Escape from Altera Ch. 09

Seeing the War Captain really boosted my morale. It was like having the Battle Admiral himself here. The War Captain seemed to have the same ability the Battle Admiral did, to quickly size up a situation and arrive at the best course of action. Just watching his thought processes unroll was impressive.

But before we could escape, I had the aftermath of my own previous escape attempt to deal with.

For one thing, I was fired from the garbage detail and demoted to mining work. I couldn't survive more than a week or two of that.

Another concern: some of my fellow escapees had survived and been recaptured.

I learned that Bolshoy and Raffen had attempted to flee and had been shot dead for their efforts. Kostiprev, however, was another story. He had been taken alive and had recovered from his knife wound. The word around the camp was that he wanted to inflict one on me.

"We'll have to reason with him," said the War Captain calmly.

Shortly thereafter Kostiprev was pinned down in the snow by two of Kerensky's men. Sasha held a giant rock over his head, and one could see the strain in Sasha's face as he tried to keep the heavy object from crushing Kostiprev.

"Please pay careful attention," said the War Captain. "We don't have much time, as even Sasha cannot hold that small boulder for very long. Are you listening?"

Kostiprev nodded, looking rather panicky.

"It's come to my attention that you have certain negative feelings towards this man," said the War Captain, indicating me. "I'm asking you to change your attitude, to forgive and forget. Do you think you can do that?"

Kostiprev struggled a bit against the people holding his arms down. The boulder above him started to shake as Sasha's arms weakened.

"I don't think you have much time to consider your options," said the War Captain mildly.

Kostiprev glanced fearfully at the rock above him. Then, grimacing, he said, "All right."

"Can you be more explicit?" The War Captain asked.

The boulder started to shake more. "Cannot hold much longer," said Sasha.

"I will not hurt Richman," said Kostiprev quickly, his eyes glued to the boulder.

The boulder came down with a wump! behind Kostiprev's head as Sasha let it go. The War Captain gestured for Kostiprev to be freed. As Kostiprev stood up and glared at them, the War Captain said, "I trust that your intentions were made in good faith. If not, the rock will still be here, waiting for you."

As they walked away I said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," said the War Captain simply. Supporting a fellow soldier, even one of a differing service, was second nature to him.