Amber & Ice

Chapter 37: Dionysus

The prison corridors were a wash of white walls and stark, overhead lighting. Athena was relieved Orion had a map, because everywhere looked exactly the same and she knew it would have been all too easy to get lost in a maze of lefts and rights, probably ending up back in the conference room long before they found Ariadne.

"She's at the back of the prison. Out of the way. Ismene tracked through prison messages and worked out that she's in a corridor on her own, so that Mr Leighton can visit without having to 'bother himself' with common criminals." Orion balled his hands into his fists.

"It works in our favour though. It will be much easier to get to her without worrying about other prisoners threatening to raise the alarm," Bree whispered as they followed Orion first right, and then left, through the labyrinth.

"Stop!" Orion hissed suddenly at the next turning, throwing out his arm to prevent Don from getting any further. "Guards. Two of them. Quick. In here." Orion gestured to a door on our right and we all piled through, shutting the door just as the sound of footsteps rounded the corner.

Athena spun slowly, taking in the new space they found themselves in. The sign above the door read 'cell block delta'. The plain white walls had gone, replaced with frosted glass punctuated at regular intervals by doors with small square windows. A thick horizontal band ran across the wall on both sides, with screens to the right of each of the windows. While they waited, Athena moved towards one of the screens for a closer look.

Prisoner 241

Name: Apollo Powrie

Age: 43

Hometown: Dover

Crime: Disturbing the peace

Trial Date: twelve days, three hours, forty-two minutes

Feed data:

Athena didn't have time to read the rest, as Orion was signalling for them to move on. But she did quickly glance through the window which accompanied the screen. On the other side, a man sat cross-legged on the floor with his back to her. He was rolling his neck from side to side, as if stretching it.

"Athena, come on!" Bree urged from the doorway the others had already vanished through. Athena tore herself away and followed them back into the corridor, where they resumed their hunt once more.

"Let's pause here," Orion said a few minutes later, when they came to a fork in the corridor.

"Now what?" Don asked, looking dubiously at the two routes before them.

"We need to go right, but there will be guards stationed by the door to Athena's corridor. They won't be patrolling, so I'm not sure how we can get past them."

Bree looked thoughtful for a moment, before shepherding Athena and Orion through a nearby doorway. "Wait here until you hear us come back past. Then get Ariadne and get out. We will meet you back at Charring Cross in thirty minutes, okay. Make sure you get her there."

"But what are you-" Orion started, but Bree ignored him, shutting the door on them with a smile.

Everything was quiet for a moment. "What do you think-" Athena started to ask, when she was interrupted by the sounds of shouts and running footsteps outside the door.

"We just wanted to take a look!" They heard Bree call out, her voice playful.

"No we didn't! We wanted to teach the terrorist a lesson!" Don shouted, sounding scarily like one of the protesting crowd outside.

Hot on their tails came the heavy footsteps of the guards. Athena and Orion paused for a moment, giving them time to round the corner and run out of sight, then they reopened the door and made their way through to Ariadne's corridor.