Chapter 4

It was dark when they heard an almost imperceptible sound of crackling pine needles a few feet away. The group looked at each other in silent fear. Margaret's senses were on alert now, waiting for any sign of danger, her body prepared to flee at any moment. More pine needles crackling, closer this time. Slowly, Kariss reached down to grasp a baseball sized rock in his hand. Abruptly, a ragged figure stumbled into view and tripped, landing right in front of them. Margaret, Beno and Kariss all sprang to their feet at once. Then, to Margaret's sincere confusion, Beno started laughing.

"What the-" she started to say but then looked down at the man who had landed in their midst. "Oh Alistair!" She exclaimed in delight. Alistair grinned up at them, his wire rimmed spectacles cocked at an outrageous angle. "I can hardly go two steps without tripping in this dark."

Beno was leaning against a tree now, wheezing and holding his side. "Man I needed that. For goodness sakes Alistar, I thought you had come to drag us back to the NPK."

"Is that what happened to you all? You were captured?" Alistair's eyes were wide with concern. When they nodded, he said "I can't tell you how worried I was when you didn't come back. I waited at the riverbend for a while but I was afraid someone would see me so I moved into the woods."

Alistair looked forlornly at Kariss's blackened eye and bruised arms. "So they're really serious about finding me." He whispered.

Kariss managed a weak smile. "I said I didn't know you, but I don't think they bought it."

The grumbling of Margaret's stomach had reached a crescendo pitch and she finally gave in. "Alistar, you still have a pack right? Do you have any food?"

"Oh, right." Alistair said and shuffled off a ways to retrieve his pack. When he returned, he drew out a food bag from the tattered old backpack. "Let's see, there's not much left but we do have some crackers, power bars and an apple."

They divided the food among themselves and though it was a sorry excuse for dinner, Margaret was delighted to contribute anything to her grumbling stomach.

When they were finished eating, Kariss said "Alistair, you've seen the state the NPK left me in and it proves just how desperate the NPK is to find you. If we're going to go any farther with this, I think it's time you tell us why they're looking for you."

Alistair seemed to think for a moment, then reached a decision. "You're right. You deserve to know." His creased face seemed older as he recalled his story for them.

"Before Mikal was president, I worked for the government in the capital, Beair. After Mikal took power, I thought about leaving but decided to stay anyways. My position was low enough that no one thought to fire me. By a series of unlikely events, I became privy to some information about the plans of the NPK that is extremely sensitive. I suppose they want to find me before I can tell anyone else what I know."

Margaret cut in "But what is it that you know?"

"Mikal has issued orders for Kryon to invade Cisilon on september 10th."

"My God that's 8 days from now." Kariss exclaimed.

Alistair nodded. "So you can imagine how it would put a wrench in their plans if I were to cross the border into Cisilon and spread that information around."

"Oh my gosh." Margaret whispered. "I know Mikal throws around a lot of aggressive rhetoric but I never really thought he would act on it."

"He thinks himself restoring the prestige of Kryon." Beno said bitterly.

Kariss was indignant as he said "As far as I'm concerned, Kryon had plenty of prestige until only a few years ago when the damned NPK showed up."

Margaret almost laughed at the indignation in Kariss's voice. The way he portrayed the situation made it seem ridiculous that Kryon would ever listen to someone like Mikal in the first place.

Beno said "We should get going. The sooner we get to the border, the better."

They made their way to their feet and looked around.

"Beno, everything is dark" Margaret said. "How are we going to know where we're going?"

"As long as we head West, we'll hit the border eventually. The sun set that way" he pointed to the left. "So we need to head that direction."

"I don't mean to be a downer, but don't you think it's likely we'll end up walking in circles." Kariss said.

Beno threw up his hands. "Do you have a better idea?"

"I think Beno's right" Margaret said. "We can't afford to wait here. Once the moon rises, we can use it to get our bearings."

With that they set out, stumbling deeper into the dark forest.

As Margaret's eyes adjusted to the dark, she was able to make out outlines better. She noticed Alistar move up to walk beside her.

"I'm glad you all escaped." He said.

"Me too. I don't know what I would have done if we hadn't."

Suddenly, the pressure of the million thoughts Margaret had had about Joumon in the past day became too much to hold in. She had to say something, to get all that confusion and hurt out of her head.

She said "I saw someone at the NPK camp that I used to know a few years ago."

Alistair looked over at her. "Really?"

Margaret nodded. "I loved him, when I knew him in Beair, and now he's changed. It was terrible, he was so angry and cold. He's the one who interrogated Kariss."

"What are the odds that you just happened to be in the same camp as him."

Margaret grimaced. "It's weird isn't it? I can't stop thinking about him now. It's like I can't reconcile the two versions of him that I've known. What worries me is that it seemed like it was extremely important to him to find you, and if it is then he'll be looking for us."

"I'm sure many people are looking for us." Alistar said mildly.

"You know, I almost want to see him again. A few years ago when we were together, he left to join the NPK and I never stopped missing him. Even though I saw him in the worst context I can imagine, it still felt good to finally see him. It felt like coming home."

Their conversation subsided as they started up a steep slope, the first of the mountains.

It was a long night of hiking. They picked their way through the mountains silently, never daring to slow down or take a break. About the time Margaret thought her legs would finally give out, they arrived at the edge of a clearing. It was early morning now, and they huddled in the bushes at the edge of the forest to survey the terrain in the grey morning light. In front of them was a wide swath of cleared land that rolled on to the left and right. With a flutter of excitement, Margaret spotted a fence about 200 yards away that followed the cleared land. "That must be the border." She whispered, pointing at the fence.

Alistair grinned. "I believe it is."

"Wait a second" Beno whispered, motioning for silence. He cocked his head to listen and as they crouched there Margaret heard it too. It was the sound of footsteps crunching through the woods behind them. They were coming closer and now she could hear voices too.

"They followed us." Kariss whispered. "It has to be them, they followed us."

Then Beno pointed to the left at a jeep that had just come around a bend as it followed the border.

Margaret's stomach dropped.

"There has to be at least six soldiers in there." She said.

Now they were being closed in on both sides, with nowhere to go.

Margaret looked around at Beno, Kariss and Alistar. "What do we do?"

Kariss sighed heavily. "What can we do? We're caught." His whole body seemed to sag in on itself as he accepted defeat. Margaret started to protest but just then a group of soldiers emerged from the bushes a few feet away. One of them signaled to the men in the Jeep while three others grabbed the fugitives and lashed their hands together behind their backs. The soldiers marched them into the clearing and tossed them in the dirt. Margaret tried to prop herself up next to Alistar. His face was drawn tight with bitter disappointment and she felt the same disappointment rise in her own chest. How could they have gotten this far only to have freedom snatched away from them by 200 yards? For Alistar it would be the worst since he knew about the invasion. With a start, it occurred to Margaret that he might not even be allowed to walk off this spot alive.

She squeezed his hand and whispered "We did our best."

He smiled faintly. "We've had a good run of it haven't we? I'm proud of you kid."