Prologue
The
Escape
A
tall, muscular, dark-haired figure made his way down the brightly lit corridor.
The nods of approval from his colleagues were a visible reminder of what he had
just achieved: capturing the one person he had considered not only a best friend,
but the brother they weren’t ever meant to have.
“Twenty-Three
Eleven!” a fellow guard called out.
He
turned slowly, still aching from the fight that had taken place just hours
earlier. “What?”
“The
Warden wants to see you in his office, now.”
“Fine.”
He sighed, changing direction. As he approached the young guard, he could see the
spark of speculation in his eyes. “I know my way,” he said dryly, in an attempt
to deter any attempt at conversation, hoping the guard was too shy to start the
‘Tell me all about your escapades’ quiz and clever enough to realise he was
bruised and weary, with neither time nor patience for frivolous questions.
The
inquisitive young guard’s eyes sparkled. “Is it true you just captured Twelve
and the Princess of the Ranswars?”
So
he wasn’t as shy, or as clever, as Eleven would have liked. “Yes, but everyone
is innocent until proven guilty, so your opinion on these prisoners should stay
in your head.” He gave the guard a stern scowl.
The young guard took the hint, shifting direction and kicking his boots
together in annoyance before heading back to his quarters.
As
Eleven passed the teleportation bay a petite woman in a black suit exited. Held
captive by her tiny hand was a colossal creature, deep green in colour, with
three bony arms on each side, each covered in talon-like claws. Its fur standing on end, it grappled with thin
air, roaring and spitting deep blue mucus that the woman deflected with her
free hand, holding it, he noted with the same ease as he would hold a plasma
ball.
“Ah,
Eleven, have you made your paperwork available to me?” She enquired. “You know
how I like to keep your workload up to date.”
His
expression changed to one of affection. “Yes Collector, I wouldn’t want to get
into any trouble.”
“Good,”
she replied a twinkle in her eye. Nodding farewell, she continued on her
journey, whilst the creature continued to fruitlessly howl, writhing and
struggling in its attempts to escape. When Eleven arrived outside the Warden’s
office, he could clearly hear angry sounds, loud enough to carry through not
one, but two walls. Making his way in, he found the Warden’s assistant sitting
at her desk looking at a screen, apparently completely oblivious to the ranting.
“I’m
here to see the Warden,” Eleven informed her.
She
looked up at him. “Bracelet?” she
demanded.
He
lifted his sleeve to reveal his bracelet. Its metal worn and battle scarred
from too many arrests. It always served as a reminder to him of how long he’d
been a guard.
She
scanned it. “You can wait over there. He
will want to see you next,” she instructed, then looked back down at her
screen.
While
Eleven stood waiting by the wall, the roar from the Warden’s office gradually became
a muffled rumble, then slowly petered out. At last the door opened and out came
a shocked looking extractor, her eyes searching the room for the exit, and the
fastest route to it.
“Eleven!”
the Warden’s voice called out.
He
strode into the office. He’d been here many times due his successful career as
a guard. However today wasn’t a day when he felt any sense of achievement or
pride in his work. “Warden,” he greeted him, bowing his head in respect.
“I
would like to congratulate you on your successful arrest of the traitors,
Twelve and the Princess Lailah…” The Warden scratched his beard in agitation.
“Thank
you.” Eleven made his response, feeling numb.
“However,
I have bad news.” He stood, his thickset shoulders looked stiff with stress and
Eleven could see that his hands were still unsteady from his earlier outburst.
“Warden?”
He
slammed his fist down on the desk, which groaned under his strength. “Twelve
has escaped!”
“But
how? We only got here a few hours ago!” Deep furrows of confusion dug into Eleven’s
forehead.
“The
extractor reported that he just wasn’t there. Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous?” The
Warden sat back down and started to move his hands over the desk, causing
charts to appear on screens on the desks top. “An informant seems to think he’s
here.” The Warden touched a dot on the screen, enlarging it. “They call it
Earth.” He glanced up. “This is classified information.”
Eleven
nodded. “Yes, Warden.” He knew his job; he’d been a guard for over four hundred
years.
“There’s another issue with this
situation. We sent one of the Old Ones there; if Twelve finds him we could have
a serious problem.”
“What
are the chances? And what’s our next move?” he asked, knowing in his heart he
wasn’t going to get time to have that rest he’d been planning.
“You’re
going to Earth; you’re going to get Twelve back again. And this time I will
extract him myself,” he growled.
“Should
I take Boden and Hadwyn with me?” He really could do with the backup; Twelve hadn’t
been an easy arrest the first time.
“No,
this isn’t a job for the Magrafe. However, I will make them available to you if
you feel you can't cope.”
“Who
will be my contact?”
“There
will be none. We’ve no trustworthy contacts on Earth so this will be a solo
mission. A judge and his companion are due to investigate, although after previous
visits to the planet, he has informed us it’s too primitive to be of any danger.”
The Warden’s hands shifted over the desk with ease, opening new screens faster
now. Finally he stopped. “Memorise these co-ordinates.”
Eleven
inspected the images carefully. “Yes, I have them stored.”
“If
you have any problems, use them to get back here. You will also need a human
name.” He pushed more screens to the side. His hand hovered over an image of a man
with wings. “You will be called Gabriel. To the humans he’s a messenger from
their God. They are more likely to trust a man with such a name. Now go, don’t
waste another minute.”
Eleven
knew you were only given a name when it was totally necessary. His companion, Hadwyn,
would be disappointed - he took great pleasure in mocking Eleven because he had
never been given a name. The High Judges believed that it made you more of an
individual, and the prison worked hard to maintain the ethos of the collective.
“Yes
Warden.” He bowed once more in respect and turned to leave the office. “Gabriel.” The Warden stopped him. “Bring him to justice or leave him where he
dies.” His tone was bitter. It must have been a hard blow. Twelve had been one
of the best guards on the prison. Losing a guard was never easy. This would
cause a ripple of questions through the others, and that was not good.
“As
you order.” The new name would take a
while to get used to and as he left, he felt the weight that had been temporarily
removed, descend once more upon his shoulders.
He
made his way to the Distribution office to collect his equipment. Showing his
bracelet to the mechanic, he was informed that he would require no extra
equipment to go to Earth, that on Earth their technology was so basic that they
were of no danger to him, his usual weapons would be enough. His biggest
concern on Earth would be disease, so he was given a vaccination. The mechanic also gave him enough nutritional
supplements to last him for the next cycle.
As
he walked back to the very portal at which he had arrived earlier that day, he
wondered how Twelve had escaped so quickly? And why Earth? He also thought it
odd that Twelve had left Lailah behind, knowing how much he was under her
control. That vile Ranswar. He’d known there was something suspicious going on
from the minute he laid eyes on her.
His
collector was standing by her portal; she must have been informed he was
leaving. She’d been his collector since his first journey. She was stern and
liked to do things correctly, but he knew she had a soft spot for him and he
could trust her to make sure he arrived at the correct coordinates. “Seems I’m
going away again.” He shrugged his shoulders as he reached her.
“It’s
not right, you have just arrived back.” She shook her head in annoyance. “Luckily
Earth’s a very basic planet. You will make an arrest in no time I’m sure. Have
you been to the mechanics?” she chuntered as she opened the shimmering portal
in front of him.
“Yes,
no need to worry.” His lips rose into a crooked smile. “Anything else I need to
know?”
“No…”
she stood to one side, then held him on the spot with a light touch of her tiny
hand, as if in thought, “…well yes...” Their eyes met. “I like the name you
have been assigned.”
“Thank
you. Maybe one day you’ll get one.” He patted her arm and she let him go. He
never ceased to be amazed at the power of the Collectors. They could control
beasts far bigger than themselves with no apparent effort. They crafted portals
all over the galaxy and yet they remained suppressed by the Prison. He looked
back one more time to see her watching him make his way through the portal.
*
His
landing was silent; hundreds of arrests had made him skilled in all his
actions. It was night-time here and he could see lights up ahead. Lights
created by a fire. He moved through the trees towards the populated area. As he
came close, the sounds of chanting rang out into the woods. Voices seemed to
bounce off the trees, echoing back and forth. As he reached the edge, he saw people
in a clearing, all standing around a large fire. They seemed so happy; clearly
Twelve hadn’t reached them yet. Then he saw a young woman. She was dancing
around, the reflection of the fire skipping burnt oranges and golds across her
face and body. He held his breath, watching her spinning, the others clapping
their hands to keep her going, the volume and energy rising and rising as they
seemed to reach fever pitch. He couldn’t
take his eyes off of her.
Suddenly,
and without warning, she stopped. Gabriel realised he wasn’t breathing and took
a breath that reached deep into his chest. She was staring straight into the
woods where he was. This was impossible, he was trained, there was no way she
could see him. She must have spotted something else. He froze, holding his
breath once more. She was walking towards him now. He pulled out his Dellatrax
searching for another life form. Nothing was showing on the screen.
She
reached the edge of the trees and Gabriel wasn’t sure if he should stun her
before she came any closer. He had been trained to deal with prisoners and had
no problem with that, but this was an innocent woman.
“Welcome,”
she called out into the darkness. Gabriel nearly choked, surely she couldn’t
see him. “I hope you can hear me.” Her voice rang out. “You’re safe here.” She
reassured him.
Gabriel
felt ridiculous. This woman knew he was there and he was still hiding. He
needed to find out how she’d spotted him. Was he more visible on this planet?
Was it like the time he and Twelve had been on Braltar and the occupants had
smelt them from three sectors away? Her face was in shadow and he couldn’t see
her expression. He needed to make eye contact. What was the worst she could do?
He knew they were primitive. He had his weapons; he could take out the whole
village if he wanted to. He was the more advanced being.
“Well,
you can stay in there all night, but it’s going to get cold.” She took another
step closer to him.
“Stop
where you are,” Gabriel warned her.
She
tensed up. “Very well, but I am offering a hand of friendship. Your presence
does not feel threatening to me. We saw your arrival in the flames of the
Goddess Hecate.”
“If
you saw my arrival, then you will know I’m not here to hurt you. If you leave
now everything will be fine.” He leaned forward still unable to make out her
face clearly.
“Let’s
think about this, you’re hiding in the woods on my land. These people are my
family and the goddess has told me to come and get you. So I don’t feel like
leaving you there. I will give you a choice. You come out and prove you’re not
a threat to us, or I’ll send the spirit of my dead grandmother in there, to drag
you out screaming and kicking.” She placed her hands on her hips.
Dead grandmother? Gabriel tapped on
his Dellatrax. Death on Earth was the same as everywhere else. This was a
threat he could not comprehend, and he was wasting valuable time with this
woman. He stood up and walked slowly towards the clearing. “Fine.” He stepped
out towards her.
She
stepped back. A flicker of fear that surfaced briefly was hidden with the same
speed. The light of the fire now reached her profile and Gabriel was aware of her
beauty. Her round eyes, petite nose and full lips, framed by waves of dark
brown hair that cascaded down her shoulders. He took a deep breath; never had
he been so close to someone so beautiful, and so stupidly brave.
“Who
are you? And what do you want?” she asked.
“I
am Gabriel and I have come from the stars.” He pointed towards the sky. His
words made no sense, and he had never introduced himself in such a way before.
“From
the stars?” she almost laughed. They were just feet apart now. “Well Gabriel
from the Stars, my name is Wyetta and this is the village of Mistley. I think
you need to come with me.” She reached her hand out towards him. He looked at
it warily. On the prison physical contact was frowned upon. She was waiting for
him to take it and he felt strangely compelled to do so. As they touched, he
felt a bolt shoot through his body, like someone had just made his heart beat
for the first time. He followed her, powerless, and she led him back to the
gathering and the others, who greeted him with a depth of warmth and trust that
he had never received before. They seemed to want to befriend him, without the
slightest knowledge of his intentions. This was going to be more complicated
than he had expected.
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