XXVIII - Escape

Kamon walked up to the front gate of Ingraham Memorial Temple Prison. Remore, the security guard Casio had spoken to earlier in the evening, was still on duty.

"Can I help you, Councilman?" Remore recognized the big man immediately.

"Yes," Kamon answered. "I'd like to visit the prisoner named Jasmine."

"Rather late, isn't it?" Remore was questioning the logic of the visit, just as she had with Casio.

"Reporters have been following me for two days now," Kamon answered truthfully. "I don't want to talk to them. Night is the only time I can move about in peace. Is this a problem?" His answer had been very plausible and calmly delivered.

"No problem, sir," Remore answered. "I'm just one to make conversation. My husband says I'm nosy. I don't mean to offend."

"That's quite alright," Kamon said. "It sounds to me like you do your job very thoroughly." He wanted this woman to feel at ease. A compliment might help.

"Thank you, sir," Remore accepted the praise. "Would you step inside please? I'll need a retinal scan. It's a requirement for anyone entering the prison."

Kamon nodded and stepped inside the guard's station. "I understand. I was here the other day."

"When was that?" Remore asked.

"Early yesterday." Kamon was able to reflect on his answer and blend it well into the conversation. "Seems like a long time ago now. There's a lot happening in this city. The past day-and-a-half seems more like a week."

"You're right in the thick of it, Councilman," Remore commented. "In this country and in Kefar. According to the papers, you're a genuine hero -- saving the life of First General Venon Miscus."

"I happened to be in the right place at the right time," Kamon responded. "Nothing more."

"Modest about the whole thing," Remore offered. "The papers said that, too."

Kamon positioned himself in front of the scanner. "Stand here, right?"

"Yes, sir."

A soft beam of light entered Kamon's eye.

"All done," Remore announced. "I'll call up to the front desk and have someone escort you through the yard to the Chambers Building."

"Thank you."

Remore picked up his walkie-talkie. "This is Lieutenant Remore. I have Councilman Kamon of Sparrow Hawk at the front gate. He needs to be escorted to the Chambers Building. Over!"

Remore waited for a reply.

"Councilman Kamon?! Over!" a voice squawked from the two-way radio.

"That's right," Remore answered. "I suggest you come right away. Over!"

"Confirming," Remore replied. "Over and out." He looked at Kamon. "Someone's coming, sir."

"Thank you. Sorry for the trouble."

"No trouble, Councilman. It's an honor to have you visiting us."

"I'll probably stay quite some time," Kamon said.

"Stay as long as you like, sir," Remore beamed.

"Thank you." It was going well thus far, Kamon thought.

A short time later, Kamon was walking through a basement hallway in the Chambers Building. Lieutenant Rowten walked beside him, their footsteps echoing in the barren hallway.

At Block Seven, Rowten stepped in front of the scanner, waited for the light to penetrate her eye, then punched in the necessary codes. The lock released and she pulled open the door. "There's a buzzer on the wall over there, Councilman," she explained while pointing. "When you're finished, push it, and I'll come for you."

"Thank you, lieutenant," Kamon said. He stepped inside.

Rowten closed the door behind him and tugged on it to check the lock. It was secure.

Kamon waited a moment while Rowten's footsteps receded into the distance. Soon, all was quiet. He peered into the gloom of Block Seven. "Jasmine?!" he spoke in a loud voice.

She emerged from the room in which Casio had visited with her only hours ago. "I am here, Kamon. It is good to see you."

Kamon's heart leaped in joy at the sight of her. It was good to be with her again.....but not under these circumstances. "I've come to get you out of here," Kamon announced.

"Yes," Jasmine acknowledged. "Casio was here earlier and indicated as much."

Kamon frowned. "He didn't tell me." Kamon considered this information. He could not immediately see how Casio's visit would interfere with his plans....but Casio should have said something! What had he been up to?!

"Do not blame Casio," Jasmine said. "He is only interested in your welfare. He is an exceptional person and a wonderful friend."

"He should have told me," Kamon replied, still a bit perturbed by the news. "No matter. My plan is to visit with you for a short time. Then I will ask the guard to come for me. There is a library in this building on the second floor. I'm going to ask to use it, to do some research. The guard may think this a bit odd, but I expect she will approve. After all, I am a councilman. I intend to stay in the library until the shift changes, just after midnight. I don't want any guards I've seen on the way in here wondering about me. Then I'll sneak back down here and get you out. One of may aides was able to break into the security system here. He gave me control of any lock in the building. There's an ancient access tunnel on this level. It runs underneath the prison and exits at the bottom of the hill. The fact that the entrance door has had a modern electronic lock installed on it indicates that the tunnel is still usable. If so, getting out of here will be very easy indeed."

"What if the tunnel has collapsed over the centuries?" Jasmine asked. "Then we would go nowhere."

"Why bother putting a modern lock on the entrance if it can't be used?" Kamon asked rhetorically. "No. It's there. It has to be."

"The lock may have been installed to simply seal it up," Jasmine suggested. "It may be dangerous or impassable."

"If they wanted to seal it up, they could have used brick and mortar," Kamon countered.

"Perhaps the tunnel has collapsed," Jasmine said, "but they wish to dig it out again someday. That would explain a lock rather than bricks."

"I'll think of something else if the tunnel is impassable!" Kamon was perturbed. He hadn't come to argue.

"Like what?"

"I don't know!" Kamon snapped. "Please don't do this to me! I stuck by you in Kefar! I never blocked your wishes! Don't stop me now!"

"I'm sorry, Kamon." Jasmine's voice was soothing. "I did not mean to upset you. I was simply pointing out the difficulties you might encounter. Suppose we do get out of here. What then? A search will be launched, a very intensive one. Where will you go? How will you elude it? And even if you do, you will be hunted for the rest of your life. Much can happen in a week, Kamon. The Delphi may change her mind about my sentence."

"You don't believe that!" Kamon charged. "You're putting me off, trying to get rid of me. Why?"

"I just don't want to see you get hurt," Jasmine answered.

"Nothing's going to happen to me," Kamon said. "I have a hovercraft rented. We'll fly out of the city to the Tysom Mountain Range in northern Sparrow Hawk. I can elude any search there. No one knows the terrain better than I do. Eventually we can cross the northern border. Venon Miscus has offered us both asylum in Kefar. He indicated that someone would be waiting to pick us up if we get out of the country."

"The Muhoj?"

"Yes," Kamon answered. "Miscus did not say so specifically, but it would appear that the Muhoj is more than myth. They'll be there when we cross the border."

"I can't go with you, Kamon," Jasmine stated bluntly.

Kamon was taken aback. Bewildered, he finally managed, "You have to."

"I can't," she insisted.

"They're going to execute you if you stay here," Kamon emphasized.

"I cannot go with you," Jasmine repeated.

Kamon was experiencing both frustration and anger. "This is not a time when I can allow you to give me incomplete answers, Jasmine. There can be no mysteries here, nothing left unrevealed. Unless you have a plan of escape of your own, I expect you to come with me."

"This is about peace, Kamon," she answered. "You have seen what it takes to build a peace and you must carry on for me. If we leave together, then you become an outlaw. I cannot permit that."

"This is the final lesson from the woman who preaches peace?!" Bitterness crept into Kamon's voice. "That evil triumphs over good?!"

"A few sacrifice so that many may live in peace," Jasmine replied. "It is a worthy undertaking."

"It is unacceptable to me!" Kamon retorted. "I refuse to accept an unjust act based on arithmetic! There is no noble purpose to be served by standing aside and watching you die!"

"We brought peace to the people of Kefar," Jasmine argued, "a peace which will benefit all the people on this planet. This peace will endure, because there are people who want it to succeed. Peace is good, Kamon, and peace has triumphed. Nothing the Delphi can do will change that."

"And the peacemaker dies as a result of her efforts?!" he scoffed. "That is justice?!"

"Sometimes, Kamon, we must accept sacrifices in order to achieve peace...and to ensure that the lesson is not forgotten."

"There is no lesson to be learned," Kamon answered, "except that if I stand idly by, I am not the man I thought I was! I have many shortcomings and there is much I have to learn in this life. You took me to Kefar and showed me what a skilled and determined negotiator could do in achieving peace. I was greatly impressed. But now you ask me to watch you die, and my spirit cries out against this injustice." Kamon choked up. Tears were in his eyes. He blinked hard to contain them. "Well maybe, just maybe, the peacemakers need to be protected! I know this world certainly needs an uncountable number of people just like you. But maybe there is a place for people like me, too -- someone who can, and will, protect the peacemakers when they are threatened. In any case, I won't watch you die. I can't. I won't." A tear escaped from Kamon's right eye. He quickly wiped it away.

Though pained, Jasmine did not relent. "I still cannot go with you, Kamon."

You will go!" Kamon's jaw was firmly set. He would not turn back. No matter what she thought, nor how much she might resist, he would not be deterred. "You can thwart my efforts, in which case we die together, or you can cooperate and take a chance at life, but you are coming!"

"I could tell the guard of your plan," Jasmine suggested. "I could convince the authorities to place you in custody for the next week."

"Then the battle starts here," Kamon answered boldly. "They'll have to kill me to take me prisoner."

Jasmine did not fail to catch the chilling intent of his words. She frowned and rubbed her temple. Casio was right. Kamon was unstoppable. He was prepared to die for a lost cause if it came to that. She had overlooked the obvious; Casio was right again. She was therefore responsible for Kamon's welfare. She could not let him be hurt. "Very well," Jasmine said at last. "I will come with you."

Kamon breathed a sigh of relief. "Good! I have to go now. I want to get to the library before the shift changes." He hesitated. "You will come when I return?"

"I have said I would," Jasmine answered. "I keep my word."

Kamon nodded, then left the room. At the entrance to Block Seven, he pushed the buzzer. He waited impatiently for Lieutenant Remore to come.

Meanwhile, Jasmine stood silently in the gloom of the back room. She heard the cell door swing open, then clang shut. Two pairs of footsteps soon faded away. Kamon was gone......but he would return. Jasmine closed her eyes. "What have I done?" she lamented.

Kamon and Lieutenant Remore topped the steps to the first floor. "I'd like to go to the library," Kamon announced. "To look up some things. I've heard it's a good library. I'd like to see it."

"Um..." Remore was surprised by this request. "...The library is ordinarily used only by the inmates. There's no one there this time of night."

"Then this would be a good time for me," Kamon suggested amiably. "Besides, Jasmine was tired and wanted to rest. I want to see her again early in the morning. I may as well spend time in the library until then. If I go out, I'll have to face the press. I'm trying to avoid them. I'd really prefer to stay here."

"But aren't you tired, Councilman?" Remore was trying to discourage him.

"I don't need much sleep," Kamon replied. "I'd like to read if I might. I'll take a nap in a chair for a few hours if I need to. Spending quiet time in your library would be much better for me. I would really appreciate it."

Lieutenant Remore had had some time to consider the request while they talked. "I guess I see no problem with that," she said. "Follow me then."

The two walked up another flight of stairs to the second floor. A short walk down the hallway brought them to the library. After a quick retinal scan, Remore opened the door. "Step right in, Councilman," she offered as she turned on the lights. "Is there anything you'll be needing?"

"No thank you," Kamon answered.

"There's a bathroom on the south side," Remore said. "I'm going to lock the door on you, if that's okay. If you need to get out, just call a security station. There's a phone at the front desk with a list of numbers."

"That'll be fine, lieutenant," Kamon said. "Thank you."

"I'll leave you alone then," Remore answered. "Goodnight."

The door closed. Kamon heard the lock click. He waited a few moments, then stepped to the scanner. A weak light entered his pupil. He punched in the necessary codes. The lock clicked. Kamon tried the door. It opened! Elbe had not failed him!

Kamon checked both ways before stepping into the hallway. He moved quietly to the open stairway and cautiously started downward.

Voices! Coming closer! He bounded upward and stopped at the second floor.

The voices were faint now and growing fainter. They were moving away. He started down again. It was imperative that he not be seen. He must be careful.

Kamon momentarily paused at the landing above the first floor, heard nothing, then moved quickly past it to the basement. He hadn't seen anyone in the basement earlier. He did not expect to now.

He stepped quietly through the hallway. He had one locked door to pass through on his way to Block Seven. He opened it without trouble. He was gaining confidence by the minute.

Kamon came to the scanner outside Block Seven. The lock opened as easily as the previous ones. "Jasmine?" Kamon spoke as he hurried to the back room.

She met him in the narrow hall. "I'm here, Kamon," Jasmine said with a sense of resignation.

"Let's go. The entrance to the tunnel is on the other side of the basement. We should have no trouble getting there."

"If the tunnel is impassable," Jasmine spoke as they moved, "I expect you to return to the library and I to my cell."

"It'll be there. We'll get through it." Kamon didn't need this kind of a problem. Why was Jasmine so reluctant to come? "You almost sound as if you want to die. Is suicide a part of your message of peace?" he asked with some irritation.

"No."

"Then what is it?"

But Jasmine did not answer and Kamon was too absorbed in his mission to press the issue. They soon came to a solid metal door.

"This is it," Kamon announced. He stepped in front of the retinal scanner.

"You know this building well," Jasmine commented.

"Elbe got the schematics for me," Kamon said as he punched in the security code. "I've memorized them."

There was a distinctive click. Hopefully, Kamon grabbed the metal handle and pulled. His heart skipped a beat when the door did not budge. He grasped the handle with both hands and pulled furiously. The door yielded, swinging toward him with a mighty groan that echoed through the hallway.

"Get inside!" Kamon ordered. "Somebody upstairs might have heard that!"

Following Jasmine, Kamon stepped inside. There was a handle there as well. Kamon tugged on it. He tried to ease the door shut quietly, but it proved impossible. The door squeaked and groaned as it closed, protesting against the decades of non-use. Once sealed, the two stood in total darkness.

A musty odor came to Kamon's nostrils. He pulled out a pocket flashlight. It's tiny beam pierced the darkness, revealing dust particles they had stirred up. Thick, wooden beams supported the ceiling and walls of the tunnel.

"It looks like it hasn't changed over the centuries," Kamon commented. "New buildings, new construction above, but this remained the same." He began walking. "Let's go."

The tiny flashlight was unable to shine very far ahead of them. Kamon feared they would encounter a blockage along the way, the result of a cave-in. They walked through the tunnel for about fifteen minutes when their path was finally blocked by a pile of rocks and boulders.

Kamon frowned. He handed the flashlight to Jasmine. "Take this." He began removing the rocks and casting them aside.

"We have to go back," Jasmine said. She sounded relieved.

Kamon grabbed a boulder, grunting as he heaved it away. "Do you hate life so much, Jasmine, that you welcome death?"

"I treasure life. You must know that."

"Really?" Kamon asked, never stopping in his work. "You treasure every life but your own. Explain the logic in that to me. You're not the kind, gentle woman I knew in Kefar. You're different now. I feel..." He almost said 'betrayed', but he stopped himself. He felt some bitterness; he was certain it was in his voice. This was difficult, confusing --trying to save the life of a woman he cared for.....while she was nearly spurning him.

"I'm sorry, Kamon," Jasmine spoke with a pained voice. "I never meant to hurt you. I would never betray you."

"Guessing or appearing to read my mind was amusing in Kefar," Kamon said as he continued to attack the rocks. "It's not funny anymore."

The words cut through Jasmine like a knife. Kamon was upset. He had followed her willingly in Kefar. He did feel betrayed.........and he had a right to be. "What can I do, Kamon?" Her voice cracked with emotion.

"Convince me that life is important!" Kamon exclaimed as he heaved a boulder. It bounded and shook the dirt floor. "Fight for it!"

"I do not start fights," Jasmine answered. "I stop them."

"You work for peace?" Kamon asked.

"Yes; of course"

"You work for life?"

"Yes."

"Then why do you stand idle now when life is at stake?" Kamon demanded.

Jasmine did not immediately reply. She finally set the flashlight on the ground and grabbed a rock from the pile. "I work for life!" Jasmine declared as she tossed the rock aside. The two labored in silence for a couple of minutes. Then Jasmine spoke in a quiet but solemn tone. "I can be counted on, Kamon. I'll stand by you."

These words made Kamon feel immeasurably better. He did not wish to argue with Jasmine. He removed a stone. He suddenly felt a draft on his face. He snatched the flashlight from the floor. A dark hole was revealed. An opening!

Kamon eagerly pulled more rocks away. He shined the light on the opening. "I think we can get through here now. You first," he said to Jasmine.

She easily slithered through the opening. Kamon followed right behind her. After standing again, neither could take a step without encountering heavy brush. Kamon led the way, pushing through it. A moment later, they broke free.

Stars twinkled brightly in the night sky. Ingraham Memorial Temple Prison rested high on a hill half a mile behind them. Kamon breathed deeply of the fresh air. They were out!

END OF CHAPTER