[Gabriel]

A morning sunbeam cast through a small window woke Gabriel from a restless sleep. He rose from his cot, but then flinched as bolts of sharp pain shot through his shoulder.

Rolling the meal cart into the cell, Sura caught his eye. "Are you alright, Gabriel?"

The genuine concern projected by her eyes warmed him, bringing forth a small smile. "It's my shoulder." He supported his left arm against his stomach. "Hurt it during the fight."

She came nearer. "Let me look at it. Take your shirt off."

He grimaced as she helped him pull the black shirt over his head, then grinned at her. "Are you just trying to get me undressed?"

Sura helped him lie back on the cot, drawing down dark eyebrows. "Do not delude yourself. I have some medical training."

A dark bruise discolored Gabriel's shoulder and upper arm. He grunted from the discomfort as she probed the injury and manipulated the shoulder by pulling his arm up.

She said, "I watched the fight. You were amazing last night."

Gabriel smirked. "Usually when women tell me that, it is about something else."

Sura rolled her eyes, but grinned. "Do you ever cease?"

"Hey, you brought it up." A slight twist of his arm brought another twinge of pain and a grunt. Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "You did that on purpose."

Tilting her head, she smiled sweetly, then lowered his arm. "Nothing appears broken, but you have extensive tissue damage and maybe a torn rotator cuff. After we get out of here, get it scanned."

Gabriel lowered his voice. "Speaking of that, did you get the portable AI gateway?"

Glancing behind her, Sura replied, "Yes. It is in the cart. I will give it to you after I serve the food."

As she turned away, Gabriel touched her arm. "Any news of my sister?"

She shook her head. "Nothing of her. I am sorry, Gabriel."

An icy wave of dread chilled him. Please be well, Hope.

Sura served Gabriel last, passing a small tablet-like device to him with the food. As all the other prisoners busied themselves with eating, she whispered, "I took this from the Gamemaster. Whatever you plan, do it soon. It would not take him long to determine that I stole it."

Gabriel took the device in his lap and turned away from the others, including a guard who slumped in a chair on the other side of the bars, twirling a silver shock-baton in his hands. "No time like the present. I hope this works."

Sura glared at him. "What? You are not sure if your plan would work?"

He shrugged. "It probably will. Let's find out."

Gabriel activated the gateway with a finger touch. It spoke with a tinny electronic voice. "Enter authorization."

Here goes... "Sol override. Code sigma-omicron-lambda."

The device replied, "Enter biometric confirmation."

Gabriel held a finger against the miniature scanner on the back. Please work, please work...

The reply, "Identity confirmed. Override achieved, Empress," brought a sigh of relief from him.

"Alright, then!" he said with a half-smile. "Display security settings."

By now, many of the other prisoners took notice, some coming closer to look over Gabriel's shoulder. He turned and grinned at them. "Are you all ready to get out of here?" Turning back, he said, "Deactivate and lockout all security systems. Disable all alarms. Deactivate all prisoner monitor collars."

With a click, the green light on Gabriel's collar faded away, repeating for all the others in the cell. He reached up to his collar to hinge it open and toss it aside. Standing, he took off Sura's collar. "See? Like I said, no problems."

Sura's mouth dropped. "How... Did that..."

"I'll explain later. Let's go."

The other prisoners ripped off their collars. The guard gasped, but hardly had time to stand up before two prisoners bolted out the open cell door, growling as they pummeled him.

Cheering, the prisoners dashed out of the cell and down the hallway in bids for freedom. Shouts erupted from the distance as other cells emptied. Sura grasped Gabriel's hand, tilting her head in another direction. "I know a better way out."

She led him to a swinging metal door. They emerged into a large kitchen area, dominated by a block constructed central island under a wide metal ventilation hood. Several large kettles simmered on the induction heaters. On the far wall, rows of metal pots, arranged by size, hung from a long rack above a counter.

A slim girl wearing a white apron, perhaps in her early teen years, gazed up from a kettle, her eyes growing large. "Sura, what is happening?"

Coming closer, Sura reached out and removed the collar from the girl's neck and tossed it aside. "The collars were all deactivated, Amie. This is your chance, go back home to your family. Go!"

A wide beaming smile brightened the girl's face. After a brief hug, Amie threw off her apron and scurried off through another door beside the hanging pots, freedom bound.

The girl's joy filled Gabriel with a glowing warmth. That is why we fight.

Sura took up Gabriel's hand with a warm smile of her own. "Come on. Let us find our families too."

Together, they followed the girl out, swinging the door into the sunshine, but stopped short. A tall dark man in a red and green uniform scowled at them, blocking their path to freedom. The Gamemaster. His long hand gripped Amie's arm like a vise and her pained cries struck at Gabriel's heart. Two guards wearing the same type of uniform flanked him one step back, holding up pulse rifles.

Pointing at the tablet device Gabriel still held, the Gamemaster smiled. "I see you found my missing gateway. No doubt you come to return it to me."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "Yes, no doubt..." He opened his hand, letting the devise clatter to the hard ground. "Come and get it."

"You be a difficult one to kill, Angel." The Gamemaster's smile turned down to a menacing grimace. "But your death here during a prison riot? The people would accept that." He threw Amie to the ground with a dusty thud, then turned his scowl toward Sura. "And you, Sura. Have I not been kind to you?" He shouted, lifting his hands. "And this be how you repay me?! I know where your crippled brat be, and he shall suffer for your betrayal."

"No, please, he is innocent..." Sura's trembling voice tailed off, moisture welling in her eyes.

With a head tilt from the Gamemaster, the two guards raised their pulse rifles. Gabriel stepped forward, whispering to Sura, "Stay behind me."

In his mind, Gabriel formulated a desperate attack strategy. But he never got the chance to implement it.

A mountain of a man approached from behind, grabbing the two guards by the uniform collars, then slamming their heads together. With eyes rolled back, the guards slumped down to the dust like dirty laundry. The Gamemaster spun around, gaping his mouth wide before the giant's menacing gaze. A vicious backhand smash to the head sent the Gamemaster spinning to the ground, moaning beside the unconscious guards.

Gabriel bowed to the giant. "Thank you, Qaw."

With an acknowledging nod and a grunt, Qaw stepped away, disappearing out of the courtyard with a life debt repaid.

Expressionless, Sura scooped up one of the guard's pulse rifles and stood in front of the Gamemaster, pointing it at him. Laying on his side in the dust, his mouth trembled as he raised a hand in a silent bid for mercy. She hissed between clenched teeth, "No one threatens my son."

Gabriel put a hand on her shoulder. "Sura, no. Don't go down this path." He jerked to the sharp twang sound as she fired. "Sura?"

"I set it for a stun pulse. Is that acceptable?"

He nodded, drawing his lips together. "Yeah. That works."

Sura threw down the rifle and went to Amie, helping the teary girl stand and brushing dust from her black dress. Smiling at Gabriel, Sura said, "Now may we leave?"

Amie's family home was not far away. At a modest adobe style house, they delivered the girl into the grateful arms of her parents.

"Where is your son?" Gabriel asked as they paced down a narrow street between rows of houses. He could not help but notice how much her face glowed in anticipation.

"In a shelter on the edge of the city," she answered. She took up Gabriel's hand, bouncing along beside him with a joy that would not be contained. "His name is Amil, and today is his birthday! Once I have him, we will go find your sister."

After a few moments, Sura asked, "What did the AI mean, calling you Empress?"

Gabriel grinned. "Oh, I am certainly not the Empress. But my sister is."