The Prison Governor

After that there were no further attempts with the bottles. Sandra was suspicious. Taking three of her sentries who weren't on duty they made a round of the fortifications and checked the walls. Sure enough they spotted two inmates climbing the side wall using ropes. With four of them lying in wait, once the intruders started reaching to get over the parapet, they were helped out only to face the reception team with loaded pistols. Sandra did not want inmates to see that two male prisoners had been captured so she had them locked up with their hands and legs secured in one of the storage rooms. The group outside would have realised after a while that their colleagues were not returning. They didn't go back into the village but a few more inmates joined them along with food and drink.

Whilst there was a lull, Sandra took the precaution of rigging the two cameras that they had found in the stores and had them facing the crowd outside. She thought that film footage would help in identifying the inmates concerned.

Another couple of hours went by before another attempt was made against the drawbridge and at the same time scaling the walls. The climbers on the previous attempt had left their pitons in place thus making it a little bit easier for others to climb up. This time those trying were picked off with rubber bullets before getting very high. It looked as if one of them suffered a broken leg when he fell and dragged himself away. The other was more fortunate but was obviously badly concussed when he went back to join the group. The problem that Sandra now had was the night attacks that would surely take place. The side walls of the fortress could be swept with the searchlights but that meant not having the light on the main group all the time. There were a few flashlights though in the buildings in case of power cuts. She readied them and checked the sentry roster.

Just before supper she held another meeting with her wardens to again check on the mood of the inmates. What helped enormously was that the warden's generally knew who the trouble makers were and so kept a closer eye on them. Sandra had already shortened the shifts for those wardens watching the cameras in order to try and keep the watchers alert but she knew that staring at camera pictures of the inmates in bed and swapping from one cell to the next was very tedious.

As dusk started to gather the group outside lit small bonfires. The buggies had shuttled backwards and forwards during the afternoon but now had stopped. What did concern Sandra was a small van that had drawn up. It was difficult to discern exactly what was on its roof but it looked like a thick and long section of timber. Sandra didn't need to be told what it was intended for and she wasn't blind to what she guessed were ladders that were roped together. She alerted the team on first watch about what she thought might happen. She had added to the sentries on watch covering the side walls. Before going on duty she got Emma to transmit a further message to the freighter stating that they had been under attack and were expecting a major assault that night but so far were in good shape. She took up a position as a sniper on one of the front watchtowers and waited. She had positioned one of the other snipers on the other watch tower and she had exchanged the rubber bullets for live ammunition.

She had nodded off when the sentry woke her telling her that he thought things were happening. Sandra looked out and could see clearly what he meant. There was no need to blow a bugle or anything as it was obvious when the first bullet hit one of the searchlights. She positioned herself with her rifle and waited for the van to back up a distance and then drive at full speed towards the drawbridge. Full speed wasn't exactly fast with the large hunk of timber on it. Sandra fired at the tyres but missed. Fortunately the other sniper achieved what she had hoped would be the result. The burst tyres threw the van slightly off-course and instead of reaching the chasm dead straight it veered to the side.

The plan for it to straddle the chasm failed as the wooden beam now fell slightly short. It fell along with the van into the depths and exploded. Whether there was a driver inside wasn't of any concern. What was of concern was the noise on the far parapet. Sandra raced around with the rifle and the machine gun and found one of her sentries on the ground whilst another was checking a male inmate who was also on the ground.

She called for help and two of the village folk quickly appeared. The warden who had been on the ground was unconscious but looked alright otherwise and was taken to the clinic to be checked out. The inmate was tied up and taken to join the other two. Before doing anything else, Sandra swapped the bullets over to the rubber sort and checked the walls with the torch. She was lucky as there was yet another inmate about to reach the parapet. She didn't have time to back off and point the rifle so she just held it by the barrel and smacked the inmate before he could get any further. Sandra didn't think for one moment that he would have survived the fall.

She crossed over to the other side wall but it looked free from the climbers. She left the sentry to check on the single casualty, who it transpired was just coming around after having been knocked out for a short while. It was at this point that Sandra suddenly had bad vibes. She thought that the nurse was amongst the women who had left the village but the lady who was acting as the medic wasn't her. If the nurse wasn't in the fortress then she must be in the village.

There was one more climber that night who got picked off early so didn't fall very far. With their main plan thwarted the inmates didn't try again that night but that didn't mean that the defenders were able to sleep any longer than was planned. The shifts started and ended with replacements being made. Sandra toured the walls of the fortress a number of times during the rest of the night, mainly to keep morale up amongst her teams. There was just a short message from the freighter to say good luck and that the earlier message had been relayed to head office. Once dawn had broken Sandra felt able to send a quick report to the freighter about the assault and the success of the defenders. She went back to the operations room and gave a detailed account to Patty so that it could be relayed to the wardens. Back in her room she took a quick shower and fell asleep in her armchair.

She awoke around lunchtime and went firstly to the operations room where there was no news, then to the computer room where there was just an acknowledgment of her last message. Up on the front watchtower all was quiet. There had been some movement of inmates back and forwards to the village but nothing that was considered necessary to wake her. Sandra sat and watched for a while before going back to her office. She sat and thought things through, trying to put herself in the position of the inmates outside. The battering ram was just a variation of getting a bridge across the chasm. That approach was unlikely to happen in the same way again. The attempts at climbing were certainly likely but the next key assault would include ladders that might reach the upper parapet. She thought it unlikely but it needed to be considered.

There was one other possible means of attack. Rather than them forcing their way in, they could try to force the defenders out. Without wasting anytime at all, Sandra went and checked her plans of the fortress and where the fire hydrants were situated. There were sprinkler systems in case of a fire but Sandra worried about a fire starting on the roof of a block. She did not need to have inmates panicking. All hell would break out. On the basis that the administration block was the furthest away from the front, Sandra got some assistance and fitted the hoses to hydrants near the outside of the prison blocks. She even managed to find enough hoses to stretch to the top of the front wall where it could then be used to spray on the roofs. As a further precaution and as the water supply was copious she got her team to fill up buckets and anything else they could find to hold water and then position it around the courtyard.

If they were lucky, that night should be the last before help arrived. The attackers would know by now that they might be running out of time so Sandra had no hesitation in ensuring every fit person in the fortress was aware of a major attack and that sleep was going to be in short supply for everybody. At least the catering staff had been doing a wonderful job in producing meals that, although based on tinned and frozen food, were hot and whilst not as large as normal, were ample. Sandra even joked with them that they could write a cookery book based on serving food with these ingredients.

Sandra disliked hauling a machine gun and a rifle around with her but she felt that she didn't have any choice. If anyone was going to shoot live ammunition she thought that she should bear that responsibility. The rifle was loaded with rubber bullets at the moment but she had clips of live in her pocket. She left Patty in the operations room with instructions to liaise with the wardens on duty and also deal with anything that might arise that she could manage. The farm manager was in charge of fire control, the assistant manager was up on the outer walls near the hose pipe that had been put there and there were three others around if needed to pick up other hoses and buckets. Looking out to the camp there was a lot of activity going on but it was difficult to tell what. She toured the walls and all were well manned and no activity had been spotted.

The assault started as she had guessed with the launch of a fireball. It landed well short of the fortress and there was a lull before the next one was fired. That landed closer to the parapet so they were getting the range. It seemed that the ladders were being used as the main part of a simple siege catapult. With the fireball positioned at one end and the ladders on a sort of pivot, pressing down quickly on the other end of the ladder would hurl the fireball forward. The third one landed inside the space between the fortress walls and the inmates block. It was quickly extinguished by the fire crew. Suddenly two fireballs were launched with the second one coming from a side location. The first one landed on the roof of block A but was quickly put out with the hose on the walls.

The second landed against the side of the administration block and bounced off. That was dealt with quickly. Sandra decided that she need to take action. She went around to the wall where the second fireball had been launched and as soon as she saw a light from where it was being launched she fired off a whole clip of bullets. There was a cry and the fireball exploded on its launch pad. Back at the front, shots were being fired up at the watchtowers and walls and every five minutes or so another fireball was launched. She heard pistol shots coming from the side wall and raced over to assist. The fireballs were landing but they were being put out immediately. What helped was that the roofs of the prison blocks now had a layer of water covering them. Over at the wall, all was under control. Two more inmates were licking their wounds below though after failed attempts to scale the walls.

The attackers eventually ran out of fireballs and it appeared that none of them had an appetite to try and scale the walls. Sandra kept everyone on high alert until the dawn came and it became clear that the attackers were leaving. Once there appeared to be nobody left outside Sandra still kept the sentries checking the walls for climbers. She toured the buildings thanking everyone she saw for their work before checking the computer room. Emma was sitting there but had fallen asleep. She was so embarrassed about it when Sandra woke her but there wasn't anything that had been missed for any great period of time. A message from the freighter had arrived ten minutes before with a simple message. "Help on way. ETA midday."

Sandra broke the news to those assembled at the operations room but stressed that until the help was actually visible, they had to stay in lockdown and on full alert. There was a huge sigh of relief all round. Sandra had some breakfast and then went to her rooms. She had instructed Patty to wake her no later than 11am and that was what she did. Up on the watchtower the sentry on duty and her kept swapping over with the binoculars but it was the sound of an aircraft that heralded the arrival of what they knew was assistance. Shortly after the plane had passed over the island the sky was filled with parachutes. The plane made one further pass with a few more parachutes falling before the plane disappeared. An hour later a squad of soldiers appeared in view and once Sandra had checked their uniforms through the binoculars she went and opened the drawbridge. She went out to meet the soldiers and when they reached her she introduced herself to the soldier who was obviously in charge.

"Looks like you have been fighting off an army, Ma'am. Is there anything that we can assist you with immediately if not we wish to move towards the village and secure it this afternoon."

Sandra offered the captain the use of the buggies but said that there was no need for immediate assistance. She mentioned the loss of communications but the captain already knew about that. He asked how many inmates might be involved and Sandra gave him what their best estimate had been. She also mentioned the guns but couldn't tell how many they had or what sort they were. The captain took over three buggies for journeying towards the village and that was it. He had told her that the unit of fifty soldiers and some paramedics were split into three units. His unit was travelling to the village and would be joined by another unit coming from a different direction. The third unit would position themselves near the male prison and then await the other two units, who by then would have hopefully taken control of the village. They would then all move to secure the prison itself.

A lot of the wardens and village folk had heard the exchanges with the soldiers so there was no need to hold any more briefing meetings other than with the culinary staff to check on the food situation. Sandra then went to the loudspeaker system and turned on the microphone.

"Ladies. I know that the grapevine works fast but just in case and to ensure that you hear the correct news you should be aware that we have held out. There is a large military force on the island and hopefully they will manage to get the male prison back under control very shortly. I would like to thank you for your co-operation during this time. We will be relaxing the regime a bit but we need the all clear before we start our normal daily routine."

Sandra assembled teams to put the water hydrants and hoses back along with the other firefighting equipment, a team to collect the riot control equipment and finally a team to return weaponry to the arsenal which included the cannon. There were some gunshots fired from the direction of the village but they stopped shortly afterwards. Sandra suspected that meant the village had been secured. What worried her was the state of the village and the few men and the nurse who had stayed behind. She voiced her concerns to the mayor but he knew as well as her that there was nothing they could do until news came from the military.

By late that afternoon things were tidier and Sandra after checking that all the guns and the tasers had been returned locked it all up. There was some marks on the walls of some of the buildings where fireballs had hit but rainwater would probably wash those off. What remained to do, and this was not something she wanted to do but didn't feel she could delegate, was to check for bodies outside the walls. Patty volunteered to go with her. Firstly they walked around the area where the camp had been where they found one inmate who was dead. To the side of the fortress where there was a burnt out ladder, they didn't find anything. Over on the other side though there were two more bodies. Along with the first body they covered them with sheets. Back inside, Sandra went along and checked the captured inmates. They had been looked after during the siege and been fed and watered. She wouldn't release them because she told them that with the military around they could easily be shot. They would have to wait before being returned to their prison.

Sandra issued orders for the drawbridge to be raised. She dropped the number of sentries on duty and also reduced the warden's staffing level after getting the agreement of the senior wardens.

After supper there was little she could do so she opened a bottle of wine and sat in her armchair in the sitting room. It wasn't long before Patty and Julie arrived. As they knocked on the door Sandra was given the notice that this was a casual visit. Patty even fetched the glasses and poured herself and Julie a full one each. They chatted about the events and what was going to happen in the following days.

Sandra thought that the male inmates would surrender immediately and that shortly after that, the freighter would dock in the harbour. The troops would stay and then leave on the freighter.

Sandra was well aware that there would be a major enquiry into the events and she asked Patty as a matter of importance to get the key personnel who had been involved on the fighting and who witnessed anything to write out what they had seen. She then wanted to have the statements read out in front of two people who had not been present at the action and signed as witnesses. She included herself in this task. She also had Patty collect the footage from the cameras that had been set up at the front of the fortress. She knew how easy it was for people to remember things differently days after the event which was why she wanted these statement as a matter of urgency. After talking about the events and what might happen, inevitably the conversation moved to what the freighter was bringing. Sandra could tell that they were being mischievous and played along, telling them that she was turning the tables on them both and that she would be the top mistress going forward and she would be treating them as her slaves

.

After the girls had left, Sandra went up and checked the sentries. They had nothing to report so she went back to her rooms and fell asleep. She awoke early and went up to the walls. It had been quiet all night. She was about to go down when the sentry called her back as a buggy was approaching. She went down and got the warden on duty to lower the drawbridge. It was the captain who had visited earlier. She took him through to her office after getting them both some coffee then he gave her an update.

It transpired that the village had been retaken with minimal force. One inmate had fired on them but he had been captured soon after and no one was hurt. The few village folk who had stayed had been placed under guard in one of the houses by the inmates but had now been released with no casualties. Some of the houses had been ransacked but the damage was limited. There was one fatality to report and that had been the nurse. The captain gave her what details he could. The nurse was found strapped to a gynaecologist's chair with her legs well apart. Judging from the quantity of semen around her face, cunt and anus it was obvious she had been raped many times. He couldn't say precisely how she had died though.

The male prison had been taken back without any violence but there was a certain amount of damage. Three wardens were found dead along with the governor. The other wardens had been locked up in cells but were unharmed apart from being hungry and thirsty. The troops would assist in some clearing up and would hopefully manage to restore the communications system. The paramedics had a number of inmates who had suffered in the siege and they were being treated.