The fourth morning of capture found Djaisiuk somewhat revived after a full night’s sleep but still moving slower than usual due to the absence of any nourishment during the last day. He began work as usual, though much slower than the day previous, and his ‘assistant’ Kiacyl arrived soon afterward. Again, only a single meal tray was brought in the morning, and again Djaisiuk remained at his computers working.
As the morning wore on, the young assistant noticed that Djaisiuk would stop working from time to time and just sit still, his eyes lowered and his breathing deeper than usual. These breaks became more frequent as the day progressed.
About the middle of their workday, an orderly again brought in one meal tray. This time, Djaisiuk arose from his desk and approached the table.
“No meal was sent for you,” said the orderly.
Djaisiuk looked the young man in the eye for a moment then stepped forward again. The orderly stepped forward also, positioning himself between Djaisiuk and the table with a firm look of self-assurance and determination. The orderly was both larger and stronger than was Djaisiuk, and he had no fear of him. Djaisiuk stood still for a moment, then stepped to the left as if he would go around the orderly. As he did so, the orderly laid a hand on Djaisiuk’s arm to hold him back, but Djaisiuk immediately twisted his own arm around, taking hold of the orderly’s arm in his right hand and pulling the latter forward. Before the other could react, Djaisiuk reached forward with his left hand and struck a very light blow to the orderly’s side with his fingertips. The orderly doubled over in pain, and Djaisiuk struck another light blow, little more than a firm tap really, to the back of the young man’s neck.
The orderly fell to the floor, unconscious.
Djaisiuk took no further notice of his fallen foe and simply stepped up to the table, lifted the glass of water provided, and swallowed two mouthfuls. This done, he returned to his computers and resumed his work.
Kiacyl had witnessed the whole incident in shock. He stared first at the fallen young man and then at Djaisiuk. Moving carefully away from his own computer, Kiacyl went to the door, opened it, and asked the guard to send for a medic. He then watched Djaisiuk carefully, prepared to leave the room himself if necessary, but Djaisiuk seemed to take no notice of him.
Kiacyl had witnessed the whole incident in shock. He stared first at the fallen young man and then at Djaisiuk. Moving carefully away from his own computer, Kiacyl went to the door, opened it, and asked the guard to send for a medic. He then watched Djaisiuk carefully, prepared to leave the room himself if necessary, but Djaisiuk seemed to take no notice of him.
Very soon, two medics arrived, and with them came Kandryl. The latter demanded an explanation, and Kiacyl gave it as clearly as he could. The medics examined the fallen orderly and gave him something to bring him back to consciousness. Djaisiuk continued to ignore everything around himself.
“It’s very strange, sir,” said one of the medics to Kandryl. “There’s no damage; not even a bruise. The boy was rendered unconscious somehow, but he has not been injured in any way.”
Kandryl looked at Djaisiuk with closely veiled approval. This was an action worthy of a Vukasovian, but not something that would be expected of a Komislavian. They were such a passive race, not at all prone to violence of any kind. Djaisiuk had just risen considerably in Kandryl’s estimation. Yes, this young man seemed to have the effrontery of the best of the Vukasovians. Even so, Kandryl was not yet ready to trust him. Djaisiuk's attitude of self-possession and independence would be acceptable only within limits. If he would but accede to Kandryl’s ultimate authority, he would be truly invaluable. For the time being, however, Kandryl must make it clear that although this sort of behavior was permissible as regards underlings, Djaisiuk must be willing to obey Kandryl himself implicitly in everything without question.
Once the medics had finished their work, they and the orderly left the room. Kandryl then motioned Kiacyl to leave as well and turned towards the three computers.
“Djaisiuk,” he said firmly.
Djaisiuk stopped his work and turned to look at Kandryl. Their eyes met for only a moment, then Djaisiuk lowered his to gaze vaguely in front of himself. Kandryl smiled approvingly as only a Vukasovian can.
“Your audacity is commendable,” said Kandryl. “You have earned this meal. Enjoy it while you can; it may be your last for some time.”
With that, Kandryl too left the room.
* * * * * * *
That night, Djaisiuk lay awake, thinking. It was time for planning. He had planned from the start that he would engineer their escape, if possible. In order to accomplish this, he had to appear to be working willingly for the Vukasovians. Djaisiuk had expected that he would be given duties such as the ones he was now performing. These projects would be very useful to those in charge and would gauge his own abilities. This was what Djaisiuk had hoped that he would be doing. Djaisiuk made it a point to not work at maximum efficiency. He worked much faster than would a normal person of lesser intelligence and indeed much faster than that for which Kandryl had been prepared but not as quickly as it was possible for him to work. This was intentional. Djaisiuk did not want Kandryl to know his true abilities. In order to accomplish his plan for their escape, Djaisiuk would have to be able to do a tremendous amount of work, aside from his assigned work, undetected. To do this, he must still be able to finish his usual work in the amount of time that Kandryl would come to expect.
That night, Djaisiuk lay awake, thinking. It was time for planning. He had planned from the start that he would engineer their escape, if possible. In order to accomplish this, he had to appear to be working willingly for the Vukasovians. Djaisiuk had expected that he would be given duties such as the ones he was now performing. These projects would be very useful to those in charge and would gauge his own abilities. This was what Djaisiuk had hoped that he would be doing. Djaisiuk made it a point to not work at maximum efficiency. He worked much faster than would a normal person of lesser intelligence and indeed much faster than that for which Kandryl had been prepared but not as quickly as it was possible for him to work. This was intentional. Djaisiuk did not want Kandryl to know his true abilities. In order to accomplish his plan for their escape, Djaisiuk would have to be able to do a tremendous amount of work, aside from his assigned work, undetected. To do this, he must still be able to finish his usual work in the amount of time that Kandryl would come to expect.
Djaisiuk had to keep ahead of Kandryl; he had to work faster than Kandryl could work in his place. In this way, Kandryl would not have time himself to review all of Djaisiuk’s work in detail, nor would any single person. The work must either be reviewed in brief, be reviewed by several different people, or not be reviewed at all. Djaisiuk would then also be given more to do which would require him being granted more access. This too was essential. Djaisiuk had to find out everything about their situation without it seeming as though that was what he was doing. Already he had discovered most of what he would need to know in order to plan exactly what needed to be done. He had been able to ascertain with almost complete certainty that they were here now as part of an experiment, not officially sanctioned by the government of Vukosava, but rather under the absolute control of Kandryl. Based on what information he had gathered so far, it appeared that the experiment had been Kandryl’s idea from the beginning. The Vukasovians would strengthen themselves and weaken their hated neighbors by draining the brain power of Komislava and channeling it into Vukosava. The Vukasovians were well aware of the existence of the IC School on Komislava. They knew also that these boys of great intelligence were sent out often on exploratory and experimental missions. If the Vukasovians could capture them, a few at a time, and have them work for the Vukasovians, then they would gain a great asset at very little cost.
Kandryl, as has been said, was apparently in absolute control of this experimental facility. His duty: to show that the idea could work. He had captured one ship of twelve boys. If he could show that they would work for the Vukasovians, even against their own people, he would have succeeded. If the boys were not compliant, then they would be eliminated and the plan retried with a second ship. If up to three ships failed, the plan would be deemed too risky to continue and would be dismissed. The facility would be closed, all personnel would be reassigned, and all evidence pointing to its original purpose would be destroyed.
Djaisiuk knew that he had to warn his own people of this plot. Even if his own escape was impossible, his people must be warned. But he did not imagine that escape would be impossible. Because of the extremely delicate nature of this experimental project, all that was required to destroy it was knowledge and proof of it in the hands of an outside source. The difficulty lay in getting that knowledge to any outside source without the Vukasovians knowing that it had been done. If the Vukasovian government suspected that anyone outside knew of the existence of the project, they would immediately shut it down, get rid of the boys, and eliminate all traces of the experiment. Knowledge itself would end the experiment, but it could also end the lives of the Komislavian boys.
Djaisiuk’s plan of escape was underway, but he needed more time in order to implement it. Much more time.
The breaking techniques that Kandryl was employing were draining, to say the least. The stress that they were causing was building more and more each day. Djaisiuk longed for his piano; indeed, his fingers fairly ached when he thought of it. It would be such a help! But he must not ask for it. In time, perhaps, it would not be so dangerous to do so, but right now he must not allow Kandryl to know of its existence. But without it, the constant barrage was far more difficult to bear. Djaisiuk knew that he could easily go along with whatever Kandryl wanted and thus avoid these present discomforts, but he also knew that he must not do so. Kandryl wanted information from him. The questions he asked now were harmless enough, but they would not remain so. If Djaisiuk continued to offer Kandryl all that he wanted, in time Kandryl would want more. It must stop somewhere. Djaisiuk had vast quantities of information that Kandryl would love to obtain but that Djaisiuk knew that he must not give. To lie was out of the question. To remain silent was the only option. Given his personality and usual behavior, this provided him with the perfect shield. He had told Kandryl that he did not like to speak, and he would maintain that position. Kandryl might think what he liked, but he would find that Djaisiuk would work willingly, so long as he was not required to speak. If Kandryl decided to pose his questions in a written format, asking that the answer be given in the same way, then Djaisiuk knew that he would find himself in difficulties. But he still hoped that it would not come to that. At the moment, the facts were simply this: Kandryl wanted Djaisiuk’s absolute submission; Djaisiuk was offering to meet Kandryl half-way. Kandryl could either take it or leave it, but Djaisiuk would come no further. It only remained to be seen whether Kandryl would ultimately accept.
In the meantime, these breaking techniques also ate into the workable time that Djaisiuk was given. If they continued indefinitely, he knew that he may be unable to effect their escape. These gave Kandryl time to study each of Djaisiuk’s projects at leisure. Djaisiuk would have to work faster than Kandryl could review if the plan was to work.
In theory, his plan seemed simple enough; in actuality, the difficulties were enormous. Djaisiuk intended to put very small pieces of harmless (and seemingly useless) code into several key areas of the main systems. At a set point in time, which he would later determine, these pieces would come together secretly to form a complete program that would send the information and proofs that he would, by then, have collected to his home planet. This plan was daring and deadly. If it failed or was found out, then it was very likely that all of the boys would be executed immediately. If it succeeded, then the Komislavians would have the proof that they would need to come and rescue the boys. Without this information, they may be able to guess what had happened (based on the last known position of the ship and the partial message sent by Djaisiuk), but they would be unable to come to the precise location and to ensure either that the boys would be returned or even that they would still be alive when their people arrived. The slightest miscalculation, the closest timing being off, and the Vukasovian officials could kill the boys and destroy the evidence, thus proving that they had never been there. It was a delicate process and a very risky plan, even if Djaisiuk was able to function at full capacity for as long as was needed.
As long as was needed would likely prove to be at least two weeks. Djaisiuk knew that he could accomplish it in the space of seven days, if necessary, but he would then be far less sure of avoiding detection. The longer that he had in which to do it, the better able he would be both to disguise his efforts and to cover his tracks afterwards. No, two weeks, possibly more, would be safest. With circumstances as they were, he could not tell if it might be longer, simply because of the delays being caused by this constant torment. If, on the other hand, Kandryl gave up entirely on dominating Djaisiuk and was content to let him simply work, it might go faster. Djaisiuk had no way of knowing.
Kandryl needed definite results to show to his superiors in order to prove that his experiment was working. He may continue to try to break Djaisiuk’s will for some time yet, but, in the end, if he found that he would be unable to break him without killing him, he may relent. He may decide that a half-way compliant super-genius was better than none at all. Djaisiuk was far too valuable to the experiment to simply throw away. Djaisiuk showed no resistance where work was concerned. He worked willingly and well. He would not provide information, but he would work. He could only hope that Kandryl would eventually become content with this arrangement. But, again, he had no way of knowing.
With this knowledge, the certainty of uncertainty, Djaisiuk was able to more fully trust in God for their ultimate deliverance. It was not up to him. He would do all that he could, but God would be the deciding factor. Would Kandryl give up on dominating Djaisiuk? Would Djaisiuk's plan ultimately be discovered? Would the rest of the boys retain both life and sanity until their people could come? Djaisiuk had no control over any of these factors and therefore committed them fully to the Lord. He asked God to give him the strength and the will to do all that he must. He begged that the Lord would look after the mental well-being of the others working for the Vukasovians and the physical well-being of those who were not. And, finally, he asked that the Lord would work even in the hearts of these, their Vukasovian captors, to make His glory known.
Feeling comforted then, Djaisiuk finally drifted off to sleep.
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