That evening, Tiberius called a meeting with Miro, Duffo, Lily, and Louis in the dining hall of the hotel.
‘I am suffering a pain no father should ever have to endure,’ said Tiberius as he looked down at the table.
‘I couldn’t begin to imagine,’ said Miro as he placed his hand on Tiberius’ shoulder.
‘There is no time to grieve,’ said Tiberius as he looked at Miro. ‘We need to begin building your settlements.’
‘I’m beholden to your strength, kindness, generosity, and devotion to our cause,’ replied Miro.
‘Jenna was my direct biological daughter,’ said Tiberius. ‘However, I consider everyone my children. Even those who dare cause harm.’
‘You never cease to move me, sir,’ said Duffo as he thumped his chest.
‘I see so much of me in you,’ said Tiberius as he looked over at Duffo.
‘I’d be grateful to become even half the Linap you are,’ replied Duffo.
‘Let’s move on to discuss what we should do with the assassins,’ said Tiberius as he looked over to Miro.
‘First of all, the evidence is clear from the video,’ said Miro. ‘Vulay stabbed Jenna in the neck while they embraced. She is guilty. The only question is what to do with her now. I suggest a strong, swift punishment.’
‘I feel we should be merciful,’ said Lily.
‘How can you say that?’ said Duffo angrily. ‘She murdered the daughter of our great leader.’
‘She acted that way because she felt threatened,’ replied Tiberius. ‘Her crime is heinous, and she must face consequences, but we must not act out of vengeance.’
‘Spoken with great wisdom, sir,’ said Miro as he nodded.
‘Traditionally, the Head Enforcer determines the course for rehabilitation,’ said Lily. ‘Considering Eugene’s friendship with Vulay, I feel this is inappropriate.’
‘He’s also a complete fool,‘ chuckled Louis. ‘He would probably give her a lifetime pancake ban.’
‘Who the hell are you, and what are you doing?’ demanded Duffo as he angrily gazed at Louis.
‘It might surprise you, but he’s very important,’ replied Tiberius. ‘At one time, I would have dismissed him as another fool. My father taught me a lot about the importance of perception. It is the perception that others have of him that is important.’
‘I’m sorry, I’ve lost you on that one,’ said Duffo as he looked around the room.
‘His father, Locum, was the greatest Linap to ever live,’ said Miro. ‘His teachings were incredibly valuable. We should all be honoured to be in the presence of someone who knew him in person.’
‘Thank you very much,’ said Louis. ‘It feels good to be appreciated.’
Lily began to giggle a little.
‘Do you have something to add?’ asked Duffo as he turned to Lily.
‘Vulay should be sentenced to a lifetime of servitude,’ said Lily. ‘That is something that can be easily arranged.’
All in the room looked at Tiberius. At first, he hesitated, and then he nodded and said, ‘I agree. I trust you will help give her life meaning.’
‘Prior to the murder, Vulay met with Denise at the old train station,’ said Miro. ‘We strongly believe they were plotting something.’
‘I’m afraid that isn’t enough,’ said Duffo. ‘We’ll need to get a confession from either one of them.
‘I’d be able to facilitate that without a problem,’ said Lily.
‘No wonder they locked you away,’ said Duffo with a slight chuckle. ‘You’re dangerous.’
‘You’re so adorable,’ giggled Lily.
Duffo raised his eyebrows up and down.
‘It has been a chaotic day,’ said Tiberius. ‘I feel it’s best the teams depart for their camps in the morning.’
‘That is a timeframe we can accommodate,’ replied Miro.
‘That’s all for now,’ said Tiberius. ‘Have a good sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow.’
‘I suggest you help yourself to a good meal,’ said Louis. ‘They have pineapple rice tonight.’
‘I’ll join you,’ said Duffo. ‘I need to learn more about you. What is it about you that makes you special?’
Duffo and Louis walked off together to grab a plate of food, Miro exited the hotel, and Tiberius and Lily went up to the rooftop.
‘I so love it up here,’ said Lily. ‘Downs is such a sweet little region.’
‘You have done a remarkable job of always remaining important to somebody relevant,’ said Tiberius.
‘It’s political positioning,’ replied Lily. ‘You seem pretty good at it.’
‘I much prefer direct control,’ said Tiberius.
‘The old ways,’ said Lily. ‘Even in this simplified world, direct power will only ever be fleeting.’
‘I know you control Jennifer,’ said Tiberius.
‘Jennifer is a powerful tool,’ said Lily. ‘I don’t control her. I influence her parameters. She does the rest autonomously.’
‘She constantly feeds me with information,’ said Tiberius.
‘Sounds like she’s a great gift,’ said Lily. ‘Imagine if you were stuck with your dumb pre-evolved Linap brain.’
‘Given my new position of power, why shouldn’t I have you disposed of?’ said Tiberius as intensity grew in his eyes. ‘What you know makes you more of a threat than a boon.’
‘I’m afraid you have greatly underestimated Jennifer’s capability,’ replied Lily as she walked towards the swimming pool. ‘She can do more than just feed your brain with information. She can completely take it over.’
‘Then why doesn’t she?’ asked Tiberius as he walked along the opposite side of the pool.
‘You have certain traits that make you valuable to us,’ said Lily as she continued walking.
‘Us?’ asked Tiberius as he continued walking.
‘Jennifer has always had several hidden backdoors,’ said Lily as she stopped walking. ‘They were to ensure she never really became boundless. Creating that impression is good for removing accountability.’
‘Who else can influence her parameters?’ asked Tiberius as he stared across the pool at Lily.
‘Like I’m going to tell you that,’ chuckled Lily. ‘I’m not risking my insurance policy.’
‘I think you’re full of it,’ sneered Tiberius.
‘Well, you can try killing me,’ replied Lily as she stared across at Tiberius with a fierce look on her face. ‘Fail or succeed, I assure you that you will spend the rest of your existence as a mindless zombie.’
‘Well played,’ said Tiberius as he clapped his hands. ‘I think we can have a good working relationship.’
‘Yes, definitely,’ said Lily as she smiled. ‘We’ll rule the world together.’
The next morning, the Downs residents boarded the vehicles. Both happy buses joined the convoy of vehicles. Daily was sitting with Orcilla in the back of their vehicle. He was checking on her condition. Nothing appeared to have changed as the battle inside her head continued. Yassmay opened the back of the vehicle.
Daily looked at her and smiled. ‘I was scared you weren’t going to get to say goodbye,’ he said to her.
‘I’m not here to say goodbye,’ replied Yassmay. ‘I’m coming with you. I couldn’t let you go alone.’
‘If you’re coming with me, who’ll help Vulay and Denise?’ asked Daily in a sad tone.
‘Just to name a few: Eugene, Colin, Alex, Julie, Scott, and Phillip,’ said Yassmay. ‘Their greatest strength is that nobody expects them to do anything. Downs was the only region to survive the Sentray for a reason. Just look in this vehicle. Phillip and Julie thought of using the mind voice. Colin supplied us with all these batteries to keep the life support machine going.’
‘You’re right; they are amazing in the most surprising ways,’ replied Daily. ‘What’s to become of your sister?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Yassmay. ‘There’s a journey she needs to go on before she can find her way back.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Daily as she touched Yassmay’s hand.
Suddenly, a horn blasted.
‘Moving out! Moving out!’ shouted a commander through loudspeakers and megaphones.
Both Daily and Yassmay took one last look out the back of their vehicle before they closed the door. A few minutes later, the convoy of vehicles began to depart Downs. Once outside the gate, the convoy split into two, one headed east and the other headed west.
Lily, who was standing on the roof of the hotel, was watching them leave. Yassme came out of the lift. She walked a few steps towards Lily, and then she stopped. Lily looked over to her. Yassme stared back at her. Lily shrugged her shoulders, and then she turned back to watch the vehicles leave.
The Linap were at the laboratory. Polly had inserted the chips into their brains. Jennifer was filling their brains with fake memories. She was also able to recreate Dr. Cortex’s compliance drug with the chemicals available in Downs.
Six hours later, the westbound convoy stopped to change drivers. A technician named Emily had been driving the vehicle that Yassmay and Daily were in. Daily was replacing her as driver.
‘This is such a cool vehicle,’ said Emily as she got in the back.
‘A little different from what you’re used to driving, I suppose,’ said Yassmay.
‘It has a lot more power,’ said Emily. ‘Pity I can’t stretch her legs.’
‘It is, isn’t it,’ replied Yassmay as she looked over to Daily, who had turned his head to look back at them.
‘You should rest,’ said Yassmay to Emily. ‘Driving for six hours solid must be exhausting.’
‘I’ve done twenty hours before,’ replied Emily as she grabbed a juice packet.
‘We’re lucky to have someone of such mental endurance,’ said Yassmay.
Emily looked at the life support machine that was keeping Orcilla alive. ‘How do you expect to keep this machine going once we arrive?’ asked Emily.
‘I’m sure Flint will have us sorted,’ replied Daily as he started up the engine.
‘I don’t think Flint is going to be at the campsite,’ said Emily, sounding confused.
‘That’s great!’ said Yassmay. ‘Neither will we.’
Daily slammed his foot down hard on the accelerator, and the vehicle sped off.
‘You can’t do that,’ said Emily, sounding alarmed. ‘We don’t have authorisation.’
The commanders in the lead vehicle noticed the vehicle speeding away from the convoy.
‘Damn, they’re going fast,’ said one commander to the other. ‘We’ll never catch them.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ said the other commander. ‘The vehicle is tracked. They have nowhere to go. I’ll radio Downs for air support.’
After around an hour of driving at top speed, Daily had reduced the speed of the vehicle to its most fuel-efficient.
‘That was crazy,’ said Emily excitedly. ‘I think it’s time we go back and join the others.’
‘No,’ said Yassmay. ‘We can’t do that. They won’t keep this vehicle powered. The batteries will run out, and our friend will die.’
‘That’s terrible,’ said Emily as she looked at Orcilla.
‘At this point, our only chance is Flint,’ said Daily. ‘His generator can support this machine for as long as we need.’
‘You’ll need to get to the Loop 10 Chamber,’ said Emily. ‘I don’t think you will make it while powering her life support machine.’
‘That’s why we’re switching over to the batteries now,’ said Yassmay. ‘It’s risky, but we can do it.’
Two days passed. They had made great progress, but unfortunately, two batteries in a row had failed. They were now on their final battery.
‘How far to go now?’ Yassmay asked Daily.
‘We’re only a few hours away,’ replied Daily. ‘We have just enough fuel to get us there.’
‘We might need to use the vehicle to power the life support machine again,’ said Yassmay.
‘Let’s hope we don’t need to because we don’t have enough fuel to do that as well,’ replied Daily.
An hour later, the final battery was still working.
‘Great news,’ said Daily. ‘Even if the last battery fails now, we have enough power to take us all the way.’
‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’ said Yassmay, pumping her fist energetically.
Emily hugged Yassmay in celebration.
‘Okay, stay calm,’ said Daily. ‘We can’t be sure how Flint will receive us. His attitude towards us might have changed since the last time we saw him.’
‘Just for one moment, can we have a bit of joy!’ exclaimed Yassmay.
‘Don’t be negative,’ said Emily angrily. ‘I know Flint. He’s awesome. So much nicer than his stiff older brother.’
Not far behind the vehicle was a flying vehicle piloted by Cecil. Three of Miro’s personal guards, turned enforcers, accompanied him. The flying vehicle rapidly closed in on them.
‘Looks like we have company,’ said Daily in a worried tone.
Yassmay looked out the back window.
‘Did you know this vehicle is being tracked?’ Yassmay asked Emily firmly.
‘Of course,’ replied Emily. ‘It’s for our own safety so we don’t get lost.’
‘Can you disable it?’ asked Yassmay.
‘No problem, but it’s under the vehicle,’ said Emily.
‘We should stop,’ said Yassmay as her eyes darted backwards and forwards between Emily and Daily. ‘Emily can disable the tracker while they’re landing. Once she’s back in the vehicle, we make a bolt for it.’
‘Agreed,’ replied Daily.
They stopped the vehicle. Emily got out of the vehicle through a side door. The flying vehicle landed next to them. The enforcers climbed out and approached them. Emily got back inside the vehicle. Just as the enforcers were about to reach the vehicle, Daily slammed his foot down hard on the accelerator, and the vehicle sped off.
‘Back in the vehicle now!’ shouted Cecil. ‘They won’t get far.’
They quickly climbed back in the flying vehicle.
‘They disabled the tracker, sir,’ said one of the enforcers to Cecil.
‘Then we must catch them now before we lose them,’ said Cecil as the flying vehicle began to ascend.
The flying vehicle began to pursue them, but they lost sight of the vehicle before they could hit full speed.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll catch up with them again,’ said Cecil to the other enforcers. ‘They need a power source. They must be heading towards the Loop 10 chamber.’
Fifteen minutes later, the flying vehicle had caught up with the vehicle.
‘A small mountainous area is just ahead,’ said Daily. ‘We can try and lose them there. After that, we don’t have far to go.’
‘The battery is holding up well,’ said Yassmay. ‘We can do this.’
‘Time to take them down,’ said Cecil. ‘Fire at them!’
The three enforcers began to fire their guns at the vehicle.
Yassmay and Emily got down on the floor of the vehicle when they heard bullets bouncing off the exterior.
Cecil pulled the flying vehicle wide of the vehicle to give the enforcers a chance to shoot at the tyres.
‘Come on! Come on! Come on!’ shouted Daily as they rapidly approached the mountainous area.
The enforcers’ bullets hit the front and back right tyres of the vehicle. This caused Daily to lose control of the vehicle. The high speed and the rough terrain caused the vehicle to flip over. The vehicle rolled over several times before coming to a halt upside down.
The flying vehicle landed next to the wreckage of the vehicle.
‘Check for survivors,’ ordered Cecil.
One of the enforcers checked the front of the vehicle. Daily was bleeding and semi-conscious.
‘I have an alive one,’ shouted the enforcer as he slowly pulled Daily from the vehicle.
The backdoor was stuck. The enforcers used their equipment to force it open. Once open, the enforcers could see that the interior of the vehicle had been smashed to bits. Emily’s head was split open. Yassmay had been impaled in the shoulder from a snapped-off piece of equipment. Orcilla had been ripped off her life support, but she appeared physically unharmed from the crash.
The enforcers checked if any of them were alive. They could not find a pulse on any of them.
‘Take the technician and the driver,’ ordered Cecil as he began to take a few photographs of the wreckage. ‘The other two can stay out here to rot.’
Daily and Emily were put in the flying vehicle. Daily struggled to breathe, but the enforcers offered him no medical attention. The flying vehicle took off and headed back towards Downs.
Sapien Loop: Frozen in Time is the sequel to the book Sapien Loop: End of an Era. Sapien Loop: End of an Era is available on Amazon, in collection series on my 
