SODIUM:5 Assault Read Free Page B

working for not much more than sustenance. It was a life I imagined I could not bear.
    Wallop then asked if they could return to their monitoring as several events were approaching that would require their full attention. I checked a timer on my audio implant and suddenly realized I had been talking to the Barhoo for over two hours. I had a moment of panic as I thought of Hershen awakening without his prisoner present. I gave the Barhoos a direct order to forget that I had questioned them and to mention it to no one. They each nodded as following orders was what they did.
    I turned and left the control room and quickly made my way back to my cell. I let out a sigh of relief when I discovered Hershen was still fast asleep. I sat beside him and shook him vigorously until he awoke. He was soon stumbling back down the hallway to finish out his rounds.
    Two more days passed before I received a call back from Command. It was the same junior officer I had spoken with earlier. I was told to hold my position as a new food war had just begun with the remaining armies of Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela combining to attack the rich farmlands of Brazil. Argentina and Chile had quickly aligned with the Brazilians in exchange for food credits. A similar war was already underway in the former Vietnam.
    The North American Alliance was diverting resources to bolster threats from the Euro-Russian Pact. There had been numerous instances of espionage against our military installations. As a result there would be no resources committed to my rescue or to stopping the aliens from absconding with our technology. Earth was at war with itself and the alien threat would have to be dealt with at another time.
    I was devastated by the news of what was happening at home. How could Man lay waste to Man when we had come so far together in our own defense? I was sure food supplies would be adequate if the same level of cooperation that was used against the aliens was applied. But Man had a suspicious nature and that suspicious nature often led to decisions based on emotion, wild thoughts and speculation rather than truths. We were often our own worst enemy.
    With the bad news, I lay in my cell contemplating my dilemma. If I waited for help to come I might die as a prisoner on some foreign planet, or perhaps be put into a zoo for other species to gawk at. There was also the chance that I would end up on the table as some scientific experiment aimed at enriching the minds of my alien captors. I began running the first thoughts of an escape and what that would mean through my head.
    Another two months passed and my explorations had taken me to every room on the three lower levels and many of the rooms on level-two. I knew where all the Kurtz slept in their stasis pods, I knew where the Barhoo were used as menial workers and I knew where the important ships systems and controls were located.
    I could only guess that the wars at home were not going well as I had lost communications with Command for several weeks. I wondered if there was anyone left to answer or if the QE comm link at Command had been destroyed. It was worries of home that I had to put aside as any concerns I had were speculative at best. I instead focused my thoughts and energies on my escape.
    I had finally worked up the nerve to attempt an exploit up to level-one. Over time I had acquired the necessary codes to move from floor to floor from the Barhoo standing at their consoles. I was surprised at the level of access they had when the right questions were asked. Security on the mega-ship was almost non-existent.
    I rode the elevators up to level-one and exited into the hallway beside a Kurtz guard. I immediately commanded him to take me to the stasis pod of Boota under the guise that I had important information that he wished to be awakened for. The guard looked confused until I gave him what I would consider the "evil eye".
    I was immediately escorted to the seventh hall and to a room that