Close to an hour passed without any change. There was more daylight now, allowing him to see more clearly, with even the different shades of green on the guards’ uniforms now becoming apparent. Jaden used the opportunity to learn more of the guards. The guard on the left of the opening was a thin man, not much taller than Jaden if he stood, and on the right was the typical soldier the Alliance was known for; broad shouldered and a giant in height. Both had hardened, unflinching expressions and were completely upright. He could make out several of the lookout towers clearly now, one or two of them empty, while the others had turned off their spotlights. This would be his last chance to move before sunrise.
He had been contemplating one possible route into the fort. It had hindered his movements in Tennagen matches, but now it could come to his aid. The stream ran directly through the centre of the field. If he could get to it, he could swim underneath the fort’s walls. It was only another twenty yards from where he sat. It was a risk, and he needed to be able to hold his breath for at least a full minute as he swam gradually forward, but it was a chance he could not forgo. It may have been the only one he’d ever get.
Again with as much care as possible, he made his way north through the ferns. He had done this many times in the past as a child, pretending he was wandering through mazes as he hid from his friends. It brought back fond memories that warmed his heart a little, but the feelings did not, knowing that those he sought to hide from now would do more than just capture him. For every second he was here so close to the Alliance, his life was in constant danger.
He reached the stream a few yards from the tree line. There was better visibility here. He could be seen easily. He wanted a safe place to enter the water in case he gasped audibly from the cold. He put one foot in first, sliding it onto the bed below before putting his next foot in and allowing most of his body to submerge. The water was not as cold as he had expected, but it had been polluted with oils and debris from the attack. He would not swallow any, nor would he open his eyes when he was under the surface, in fear of what toxins might poison him.
He waded forward along the bank, using the rocks to pull himself along when he could, and then at the outer band of trees, he took one final deep breath and kicked to the bottom. He stayed along the edge, even under water, hoping to be hidden by the rocks that he used to move himself forward with. The wall was only another ten yards away, but he needed as much of his breath as possible to come up for air again without making a sound.
Blindly he swam, trying to feel a difference in pressure or judge the light around him to know that he had reached the wall. When both failed, he guessed that he had reached it by how far he had swum and quickly came up for air. The surface was broken only slightly, not enough to rouse any attention, but he was still several feet from the wall. Taking another breath, he swam downward again, this time touching the wall but then coming to a halt. Halfway under, he found he could swim no further. There were bars, crisscrossed all the way along the width of the stream, blocking his entrance to the fort. He swam left and right, up and down, but it was no use. The entire way was barricaded. The fort was secured, even to the stream.
Quickly he swam back out from under the wall to get another breath, his heart almost skipping a beat as he broke the surface another time. There was a man kneeling just a few yards away from him. If he were to look over his shoulder, he would have seen Jaden immediately. Jaden guessed he was saved only by how little sound he had made when he came up, and the low visibility underneath the wall. But neither seemed true, as the man was quite busy doing something on the ground with his ears covered.
Jaden swam to the other side of the stream to get a better look. The man was using several instruments, each in a seemingly random order on top of a black box. Without warning, the man quickly got up, taking his instruments with him and then placing the black box another fifteen yards away to the east. There he repeated the process, taking several minutes to complete it. When he was done, he stood up again and moved to the next position, another fifteen yards south. Jaden glimpsed a red beam come alight between the first two points before dulling again, two black devices now evident.
When he heard a shout from behind him inside the walls, his curiosity of the devices disappeared and he made his way back underwater. He soon returned to the place outside the opening, where the two men still stood guard. He had been even more cautious in his return, as the man who used the strange instruments seemed to be making his way along the entire wall. Jaden had had to wait for him to finish and move on before he was able to go forward, making the journey back even longer.