Chapter 104
Zabadule
After a restless night, guards came for Leo. They put him in handcuffs and snapped a violet bracelet around his left wrist.
“Not much point in your case, but all implant wearers are required to wear a violet bracelet to prevent confusion,” the talkative guard said. The guards wore yellow bracelets, presumably showing they weren't implant wearers.
Leo didn't respond as they dragged him to a large bus, took him to the back, and handcuffed him to his seat.
Curious, he watched people wearing violet or yellow bracelets stuff duffle bags and suitcases into the bus's luggage compartment and board the bus.
Finally, the current leader of the stadium implant wearers, Frank, got on, and the door to the bus swung shut. Frank stood next to the driver's seat and made an announcement.
“I've been told the Ascended One named Damien will fly our bus to Zabadule. He will be flying us low enough so we won't need oxygen, but we ask that you don't open any windows and we'll keep the heater going full blast to deal with the cold. Also, you may want to put on warm clothes.”
“Damien can carry our bus to Zabadule?” someone asked.
“He's assured me he can,” Frank answered. “There will be snacks, and entertainment in the form of music, assuming we can agree on what to listen to.”
Tentacles wrapped around the bus and the bus lurched as it rose in the air. Looking out the window, Leo watched other buses and vehicles take flight.
And they were off
Houses and cars looked tiny from their altitude, and you could hardly tell the city was abandoned. Damien accelerated, leaving the city behind. Frank had been right. It did get cold. The bus heater combined with the passengers' body heat to prevent them from freezing. Someone put on some music with a fast, pulsing beat.
Leo slept through most of the trip, perhaps because he'd slept so little the night before.
He woke up several hours later to see they were losing altitude and a mountain-sized stone outcropping grew bigger as they approached. Someone handed him a bag of peanuts and a Pepsi. He consumed them mechanically, though by this time he needed to use the bathroom.
The desert sun was setting, and between the wide-open red desert sand and the stone mountain, Leo had to admit Damien was right. Zabadule was a place of mind-boggling beauty.
Lights shined from openings in the mountain-size boulder. Their bus flew through a large hole at the base of the mountain, into a huge, well-lit parking garage containing, among other things, several small planes and a private jet.
The other passengers disembarked and wandered around. Leo stayed where he was. Not that he had a choice in the matter, being handcuffed to the bus seat.
He sat there for several more hours, watching the other passengers unload their bags and explore the area.
In addition to the human passengers, there were trucks with food and supplies and medical vehicles containing blood products.
“We got your cell ready for you, Leo,” the older guard said as they un-handcuffed him from his seat and took him out of the bus. After a long walk through the parking lot to an elevator, the guard hit a button for one of the lower floors.
“What's powering this place?” Leo asked, curious despite himself.
“Someone said there's an underground river that runs a hydroelectric plant,” the younger talkative guard said. “Aborigines lived here for thousands of years, hollowing out this stone outcropping to create a vast underground city. Then colonizers came and killed them all off. Cycle of life, I guess.”
“You shouldn't be talking to him about this, Ryan,” the older guard said. “He might cause problems.”
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“You won't cause problems, will you, Leo?” Ryan responded.
Leo didn't respond. Of course, he'd cause problems if he could. So far, he'd had no access to his skills, and they watched him too closely for him to escape. Who was he kidding? he thought miserably. He and the human race were screwed.
He had to admit his new cell was more pleasant than the last one. Warm brown padded walls surrounded him. A maroon steel door (the room's only entrance and exit) stood at one end of the room. On the other end, a small table fastened to the wall held a bookshelf with several books. “War and Peace.” “A Tale of Two Cities.” “Moby Dick.” And a few other thick classics. Nothing readable. To Leo's right was a narrow bed fastened to the wall, and to his left, a sink and toilet.
Exhausted from the trip, but sick of sitting down, Leo paced the small cell and tried not to think of how hopeless humanity's situation was.
***
Very little happened for the next two weeks. They brought Leo food, and once a day he was taken to a small gym and allowed to use the exercise machines for an hour under close supervision.
He even got to know his two personal guards, since they were the only people he could talk to. The quiet one was Ben and the talkative one was Ryan. They'd been part of the anti-Bio-Blessed movement and their stories were sad. Ryan's ex-wife had killed and eaten two of their three children before Ryan could get to them. Ben's only daughter had turned, and he'd been forced to kill her before she could eat his two grandchildren. Both guards had lost people close to them and were trying to take care of the family they had left.
Leo even messaged Liam.
Air-Mage 87: We're all very busy fixing the problems you helped create. No time to chat.
On the fifteenth day, the guards took him to see Damien.
“Nobody's saying much, but some crazy shit is about to go down,” said Ryan.
“What kind of shit?” Leo asked.
Ryan chuckled. “You'll see.”
They took him to a different part of the city. Damien met up with them, floating in the middle of the large hallway.
Leo had learned to recognize Damien by his enormous size and the shape of the eye formation around his squid-like body.
Damien's many eyes moved to focus on Leo, and he spoke. “I apologize for not visiting you earlier, but we have been busy. Are you enjoying your stay?”
“Considering I've been stuck in a cell, no,” Leo answered.
“That is unfortunate. You simply must watch the sunset from the roof of our city. It is a most beautiful view. But first, I must inform you, that a lot of what we're doing today involves you. I've volunteered to be your legal counsel.”
“Any chance I could request a human?” Leo asked.
Damien wagged a tentacle at him. “I would advise against it. That is the kind of speciesist anti-tentacle behavior we're trying to put an end to. All sentient species have a right to freedom and dignity, to live in peace and safety, and to have their physical and psychological needs met. We're bringing a brighter tomorrow into today.”
“If I hear that slogan again, I'm going to vomit,” Leo responded. “And why do I need a legal counsel?”
“For your trial, obviously,” Damien turned. “Come this way.”
The guards silently escorted Leo down the hall, up some stairs, and into the largest enclosed space Leo had ever seen, a vast amphitheater filled with people, human and monster sitting side by side. For long seconds, all he could do was stop and stare. Thousands upon thousands of beings, human and Boss alike, were in the audience, divided by nationality. America of course, and many flags he didn't recognize, but he was pretty sure Europe, Asia, and the Middle East were all represented. There were crosses, a star of David, and a large elephant he was pretty sure was Hindu. Many humans had binoculars. All the beings watched as Leo entered the amphitheater and was brought forward.
TV cameras followed Leo as he was seated at a table near the center of the amphitheater stage. It appeared he was the main exhibit. All these beings staring at him made his heart race. Leo looked around. What was going on? He shared the stage with some fifty people sitting at different tables. They either stared back at him or looked away.
“All rise.” Leo couldn't identify the speaker.
Leo was pulled to his feet as everyone stood.
A Boss and two humans, wearing black robes, entered the amphitheater and floated up/climbed some stairs to stand next to each other on a raised platform, looking down on Leo.
“This court with the Honorable Judges Nancy Moore, Andres Mosley, and Lenard Brent presiding is now in session,” the same speaker, the bailiff? said. “Please be seated and come to order.”
Everyone, including the three black-robed figures, sat down, or in the Boss's case, lowered themselves to the platform. Were the black-robed figures judges?
“The Boss used to be a judge?” Leo asked Damien quietly.
“A senior judge,” Damien responded, also quiet, “Apparently before the Change, being a judge was very profitable if you made the right rulings. The other two are human lawyers, selected to be sure there is no anti-human bias in the court's judgment. The three judges must agree on your sentencing.”
The giant Boss judge raised a large wooden hammer and brought it down.
“The court meets today to discuss accusations against Leo Edwards and the overwhelming evidence against him,” the bailiff said. “Will the accused please rise.”