Escape from Altera Ch. 08

Escape from Altera

[Note: This is not a "sexy story". It is a mix of WW II "The Great Escape" and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's "The Gulag Achipelago"... set in outer space)

Chapter 8: Escape (from Altera)

Escape! It was every prisoner's dream.

Well, maybe not for every prisoner. Some prisoners never believed they could escape. Others gave up over time. But some still had the dream.

I was one of them. After nearly two years in Labor Camp 94, the time had come.

At first, I hadn't considered the possibility of escape. I had enough trouble just staying alive in the camp. But as I have already described, over time my situation stabilized, and my work got easier, and I got more food and better clothing.

But any plan for escape would have to deal with the remoteness of the camp. Even if one could escape from the camp, there was nothing but ice and snow for miles around. We weren't remotely near a small town, much less a spaceport.

And then there was the war. I knew, sooner or later, that one side or the other would win, though I was naturally hoping the League would win, and I would be released. But as one year passed, and then another, I saw this wasn't happening. From the crude Slurian propaganda that came our way, I knew the war was still ongoing; by my count we had been told that the main body of the League fleet had been destroyed ten times over. But if there had been an armistice, or if one side had won, I would have known it. The war was still continuing, and for me 'waiting it out' was no longer an option.

The restlessness built up in me. Finally, I broached the topic of escape with Kerensky.

He gave a broad laugh.

"Richman, you have been here two years, have you ever heard of anyone escaping?"

"Do unsuccessful escapes count?" I asked. But I knew. I had seen the prisoners brought back, not always alive.

"The guards usually try to bring them back alive, unless they kill a guard to escape," said Kerensky. "But many are brought back dead. Do you know why? Because they couldn't survive the elements. The cold. The snow. The lack of food."

"But we can dress warmly. And we can save food to bring with us."

"Where?" asked Kerensky. "Where would we go? We are 100 Sluromiles from even the nearest small town, assuming you can find your way there. And even if you got there, the locals would turn you in."

"Why?"

"For the reward, Richman," said Kerensky, taunting me by using that name again.

"Hm. But there must be some way to escape," I persisted.

Kerensky turned away.

The next day Raffen, the thief, approached me. "I hear you are escaping."

"Where did you hear that?" I asked.

"You looking for comrades to escape with, yes?"

I looked at Raffen. He had helped me once to get rid of Corporal Ivan. (Of course, I had paid him for his efforts). Still could he have turned and become a spy for the camp? Maybe, or maybe not.

"What do you know?" I asked.

"I know someone who is escaping, can give you name, yes."

"So?" I asked.

"10 gembles," said Raffen.

Well, that was certainly in character. I sighed and handed over the gembles. "Now, who?"

"I am, Richman," said Raffen.

"I think I want my money back," I said.

"No, relax, not just me, some friends, too."

"Fellow thieves?" I asked.

Raffen looked hurt. "Biznezmen. Come, I take you."

Warily, I followed him to another barracks. He led me to a man with a pasty looking beard who was sitting next to a man with narrow eyes.

"Bolshoy, this is Richman. Richman, Bolshoy," said Raffen.

"I hear you are thinking of escape, Richman," said Bolshoy, the bearded man.

"Can you say it a little louder? I think some of the guards at the front gate haven't heard you," I said.

"They do not care," said Bolshoy. "If you were not a Richman you would know this. Why do you think the night watch is so lax? And yet so few of us try to escape. Why, Richman, why?"

I shrugged.

"You are stupid Richman. Look around you! There is nowhere to go!"

"Then how are you going to escape?" I asked.

"I will tell you... for 50 gembles."

"Oh no," I said, thinking I was figuring out the scam now. "If I go with you, I pay you with my skills."

Bolshoy laughed. "Richman, what skills do you have?"

I turned and headed towards the door of the barracks, convinced this was a scam.

"Wait!" said Bolshoy.

I turned.

"We go."

"We?" I asked.

Bolshoy indicated himself, Raffen, and the man with the narrow eyes. "This is Kostiprev."

"What is your plan?" I asked.

"We sneak out at night. Over the wire," said Bolshoy, lowering his voice. "Three day walk from here is transport station, where new prisoners come. We sneak in returning transport, get to Oshtakov. Then, we get to Smolensk, sneak about transport, get off planet."

Smolensk. So there was a spaceport at Smolensk. Already, I had learned valuable information, though I had no idea where Smolensk was.

"All right," I said. "When do we go?"

"In two nights. Must bring enough provisions for one week."

I nodded. I could get that much on the black market, though it would seriously drain my gemble reserve.

On the appointed night I waited a few hours and then got up quietly. I walked past Kerensky's shelf. His eyes were open and he watched me go, but he said nothing.

It was very dark outside, only punctuated by the dim camp lights and the searchlights at the perimeter. I stealthily made my way to Bolshoy's barracks.

He wasn't there. Suddenly, I realized I had been set up.

"Hisst!" I heard.

From around the corner of the barracks building, a hand waved to me. I cautiously went around the corner and saw Bolshoy, Raffen, and Kostiprev. So far, they hadn't betrayed me.

"We go now," said Bolshoy.

We made our way to the perimeter. There were searchlights but they were relatively few and easy to evade. We made it to the fence, in a section between the watchtowers. It was a simple seven foot tall mesh fence, and we helped each other climb over it.

As we crossed over, I realized it was too easy. This camp had never been built to prevent a determined escape; the camp must instead rely on its isolation to keep the prisoners in.

Easy or no, I knew they would send search parties after us in the morning once our escape was discovered. We had about four hours to get as far from here as possible.

We trudged into a nearby forest, and made some circular track patterns to try and confuse any pursuit. We walked all night.

When the sun rose, Bolshoy told us to keep walking. We still had to get some distance between us and the camp. We walked all day and into the evening. If I thought it was merely cold during the day when we were marching, it became frigid at night when we stopped to sleep.

"We should set a watch," I said, to which they all agreed. I took the first watch; after two hours, I woke Kostiprev.

The next thing I knew there was sunlight in my eyes and I heard the sounds of dogs barking in the distance. I looked around; the others were fast asleep.

"Idiot!" I said, giving Kostiprev a good kick.

He groaned, and that woke up the others as well.

"What?" said Bolshoy groggily.

"Dogs!" I said.

We started moving immediately. We could hear the dogs some distance away.

We did a lot of running that day. To my surprise, we eluded them. Perhaps the dogs had trouble sniffing us out in the snow.

That night I made it perfectly clear that if anyone fell asleep on watch that I would take personal offense. This time I let Bolshoy take the first watch, and I went to sleep.

I was very tired, so I don't know what precisely woke me up. It couldn't have been the quiet munching sounds; it might have been the sounds of someone rustling in the snow besides me. All I know is when I opened my eyes I could see Bolshoy sitting by me, munching food. My food?

I checked my pockets and did a quick inventory. Sure enough, some of my semi-frozen kem was missing. Bolshoy, seeing signs of my awareness, backed a few steps away.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, jumping up.

"Just eating some supplies," said Bolshoy.

"My supplies!" I said.

"No, it was my food," Bolshoy insisted. He quickly swallowed and stopped chewing.

I glared at him for a moment. Then I lay back down on the snow, some distance from the others. "I have a suggestion for you," I said.

"What is it?"

"When it's my turn to take a watch, you'd be better off calling my name from a distance than coming to wake me," I said. "Because if I sense anyone coming near me, I'm going to kill him."

Bolshoy said nothing.

We trudged through the snow for two more days. At the end of the third day, I said, "Where is it?"

"We must be close to the station," said Bolshoy. "Perhaps another hour or two of walking. We see after we get some rest."

We didn't find the station later that day.

Or the next day.

Or the day after.

It was on the end of the fifth day, we were exhausted, and we had run low on food--the others had eaten more of theirs, and mine, more then they should have, and our supplies, which should have lasted a week, were dwindling.

"Do you know where we are going?" I asked.

"Yes," said Bolshoy, as we trudged along in the snowy forest.

"Then why haven't we arrived at the station yet?"

"Perhaps we are a little off course."

"A little?"

"Look!" said Raffen.

In the dusk we could see a dim light ahead. It was a single cabin, in the clearing.

A cabin, out here in the middle of nowhere?

We crept closer and investigated. It was a small cabin; peeking in the windows, we saw an elderly woman tending a fire. She was cooking something that smelled wonderful.

We looked at each other and nodded.

We entered the cabin, and the old woman gasped, and dropped a kettle.

"Don't be alarmed," I said, in heavily accented Slurian. "We don't want to hurt you. We just want some-"

"Hey, what have we got here?" said Kostiprev. Standing in the corner, looking very scared, and very young, was a thin blonde woman.

The old lady stepped between Kostiprev and the girl. "Don't hurt her!"

"No one is hurting anyone," I said. "We only want some food."

"And a place to sleep for the night," said Kostiprev, looking at the girl.

"Yes," said Bolshoy.

I didn't argue the point.

The woman obviously wasn't happy to have us there, but she acted civilly. We ate bread and vegetables that tasted wonderful, though after a steady diet of kem anything would taste good.

After dinner, we settled down for the night. Kostiprev and Raffen wanted to sleep in the old lady's bed, but I vetoed that.

We all slept on the floor except for one of us who would be on watch.

"I will take first watch," said Kostiprev, licking his lips as he looked at the young girl. She withered under his gaze.

I went over to Kostiprev. "What are you doing?"

"Me?" said Kostiprev. "Nothing."

"We're only here for the food, and the night's rest. Understood?"

"Who put you in charge, Richman?" said Kostiprev.

I stared hard at him. "I did."

Kostiprev looked at Bolshoy and Raffen. Both were carefully looking elsewhere.

"All right," said Kostiprev.

I nodded, and lay down on the rough wooden floor next to Bolshoy and Raffen. The floor was hard, but at least we were protected by the elements. "Wake me in two hours," I said.

I lay down and closed my eyes, but purposely willed myself not to sleep.

All was silent for several minutes. I wondered what we were going to do tomorrow. We were obviously lost. Perhaps we could persuade the old lady to give us directions.

All of a sudden I heard a muffled gasp, and then another. I sat up silently. I saw Kostiprev, with his hand over the young girl's mouth as he started to undress her.

"Let her go," I said, getting up.

"Go back to bed, Richman," said Kostiprev, not even turning to face me.

"Let her go," I said again.

"Or what?" said Kostiprev

"Or I'll slit your throat," I said, pressing one of the old lady's blades against his neck.

Kostiprev slowly released her and stood up. He glared at me for a moment. Then he gave an insincere smile. "I was just making small joke."

"Ha ha," I said.

Kostiprev carefully lay down on the ground next to his fellow thieves. They exchanged glances I found hard to decipher. What had I gotten myself into?

"It's ok," I said to the now sobbing girl. "We won't hurt you."

I stood watch for the entire night.

The next day we prepared to go. Kostiprev and the others acted like nothing had happened. We took some of the old lady's food, but I made sure that we only took a few days worth. The others didn't like that either.

I thought we were all set to go, when the old lady yelled something, and I saw something shiny in Raffen's hands. He was taking a necklace belonging to the old lady's.

"No!" I said.

Raffen looked sullenly at me.

"Give it back."

Raffen looked at Bolshoy, who slowly nodded.

What a great team we had there.

I started very much to fear for my safety. It didn't take an interstellar drive scientist to analyze the looks the three were casting among themselves. The cold, fatigue, and hunger didn't need to drive my paranoia; would they kill me in my sleep the following night?

At that point I decided that if we didn't reach the transport station that night, that I would slip away and head off on my own. It had to be safer than sticking with these uncertain allies.

But things came to a head in an entirely different way late in the afternoon. We saw something in the distance. Something large, in a big clearing in the forest.

As we got closer my jaw dropped.

It was a labor camp.

Not just any labor camp, but Labor Camp 94. I recognized several of minor peculiar differences of the watch towers.

We had been walking around in circles for days.

The others looked just as shocked as I was. We immediately hid behind a clump of trees.

"What do we do now?" I said.

"This is perfect," said Bolshoy.

"Perfect?" I said. "How can this be perfect?"

"Now I know where camp is, I can get accurate fix on transit station," said Bolshoy. "We have supplies for a few days, I can guide us."

"You're the one who got us lost in the first place!"

"Trust me," said Bolshoy.

"Somehow, I don't think I do," I said. I took a few steps backwards from the others. "I'm going off on my own."

"You fool! You get caught, and lead them to us, Richman!" said Bolshoy.

"If you want to leave, leave your food," said Kantiprev.

"What?" I said.

"Your food," he said, and in his hand I saw the glitter of a knife. Probably one of the old lady's. He started to walk towards me, with a gleam in his eye.

"All right," I said, sounding frightened. "Here it is," I said, dropping food in the snow with one hand.

But Kantiprev kept coming. "I must search you." His knife was firmly in his hand.

The time for talking was over. He had about as much intention of searching me as I had of leaving my food with them. As he raised his knife to swing, I jabbed out with my knife, which I had kept hidden, and stabbed him in the shoulder.

He shrieked, and fell to his knees.

Bolshoy and Raffen both ran forward, brandishing knives of their own.

I ran.

They chased after me.

It was like a nightmare, being chased so close to the outskirts of the camp.

They closed in on me, and circled around. Bolshoy's knife flashed, and I ducked under it, and started to run again.

They kept pursuing. They must have thought I still had food.

Or maybe they didn't like what I had done to Kantiprev.

My lungs were bursting with fatigue. I saw them running behind me. I couldn't get away. I certainly didn't have the energy to fight both of them. There was only one thing left to do, though I hated it bitterly.

I started running in a different direction.

They kept following-

Until we came to a clearing.

The front gate.

A surprised guard looked at me as I popped into the clearing.

"Halt!" he cried, as Bolshoy and Raffen turned tail.

I collapsed into the snow, my hands up, as I heard the crackle of blaster fire behind me.

More guards came running up, and a circle of blaster rifles surrounded my face.

It wasn't the best way to end a day.