Escape From Redeem, Rise of an Emperor

Earth: City of Geneva

Master Kam had been searching for his friend, ever since he and his family had gone missing.

He had been ordered not to go looking for his best friend, and was ordered to return to the Advanced Training Academy. The order had come from General Defoe himself and this would be the first time in his life that he had disobeyed an order. He was not alone in his search. Caleb’s best friend at the Academy Tristan had joined him in his search. They would both be punished for disobeying orders, but a demotion was worth the risk for Dorn and his family.

Master Kam bent down over a small spot that most people would not have even seen, on the polished travertine floor of Dorn’s home. All of the video recordings had been wiped around the whole area. Defoe had also told him they had no witnesses and no leads. Kam found that hard to believe. There was always a trail; you just had to know where to look.

‘What have you found Master?’

Tristan asked, as they examined the small spot with a High class analyser.

‘The instrument is identifying this spot as blood. It’s small, but I can’t see how an investigation team could have missed it.’ Kam Observed, as he started sampling the blood for a DNA match. Master Kam had been groomed all his life to be an elite guardsman. The same way Dorn had been. They had both quickly climbed the ranks and became Masters together. Dorn had always been faster, stronger and wiser. But Kam had always loved his friend for it, and was thrilled when Dorn was made the High Protector of the President, which was the highest rank they could achieve other than the Presidency itself.

The analyser chirped with a match and as he had suspected it was Dorn Bruce’s Blood.

‘How have they missed this Master? A special investigator or a new recruit would have found that spot eventually.’

Kam looked thoughtfully at the blood but did not answer the apprentice, who looked furious that something like this could have been missed. Just as Kam and Dorn were like brothers. So too were young Caleb and Tristan. Both would be destined to become great men. Kam knew that Caleb’s Genome had been manipulated to create something special. But that was as far as he was told about Dorns son. Perhaps he was to be the next High protector, who knew. But with the Bruce family missing the boy would not fulfil his destiny and Kam would not stop until he uncovered this mystery.

He looked up and changed the analyser to look for the scent of Dorn’s DNA. The analyser was high tech equipment. Kam enjoyed the luxury of having the best equipment at his disposal. He would need it, if he was to find his friend.

The analyser picked up several more tiny spots of blood that also turned out to be Dorn’s and a few drops that matched his wife Jessie. But the trail ran cold when they got to the road.

‘Tristan, call up satellite imagery for this address and look through until you see someone come out of the house.’

Tristan nodded and began searching the satellite images of this location. After about ten minutes Tristan had found something.

‘Master, I think you should see this.’

Kam was looking around the front lawn of the property, and walked over to where Tristan was holding the tablet with an expression of utter sorrow.

‘What did you find?’ asked Kam as he kneeled to look at the display on the tablet.

Tristan rewound the recording, of what looked like two men, dragging another unconscious man from the house and putting him into a vehicle.

Kam zoomed in as much as possible. The person being carried out appeared to be Caleb; by two masked men. But whether he was dead or alive was impossible to tell. After about thirty minutes, more people emerged dragging two more unconscious people. They were being carried out on what looked like plastic sheets. There must have been a tear in this, as Kam had found the drops of blood.

The clarity of these images was better, as the bodies of the two being taken out were face up, almost staring straight back at Kam. He zoomed in and the sight of his friends, both with cut throats was nearly more than he could witness. He had fought and had seen bloodshed all his life and it had not affected him in the slightest. But this was different; this was a brother who had been slaughtered like cattle.

‘Tristan, follow the satellite imagery of the vehicle that takes Caleb away. Call me when you know where they have taken him. I’ll follow the trail that leads to Dorn and Jessie.’

Kam’s voice shook with emotion. Tristan had never seen Master Kam angry before. Even when they had fought on the practice mats, Kam had only a calm determination. The emotional Master breathed in a deep calming breath that seemed to settle him instantly. There was a cold steel in his eyes now.

‘I have never spoken or taught you of revenge Tristan. I have never been an advocate of it. But I promise you this; I will have vengeance for my friend’s lives, and if Caleb survived then we will find him. Now go.’

’Should we take this to General Defoe Master?

Kam wasn’t sure yet, but something wasn’t right with Defoe.

‘Not yet. Let’s get some more answers before we approach the General.’

They both hurried to their task, of finding answers. One question had already been tragically answered.

Dorn and Jessie Bruce were dead.

***

Redeem: Class A Prison World

The cell, which had seemed a reasonable size at first, now appeared unbearably tiny.

For a month Caleb had been detained, only being let out of his cell for morning breakfast. The other meals of the day were the same appetising fare of gruel and bread.

Exercising his body had been challenging but not impossible. He used the bar that the hang man’s noose was tied to, for pull ups. He could also do push ups and lots of martial disciplines he had been taught back at the Academy. At the end of every day, he would force himself not to relax his tired muscles and fall into an exhausted heap. Instead he would meditate and think of how he could get out of this hell he was in. He knew that the fatigue in his body would only be temporary, as his enhanced physic would be fresh in a matter of hours.

It was another morning on Redeem. There were no clocks here, but lights were out in what Caleb assumed to be the evening and then turned on just before they were taken to the canteen.

So far this had been the only opportunity to talk to another person. Every attempt so far with his fellow inmates had been met with hostility.

One morning he had joined another inmate. He was young, maybe in his early twenties. But this place had broken him and he would sit as far away from everybody as he could. His body would shake in fear if someone sat near him. Caleb had tried to talk to this man, as he seemed the least hostile in a room full of dangerous looking men.

He just shook, put his head down and ignored Caleb’s attempts at conversation. He scoffed his gruel as fast as possible and left.

The cell door opened and Caleb walked out to be counted by the guards. As was normal now, they were taken to the canteen and given their meal. As he walked to his seat, Caleb noticed a big man covered in tattoos had taken the shaking man’s bread. Caleb’s natural instinct had been to demand the tattooed man give the much needed bread back. But he had to control his urge to confront this bully, if he was to stay unnoticed.

Back at the Academy he had to deal with many bullies, who would try and dominate others to do their bidding. It disgusted him to witness the torment new recruits, just for the pleasure of it. Being the son of the famous Dorn Bruce fortunately gave Caleb a degree of attention throughout his training. They had quickly learned to leave him alone though. The same way as everyone here would learn, if they decided to try and dominate him.

He could not abide people like this. Maybe it was his upbringing or just wired into him to care for others.

He sat next to the shaking man who as expected turned his head away from him. Caleb discreetly placed his bread on the man’s plate. He knew he would suffer from hunger for this later. But contact had to be made and bribery seemed as good as anything. The man looked down at his plate and the bread Caleb had placed there was gone in a heartbeat. He ate fast and before he left he gave a nod of thanks. Well that was a start he thought.

The next day the same thing happened and Caleb knew he would have to deal with the big Tattooed man soon, or he would slowly kill this poor man through starvation.

Again Caleb gave the man his bread and this time he looked up and spoke.

‘He will keep taking it from me you know.’ The man stuttered nervously. ‘Why do you let him take it’? The frightened man then told Caleb of the beatings, when he had first arrived here. The first time the bread was taken he had resisted. But that was the last time he had tried to stop the food being taken. He had lost so much weight during his six months on Redeem. If he did not eat properly soon he would slowly wither away and die here. The guards did nothing to protect the weak at the prison.

‘What is your name my friend?’ asked Caleb.

‘My name?’ He had not been treated well since his arrival here. In six months he had almost forgotten the man he was back on Earth.

‘My Name is Dillon. My name here is 095’

They had stripped Dillon of all identity and the prison world of Redeem had nearly killed him. Caleb would have to work fast on getting out, before he became as feeble as this poor man seemed.

’It is good to meet you Dillon. I am Caleb; they gave me a number when I arrived here as well, but I will not use it.

‘You will. Give it some time but you will learn to forget the man you were.’

This may well be for any other mere man, but the son of Dorn Bruce was learning his capabilities. Soon he would find a way to leave, and deal with all who had wronged him. He did humour Dillon though. Appearances had to be maintained, for now.

‘Perhaps you are right my friend.’

Caleb swallowed another spoonful of the gruel. He would have felt better with the bread his new companion was devouring. But any contact was worth it.

‘Why do all the other inmates shun me? They are allowed to speak to each other but none will talk or come near me.’

This had been a blessing over the first few days, as Caleb would watch the other new recruits get terrorised by the veteran gangs of the prison. But no one had spoken to him until now.

‘They think you are here to spy on them. The message went out to us all to not speak with you. I’ll be punished for this conversation, but no one has shown me any kindness here until you. They will hurt me any way; maybe they will be kind enough to end my misery once and for all.’

‘Why do think I am a spy.’

Caleb had suspected this from the other inmate’s reaction to his lack of injury on his first morning.

‘It was because you were hardly touched by the guards when you arrived. That never happens, Captain Wellin likes to hurt the new arrivals, and you hardly had a bruise. Are you a spy? I don’t care either way, I’m doomed here.’

‘No, I am not a spy, I don’t expect you to believe me but I heal very fast.’

Dillon shrugged his shoulders to say he didn’t really care about this young man’s story. He twitched nervously as the tattooed man sat to join them.

‘Are you going to introduce me to your new friend?’ He asked Dillon.

‘H…he, he just started talking to me I didn’t.’ The man put his hand up to silence the stuttering Dillon. ‘I’ll see you later about that.’ He glared at Caleb. ‘If you don’t like the bread here, then it comes to me.’ As the man was explaining the rules of the prison, more sinister looking men sat around their table. The other men were also covered in tattoos.

‘You can sit here today boy.’ The man opposite smirked.

‘But you don’t get to sit here and keep your bread.’ He reached over the table and picked up the bread Caleb had given to Dillon. He had wanted to keep a low profile, but it dawned on him very quickly that to let these men do as they wished was to invite all comers to try. So he had to make an example of the men attempting to dominate him. He looked at the man opposite him with a cold stare. The bullying inmate was obviously not expecting defiance from the young new comer, and stared back just as intensely before adding.

‘And don’t you ever look me or my crew in the eyes unless you are into pain.’ Caleb started laughing at the absurdity of the remark. It would be so easy to break this man. They would see a youthful prisoner. That did not know his place. They would be wise not to push too far.

‘I am well acquainted with pain gentlemen, by all means you’re welcome to try and inflict it. But before you do, I must inform you that if you don’t put that bread back onto my plate right now. Then you will force me to inflict some pain of my own.’ Caleb said, pointing calmly towards the one who had threatened him.

The man looked furious; this wasn’t a response he and his gang were used to. The boy had just disrespected him in front of his crew, and now he would hurt him.

His hand reached over the table to grab the young inmate’s shirt and he had probably pictured punching him, until his boyish face was a mess of blood. The guards wouldn’t stop it he doubted. Before his hand even reached him Caleb caught the man’s wrist with two of his genetically modified hands, and then casually broke the man wrist with a twist. The man screamed at the sudden break and stared down at his hand that were now pointing back at him at an unnatural angle.

Caleb released him and stood facing the other three men, who looked at their leader dumbly. This indecision lasted only but a second, as they all set upon him at once. Caleb had been instructed in several of the martial arts since he was a child and he had mastered each discipline with ease, beating every opponent save the Master instructors themselves, who would still struggle with him.

What helped to enhance this ability was the processing speed of his brain, which made his reactions superhuman. The onlookers would see a flash of movement, but to Caleb the men almost moved in slow motion, and he ducked under the first punch and blocked another attacker with the tray that his food was on. In a flow of movement he struck one of the men under the jaw with an uppercut that was so hard, the man was unconscious before he even hit the ground.

Caleb took a step back and the pair rushed at him. It was a planned retreat, designed to let your opponent walk on to a sudden thrust forward. With the two coming at him hard, he took a jump forward into their direction and brought his knee up into the face of the nearest man. Before the other one even had a chance to respond, Caleb then dropped into a crouch and spun around with a straight leg that swept the last of the attackers of his feet. Finally he delivered a blow that was an open handed chop to the man’s neck.

Then silence. He rose and looked instinctively for other threats, but all he could see was a room full of hard, wide eyed men in shock at what this boy had done to one of the prisons most hardened gang members. A guard walked over to Caleb with his truncheon in hand. But he did not strike a blow that he expected. Instead he stopped in front of him. ‘Follow me boy. Try anything and I’ll have you thrown in the yard without a coat.’ He turned and Caleb followed him leaving the four unconscious men lying where they fell.

In the corner of the canteen sat a very old Asian inmate who had watched every detail of the fight that had taken place. He knew that this boy was no ordinary prisoner. The men he had dispatched were now being dragged away by the guards. He had forgotten many things since he was brought to this god forsaken planet all those years ago. But combat was bred into the old Master. Just as it had been this young man.

He would need to find him and warn him. It was clear he could take care of himself, but the men who had attacked him were part of a much larger gang. They would not tolerate that kind of humiliation without some kind of pay back. The gang was called the mine hounds and they pretty much left him alone out of respect of his abilities. They would not leave this boy now though. Not after this.

He would seek him out and do what he could.