Javel Gerkam could reply. I lay back on my bunk and watched through the corner of my eye as the Talisan guards approached his position. Javel raised his hand and began trying to explain what had just happened. The Talisan did not care. Javel was implicated, and he would pay the price for his treachery. One of the Talisan guards walked past my bunk with a smile as the other four dragged a screaming Javel across the room toward the outer door.

Jallis spoke. "What did you do? Why did they take away Javel? Not that I am unhappy about that, but it doesn't make sense."

I replied, "Javel was going to turn us in. I could sense it in our first discussion. I told my shaft guard that I thought he was going to make an attempt at escape and that I would try to get him more information on it. The guard seemed happy to have reason to take down Javel. I don't think the Talisan liked him either.

"When I saw the extra guards in the room, I knew Javel was planning to turn me in. The easy way would have been to use a microphone so the guards could listen to our conversation. Javel did that for me. Instead of talking about our plans, I told Javel that I was not interested in being a part of his scheme to escape. I then left before he could respond."

Jallis grinned and began to laugh as he glanced over toward the doorway. "You are cold, Mr. Beutcher. Brilliant, but cold. Remind me to never contemplate crossing you."

I turned my head to look at Javel’s bunk. "Jallis, this is an opportunity for you to assume the title of Governor. I think you should go and take Javel’s bunk. I will follow and take the bunk beside you. The other Feldons who may have had designs on that position won’t dare confront you if I am at your side."

Jallis smirked. "Governor, in a slave mine, what a ridiculous notion."

Jallis thought for a moment and then stood. "But, I see reason in your words. There are two other groups who are in discussion while they are eying the open bed. Follow me, Mr. Beutcher. It’s time we took control."

As Jallis walked toward the bunk, the two other Feldons scowled and moved towards it as well. Another set of Feldons then moved on the bunk from a far corner. After a purposeful pause, I rose and followed Jallis. The other Feldons stopped and stared. Their prize had quickly been taken by another. The four Feldons returned to their bunks with unhappy looks on their faces. I pulled two bunks together next to Jallis and lay down. Garmon, Alto, and Riga, as well as half a dozen other Feldons that had come in with us, followed. Just like that, there was a new Feldon Governor in Mine-44 on Telfor. Jallis Karmea would command the attention of the others.

Jallis looked around at the females that were all bunking near him. "You are all released to go back to your groups. You may stay if you desire, but that is up to you."

Within a few minutes of the takeover, two other Feldons converged on Jallis’s bunk. "I am Herl Rada, and this is Gami Freko. We represent one hundred fifty others in this room. If you are assuming the position as Governor, what would be your demands?"

Jallis pursed his lips. "There are none at this time. I will from time to time ask for information. I will not be demanding rations or favors, I will not be asking all the females to bunk around me, and I will not be a rat for the Talisans. We are Feldons, we are stuck in this horrific place together. We should be supportive of one another, not abusive. I will attempt to be fair in my dealings with all in this room.

"If a dispute cannot be settled between two parties, bring it to me. I will decide, and that decision will be binding on both parties. We don’t need to give the Talisans reason to mistreat us because we cannot resolve our own problems. The best we can do, to one day ensure our freedom, is to stay alive. If anyone is falling behind on their quota due to temporary illness, let others pitch in to help. If the illness is chronic, however, we are only postponing the inevitable. Life here is a harsh reality; keeping ourselves alive and healthy will be our priority."

When the two Feldons left for their bunk, I said, "Now that sounded like someone with leadership abilities. I was not expecting such a speech from you."

Jallis lay back in his bunk. "I ran a construction crew of forty-eight back on the Dellis IV colony. I had a good supervisor who taught me the best way to get productivity out of those who worked for you was to inspire them in any way you could. Talk is cheap, and over the course of a few years I found I was able to get more work out of my crews by being fair and talking the talk. I know that I have been a hothead since I met you, but I was never like that in my business life, only personal, which is probably why I never found a mate. Feldon females do not respond well to anger."

I replied, "Well, I think we need to get some sleep. The coming shift is always long, and we need our rest. While you are swinging your pick tomorrow, try to spend some mental energy on what we can do to make use of your new position. We will find out if they allow you to make assignments or not. If so, we can put our own people on the chow crew for the guards. This little coup may have been just what we needed to gather the information we seek."

Jallis nodded. "Thank you, and good night, Mr. Beutcher."

I smiled. "Good night, Governor."

During the few weeks that followed, we placed a half dozen people in positions that brought us the information we sought. Guard schedules, postings, weapons that were carried, and the number of guards at the mine told us what we needed to plan for.

At the end of a shift, I sat on my bunk. "There are sixty-eight guards on duty during any shift. Add in the additional sixteen who guard the entrance, and the plateau outside, and we have eighty-four per shift, and two hundred fifty-two total. It appears that only three, one at the doorway, and two in the towers outside, have blaster rifles. I am certain that there is an armory somewhere near the Talisan barracks.

"So, with two shifts running at a time, we will have a hundred thirty-six guards to contend with down in the shafts. Back on top here, there will be thirty-two. We can either plan to take them all at once, or just enough of them for us to slip out of here."

Jallis offered a confused look. "Are you saying that we could in effect liberate this whole mine? If so, what would we do with everyone? We don’t have a transport to get all these people into orbit, and if we did, we don’t have ships to get everyone out of here. If we make it out, we have a better chance of coming back to liberate them than we do of trying to free everyone at once. It’s logistically impossible."

I replied, "I had the same thoughts. I just wanted a second opinion. I will have a plan for us to mull over after tomorrow’s shift. Get a good night’s sleep. We will likely need it if we decide to put the plan into action."

When the next shift had come to an end, I sat close to Jallis on his bunk. "This is the plan. We start by taking out the shaft guards with our picks when we first arrive at our shafts. We then move up to the transition guard who is checking quotas. He sits in a chair by the conveyor, facing away from the shafts. After that we take the elevator. There are two guards standing there, and as with the others down there, they have shock sticks. I counted off the steps, and with a run from the main shaft, we should cover that ground in five seconds. That should allow sufficient time to take them out before they react.

"The guards do not have comm down in the mine. There should be no word of our actions. There are two guards up here at the top of the elevator. When the doors open, we need Garmon to be lying on the center of the elevator floor. You and I will be waiting on either side, just inside the door. When the guards come in, we jump them.

"Next, we will have to snake our way around the other guards that are on this level. I believe I can take down the guard by the exit door with the shock stick before he can react. On the other side of the door are two more guards. We should be able to surprise them as well. One of them has a blaster.

"Once out on the plateau, there are two remaining guards, one in each tower on the ends of the plateau. You and Garmon will have to put on guard uniforms and then walk out to each tower. By my calculations, it should be night outside. That should allow you to reach the towers and climb the stairs. If nothing looks suspicious, you should still be able to surprise the guards and recover the two blasters that they have.

"After that, we can lower ourselves to the jungle floor and slip away. If I am correct, they will not pursue us down there, leaving us free to head for the spaceport. We will have to devise a plan for taking a transport from there. If all goes well, we might have as many as seven hours down in the jungle before they realize something is wrong."

Jallis replied, "There are a lot of moving parts to this plan that have to go exactly right. Once we start this, either we are dead or we escape down to that jungle."

I nodded. "My question to you then is this, are you in?"

Jallis thought for a moment. "If we stay here, we are dead within a year; I can already feel the dust affecting my lungs. The lead poisoning will also make us dumb as time goes on. So, I’m ready as soon as you are. And count Garmon in with that. I do foresee one other problem."

I replied, "And what is that?"

Jallis gestured toward his ore hauler. "Layda, she hauls my ore. If we leave her, she will be killed as reprisal for our actions and as an example to others. I believe her to be physically capable of joining us, and she seems of high intelligence."

I nodded and smiled. "Ask her if she is willing, although her alternative is likely death. Use your powers of persuasion to inspire her. Convince her that it is in her best interest."

Jallis stood and walked to Layda’s bunk. Five minutes passed before he returned.

Jallis spoke. "We are a go for first thing in the morning. We have until the elevator reaches the bottom to cancel this plan. If you do not speak of it by then, I will proceed to my shaft and take out the guard."

I sat back on my bunk as I replied, "Until the morning, then. Sleep well, for tomorrow you will be free."

Jallis laughed as he lay back on his own bunk. "Yeah, I will be free, or dead one."

The shift alarm buzzed as usual. I woke and dressed for the day. Jallis and Garmon each had a solemn look on their face; each was ready. I glanced over at Layda only to receive a firm smile and a nod. We all walked together as the Talisans herded us down the hall to the elevator. When we reached the bottom, I remained silent as we walked to the tool room. With that silence, our escape plan was now in motion.

When I reached my shaft, the guard was already in place in the chair where he would normally spend most of his next sixteen hours. A voiding bucket that sat beside him would be for his required breaks.

The Talisan guard never looked up and never saw the end of the pick before it dug into the back of his skull. It was a grisly undertaking, but necessary for our escape.

I turned toward Garmon. "Just stay behind me."

When I turned back toward the main shaft, I had a shock that I was not prepared for. Another miner and his ore hauler had wandered down the wrong shaft inadvertently. I stood frozen, not sure of what to say. The miner’s expression then turned into a nasty grin. He ran back to the main shaft and then down toward his own guard. As I walked out into the main shaft, I could hear the faint thud of a pickaxe being buried into a skull as the errant miner executed his shaft guard.

Again, I waited for Jallis and Layda; they had yet to emerge from their shaft. The Feldon that had executed his guard returned to the main shaft with a wide grin. He turned and moved quickly down the next shaft with his bloodied pickaxe raised as his ore handler followed with a captured shock stick. In a near panic I located Jallis’s shaft and hurried down it to find Jallis and Layda in a scuffle on the shaft floor with the Talisan guard.

The two Feldons were holding their own against the larger and stronger Talisan. I reached down, grabbing the Talisan by the back of the neck, lifting him into the air. Before he could let out a scream, I drove his head face-first into the solid rock wall. The Talisan slumped from my hand as the life left his body.

"Get up and let’s go. We have another Feldon that is going crazy out there. He came down my shaft by mistake and saw the dead guard. He is now running from shaft to shaft, exacting his own justice."