The stolen land cruiser stopped at the source of light, a few miles past the exit gate.
Judy climbed down from the vehicle and asked in a muffled voice, "The Undiscovered Country!"
"From which no traveler has returned!" replied the lantern holder, completing the familiar quote.
Pete also got out, and the three of them hugged each other. The other two were wearing similar brown khaki attire.
"It's great seeing you again!" Judy said.
"It will be a long night," Pete replied.
"We all have to travel much farther than ever. Things have to change for the better." Judy was lost in her thoughts.
She gazed towards the sand dunes, checking the formation of a sandstorm. Worried, she asked Pete, "Is it possible to go?"
"Do we have any other choice?"
Judy grew silent, looking worried, and the three quickly returned to the land cruiser. Pete started the engine, raised the headlights, and drove toward the dunes. The path was uneven, covered with sand from disuse.
The vehicle skidded, briefly stopping at a rocky area. They fell silent as they approached the sandstorm, and Pete failed to pick up speed. The tires skidded again, and the vehicle was pushed into an unknown area. Judy frantically held the dashboard. The messenger clutched firmly onto the seat, rattled by the strong, bumpy movements. Pete gripped the steering wheel, unable to see anything ahead.
The winds were moving at a rapid speed, rising up to a thousand feet above the ground. The vehicle slammed into a large rock, where it became stuck. The impact threw them in all directions, and the left side window broke, but they were ultimately saved, secured against the rock which acted as a wall.
*********************************************************************************************************
The Imperial Building of the Ghost City
Power had been restored to some quarters but was not yet fully functional as engineers worked on the system. Security around the power room had been increased to prevent any unauthorized entry.
Admiral's Office
The Admiral, Mitra, Stella, Captain Preston, and a few other personnel were in a meeting with the security team, who stood at attention. Mitra felt exhausted; he naturally hated being part of meetings. The discussions about who does what and what needs to be done felt useless to him.
Arjun took a dig at the security team about the breach. "How careless! This breach of security is going to be heavy, not just on you, but on me! You know the consequences. How is it that we did not know there was a rebel spy in our midst, and I can't believe how easily that person escaped from our clutches? Find them! Find them all. There cannot be any more mistakes."
The Admiral dismissed everyone except Mitra and Stella.
Stella spoke first, scrolling through security footage on her tab. The escapee had kept her head lowered throughout, but they could see the name on her shirt. "So, it was Jaina, then!"
"That explains her illness! How come we didn't know she was a rebel?"
"She doesn't fit the profile or background, whereas Judy is a more likely suspect."
"Unfortunately, she is dead!"
"A land cruiser that was scheduled to leave at that hour didn't return," Stella noted.
"That makes two rebels," Mitra said.
"Then it must be one of Preston's men!" the Admiral said, his voice sharp.
"Possibly."
"You tell me then, what to do?" Arjun asked Mitra.
"I thought you should be telling me what to do. You are THE ADMIRAL, RIGHT!" Mitra retorted.
"You are in charge!"
"Well, there's this storm, so we can't go out at this hour. By morning, you'll sanction the troops for the search after we confirm the rebel spot. As we go, we hunt, and I take on Gayatri. Even if they survive the storm, the nomads of the Neutral Territory will see someone and inform us, one way or another. What do you think?"
"Fair enough! I will ask Preston to keep their troops ready for combat," the Admiral conceded.
"Sure thing." Mitra then turned to Stella. "Is it fine for you, Stella?"
"Absolutely, fine! I will try to contact the search party," Stella replied.
"Done!"
Mitra looked at them, then turned toward the window, gazing outside. Get ready! The final task! Mitra left the room.
Arjun and Stella were now alone.
The Admiral placed his hand on her shoulder, his voice trembling. "How is Sheila? How is my son? Are they alright?"
Stella held his hand, her voice shaking, too. "They are shaken, but they're alright now! They are inside the bunker; I've put two security guards to look after them. But Sheila, she is afraid."
Arjun clenched his fist in anger. "These rebels ruined everything. I despise them so much. Sheila was praising the rebels during dinner, but now she's gotten a taste of the fear they're capable of! Killing innocents, when they also need resources!"
Stella looked at him, silently holding his hand. "We need to hold everything together. Let Mitra and Preston do their job. After that, we can ask for retirement."
"The Governor will never accept it."
*********************************************************************************************************
Nomadic Settlement
After the storm swept away toward the Ghost City, the sky cleared up in the dunes. The land cruiser was completely covered with sand.
Judy and Pete tried to open the hood. Some sand spilled out. Pete pushed the button while Judy and the messenger pushed the hood manually with all their strength. It moved just a bit, and they screamed, straining against the weight. They tried again; it moved completely, and the sand on the cover fell onto them. They shut their eyes to ensure no sand entered their masks.
They stepped out of the vehicle and looked up at the beautiful blue sky of the Orient. The storm must have cleared the pollutants for the moment. The view was unbelievable: sparkling stars and a bright moon in the infinite space. They held hands and prayed silently for a better future. They removed all the sand from the vehicle and took their seats.
Pete started the vehicle and drove toward the dune.
The night was ending as they reached the Nomadic settlement in the Neutral Territory. They crossed the bigger dune, finally heading toward the rocky terrain. They passed a few rocks and boulders to reach the caves.
Pete stopped the land cruiser. The guard challenged them, "Take arms against the sea of troubles!"
"By opposing end them!" Judy replied.
"Welcome back, Judy! We have been waiting for you!" the guard said warmly, hugging the others. "Well done! All okay?"
"Never better!"
"Well done! Check the other vehicles!"
"Sure."
He turned to Judy. "Every day, Gayatri waits for you in the evening."
Judy quickly asked, "How is she?"
The guard answered, "She's preoccupied. We do not ask much."
Judy's voice was aggressive. "Take me to her."
"Follow me."
Judy followed him. They went inside the cave, and a door slid up. Once they entered, he shut it down, switched on the air purifier, and Judy removed her mask, placing it on the table as a bit of sand fell out. Both walked toward the lift, which had the appearance of a cage. They entered, and it went twenty feet underground.
Judy remembered that this cave was used by miners of the past to extract minerals for energy supply, similar to abandoned caves used as rebel bases and Imperial Outposts.
She was distracted by her thoughts. Here we are! This tyranny has to end! Either them or us! But what are we then… we fight, we always fight, without a winner in the end! And who dies? The commoners die!
The contraption halted. The guard opened the front end and led the path. First, they crossed the ammunition rooms, covered with dusty white fabric. Judy lifted one of the coverings and looked at a few of the weapons. They were old, rugged, and full of dirt. She felt gratitude toward the rebel sympathizers who provided them with clothing, food, water, and weapons, facing treason, house arrest, and torture in the process. She remembered one particular rebel sympathizer—the name escaped her—who was electrocuted to death in the Chamber by an Imperial Officer in the Ghost City. That person gave out the location of a rebel base in the south, but the Imperials showed no sympathy and he died.
After witnessing the torture, she became traumatized and scared to sleep peacefully, fearing she would be exposed or caught for being a rebel spy. She never wanted to witness it again. She collected herself, left the room, and followed the guard.
Always trust in humanity, not the inhuman procedure. But the crimes… cannot be forgiven…
They walked toward a room with shut doors.
The guard knocked, and a voice responded, "Come on, in!"
He opened the door, revealing a woman cleaning the room, wearing a rugged blue dress. Her jacket and weapon strap were kept nearby on a hanger. She had wrinkles on her face, and as she tried to stand up from the floor, she winced with a back pain caused by old age. Otherwise, she appeared perfectly fit.
She was arranging all the toys that were scattered across the room by the children of this post: small cars, dolls, old teddy bears, block sets, and a few board games. This was not the only rebel post; they established them on a strategic basis. Gayatri, being the leader, was respected among all the rebels and tribes. She was an important rebel leader, the heart of the movement. She received support from rebels in the Northern, Eastern, Western, and Southern Territories. Rebel families were part of their cause to unite the world and end the Imperial Regime, making every resource, especially water, available to common people and restoring Mother Earth to its prime.
"Gayatri, look who's back!" the guard said.
"Welcome home, Judy, my child! You have really caught me at the wrong time, as I was teaching those little children!" Gayatri said.
Judy looked at her and hugged her. "It doesn't look much like a classroom anymore!"
"Was it ever, Judy?" Gayatri smiled as she held her affectionately. "I missed you!"
"It's been a long time!"
They finally let go of each other. Judy looked at the toys and smiled. It reminded her of her own childhood. She remembered how Gayatri adopted her, as she did with most of the children orphaned at a very young age. Some children's parents worked for the Imperials but were imprisoned or killed; others escaped or were let go by good-hearted Imperial officers and brought to the rebels. But Gayatri never taught the children to pick up a gun; she believed proper education and the protection of Mother Nature would make the world a better place for the younger generation and the future.
As Gayatri looked at Judy, her mind returned to the present, and she repeated, smiling, "It doesn't look much like a classroom anymore!"
"Little ones, aren't they! Always a mess! That is the beauty! You will learn it when you become a mother!" Gayatri said joyfully.
"Every one of us calls you mother!"
"Haven't I raised most of you? Even the elder ones!" Gayatri smiled and turned to the guard. "You may leave, Pritam!"
"Yes, Gayatri! Shall we get ready?"
"Yes, Pritam! The time has come! The Imperials will be here!" Her voice became authoritative. "Alert for defense. Get the bus ready for the kids; they have to leave early before the Imperials come."
"Sure."
"Activate the power supply for the server before you go up."
Pritam left the room. Gayatri turned to Judy. "Did you get it?"
Judy brought the micro drive from her pocket and handed it to her. Gayatri blew the dust away. She walked toward the server room, followed by Judy. Gayatri checked the server. Pritam activated it from the power room. She activated the system board, and a hologram appeared.
As the system stabilized, Judy asked, "Do we have enough solar balance?"
"We have! Maybe we can run a small town too!" Gayatri laughed.
Judy looked worried, rubbing her hands together with excitement. "Good… good!"
The hologram displayed an entry screen requiring verification. A miniature camera popped out from the board, taking a photo and a fingerprint verification. The system booted again and confirmed the entry.
"Mother, there is someone in the Ghost City who has come for revenge to kill you!"
"Who isn't? These Imperials will never give me peace, and neither will I!" She laughed for a moment.
"But… there is a connection…"
The system stabilized and the main menu appeared.
Gayatri said, "Wait… let me finish this." She clicked the user confirmation password. Now, she was ready to navigate the system. She inserted the drive, and it appeared on the screen. There were program files inside. She activated the transfer through a binary logic gate code, combining the new data with the previously saved program. Like a puzzle, it found the missing loops of a map and plotted it automatically. A map was revealed.
Gayatri made a fist and hit the board out of sheer joy and happiness. "After all these years, I knew it! I knew… my god… it… it…"
Judy looked at the map with wonder. "Is it the paradise?"
"It is, Judy! THE PARADISE!"
Gayatri's eyes filled with tears as she continued, "The Lost Paradise!"
Judy clapped her hands. "That means…"
"Now, we have the chance to restore the world! By learning the ways of nature, where nature protects itself from any atrocities of the world! We were looking for it, we all did, for years, for generations… but we never found it because of such egoism among the people…"
"We can recreate everything that our forefathers loved!"
"And which was destroyed by their sons exploiting every single piece of it. We can't let the map fall into the wrong hands."
"If the Imperials had the plans all along, why didn't they make the world habitable?"
"The Imperials never wanted a solution for all mankind, except what met their selfish ends. They kept several coded data in different systems so that no one could decode and find it among themselves."
"And we never had unity because of them."
"Infusing hatred among all."
Judy was hopeful, working with Gayatri and finding the path to paradise. What a beautiful feeling, she thought. "Mother!"
"Tell me, my child!"
"I should be thankful to you for giving me hope, hope for a better world, to come out from the dark days… before the great fire, the smoke, the drought…"
"I am an old person, but I always thought the children of today are always the future of the world. If we preserve it, our children will have the gift of values to spread it from one life to the other, and it's a never-ending process. Nature is a gift to humankind. You hold it, nurture it, and preserve it for the future."
"I remember your teachings by heart from the day you found me in the labor camp and we escaped."
"I was so fed up after they killed some of the little children in front of my eyes… I couldn't take it anymore… That night, Judy… That night… I decided to escape with everyone. But your parents gave their lives to protect us… I cannot forget that horrible moment… I wish I could save them… not a day goes by…"
Teardrops fell from Gayatri's eyes, out of sadness and hope. Judy hugged her.
Judy quickly remembered, "Mother! That assassin…"
"Tell me… who is that person?"
"His name is Mitra, the bounty hunter who caught Pramnik's team. He confiscated some photographs from their belongings, and one of them is yours!" She brought out her miniature camera and slid the photographs one by one onto the screen.
Gayatri's body shivered for a moment. "Mitra!" She took a deep breath, fixing on one photograph. "This… this is Krishna."
"Mitra is Krishna's son! He believes you killed his father!"
She dropped the camera as she shook. "Oh god! No… it can't be… This… this is tactically dangerous!" Gayatri felt fear and collapsed onto the floor. Judy caught her and helped her onto the chair.
She rubbed her forehead, sweating, and muttered, "Unexpected! Well played, Governor! Well played!"
Judy looked puzzled. "Why are you saying this?"
"You know, Judy, Krishna and I, we go a long, long time back!"
To Be Continued: Chapter 5: The Hunt of the Rebels