Rebel faction, p.1
Rebel Faction, page 1
part #5 of Arena Series
REBEL FACTION
BOOK 5 IN THE ARENA SERIES
DANIEL YOUNG
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Also by Daniel Young
CHAPTER 1
Lilri soldiers hurled Captain Joel Richmond through a doorway and sent him sprawling across a hard stone floor.
They threw the rest of his friends in, too. They all tumbled and rolled flat on their backs and stomachs in the Necrodrome holding cell.
Richmond had a split second to see where he was before the Lilri stormed into the room, spread out, and then one of them kicked him across the face. He slammed down on his back and seven Lilri surrounded him, kicking him hard all over his head and body.
Another twenty prisoners stood around the room's exterior walls watching the beating. Richmond heard thumps and his friends grunting and yelping not far away.
The watching prisoners lined the walls of the room--all but one. None of the prisoners went near the wall adjoining the hangar.
The escaped fugitives lay right outside the Necrodrome itself. These prisoners would go out into the Necrodrome in a few minutes.
That was what this was about. The Vasyke were broadcasting this beating all over the planet. Everyone else on Narillia was watching Richmond and his friends being brought low after their escape.
A brutal crack hit him in the ribs, and then one of the soldiers delivered another bone-crushing kick to the side of Richmond's head. He flopped, tasted blood in his mouth, and drifted out of consciousness.
He must have only blacked out for a few seconds. When he floated back to semi-awareness, the Lilri were still in the room, but they weren't beating anyone anymore.
They stood over the collapsed prisoners, glaring down at them. Then the Lilri walked out, slammed the door, and left a heavy silence hanging over the room. The surrounding prisoners stood back and stared at Richmond and his friends. No one moved or breathed--not among the standing prisoners, at least.
Richmond heard coughing and groaning. He also heard Zuna whimpering in pain. The sound forced him to drag himself off the ground.
He winced when he pushed up onto his hands and knees. Bruises and broken bones stabbed him all over his body. His head felt broken. Was his skull fractured? He needed medical attention badly.
He would have crawled over to Zuna first, but she fell on the other side of the room. Corporal Redmond Hayes and Sergeant Jasper Leatherwood lay nearer.
Richmond crawled over to Leatherwood. "Sergeant..."
Leatherwood coughed and tried to sit up before he collapsed retching on the floor. He eventually rolled onto his knees. He huddled there clutching his stomach and staring around him out of big, puffy, purple eyes. Bruises covered his head and face.
Richmond knew he didn't look much better.
Leatherwood shook all over. "We're back here," he husked. "We're back here..."
Richmond crawled over to Hayes, rested his hand on his shoulder, and bent low to look into Hayes' battered features.
"Corporal!" Richmond murmured. "Talk to me."
"Leave me alone!" Hayes grumbled.
"The bout is about to start. You'll need to stand up, get to your ship, and fly it in a minute."
"Then let me lie here until then," Hayes snapped. "Just leave me the hell alone."
Richmond couldn't resent Hayes letting protocol drop now of all times. He had earned that, at least for a few seconds.
Richmond checked on the others. Aemon's thick exoskeleton seemed to have protected him the best of the whole party. He'd suffered the least damage, but he still didn't get off completely unharmed.
Fadek didn't look too bad, either. Niur had suffered extensive bruises and broken bones, but at least he looked conscious enough to fly a ship once that wall opened.
Richmond went over to Zuna last. He hated to leave her lying there suffering. He just dreaded what he would find when he got there.
She didn't disappoint him. She looked as bad now as Sonoko had looked when the Lilri had brought him and Zuna back from their first escape. She didn't look like she would be able to lift her bloody, crushed head off the floor when the time came. Richmond hardly dared to touch the rest of her to find out how bad her injuries were.
"Listen to me, Zuna," he murmured under his breath. "As soon as that wall opens, I'll help you get to your big engine ship. We'll defend you while you give yourself medical treatment the way Dalif did. Do you understand? Can you hear me, Zuna? You just have to fly the ship away from the other prisoners. I'll handle the rest--but I can't give you medical treatment. You have to do that yourself. Do you understand?"
She whimpered again when she nodded. "I can't go back, Joel!" she sobbed. "I can't go back!"
"You don't have to go back, angel." He lowered his voice. "You don't have to go back. I swear it. We're going to get out of here. Do you remember what Datun told us in that cave? We won't stay here. You have my solemn word. You just have to get through this bout. Just one bout. Then you'll be free. Please don't give up on me, Zuna. I need you too much."
He barely got the words out before the wall slammed open.
The other prisoners stood around staring at Richmond's party right up until that moment. Then they turned away to listen to the briefing.
The whole sequence played out exactly the same way. Why did Richmond think anything would change?
He didn't see how the Vasyke had repaired the Necrodrome so quickly after the damage his alliance inflicted on the place last time, but anything was possible. The Vasyke wouldn't be running the Necrodrome at all if they didn't reestablish the energy field blocking the skies. They also wouldn't have brought Richmond and his friends back here if they hadn't reestablished the energy field.
That would be the very first thing Richmond would have tried. The Vasyke weren't stupid enough to leave the energy field down even for a second.
Now everyone in all of Narillian society knew about Richmond and all the Necrodrome's vulnerabilities. The Vasyke would have corrected all of them by now.
None of that mattered, because the friends had a way out of here. Richmond sent up a silent prayer of thanks to Datun for that one blessed salvation. The man who'd told Datun the secret of the tunnels really must have been some kind of saint.
Narillia needed someone like that again--someone who stayed inside the Necrodrome to tell people how to get out of it.
Richmond wouldn't be that man. He didn't have the heart to suggest that anyone else volunteer for the job, either. He didn't blame anyone who chose to stay out and stay free.
Aemon got to his feet. Leatherwood stayed kneeling where he was, but at least he was conscious and realized where he was and what was about to happen.
Hayes stayed lying down on his stomach and gasping through the whole briefing. He didn't get up. Richmond suffered a stab of guilt that he wasn't about to help Hayes get to some medical treatment.
But he owed Zuna more right now. She'd come through for the allies too many times. Now it was her turn.
Richmond would have given just about anything to take her on board her ship and treat her injuries himself, but he couldn't do that--not without the Lilri shooting both of them. The Vasyke would be too ecstatic about getting Richmond's people back inside the Necrodrome, but the allies still had to follow the rules.
They had to play along just until the end of the bout. Then they could all get the hell out of here through the tunnels.
The announcer left the hangar with his Lilri bodyguard. The guard screen came down.
Zuna started sobbing in high-pitched m whines when Richmond picked her up in his arms. She weighed almost nothing.
The prisoners swarmed the hangar. Fadek helped Hayes stand up, but he could walk just fine. He really did just want to lie still and be left alone for a few minutes.
Some other prisoners tried to go for Zuna's big engine ship. They backed off when Richmond glared at them. He probably would have killed someone if they tried to stop him from taking Zuna there.
He stopped at the entrance hatch and laid her on the floor. "You have to go on board, Zuna," he told her. "You have to get yourself airborne. That's all you have to do. I'll defend you while you give yourself medical treatment. You just have to get yourself on board and into the air. Can you do that?"
She lay slumped and whimpering in front of him. "Joel, I can't do this...I can't do this."
"You have to do it, sweetheart." He found himself touching her battered face. A lump tightened in his throat. "You have to...because I can't do this without you. Come on. Get on board."
He didn't have any more time to waste. Lilri soldiers entered the holding cell behind him. They'd invade the hangar any second now and start threatening people.
Richmond couldn't spend any more time on Zuna. He walked away and headed for his upright ship.
If any other prisoners had planned to take that ship, they left it alone now that he was here. He got into the cockpit and immediately trained his scanners on Zuna.
She dragged herself on board and then one painstaking inch at a time to the cockpit. A t least she was doing it.
He didn't let himself read her vital signs. The rest of the party got aboard just fine, too. Hayes, Leatherwood, Aemon, and Fadek launched first. Niur took longer.
Richmond sailed out into the arena. The other prisoners left his group alone while the prisoners battled each other.
They avoided Richmond's party like the plague. The other prisoners kept adjusting their positions so they stayed all the way over there on the opposite side of the arena.
The prisoners did this even when Richmond's group flew somewhere. He and his men sailed around the course and took a position close to the maze.
The other prisoners moved their battles to stay on the opposite side of the arena. This brought them closer to the hangar. Zuna's big-engine behemoth stumbled out of the gate, but the other prisoners left her alone, too.
The ship wobbled. She couldn't fly in a straight line, but she made it around the first bend to join the friends.
Richmond, Aemon, and Fadek moved to the front. Niur drifted to the back and hovered next to Zuna's ship. Richmond didn't understand why until he saw some strange energy readings coming from Niur's craft.
As soon as the readings stabilized, Niur's vital signs changed back to normal. He must have given himself medical treatment, too.
Zuna took a long time to treat herself. Richmond really hoped she didn't pass out over there before she finished.
She didn't. Her vitals kept changing too, and then they stabilized.
Richmond's controls even read her brainwave patterns. They came back into line and returned to normal, thank God.
"Lucky bastards," Hayes grumbled from his own ship. "It must be nice."
"We'll take care of you tonight," Richmond told him. "Just get through the bout. Come on. Let's at least keep up appearances while we're here."
Richmond used the time to read the rest of the Necrodrome. The Vasyke had changed the course layout again.
He watched a few different prisoner ships flying and fighting inside the maze. He read the route and transmitted it to his people--as if they would need this information after tonight.
He waited until Zuna and Niur returned to their cockpits. "Thank you, Joel," Zuna murmured through the communications system.
"Forget it. We're all just happy you're okay. Let's fly, people."
Richmond pulled his ship into the maze. He took his time winding his way through it and out the other side. The other prisoners responded by flying around the course too, now that Richmond's people were doing it. They still didn't attack, not even when they flew close enough to come within weapons range.
A tiny bubble of sacred protection surrounded the friends. They still had to avoid the rotary guns, but the allies already knew how to handle those.
The bout didn't drag on, nor did it streak past in a blur the way Richmond remembered. He found himself watching all of it from a distance. Not actually getting shot at by anyone made the difference--or maybe he had just been in the Necrodrome one too many times.
More likely, his time outside it had given him the perspective he needed. He didn't have to stay here. He wasn't a prisoner here. He could leave whenever he wanted to.
He went through the motions of flying around the course, shooting at rotary guns, dodging obstacles, and swerving around other battles. The prisoners didn't hesitate to fight each other, but something in their movements didn't look right--almost as if they were going through the motions, too.
He found out why when the bout ended. The siren went off and his ship shut down.
The allies had been flying in a close bunch through the whole bout. They landed together and rejoined as soon as they disembarked.
Niur and Zuna actually looked perfectly normal now. They both looked much healthier than Hayes.
Zuna went over to him and laid her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Corporal. You can take my ship tomorrow night."
"He won't have to, because we won't be here tomorrow night," Leatherwood pointed out.
"We'll find some medical treatment first thing as soon as we get out of here," Richmond explained. "Now come on. We can't talk about that here."
The friends allowed the Lilri to take them back through the hangar to the holding cell. Only fifteen prisoners had made it back from the first bout.
The guard screen reestablished, and the wall closed to confine all the prisoners inside. The Lilri left the allies alone with the other prisoners as usual.
Richmond turned to Hayes to find out how bad Hayes' injuries really were, but right then, four huge Krion males crossed the room to confront him.
"We want to join your alliance, Captain," one of them told him.
Richmond opened his mouth to answer--and stopped himself. He had to take a second to think about it before he decided what to say. He couldn't outright tell these men that the party had a way to escape from here. That would give it all away.
Why shouldn't he, though? Why shouldn't he announce the secret to the whole damn planet?
The Vasyke wouldn't be able to run the Necrodrome at all if every single prisoner had a way to get out. The whole institution would come to a grinding halt.
Richmond didn't get a chance to say anything before the Lilri came back--much sooner this time. They didn't give leave extra time for the prisoners to interact the way they usually did.
Of course the Vasyke must have been watching the allies all this time. Richmond wouldn't be able to recruit allies at all if he didn't spend time with them in the holding cell before and after bouts.
He would have thought the Vasyke would have corrected that problem a long time ago, but maybe they either didn't think of it or didn't have any other way to release all the prisoners into the area at the same time.
The prisoners had to enter the hangar together. Prisoner fights and even murders were part of the spectacle. The Vasyke wouldn't want to change that.
Richmond took advantage of the moment to avoid telling the Krion anything. They gave him significant scowling looks while the Lilri escorted everyone out of the room.
CHAPTER 2
Richmond didn't talk to his friends before the Lilri separated them. He cooperated with everything until they locked him in his cell, and stayed upright just until his tray of food came. Then he allowed himself to sink onto his bed, shut his eyes, and groan when he felt all the bruises, broken bones, and tissue damage in his head and body.
How long should he wait before he tried to get into the tunnels? The sounds of Lilri moving around in the corridors usually changed as the night wore on. He waited until they rotated their guard shifts. The noise faded, but it never went away completely.
The sound of movement from other prisoner cells also disappeared as more people went to sleep. Every night passed the same way.
He ate his cake first this time. Then he stashed the balls in his pockets for later. He left the tangle of fibers behind. He waited a lot longer than he probably needed to; he just didn't want to risk getting caught.
Richmond probably should have taken extra time to find the marked brick. He didn't even look for it until much later. By that time, the lamp had switched off so he couldn't see it.
It took him a long time to find it. He had to trace each brick in the room with his fingertips until he found the crooked line pattern Datun had told him about.
The brick occupied a spot in the corner right next to the floor. Richmond had to kneel to press on it.
The hidden door latch opened a wall section farther away from him. He didn't understand the mechanism, and he didn't try to.
He cast one last backward glance toward his cell door. The Lilri were out there. They'd find him gone tomorrow night when they came to get him.
He didn't have as much time as he thought. He passed through the door and found himself in a dim tunnel. He pushed the wall section shut and prayed he'd closed it well enough to conceal its existence.
Whoever had built these tunnels had drilled long light tubes running from the surface down into the tunnels themselves. The faint glow of the cloudy Narillian sky penetrated the tunnels and offered just enough light to see.
Richmond didn't see where he should go. A vast labyrinth of other tunnels ran this way and that in all directions, connecting to every single cell under the Palace of Sevao, the way Datun had said.
