“Touch her again and I’ll usethe stun gun on you,” Jerd exclaimed.
Vez hissed but lowered his stungun.
Toemeka pressed her body againstJerd and his eyes darkened with desire. “Show me where he is. Iwant to be there when they use drugs on him. I want to know who heis.”
“He’s in jail.”
“Then let’s go see himthere.”
They left the building andstarted across the compound in the fading daylight. The air was muchcooler than it had been when she and Erling arrived. Toemeka wassorry to see Vez come along. He had no sympathy for human women, onlya streak of cruelty. The jail was a small building and looked like itheld only a few cells.
Jerd walked over to the guard atthe front desk and said, “Let us inside. We’re going to questionthe prisoner some more.” The guard rose from his desk and punchedin a code on the door panel. The door opened and they started downthe hall. Jerd unlocked the door to a cell and Toemeka followed Vezand Jerd inside. Erling lay unconscious on the floor, his face bloodyand swollen. She shuddered, repulsed by what they’d done to him.
“It’s not a sight for awoman,” Jerd said.
“He looks awful! I’m amazedhe didn’t talk.”
“He just kept telling us he wasa computer programmer.”
“Did it ever occur to you thatmaybe he was telling the truth?”
“If he was a just computerprogrammer, he wouldn’t have been in the crypto room,” Vez said.“We should just finish him off.”
Toemeka bunched her hand into afist. “He’s useless dead,” she said, trying to keep her voicesteady
Jerd’s brow wrinkled. “He mayalready be useless to us as much as Vez used the probe on him.”
“Let’s bring him around withwater,” Toemeka said. She filled up a mug from the rust-coated sinkin the room, then squatted beside Erling. Up close, his face was aseries of bruises. She poured water on his face. Erling moaned andshe looked up at the younger guard. “Give me your gun.”
“Why?”
“So I can make him talk.”
He handed her the stun gun andshe increased the power. Erling opened one eye. The other was swollenshut. “Toe,” he groaned in a slurred voice.
She pointed the stun gun at hischest. “Tell us who you are or I’ll use this on you again.”
“No more.” His voice crackedas he spoke.
Vez sneered. “Humans are weak.”
“Bastard!” Toemeka spunaround and fired at Vez and then Jerd. They both fell to the floor,unconscious. Her heart raced as she returned her attention to Erling.She slid her arm under his back and helped him into a sittingposition. “Erling, we have to get out of here.”
He coughed and spit out blood.“Just let me die,” he moaned.
“Dying isn’t an option. Youhave to get up.”
“I don’t have the strength.”He tried to slump back down, but she held him firmly.
“Yes, you do. Anyone who is toostubborn to tell the guards who he is when he’s being beaten todeath, has the strength to escape.”
His good eye closed. “Saveyourself.”
“We’re leaving together,soldier. Get up!” She squatted behind him and put her hands underhis armpits, trying to pull him up. She couldn’t budge him. He wasa large, muscular man; she guessed he probably outweighed her by atleast sixty pounds.
“Give me a few minutes,” hegasped.
“We don’t have a fewminutes!” She yanked and pulled until he finally staggered to hisfeet. He swayed unsteadily and she put an arm around his waist. “Keepstanding, Major Fenian! You hear me?”
“You have no heart.”
“That’s right. See that door?We’re going through it.” She struggled to keep him upright asthey staggered through the doorway. Once in the hall, she kicked itshut behind them, locking the guards inside. Together they went downthe hall until they reached the door to the lobby. “Stay here,”she said.
He sank down and sat on thefloor, leaning against the wall.
“No, no, no! Don’t sit down.I can’t get you back up?”
“My head’s spinning. I thinkI’m going to puke.” He leaned over with his head between hisknees.
“Puke if you need to, I’ll beback in a few minutes. Be ready to run.”
He nodded, looking a littlegreen.
She visualized the room inside.When she’d entered the building, there were two guards: one at thedesk and one by the door. She punched in the code she’d seen theguard use. When it clicked open, she gave it a push and sprang intothe room. She fired at the guard at the desk, then the one by thedoor. An unexpected third guard fired at her. She dove for the floor,rolled and fired at him. He fell forward, crashing to the ground.
She cautiously rose and scannedthe room to be sure all three guards were unconscious. The door she’dentered through had shut automatically so she punched in the code tolet Erling in.
“Why didn’t you tell me whatyou were doing?” he exclaimed, as he stumbled into the room.
“You were puking your gutsout.”
“You could have waited until Iwas done.” He took a Blackhawk blaster from one of the guards andcrossed to the exit door. “Let’s get out of here.” He peeredout, then signaled it was clear and stepped out. She discarded thelaser gun and grabbed a blaster from a guard before following him.
Floodlights lit up the now darkcompound. They started across it, heading toward the jungle withErling maintaining a lurching walk. Toemeka suppressed the urge torun, knowing Erling couldn’t keep up and it would attract theattention of two guards who were a short distance away, patrollingthe complex. If they were stopped, Erling’s bloody face would givethem away.
They moved behind the side of thebuilding and Erling leaned against it, shaking. “Go on without me,Toe. I can’t go any further.”
“We’re almost to the jungle.”His knees buckled. She grabbed him as he started to fall and held himagainst the wall.
“It comes in waves. I think I’mgoing to be sick again.” He knelt in the dirt and retched.
She squatted down beside him.“Any better?”
“A little.”
“Where does it hurt?”
“Everywhere.”
“We’ll hide in the junglelong enough for you to recover.”
“You escape to the jungle whileI hold them off. I’m done for.”
“You’re not done for! You’llbe fine after you’ve rested.”
“They’ll discover the prisonguards you stunned any second. Go while you have a chance.”
“We’re getting out of
