Prison Planet (THE RIM CONFEDERACY Book 3) (12 page)

They all smiled at their leader and a couple even tapped on the table to show their support.

“Majesty,” General Shihah said, “this was a perfect answer to our issues with the Guild, and their sanctions help as you said they would. Ably done, Majesty,” he said and gave a quick salute.

Nusayr said not a word but smiled and nodded.

“We now have two of the four planks of our plan in effect ... but from here, the time line speeds up as the realm will quickly learn that we are no longer exporting food to them. Quicker than perhaps we’ve planned,” he said as he turned to his Parliamentarian Whip. “Muhibb, are all the players in line for the bill next week?”

“Majesty, we are good to go, with all the parties in sync, and when we make our move, they will follow,” he said.

As the party Whip, Nusayr knew Muhibb controlled the Parliamentary daily voting dockets, and the bill that much of their future depended upon would be coming up for a vote next week. It had been only an addendum to another larger bill for almost a full year, but it was ready now to be sprung out on its own. It would be the vehicle Nusayr would use to claim Olbia.

For us,
he thought.
Olbia needed to be free, to break away from the Caliphate. Free ...

#

“Captain Terrance reporting for your Power Plant tour, Captain ... Scott, right?” the Penitentiary guard said as she came to attention at the bottom of the landing ramp of the
Marwick
.

“Aye, Captain, it’s Scott, but let’s not stand on protocol, shall we?” Tanner said, his head thick from last night’s big night out. By the time they’d gotten back to the ship, it had been late, and sleep had been rough as he’d tossed and turned for most of the last few hours. And already he wanted a drink. He knew just a little “hair of the dog” would help, but he sacrificed that help and tried to handle it on his own. This time, he thought, is the last time ...

“Affirmative, Sir. May I ask if this is it?” she said, looking at Tanner and his Adept officer, Bram Sander.

“Again, aye, Captain, that’s the size of the tour group today. Hopefully we can also get through same in a short amount of time too?” Tanner asked, and as they walked off, the guard nodded to him.

“Aye, Captain, will take only an hour or so,” she said as they passed through the landing port gate and once again under the barrier boom that was hoisted as they approached.

Tanner nodded at the Provost Guard and wondered if the one that had been on duty last night had any feedback from allowing the
Marwick
group to exit the port. As they walked toward the pod that appeared to be waiting for them, Bram nudged Tanner and said, “Hey, a red pod—that’s for us, right, Captain?” he asked the guard.

“Affirmative, Lieutenant. Red pods only for your use—as you, well, as all of us involved in the care and administration of the convicts use—so yup, that red one is ours. Hope that’s okay, Captain?” she finished off as she moved to the side to allow him to enter the pod first.

“Fine with us, Captain,” Tanner said.

He moved up to the front of the pod seating and sat on one side with his lieutenant sitting on the seat opposite his. The guard moved past them both and sat in the front piloting seat and made sure that they were all good to go. Powering up the pod, she spun the wheel to move off into the traffic on the street and drove capably to the center of town, traffic being fairly light this early in the morning.

At the major corner where the low-security jail met the EL space elevator, she spun the wheel to the right, and they moved through the rest of the city of Andros toward the bridge. As the road rose and became an elevated throughway and then turned into the bridge, Tanner could see much more of the city. It stretched out for what looked like almost a mile toward the huge farms and the Rasp River in the distance. Most of the housing looked like they were well looked after, even though the sizes were both small and large. He didn’t see a single large apartment tower at all, so it looked like the city was all a maximum of only two- to three-story houses and he liked that. This made for better neighborhoods, which made for better citizens too, and Tanner knew both to be true. As the pod now climbed up to become the bridge, he also noted that the roadway turned at the edge of the mainland as no vehicles were allowed on Max Island, other than pods themselves.

Smart too, he thought. There was no way for any convict to leave the security of the island via a car, truck, or van. Only pods allowed and they were very securely controlled via their color and guards who checked them all. He nodded to the guard who caught his eye in the rear view pilot’s mirror and asked her a question.

“Captain, has there ever been a successful escape of a convict— from either Max Island or the prison farm behind us? Ever?”

Although he knew the answer, he wanted to hear what she had to say.

“No, Captain, never. Not in ,like, 100 years. Oh sure, there have been attempts made, but not a single convict ever got up the EL or snuck on a ship at the landing port, Sir. Not a one. And scuttlebutt is that the ‘powers that be’ are planning a big 100th Anniversary of No Escapes in a few months too,” she said, glancing at him in the mirror.

He nodded to her and smiled.

“Guess it’s a part of being a convict, the attempts, I mean, but good to know that it’s never been successful, Captain. Well done!” he said and smiled back.

“Um,” Bram said, “those ‘powers that be’ would be the Council, do I have that correct, Captain?”

Both answered in unison with “affirmative” and then they all laughed loudly.

They passed over the crest in the bridge that was there to allow bigger ships to pass under easily and saw Max Island just ahead. The bridge met the two-mile-wide island at about the middle with the major part of the prison being on the right-hand side. There were six domed and multi-domed buildings behind the fenced area, further surrounded by high walls. Each, of course, held convict cells, their own kitchens, infirmaries, gyms, and the large walking yards where much convict time was spent.

General administration was located in the big domed building outside the prison walls, but still behind the fenced area. From where they were on the downward slope to the bridge, they could also see a wide beach of sorts with odd rocks on the sand, some cliff areas but no docks or mooring at all on the left-hand side of the island. The single huge dock was under the bridge and that’s where any visiting boats would moor.

“The big plant right beside the administration building would be ...” Tanner said as he leaned forward to see ahead.

“EL Pod Plant where they get made. It’s behind the fence, but, of course, still open for the convict labor force. Look way over left ... you see anyone there near the coast?”

“Yes, yes, I do. Are those convicts? Are they escaping?” Bram interrupted loudly.

“Not in the least, Lieutenant. Many of the convicts have full ‘island passes’ which they earn, and that gives them the ability to go anywhere on the island, including swimming on that beach there too. Know why that’s not a problem?” she said almost smugly.

“Because,” Tanner said, “the waters around the island are always patrolled by your DenKoss security forces—do I have that right?”

“Affirmative, Captain. It’s about three miles back to Andros, and even if they tried to swim to that point, see there,” she said as she tried to point out the port side, “past those blue buoys and that barge—that’s the mouth of the Rasp River, and yes, the DenKoss are there too. No way for anyone to swim to freedom ... those DenKoss are so dang much faster than any other RIM race that no one would ever get free that way. Oh, and the blue buoys are ‘stay-away’ buoys as they mark the water cages for the few DenKoss convicts we also hold. Again, totally controlled by the DenKoss security forces too.”

“And the Power Plant would be located in the remains of that volcanic cone at the back end of the island, correct?” Tanner said.

Even though miles away, it was still the major geographical feature on the relatively flat island.

“Affirmative, Captain. We’ll offload at the EL Pod Plant and then take secondary transport out to see the setup in just a few minutes,” she said.

She capably swung the pod off the bridge at the exit point and swept it to port to bring it under a large canopied outbuilding. They hopped off the pod once it came to a stop.

“Want to take a quick look-see inside the Pod Plant while you’re here, Captain?” she asked.

Without waiting for his answer, she moved to the near doorway and went in ahead of the two Navy men.

Following her, Tanner held the door for Bram, and they were suddenly in a hot noisy environment that was chock full of men ... convicts, it appeared, working on everything from stacking parts into carousels to sweeping the floor and pushing carts all within the lanes painted on the floor. The three of them stood to watch, staying behind the red line on the floor, but still able to see the huge automated stamping machines as they slammed out new formed parts every single minute.

“No dress code?” Tanner asked as he noted the laborers were dressed in just about all kinds and types of clothes.

“Only Penitentiary Guards, maintenance in orange, Provost Guards and administrative officers wear uniforms, Sir. Like mine for instance,” she said, “but yes, the convicts can wear anything they wish.”

A man in an orange jumpsuit strode by and then stopped cold when he saw her.

“Captain Terrance, nice to see you again,” he said and held out his hand

“Ahh,” she said and shook his hand. “Yes, Foreman Abrahamson ... yes, nice to see you too. This is the foreman—some say of the best repair crew for our power plant we have, and my husband works as his lead hand on that crew. May I present our new ranking Navy captain, Captain Scott, and one of his lieutenants, Lieutenant Sander. Gentlemen, Jerry Abrahamson.”

They all shook hands and made small talk for a moment. The foreman gave his leave, and they were left alone. She nodded to them and then moved up the red line. They must have walked for at least a hundred meters as they left the stamping area and entered a separate area that looked like it was the beginning of the fabrication area where all those parts were put together to make pods. That much bare steel and aluminum made their eyes sting as the bright interior flood lights shone on the newly minted parts.

“Umm ... color?” Bram said to their chaperone.

“All pods are exactly the same—well, model for model, that is, and are not painted until they’re completed, tested, and ready for shipment, over in the paint shop—would you—“

“Not at all, Captain.” Tanner said. “The power plant awaits.”

Figuring this tour shouldn’t take all day, he moved back toward where they had just come from.

“Aye, Captain, let’s get back outside and into the van, and I can have you out to the power plant in less than five minutes!”

Less than five minutes later, they got off the van and mounted the long staircase that climbed the side of the power plant main building, which sat up on one of the berms running up the side of the volcanic cone and then down inside the dormant volcano. Visiting with the power plant superintendent took only a few minutes, as did the walk out of the office area to look down at the huge dynamo area with its huge turbines, giant insulated cables, and power grids.

It was more than Tanner could really comprehend, as he knew little about this kind of power generation; however, he did understand the use of steam or the superheated water to turn the turbine generators to make electricity. He wondered what the volume of the output would be but didn’t want to ask as that answer would probably entail more time. All he wanted now was to end this and get back to his bunk on the
Marwick
.

They nodded. They looked down and walked the catwalk for a couple of hundred meters and then he looked at their chaperone.

“Captain, we need to call it on this tour. Can you arrange to get us taken back to the
Marwick
, as I find myself needing to make a report back to Juno?” he lied.

Their tour guide nodded and hustled them out and back through the offices to the staircase down to the prison van. In less than half an hour, they were back onboard the
Marwick
.

Sitting on the edge of his bunk, he knew there was a bottle—a full bottle—of Scotch still in his head, and he thought about standing up to go and get it. But he didn’t, and instead he leaned back, stared up at his quarter’s ceiling and walls, and
wondered what he had to do to forget about that bottle.

#

“Andre, where’d you load up the Galacians?” Countess Tibah said, as she rummaged through the large bins in the back of the van.

Arriving early at the Farmers Market was something she insisted upon and that was also accompanied by her micro-managing the style and layouts of their vegetable stall displays too.

“In with the butternuts,” Andre replied as he hoisted up another big carton of Muscat squashes and made his way forward toward the racks that lay at the front of their stall. He was able to get that carton to its spot and then began removing the small gourds. He placed them in rows to pyramid the display for the shoppers to look over before they bought their choices. Beside those dark green gourds, he’d already placed the tomatillos and winter melons in divided shelves, and once the Muscats were placed, he knew it was almost time to get out their fancies.

“Looking good, Andre,” Tibah said as she manhandled a bushel basket full of gold rush pumpkins.

She wiped her brow as she set it beside others already in place. Around them, the rest of the setup team of five of their group were helping unload the van and setting up for today’s Farmers Market. More than 200 other farmers were setting up as well, and the whole area was a mass of empty cartons, baskets, and sacks that needed to be hidden away back in the van for take-down at the end of the day.

Moving back to the van, Tibah hoisted up only three courgettes as they were all at least four feet long with a girth that was at least five inches across. Growing nicely, she was happy that this special sub-set of the cucurtbit vegetable would be an easy seller too. If people only knew, she thought, grinned to herself and, had to bury her face behind the grouping of huge whitish stalks in her hands. She placed them with a couple of others on the side table near the front left edge of the stall and moved back to the van.