A King Ascends, page 5
She blinked as he opened his eyes and looked up at her.
“Got any water?” he croaked.
“Don’t you dare do that again, okay? For a minute there, I thought I was losing you.”
She turned to get some water for them both.
He gave her a big smile and simply said, “Thank you for my life.”
Alexis smiled back and said, “You’re welcome.”
Startled, J pushed himself up into a seated position, then he looked around, surprised to find himself in a cave. The last thing he remembered was the pain as he hit the water.
Alexis looked critically at him. “You scared me.” She pulled the water bottles over and passed one to J. Looking closely at him, she tried to analyze what was different. Then she saw most of his hair was falling out. She picked it up and showed him. Jon stared. His hands went to his head and more fell out. He felt bumps protruding from the back of his head. He paled as the implications staggered him. His father had gone through the same thing when his grandfather died.
“No, oh, no,” he pleaded. Please, let my father still be alive, he prayed. His next thought was maybe his father was sick or something. Please, just let him not be able to administer his job because he is sick, not dead.
He didn’t want to think what it all meant. He was frantic with worry—not just about his father but his entire family. Were they hidden? He had to get to his home world. Jon knew Dr. Michaels didn’t know who he was or anything about him. She had risked her life saving him. He owed her so much, so he pushed his pain and worry for his family into the back of his mind to be dealt with later.
“Can you explain all this?” She gestured to the broken cocoon and the clumps of hair.
“Not all of it. I can’t, not right now. I can’t tell you a lot.”
It was his turn to blush as he felt his head and the areas that earlier had healing scabs on them. His skin was unmarked and smooth.
“I can speculate, but I have not observed the phenomenon in a long time. The scabs are common in my family and usually form on small hurts. This is the first time I have seen them on large wounds. That was really kind of interesting.” He added, with a twinkle in his eye, “Maybe we won’t need doctors.”
She glared as she patted him on the arm, then turned away from him
“Whoa, there. I was just kidding,” Jon said.
“By the way, my first name is Alexis. Just thought you should know. We were told to call you J, but I’m sure you have a real name.”
She realized she was attracted to him for several reasons. He seemed kind and courageous, although she didn’t really know much about him. She only had her gut feelings to go on, but the prefect hated him, so it intrigued her. She wanted to know more about him.
“Let me introduce myself. I’m Jon-Tor, from the planet Tyrea. Please, just call me Jon.”
“I am exhausted, and I have been beating on your cocoon for hours. I’m relieved that you are out of it. It jolted me when it formed.”
She reached for the supplies and, rummaging for a while, finally found the bio-scanner. “Thank you, Sue,” she said quietly, as she turned back to her patient, ready to help in whatever way she could.
CHAPTER 8
Prefect Tamias of Tyrea was not happy. He shrieked at his soldiers, he yelled at the doctors and nurses on duty, and he especially bellowed at Warden Skinner.
“You told me that this facility had top-notch security and look what happened. You lost my prisoner. I want a thorough search of the hospital but also the surrounding land. You, sir, are a fool, and you have a traitor among you. We restrained him. Someone had to have taken off those restraints. He couldn’t do that for himself. He was supposed to be sedated. He’s gone, which proves he wasn’t sedated, was he? You just let him walk out of here. He was hurt in the crash, but, apparently, not as critical as your doctor thought. What kind of people would let this happen?” He bellowed on and on.
Warden Skinner just stood there, but the skin on his neck kept getting redder and redder. He wished this pompous personage would leave as he had planned, but now that would not happen unless he could produce the prisoner.
“Find Dr. Michaels,” he demanded of the nearest doctor. The woman hurried out. Soon she was back with the report that it was Dr. Michaels’ day off.
The prefect turned his disdainful stare on the warden. “Well, that’s convenient, isn’t it? Anyone else have a day off, too? Maybe they are all together playing cards somewhere.”
“This is a large facility, Prefect. Many people have the day off or are on vacation.”
The prefect just stared at him accusatively.
This was his well-run facility. “Prefect, perhaps you can answer a few of my questions. You are here demanding procedures and actions of my staff, while providing no information about a potentially dangerous person, including his name. What do you say for yourself, sir?”
“You need no more information. Well, send people to check on them,” he yelled in the warden’s face. “I hold you personally responsible for this fiasco.”
The warden turned away from him and walked back to his office, with the prefect following closely. There, he called the Air Patrol Office and explained about the missing prisoner.
“They asked for a description.” He looked at the prefect, who just shook his head.
“They need some kind of description. You can’t ask them to find someone with nothing to go on.”
But the prefect was beyond paranoid and refused to add any more. “Just find him,” he demanded. “Some men can search around the prison.”
Warren Skinner gave the Air Patrol a very general description of the prisoner’s physical appearance and hung up. Turning to the prefect, he informed him, “I already have my staff searching the prison and our grounds for your man. I have none to spare for an additional search outside the walls. Besides, I doubt he’d be able to escape these walls. He was badly hurt. He is probably hiding in one of the many storage closets.”
“Well, give me some of your air cars and my men can search,” he demanded, as he stormed away from the desk.
“You can have one air car,” the warden told the prefect, whose facial features had turned thunderous as he slammed the door on his way out. He called the garage to give the order that one air car, and only one air car, would be available to the prefect and his men to use in their search, and then he rang his secretary to get a copy of the staffing for the day.
“Could this day get any worse?”
The warden’s secretary hurried in with a printout of all employees with the day off or those who were on vacation. He signaled the Air Patrol Office and relayed the list to them. He couldn’t wait to end the whole thing and for the high and mighty prefect of Tyrea to be gone, prisoner or no prisoner.
CHAPTER 9
Staking out the prison and hospital, Phillip saw a man hurrying toward the hospital. He didn’t know Lu-zan, but he was sure this must be him. Matt O’Shea had sent the name of the person they were to expect but did not provide a description. Phillip’s friend had come through with a description of the IPS representative. He needed to catch him before anyone from the prison saw him. All hell would break out if the warden or prefect knew about the crim-scan. The prefect and warden would comb the prison, and they might not think of Dr. Michaels. It was her day off. Phillip wondered whether they would think her innocent with the prisoner gone at the same time. At least she had an excuse. She frequently sought solitude on her days off.
“Hey, Lu-zan. Hold on, man, wait for me,” Phillip called out to him.
Lu-zan stopped with a puzzled expression on his face as he turned to face Phillip.
“What? Who are…?” Lu-zan asked, just as Phillip reached them.
“How did you get here so fast? I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow.” Phillip spoke to cover Lu-zan’s exclamation. His arm went around Lu-zan’s shoulders as he whispered, “Dr. Michaels sent me.”
Lu-zan bowed to him and offered his hand. Phillip shook hands and gave him a wide grin.
“Come, my wife and kids are eagerly waiting for you. They can’t wait to go camping,” Phillip said easily, as he glanced at the prison entrance and saw the warden watching. He led Lu-zan away toward his air car. Lu-zan smiled and played along, and the warden seemed satisfied.
In the mid-sized air car, Phillip sighed in relief. Before he could explain, Lu-zan glared at him and demanded to know what was going on.
“We got J out, but he is still in danger. The Prefect of Tyrea is searching for him. The prefect has tied the warden’s hands since he arrived. I can take you to J, but we have to be careful. I’m on Dr. Michaels’ team. We are being followed and our houses, searched. It has been hard on all of us.”
“Are we being followed now?” Lu-zan asked.
Phillip looked around. “I don’t know, but I don’t think so.”
“Fly us to your home and get your family. I think if we act like old friends that visit, we’ll be okay. You can show us where we are going to camp. Yes?” Lu-zan surveyed the area outside the windows to observe whether they were being followed.
“Should I just fly around a little first to lose any tail? By the way, are you allergic to dogs or anything?”
“No, we shouldn’t fly around seemingly aimlessly because we want to appear normal and not suspicious. It would appear very suspicious if you deviated too much from your normal routine. And no, I’m not allergic to dogs. I love dogs. What kind do you have?”
“It’s an unusual breed called a Ta ashi no tomodachi, which means multi-legged friend. I got it as a Christmas present for the kids. Great watch dog, especially being on a prison planet. I thought it was an excellent protection for the family, and that breed really loves children.”
“I have heard of that breed. What did you name it?” Lu-zan inquired.
“We just call him Ashi for short. Easier for the kids to say. He’s the reason for the extra-large air car. Ashi is the size of a miniature horse—and strong. The kids ride him around the yard.”
The first thing Lu-zan saw after they landed was a small mountain of flying fur coming toward them. Phillip stepped out, putting his hand up, and the dog skidded to a smooth stop in front of him. Two small children slid off Ashi’s back to the ground and grabbed onto Phillip’s legs, laughing. All six of Ashi’s legs were moving, but he stayed in one place in front of Phillip. Phillip’s wife and an older boy, who looked like a smaller version of Phillip, came walking up to greet the guests. When Phillip gave the signal to Ashi that it was okay to move, the dog moved in an undulating pattern that reminded Lu-zan of a swirling wash mop.
“Let’s get our camping gear, and we can talk while we eat lunch,” Mari, Phillip’s wife, said, as she started moving toward the house. The two younger children came running up to Ashi, who flopped down so they could climb onto him, and they went running back toward the house. Lu-zan watched, amazed, as the dog moved so smoothly with his charges onboard.
Everyone helped with carrying food and supplies out to the picnic table and settled down to eat. Phillip introduced his wife and children, who were so excited to meet someone new. The dog ran from one person to the next person, not sure who was giving the best rubs or treats.
“Are Dr. Michaels and Jon very far away from here?” Lu-zan rubbed the dog’s belly as he waited.
“So that’s his name. The prefect wouldn’t tell us his real name. He just said to call him ‘J.’ No, they are close to the prison in a cave, and that’s part of the problem. The concealed cave is fairly large, but Jon was in a cocoon, and we couldn’t move him very far. I didn’t see it happen, but when we lowered Jon into the river that runs under the prison, he had a reaction, and the result was the cocoon material that formed around him. I scouted out a kind of hidey-hole that Dr. Michaels and Jon can get to if someone stumbles onto the cave. We had stocked the cave with provisions as a temporary stop, but now I don’t know about moving Jon.”
“Jon’s in a cocoon?” Lu-zan anxiously asked. “We can talk later. Okay, are we actually going to camp?”
“Yes, I thought we could take the family and get fairly close. You and I can go explore, and I would guide you to the cave. Ashi can play with the kids while Mari sets up.” Ashi’s ears perked up when he heard his name. Phillip automatically reached over and scratched his ears.
“That plan has merit, but I dislike endangering your wife and children in this. Ashi, while a great dog, doesn’t seem like much protection.”
“No? Just watch. Ashi, GUARD.” Ashi immediately stopped playing and scanned the area intently. Not seeing anything, he herded the children together into a circle where he guarded them as he continued scanned the surrounding area, including watching the sky.
“I have seen him take on a wombear. It looks like a cross between a small brown bear and a wombat from Earth. The wombear was twice his size, but he herded it away like he was herding sheep. What a sight to see! The wombear could have killed him, but it seemed to want to get away from a more dangerous animal.”
“Well,” said Lu-zan, “I feel better knowing he’ll be around.”
“My wife and I have always enjoyed camping. It’s an incredibly beautiful planet. We’re lucky our kids also love to camp. As long as the kids don’t see Dr. Michaels and Jon, they should be safe while we’re gone. I thought we would go to the Emil National Forest on the plateau above the falls. It’s close to the prison, but not too close. The family has often gone there. It shouldn’t seem out of place to show it to you, and it has a great fishing hole. It surprised me to see you were alone. I was expecting someone named Matt to come, too.”
“Matt needs to oversee the main attack area. We lost a lot of good people, so Matt is there. Do you have a map of the area?”
Phillip activated his three-dimensional map to bring up the area. He handed out drinks to all while Lu-zan studied the map.
While Ashi kept the children occupied, Phillip, Mari, and Luzan talked about the plan.
“We need to consider possibilities in case Jon is still in a cocoon or cannot walk. He will probably need help. Do we have an antigravity disc with us?” Lu-zan asked.
“Yes, we do,” Phillip informed him.
Mari fixed them a meal fit for a king, with fresh fruit from their orchard and vegetables from their garden. Ashi whined and made everyone give him a piece. Phillip stated that he earns it because he’s still a growing boy. Lu-zan eyed some of the unfamiliar fruit askance, but Mari laughed and showed him how to eat it. His delighted look of pleased surprise made everyone laugh.
“Can we pack some of these, too?” Lu-zan asked longingly.
“I’m sure we can squeeze a few into the pack,” Mari assured him with a smile.
Phillip and Mari divided tasks and quickly gathered camping equipment, clothes, and food.
The next morning, as they were packing the air car, an Air Patrol car came by and stopped. Lu-zan tensed up, but Phillip signaled to let him handle it.
“Phillip,” the patrolman called from the air car.
“Stone, what brings you here?” Phillip asked, as he walked out of the house.
From his vantage point by the window, Lu-zan noticed that Ashi was jumping around with his tail wagging. Phillip greeted his friend as he landed the patrol air car.
“The warden is in an uproar because a prisoner escaped. Have you seen anyone who doesn’t belong around here? Anything suspicious?” He reached up to pat Ashi’s head.
Lu-zan came out of the house carrying some blankets, and the patrolman eyed him suspiciously.
“Stone, meet Lu-zan, who is joining us on a camping trip. We’re going to show him some of our beautiful scenery. Been telling him for years to come, and he finally made it.”
“Do you have a description?” Lu-zan asked, as he piled the blankets on the bedding pile.
“That’s the strange thing. We don’t know exactly what he looks like except he is very tall. He escaped and may be with someone who works at the prison. Phillip, I’m sorry, but orders are orders. You work at the prison, but this gentleman doesn’t fit the description.”
“That’s okay, man. You’re just doing your job. Just to let you know, in case you’re asked, we plan to show my friend the Emil National Forest.”
Stone smiled. “You will love it up there. It’s so beautiful. I appreciate the update. See you later, and have a pleasant stay.” He shook everyone’s hands again and petted Ashi before he got into his patrol car.
The family and Lu-zan finished packing the air car, and after taking off, headed in the opposite direction, toward the forest. Phillip flew in a spiral up to the plateau. Phillip said, “He is a good man.”
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Ashi kept sticking his head out of the window, with his tongue hanging out, making the family laugh. Lu-zan looked at the majestic scenery and the beautiful falls in the distance. Towering above the falls was the prison, with a dark and brooding presence. It sat like a monstrous toad among the beautiful trees and hills. He shuddered, thinking of Jon in that place. He turned to Phillip to further discuss ideas to transport Jon and Dr. Michaels, but with the children staring at them from their seats, he changed his mind.
Phillip landed the air car in a beautiful clearing with a small stream. The excited kids were jumping up and down.
“All right, everyone, grab a pack and disembark.” Phillip matched his actions to his words and was the first one off. Mari turned to help with the packs and supplies she had packed. Ashi barked in excitement and bounced around everyone.
“Hey, Lu-zan, come help me set up the tents. Come on, kids, where do you want your tent?” Phillip yelled to the kids.
Mari laughed at him. “You don’t need any help. Those tents set themselves up. Let Ashi help you.”
“Ha ha.” Phillip turned and grinned.
It wasn’t long before the tents were up, and Mari was fixing lunch for everyone. Lu-zan kept an eager eye on her unpacking. Mari hid a smile as she pulled out the fruit that he liked so well.
“Wow, this is great,” Lu-zan exclaimed, as he sat down to eat. The kids and Ashi came running, laughing that Lu-zan was going to eat all the food. Lu-zan mock-grabbed at them, setting them off again on a giggling fit, and Ashi barked, wanting to be grabbed at, too.
