“We’ve loosened some of the floor planks,” he explained quickly. “Women and children will be able to hide down in the crawl space below the barracks when we make our move. They should be safe there. You can wait there with your family if you want.”
“I don’t know,” Lim said.
“Don’t force my hand,” Prync warned.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know all the facts behind your situation,” Prync said, “but I do know that the only reason they’ll let you go is because they know you won’t pose a security risk. You probably convinced them that you won’t mention anything about this camp or the poppy fields. Am I right?”
Lim stared at Prync. Yes, that had been part of his arrangement with the commandant, but he saw no point in divulging any specifics so he remained silent.
“What if the commandant was to find out that you’d told some of us that you were actually a spy for the south?” Prync suggested. “How do you think that news would be received?”
“You’d be lying,” Lim countered. “I’d tell them as much.”
“It’d be your word against mine,” Prync said. “And I know how paranoid these people are. Trust me, the smallest kernel of doubt grows fast in their minds.”
Lim felt trapped, backed into a corner. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to lend a hand to Prync’s cause. The risk to his loved ones was too great. If the revolt failed—and Lim felt in his heart that Prync’s plan would never succeed—the guards would have no problem finding anyone hiding in the crawl space beneath the barracks.
“Well?” Prync said. “Are you with us?”
Lim tried to stall. “If you have no qualms about lying,” he told Prync, “why not just go ahead and tell this person you need to contact that I’ve agreed to help? You don’t need my approval.”
“It wouldn’t work,” Prync countered. “I told you, I know these people. Once I go to them, they’ll come to you for confirmation. They’ll want your personal assurance.”
“Give me a few minutes,” Lim bartered. “I’ll give you an answer once we’ve had rations. Before we’re sent out to the mines.”
The other prisoner hesitated a moment, then said, “Fair enough. I wouldn’t have confided in you if I didn’t think you could be trusted to do the right thing. Think it through, and you’ll see that it’s best for all if you help us.”
Prync walked off, joining the other prisoners he’d conspired with during the night. The men were all watching him, and their look of expectation only added to the burden of responsibility Lim felt weighing on him. Prync had assured him he’d do the right thing, but what was that? Was it right for him to put his family and friends in harm’s way to help these men with their doomed conspiracy? He just couldn’t see the merit of it. He sympathized with the men’s plight, and if there were a way for him to empty his personal coffers and buy the freedom for everyone in the camp, he would. But this? What Prync was asking was sure lunacy. Lim had already subjected his family and friends to enough horror; how could he turn around and put their lives on the line in a lost cause? Lim didn’t see any way that he could go along with the scheme and live with himself.
Lim took in a deep breath, fighting back the sickness in his heart as he slowly trudged across the floorboards to his family.
His wife saw the look on his face and asked him, “What is the matter? What did he want to see you about?”
Lim didn’t want to trouble U-Pol with specifics, so he hedged from the truth.
“Extortion,” he muttered. “He found out who I am and wants money from me.”
“We don’t have any money,” she responded. “Not on us.”
“That’s what I told him,” Lim answered. “I told him I couldn’t help him.”
“We’d help them if we could,” she said. “They have to know that. But there’s nothing we can do for them.”
“No,” Lim agreed. He didn’t want to talk about the matter any further, so he said, “Let’s put this behind us. We have another day to get through here, so let’s just do it and keep our minds on the fact that soon we’ll be free.”
A guard appeared, ordering the prisoners to leave the barracks for rations. As the prisoners began to slowly file out, Lim pondered his situation further. There was one option he hadn’t considered. He could go to the commandant and divulge the conversation he’d just had with Prync. Lieutenant Corporal Yulim would be grateful, and Lim’s disclosure would likely further insure that he and his loved ones would be freed as planned. But just as quickly as the idea had crossed his mind, Lim dismissed it. If he betrayed Prync and the others, there would be harsh reprisals. Most likely there would be executions, and Lim suspected he would be forced to witness them. Did he really want that on his conscience?