Price of LIfe: Chapter XIV
#17 of Price of Life
Price of Life: Chapter XIV
Defiance
Keith half-expected to wake up next to Rachel in her room back in Maxim. But that would've just been too easy. Before he even opened his eyes to the world around him, Keith knew it would not be pretty. As his tired eyes began to bear witness to his predicament, he could only hope for the best. He failed.
The cell he sat in was dark and cold. The walls, from what frighteningly little detail he could make out, were made of solid concrete. The door, which stood erect across from where he sat,, guarded the threshold ominously, its gray and formidable frame warding off the will to break it down. There was a small porthole at face-height that let a little scrap of light inside. As the golden beam shone through the bars, it seemed to divide the darkness and illuminated the face of someone next to him.
Frightened at first, Keith jumped a bit. But his heart was soothed as he realized his roommate was Raksha. By the steady rise and fall of her chest, she was still alive, that much was certain. Suddenly, things didn't seem so bleak. Keith tried to stand, but found he was too cold and weak to do so. Instead he huddled closer to Raksha. He laid his head on her shoulder and nuzzled her fur warmly.
If he needed to be locked up, he was glad to have someone by his side. It was too bad that she had been dealt the same fate as he. This didn't concern her as much as it did him. But just having company made his imprisonment seem a little less painful.
They hadn't gotten very far off of Dante's property when he and the vixen had been knocked out. After several hours of painful, dreamless sleep, he managed to awake in what he imagined to be XX-31. Keith, being one of Virgil's favorite officer's during the time he served, never had seen the prison sub-deck, so it was completely possible for him to have landed right back where he had started.
After all, Virgil had several advantages over him now. Many of Keith's former friends and subordinates were probably still employed here. Worse, they were probably looking for some payback for what he did to the Rachel's disciplinary officer. Next, this was the death place of Rachel. No doubt Virgil had selected this place for a reason: to cause Keith unbearable suffering before he was put to death.
Raksha stirred beside him as he pondered these things. She seemed reluctant to open her eyes, but as she caught a glimpse of the little six-by-ten world around her, she jerked upright with anxious speed.
"Oh, God! Where the hell are we? This isn't good!" she got up, ran over to the metal door and began pounding on it wit her fist. However, the door was so tightly latched even a defiant noise was scarcely heard. All Raksha managed to do was wear herself down and scuff her supple hands.
Defeated, she sat down next to Keith and curled up to him. "What are we gonna do now?"
Keith honestly didn't have the answer to that one. He had never been imprisoned before. "Dante said he would come for us. Do you know what he meant by that?"
Raksha burrowed into Keith's chest for warmth and tried to explain, "He and a few of his friends were modifying a tank out in the country. Dante was planning on using it to thwart military-operated slave-stations, but I guess he's probably headed here. If he hasn't been killed already, that is."
Keith said nothing. Dante was a smart man. Surely he was not dead. Virgil could not be as evil as to commit fratricide, could he? Then again, Virgil had arranged the death of his parents, so the idea was not completely foreign. But still...
"I love you, Raksha," muttered Keith, trying to change to subject. His embrace around her closed, as if trying to draw her inside himself. Raksha nestled even closer, clinging to him as one does a piece of flotsam.
"I love you, too, Mr. Military Man," echoed she. Keith felt a chill in his bones as Rachel's words came back to haunt him. He turned away, obviously shaken.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Keith. I didn't mean to open old wounds!" she exclaimed, hugging him tighter and nuzzling him. "This is...where she died, isn't it?"
The human nodded humbly, but said nothing. He simply rested his head against hers, vying for the warmth of another.
As dramatic and romantic as the situation seemed, it was not mean to be. With an abrupt and terrible sound, the latch on the steel door released and the door opened inward. Two men, both wearing military coats and sporting rifles, entered. One had been smoking a cigarette, which he promptly cast to the floor and extinguished with his boot.
"So, which one are we supposed to take for questioning?" inquired one, who gazed at the couple embracing each other on the floor.
The other one, obviously the brighter of the duo, replied, "The colonel said to bring the human. The bitch can rot in here for awhile longer."
With superior will and strength, the two men grabbed Keith by either arm. Slowly, they pried him away from Raksha and to his feet. "Keith, no!"
Keith, not wanting to worry her, simply smiled as he had done before, "I won't be long. I'm going to pay a visit to an old friend. Be a good girl while I'm gone, alright?"
.........
"Okay, all set!" cried Tellur as she closed the electrical panel on the side of the tank. "Go ahead and start the engine!"
Trigger, who sat inside the steel weapon, complied by turning the ignition key and adjusting the throttle. With a groan and a whine, the tank's engine roared to life, resurrected after more than a half-century of disuse.
"It works, Comrade Dante! Athena is ready to knock some sense into that brother of yours!"
Dante who had been gathering ammunition and a few weapons, smiled in approval. "Excellent! Is She fueled?"
"Yes, comrade."
"A case of shells?"
"Aye."
"What about fuel for the flamethrower?"
"Check, check and check! Now please, be stopping with the questions and climb aboard!"
Dante nodded, but moved over to Selene, how had been waiting patiently in the corner. He put his hands on her shoulders and began to speak. He talked as if it were the last time he would ever see her again. "Selene, I want you to stay here. Tellur will take good care of you. Trigger and I are going to rescue Raksha and Keith. Then we are going to deal with my brother. There is a..." he paused, "a possibility that I may not come back. Having said that, I want you to know I love you."
Selene's face knotted into one of terror, "What are you talking about? I'm going with you!"
Dante wagged his finger, as if disciplining some naughty child, "Absolutely not! I won't have you dragged into this. It's MY fight. It's MY sin. You are to do as you are told and stay here with Tellur. Period."
Selene turned red with rage and pushed Dante, "I'm not a slave anymore! Stop telling me what to do!" Obviously upset with his hurtful words, Selene began to cry softly.
Dante, who had felt something move in him as the feelings behind Selene's shove took hold, felt confused and dazed. He looked to Trigger, who only shrugged his shoulders. Dante turned back toward Selene to see her with her face in her hands, tears flowing down her cheeks. He wished he could go to her, but was afraid she'd push him away again.
As it became clear he was met with indecision, Tellur went to Selene and began to hold the crying wolfess. "There, there, it's okay," cooed the vixen, as she stroked the wolfess with mother-like affection. Tellur then shot a cold look at Dante.
Selene, amidst gasps and sobs, managed to say, "They're my friends too, Dante. You told me we'd do this together! I won't be left behind!"
Dante, stricken, replied, "Selene, I'm sorry. But where we are headed is no place for you. I gave you this new life. Now I want you to live it."
With that, he turned away.
Tellur, who still held the crying wolfess in her arms, barked to Dante, "Dante, you know we can't operate the tank without four people. We needed Raksha to load the chamber of the 76 mm gun. If we get into a tight spot, we're screwed."
The black wolf cockily taunted back, "We'll make due."
But the vixen was not giving up, "Dante! Be reasonable! If we're going to attack a military base, we can't afford to be caught with our pants down. We need Selene to load the rounds. She'll be safe inside the tank and I can teach her how to load the gun in less than five minutes. She wants to be apart of this. Let her help save her friends!"
Dante turned around and stared at the vixen and the wolfess for a long moment. He seemed to be processing events not yet determined. After much digress, he gave a sigh and asked, "Is that what you really want, Selene?"
Selene, although still soaked with tears, nodded happily.
Dante closed his eyes in deep thought and finally issued his reply, "Alright then, you can come."
The wolfess ran to Dante and held him as she'd never done before. She smothered him with her nuzzles, despite his attempts to ward her off. Dante was still serious about the whole situation, "But...I don't want you leaving the tank. You're to have a pistol with you, too."
Selene nodded because she understood.
"Alright then," declared Dante, "let's get this show on the road."