Need to catch up? See Part One by clicking this:           http://authspot.com/short-stories/deceived-part-one/

From pipe to pipe, vent to vent we crawl. They remind me of “Jefferies Tubes” on “Star Trek”. Fortunately for us, some of the vertical ones have ladders. We go down to what we judge to be the right level, then we crawl through the maze.

Suddenly we see a bright searchlight heading towards us. A loud, mechanical clanking noise increases as “it” approaches. We scramble into a small side-vent. As the “thing” slowly passes, we see that it is a giant mechanoid spider. It has bunches of tentacles at its “mouth”, delicately feeling the insides of the pipeway. There is a huge metal pincer at each side of its maw. We are very glad to see it go on its way.

Then we hear the thunderous sound of, water! It’s quite obvious what is coming. I have recollections of the “Red Dwarf” equivalents of “Jefferies Tubes” being “cleaned” with a tide of liquid. We scramble back up a pipe. But that jet of water hits us hard. For a while we choke. Thankfully our tube is not totally filled and the water soon goes down. We have to get out of here! The water has stopped, but for how long for?

Sunlight! We hurry on. Another exit! No bars! Out we crawl, and fall headlong into a great dyke. Freedom! Hope we are not on CCTV or something.

As quickly as we can, we drag ourselves out of the dyke and stand upright for the first time in hours. It is what I would call a “hazy-sun day”, with low clouds hiding that bright orb we know so well. Or think we do!

Behind us is that high-walled “factory”. In front of us, a steep hill slopes down to the valley of freedom. We hope. Distant mountains beckon.

We make our way own a narrow pathway. Soon we are surrounded by small trees, about fifteen feet high. We are screened from any factory cameras or lookout posts (if there are any).

Presently we hear voices approaching. People! We hide in the bushes. A line of figures pass by. Their clothes look all tatty. Their hair is matted and long. They look a mix of males and females. They do not show the mark of factory sterility or advanced technology. Plainly they are “outsiders”.

Dave (whispers): “What shall we do, Uncle Phil?”

Me: (shouting at the people): “Hey! Hey! Help! Help!”

They sweep round and surround us. One steps forward.

Leader: “How did You get here?”

Dave (pointing back at the factory): “We just escaped from There!”

A Woman (to the leader): “Careful Jim, this might be a trap!”

I protest. Jim fires some questions at us. He asks us about our previous lives. We tell him what we can. Jim suggests we take them back the way we came. We do. At the edge of the tree-line he stops us. As best we can, we point out the path we have taken.

Jim: “You were lucky! The Sligs must not have cameras on that section.”

The Woman: “They might have let them go, to trap US!”

Jim: “Maybe Karen. But these look genuine lads to me. Russ, Sue, you two take these back to Camp. We’ll go on and check this out. Could be the breakthrough we are looking for.”

Me: “Sligs? Who the hell are They?”

Karen: “Sorry to have to break this to you Phil: Earth is a complete fiction. The world is actually called ‘Muddra’. We were conquered by these aliens, the ‘Sligs’, about two hundred years ago. The others will fill you in on the history back at camp.”

With no further ado, we were escorted towards those mountains.

Paul Butters