MY MIND'S MINE

Peter Freewheel

Erek Yurgens stole quietly into the long shadows of the evening, his dark clothes lost in the blackness. The wind rustled the layer of fallen leaves that littered the ground. The night was intense, the moon dark, and the sharp frost gave the wind a biting sting. Yurgens turned up the collar of his coat to shield his face. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks, and his eyes turned to slits as he peered into the night to identify the thing that had cracked a twig just in front of him. The moon came out from behind the clouds, a big bright full moon, silhouetting a man in front of him. He had a rifle in his hand. Yurgens pulled the knife from his pocket, and moved forward. There was a gurgled scream of pain, cut short by death, that broke the silence of the shadows for a second, then another slight rustle as Yurgens let the lifeless body slide to the ground. He picked up a gun that lay beside the body and donned the dead man's hat. There was just a chance, he thought, that in the dark he would be mistaken for one of them. Once outside, he could mingle with the ordinary people and he would have a chance of escape, perhaps to one of the outer worlds from where no- one would be able to bring him back. He stole on in the darkness. There was the gate! It was open as usual, for there was no reason to lock it. They didn't know! They would the next time, and then it would be locked. But it didn't worry him, for he would be well away by then. There was a guard there, not guarding but just standing. Yurgens discarded the hat and the gun, casting them into the undergrowth. He would have to do without them. He walked back into the trees until he reached a point where the road was hidden from the gate, then emerged. He fixed his eyes straight ahead of him, and walked the Zombie walk that he had practised so long to perfect. He walked slowly down the road, and out of the gate. The guard didn't even look up. No-one would leave without being told to, so there was nothing wrong. He continued to walk in the Zombie manner, until he was out of sight of the guard, then he stopped and looked back at the gate. The guard was gone. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. The only sign of life was a sparse covering of weeds trying to grow on the harsh barren rocks. This was one of the last places on Earth that man had not yet conquered. But areas of waste were needed to house buildings like the one from which he had just escaped. It was too dangerous to put them near towns, and too expensive to put them on one of the other planets. But even out here it was only a few miles to a town, where he could lose himself and be relatively free once more. He looked at his watch. It was not yet midnight. He should be able to make it to town before daylight. He walked off the road, and made his way cautiously onto the barren rock, testing the ground carefully for the animal traps and potholes that honeycombed the area. The moon vanished behind the clouds again immersing him in total darkness. New he would have to make his way by feeling and not seeing. He progressed slowly for a few minutes, then began to get careless. Suddenly the seemingly firm ground under his feet gave way, and he found himself falling into a hole that he knew was an animal trap. As he hit the ground he shouted out a string of vile curses. He looked around the trap. He was right, it was an animal trap and the alarm system had been activated. The walls were too shiny for him to climb up, so he could do nothing but wait for them to come and get him. He was sitting on the bare rock at the bottom of the pit, still cursing, when he heard something at the top of the trap. Looking up he saw two vague shadows silhouetted against the skyline. He got to his feet as a rope ladder was thrown down. A second later a bright arc lamp was trained on the hole, and Yurgens was temporarily blinded. Then the light went off, as suddenly as it had come on, and he began to scramble up the ladder. When he reached the top he looked around but the figures had vanished. As he stared about him, low guttural voice whispered for him to get down quick. Without thinking twice he obeyed. He found two figures lying flat on the ground, their black clothes merging into the night. "You're no conditioned man," a harsh voice grated. "No," Yurgens replied, "but how did you know?" "Your eyes were affected by the light, the other whispered. "It has no effect on the Zom Men." "Who are you?" asked Yurgens. "You're not Zom Men either, are you?" "No," the voice replied, "We're Almostmen." Almostmen; the discarded remains of another part of the experiment carried out at the complex. "Then it was your trap," whispered Yurgens. "But I heard that you killed any Zom Men that you captured." "That is so," the voice replied. "But it is only done out of sympathy. Once conditioned there is no known cure, merely an eternal death." "I see," said Yurgens. "But what of me? What will you do with me?" "You will come to no harm by our hands, human," the being replied. "Well that's a relief," breathed Yurgens. "The patrol has gone now," whispered the other voice. "It is safe to return." The three stood up. "I am Tarzan," said the first of the creatures. "I am the leader." He held his paw out in welcome. He pointed at his companion. "He is Trug, my second in command.'' "My name is Erek Yurgens," the man replied, "I guess I'm in the same boat as you. They'll find out that I've gone very shortly, and then I'll be on the 'shoot on sight' list." "You will be safe at our hideaway," Tarzan said,. "It is only a short distance away." Yurgens followed the two as they led him through the darkness After a few minutes they reached the hideout, cleverly concealed into the undergrowth. Yurgens found the interior simple, spacious, and comfortable. Tarzan sat in the chair opposite him. "There are only eight of us left now," he said. "These are hard times. We survive in peace here in this hideout, but we know our times are limited. Slowly we are becoming extinct. Therefore we do not try and fight for our freedom, but merely for our existence. But we are very out of touch as to what is going on." "I can tell you what's happened," Yurgens said bitterly. "They have taken control of 99 per cent of the minds of the Earth's population. There are only a few of us still free." "But what's happened?" asked Tarzan. "All that we know is at one time, about three years ago our intelligence was increased to the level of the humans and we were set free on this island as part of an experiment. Then strange things began to happen. Peculiar buildings were put up, and evil men with guns started shooting at us." "I'll explain," said Yurgens. "I should say that the relevant part of the story begins when you had your intelligence increased, It was part of an Euro-Soviet-Asian-American experiment. Somehow, even to this day we're not sure how, a subversive Asian alliance managed to take complete control of the station. But the machines now had a subtle difference. They worked in reverse. Instead of increasing intelligence, they simply brainwashed people with the effects of sound waves. They had set up a relay system all over the world, which broadcast the waves. It only took one day, such was the power of their devices, before 85% of the population of the major cities were overrun. People were staggering about like blind fools. Then they really began putting their system into action. They had it all worked out. People were allocated specific jobs to do in order to keep things running." "There were a few of us out in the remote areas of the country who hadn't been captured. We saw it all, a terrible sight. We were standing at the top of a cliff, when suddenly the whole sky was filled with planes; huge troop carriers. Then men swarmed out of the planes, paratroopers. So many that you couldn't count them, they were like a swarm of locusts. They landed, spread out countryside and into the towns, carrying portable brain washing machines mopping up what slight resistance they could find. There were three of us though, who by some miracle had become immune to these machines. Presumably we had caught slight doses on the edge of the fields, and had slowly built up a resistance." "We went into one of the towns to see what was going on, and I'll never forget what I saw there. They had worked out how many men, women and children were needed to keep the industries running and supply food and man the other essential services. Then they had taken all the old, crippled people, the sick, and those not required, and had mercilessly shot them. We saw huge piles of dead bodies, numbers so great that you lost count in horror. We never went back into the city again, but fled into the remote country and lived in hiding surviving on whatever we could find. Then one day the inevitable happened. A patrol discovered us." "When they found that their machines had no effect, they were going to shoot us, but the patrol leader decided that we would make an interesting experiment, so we were moved to that place over there that I've just escaped from. There we were subjected to intensified brain washing radiation. The other two were finally conditioned, and I played along, acting as though I had been also, but they weren't convinced. So they ordered me to shoot my two friends. I couldn't do it. I got as far as raising the gun. I told myself that it was me or them, and after all, they were conditioned and they wouldn't feel it, but I just couldn't pull the trigger. I remember it, every second, as if it had only just happened. They laughed as I dropped the gun on the floor. They were still laughing when they mowed my two friends down. They said that they had served their purpose, and were of no more use. Then they marched me back to my room, and left me to rot for a month." "I wondered what had happened. There was no-one to talk to, even my food and water were pushed through a tiny opening once a day, and I wasn't allowed outside. I almost went mad. All there was in the room was a bed, and a small table, and a light on the ceiling. There were no windows. I began to lose track of night and day. There was nothing to occupy my mind, so there was only one thing for me to do - hate. I vowed I'd get even with those Asians for killing my friends, and all the other innocent people that they'd murdered. Hate is a terrible thing. It begins to eat you away inside until all you live for is to destroy." "Anyway, One day, the cell door opened, and I was dragged back to their operating room. They'd got some sort of new device there. It was obviously more powerful than the other, for I lost track of time and everything else for a while, so they must have succeeded in brain washing me. But it wasn't permanent for I regained my senses, and heard them say that I was to be sent to one of the factories the following week to be put to work; I realised then that if I was to escape, it would have to be very quickly. So I studied how the other Zombies walked and talked, and practised imitating them in my room. Then finally, tonight I walked out and as I was escaping I fell into one of your traps. The rest you know." "So'" breathed Tarzan sadly, "It is as we feared." "I must not stay here," said Yurgens. "If they find me here, you will all be killed as well." "Hah" the Almostman laughed. "They will kill us on sight anyway, so we have nothing to lose, even if they do discover you here." "You speak as if your hideaway is about to be uncovered," Yurgens said. "We fear that there is a distinct possibility of that. You see, the patrol we saw earlier was not searching for you. It was looking for us." "You? But why?" Yurgens asked. "Fetch the captive, Trug," the monkey ordered, turning to his second in command. The other grunted and went out to the shadowed back end of the hideout. When he returned there was a third Almostman carrying another figure. He was bound and gagged, but still squirming in their grasp. As they drew him into the light, Yurgens saw his face. He was an Asian!" "What-?" Yurgens began. "Let me explain," said Tarzan. "We were out this afternoon hunting for food, when we saw a patrol of Asians chasing something. We hid behind an outcrop of rocks and waited for them to pass by. We assumed they were chasing some animal as a Zom Man would not run away. However as the prey ran past, we saw that it was a human being like yourself, obviously not conditioned and, who, from the state of their clothing had been living in hiding. However, as the human rounded the corner, the officer of the patrol was lying in wait. We realised that we must go to the rescue, so we captured the officer and brought the human here, to hide. The patrol know that we are somewhere in this area as we couldn't have taken their leader very far. So you see, that's why we fear for our existence." "Another free human," stuttered Yurgens. "Where?" "Round in the other half of the cave. I will bring -" Trug interrupted. "Here comes Rerle," he grated. Rerle ran into the cave panting, "The patrol is now very near the entrance," he said. "We must leave by the back way, if we are to escape.'' "Call the human," ordered Tarzan. "Come," he said, turning back to Yurgens. "We must leave the back way." The six beings held a quick discussion as to where to go, reaching hasty agreement. Tarzan spoke. "Follow me, Yurgens," he said, "and you will be safe." Yurgens saw a shadow approaching from out of the darkness. The other man. No, it was not a man. It was a woman. Her face was dirty and her hair hung down across her shoulders, matted and filthy. Her clothes hung as rags on her body, and her eyes stared at him wildly. "We must leave," the Almostman informed her," for the patrol is near." As he spoke, voices were heard outside, and they rushed for the back entrance. "What about him?" shouted Yurgens, pointing to the Asian officer. "Leave him," shouted Tarzan. "We intended to interrogate him, but if we take him he will slow us down. I doubt his use as a bargaining tool. He is of no good to us." The girl stared at Yurgens uncertainly, waiting for him to follow. "No," he muttered, "I won't leave him." He looked around the cave frantically. The oil lamp! He picked it up and threw it at the officer, who gave out a gurgled scream from beneath the gag as the lamp burst across him, the oil spreading over his body and bursting into flame. Yurgens stared at the writhing sight for a second, then turned to the girl who was staring with eyes full of horror. "Let's get out of here," he said, as the Patrol entered the door. They rushed towards the back exit, and the safety of the shadows. The Asians raised their guns, and bullets spattered above their heads. They ran out of the rear exit to find the Almostmen waiting anxiously. "They'll get us," said Yurgens, panting. "They're too close behind.'' "No," said Tarzan, pressing a lever on the side of the cave. "We have prepared for this." Yurgens jumped forward as a huge rock slammed down blocking the exit. "Follow us," Tarzan ordered. They began to run. They seemed to travel for hours, until, finally, they stopped at the entrance to another cave. In the distance was a town. "We do not come here very often," Tarzan explained. He was panting slightly as he addressed the two humans who had collapsed onto the floor completely out of breath. "The town is in the distance, and patrols in this area are quite frequent." They pushed aside the undergrowth and stooped, passing through the tiny opening. Once inside they set about checking things out, leaving the two humans in the central area alone. "My name's Erek Yurgens," he said introducing himself. "Tereza Smith," she replied in a very refined voice, gazing at him uncertainly. "Okay," he said, looking at the fear she still held for him in her eyes. "You want to know why I killed that Asian in such a horrible manner, without any apparent reason." "Well, yes," she confessed slowly. Yurgens related his story. The girl sat there impassively, until he had finished. "But you should not condemn one man for the actions of others," she protested. "Hate is a terrible thing." "What do you want me to do? Forgive them just like that," he shouted, snapping his fingers. "I realise that you've had a tough time," replied the girl, "but that's no excuse." "Anyway," said Yurgens, changing the subject. "What's your story?" "I lived with my mother and father in a house near to the original experimental station, and somehow we managed to escape being brainwashed in the first wave. We housed other refugees who'd escaped. We were safe for a short time until the Asians landed. They swarmed towards our house like a pack of devils. We tried to turn them away by shooting at them but they returned our fire, and when they saw we were holding them up, and they couldn't get near enough to use their portable brain washing machines, they fired burning oil at the house, then rushed us. The few of us that were left ran outside to surrender. But the Asians weren't having that. They forced the rest of the family back into the house to burn to death. In the confusion I managed to escape. Erek, I saw the look on my fathers face, as he was pushed back into the fire, and his clothes burst into flame. The look in his eyes was the same as the look on the face of that Asians officer you killed." She paused for a moment, looking up into his impassive face, her eyes full of tears, "After that I ran and I've been living rough until now." "I'm sorry about your family," Yurgens replied, "but in view of what they did, you should have been pleased to see that Asian burn." She didn't reply but got to her feet and went over to where Tarzan was working. Yurgens got up, and walked over to the door. The clouds above had turned black. There was going to be one hell of a storm in a minute, he thought to himself. He turned and looked at the girl who now stood with her back to him. How many others were there like her? They were free, true, but what sort of freedom was it? He looked up once more. The last patch of clear sky from which shone the Moon, was about to be engulfed in the black clouds. The Moon. If he could get to one of the big cities, there would be a spaceport. Perhaps he could escape to another planet. But maybe the Asians had taken over the other worlds as well. It was a thought that had never crossed his mind before. They must have, for they controlled all the spaceports. Then there was no escape. He might as well be dead! No, he must live on if only to kill those he hated. 'I must devise a plan,' he thought. 'I shall achieve little out here in the forest. I must get into the town.' There was no point in staying here. The girl had made it obvious that she disliked him, and anyway he would probably be safer on his own. He called Tarzan over. "I'm leaving now," he said. "Don't say anything to the girl until I've gone. I'm going down to the town." "Must you go?" the leader asked, his voice uncertain. "Yes," replied Yurgens shaking the creatures paw. "Goodbye," he said stepping out of the cave. He looked quickly back, The girl still had her back to him and was unaware of his departure. He slipped silently into the undergrowth. He ran for a couple of minutes then stopped as he heard a noise to his left. It was a patrol heading straight for the cave. As he watched he felt a drop of rain fall on his head and looked up into the sky. It was about to pour. The patrol began to march quicker, finally running towards the cave entrance as the sky burst. The rain cascaded down with such violence that Yurgens was pummelled to the ground. It stopped about a minute later and he stumbled to his feet, soaking wet and covered in mud. He looked up at the sky. The storm was not finished yet. He wondered what had happened in the cave? He couldn't turn back and look; he must go on to the city. He began to trek, as well as he could, across the swampy ground, heading towards the town. As he got nearer, the track that he was walking along turned into a road. As he rounded a corner, two things happened. The rain began to beat down again, and he noticed that a car with two Asians in it was parked in front of him blocking the road. He affected his Zombie walk, as he moved towards the car, struggling to keep upright against the rain that was lashing down against him. As he drew nearer he suppressed a gasp. These were two very high ranking Asians officers! They began to laugh at him from the shelter of their car as he drew near, the rain still pouring down on him. As he drew level with the car, he lunged at the door pulling it open. He dragged one of the startled officers out onto the road, kicking him in the head with his boot. The other man stumbled to get his gun out, but Yurgens was too quick. He jumped into the car, and closed his hands around the others throat. The man was weak, and hardly put up a fight. He pulled the gun from the holster of the inert body. The first Asians began to clamber to his feet, clutching his head. Yurgens waited until he was at point blank range, then he shot a bullet into the man's temple. He smiled with grim satisfaction as the man fell onto the floor of the car. He began to work quickly, pulling off his own and the strangled Asian's clothes. He cursed realising that the uniform was too big for him. He put his own clothes back on, and then replaced the uniform over the top of them. It was a better fit and just passed. He then carried the body of the Asian officer out of the car and dumped it into the hedge. Having done this he returned to the man that he'd shot, and removed his bloodstained uniform. It was soaking wet and he used it to remove all traces of blood from the car. Satisfied that this was done, he also dragged the other man into the bushes by his feet, being careful not to get any blood on himself. Finally he threw the mans uniform on top of him. Yurgens stumbled back into the car and collapsed into the seat, soaked to the skin and utterly exhausted. He sat there for about half an hour, until the rain had stopped, then he got out and collected some branches and leaves and piled them on top of the dead bodies until he had satisfied himself that they could not be seen. The road had now turned into a small stream with water running down its centre and collecting in a large depression further down which had become a lake. He couldn't get the car through that without flooding the engine, he thought bitterly. And it was no use going off the road, for the soil had turned into a marsh. He'd just have to stay here until things dried out. He looked up into the sky, The clouds were clearing and with a bit of luck the sun would come out later. A breeze began to play on him and he shivered, He'd have to dry out his clothes or he'd catch cold. He walked off the road and squelched through the muddy sodden soil until he came to a tree. Standing on a thick patch of grass, and being careful not to get the uniform muddy, he pulled it off and hung it on the branches. Then he pulled off his own shirt and trousers and stood there shivering in his underwear, all the while keeping a look out in case a patrol appeared. But fortunately, nothing came. He went back to the car and sat down and waited for the clothes to dry. He awoke with a start. There was a light in his eyes! A patrol had found him! He sat there quite still for a moment, then, in one movement, he opened his eyes wide and went for his gun. He laughed out loud. There was no-one there! It was morning and it was the sun that was beaming down on him. Yurgens frowned. By the position of the sun in the sky he judged he'd been asleep far too long. Fortunately luck was with him and he hadn't been discovered. He yawned, stretched, and got out of the car. The ground was dry beneath his feet and the warmth of the sun was pleasant. He walked over to the tree and began to dress. He had just put on his shirt and trousers when something jumped down from a branch up in the tree. It was dark green; a soldiers uniform! He went for his gun. Too late; a piece of cold steel pressed in his back. "Bang," a female voice said. "You're dead." A female English voice: Tereza Smith! He spun around and saw her. She was smiling. The dirt had been washed from her face, and she had tied her hair up inside her helmet. She looked beautiful. "You're getting careless," she said. Then her expression changed and her face became sombre. "You could have joined the Almostmen." Her tone was bitter. "What do you mean?" Yurgens asked. "Just after you sneaked out, leaving us to die, that patrol burst in. Only one of the Asians died, but the Almostmen were massacred. By some miracle they missed me. I eluded them, by hiding in the shadows of the cave. When the rain stopped they left, leaving their dead man behind. It's his uniform I'm wearing. I found you late last night, asleep in the car. I was going to kill you," she admitted. "But - but, I left before I knew about the patrol. I didn't see them going into the cave," he lied. "My leaving had nothing to do with that attack by the patrol." "I believe you," she said slowly. "But that doesn't alter the fact that you ran, thinking only of yourself. You're worse than the Asians." Yurgens didn't reply, but turned away feeling guilty. He stood, looking away from her, and put on his uniform. "What are your plans now?" he asked the girl, buttoning up his jacket. "I was thinking of going into the town. I heard that there are some unconditioned men down there who live in hiding, coming out at night on sniping raids. I thought I could join them." "Do you know where their headquarters are?" Yurgens asked excitedly. "Well, no," the girl replied, "but that's where these uniforms come into it." "I don't see," Yurgens confessed. "Well, these terrorists are so efficient that the Asians have been unable to catch them, but it's a well known fact that they're holding out somewhere in town. If we can find them we are bound to be safe, for the Asians have been through every house in the city without success. These rebels only attack at night, and then only Asians patrols; so that all we have to do is get into the city and walk through the streets at night.." "Until someone shoots us before we can reveal our true identities. Yes, very clever, I don't think," Yurgens replied. "Well, what's your plan then?" the girl asked angrily. "Disguised as I am, as a Asian officer, I infiltrate their Central Command position and get to where those brain washing machines are stored. I reverse them back to the original ntelligence level, and free the people." "You have no guarantee that you'd be able to get into their Central Command, do the deed and escape as well." "But if I die it does not matter, as long as the other people are saved." "It's your hatred coming through again," the girl argued. "If you did what you suggest it wouldn't be to save the people, it would be to free them to kill Asians. At least my way we stand more chance of living, and if we can get in with this organisation, you'll get your chance to kill Asians then." "No," Yurgens replied. "I'm going to do it my way. If you don't agree here and now, I'll kill you." She raised her gun. "Now wait a minute," Yurgens replied, backing up to the tree. "Don't be stupid." "Well?" she asked, eyes glittering. "Okay," he replied, "we'll do it your way." She lowered the gun, and Yurgens whipped his jacket from the branch and threw it at her face. As she screamed he jumped forward and wrenched the gun from her hand. It fired into the air uselessly and pulling the jacket over her face, he tripped her and dragged her to the ground. She pulled the jacket off her face and winced as Yurgens raised the gun and aimed to fire. He smiled, "We'll do it my way, after all, I think." The girl got to her feet and brushed herself down. "It seems as if I have little choice," she said. "Right," said Yurgens. "Get in the car. You can drive. After all I am an officer and you're just an ordinary soldier." He followed behind her as they strode over to the car. Tereza got into the front seat, and he sat in the back. She revved the car up, and they sped off down the road towards the town. About five minutes later they came across a patrol of four Asians walking down the road in front of them. "Slow down," Yurgens ordered. "Why?' asked the girl. "Shouldn't we speed past them? If you stop they'll see that you're not Asian." "Don't argue," Yurgens replied. "Go past and then stop in front of them." The girl did as she was told, and pulled the car up in front of the patrol. Yurgens turned up the collar of his coat. He gave a silent prayer as he lowered his cap to hide his eyes and leaning out of the window, snapped a gloved finger. The leader of the patrol raced over. "Turn your head," whispered Yurgens to the girl, as the man came running up. "My car is running out of petrol," Yurgens said, praying that the accent was correct. "Go and get some more immediately!" The foot soldier bowed, and ran back to the rest of the patrol. They raced off down the road as fast as they could go." "We ARE low on petrol," Yurgens explained. "We wouldn't have made it to the town." The girl didn't reply, but stared ahead in stony silence. Five minutes later, the patrol came running back up the road, carrying cans of petrol. The three soldiers began to pour it into the tank, while the officer in charge came up to the car. He saluted panting. "Will that be all, sir?" he asked. "Yes," Yurgens replied, "You have done well. Take a rest." "Thank you," the man panted. He bowed and walked back to the other soldiers. They sat down on the grass beside the road. "Can we go now?" the girl asked. "In a minute," Yurgens breathed softly. He pulled his gun out of its holster and picked up the girls one from the seat beside him. She turned just as he pointed the guns out of the window. He fired. Two bullets struck home, and two soldiers toppled over. The girl spun round, "No," she grabbed his left arm, and other bullet flew harmlessly into the air. The two remaining soldiers looked mystified. Then another bullet struck the third soldier who rolled over and lay still. Yurgens took aim at the last soldier who stared at the car with a blank expression on his face. "He's only a boy!" Tereza shouted. "He can't be more than sixteen! He's probably conscripted and brainwashed just like the population here!" "Bastards," Yurgens shouted, firing the gun. In his anger he missed. The boy rolled over into the hedge and lay, hidden by the undergrowth. Yurgens jumped out of the car then suddenly froze as he realised that the other gun on the seat had been picked up by his female companion. He heard the trigger click back. "Fire that gun and you're dead," Tereza shouted. Yurgens stood undecided. Then he dropped the gun. "Tell the boy to come out. Say that you won't kill him," she ordered. Yurgens called out and the boy crawled from the shrubbery and stood in front of him. The young soldier gibbered something to Yurgens, who stood with his head averted so his face could not be seen. He replied, then got back in the car. There was a grim moments silence, then Yurgens laughed. "He thought I shot the others for not getting the petrol fast enough." "What are you?" the girl shouted. "Some kind of monster or something? You kill without reason. Those men did not suspect anything. Why not let them go? No, you had to avenge your friends. Those men you killed probably had never killed anyone and they probably do not want to kill either, they are only obeying orders." "This is war," Yurgens replied. "Hell woman, they'd've killed us as soon as looked at us if they'd known we were not Asians." "But they didn't know, did they?" she replied. The boy soldier picked up the gun up from the road, and brought it towards the car. He stopped by the window and Yurgens looked up. As he did so, he realised that he had made a fatal mistake. He had shown the boy his face. The soldier's expression turned to shock and he raised his own gun to fire. Time seemed to stand still for a second as the soldier pulled back the firing pin, then Yurgens closed his eyes as a blast shook his eardrums. He involuntarily winced in expectancy, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes and saw Tereza holding a smoking gun in her hand. The soldier lay dead on the road. "You shot him?" Yurgens asked unnecessarily. "Yes," breathed the girl. "It was either him or you and me." "So I rate higher than he does," Yurgens replied. "I don't know," the girl replied. "But I know that I do." She revved up the engine, as Yurgens opened the door, and pulled the gun from the lifeless soldier's hand. "Hang on," he shouted. He jumped out of the car, and took the weapons from the bodies of all the four dead soldiers, then jumped back into the car as it pulled off. "Sub-machine guns," Yurgens replied to an unasked question. "To kill more Asians with?" she mocked. "If they try to kill us, yes," he replied. Silence reigned until they reached the outskirts of the town. The girl stopped the car. "What are we going to do?" she asked. "Just drive around for a while," Yurgens replied. "I've been here before, and I want to get my bearings again." She didn't reply, but restarted the car and drove into the town. They were taken aback by the sheer orderly procession of life and the cleanliness of the streets and houses. There were no Asians in sight only Zom Men and Zom Women, walking about like robots. "The town is about ten times as clean as I remember it," the girl said. "Perhaps the Asians taking it over is a better thing." "If you think sentencing the population to a living death just to make the town clean and efficient is a good thing, then you really are warped." "Yes, I suppose I am being stupid," she replied. "I am sorry, but if it could be like this with the people being normal, that would be good wouldn't it?" "I don't know," Yurgens replied. The conversation was brought to an abrupt halt by the sound of a hail of bullets spattering across the front of the car. Tereza turned, white faced, to Yurgens. "Must be the Asians," he breathed. "Quick down that alley." They jumped out of the car, and ran across the road down the passageway. From before them, down the main road, six Asians soldier charged. As they ran Yurgens shouted to Tereza: "Get your jacket off. If I remember rightly this is a dead end." "What?" she shouted. "Then we're finished!" "Not so" Yurgens replied, pulling off his own jacket. "There's a river at the end of the street." "But I can't swim," she protested. "We're not going to," he responded. They ran round the corner, and saw a row of railings in front of them. Behind these was the river. Tereza finished pulling off her jacket, and handed it to Yurgens. He threw it into the river along with his own and the jackets began to float downstream. As Tereza watched them, he looked round and saw that there was a door behind them. He pulled at it and it opened. They rushed inside, and as he closed it behind them, the sound of running footsteps drew near. Yurgens stood in darkness, peering out of a grimy window. The Asians rounded the corner just in time to see the two jackets floating downstream. They raised their guns and began to fire, then ran back down the street to get to another road a hundred yards downstream, which gave access to the river. When they had gone, Yurgens breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew that was close," he muttered. "I wonder how they knew though?" "That boy I shot," she began. "What about him?" Yurgens asked "He had a radio with him. Perhaps I didn't kill him, and he had a chance to radio back." "Still, never mind," Yurgens said. "By the time they get back to the river, those uniforms will have sunk, and they'll think they got us." "Yes," replied Tereza, "but what do we do now?" "We've got to get to the experimental station where they house those mind reducing machines, and try to reverse the process." "But what chance have we of getting in without uniforms?" she asked. Yurgens looked thoughtful for a moment. "Look," he said, "I did not tell you the complete story. I hoped it was something I would never have to tell anybody. You see, I was on that project to increase animals intelligence. It was I yes, who designed that machine along with the other two, and I alone who discovered how to reverse the process." "The project had been going badly and we were making no real progress. The authorities had lost patience and were about to pull the plug. I was very bitter, no-one would believe how close I was to a breakthrough. I met up with an Asian girl. After a while she confided in me that she was part of a terrorist group trying to free the Asian continent from dictatorships." "The Government closed the project down just as I made the breakthrough on the mind reversal. Like a fool, I showed it to the Asian girl as soon as I had perfected it. I thought they could use to it to free their peoples. I never dreamed I had given them the key to enslave the whole world." "Security was a joke by then; it was so easy to get the girl and her friends into the complex.....With typical Asian efficiency, they had already prepared an external linkage system that would beam the mind controlling forces right across the world. I even helped them interface it to our machines, thinking they were only going to use it against dictatorships in Asia. But first they used it to enslave their own people, conscripting the whole population of Asia into a massive invasion force, then they got the rest of humanity. It was that easy." He became animated. "Now do you see why I've got to save the human race!" "No," cut in the girl. "You're not doing this to save the human race, you're doing it to save yourself. It's for the same reason as you kill the Asians with such intense hatred. You're not trying to avenge your friends, you're trying to avenge yourself. It's all fallen into place now. It's true isn't it?" Yurgens remained silent for a moment. "Yes," he replied sullenly. "I suppose it is. I never thought of it like that really. Yes I guess you're right. But that doesn't alter my outlook, I still have the same determination to finish the job." The girl smiled. "You'll never finish, not until you've freed the whole world will you?" "I enslaved them didn't I?" Yurgens shouted. "It was my invention!" "You'll hate yourself to the grave won't you?" "Only the freedom of the whole world from the Asians will satisfy me," he replied bitterly. "But you'll have to do it all by yourself won't you?" the girl countered. "If anyone else helps you then you'll resent that as well. The trouble is you're all twisted up inside with hate." "What are you trying to do to me?' he sobbed, breaking down. "Make you see yourself," she replied. "That's all." A new look of determination crossed Yurgen's face. "I'm going to do this with or without you," he cursed. "Are you with me or not?" "Very well," Tereza decided. "Let's do it!" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Two days later all was ready. Half an hour's travel brought them to the brow of a hill that looked down on the complex. "So what now?" the girl asked, "do we just walk in the front gate!" "We probably could," Yurgens explained. "I doubt if they believe anyone would try to access the buildings. It's unlikely that any of the free thinking people who've survived, knew about this place." They began the descent down the hill in the Zombie like fashion, and walked round the perimeter, until they were out of sight of the guards they had seen in the distance, Yurgens located the spot he'd been looking for. The fencing was loose at the base. "Their Asian efficiency didn't spot this," he whispered. "This used to be my escape route out of the project when I wanted some free time to myself." They had to scramble through a thicket of brambles, and Yurgens face and hands were covered in scratches, his clothes covered in tiny tears when he emerged on the other side. The girl had yelped in pain as he'd let go one large cane that had caught her across the face. There was no time for apologies and they raced across the open ground to the door to the inner sanctum.Yurgens looked around and saw that the area was deserted. "Luck's on our side at the moment," he whispered. He began to disconnect the beam that locked the door. He opened a small panel and carefully unscrewed a circuit. The door swung open. "Right," he said briskly. They went inside. One wall of the room had been turned into a huge safe door. "It's in there," he announced. "It's fitted with a time delayed lock." "How do we get through that!" the girl cursed. Yurgens smiled, "There is an easy entrance that the Asians do not know about." He went up to the giant door and knelt down at the base. He felt around for a few seconds, then pulled at a small panel that opened in his grasp. His hand went inside, and then the giant doors began to swing open. Lined up in a neat row were six machines. They looked quite harmless, but Yurgens knew that these were what had enslaved the whole of the world. He laid his tools out in front of the nearest machine and knelt down to start work. Tereza came over to him. Yurgens unscrewed the inspection hatch, and lifted it off the machine. He pondered the circuitry; for a moment he frowned, then he smiled as it all came back to him. He unscrewed the whole section and pulled it away. "A false front?" Tereza asked. He nodded in reply. "Although this was a joint effort by four major powers, I built in my own secret defence systems. This place is rigged with false leads and defence traps. He pointed to the maze of circuits in the machine. "One out of five of those is deadly," he warned. "What will you need to reverse the process?" she asked. "It's a matter of reversing the whole system," he replied. She looked at the complexity of the machine. "But that will take weeks, won't it?" she protested. "Fortunately not," Yurgens explained. "This whole system is ultimately one large circuit. All I need to do is take this section out and reverse it. It's as simple as that. Well, if you know about all the false leads and booby traps I built in. I should be able to do it in an hour." He was good to his word and after about fifty minutes, he carefully removed a small panel from the circuit board, which he carefully laid on the floor. He stood up and smiled at the girl. "Cramp in my leg," he said. "I'll have to stop for a minute or two." He walked over to the door. "Have you seen any guards yet?" he asked. "No," she confirmed. "But now you know my secrets, there will be soon," he decided, pushing the giant doors closed. The girl's face clouded. She gasped as Yurgens pulled a gun on her. "Erek," she breathed, "have you gone crazy?" "No," he confirmed, "quite the opposite. Take off the mask." "Mask?" the girl queried incredulously. "It was very good. Very, very good. I only realised when that bramble caught you in the face. Your hands are covered in scratches like mine, but your face is unmarked!" The girl still looked dumbfounded. "You're mad," she sobbed. He pulled back the trigger on his gun. "Do it," he cursed angrily. Her hands went up to her face and pulled off a plastimask. She was Chinese. She threw the mask over to Yurgens. "It is very lifelike isn't it?" she remarked, "it was designed to appeal to Europeans." She paused and smiled serenely. "I was bait. I'd go out pursued by soldiers in the hopes of being 'rescued' by freedom fighters. I never dreamed that morning that I'd net the biggest catch of my life." She looked at him contemptuously. "You managed to successfully hide your identity from the Authorities while they held you captive, and then you were stupid enough to tell me your real name without even being prompted! We had so much trouble trying to decode your systems, we kept finding booby traps or dead ends. Now you've laid it all out in front of me." "Yes," Yurgens mused, "it's all falling into place now. The escape from the Almostmen, the betrayal in the town, the easy escape, the untroubled entrance into this building. "Kill me then," the girl stated calmly. "assuage your hate one more time. I will be proud to die for the cause." She smiled. "But your cause is lost. All our actions here have been monitored. If you reconnect the machine, it will do you no good. It will be off-line by now." She laughed. "We may not have understood your machine, but we have copied it. There is a new complex in Indonesia; it will already have taken over from this one!" This time Yurgens smiled. "Don't forget I was part of the unintentional treason. I also helped them to design the transmitter system. I used your Asian thoroughness to build in my own overrides. I can control it from here and get it back on line." Anger clouded the girl's face. She barked out orders in Chinese. Yurgens calmly shot her six times, emptying the bullets from his gun into her. He quietly nodded with satisfaction. They were unlikely to quick;y find his secret entrance through the huge doors with the time delayed lock, so he had plenty of time. He reconnected the machine, reversing the process. He adjusted another control which put it back on line. His beam would now neutralise any new one relayed from their other plant. He smiled with grim satisfaction. At least this part of the world would be free. He hoped they would make good use of their freedom before the Asian alliance could try and regain the upper hand. He reloaded his gun. A look of pleasure crossed his face as he fired five more of the bullets into the girl's already inert body. As the doors opened, he stuck the gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger for the final time. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Outside, in the town, a man covered with Asian blood ran down the street brandishing a club, screaming at the top of his voice:- "My minds mine! My minds mine! Mymindsminemymindsmine.........."

MY MIND'S MINE

Peter Freewheel

Erek Yurgens stole quietly into the long shadows of the evening, his dark clothes lost in the blackness. The wind rustled the layer of fallen leaves that littered the ground. The night was intense, the moon dark, and the sharp frost gave the wind a biting sting. Yurgens turned up the collar of his coat to shield his face. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks, and his eyes turned to slits as he peered into the night to identify the thing that had cracked a twig just in front of him. The moon came out from behind the clouds, a big bright full moon, silhouetting a man in front of him. He had a rifle in his hand. Yurgens pulled the knife from his pocket, and moved forward. There was a gurgled scream of pain, cut short by death, that broke the silence of the shadows for a second, then another slight rustle as Yurgens let the lifeless body slide to the ground. He picked up a gun that lay beside the body and donned the dead man's hat. There was just a chance, he thought, that in the dark he would be mistaken for one of them. Once outside, he could mingle with the ordinary people and he would have a chance of escape, perhaps to one of the outer worlds from where no- one would be able to bring him back. He stole on in the darkness. There was the gate! It was open as usual, for there was no reason to lock it. They didn't know! They would the next time, and then it would be locked. But it didn't worry him, for he would be well away by then. There was a guard there, not guarding but just standing. Yurgens discarded the hat and the gun, casting them into the undergrowth. He would have to do without them. He walked back into the trees until he reached a point where the road was hidden from the gate, then emerged. He fixed his eyes straight ahead of him, and walked the Zombie walk that he had practised so long to perfect. He walked slowly down the road, and out of the gate. The guard didn't even look up. No-one would leave without being told to, so there was nothing wrong. He continued to walk in the Zombie manner, until he was out of sight of the guard, then he stopped and looked back at the gate. The guard was gone. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. The only sign of life was a sparse covering of weeds trying to grow on the harsh barren rocks. This was one of the last places on Earth that man had not yet conquered. But areas of waste were needed to house buildings like the one from which he had just escaped. It was too dangerous to put them near towns, and too expensive to put them on one of the other planets. But even out here it was only a few miles to a town, where he could lose himself and be relatively free once more. He looked at his watch. It was not yet midnight. He should be able to make it to town before daylight. He walked off the road, and made his way cautiously onto the barren rock, testing the ground carefully for the animal traps and potholes that honeycombed the area. The moon vanished behind the clouds again immersing him in total darkness. New he would have to make his way by feeling and not seeing. He progressed slowly for a few minutes, then began to get careless. Suddenly the seemingly firm ground under his feet gave way, and he found himself falling into a hole that he knew was an animal trap. As he hit the ground he shouted out a string of vile curses. He looked around the trap. He was right, it was an animal trap and the alarm system had been activated. The walls were too shiny for him to climb up, so he could do nothing but wait for them to come and get him. He was sitting on the bare rock at the bottom of the pit, still cursing, when he heard something at the top of the trap. Looking up he saw two vague shadows silhouetted against the skyline. He got to his feet as a rope ladder was thrown down. A second later a bright arc lamp was trained on the hole, and Yurgens was temporarily blinded. Then the light went off, as suddenly as it had come on, and he began to scramble up the ladder. When he reached the top he looked around but the figures had vanished. As he stared about him, low guttural voice whispered for him to get down quick. Without thinking twice he obeyed. He found two figures lying flat on the ground, their black clothes merging into the night. "You're no conditioned man," a harsh voice grated. "No," Yurgens replied, "but how did you know?" "Your eyes were affected by the light, the other whispered. "It has no effect on the Zom Men." "Who are you?" asked Yurgens. "You're not Zom Men either, are you?" "No," the voice replied, "We're Almostmen." Almostmen; the discarded remains of another part of the experiment carried out at the complex. "Then it was your trap," whispered Yurgens. "But I heard that you killed any Zom Men that you captured." "That is so," the voice replied. "But it is only done out of sympathy. Once conditioned there is no known cure, merely an eternal death." "I see," said Yurgens. "But what of me? What will you do with me?" "You will come to no harm by our hands, human," the being replied. "Well that's a relief," breathed Yurgens. "The patrol has gone now," whispered the other voice. "It is safe to return." The three stood up. "I am Tarzan," said the first of the creatures. "I am the leader." He held his paw out in welcome. He pointed at his companion. "He is Trug, my second in command.'' "My name is Erek Yurgens," the man replied, "I guess I'm in the same boat as you. They'll find out that I've gone very shortly, and then I'll be on the 'shoot on sight' list." "You will be safe at our hideaway," Tarzan said,. "It is only a short distance away." Yurgens followed the two as they led him through the darkness After a few minutes they reached the hideout, cleverly concealed into the undergrowth. Yurgens found the interior simple, spacious, and comfortable. Tarzan sat in the chair opposite him. "There are only eight of us left now," he said. "These are hard times. We survive in peace here in this hideout, but we know our times are limited. Slowly we are becoming extinct. Therefore we do not try and fight for our freedom, but merely for our existence. But we are very out of touch as to what is going on." "I can tell you what's happened," Yurgens said bitterly. "They have taken control of 99 per cent of the minds of the Earth's population. There are only a few of us still free." "But what's happened?" asked Tarzan. "All that we know is at one time, about three years ago our intelligence was increased to the level of the humans and we were set free on this island as part of an experiment. Then strange things began to happen. Peculiar buildings were put up, and evil men with guns started shooting at us." "I'll explain," said Yurgens. "I should say that the relevant part of the story begins when you had your intelligence increased, It was part of an Euro-Soviet-Asian-American experiment. Somehow, even to this day we're not sure how, a subversive Asian alliance managed to take complete control of the station. But the machines now had a subtle difference. They worked in reverse. Instead of increasing intelligence, they simply brainwashed people with the effects of sound waves. They had set up a relay system all over the world, which broadcast the waves. It only took one day, such was the power of their devices, before 85% of the population of the major cities were overrun. People were staggering about like blind fools. Then they really began putting their system into action. They had it all worked out. People were allocated specific jobs to do in order to keep things running." "There were a few of us out in the remote areas of the country who hadn't been captured. We saw it all, a terrible sight. We were standing at the top of a cliff, when suddenly the whole sky was filled with planes; huge troop carriers. Then men swarmed out of the planes, paratroopers. So many that you couldn't count them, they were like a swarm of locusts. They landed, spread out countryside and into the towns, carrying portable brain washing machines mopping up what slight resistance they could find. There were three of us though, who by some miracle had become immune to these machines. Presumably we had caught slight doses on the edge of the fields, and had slowly built up a resistance." "We went into one of the towns to see what was going on, and I'll never forget what I saw there. They had worked out how many men, women and children were needed to keep the industries running and supply food and man the other essential services. Then they had taken all the old, crippled people, the sick, and those not required, and had mercilessly shot them. We saw huge piles of dead bodies, numbers so great that you lost count in horror. We never went back into the city again, but fled into the remote country and lived in hiding surviving on whatever we could find. Then one day the inevitable happened. A patrol discovered us." "When they found that their machines had no effect, they were going to shoot us, but the patrol leader decided that we would make an interesting experiment, so we were moved to that place over there that I've just escaped from. There we were subjected to intensified brain washing radiation. The other two were finally conditioned, and I played along, acting as though I had been also, but they weren't convinced. So they ordered me to shoot my two friends. I couldn't do it. I got as far as raising the gun. I told myself that it was me or them, and after all, they were conditioned and they wouldn't feel it, but I just couldn't pull the trigger. I remember it, every second, as if it had only just happened. They laughed as I dropped the gun on the floor. They were still laughing when they mowed my two friends down. They said that they had served their purpose, and were of no more use. Then they marched me back to my room, and left me to rot for a month." "I wondered what had happened. There was no-one to talk to, even my food and water were pushed through a tiny opening once a day, and I wasn't allowed outside. I almost went mad. All there was in the room was a bed, and a small table, and a light on the ceiling. There were no windows. I began to lose track of night and day. There was nothing to occupy my mind, so there was only one thing for me to do - hate. I vowed I'd get even with those Asians for killing my friends, and all the other innocent people that they'd murdered. Hate is a terrible thing. It begins to eat you away inside until all you live for is to destroy." "Anyway, One day, the cell door opened, and I was dragged back to their operating room. They'd got some sort of new device there. It was obviously more powerful than the other, for I lost track of time and everything else for a while, so they must have succeeded in brain washing me. But it wasn't permanent for I regained my senses, and heard them say that I was to be sent to one of the factories the following week to be put to work; I realised then that if I was to escape, it would have to be very quickly. So I studied how the other Zombies walked and talked, and practised imitating them in my room. Then finally, tonight I walked out and as I was escaping I fell into one of your traps. The rest you know." "So'" breathed Tarzan sadly, "It is as we feared." "I must not stay here," said Yurgens. "If they find me here, you will all be killed as well." "Hah" the Almostman laughed. "They will kill us on sight anyway, so we have nothing to lose, even if they do discover you here." "You speak as if your hideaway is about to be uncovered," Yurgens said. "We fear that there is a distinct possibility of that. You see, the patrol we saw earlier was not searching for you. It was looking for us." "You? But why?" Yurgens asked. "Fetch the captive, Trug," the monkey ordered, turning to his second in command. The other grunted and went out to the shadowed back end of the hideout. When he returned there was a third Almostman carrying another figure. He was bound and gagged, but still squirming in their grasp. As they drew him into the light, Yurgens saw his face. He was an Asian!" "What-?" Yurgens began. "Let me explain," said Tarzan. "We were out this afternoon hunting for food, when we saw a patrol of Asians chasing something. We hid behind an outcrop of rocks and waited for them to pass by. We assumed they were chasing some animal as a Zom Man would not run away. However as the prey ran past, we saw that it was a human being like yourself, obviously not conditioned and, who, from the state of their clothing had been living in hiding. However, as the human rounded the corner, the officer of the patrol was lying in wait. We realised that we must go to the rescue, so we captured the officer and brought the human here, to hide. The patrol know that we are somewhere in this area as we couldn't have taken their leader very far. So you see, that's why we fear for our existence." "Another free human," stuttered Yurgens. "Where?" "Round in the other half of the cave. I will bring -" Trug interrupted. "Here comes Rerle," he grated. Rerle ran into the cave panting, "The patrol is now very near the entrance," he said. "We must leave by the back way, if we are to escape.'' "Call the human," ordered Tarzan. "Come," he said, turning back to Yurgens. "We must leave the back way." The six beings held a quick discussion as to where to go, reaching hasty agreement. Tarzan spoke. "Follow me, Yurgens," he said, "and you will be safe." Yurgens saw a shadow approaching from out of the darkness. The other man. No, it was not a man. It was a woman. Her face was dirty and her hair hung down across her shoulders, matted and filthy. Her clothes hung as rags on her body, and her eyes stared at him wildly. "We must leave," the Almostman informed her," for the patrol is near." As he spoke, voices were heard outside, and they rushed for the back entrance. "What about him?" shouted Yurgens, pointing to the Asian officer. "Leave him," shouted Tarzan. "We intended to interrogate him, but if we take him he will slow us down. I doubt his use as a bargaining tool. He is of no good to us." The girl stared at Yurgens uncertainly, waiting for him to follow. "No," he muttered, "I won't leave him." He looked around the cave frantically. The oil lamp! He picked it up and threw it at the officer, who gave out a gurgled scream from beneath the gag as the lamp burst across him, the oil spreading over his body and bursting into flame. Yurgens stared at the writhing sight for a second, then turned to the girl who was staring with eyes full of horror. "Let's get out of here," he said, as the Patrol entered the door. They rushed towards the back exit, and the safety of the shadows. The Asians raised their guns, and bullets spattered above their heads. They ran out of the rear exit to find the Almostmen waiting anxiously. "They'll get us," said Yurgens, panting. "They're too close behind.'' "No," said Tarzan, pressing a lever on the side of the cave. "We have prepared for this." Yurgens jumped forward as a huge rock slammed down blocking the exit. "Follow us," Tarzan ordered. They began to run. They seemed to travel for hours, until, finally, they stopped at the entrance to another cave. In the distance was a town. "We do not come here very often," Tarzan explained. He was panting slightly as he addressed the two humans who had collapsed onto the floor completely out of breath. "The town is in the distance, and patrols in this area are quite frequent." They pushed aside the undergrowth and stooped, passing through the tiny opening. Once inside they set about checking things out, leaving the two humans in the central area alone. "My name's Erek Yurgens," he said introducing himself. "Tereza Smith," she replied in a very refined voice, gazing at him uncertainly. "Okay," he said, looking at the fear she still held for him in her eyes. "You want to know why I killed that Asian in such a horrible manner, without any apparent reason." "Well, yes," she confessed slowly. Yurgens related his story. The girl sat there impassively, until he had finished. "But you should not condemn one man for the actions of others," she protested. "Hate is a terrible thing." "What do you want me to do? Forgive them just like that," he shouted, snapping his fingers. "I realise that you've had a tough time," replied the girl, "but that's no excuse." "Anyway," said Yurgens, changing the subject. "What's your story?" "I lived with my mother and father in a house near to the original experimental station, and somehow we managed to escape being brainwashed in the first wave. We housed other refugees who'd escaped. We were safe for a short time until the Asians landed. They swarmed towards our house like a pack of devils. We tried to turn them away by shooting at them but they returned our fire, and when they saw we were holding them up, and they couldn't get near enough to use their portable brain washing machines, they fired burning oil at the house, then rushed us. The few of us that were left ran outside to surrender. But the Asians weren't having that. They forced the rest of the family back into the house to burn to death. In the confusion I managed to escape. Erek, I saw the look on my fathers face, as he was pushed back into the fire, and his clothes burst into flame. The look in his eyes was the same as the look on the face of that Asians officer you killed." She paused for a moment, looking up into his impassive face, her eyes full of tears, "After that I ran and I've been living rough until now." "I'm sorry about your family," Yurgens replied, "but in view of what they did, you should have been pleased to see that Asian burn." She didn't reply but got to her feet and went over to where Tarzan was working. Yurgens got up, and walked over to the door. The clouds above had turned black. There was going to be one hell of a storm in a minute, he thought to himself. He turned and looked at the girl who now stood with her back to him. How many others were there like her? They were free, true, but what sort of freedom was it? He looked up once more. The last patch of clear sky from which shone the Moon, was about to be engulfed in the black clouds. The Moon. If he could get to one of the big cities, there would be a spaceport. Perhaps he could escape to another planet. But maybe the Asians had taken over the other worlds as well. It was a thought that had never crossed his mind before. They must have, for they controlled all the spaceports. Then there was no escape. He might as well be dead! No, he must live on if only to kill those he hated. 'I must devise a plan,' he thought. 'I shall achieve little out here in the forest. I must get into the town.' There was no point in staying here. The girl had made it obvious that she disliked him, and anyway he would probably be safer on his own. He called Tarzan over. "I'm leaving now," he said. "Don't say anything to the girl until I've gone. I'm going down to the town." "Must you go?" the leader asked, his voice uncertain. "Yes," replied Yurgens shaking the creatures paw. "Goodbye," he said stepping out of the cave. He looked quickly back, The girl still had her back to him and was unaware of his departure. He slipped silently into the undergrowth. He ran for a couple of minutes then stopped as he heard a noise to his left. It was a patrol heading straight for the cave. As he watched he felt a drop of rain fall on his head and looked up into the sky. It was about to pour. The patrol began to march quicker, finally running towards the cave entrance as the sky burst. The rain cascaded down with such violence that Yurgens was pummelled to the ground. It stopped about a minute later and he stumbled to his feet, soaking wet and covered in mud. He looked up at the sky. The storm was not finished yet. He wondered what had happened in the cave? He couldn't turn back and look; he must go on to the city. He began to trek, as well as he could, across the swampy ground, heading towards the town. As he got nearer, the track that he was walking along turned into a road. As he rounded a corner, two things happened. The rain began to beat down again, and he noticed that a car with two Asians in it was parked in front of him blocking the road. He affected his Zombie walk, as he moved towards the car, struggling to keep upright against the rain that was lashing down against him. As he drew nearer he suppressed a gasp. These were two very high ranking Asians officers! They began to laugh at him from the shelter of their car as he drew near, the rain still pouring down on him. As he drew level with the car, he lunged at the door pulling it open. He dragged one of the startled officers out onto the road, kicking him in the head with his boot. The other man stumbled to get his gun out, but Yurgens was too quick. He jumped into the car, and closed his hands around the others throat. The man was weak, and hardly put up a fight. He pulled the gun from the holster of the inert body. The first Asians began to clamber to his feet, clutching his head. Yurgens waited until he was at point blank range, then he shot a bullet into the man's temple. He smiled with grim satisfaction as the man fell onto the floor of the car. He began to work quickly, pulling off his own and the strangled Asian's clothes. He cursed realising that the uniform was too big for him. He put his own clothes back on, and then replaced the uniform over the top of them. It was a better fit and just passed. He then carried the body of the Asian officer out of the car and dumped it into the hedge. Having done this he returned to the man that he'd shot, and removed his bloodstained uniform. It was soaking wet and he used it to remove all traces of blood from the car. Satisfied that this was done, he also dragged the other man into the bushes by his feet, being careful not to get any blood on himself. Finally he threw the mans uniform on top of him. Yurgens stumbled back into the car and collapsed into the seat, soaked to the skin and utterly exhausted. He sat there for about half an hour, until the rain had stopped, then he got out and collected some branches and leaves and piled them on top of the dead bodies until he had satisfied himself that they could not be seen. The road had now turned into a small stream with water running down its centre and collecting in a large depression further down which had become a lake. He couldn't get the car through that without flooding the engine, he thought bitterly. And it was no use going off the road, for the soil had turned into a marsh. He'd just have to stay here until things dried out. He looked up into the sky, The clouds were clearing and with a bit of luck the sun would come out later. A breeze began to play on him and he shivered, He'd have to dry out his clothes or he'd catch cold. He walked off the road and squelched through the muddy sodden soil until he came to a tree. Standing on a thick patch of grass, and being careful not to get the uniform muddy, he pulled it off and hung it on the branches. Then he pulled off his own shirt and trousers and stood there shivering in his underwear, all the while keeping a look out in case a patrol appeared. But fortunately, nothing came. He went back to the car and sat down and waited for the clothes to dry. He awoke with a start. There was a light in his eyes! A patrol had found him! He sat there quite still for a moment, then, in one movement, he opened his eyes wide and went for his gun. He laughed out loud. There was no-one there! It was morning and it was the sun that was beaming down on him. Yurgens frowned. By the position of the sun in the sky he judged he'd been asleep far too long. Fortunately luck was with him and he hadn't been discovered. He yawned, stretched, and got out of the car. The ground was dry beneath his feet and the warmth of the sun was pleasant. He walked over to the tree and began to dress. He had just put on his shirt and trousers when something jumped down from a branch up in the tree. It was dark green; a soldiers uniform! He went for his gun. Too late; a piece of cold steel pressed in his back. "Bang," a female voice said. "You're dead." A female English voice: Tereza Smith! He spun around and saw her. She was smiling. The dirt had been washed from her face, and she had tied her hair up inside her helmet. She looked beautiful. "You're getting careless," she said. Then her expression changed and her face became sombre. "You could have joined the Almostmen." Her tone was bitter. "What do you mean?" Yurgens asked. "Just after you sneaked out, leaving us to die, that patrol burst in. Only one of the Asians died, but the Almostmen were massacred. By some miracle they missed me. I eluded them, by hiding in the shadows of the cave. When the rain stopped they left, leaving their dead man behind. It's his uniform I'm wearing. I found you late last night, asleep in the car. I was going to kill you," she admitted. "But - but, I left before I knew about the patrol. I didn't see them going into the cave," he lied. "My leaving had nothing to do with that attack by the patrol." "I believe you," she said slowly. "But that doesn't alter the fact that you ran, thinking only of yourself. You're worse than the Asians." Yurgens didn't reply, but turned away feeling guilty. He stood, looking away from her, and put on his uniform. "What are your plans now?" he asked the girl, buttoning up his jacket. "I was thinking of going into the town. I heard that there are some unconditioned men down there who live in hiding, coming out at night on sniping raids. I thought I could join them." "Do you know where their headquarters are?" Yurgens asked excitedly. "Well, no," the girl replied, "but that's where these uniforms come into it." "I don't see," Yurgens confessed. "Well, these terrorists are so efficient that the Asians have been unable to catch them, but it's a well known fact that they're holding out somewhere in town. If we can find them we are bound to be safe, for the Asians have been through every house in the city without success. These rebels only attack at night, and then only Asians patrols; so that all we have to do is get into the city and walk through the streets at night.." "Until someone shoots us before we can reveal our true identities. Yes, very clever, I don't think," Yurgens replied. "Well, what's your plan then?" the girl asked angrily. "Disguised as I am, as a Asian officer, I infiltrate their Central Command position and get to where those brain washing machines are stored. I reverse them back to the original ntelligence level, and free the people." "You have no guarantee that you'd be able to get into their Central Command, do the deed and escape as well." "But if I die it does not matter, as long as the other people are saved." "It's your hatred coming through again," the girl argued. "If you did what you suggest it wouldn't be to save the people, it would be to free them to kill Asians. At least my way we stand more chance of living, and if we can get in with this organisation, you'll get your chance to kill Asians then." "No," Yurgens replied. "I'm going to do it my way. If you don't agree here and now, I'll kill you." She raised her gun. "Now wait a minute," Yurgens replied, backing up to the tree. "Don't be stupid." "Well?" she asked, eyes glittering. "Okay," he replied, "we'll do it your way." She lowered the gun, and Yurgens whipped his jacket from the branch and threw it at her face. As she screamed he jumped forward and wrenched the gun from her hand. It fired into the air uselessly and pulling the jacket over her face, he tripped her and dragged her to the ground. She pulled the jacket off her face and winced as Yurgens raised the gun and aimed to fire. He smiled, "We'll do it my way, after all, I think." The girl got to her feet and brushed herself down. "It seems as if I have little choice," she said. "Right," said Yurgens. "Get in the car. You can drive. After all I am an officer and you're just an ordinary soldier." He followed behind her as they strode over to the car. Tereza got into the front seat, and he sat in the back. She revved the car up, and they sped off down the road towards the town. About five minutes later they came across a patrol of four Asians walking down the road in front of them. "Slow down," Yurgens ordered. "Why?' asked the girl. "Shouldn't we speed past them? If you stop they'll see that you're not Asian." "Don't argue," Yurgens replied. "Go past and then stop in front of them." The girl did as she was told, and pulled the car up in front of the patrol. Yurgens turned up the collar of his coat. He gave a silent prayer as he lowered his cap to hide his eyes and leaning out of the window, snapped a gloved finger. The leader of the patrol raced over. "Turn your head," whispered Yurgens to the girl, as the man came running up. "My car is running out of petrol," Yurgens said, praying that the accent was correct. "Go and get some more immediately!" The foot soldier bowed, and ran back to the rest of the patrol. They raced off down the road as fast as they could go." "We ARE low on petrol," Yurgens explained. "We wouldn't have made it to the town." The girl didn't reply, but stared ahead in stony silence. Five minutes later, the patrol came running back up the road, carrying cans of petrol. The three soldiers began to pour it into the tank, while the officer in charge came up to the car. He saluted panting. "Will that be all, sir?" he asked. "Yes," Yurgens replied, "You have done well. Take a rest." "Thank you," the man panted. He bowed and walked back to the other soldiers. They sat down on the grass beside the road. "Can we go now?" the girl asked. "In a minute," Yurgens breathed softly. He pulled his gun out of its holster and picked up the girls one from the seat beside him. She turned just as he pointed the guns out of the window. He fired. Two bullets struck home, and two soldiers toppled over. The girl spun round, "No," she grabbed his left arm, and other bullet flew harmlessly into the air. The two remaining soldiers looked mystified. Then another bullet struck the third soldier who rolled over and lay still. Yurgens took aim at the last soldier who stared at the car with a blank expression on his face. "He's only a boy!" Tereza shouted. "He can't be more than sixteen! He's probably conscripted and brainwashed just like the population here!" "Bastards," Yurgens shouted, firing the gun. In his anger he missed. The boy rolled over into the hedge and lay, hidden by the undergrowth. Yurgens jumped out of the car then suddenly froze as he realised that the other gun on the seat had been picked up by his female companion. He heard the trigger click back. "Fire that gun and you're dead," Tereza shouted. Yurgens stood undecided. Then he dropped the gun. "Tell the boy to come out. Say that you won't kill him," she ordered. Yurgens called out and the boy crawled from the shrubbery and stood in front of him. The young soldier gibbered something to Yurgens, who stood with his head averted so his face could not be seen. He replied, then got back in the car. There was a grim moments silence, then Yurgens laughed. "He thought I shot the others for not getting the petrol fast enough." "What are you?" the girl shouted. "Some kind of monster or something? You kill without reason. Those men did not suspect anything. Why not let them go? No, you had to avenge your friends. Those men you killed probably had never killed anyone and they probably do not want to kill either, they are only obeying orders." "This is war," Yurgens replied. "Hell woman, they'd've killed us as soon as looked at us if they'd known we were not Asians." "But they didn't know, did they?" she replied. The boy soldier picked up the gun up from the road, and brought it towards the car. He stopped by the window and Yurgens looked up. As he did so, he realised that he had made a fatal mistake. He had shown the boy his face. The soldier's expression turned to shock and he raised his own gun to fire. Time seemed to stand still for a second as the soldier pulled back the firing pin, then Yurgens closed his eyes as a blast shook his eardrums. He involuntarily winced in expectancy, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes and saw Tereza holding a smoking gun in her hand. The soldier lay dead on the road. "You shot him?" Yurgens asked unnecessarily. "Yes," breathed the girl. "It was either him or you and me." "So I rate higher than he does," Yurgens replied. "I don't know," the girl replied. "But I know that I do." She revved up the engine, as Yurgens opened the door, and pulled the gun from the lifeless soldier's hand. "Hang on," he shouted. He jumped out of the car, and took the weapons from the bodies of all the four dead soldiers, then jumped back into the car as it pulled off. "Sub-machine guns," Yurgens replied to an unasked question. "To kill more Asians with?" she mocked. "If they try to kill us, yes," he replied. Silence reigned until they reached the outskirts of the town. The girl stopped the car. "What are we going to do?" she asked. "Just drive around for a while," Yurgens replied. "I've been here before, and I want to get my bearings again." She didn't reply, but restarted the car and drove into the town. They were taken aback by the sheer orderly procession of life and the cleanliness of the streets and houses. There were no Asians in sight only Zom Men and Zom Women, walking about like robots. "The town is about ten times as clean as I remember it," the girl said. "Perhaps the Asians taking it over is a better thing." "If you think sentencing the population to a living death just to make the town clean and efficient is a good thing, then you really are warped." "Yes, I suppose I am being stupid," she replied. "I am sorry, but if it could be like this with the people being normal, that would be good wouldn't it?" "I don't know," Yurgens replied. The conversation was brought to an abrupt halt by the sound of a hail of bullets spattering across the front of the car. Tereza turned, white faced, to Yurgens. "Must be the Asians," he breathed. "Quick down that alley." They jumped out of the car, and ran across the road down the passageway. From before them, down the main road, six Asians soldier charged. As they ran Yurgens shouted to Tereza: "Get your jacket off. If I remember rightly this is a dead end." "What?" she shouted. "Then we're finished!" "Not so" Yurgens replied, pulling off his own jacket. "There's a river at the end of the street." "But I can't swim," she protested. "We're not going to," he responded. They ran round the corner, and saw a row of railings in front of them. Behind these was the river. Tereza finished pulling off her jacket, and handed it to Yurgens. He threw it into the river along with his own and the jackets began to float downstream. As Tereza watched them, he looked round and saw that there was a door behind them. He pulled at it and it opened. They rushed inside, and as he closed it behind them, the sound of running footsteps drew near. Yurgens stood in darkness, peering out of a grimy window. The Asians rounded the corner just in time to see the two jackets floating downstream. They raised their guns and began to fire, then ran back down the street to get to another road a hundred yards downstream, which gave access to the river. When they had gone, Yurgens breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew that was close," he muttered. "I wonder how they knew though?" "That boy I shot," she began. "What about him?" Yurgens asked "He had a radio with him. Perhaps I didn't kill him, and he had a chance to radio back." "Still, never mind," Yurgens said. "By the time they get back to the river, those uniforms will have sunk, and they'll think they got us." "Yes," replied Tereza, "but what do we do now?" "We've got to get to the experimental station where they house those mind reducing machines, and try to reverse the process." "But what chance have we of getting in without uniforms?" she asked. Yurgens looked thoughtful for a moment. "Look," he said, "I did not tell you the complete story. I hoped it was something I would never have to tell anybody. You see, I was on that project to increase animals intelligence. It was I yes, who designed that machine along with the other two, and I alone who discovered how to reverse the process." "The project had been going badly and we were making no real progress. The authorities had lost patience and were about to pull the plug. I was very bitter, no-one would believe how close I was to a breakthrough. I met up with an Asian girl. After a while she confided in me that she was part of a terrorist group trying to free the Asian continent from dictatorships." "The Government closed the project down just as I made the breakthrough on the mind reversal. Like a fool, I showed it to the Asian girl as soon as I had perfected it. I thought they could use to it to free their peoples. I never dreamed I had given them the key to enslave the whole world." "Security was a joke by then; it was so easy to get the girl and her friends into the complex.....With typical Asian efficiency, they had already prepared an external linkage system that would beam the mind controlling forces right across the world. I even helped them interface it to our machines, thinking they were only going to use it against dictatorships in Asia. But first they used it to enslave their own people, conscripting the whole population of Asia into a massive invasion force, then they got the rest of humanity. It was that easy." He became animated. "Now do you see why I've got to save the human race!" "No," cut in the girl. "You're not doing this to save the human race, you're doing it to save yourself. It's for the same reason as you kill the Asians with such intense hatred. You're not trying to avenge your friends, you're trying to avenge yourself. It's all fallen into place now. It's true isn't it?" Yurgens remained silent for a moment. "Yes," he replied sullenly. "I suppose it is. I never thought of it like that really. Yes I guess you're right. But that doesn't alter my outlook, I still have the same determination to finish the job." The girl smiled. "You'll never finish, not until you've freed the whole world will you?" "I enslaved them didn't I?" Yurgens shouted. "It was my invention!" "You'll hate yourself to the grave won't you?" "Only the freedom of the whole world from the Asians will satisfy me," he replied bitterly. "But you'll have to do it all by yourself won't you?" the girl countered. "If anyone else helps you then you'll resent that as well. The trouble is you're all twisted up inside with hate." "What are you trying to do to me?' he sobbed, breaking down. "Make you see yourself," she replied. "That's all." A new look of determination crossed Yurgen's face. "I'm going to do this with or without you," he cursed. "Are you with me or not?" "Very well," Tereza decided. "Let's do it!" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Two days later all was ready. Half an hour's travel brought them to the brow of a hill that looked down on the complex. "So what now?" the girl asked, "do we just walk in the front gate!" "We probably could," Yurgens explained. "I doubt if they believe anyone would try to access the buildings. It's unlikely that any of the free thinking people who've survived, knew about this place." They began the descent down the hill in the Zombie like fashion, and walked round the perimeter, until they were out of sight of the guards they had seen in the distance, Yurgens located the spot he'd been looking for. The fencing was loose at the base. "Their Asian efficiency didn't spot this," he whispered. "This used to be my escape route out of the project when I wanted some free time to myself." They had to scramble through a thicket of brambles, and Yurgens face and hands were covered in scratches, his clothes covered in tiny tears when he emerged on the other side. The girl had yelped in pain as he'd let go one large cane that had caught her across the face. There was no time for apologies and they raced across the open ground to the door to the inner sanctum.Yurgens looked around and saw that the area was deserted. "Luck's on our side at the moment," he whispered. He began to disconnect the beam that locked the door. He opened a small panel and carefully unscrewed a circuit. The door swung open. "Right," he said briskly. They went inside. One wall of the room had been turned into a huge safe door. "It's in there," he announced. "It's fitted with a time delayed lock." "How do we get through that!" the girl cursed. Yurgens smiled, "There is an easy entrance that the Asians do not know about." He went up to the giant door and knelt down at the base. He felt around for a few seconds, then pulled at a small panel that opened in his grasp. His hand went inside, and then the giant doors began to swing open. Lined up in a neat row were six machines. They looked quite harmless, but Yurgens knew that these were what had enslaved the whole of the world. He laid his tools out in front of the nearest machine and knelt down to start work. Tereza came over to him. Yurgens unscrewed the inspection hatch, and lifted it off the machine. He pondered the circuitry; for a moment he frowned, then he smiled as it all came back to him. He unscrewed the whole section and pulled it away. "A false front?" Tereza asked. He nodded in reply. "Although this was a joint effort by four major powers, I built in my own secret defence systems. This place is rigged with false leads and defence traps. He pointed to the maze of circuits in the machine. "One out of five of those is deadly," he warned. "What will you need to reverse the process?" she asked. "It's a matter of reversing the whole system," he replied. She looked at the complexity of the machine. "But that will take weeks, won't it?" she protested. "Fortunately not," Yurgens explained. "This whole system is ultimately one large circuit. All I need to do is take this section out and reverse it. It's as simple as that. Well, if you know about all the false leads and booby traps I built in. I should be able to do it in an hour." He was good to his word and after about fifty minutes, he carefully removed a small panel from the circuit board, which he carefully laid on the floor. He stood up and smiled at the girl. "Cramp in my leg," he said. "I'll have to stop for a minute or two." He walked over to the door. "Have you seen any guards yet?" he asked. "No," she confirmed. "But now you know my secrets, there will be soon," he decided, pushing the giant doors closed. The girl's face clouded. She gasped as Yurgens pulled a gun on her. "Erek," she breathed, "have you gone crazy?" "No," he confirmed, "quite the opposite. Take off the mask." "Mask?" the girl queried incredulously. "It was very good. Very, very good. I only realised when that bramble caught you in the face. Your hands are covered in scratches like mine, but your face is unmarked!" The girl still looked dumbfounded. "You're mad," she sobbed. He pulled back the trigger on his gun. "Do it," he cursed angrily. Her hands went up to her face and pulled off a plastimask. She was Chinese. She threw the mask over to Yurgens. "It is very lifelike isn't it?" she remarked, "it was designed to appeal to Europeans." She paused and smiled serenely. "I was bait. I'd go out pursued by soldiers in the hopes of being 'rescued' by freedom fighters. I never dreamed that morning that I'd net the biggest catch of my life." She looked at him contemptuously. "You managed to successfully hide your identity from the Authorities while they held you captive, and then you were stupid enough to tell me your real name without even being prompted! We had so much trouble trying to decode your systems, we kept finding booby traps or dead ends. Now you've laid it all out in front of me." "Yes," Yurgens mused, "it's all falling into place now. The escape from the Almostmen, the betrayal in the town, the easy escape, the untroubled entrance into this building. "Kill me then," the girl stated calmly. "assuage your hate one more time. I will be proud to die for the cause." She smiled. "But your cause is lost. All our actions here have been monitored. If you reconnect the machine, it will do you no good. It will be off-line by now." She laughed. "We may not have understood your machine, but we have copied it. There is a new complex in Indonesia; it will already have taken over from this one!" This time Yurgens smiled. "Don't forget I was part of the unintentional treason. I also helped them to design the transmitter system. I used your Asian thoroughness to build in my own overrides. I can control it from here and get it back on line." Anger clouded the girl's face. She barked out orders in Chinese. Yurgens calmly shot her six times, emptying the bullets from his gun into her. He quietly nodded with satisfaction. They were unlikely to quick;y find his secret entrance through the huge doors with the time delayed lock, so he had plenty of time. He reconnected the machine, reversing the process. He adjusted another control which put it back on line. His beam would now neutralise any new one relayed from their other plant. He smiled with grim satisfaction. At least this part of the world would be free. He hoped they would make good use of their freedom before the Asian alliance could try and regain the upper hand. He reloaded his gun. A look of pleasure crossed his face as he fired five more of the bullets into the girl's already inert body. As the doors opened, he stuck the gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger for the final time. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Outside, in the town, a man covered with Asian blood ran down the street brandishing a club, screaming at the top of his voice:- "My minds mine! My minds mine! Mymindsminemymindsmine.........."