Peter wanted to believe Bymen was lying to him, but he knew from the look on his face that Bymen was telling the truth. For the first time since they had met, Peter began to show his anger. He wanted to smash Bymen's face in, but he knew such an attempt would be futile.
Peter took a deep breath and tried to relax.
"What do you want me to do?" he conceded.
"We want you and Gammeid to surrender to us unconditionally," Bymen began. "If you don't, Detrina will die. You can talk it over with Gammeid if you like, but don't alert security or M.W.G.D. We will be monitoring your communications. You have three hours to make your decision. If we don't hear from you by then, we'll start killing Detrina, slowly and painfully."
"You've already tried to poison Gammeid and me," attacked Peter. "What guarantee do we have that you won't kill her anyway if we surrender to you."
"The only reason we tried to kill you was because you were protecting Gammeid," continued Bymen. "and the only reason we want to kill Bymen is because he has some knowledge we don't want falling into the wrong hands. Once we have you in out custody, you will no longer be a serious threat to us. We might take you to the Ruler for interrogation. It all depends on how well you cooperate."
"If you take us to the Ruler, he will surely kill us," protested Peter.
"And if you don't surrender to us, we will kill Detrina," Hymen reminded him. "The choice is yours. Remember, you have only three hours."
Bymen disappeared before Peter could ask anything else. Peter thought briefly about contacting security, but decided against it. It was too risky. Then, he thought about telling his friends from M.W.G.D. It was the only option he could think of that might save Detrina. Hopefully, Eglo and Hymen didn't know they were at the olympics. After checking himself for bugs, he ran over to them with all the energy he had left.
TIME : 2:05 P.M. (14:05)
PLACE : A two room cell
As soon as Detrina regained consciousness, she stated looking at her new surroundings. It was obvious she was in some type of cell, but she didn't know where she was or even if she was still on Star Colony #8. Slowly, she rose to her feet. Her head was still throbbing from where Eglo had hit her. Doing her best to remain standing, she started examining what was around her. For a cell, it was fairly comfortable. It looked like a small apartment with a bed in the corner and next to it a small refrigerator with enough food to last her several days. Opposite the bed was a door leading to a fully equipped bathroom. What was missing was a door to the outside. She didn't even know where to look for one.
Detrina sat on the bed and pondered what to do next. Clearly they planned to keep her for at least several days and, judging from the amount of food they had given her, they weren't planning on visiting her any time in the near future. All she needed to do was find a way to escape.
After searching the walls, she eventually found a hidden door with no handle. She tried her best to pry it open, but it wouldn't budge. Next, she tried to smash the door open, but that didn't work any better.
"Somebody let me out of here!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
No one responded. She collapsed on the bed exhausted from her efforts.
TIME : 2:05 P.M.
PLACE : The Terni Training Facility
As soon as Peter saw the others, he told them what had happened.
"Eglo and Hymen must have a superior officer," declared Shawn. "Someone who has studied the security of this place for a long time."
"One of the colonists?" suggested Lisa.
"Possibly," agreed Shawn. "Or at least someone who has been here for a while."
"What are you going to do?" inquired Linda.
"If they wanted only me, I'd surrender to them," Peter replied. "but I can't ask Gammeid to make that kind of sacrifice."
"Why not?" wondered Gammeid.
"Our job was to protect you," explained Peter. "If you surrender to them our efforts will have been in vein."
"Did they say where you were to meet them?" encouraged Shawn.
"No," answered Peter. "but they did say they would be monitoring me. I took a gamble coming to you."
"I want you to surrender to them alone," Shawn commanded.
"What good would that do?" stammered Peter.
"I will put a beeper on you," insisted Shawn. "Hopefully, they will take you to the same place they took Detrina. Hank, Linda, and Lisa will rescue you at the first possible opportunity. I will keep an eye on Gammeid to make sure nothing happens to him."
Peter reluctantly agreed. Shawn handed him one of the many beepers he kept with him. After examining the remarkably small beeper, Peter attacked it to his beeper and started wandering around the training grounds not even knowing what to look for.
TIME : 3:15 P.M. (15:15)
PLACE : 1500 meters north of Star Colony #8 Prison
After looking all over the training grounds and finding no sign of either Eglo or Bymen, Peter decided to check out the prison they had escaped from. Suddenly Eglo jumped out in front of him. Peter quickly turned around and saw that Bymen was one step ahead of him. The two of them came closer until they were only one step away from him on either side.
"Why did you come alone?" questioned Eglo.
"I couldn't convince Gammeid to come," Peter told him.
"No matter," reasoned Eglo. "Without the two of you protecting him, Gammeid should be an easy target. We'll deal with you and your friend later."
Peter was forced into some sort of sack so he couldn't see where he was going. They took turns carrying him for about half an hour and then unceremoniously threw him on a small, rather hard bed.
A few seconds later, someone started opening the sack. He looked up and saw Detrina staring down at him.
"Peter!" she cried. "What have they done to you?"
"Other than throwing me in that sack, not much," Peter mumbled. "How about you?"
"I was tricked by Phybliana," she said. "The Chief of Security is actually a double agent for the Ruler."
"No wonder Eglo and Bymen escaped so easily," Peter remarked. "They not only had inside help, they had someone calling the shots."
"Did you tell security I was missing?" asked Detrina.
Peter told her about Bymen and then whispered that there was a beeper attached to him. Detrina's face lit up.
"Try to act normal," warned Peter barely audible. "The room might be bugged."
The two of them began searching the room for bugs trying to act casual about it. Detrina found one under the bed and Peter found one inside the refrigerator. They destroyed them immediately.
"Do you think they're any more of them?" Detrina managed to murmur.
"Yes," sighed Peter. "We can't get to the ceiling. I'm sure they have a camera somewhere. They didn't seem to worried when we destroyed their first two bugs."
"The bathroom!" exclaimed Detrina. The two of them began rummaging through everything they could find without success.
"Stand back!" yelled Peter.
Peter took a bottle of shampoo and hurled it into the mirror as hard as he could. The mirror shattered revealing some computer equipment behind it.
"It was a one way mirror," declared Peter. "and the camera is on the other side. What made you think of looking in here?"
"The main room contained only a bed and some food, but the bathroom was fully equipped."
"We've found the camera, but we still haven't destroyed it," Peter reminded her.
"We could shut the door," suggested Detrina.
"It probably uses some sort of X-ray device," argued Peter.
"I was just trying to be funny," snapped Detrina.
"I'm sorry," sighed Peter. "We can't let things get to us. The refrigerator!"
"What?" Detrina inquired.
"We can smash the camera with the refrigerator!" boasted Peter.
"Won't that be dangerous," cautioned Detrina.
"Yes," agreed Peter. "but not as dangerous as having them watch everything we do."
Knowing they weren't going to eat the rood anyway, the two of them unplugged the refrigerator and slowly carried it into the bathroom. Peter removed what was left of the mirror until only the computer equipment remained.
"On the count of three," commanded Peter. "One.. .two. ..three!"
Peter and Detrina simultaneously lifted the computer over the sink and shoved it as hard as they could into the computer. Peter quickly covered his face from the shower of sparks that followed and hoped Detrina was smart enough to do the same. A few seconds later, it was over. Sparks continued to come from the computer, but nothing compared to what it had been doing.
"Are you O.K.?" asked Peter.
"I'm fine," wheezed Detrina. "I don't know what I would have done without you."
"You would have thought of something," smiled Peter. "You always do."
"Remember when I said I wanted to talk to you after the olympics," started Detrina.
"Yes," said Peter.
"I think I should ask you here and now," she continued. "I was wondering if-"
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud noise coming from the other side of the door with the handles. The door began to twist and shake eventually coming off its hinges completely. Hank and Linda entered the room.
"Am I ever glad to see you!" exclaimed Peter.
"Me too," muttered Detrina sounding like she didn't entirely mean it.
"We have to leave quickly!" warned Linda "They may be here at any moment."
"You mean we destroyed that computer for nothing?" complained Detrina.
"On the contrary," Peter assured her. "With it destroyed, they won't know we're escaping."
Peter took a quick look behind him to see what it was they were inside and discovered it to be a small, two passenger ship at the edge of the city. Considering the Galactic Olympics was less than a kilometer away, it was remarkably uncrowded. He guessed that Phybliana had closed the area off to the public. It was strange that no one was trying to keep them from escaping.
"What about Gammeid?" wondered Peter.
"He should be safe for the time being," Hank stated confidently. "Shawn is protecting him personally."
TIME : 3:30 P.M.
PLACE : A small track
Since it was too dangerous to practice outside, Gammeid decided to practice on the same track Peter had used. This time, the door was locked to make sure no one could enter or leave the room without them knowinq it.
Shawn did for Gammeid what Detrina did for Peter. He occasionally gave him water and commented on his progress. Peter's race was only the equivalent of 16 laps, but Gammeid had to run 150 laps to run the same distance as the marathon. Somehow he managed to keep an even pace running each lap in almost exactly the same time.
Gammeid has just completed his 35th lap when the door suddenly flew open. Gammeid quickly ran to Shawn for protection and Shawn made sure he was between him and his attackers. Eglo and Bymen slowly approached them.
"Another one, huh?" snarled Eglo. "We'll tear you apart with our bear hands."
Shawn looked at first at the door Eglo and Bymen had entered, then at the door behind Gammeid was a good long distance runner, but he didn't think he could beat Eglo and Bymen to the door.
"Stay where you are," ordered Shawn. "I'll hold them off."
Eglo and Bymen were surprised by Shawn's boldness. Bymen hesitated for a few seconds before Eglo urged him onward.
"You are very foolish," declared Eglo.
The two of them left Gammeid alone for the time being and advanced towards Shawn.
Shawn eyed the two of them carefully. They didn't know he was the leader of M.W.G.D. He thought that if he waited for the right moment, he could knock them down long enough for them to escape. If he had to fight them, he was unlikely to beat either one of them much less both of them. Shawn turned so Eglo and Bymen were on either side of him. He eyed the two of them cautiously. They were waiting for him to make the first move.
Gammeid slowly crept towards the door. Both of them turned slightly to see what he was doing. Shawn used the distraction to his advantage. He successfully tripped Bymen, but Eglo caught his foot in midair before it even came close to hitting him.
He twisted the foot slightly causing Shawn to wince in pain. Suddenly he yanked Shawn's foot over his head causing him to fall to the ground. Shawn tried to kick Eglo with his other foot, but Eglo caught that one too.
Looking towards the door, he saw Bymen block Gammeid's only chance for escape. Looking up, he saw Eglo laughing at his feeble attemps to stop him.
Copyright MCMXCV, MCMXCIX
