The Final Lockdown

Sweat trickled sideways down Jonas's forehead while he tried to sleep. The smokey odor of burning smuggled contraband filled his nostrils. The pungent aroma was a mixture of chemicals, but mostly fentanyl and bug spray. It wasn't new. It was only the newer way of coping behind the walls.

His sweat-matted hair stuck to the side of his head as he struggled to get comfortable. Sleeping in prison wasn't an easy task. After five years, Jonas struggled to sleep more than a couple hours at a time. It was hard on most people. For Jonas, who never lived the type of life that ended with someone in prison, getting accustomed to prison life was the hardest thing he'd ever done.

Hearing the steps of an officer walking the steel deck, Jonas opened his eyes. The random clank of a baton against the railing was either a warning he was coming or the sign of a bored night shifter. As the officer walked by, Jonas noticed the quick view of the cell and then back to facing forward. Most cells only had one person in them. It made it easy, and most of the night shift was about spotting suicides.

There was little chance of escaping Tescar Prison. Prisoners got handcuffed, blindfolded, and sedated during the transfer to Tescar. It was a strong sedative. Nobody knew how long they were out, but rumor was they were kept unconscious for two days.

Jonas knew a few of the inmates. After getting to trust them, he asked if anyone had successfully broken out of Tescar. There were stories of attempted breakouts. All of the would-be escapees perished in the process. Tescar was known to the criminal underworld as the Super-Alcatraz. Yet, he still watched like a hawk for any vulnerabilities. There were few.

The place was hell, particularly for someone whose sentencing was so unbelievably out of balance. In prison, the question of what you're in for is one of the first you hear. In Jonas's case, he was in for getting under the skin of Senator William "Billy" McComb. Now, he hated the senator as much as he hated the system that put him there.

After falling asleep for a while, the morning count buzzer sounded. All inmates had to rise for morning counts. It was the one time of the night shift the guards acted like they cared. Since being there, three people in his wing had committed suicide, and there were a few others who died from other than natural causes. Jonas always knew prison was a dangerous place.

Jonas had managed to get accustomed to his situation. He avoided the gang scene. His prison rape initiation didn't go as planned for the brotherhood. And he got along with the staff well enough that it afforded him some courtesies. That started after he laid out two brotherhood members in the shower.

Besides Rico and Whip, Jonas stuck to himself most of the time. There was the occasional card game or someone challenging him to a chess match, but he didn't see the sense in getting close to the other men. Rico and Whip were enough.

Rico was a former member of the Jackboots, a slang term for guys working military contracts. Rico was guilty. Jonas found it easy to believe the guy was following orders.

Whip was a hacker and guilty of his crimes. He bragged about taking down the Interplanetary Defense Grid from his home computer. When Jonas asked him why, all Whip would say is that someone bet him he couldn't.

As the count guard passed, Jonas stepped outside his cell. To his right was Maron. Maron was a member of the Tukumbe royal family. He'd been overthrown and locked in Tescar Prison for murdering a Saudi Prince. The way he tells it, the Prince was raping his sister. In Saudi Arabia, it was a believable story. The Saudis were unaccustomed to being told no and viewed women as second-class citizens until the 21st century.

Steven Wang didn't step out of his cell with the rest of D-Deck. As much as Jonas wanted to look, he feared he knew the answer.

"Come on, Maron. Let's get some breakfast."

The chow line went across the deck, down the stairs, and to the tables. For prison, meals were different. They had waitstaff that brought the food around. Each wing was self-sufficient, so movement was minimal. Jonas believed it was why there was a disproportionate number of suicides at Tescar. People aren't meant to stay in one place, never seeing the outside world.

Rico and Whip joined Jonas and Maron at a table. They all sat quietly, occasionally looking up at Steve Wang's cell as staff and medical team members entered and exited. Judging by the faces of the staff, Steve had escaped Tescar.

"Poor bastard," sighed Maron.

Whip chuckled, choking on his dry oatmeal before drinking some powdered orange drink to wash it down his throat. The rest looked judgmentally at him. His few friends were amazed by his callousness.

"What?" asked Whip, seeing them stare at him.

"You found it funny?"

"I found your sentiment funny. Poor bastard? Hell, if I wasn't such a coward, I'd take the same road out of here," explained Whip. "He's the lucky one if you ask me."

In some ways, Jonas thought Whip was right. If there was no way out of Tescar Prison, death might be better than a thirty-year sentence. The only reason he hadn't offed himself yet was that he hadn't given up hope. Jonas knew enough about security to know that nothing is one hundred percent secure.

With Rico's tactical ability, Whip's computer knowledge, and Maron's money, they had a chance if they got out of the prison. Jonas was the thinker of the group. What Whip possessed in computer skills, Jonas possessed an ability to see things others didn't. After being there a while, he recognized places to exploit he hadn't noticed in the past. The question was how.

As they watched the stretcher come out of Steve Wang's cell, Jonas noticed the heightened interest from the administration. Why was the warden there? Tescar suffered from elevated numbers of suicides compared to other prisons in the system. What made Steven's important enough to bring the warden down from the ivory tower?

"Something's up," he whispered to the guys at the table.

"What do you mean?"

Jonas pointed the warden out. Warden Smits was accompanying the body as they moved Steven Wang's remains. It was the first time since being sent to Tescar that Jonas saw the warden come down to check on a suicide. Warden Smits rarely came out of the administration building. He had a second in command that everybody dealt with.

"What do you think brought King Smits down from the castle?" asked Whip.

"It's hard to say," answered Rico. "Maybe the numbers are catching up with him. This place sees twice the inmate deaths of any prison in the system. That can't be good for his career."

Jonas shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't sure that would explain things but didn't have an immediate answer. As the body was wheeled past, Warden Smits looked down and caught the table staring at them.

With each death at Tescar, Jonas learned that life goes on. The morbidness of it all barely slowed the routine of the day. After breakfast and dayroom time, they headed to their cells. Once the second count was complete, the inmates were allowed to move around freely until shift change.

Jonas worked part-time in the janitorial department. The officer and janitorial manager in charge were easy to get along with. Jonas learned the officers assigned to Janitorial were close to retirement. The entire department was joked about as being the rod squad. It meant retired on duty.

Once the staff finished the second count of the day, Jonas came out of his cell carrying a chessboard. He and Maron spent time playing chess during the early part of the day. Maron was a capable player. The two were a good match on the chessboard.

Their games gave Jonas a chance to watch the staff. He could find weaknesses in the wing security. The janitorial job did the same. The only place Jonas hadn't discovered an exploitable weakness was the perimeter. After a year of planning, he wasn't sure what was on the other side of the wall.

Jonas and Maron played until after two. It was time to get in line for the second shift count. When the officers yelled lock-in, everybody filed back to their cells. Jonas walked past Steve Wang's cell, looking for clues to what happened. He still wondered why Steve would kill himself. It didn't seem like he was the type.

Once locked in, everybody had two hours until they were allowed to come out. When they did, Jonas went to work. He took a job in the maintenance and janitorial department. Mostly, Jonas cleaned the floors, attended to broken lights, and did some basic plumbing and electrical work while the maintenance supervisor watched. It wasn't hard work. The job gave him a chance to get away from his wing.

There was always a security officer present. Officers assigned to maintenance were easygoing. The walk to the maintenance office let him see more of the outside world.

Surrounded by trees, usually snowy, Jonas recognized the terrain as similar to the Colorado mountains. The view was far more revealing than from their wing, where they only saw the skies above. Occasionally, the officer escorting him would let him stop and enjoy the scenery.

Today, he could see the snow falling and hear the winds blowing. There was a blizzard outside. It was nice to see after nearly two thousand days.

"I bet that was a bitch to get to work in," Jonas commented.

"What's that?" asked the officer.

"The blizzard," answered Jonas.

The officer looked at him and answered, "Oh, yeah. It was a pain. Thank god for four-wheel drive."

The way the weather looked, Jonas didn't know of any four-wheel drive that would get through the weather. It seemed like the roads would be closed and impassable. He wanted to ask about the officer's truck, but asking personal questions of the staff was taboo and usually irked them.

As they walked, the officer got a radio call. He stopped Jonas and answered. All Jonas could hear was him say he was with Taylor. After the officer responded and a momentary wait, there was a change in plans.

"Taylor, it appears you have an appointment in medical."

"Medical?" asked Jonas. "I haven't put in to see the doctor."

"Because of your sentence, you have to be seen by medical," explained the officer. "Let's go."

Jonas walked along with the officer. He was nervous about the unexpected change in plans. Since being there, he'd been to the infirmary only for a tetanus shot and during his initial intake period. Jonas hadn't suffered any health issues during his time at Tescar.

The infirmary was two sections over from the maintenance department. It was part of what they called the administrative building. As they walked, Jonas saw things differently. He'd had time to study the architecture of the buildings.

Entering the admin area convinced Jonas the complex was modular. The sections were designed and constructed with corridors connecting them. Tescar was much larger than imagined. He tried to think of where they were but came up with nothing.

When they arrived at the infirmary, the officer handed him off to the security staff assigned to infirmary duty. Security ordered him to take a seat. As Jonas sat in the waiting area, he watched the television screen. Things in the real world were as messy as they ever were.

After an hour, one of the nursing staff called Jonas's name. When he heard her yell, he stood and followed her. Jonas was taken to the doctor's area and into an office. The nurse checked his vitals and asked him some questions.

"Can you tell me why I'm here?" he asked. "I didn't put in a sick request."

"You're here to be evaluated. Dr. Patterson will be with you shortly," answered the nurse.

Jonas was taken to an office and told to have a seat. One of the security team stood at the doorway while he waited. Jonas sat there, his eyes darting around the room as he made mental notes of everything he could. The desk was fancier than most but functional. He looked to the side, seeing a comfortable chair and a long sofa. There were about two hundred books on shelves.

From the titles of the books, Jonas developed an opinion about Dr. Patterson. Dr. Patterson was a well-read and well-educated doctor. What type of doctor was, however, the question.

A few moments went by. Jonas heard a woman's voice telling the officer he could go. Jonas sat, trying to play cool and gauge the person he had to deal with. To his surprise, she wasn't what he expected.

"I'm Dr. Patterson," she told him, offering a handshake as she introduced herself.

Jonas shook her hand, his eyes locking with the warm hazel eyes in front of him. She was too attractive to be a prison shrink. Dr. Patterson, or Sue as she told him to call her, had curly blonde hair, an athletic build, and a warm demeanor. Her handshake was genuine, as he thought was her smile.

"Jonas," he stammered a bit, "Jonas Taylor."

"Well, Jonas Taylor, it's nice to meet you."

Dr. Patterson explained why he was there. With a thirty-year sentence, he was someone who could need counseling or psychological services. That was why Warden Smits ordered her to start seeing him.

"I appreciate that, but I'm fine," he told her.

"Are you? Are you really?" she asked.

Jonas thought about the situation. He was facing over twenty-five more years. If he did find a way to escape, he knew he would be on the run for the rest of his life. The anger inside him wasn't going away. Jonas questioned whether he'd end up like Steve Wang.

"I don't know. I guess therapy wouldn't hurt," admitted Jonas.

"Why don't you take a seat over here," she said, pointing at the sofa.

Dr. Patterson sat in the chair next to the sofa. She had her notepad in hand. Jonas sat next to her, and they started to talk.

Warden Smits sat in his office. He was watching the monitor on his desk. From his office, the warden of Tescar could see anything. Today, he could listen to what he was watching. As he took notes, his assistant entered and told him he had a call.

"Sir," said his assistant. "Vid one."

Warden Smits activated the video conference and turned down the sound on the other monitor.

"Good morning, Senator. How are you today?"

"I'm doing well. I trust that you've got things started," said Senator McComb.

"Yes, sir. Their first session started about fifteen minutes ago. He has no idea that you're involved."

"Good," said Senator McComb. "I want you to monitor him carefully."

"We are, sir. But if you told me more about why, it might help," admitted Warden Smits.

"Jonas Taylor a brilliant individual, the smartest I've ever dealt with. I've known him most of my adult life. He's also very dangerous, so don't underestimate him. That's all you need to know. If he communicates anything unusual with Dr. Patterson, I want to know about it," instructed Senator McComb.

"Yes, but how would I know what's unusual?"

"Let's put it this way," grumbled Senator McComb. "Anything that could derail my plans is something I need to know. My old friend needs to stay silent."

"And if he starts talking," wondered Smits.

Senator McComb looked upset. He told the warden he hoped he didn't have to explain something dark over the coms systems.

"I understand, sir."

When the senator's face disappeared from the screen, Warden Smits returned to monitoring the session with Dr. Patterson. He started wondering what Jonas Taylor knew that scared the presidential candidate.