Kennedy was staring up at me. I saw the determination in her features, as well as the uncertainty. She


    wasn’t afraid and she wanted to proceed, but she knew I was fearful.


    Either choice I made may fail my children. If I did not help, I was weak and ineffective. Should Nu-reeh


    catch me, she might kill me, but I decided for the first time to fight back. My children should see the


    same strength in me that they embodied.


    “I don’t know where they are,”I whispered to Hannah.


    Ra handed me a map. I should give it to the men once they were free. It would lead me to them and


    then them out. A strange device was given to me that would unlock any Lock. Hannah showed me how


    to use it. Lastly they gave me fifteen wrapped pieces of food, each the size of acandy bar.


    “It is called something that means ‘power of a thousand suns’,” Hannah told me.


    “It’s a little Like…probablycocainein anenergy bar,but it will give the men strength long enough to get


    out.”


    Everything I was to carry was ced in Kennedy’s sling and shey on top of it. That was the perfect


    hiding ce. I was set.


    Ra thanked me and told me to hurry, so did Hannah. After thebust outI should leave and get as far


    away as I could. The women would be livid the men had gotten away.


    I walked the deserted halls with Kennedy. The map showed right where the men were. It was a ce


    I’d walked infrequently before. It was boring and deep inside the mountain. Hannah and Ra were right.


    It would not be hard for me to avoid the cameras here. It would have been impossible for them to get


    this far without being spotted.


    The escape route the men should take was clearly marked out. Surprisingly it took them deep into the


    center of the mountain. It appeared that the men were actually going to walk beneath the mountains in


    a hidden tunnel. Strange, but then these mines may be many generations old. Who knew what strange


    passages may exist.


    I started to pass men as I walked, but they ignored me. They talked about the strange men they were


    guarding and what they must have done. The women weren’t even feeding these prisoners. The


    women taunted them with a bucket of water they could not reach. The strange mouth-guards they wore


    prevented the prisoners from even speaking.


    “They’ll be dead by five turns of the sun, if not sooner,” I heard one man Laugh.


    I stumbled hearing that and the men started to look alert. In terror I clung to my silent child and slunk


    into the shadows of the cave. I barely breathed until the men started to walk again.


    Ang’s Library


    A family stood guard at a leather drape. This was where the captured men were held. I wondered how I


    was supposed to get in. Standing and staring at the drape for several moments I realized no one went


    out or came in. The family standing guard just sat outside.


    The men didn’t see me walking around, but would they see the leather drape move?


    There was really only one way to find out.


    Keeping my head down I walked slowly to the leather curtain. I stood less than an arm length away


    from the man on that side of the drape. My feet were soundless as I slipped past the cover and into the


    room. They had not seen me.


    Inside the room was a horror show. The women had been torturing these men. I saw clumps on the


    floor and shuddered at what they were. The whole area was sandy, to catch and congeal the blood.


    Fifteen abused bodies were hung on the walls. shes cut across their chests where whips had bitten


    them. Short chains prevented them from even being able to sit down. I imagined they had been awake


    for days. The women were trying to break their spirit.


    I moved to the man closest to me and his wary eyes watched me. I took the device from under


    Kennedy and undid his wrists with shaking hands. Reaching up to undo his neck and the mouth guard I


    dropped the device, but the man caught it.


    Taking a deep breath I worked on his mouth guard and the chain at his neck. Once he was free I


    handed him the food package Hannah had given me. He ate it quickly and put the wrapper in his


    pocket before going to drink from the pail in the middle of the room.


    I moved quickly from one to another. Now they weren’t wary of me at all. The third man even reached


    under Kennedy to get his own snack. I was horrified as he touched her and jerked back, holding her to


    my chest.Ccontent ? exclusive by N?/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.