THE TWELVE -- Chapter 11 - Crushed Hopes

That night, the end of the fourth day of capture, even as Djaisiuk was falling asleep, Jaeger walked slowly to the eating room to meet the others members of his crew.  Most of the other boys were already there by the time that he arrived.  Only Eriane and Wysire were missing.  The boys noticed immediately that something was wrong, and they asked him what it was, but he told them that he wanted to wait for Eriane and Wysire before he explained.  It was, therefore, a rather quieter table than normal that Wysire found when he entered.  After waiting some time longer, they decided that Eriane must not be coming, so Jaeger began, saying that he would tell Eriane all about it the next time that he saw him.
 

“I have some news,” Jaeger began.  “When we left here last night, I was called to Kandryl’s quarters to speak with him.  He informed me, quite amiably, that escape is impossible, and also, though not quite as amiably, that any future planning of such would be met with official disapproval.”
 

The boys stared at him wordlessly.  Jaeger sighed, sounding defeated.
 

“How did he know?” asked Jade quietly.
 

“He said that there is nowhere on this planet that we or anyone else can go where ‘our words will not be heard,’” answered Jaeger.
 

“He can’t listen to us all of the time!” exclaimed Cycil.  “Surely he has more to do than just to watch us.”
 

“He doesn’t have to watch us,” said Detrin.  “He can have anyone watching us, and all they’d need to do would be to report if we said something that we oughtn’t.  It wouldn’t take many people doing it to have someone watching us always.”
 

“It’s just as well then,” said Wysire, “that I was unable to find out anything about Creole, Christopher, and Faquire.”
 

“How did that go?” asked Jade.  “Were you told that it was ‘privileged information’?”
 

“No,” answered Wysire.  “I asked my supervisor, but he told me that he didn’t know.  I asked if there was some way that I could find out, but he said that he doubted that I’d be able to do so.  He said that they could be in any number of places; it’s possible that they aren’t even in this facility, he said.”
 

“Did you fare any better with finding Djaisiuk?” Jaeger asked Jade.
 

“No,” Jade laughed scornfully.  “Rodre told me that even knowledge of his location required a far higher security level than mine.”
 

“But he knew where Djaisiuk was?” asked Sandy.
 

Jade shook his head.  “No,” he said.  “When I first asked, he said that he would look.  He pulled up some information on us, but apparently even he didn’t have access to information on Djaisiuk.  He knew that Djaisiuk was here, but he couldn’t tell me where.”
 

Jaeger nodded.  “It’s just as well.”
 

“But if we could find Djaisiuk,” said Cycil, “he could come up with something.  With him working with us, escape would be more than possible; it’d be almost definite.”
 

“There’s to be no more talk of escape,” said Jaeger firmly.  “I started this talk, and I won’t have any of you getting in trouble for following me.”
 

“Jaeger,” said Wysire softly, “you wouldn’t be the one to blame.”
 

“I don’t want to see any of you get hurt,” said Jaeger.  “We’re not going to escape.  If we ever leave this place, it’ll only be if our captors release us, or if our own people come and rescue us.  There’s nothing that we can do.”
 

The boys were silent, but they knew that he was right.  It would be only by a miracle that they would leave.
 

“God might rescue us,” said Sandy quietly.  “He rescued Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah from the furnace.”
 

A few of the older boys smiled at this.
 

“Yes, He did,” agreed Wysire.  “And yes, He might rescue us.”
 

“At least it’s not a furnace from which He has to rescue us,” said Detrin.
 

“Yes, I suppose that it could always be worse,” smiled Jade.
 

The others nodded quietly, but none said anything.  It was a sad and quiet group that sat together that night.  Hope was what had kept them going.  Now it seemed that their hope was all but gone.  None of them were surprised when Jaeger opened the evening devotions with Ecclesiastes.  When he closed with the eighth chapter of Romans however, all felt encouraged.
 

Cycil, who had a beautiful voice, was elected to lead them all in singing that night, and he began singing a Komislavian song based on the 57th Psalm:

    Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
    For my soul trusts in Thee alone; my soul, it trusts in Thee
    And in the shadow of Your wings will I be safe alway
    Until all these calamities have passed and fled away

    I will cry to God Most High; to God alone I cry
    To God who doth perform all things for such a one as I
    He has said and He shall send from heaven and save me
    He saves me from the reproach of him who’d swallow me.

    God shall send His mercy forth!  His Truth shall ever come!
    Praise the Lord, our God above!  Praise Him, every one!

    My soul is among the lions; the dragons fence me in,
    The sons of men, whose teeth are spears, whose way is only sin
    Their tongue: a sword, their words: deceit; they spread a net for me
    A pit they dig, but in they fall!  To God all glory be!

    My heart is fixed, O Lord, my God, it’s fixed alone on Thee!
    I sing to You, and lift my voice!  Receive this praise from me!
    Awake, my glory!  Awake, O harp!  With psalms of joy I’ll sing!
    Awake, O sun, and praise your God!  For God alone is King

    Among the nations, my song will rise; I will sing to Thee aloud
    Thy mercy is unto the heavens, and Thy Truth to the highest cloud
    Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
    Let Thy glory be over all the Earth;
    Let Thy glory be over all the Earth!