Escape To Nowhere Ch 02

Leena ran for all of about five minutes and then suddenly stopped. The enormity of what had happened had just hit her. Escape from slavery was one of the most heinous crimes in Illakia, along with murder and treason, and was punishable only by crucifixion, perhaps the cruellest form of execution available. Leena's heart rate suddenly leapt up. She thought momentarily about turning to go back to the camp, but she knew that even a failed attempt at freedom would be enough to condemn her. Anyway, she did not have a clue where she was. She had stopped in a small dip in the desert, and there were no natural features to guide her anywhere. The sand drifts had quickly obliterated her footprints. She would have no choice but to keep on running. But where to? She had thought she might attempt to run back to Strongmarsh, which was surely the closest settlement. But how could she navigate? She had no idea which direction to run in, and she had been too mollycoddled in her youth to have any practical knowledge on how to navigate out in the open anyway. Oh how had it come to this? How did she receive the bad luck to be enslaved? Why had she made a catastrophic mistake in running away?

She knew she had to keep moving though, so moved off at a pace. She knew that she, like all other slaves in the Empire, was fitted with a microchip under the skin of the back of her neck. When her escape was reported to a police post, her slave number would only need to be fed in to a computer and her exact location could be pinpointed. This was really why no slave ever escaped; it was utterly pointless. Unless you were a rash and unwise young girl like Leena...

She didn't know what she was doing, but she set off across the unending desert.

***

Gerry Wagner received two pieces of news when a fast messenger came to him in Tasmynor's primary town, Agona. Firstly, the Emperor had finally made him a lord, sent his roll of ennoblement and thanked him for his generous contribution towards the imperial slave harem.

Secondly, one of the slave bitches on the convoy had escaped! Leaving one of his men unconscious! Lord Wagner was furious. The escape of a slave from his convoy was deeply embarrassing. The staff who had let this happen would be dismissed. He called for the head of the Imperial Police in Tasmynor, the ranking officer of the Imperial Guard in Tasmynor and his own chief of staff to the Governor's Palace.

***

Leena had run all night, until she had collapsed exhausted. She was woken by the heat of the midday sun. Her throat was dry, but there was no sign of water. There was little sign of anything, just unyielding sand. She was well off the beaten track now.

She stood up. The heat was unbelievable! She didn't know it, but today was the hottest day of the year in the already hot desert, and it was now 41 degrees. Even the sand was hot to touch. Nevertheless she knew delay could be fatal, and she set about moving, hoping that she may discover an oasis in her travels, to provide her vulnerable body some much needed shade and her dry harsh throat with some desperately wanted water.

***

Lord Wagner met with the police chief, the SSAD chief and the chief of staff for the provincial government in the cool map room of the Governor's Palace. They all congratulated Wagner on his elevation, and then he brought them to business. He wanted this escapee bitch caught, he said. The police had been able to track the slave in the desert, and she was wandering in the middle of nowhere, near to nothing in particular.

The chiefs agreed that the slave's punishment should be left entirely up to the governor, with the governor being chief justice for the territory anyway, but warned him that it would be highly unusual if he did not crucify her. Wagner however was having different ideas.

They also discussed how to capture the girl, seeing that there were no portable slave-tracking machines available. Wagner, feeling mischievous, suggested a competition. There would be three teams – representing the Imperial Police, Imperial Guard and Palace staff – armed with the latest coordinates and a local navigator. They would be set at intervals.. The first team to capture the slave would be allowed to amuse themselves with her body on the way back. If she was not captured within a week, all teams must return, with the slave being presumed dead in the desert.

They drew lots. The IG team would be going first.

***

Leena wasn't even sure why she was still moving anymore, everywhere appeared the same. Her throat was so dry; she would have struggled to speak. She again collapsed to the ground, but the sand was so hot she stood up again immediately. The sun was blistering hot, and she felt her skin begin to burn. She stood still and cried.

***

The IG team was bagged and horsed up and raring to go. All three teams, handpicked by their respective bosses, were in the courtyard, being addressed by Lord Wagner. Since the meeting, Lord Wagner had refined the rules of the competition. Each team consisted on four men and four horses, including one native navigator. Each team was equipped with a compass, a map and the last known coordinates of the slave's position. To ensure the slave was not killed prematurely, Wagner had decreed that the only weapon allowed was a dart gun, and a set of shackles and chains was provided. They were to keep the competition secret, as Wagner did not like his new subjects to know too soon of the lapse of security in the new governor's harem. Wagner was also pleased to announce that the prize for the winners was of course full access to the captured slut, and then the winning team would be allowed to pick a slave each from Lord Wagner's harem to take home.

So, with a little flourish, the IG team were released from the courtyard. The competition had started. Two hours later the police team would be set off with even later coordinates for Leena's whereabouts.

***

Leena had allowed herself a little time to weep at her situation. She was faced with certain excruciating debasing death on the one hand, or starving to death in the blistering heat on the other. This was almost too much for her young and sheltered mind to take in. Nevertheless, she found resolve; she knew she was fighting for her life. She continued to wander across the desert, hoping beyond hope that she would stumble across civilisation before either dehydration and hunger overtook her or an even worse fate caught up with her.

She had stumbled across the loose sand, toiling under omnipresent sun all afternoon. Her body was slick with sweat and her bright blonde hair was starting to stick to her neck. She could feel her tender skin being crisply baked to a bronzed tan.

However, she had not had any water since she had been with the convoy. That was nearly a day ago now, and she was beginning to feel very weak. Her stumbling pace across the desert had been slowing all day. Eventually, coinciding with the heat of sun starting to dip as the sun started to dip below the horizon, she again collapsed from exhaustion. This time though it was the real thing. Her mouth was dry and she was developing a headache. As her sweat-slicked body lay in the sand, she drifted into unconsciousness.