Island of the Unemployed

BRING THEM BACK ALIVE

Vladi woke early, as usual, to prepare breakfast. She looked around, and nudged Cian.

"I don't see Mila," she whispered into his ear. Cian bolted upright to a sitting position.

"Everybody!" he shouted to the sleeping crowd. "Has anyone seen Mila?" No one answered. "Kadee, get the raft ready to launch! I'm going to look for her."

The commander sat at the head of a table. His four lieutenants flanked him on adjacent sides. Haden and Dion, sat on one side, while Colt and Felton sat on the other.

"Is anyone aware of a security breach?"

Haden and Dion glanced at one another. The had a pretty good idea where this was heading. Their tardiness regarding the cleanup of escapees over the last few weeks was about to come back to bite them.

"Like what?" Colt asked.

"Like workers escaping into the unpopulated area."

"I'm not aware of anything like that," Colt replied.

"What about you, Haden?"

"No sir!" Haden suppressed a smile. He thinks they escaped from the militarized area!

Colt and Haden were arch-enemies, both vying for the commander's position, once he retired. So, Haden was always looking for openings to make Colt look bad. This was a perfect opportunity.

"Well, there's been an escape, and it was reported to me by Mister Withfield himself! So, it's important we clean this mess up. Haden, I want you to form a search party. Take one of the sailboats. Colt, form a separate party and look for them on foot."

"Yes sir," each man replied.

"And I want them brought back alive!"

The commander shot a stern look in Haden's direction. He knew Haden well enough not to trust him. He couldn't deny Haden's considerable abilities. So, he gave him the rank of lieutenant, but he never had any intention of letting him rise any further. Not with his disposition.

"Why?" Haden replied. The last thing he wanted to do was to bring them back alive. If he did, the truth was sure to come out. "They'll get the death penalty anyway. So, what's the point?"

"Just do it!" the commander replied.

"Yes, sir!"

"There are two that we know of, but there could be others. One is male. He's short with red hair. The other is female, wearing thick glasses."

"Yes, sir!" each man replied.

The meeting adjurned. Haden grabbed Dion's arm after exiting the room.

"We need to make sure those escapees aren't brought back alive," Haden said.

"But the commander said..."

"I don't care what the commander said. He wants them alive so he can interrogate them. We can't let that happen. When they end up dead we'll make up a story."

"All right," Dion replied. "But what if Colt gets to them first?"

"Don't worry about Colt. He doesn't know the unpopulated area like we do. And we know exactly where their camp is. He doesn't."

"That was a genius idea, building that camp!"

"Of course, it was. Who could resist a ready-made camp just waiting there for them? It works every time."

Colt trotted to the sergeant's barracks. He looked around, and spotted Adrienne.

"I need you to cover for me. Probably for the day."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Breach of security."

"What kind of breach?"

"That's something you don't need to worry about. Just take care of things while I'm gone. I'll be back by the end of the day."

"Yes sir."

Cian ran toward the militarized area, knowing that was where Mila was sure to be heading. He was perilously close to the border, and still hadn't located her. There was grassy hill about fifty yards from him. He ascended it, and knelt low in the grass. From that vantage point, he could see Colt crossing the border with a search party of nearly twenty soldiers. Mila was walking straight toward them, only a few yards away, hidden by the tall grass.

He stood up. "Mila!" She turned and looked right at him, then turned back again, and kept walking.

"That's one of them," Colt shouted, pointing to Cian. Mila jumped at the sound of Colt's voice. She looked from side to side, trying to decide which way to run, when the soldiers emerged from behind the grass. "That's the other one!" Colt said. "Grab her! Take her back to camp," he ordered to two of his soldiers. Cian disappeared. "We'll follow the tracks of the other one. He won't get away."