Chapter 7: An Old Friend

Chapter 7: An Old Friend

The university did not look much different from her high school, Dawn thought. The students were older, a little bigger, and the load of books they carried was usually larger also. The buildings were also older and somehow grander, as if their purpose were more noble than the plain architecture of the high school. There were also more nuns and priests and Guards than she had ever seen before.

What now? Just walk up to a student and ask, “Are you a member of the underground? No? Well, can you direct me to someone who is?”

That seemed an excellent way to be back in chains and ropes before sundown.

Without being a student, she had no idea of the social rules that govern the campus. If she had friends among the students, she might learn something. Then it hit her! Karen Salen, an old friend who had graduated just before Dawn, and who had been accepted to the university. If she could find Karen, that was one person she could trust.

Ah, but where to look? She remembered Karen’s mother saying that she lived on campus in one of the dorms. But which one? Dawn did not even know where the dorms were.

She began walking, not really having any plan but hoping that something would come her way. The problem was that every time a nun or priest walked near her, she almost panicked. These nuns were dressed in traditional habit, not the leather catsuits, otherwise she might have donned the catsuit she had used to escape and tried to bluff her way around.

It was growing late in the afternoon and the number of students seemed to be diminishing. Maybe classes were over for the day? Then a piece of luck finally came her way. A kiosk at the intersection of four walkways had a campus map behind a glass frame. She studied the map carefully, figured where she was, and knew that the dorms were all behind that large gray building.

They were; all six of them. Three were easy to rule out because they had only male students coming and going. Dawn picked the closest of the others and boldly walked through the front door.

The front desk was manned by two coeds. As Dawn walked up, they were busy with students so she waited in line. While looking around she noticed that a booklet lying on the counter with a label of “Student Directory.” Trying not to look like a hungry cat pouncing on a mouse, she casually picked it up and turned the pages until she found “Salen, Karen. Room 344, Dykster Hall.”

From the sign outside, she knew this was Dykster Hall. Trying to look as if she belonged there, she walked to the elevators and waited for one. Around her several girls chatted about this or that, some cool boy or some really unfair professor.

The third floor, room 344 was not too hard to find. She knocked on the door and held her breath.

The girl who answered was not Karen. “May I help you?” she asked.

“I’m looking for Karen Salen,” Dawn said. “She’s an old friend of mine.”

“Karen’s not here, but she’ll be back in a few minutes. Won’t you come in?”

The room was small, mostly taken up by the two beds, two desks, two dressers and two closets. The view out the window was of the old buildings, some not nearly so regal when viewed from above compared to the ground view.

“My name’s Nancy. You knew Karen in high school?” the roommate asked.

“Yes. I’ll be coming here, and I wanted to ask some questions of Karen.”

“Great. Karen’s a nice girl. We get along fine.”

At that point Dawn was saved from idle chit-chat by the arrival of her friend. Karen looked shocked to see Dawn, but quickly recovered. Dawn told her story of wanting to know some things about the university and Karen suggested that they go down to the cafeteria for coffee. She hurried Dawn out of the room.

They did not go to the cafeteria but out into a common area in the center of the dorms. The shadows were lengthening and there were only a few people around this close to dinner time. Karen motioned to a stone bench.

“All right, what the hell is going on?” she demanded in a fierce whisper as soon as she was sure they were out of earshot. “My mother said you were arrested by the Guards weeks ago. Was she wrong?”

“No, I was arrested. But I escaped.”

“Oh, my God!” exclaimed Karen. “The Guards are looking for you?”

“Probably. Karen, let me explain.”

It was a long explanation summarized into a short one, with Dawn leaving out a lot of the tortures of Saint Secundina’s. “When I got out, I decided to do what I could to bring down such evils as Saint Secundina’s. Karen, I want to find if there is an underground; you know, a resistance movement, some people who want things as they once were.”

“So you came here thinking I can help you?! Dawn, you’re unbelievable. You think I would risk my own life just to help you become a rebel and terrorist?”

Dawn was taken back by Karen’s intensity. “I had hoped you would help me. You don’t have to join me or anything. Just tell me where I can find them. There has got to be some people who see the evil happening all around us.”

“Oh, there’s evil all around, all right! You think all those nuns and priests are here because they want an education? Hell, no, they’re here to make sure we stay in line. I’ve seen too many students disappear overnight. Just like you did, Dawn. Only they don’t come back.” She shuddered visibly. “If what you say is true, now I know where they went.”

She must have seen the dejection on Dawn’s face because she added, “Look, I would like to help you, I really would. But I can’t do anything.” She looked around nervously. “Christ, they even bug the dorm rooms. That’s why I brought you out here. If I’m seen with you…”

“Okay, I’ll leave,” said Dawn.

“Oh, Dawn, what can I do? I would like to help, really I would.”

“Then just tell me who to go to.”

Karen sighed. “There is only one person who might know what you’re talking about. His name is Professor Millard. But don’t tell him I sent you! I gotta go. Bye!”

Dawn watched her old friend hurry off towards the dorms.

As she slowly walked back to where she had hidden the car, she was thinking. By now she was certain the nuns knew she had escaped from Saint Secundina’s. She could not go back to her parent’s apartment, but that would surely be watched. Nor could she register in any hotel or motel. Such registrations were recorded on-line and reported to the Guards. She was uncertain just where she could go.

It was well into dusk when she reached the car. On the way she had grabbed an unwatched backpack from the front of the bookstore. She would put everything she had, what little of it there was, into that so she could abandoned the car when she had to. The gun, handcuffs and even the ropes went into the backpack. For a moment she considered leaving the nun’s uniform, then changed her mind and stuffed it into the pack. Shouldering the load, she walked several blocks to another fast food place for a simple dinner. In a strange way, she missed the gourmet meals of Saint Secundina’s.

After the meal, she found a public phone, looked up a Professor Millard, and made note of his address. It was not too far off, and she decided not to take the car. It was a certainty that the license plate was on the wanted list of ever Guard city wide, so driving it around was dangerous.

The professor’s address proved to be an apartment complex. His apartment was in the back, just behind the swimming pool. She climbed the stairs to the second floor, and paused before the door. She had seen light coming through the window and knew someone was home. It was nervous time again. If Karen was wrong and this professor turned her in, it would just ruin her day.

She knocked with a trembling hand and tried to think of what to say.

The door was answered by an older man, gray temples and a few wrinkles, but not bad looking in a sort of rugged, outdoor way.