Couldn’t believe my eyes. I wouldn’t put these on if I were in a locked room with the lights off. Who would wear these? Who would buy these? Not Will. Definitely not Will. I hadn’t been able to visualize him buying the regular kind – what I was now holding between two finger nails would have sent him running from the shop.
If Will hadn’t bought the underwear, who had? And, why had Will included them in my care package? Certainly not to wear. They would have more value as a slingshot.
That didn’t make sense and everything Will does must make sense to him. I knew that Will had deliberately sent me the green and white clothes to help me keep my spirits up by reminding me of my grandmother. But, what if he had intended me to discover a second message? I went outside to the hallway closet. Pulled all the clothing out and looked closely for subtle messages.
Nothing about the shorts, pants, and skirt looked unusual. The short-sleeved shirt, turtleneck, and blouses carried the message of the white and green but nothing else that I could see. I hadn’t worn the vest yet – the apartment was kept more than warm enough. I held it up. Dainty mazes of interlaced white wool; it would go nicely with the turtleneck or over a blouse. Knots at the bottom of the vest had a tiny white feather interwoven within them. Obviously made by a craftsman.
Little white feathers.
I looked at the moccasins I was wearing. Not the same kind of work here – well done, but very utilitarian, the kind one would wear every day. Very comfortable. Probably homemade. I looked closely at the pattern on the top. Not decorative; meant to send a message. Realized that the pattern had been on Yollie’s vest when she had read me.
Everything clicked. The clothes, the shampoo, the bubble bath, the moccasins. Yollie had picked them out for me. Will had to have asked her to do that; but why would he have asked? I had more than enough clothes in the Wilizy to choose from. He wanted me to know that Yollie had picked them out. Why?
Then, I got it. You sly dog, Will!
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Chapter 21
From Izzy's journals: Day 9 of imprisonment.
Discovering last night that Yollie had purchased the underwear had given me a great boost of optimism. She wouldn’t have done that on her own – her parents must have agreed. That meant that the whole family had agreed to help Will. Doc would also be involved! So, it was with some confidence that I was waiting for Zzyk’s nightly visit. I heard the monitor crackling to life and I stood behind my easel, a picture of Winnie there to give me determination.
“Good news, Melissa,” Zzyk opened. “Zurt has given up trying to hold my Calgary workers hostage. He obviously hasn’t been able to find any other lever, so I think we can say that your stay with us is almost over. Since Zurt’s capture is inevitable, why don’t you ask him to come in now and save your mother a lot of unnecessary pain?”
The camera panned and I saw her in a chair. Three DPS guards were with her. Two were restraining her. The third man was off to the side. My mother’s head had been shaved.
“These are the men who will introduce your mother to her brain-band. Since she’ll be starting with one so late in life, it will be impossible to correct her behaviour with the tiny zaps we give children. Hugo will be in charge of the instruction. He has your mother’s brain-band all ready, don’t you Hugo?”
The man in question raised a hand. It held the band. He showed it to my mother and she cringed visibly. The camera panned back to Zzyk.
“One of the guards holding your mother to her chair is Hugo’s apprentice. He will assist with the more physical parts of the learning experience. The other guard was recently employed at our surveillance headquarters. He made the mistake of distributing copies of the little sketches that you made of me. I have reassigned him to this detail as punishment. He is very anxious to please me. These three will instruct you about your own brain-band in the event that Zurt is captured before you agree to my offer. That shouldn’t be long now – one young boy against an entire army? How long would you give him, Melissa? My interrogation team is hoping that you won’t accept my offer. They don’t have much opportunity to practice now that the dissident movement is broken. I’ll give you a chance to see them at work on your mother."
I stared at Winnie’s picture. Will has a plan; He has others helping. Will has a plan; He has others helping . . .
“Your juvenile little prank did make me think though, Melissa. Zurt would know that your sketches wouldn’t have any impact on me; he would have told you that Zs don’t care what others think. That tells me that you and Zurt aren’t actually communicating. It was a giant bluff – or at least it has been since I lowered the blinds. So, later this evening, the guards on your building will remove the blinds to allow you to send a signal to Zurt. You’ll have to go back to wearing your green mask again, won’t you Melissa?”
“You’re admitting that you couldn’t tap into our electronic signals, Zzyk?”
“There were no electronic signals, Melissa. Only physical ones. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. I see only one weakness to where I’m holding you. The window is vulnerable to a small missile followed by a desperate helicopter dash through overwhelming firepower. To prevent Zurt from getting injured trying to rescue his slut, I will make him think twice about that option. Later tonight, you will see what I mean.”
I said nothing, pretending to sketch.
“You can’t hide your emotions from me, Melissa. I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering if you can watch your mother get fitted for her brain-band without begging me to stop her instruction. Let’s say that you do resist this time. But, I have an endless number of levers that I can use on you, and Zurt has no levers he can use on me. Oh, if you want a hint as to what levers I’ll use on you after your mother had had her instruction, look outside your window later tonight."
"I know you like to flee – you did that when I told you the truth about your grandmother. As your mother has assured me, you are a coward. Why not just send Zurt the signal that he should turn himself in?” Then, he smiled at me and waved his finger at me like I was a bad little girl! "You do realize, don’t you, that I can shut the water off to your building? Where will you hide after I do that? I can fill your bathroom with the sounds of your mother receiving her brain-brand instruction. I can have Rick give you a chair to hide under, if that will make you feel better.” Then, he clicked off.
# # # # # # # #
Later that evening, the bamboo blinds were lifted back up to the roof and I heard them lower Zzyk’s deterrents. Four baskets twirling and bouncing in the wind appeared right outside my window. The sounds of the four crying infants in the baskets were clearly audible through the heavy glass pane. I wondered if Zzyk would actually torture infants but didn't wonder long. Of course, he would.
# # # # # # # #
I knew that I could escape my mother’s torture tomorrow. Could always run into the bathroom and bury myself in the bathtub with my clothes wrapped around my head. Saw myself on my hands and knees, cowering under my grandmother’s colours.
Couldn’t disgrace her name that way; couldn’t disgrace myself that way either; would hate myself for being so pathetic. I knew that Zzyk was deliberately giving me lots of time to think about what was going to happen to my mother. But, what if I turned this to my advantage instead? He had accused me of being a slut without warning and I had reacted; he had shown me a picture of my grandmother being a slut without warning, and I had reacted badly. But, neither worked on me the next time he tried them. What if Zzyk’s pleasure at drawing out my torture was his weakness? He had given me time to prepare myself, so Prepare yourself, Izzy!
I wondered if I could just put myself into a yoga trance before they started; but, that hadn’t worked before. Dancing myself to exhaustion wouldn’t work; what about a picture of Winnie? Or, what about concentrating on Will having a plan and having Yollie's family to help? Could I keep my mind occupied enough so I wouldn’t see or hear what was happening?
&nb
sp; But, as I thought about it, I realized that all of these were just a way of escaping – of running away from what I had to face. They were the cowardly way. I had to face what Zzyk was going to do to my mother with my eyes wide open and staring at the screen. I thought that I might be able to do that if I could make tomorrow the second time that I had seen my mother being tortured. The second time wouldn't be as bad as the first time. That meant I had to see my mother being tortured tonight.
So, I sat down in front of the dead video conferencing unit and I visualized my mother being tortured. I knew exactly what they were going to do, so I watched it in my mind; listened to it in my mind.
The first time, I lasted less than a minute. Walked away from the console; did some yoga; then, had a talk with myself. I didn’t talk about Will having a plan; didn’t talk about Winnie; talked about myself.
I told myself how I would hate myself for being a coward if I couldn’t last more than a minute. I told myself that I hadn’t been a coward when Will and I had buried all those bodies. I visualized myself carrying those dead bodies in my arms and I told myself that I had made it through that day – I could make it through tomorrow. Did that repeatedly. Then, I went back to the video console.
Lasted longer the next time, but it was still pathetic. Back to the self-talk; gave myself a time challenge – Last five-minutes longer next time. Rewarded myself with a few minutes of dancing or some chocolate if I succeeded. Kept telling myself I could do it; kept watching myself bury children in a mass grave; then, went back to the video console determined to last just five minutes more.
I tried going to sleep around 2 a.m. Yoga helped with that and I managed to drift away. It was a restless sleep; had a dream about Hugo, the torturer; not a bad dream; was an idea; the idea wasn’t revenge; it was justice. Slept better after that.
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Chapter 22
From Izzy's journals: Day 10 of imprisonment.
I tested myself early this morning with another visualization; managed to reach my deadline. It wasn’t easy, but not impossible either. I still felt all the emotions – anger, disgust, and hatred towards the torturers. It wasn’t as though I had escaped into mindless oblivion. However, I still managed to sit in front of the console while my mother’s torture played out in my mind.
I felt terribly unclean afterwards; tried a steaming hot bath; didn’t help; wasn’t unclean like a dirty body; was unclean in my head. I tried to comfort myself that surviving tomorrow would allow me to bring Hugo and Zzyk to justice – Hugo sooner than Zzyk. But that wouldn’t happen if I couldn’t escape. I knew that Will would be searching for a lever that he could use to pry me loose from my captivity. When he found it, I had to be ready with my escape plan.
Any escape that I tried would fail if Zzyk still had me under surveillance. The videoconference unit was big and bulky – it had lots of room for sensors in addition to the conferencing camera. It was time to go exploring.
I probed the console's cover with eyes and finger tips; found a disguised cap to a recessed screw; found three other caps too. The screws were in too tight for my poor little shoe-screwdriver. The point of the bathroom vent was equally as sharp and gave me much more leverage. I had the cover off easily.
The console's insides were full of electronic gear; must be way more gear than was necessary for a videoconference unit. But, I couldn’t even begin to make sense of it. It was warm inside the unit – some equipment was on. That’s all I could figure out.
I was sitting behind the unit, wondering if it would be safe to try cutting into the window glass with my shoe-driver if the monitor were facing the other way. My only escape route was through that window, and I was sure I could eventually cut through the glass with the heel of my shoe, but I couldn't let Zzyk see me doing that. Then, inspiration hit in the form of the two tiny little trip wires that Will had used to connect the braided rings to the metal binding of the crate. They were part of the crate's security system. I found them still connected to the braided rings in the bottom of the crate.
I ran through my new plan to get out of the apartment several times in my head; knew absolutely that it would work. But, I'd have to put the videoconference unit out of commission first. I could try ripping out some wires from the insides, but that would just bring Rick running. Putting the tent over the unit would mask what I was doing and would not alert Zzyk. Best of all with this new plan – I would escape the apartment using tools that were already in the room and I was going to leave them there to show how I had done it. I wouldn't give Zzyk any nagging doubts about how I had disappeared that would cause him to think about secret weapons.
Once out the window, I could get up to the roof quite easily, and I wouldn't need to use my sky-sling at all. From the roof, there'd have to be some obvious way that I had left the roof; didn't know what that would be but figured Will would handle that. That’s when I got the most wonderful idea. Zzyk had unwittingly shown me the keys to his kingdom. All I had to do was watch Hugo torture my mother long enough for Will to be ready. Once I was free, the Wilizy would be the ones with the advantage.
# # # # # # # #
5.55 p.m. I was waiting for the console to click on. Doc had once told me that being frightened of frightening things was normal. Not being frightened meant I was wacko. Well, I was definitely not wacko cause I sure was frightened. Frightened for my mother – no one should ever be tortured. I was frightened for Will and me if Zzyk won; frightened for Hank, Yolanda, and their family. But mostly, I was frightened for those babies if Will couldn’t find a threat that would work on Zzyk soon. Knew with absolute certainty, one of them would be tortured next.
6:15 p.m. Zzyk never showed up for his meeting.
9:30 p.m. Lasted through to the deadline I had given myself. Zzyk had made another mistake. Adding another day so that I would stress out had actually given me another day to prepare myself. I started a bath; wondered if I would ever feel clean again.
# # # # # # # #
From Will's journals: April 29.
My attack on the Calgary DPS headquarters hadn’t worked at all and I had removed the filament fence before Zzyk could study the force field any further. I should have known that Zzyk wouldn’t respond to threats to people, or even to a building. But, it was worth a try – if nothing more than as a delaying tactic while I had continued to search for something that Zzyk would care about. Found it. I had be around Izzy long enough to know what to do next.
I was in the Wilizy running through the plan one last time when the alarm on the homing filament interrupted us. I asked Doc to take over the meeting and was glued to a power pole a kilometer from the infant care facility minutes later.
Zzyk had ignored the threat on his building but I knew absolutely that Zzyk would react to my next threat. However, I needed to talk with Izzy so that I could determine the extent of her escape plans and so that we could co-ordinate with each other. I hadn’t been able to communicate with her up to now – not just because I wasn’t anywhere near Edmonton, but also because even approaching the complex now was dangerous. Doc had been watching all of the activity outside the building with the long-range telescope in the Wilizy. His alert about the blinds disappearing and the babies being suspended in front of the windows had brought about the meeting of the full team – things were obviously heating up if Zzyk were now using babies as hostages. That wouldn’t affect our plans up north; what we didn’t know was if they would affect Izzy’s plans. I had never considered for a moment that she wouldn't be ready to escape.
Our lack of communication with Izzy had been a severe problem – one that I could now address much more easily thanks to Zzyk’s decision to evacuate the building. Earlier this evening, I had inserted a filament into the power line leading to the infant care facility and had instructed the filament to find the complex’s hot water tank. This was easily identifiable by its power connections and by the fact that it had a constant high temperature. I had left the fila
ment inside that tank.
The alarm a couple of minutes ago had told me that someone in a nearly empty complex was using a lot of hot water. Like for a shower or a bath. Earlier, I had taken the filament into a cloud so it would know what mist was. Now, I instructed the filament to find the mist in the care center building. The filament beeped at me while I was hanging from the power pole.
# # # # # # # #
From Izzy's journals: Day 10 of imprisonment.
I had pulled the shower curtain aside and was reaching for the towel when I saw one of Will’s filaments poking out of the bathroom’s power outlet and bobbing up and down. I jumped out of the tub and grabbed the filament instead. The end of the filament had a connector that would fit into a pinky-ring input port. I couldn’t help my hand from shaking when I connected it; heard a computerized voice speaking in my mind.
“Izzy, I can’t give you normal voice signal. Computer-computer voice only. Are you OK?”
“Identify yourself stranger,” I sent back. Being paranoid, I guess. If Zzyk had figured out the secret of the filament, we were done for. Still, I wanted the assurance of knowing absolutely that it was Will.
“Tarzan.”
“Sigh. Kiss. Smooch. Hug. Miss you,” I sent back.
“Are you all right?”
“Better now.”
“Do you have an escape plan? Even part of one?”
“Yes. Give me an hour and I can be out of the building. I’ll need help when I reach the roof. Cover of night is essential. Are you all right?”
“I am now.”
# # # # # # # #
Will wanted to know about the bugs in the apartment before we communicated any further. I told him that I had disabled everything except what might be in the videoconference unit – at least I thought I had. He told me to take the filament out of my pinky ring and hold it outside the bathroom door for ten-seconds. He had already checked and the bathroom was bug free. I did what he said, reconnected the filament after the ten seconds, and was happy to hear that everything was clean except for multiple emissions from the conferencing equipment. Will said that the heavy tent was preventing him from identifying the signals. Also, there was a very faint signal inside the closet.