Chapter Fifteen

 

 

The mood on the Ceriem was subdued. The rumours that had been spreading around the prison for a week had proven true. The guards had just told everyone that all the prisoners of the Ceriem and the Raydor were to be flown to a far off planet to set up a colony. And no one had a choice about going; everyone on those two ships was booked for the flight. They’d also stated that the monthly visits were cancelled. No one would be receiving any more food or clothes from relatives or friends.

Also, there would be no more new prisoners. They were to be held in the planet jails until the two ships were emptied.

Georg lay on his bunk staring at the underside of the one above him. He was worried about Jawn. At the police station they’d been separated and had had different times in court. Neither Jawn nor the rest of the group had been on his shuttle. The only information he’d been able to get off the guards was that the other shuttle had gone to the Raydor. The meant that Jawn should be on it.

And Georg was still very angry that Curt had turned on him. Curt had had an arrangement with the Tech dealers since before Georg had been sent to the Fringe. When he’d taken over the tobacco dealings he’d made an effort to get to know Curt and they’d agreed to be open about any problems. Georg had assumed that meant any other offers Curt might receive.

At the police station Curt had given him a little smirk as he turned them over to the officer in charge. In his rage that Curt had betrayed him so easily after being so well paid, he demanded to see the police chief.

“Why?” asked the officer.

“I’ve got something important to tell him.”

“What? That you’ve been wrongly arrested?”

“No, that some of his men are taking bribes from tobacco dealers.”

He doubted that he would have been able to see the police chief if he hadn’t walked by at that time and heard the statement. He called Georg into his office and motioned him to sit down.

“Who are you?”

George still had his hands cuffed behind his back so he sat on the edge of the chair. He tried to keep his voice calm as he spoke.

“My name is Georg and I’m from the Fringe.”

“What is this about one of my officers taking a bribe?”

“Officer Curt has been taking bribes from me for years.”

“And what are you here for?”

“For selling tobacco.”

“You sell tobacco and you’re complaining about Officer Curt taking a bribe?”

Georg hadn’t answer. He knew how absurd it sounded, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t let Curt get away with sending him and his people to the prison.

“I take it you were arrested tonight.”

“Yes, by Officer Curt.”

“If he’s been taking bribes from you, why would he arrest you?”

“Because someone else offered him a better deal.”

“Are you accusing him because he arrested you and you want revenge?”

“No, I’m accusing him because it’s true.”

“Well, it might make you feel better to know that this is the second time today we’ve received information about his dealings.”

“You have? From whom?”

“That is none of your business.” The police chief stood and went to the door. He opened it and ushered Georg out.

“Carry on with this man,” he said.

By then the room was empty. Jawn and the others had already been taken to cells.

Georg shook his head. What did it matter now? That part of his life was over. Actually, his life on this planet was over. He just wished he knew were Jawn was. He’d been so disappointed to see Jawn outside the bar that night. He’d always believed that Jawn would make good and be there to look after their parents. And now Jawn was in prison and it was his fault. If he’d followed the unspoken rule that no new arrival was to be sent to the Hub to sell tobacco for six months, Jawn would still be in the Fringe with the hopes of getting back into the megalopolis in five years. He didn’t have that hope any more.

And what of their mother? She was waiting for two sons to return from the Fringe. Two sons who would never come back and the worst part was that she didn’t even know it. She would die expecting them.

And their bad luck continued. They were some of the last prisoners to be sent out to the space prisons. If Davi had waited a little longer to pay off Curt, if Curt had waited one more week before arresting them, then he and the others wouldn’t be where they were now. They’d be part of the new contingent of prisoners sent to the empty orbital prisons. They probably would have had a cell to themselves, it wouldn’t stink so much, and the noise level would be much less.

But it hadn’t worked that way. Davi had bought Curt and he had arrested Georg and his group and they were now on their way to a new planet. A new planet! The idea was hard to grasp. Growing up, he’d always thought he’d like to do some space travel. But to be part of the colonization of a new planet….

What would they do there? What would keep them alive? Would they just be dropped off to fend for themselves or would someone help them get organized? Where was this planet? Who had found it? There were so many questions to ask and no answers. But maybe it wasn’t true. What if it was just a way for the guards to torment the prisoners? He smiled grimly. If so, then he had years of that type of treatment ahead of him.

Georg had been half listening to a commotion in the cell next door. Although these were separate apartments, the walls between were made of thin metal and most of what was happening in one cell could be heard in the next.

“Everyone up,” a guard yelled into the room.

“Why?” Georg asked.

“Just do as you are told.” He watched through the bars while Georg and the other three men in the cell climbed off their bunks. “Gather your clothes and blanket and stand in the middle of the room.”

“What’s happening?” Georg looked at the others. Was this part of daily life here?

They shrugged and pulled their blankets off the bunks. Those with extra clothes picked them up. When they were in the centre, the guard opened the door.

He pointed at Georg. “You. Come here.”

Georg stepped out into the hallway where the prisoners from the cell next door stood in line. Another guard slipped the metal ring on Georg’s head again. He knew what the ring meant from his admittance to the prison. The first guard returned to the cell and beckoned another man out.

One by one they were placed in the line and fitted with the metal ring. They marched a few steps and waited while the prisoners from the next cell were lined up.

“Where are we going?” one of the prisoners asked.

“You’ll soon find out,” a guard answered.

“Are we going to that planet?” There was fear in his voice.

“You’ll soon find out.”

At each cell, the same questions were asked and the same answer given. After that, there was silence except for the trudging of the prisoners. When all the prisoners from their hallway were in line, they were led along the maze of corridors, up a flight of stairs and through more corridors of the ship. This was a slow drawn out process as most of them had spent many years just sitting on their bunks or standing in their cells. Their muscles had shrunk and they weren’t used to walking in their bare feet. They passed the cages of the murderers who hollered at them and reached through the bars. As they neared the end of one hallway they heard clamouring ahead of them. There was screeching, bellowing, crying, and banging.

When they rounded the corner they found a large chamber with a crowd of both male and female prisoners fighting amongst themselves and with the guards. Some were trying to rid themselves of the metal ring while others were trying to attack the guards for the keys; some had fallen to their knees and were crying, begging anyone to kill them. Even the jolts of electricity to their brains didn’t stop the desperation that pushed them.

“You can’t make us go!”

“I won’t go!”

“Let us stay!”

“I’m going to die anyway. Why not kill me now.”

The guards from Georg’s group ran to assist their fellow jailers. They drew their stun guns and soon many of the prisoners were thrashing on the floor. The others reluctantly quit their fighting and stood, again, in their line.

“Get up,” one of the guards yelled. “Get up.”

When none of them responded the guards kicked at them.

“You others,” another guard gestured. “Help them up.”

The ones nearest the fallen prisoners placed their hands under arms and lifted awkwardly. The stunned prisoners had little sensation in their limbs and could barely stand.

While he was waiting, Georg looked around him. The corridor they had come down was one of three that met in the large chamber. Along the wall of the chamber was a huge door. Above it were windows with blackness behind.

He had felt anger, frustration, and fear since arriving on the ship and those feelings had doubled when he heard the news of the flight to a new planet. But now, the realization that it was really happening, that they were actually being sent now, increased those emotions tenfold and his legs threatened to collapse under him. He had to grab onto the prisoner ahead of him to keep from falling.

As soon as the prisoners were in line again one of the guards hit a switch on the wall and the huge door slid sideways. On the other side, a temporary passageway had been hooked to the outside wall of the ship. There were no lights and the other end could not be seen.

The first prisoners in line peered down the hall while those behind strained to see over the ones ahead of them. There were gasps and frightened whispers.

“Where does it end?”

“How far is it?”

“I don’t think I can make it.”

“Can they really make us go?”

One of the guards stepped to the front. He held a flashlight in the air.

“All the guards have these,” he hollered. “There will be enough light for you to see where you are going, so stay in an orderly line and follow me.”

He turned and began walking into the darkness. The first in the line of prisoners refused to go forward and no one pushed from behind. They knew that on the outside of the wall was black, empty space.

“Get moving!” The guards yelled and shoved the prisoners closest to them. These bumped against the ones ahead and the effect was a slow advance into the passageway. The stunned prisoners were dragged along until they recovered enough to walk themselves.

Georg’s row fell in behind the first line. Shadows on the walls changed from large and looming to small and pinched as the flashlights were swung back and forth by the guards. There was full light near the guards but halfway between them was a dim section where prisoners banged into each other or tripped over feet.

The long procession arrived at a door. The guard in front pushed a button and the door opened. The chamber inside was bright and the prisoners pushed eagerly towards it. They were almost at a run as they hurried into it glad to be out of the passageway. Once inside, though, they had second thoughts as the door closed behind them.

“What is this?”

“Where are we?”

“I want to go back.”

They huddled inside the chamber. The first guard pulled a lever and one wall raised to reveal a line of keepers. They were standing on a ledge slightly higher than the floor. The room behind them was full of monitors, one of which showed the passageway. The rest displayed various corridors and rooms of the ship. Each keeper had a gun and while their uniforms were different from the guards on the prisons, the expression on their faces was the same: make one mistake and I’ll use this.

“Those are trance guns,” the guard said. “A hit from one of them and you will almost lose consciousness. You will know what is going on around you but you won’t be able to control your movements. A second hit and you will die.”

A woman stood apart from the keepers. She was dressed in a space flight uniform. She looked over the group. “You have both males and females here.”

“Yes,” the lead guard answered.

“I requested that they be brought separately.”

“This is the way we were told to bring them.”

“But having them together will cause nothing but problems.”

“I’m only following orders,” the prison guard said.

“Well, I’m going to separate them. You may remove the rings.”

The guard turned to the prisoners. “You will stand still while we undo the rings.”

The keepers watched while the rings were removed. Georg noticed a few of the prisoners glancing sideways as if wondering about their chances of escape, but no one moved. He’d already decided there was no chance right now, but he would keep looking.

The guards gathered up their rings and returned to the passageway closing the door behind them. The prisoners looked at the line of keepers. Although some of the jailers from the prisons were accompanying the fleet, these keepers were in charge now.

The prisoners had come straight from their cells and the odour that permeated the prison ships had come with them. The keepers, unable to let down their vigilance, could only wrinkle their noses at the smell.

“You are now on the Spaceship Wenelyn,” the woman in the flight uniform said. “I am Space Captain Ires and I am in charge of this ship. You will be led to a room where you will be assigned a sleeping place. That room is where you will stay until the end of the voyage. You can walk around in it but you cannot leave it. You will each be given a plate but due to the danger of some of you making weapons, there will be no eating utensils. The plate is expected to last the journey. Your food will be brought to you in large containers and you will serve yourselves from them. Each day there will be a bucket of water provided for you to wash your plate and hands after every meal.”

She pointed to a small door at one end of the chamber. “When that door opens you will file through quietly and peacefully. Guards on the other side will lead you to your rooms.”

Again, as on the Ceriem, they were led along corridors and up steps. At one point the women prisoners were sent down a different hallway. Georg was relieved to be able to walk without the ring on his head. He watched where they went, noting each turn and each set of stairs. If he could break out of that room and find his way back to the passageway, he’d be able to return to the Ceriem. Once there, he might eventually be able to stow away on a shuttle heading to Megalopolis One.

But even as he thought about it he knew it wouldn’t work. The monitors would pick him up as soon as he stepped out of the room. And what would he do if he did manage to get back to the megalopolis? He couldn’t live there so he’d have to return to the Fringe. And what was there for him? Nothing. Davi now operated the tobacco business and it was unlikely that he would hire Georg. And he certainly wouldn’t let him into the Tech Dump to get his money. Without the money from the tobacco sales, he couldn’t buy the bar. He’d be one of those people who wandered the streets looking for someone to rob and then heading to the dole train for rotten food and worn clothes.

And there was Jawn. He was just a college kid. How would he look after himself? He had no experience dealing with convicts or their way of life. He’d be dead within a week. Since it was his fault that Jawn was on his way to the colony planet, Georg gave up any more thought about escape. He owed Jawn that much.

The room they entered was large with beds bolted in rows on the floor. Hanging in two tiers above the beds were hammocks. On each bed and hammock was a plate. The first prisoners in the door didn’t wait to be assigned a sleeping place. They rushed for the beds and sprawled on them. The guards turned their backs. It mattered little to them where the prisoners slept. And it saved a lot of fighting now. That would happen when the next group arrived and also wanted the beds.

Georg took a bed near the door. He would save the hammock above in case Jawn was assigned to this ship.