Release(91)

They could hear the man on his comm. “A prisoner’s escaped from cell block A. Looks like Transman.”

Ariana peered over the desk and aimed her blaster.

“Ariana!” Keirth yelled.

She shot anyway.

The man’s voice cut off.

Keirth stood up. The man was down all right. He motioned with his head for Ariana and Tildy to stand. “Get his blaster,” he told Ariana. He nodded at Tildy. “For you.”

Tildy was wide eyed. “This is absolutely thrilling.”

Keirth turned his attention to the screens on the wall. He touched a few buttons and a console folded out. Good. “Might be thrilling for you, but it’s dangerous as hell, too.” He began to type on the console. “I’m going to try to lock down those lifts so that no one else can get down that way. That man got off information about us to someone. They’re going to be coming for us.”

Ariana returned with the man’s blaster and handed it to Aunt Tildy. “Can you do it?”

Keirth was typing furiously, trying to remember any of the standard override codes he knew. He typed in one. “Denied,” flashed the screen. Another. No dice. A third. “Accepted,” said the screen. “Lifts locked.”

Keirth nodded at Ariana. “I’ve locked them.”

“Is there another way out?” she asked.

“Let me see if I can pull up a building schematic,” Keirth said, typing again. It took him a few seconds and a few override codes, but then he had it. He pulled it up on one of the big screens so that they could all look at it. “There’s some steps right here.” He pointed at the screen. “But with the lifts not functioning, they’ll come at us that way.”

“This is the lowest level of the building,” said Ariana. “We’re underground. We have to go up to get out.”

She was right. Keirth scanned the screen again. He couldn’t see any other exits. They’d designed this place well if they were trying to prevent an escape. “Guess I unlock the lifts then.”

“But won’t they come down them then?” Ariana asked.

Keirth was doing his best to think quickly. “They’re probably already heading down the steps. They’ll be waiting for us on the main level, because that’s the easiest way out. But what if we went all the way up to here?” He pointed.

“But why would we—?”

She was interrupted by the sounds of feet clambering down the steps. “Drop your weapons!” yelled a voice.

Keirth tapped the console, typing in a code to unlock the lift. “No time to explain, sweetheart. Get in the lift.”

“Repeat. Drop your weapons!” yelled the voice.

Ariana and Tildy sprinted across the room, just as the lift doors opened.

Keirth leapt over the desk and dove into the lift. He jammed his hands on the door close button just as scores of armed policemen ran into the room they’d just been in.

“Fourth floor,” he said. “Fourth floor!”

Tildy touched the screen. The lift moved.

“Keirth?” said Ariana. “What are we doing?”

“There’s a fire escape on those schematics on the fourth floor,” said Keirth. “It’s right across from the lift. We get out, run across the hall, and go down those steps.”

Ariana’s eyes lit up. She hugged him. “You’re brilliant.”

“Oh dear,” said Tildy. “The driver doesn’t know to meet us there, does he?”

“Well, call him on the comm!” said Ariana.

* * *

“You know,” said the prince, sitting in the back of his speeder with Tramet, “you really should have told me about this earlier.”

“I only found out about the boy myself a few months ago,” said Tramet. “I wanted to find him first before I said anything. And as I said before, I hardly thought Cecily’s indiscretions had been with you.”

The speeder rounded a corner. They were pulling alongside the side of the prison building. Tramet leaned forward to look out the window. Three people were climbing down a fire escape. And one of them was... “That’s Keirth. He’s there.”

The prince pushed him out of the way. “On the fire escape? He’s breaking out of jail?”

Tramet hit a button to roll down the window. “Keirth,” he called. “Keirth Transman.”

Keirth looked up in alarm. He pushed the two women with them into a waiting speeder, sighting the prince and Tramet with his blaster as he climbed in after them.

“Don’t shoot,” yelled Tramet. “We only want to talk.”

The speeder took off down the street.

The prince banged on the divider between them and the driver. “Follow that speeder!” he bellowed.