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  “Let’s finish our meal, and then visit one of the camps. I'd like to see how this government treats its prisoners.”

  “I suspect that we won’t be surprised.”

  They finished their meal, watching the activities near the restaurant where their friends were relaxing, then Aria used the new map of identified places to navigate to one of the prison camps, following Savi’s directions. It was located a short distance beyond the edge of the city, in what used to be a small town. Several warehouses and barns had been encircled by barbed wire and electrified fences, and the gaps between the buildings had been filled in with low buildings. Aria navigated into the complex. The only guards were placed in tall security towers or in spaces at the tops of the taller buildings, and all were armed with rifles and, in three places, machine guns. The entire area was brightly lit.

  “It seems that they are ready for any attempt to rescue the prisoners,” noted Savi. “Those guard positions have a good field of view inside the camp, but also outside the wire. I wonder who they thought might attack.”

  “Are there no strong opposition movements?”

  “There are some who oppose the government, but most of them have been arrested at the first sign that they may be effective. Professor Netteos, the man who gave me my job at the university, was arrested after he gave a lecture that suggested that the orthodox view of the history of our people might not be correct. He suggested that we students reevaluate what we thought we knew about the past in the light of the known facts. He was arrested a few days later. I haven’t heard what has happened to him. As far as I know, he was never tried for any crime, and I’ve not heard anything to suggest that he might be connected with any subversive organization.”

  “It seems that speaking out about the government can be hazardous to one’s health.” Aria smiled grimly. “What would you like to do about the situation?”

  “We’ve started well, Aria. We’ve at least partially disabled the StateSec as well as the military and Police, and that will deprive the leaders of some of their ability to terrorize the population. Cutting their revenue flow was also a good move. I think that the next step will be to release the prisoners, so that they can spread the word throughout the population of what the government, assisted by the religious leaders, is doing to them. The thinkers were the ones who were arrested. The average citizen is either not aware of the real facts, or does not want to know them. He lives in a bubble, knowing that things are not good, and hoping that he has done nothing to make them worse for himself. The President has done a lot to create dislike, even hatred, for the successful businesspeople, even though they are the ones who create the jobs and pay the taxes. I believe the objective is to divide and conquer. It is very destructive of economic activity in the long term, as people come to realize that it does not pay to stand out from the crowd. If we can release those people who have led the thought movement, it might do something to bring some reality back into the situation.”

  “How do we go about releasing them?”

  “I think that there are really two possible ways open to us. The first would be to neutralize the guards and breach the fences, allow the people out to look after themselves. The second way, which might be more effective, would be to use the government systems to order the release of the prisoners. We could do that through the Courts, perhaps find a judge and use his authority to issue release orders.”

  “I like that route, Savi. Physical release could result in more brutality as the StateSec rounds the escaped prisoners up again. Where are the Court buildings?”

  “The main Court House is near the center of the city, next to the Tax building.”

  “Good. Before we go there, let’s see if we can collect some information on the prisoners who are being held here.”

  Aria navigated into the administration building. There were several guards lounging in one of the offices, but, apart from them, the building was deserted. They soon found the records room, an area packed with prisoner files and records of the activities of the prison. They struck gold when they found the central register, a thick leather-bound book recording the names, arrival and departure or death dates of prisoners and brief details of their sentences. A subsidiary ledger listed the current locations of the prisoners. Aria used the particles to flip through the pages of the register and ledger, and to record the information contained. When that was done, she navigated quickly through the buildings where the prisoners were held. The conditions were worse than either of them expected. Men and women were sitting on the floor or, in the case of the fill-in buildings, on the raw earth. Their clothes were filthy, and their bodies emaciated. The bedding provided to them consisted only of a single rough blanket each. Aria was incensed. Even viewing the scene remotely on the computer screen revolted her.

  “I didn’t like what I heard of this government before, Savi. But this puts the cap on it. We have a moral duty as humans to put an end to the rule of the people who do this to other humans. I would like to preserve this camp for them, so that the public can come to understand just what they have done.”

  “I agree, Aria. Let’s get to the Court, so that we can start the process of releasing these people. I would hate to leave any of these prisoners here a minute longer than necessary.”

  *~*

  The Court had already been identified in the computer, so reaching it was quick. There were some people working in the offices, apparently trying to unravel the mess that had been caused in the past day. They navigated to the office of the Chief Justice, and found him sitting in a large leather chair, dictating a judgment to a secretary. He finished the task as they watched, and dismissed the woman with a few parting words.

  “I expect a call from the President in the next hour,” he said. “Ensure that the call is put through to me without delay. I also have a few instructions that I want actioned immediately. I’ll write them down and pass them on to you. That’s all.”

  The woman left the office, clearly pleased to be away from the man.

  “I don’t like that man,” said Aria. “He sends shivers up my spine. I think that he is evil.”

  Savi had not heard anyone use the word ‘evil’ before. It was an archaic term that was generally confined to literature, but, in his mind, it described his instinctive reaction to the Chief Justice. He felt that he was stating to understand how the system of injustice had been propagated through the Courts.

  They watched the man write a few instructions on a pad, thinking between each one to ensure that his wording was precise. Aria instructed the computer to analyze the handwriting, so that it could be replicated. When he was done, the man pushed the pad to the side of his desk and picked up a thick file, and started to read, making notes in the margin of the page he was reading.

  “Please draft an instruction that the Chief Justice orders that all prisoners presently held are unconditionally pardoned and released, Savi. We can pass that on to the secretary to distribute it.”

  Savi smiled as he complied, typing in the order. When that was complete, Aria instructed the computer to make copies of an official letterhead from the Chief Justice and insert the text as well as his signature, lifted from a Court Order on his desk. They waited until the secretary was away from her desk, and then Savi transported in to an empty office near to hers, carrying the official-looking document, then he walked smartly into her office and placed the document on her desk. The secretary returned as he was leaving the office. Thinking quickly, he spoke.

  “The Chief Justice requested me to give you an Order he has prepared. I put it on your desk. He wants you personally to ensure that copies of the Order are delivered this evening to each of the prisons, as he instructed you earlier. You must drop everything until it has been done. Is that clear?”

  Flustered, the woman nodded, then spoke.

  “Yes, it’s clear. I’ll attend to that immediately. Thank you.” She walked into her office, and Savi returned to the transporter cabinet in the nearby office, and transpor
ted back to the chamber in the mountain.

  “You handled that well, Savi.”

  “Thanks, Aria. I don’t like doing that to people. I’ll try to make up for it when it’s all over.”

  Aria looked at Savi with a new understanding. He had appeared to be distant and impassive, handling the tasks he had been given without any display of emotion. Now she saw that there was emotion, as well as humanity, under that surface, as she had suspected a few times since she had known him. She was starting to understand the respect that Cora, an outgoing and bubbly person, felt for Savi.

  They checked the restaurant, and saw that the dinner was wrapping up in a spirit of pleasant companionship. She was pleased that Phelan had suggested the dinner. The group of people had been working under some pressure in strange conditions, and had needed a way to relax. The dinner had been a perfect way to do that. She knew that both she and Savi also needed that release, but the circumstances had not permitted it. The time she had spent with Savi had been valuable, giving her an insight into his complex personality. That was essential for the smooth operation of the team, and it was also important to Aria herself. She had felt herself drawn to Savi, without understanding why. That understanding was now building. Aria smiled to herself.

  Savi noticed the quiet smile and wondered what had caused it. He found Aria to be very attractive in an unusual way, and her occasional smiles deepened that attraction. He could understand how she had been so effective as a leader of her team. He found her obvious association with Bian to be something of a puzzle. While Bian certainly had qualities of personality and intelligence that were in the same class as Aria’s, the fact that he was older than she seemed to be a contradiction.

  They returned to the screen in which the secretary was distributing copies of the Chief Justice’s Order to several motorcycle messengers, impressing on each of them that delivery to the Chief Warden of each prison was required urgently. She was obviously enjoying the task.

  “I think you have compensated her for the way you spoke to her earlier, Savi. It seems that she is enjoying the work of releasing the prisoners.”

  Savi laughed with Aria.

  “I was told by an old friend of my father that most people want to help others,” he said. “They only need a reason to do it.”

  Aria considered the comment for a few seconds.

  “I think he was right. It certainly seems so, in my experience. I’ve never formulated the thought, but we probably based our time transport on it. We transported into the future in the hope that the people who received us would be good people.”

  “The other thing that my father’s friend told me was that people tend to reflect your expectations of them. If you think they will be good, they tend to be good. I think that you and your team excel in that way. Every one of your team is a good person.”

  Aria flushed slightly at the praise.

  “I can say the same of everyone in this time who I’ve met personally. I think the Chief Justice is not representative of the time.”

  “It must be difficult for you to adapt to such a different time, Aria.”

  “It hasn’t been too hard, Savi. We had the advantage that you and Cora were there to greet us. You’ve eased the transition considerably. Also, we’ve not been exposed too much to this time yet, except remotely, through the screens. The hardest part of it has been the fact that we’ve left everything behind, every one of our friends and families, even the history of our people. We had hoped that at least the history would have been saved, although we fully expected that very few of our people would survive to carry it forward. It seems that, although some did survive, they were unable to hang onto the story of the past. I think that the worst part of our transfer to this time is the realization that we’ve been written out of the history, as though we never existed.”

  Savi was quiet as he thought through this. The words had come, laden with emotion. He had not expected that emotion from Aria, a woman who had shown herself to be controlled and competent beyond the norm. He saw now that there was another person behind the appearance, a vulnerable woman who needed some support.

  “I think that was a temporary situation, Aria. It was caused by power-hungry men who had only their own interests in mind. There is a considerable body of history, myths, folktales, songs, even writings, that have been suppressed because the story they told was not what the politicians and religious leaders wanted people to believe. Why they chose to propagate the ridiculous belief that the world did not exist before seven thousand years ago is beyond my understanding, but almost every thinking citizen knows that there must have been something before that time, some civilized society that formed the basis of what we have now. I’m confident that the true story will emerge, now that your group has helped to destabilize the government. Cora and I will work to ensure that it does, and that the accomplishments of the people of your time will be recognized.”

  Aria smiled at Savi, breaking the earnestness of the moment, and touched Savi’s cheek lightly.

  “I know you will, Savi. And the rest of our group will help you. After all, this is our time too.”

  Chapter 16

  The dinner-goers returned late in the evening, and dispersed to their homes. Savi and Cora walked from the laboratory through Savi’s garden to his home, and then on to Cora’s home. Cora was relaxed and refreshed.

  “I’m sorry that you and Aria did not come with us, Savi. I understand why, but it was a delightful evening. You would both have enjoyed it.”

  “We did enjoy the evening, Cora, but in a different way. We had some fun, and helped some good people at the same time. We managed to issue an Order from the Chief Justice to the Governors of every prison to release every prisoner immediately. We included a full and unconditional pardon of each prisoner for all acts for which they had been imprisoned, whether or not they were convicted for those acts, and every other act they committed in the past. I imagine that the prisoners will be returning to their homes tomorrow.”

  Cora stopped walking and turned to Savi in amazement.

  “That will certainly cause a lot of difficulty for the government, Savi. We must work out how to take advantage of that.”

  “I think that the first step will be to make contact with as many of them as we can, and bring them into a coherent movement to act against the government. Most of those arrested were prominent people, with much influence. If they now speak out, as free men, they may be able to sway the citizens towards getting rid of the government.”

  “How did you arrange that the Chief Justice issue that Order, Savi?”

  “We produced an Order on the computer and attached a copy of his signature, and then used his staff to distribute the Order. I transported in to a nearby office, and placed the Order on his secretary’s desk.”

  “We need to reinforce that action, Savi. We can’t afford to have it rescinded.” Cora thought for a moment. “Could we arrange that the Chief Justice be removed from his position with immediate effect?”

  “I’m sure we could. We simply need to produce a document from the President ordering StateSec to arrest him for treason. That would take him out of circulation for a few weeks.”

  “I like the idea. Let’s do that now.”

  The two turned around, and returned to the laboratory. The people there had not yet retired for the night, and Cora and Savi explained their return.

  “I explained to Cora what we did while they were at dinner, Aria, and Cora suggested that we reinforce that action by taking the Chief Justice out of circulation. I suggested that we could issue an order by the President that the Chief Justice be arrested immediately on a charge of treason. I have no doubt that we could prove treason. Most of the imprisonments of people in the past years have been on charges that could not be sustained under the constitution of the country. The advantage of that charge is that he will be held incommunicado until he is tried, and so will not be able to take action to reverse the release of the prisoners.”

 
“I think that is brilliant! I should have thought of it. I suppose that I was so incensed at the conditions under which the prisoners were being held that I did not look beyond the need to have them released. Let’s do it now.”

  The three transported back to the chamber in the mountain. Cora navigated the viewing function of the computer to the palace of the President, an ostentatious structure that had cost a meaningful part of the total budget of the country in the three years it had taken to construct, and entered the office of the President. They watched with fascination as the portly, balding man who was the leader of the planet issued instructions, sometimes by telephone, and sometimes by scratching notes on a pad, calling in one of the five secretaries working in an adjoining office to collect them and type them. A few minutes after they started their observation of the man, one of the secretaries responded to his call to collect a note. She brought with her three documents for the signature of the President, standing timidly until he finished a telephone conversation and then handing over the documents. The President scowled at her and grabbed the documents, thrusting his scrawled note at her.

  “Get this typed up on a presidential letterhead urgently, and bring it in for my signature. I don’t know why I pay you incompetent fools to do your jobs when I have to think of everything myself. Wait. Are these the last lot I gave you?”

  “Yes your honor. I have messengers waiting to deliver them as soon as you’ve signed them.”

  The President glanced at the top document, and then signed all three, not bothering to read them. He tossed them on his desk and started writing another document, not taking the time to look up at the woman. The secretary carefully took the documents and backed towards the door. The President looked up angrily.

  “What are you waiting for? I told you to get those documents delivered urgently!”

  The woman fumbled at the door handle, unwilling to turn her back on the President. Her predecessor had been fired for doing just that! She managed to open the door, and fled down the corridor to her nook.