The empty water skin clattered to the floor of the cave. Several hours later, the Plebes had been offered a couple of water skins and some dried food. Daisy was still in shock but was being supported by Vik as they sat on the rocky ground. "It'll be okay. Eat up. You'll need your strength." They both looked over at the chained Anna, attached to the rock. She seemed utterly beaten, her hair ragged on the floor, covering her face, dried blood decorating it. Her shoulders shook from weeping. The girl looked broken. "What did she go through on the island?" asked Daisy in pity. What had she had to endure? She had clearly known what a monster Blackburn was the whole time. "What will become of us?"
Vik embraced her and hugged her tighter as they shivered in the cold.

Anna was nowhere near defeated. She was planning. She was waiting for the right time, she just had to know his intentions.

A few hours later Blackburn got another phone call. He went outside to take it and when he returned his gaze was steely and unpleasant. This was it. The others might have been scared but Anna knew the truth. They could only guess but she could see it as clearly as if it had been written on his face. He was going to kill one of them. Whatever he wanted wasn't being given and he would have to kill to prove to Vengerov he was serious. She saw it in the almost dead, predatory look he panned, in the slight tightening of the crinkles round his eyes, in the pursing of his lips. He stopped in front of her. "No." She whispered. She knew she was the obvious target. She was a nuisance, a threat, and expendable. She was also outside the cage and easier to get hold off than the others. Everything about him killing her made sense. She was to be the example. She looked up at him. She gazed at her captor, at his ragged, face, his large posture. She stared at his dark brown eyes, beyond the shallow, dead façade he put on. Into his soul, into his memories, his qualities, the witty strength that built him. She saw his weaknesses, his worries and his sorrows. And he in turn looked into her. He saw the memories they shared, not all bad. He saw their twisted, covalent relationship. He saw her insecurities, her pain and suffering and he saw her bravery, strength and determination. He stepped back.

A knife appeared in his gnarled hand, with a black blade, sharp as night. "Ashwan!" He commanded. "Come out. If you don't, or if any of the rest of you move, I'll spill the girl's blood!" He pressed the blade to her throat.
"Don't Vik!" Screamed Anna. "He's going to kill you! Vengerov won't give what he wants, he'll kill you!" But the bars slid up and rose. Vik stared in horror, blanching at his false freedom and gradually stepped out from the rectangle with shaky legs. He went towards Blackburn and mutely offered his hands to be bound. As soon as Vik exited the rectangle, the bars dropped down with sudden violence, nearly amputating a Plebe who had been about to run. The knife left Anna's oesophagus and she watched in despair as Blackburn made to lead Vik away, so they would not have to see what would happen to him.

She had to act fast! Blackburn had disabled their processor's netsend ability when he had disabled their locations and no help would be coming. If Anna was right, the hidden pad Blackburn had touched would also work to release the captives from their cage, as it had imprisoned them. But it might not. She did not know. Yet her hours spent huddled on the rock, seemingly broken, had not been in vain. Vik had been subtly (or as subtly as Vik was capable of being) trying to get the other Plebes to coordinate their work so as to push together and heave the cage skywards, but their efforts had not prevailed. The Lieutenant had planned everything. Everything, except, her. She was the anomaly, the exception. He had planned for every person in the room, planned for ten Plebes to capture. Ten Plebes to kill. Twenty extra hands, two-hundred extra digits, ten threatened faces. But he had eleven. And she was outside the cage.

She was about three feet out of reach from the pad that would release the Plebes if pressed. Earlier, when he had released Vik, Anna had not seen if Blackburn had pressed it, if that was how he had elevated the cage. She just had to hope. And one thing she had learned long ago, from her time at boarding school and avoiding the shouting, shrieking vultures teaching them, was morse code. The other Plebes had it as part of their downloaded bank of knowledge in their processors and although they were unable to access netsend or locators, they still had their knowledge of the code. So Anna had stared. She had glared intensely at Daisy with ferocity and when they held eye contact, she had begun. Winking her left eye meant dot, her right meant dash. She sent a message, over and over again until Daisy understood.

- - .-. ... .

-.-. - -.. .

'Morse

code.'

It took Daisy a long time to understand but eventually she had, and had signalled back.

-.- . ...

'Yes.'

So they had begun a slow, painstaking conversation using their eyes, repeating everything three times to ensure it was interpreted correctly.

.- .-.. .-..

- -.-

'all

ok?'

-.-

'y' - for yes. Now they had a method of communication. Earlier, Anna had signalled at Daisy.

.- ... . -.

..

-. .. -.. .

... .. -. -. .- .-..

.- - .-. -..

... ... .- .-. .-.

-. -

'When I give signal word 'sharp', go.'

Anna had also learned a lot about preparation and its importance in her time on Stow. She wore her hair long but was never, ever without a hair pin or two tucked away. And she had long ago taught herself how to lock pick. So she had been quietly working on her chains, covering her actions with her bloodstained, matted hair.
Click.
The lock sprang free! Blackburn was leading Vik away, his hands bound in front of him. Cautiously, carefully and with her heart in her throat, Anna nudged out of the cuffs, put a thin finger to her lips and slipped over to press the hidden pad on the wall. Blackburn had built the cage new. With sturdy efficiency, it moved. It made no noise as it rose steadily. But the pair were soon disappearing, to the next room where the deed would be done. She didn't have time to slide the cage up. Anna let go of the button and the cage stopped. It hung a couple of feet from the ground, leaving room for Plebes to slide out underneath. She darted back to her rock and fixed her chains around her wrists again. She winced as the lock clicked back into place. She could not afford for Blackburn to notice she had unlocked them. In front of her, Daisy was stopping the Plebes trying to escape, it was not yet time. Vik and Blackburn had disappeared. This was going to hurt. She took a deep breath.

"BLACKBURN!" she bellowed. Her voice was a missile in a storm, weathering the beating wind, canvassing the cave floor until it hit its mark. "BLACK. BURN!" She kept shrieking, as loud as she could and was rewarded by the sight of an imposing figure marching towards her. "Where's Vik?" she asked, quivering. Could he be dead? Had Blackburn done it already? The Lieutenant looked angry at being interrupted. "He's knocked out. For now." Anna breathed an audible sigh of relief. "What do you want?" The Professor had not yet turned to look at the caged Plebes. His attention was momentarily focussed on the girl in front of him, but not for long. If he turned around, he would see the Plebes crouching, in order and ready to go.

Anna had to distract him. "I just wanted to know. What is it you want from Vengerov so badly that you are willing to give everything up like this? Is it something to do with Tom Raines?"

His hawkish face darkened. "Shut up girl."

"Bit of a sharp tone Sir." Daisy's eyes widened and she subtly began ushering the Plebes through the gap between the floor and the cage. They moved stealthily, Carthetics having prepared them well, but nine people escaping behind someone's back would always be risky. It was imperative that Anna distracted the Lieutenant. "Is it because you like him, you want to adopt him, is that why you're so obsessed with him Sir?"

Blackburn's tone grew steadily more menacing and he growled: 'Shut up Faeilr."

Anna found herself becoming more heated, her urgency growing. What she was going to say next would doom her. "I know what you want, you want Tom to replace your kids don't you? Callum and William. The ones you murdered!"

"SILENCE!"

She took a deep breath. "They are dead because of you, if you hadn't been such a selfish prick they would still be alive. It's YOUR fault" she screamed, whilst in the corner of her eye she could see the last of the Plebes fleeing the cage and heading to the ladder. "Your wife probably was disgusted by you and what you've become, she hates you doesn't she!? That's why you want Tom back, to take the place of your pathetic, dead children. I'm glad you killed them, they shouldn't be alive to witness this. To see you. You-" Her voice stopped as Blackburn's fist closed round her throat.

She didn't mean it. She didn't mean a word, but she had to distract him. She knew her words were a death warrant. Blackburn's eyes were pits of black coal, promising death. She would have thought he would cry but he didn't respond that way, he responded with anger. And he was quite eager to hurt her. He shoved a hand into her face, bruising her. Then he shook her back and forth. All the while his hand was blocking her airway, choking her. "I told you to shut up". He released his grip slightly and Anna noted, with some relief that Daisy had urged that final Plebe up the ladder and was making to go herself. He was making to turn. "Bet... they were... pathetic, your kids." she croaked. "Bet the world is better off with them dead." Blackburn span back and punched her. Her cheek was bloody and bruised as he repeatedly pummelled her. "Shut up. Stop talking! STOP IT!" He was crazed, a maniac, shouting at her with furious fervour, in a frenzy. She spat out blood. "Good they died.. did you, did you have an explosive relationship?"

"Shut up!"

"Bet you had a blast". Another fist to the face. "Were you glad they died?" BAM. Anna coughed. "You love Tom more than... them." Blackburn was a flurry of grief, despair and fury. He battered her. She had a slight smirk on her dishevelled bloodied face and he had to wipe it from her. He hit her again. Behind his back Daisy was almost at the hatch, Anna couldn't risk him turning. Not yet. She spluttered, spittle flying as she croaked "But that's not it is it? You, you need Tom because of what Vengerov said, because Vengerov had him. You need him and you never realised that he was right in front of your nose the whole time. Vengerov knew, he knew everything. He told me where Tom was. And now you are never going to know." In a fit of blind rage he smacked her head against the ground and she fell mercifully unconscious.