Electronic Gags (15 page)

“Let’s
put on these,” he said, handing her a jacket. “We are in summer but the
temperature sometimes falls to as low as two degrees Celsius.”

Jennifer
put on the jacket, imagining how cold the wildlife refuge would be in winter.

“Start
the car please.”

She
started the car.

“Drive
that way, deep into the wildlife refuge.”

“Where
exactly are we―”

“Just
do as I say,” Freddie ordered. “There is no time to waste.”

Jennifer
looked at him with newfound respect. She believed in survival of the fittest
and she respected people with power. Right now Freddie’s knowledge of the wildlife
refuge was power. She guided the car along the stretch of wet green land, crushing
wild flowers and scattering shrews and birds. She drove for twelve minutes
before the car got into a stream.

“Get
out of the car,” Freddie ordered.

They
got out of the taxi. Jennifer looked around her with disappointment. He
expected to find lots of trees in the wildlife refuge but all she saw was a flat,
treeless landscape with short plants. There was no cover here. If she wasn’t
fighting for her life, she would have enjoyed the colorful sight of Alaskan
flowers under the blue sky that was painted with stretches of clouds.

“There
are no Polar bears in this part of the wildlife refuge. There are no known
man-eaters among the black bears that roam this area. I wish I could say the
same about brown bears.” He licked his lower lip. “Let’s just hope and pray that
we won’t bump into a brown bear, especially one with cubs.”

“Then
why did you bring us here?”

“I
know the area and the cops don’t. Just do as I say. Let’s go past those hills as
quickly as we can.”

“I
hope for my sake that you know what you are doing.”

Spurred
by adrenaline, they walked at a pace that was slightly below a jog. Jennifer
wanted them to run but she knew the overweight Freddie would quickly run out of
breath if they ran.
Fat boy will get me killed,
she thought.

“Wait!”
Freddie whispered when they had walked for eight minutes. “Bison! Stay
still.Aren’t they magnificent creatures?”

Jennifer
watched the bison with horror. She believed she was tough, but as she looked at
the big beasts, she realized how fragile she was. The bison could easily gore
her with their sharp horns. Freddie’s calmness surprised her. He was enjoying watching
the bison, as if he was watching National Geographic on TV.

"Let’s
go,’” he ordered.

They
walked at a blistering pace and passed several shed antlers of caribou and
moose before they saw a herd of moose.

“They
won’t harm us if we keep our distance,” Freddie said. He flexed his fat bicep.
“Don’t worry, honey, I will protect you if the moose attack us.”

 She
smiled for only a second, and in that brief smile, Freddie saw the beautiful
sweet girl she would be if she removed the layer of toughness. “Where exactly
are we going?” she demanded.

“Just
be a good girl and follow me.” He looked at his watch. “Assuming the cops are
travelling at the same speed as we did, they will be entering the refuge in the
next forty minutes.”

“Where
are we going?”

“Shut
up and follow me, woman!” he said, increasing his pace.

Jennifer
looked at him for seconds before she followed him through the wet ground that
was covered with flowers and grass. She was beginning to respect him. He wasn’t
weak after all.

They
passed by a solitary musk ox peacefully feasting on Alaskan flowers and grass.
The bull looked like a brown stone boulder on the green, flowery plain.
Throughout her whole life, Jennifer had never seen so many animals and birds.
They saw the wild Alaskan sheep, the beautiful willow ptarmigan, owls hunting
for lemmings, coyotes, and foxes before they came across a pack of gray wolves.

Jennifer’s
admiration of Freddie rose when the wolves charged at them.

“Something
is wrong here,” Freddie said calmly. “Wolves don’t normally attack people. They
have been taught to fear humans by hunters who kill them for sport and farmers
who kill them to protect their livestock.”

The
wolves moved closer, growing in confidence.

“They
are going to kill us,” she said with hysteria.

“Calm
down,” Freddie said, lifting his tranquillizer gun. “There are less than ten
known fatal wolf attacks on humans in this region for the past hundred years.”

Jennifer
watched with horror as the wolves advanced, growling and gnashing their teeth. Freddie
aimed his tranquilizer gun at the leading wolf and fired, hitting the animal’s flank.
The canine wobbled for four seconds before it collapsed. The other wolves fled
and Freddie went to the fallen wolf.

“I
hate to kill animals but I am afraid I have to kill this wolf,” he said, taking
out the hunting knife.

“Why?”
Jennifer asked, surprising herself by feeling sorry for the animal. Somehow,
the wolf reminded her of the dog she had when she was a little girl.

“We
have to let the other wolves know that we are deadly. After watching us kill
their kin, they won’t get anywhere near us again. This is the jungle… survival
of the fittest. We have to show them we are fitter.”

The
drugged wolf was breathing heavily. Freddie dug the knife into its neck and
found the jugular. Blood gushed out of the animal, forming a puddle round its
head.

“Let’s
get going,” Freddie said, looking at his watch. “The police will be entering
the refuge any minute from now.”

The
supreme leader’s phone rang and he lazily answered it. “Yes.”

“I’m
waiting for your call to set the police after the fugitives,” the police
commissioner said from the other end of the line.

The
clock on the wall read 10:59:48. Brandon Ward waited for the clock to strike
eleven before he ordered the commissioner to set the cops after the fugitives.

“The
chase is on,” he told his brother.

Christopher
Ward maximized his Skype window and watched the live stream of the squad
chasing his team. Brandon Ward maximized his Skype window and watched the squad
chasing Freddie and Jennifer. After seconds the brothers switched to live
streams of the squads chasing the opposing teams.

“They
both look like good squads,” Christopher remarked.

“Yah,”
agreed Brandon. “The fugitives’ survival skills will determine the outcome of
game.”

They
returned to NASP and monitored the fugitives.

Freddie
led Jennifer through hills and across several streams. He was tired but the
fear of death spurred him on. Even Jennifer was beginning to tire. She has lost
her fitness sitting idle in prison. Panting, Freddie opened his satchel and
took out the roll of aluminum foil. He wound the foil round his neck, covering
his electronic gag.

“What
the fuck are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m
trying to block GPS satellite signals from reaching our trackers,” he
explained.

“Do
you think this is a movie?”

“I’m
not sure, but I think it might help. Unlike cellular waves, waves from GPS space
satellites come from thousands of kilometers away. They are weak when they
reach the Earth, and they find it difficult to penetrate barriers.” He gave her
the aluminum foil. “Cover your NAST with the foil. You never know... it might
make the difference between life and death. Put two layers like I did.”

Jennifer
took the foil and Freddie helped her wind it round her neck, completely
covering her electronic gag.

“Let’s
get going,” Freddie said, looking at his watch. “I think the police are now in
the wildlife refuge.”

“Where
are we going?” she asked with exasperation.

“We
are running for our lives, remember?”

“But
why in this particular direction?”

“Let’s
talk as we walk,” Freddie said.

“If
you don’t tell me why you want me to go there, I won’t go with you,” she
declared.

“Okay
girl, I will explain as we walk.”

She
walked at his side. “Tell me now,” she demanded when he remained silent for
more than two minutes.

“You
see that rabbit,” he tried to change the subject of the conversation. “It’s
called an Alaskan rabbit but it actually originates from German. It wa―”

“Stop
the rabbit talk,” Jennifer snarled. “I’m not a tourist. Tell me why you are
taking me where you are taking me.”

“I
promise I will tell you in thirty minutes. Let’s pick up our pace.”

He
increased his pace and she had no choice but to follow him. The police squad
chasing them would call for reinforcements if they separated. They walked past
two hills and entered a forest of tall trees. There they saw moose, a lynx and
some weasels. Song-birds sang merrily in the treetops. The trees provided good
cover, making Jennifer feel safer.

She
looked at her watch. Although the time was now twelve minutes past five, the
sun didn’t look like it was going set. She had heard that here there were days
when the sun didn’t set and she hoped today was not such a day. She needed night’s
darkness to protect her from the police. A growing swarm of mosquitoes hovered
round them, threatening to enter their eyes. Jennifer had never seen such large
mosquitoes. The insects looked like they had just come out of a horror movie.

“Oh
I had forgotten about my mosquito repellent.” Freddie took out the repellent
from his satchel and rubbed it on his face and hands. “This forest is a mixture
of birch, spruce and aspen trees. Aspen trees serve as natural compasses.” He
pointed at an aspen tree. “Their trunk―”

“I
told you… I am not your tourist and you are not my tour guide,” Jennifer said,
rubbing herself with mosquito repellent. “I don’t need this lecture about your
park’s wonderful plants and animals. I need to know why you took me here.”

Freddie
cleared his throat. “The government uses GPS surveillance and cell
multilateration to track us. For them to track you by GPS, the GPS receiver in your
NAST need a direct line of sight to at least four GPS satellites.” He cleared
his throat again. “When that happens, the GPS receiver calculates the distance
between it and each of the GPS satellites it sees. The receiver then calculates
its geographical position using these distances. Obstructions such as trees and
buildings can significantly reduce GPS accuracy.”

“So
that’s why we are in this forest?” she asked.

“Partly
yes,” he said. “Let’s increase our speed. I will explain everything to you soon.
Let’s walk a little more.”

Sulking,
she followed him. In spite of herself, she liked the way he patronized her.
When he refused to answer her questions, it made him look tough and mysterious,
characteristics she liked in a man.

“Now
I can explain everything to you, my dear,” he said at last.

“I’m
not your dear,” she snapped.

“Okay
D5573. After calculating their geographical position, the NASTs send the
information to the CIB headquarters. As I said before, the government also uses
cell tracking. GPS doesn’t work indoors and when people go indoors the tracker
resorts to cell tower multilateration to determine its location.”

“Where
is this lecture going? Am I on an information technology course?”

“There
is no cell network in this part of the refuge,” Freddie said. “Without cell
network the government can only track us using GPS.” He smiled. “If GPS fails,
the government won’t be able to track us.”

“How
do you know that there is no cell network here?” she asked skeptically.

“I
worked in this wildlife refuge for five years,” he said with authority. “Check
the balance of your NAST if you doubt me.”

She
pulled out the keypad and display panel of her electronic gag and dialed *100#.
“You are right,” she said with admiration. “I got an error message. There is no
network coverage here.”

“Assuming
that the aluminum foil didn’t work, which I doubt very much, we can beat GPS
tracking by staying indoors or in a cave, and I happen to know a secret cave
three kilometers away from here. I couldn’t tell you earlier because I feared
they would hear us.”

What
Freddie didn’t realize was that they didn’t have to worry about GPS tracking
system at the moment. Even if the GPS trackers in their electronic gags got
unobstructed lines of sight to GPS satellites, the modems of their gags still
needed cell network to send their location to the CIB headquarters. As long as
they stayed in the area without cell network, the government couldn’t track
them with NASP.

“A
cave!” she squealed with joy. “You are a genius.”

“I
can’t believe my ears. Did you praise me?”

“What
are we waiting for?” She scampered away.

“Hey,
wait for me,” Freddie complained. “Can’t you see I have a satchel on my back?”