A Universe Against Us by Marc Degeorge

Author:Marc Degeorge [Marc B. DeGeorge]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MuseMarc Studio LLC
Published: 2024-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

INCARCERATION

FANA

My teeth are chattering like mad. Squeezing myself tightly to get warm hasn’t helped. The air in this storage room must be half the ship’s standard setting. Commander Azazhi is doing this on purpose. He’s torturing me with a reminder of my first moments in a stasis bed, when the refrigeration process has begun and I’m still waiting for the hibernation chemicals to kick in.

I’ve been sitting on top of this crate for hours, unmoving, staring at the door, waiting for them to take me to my sentencing. And that’s all it will be. There’s no reason for them to pretend it’ll be a fair trial. We all know it won’t be.

There’s been little to do except stare at the line where the wall and ceiling meet, its dull metallic gray as exciting as the rest of the neutral-tones crates and bins in here. They’ve given me no food or water to speak of. No way to get clean. Nowhere to sleep. Though I won’t need any of those things soon enough. The digestive system has to be cleared before stasis, and once I’m under, I’ll sleep for hundreds of years.

The one useful thing I have done since being locked in here is reflect on my actions. Some, I now realize, were kind of stupid. Well, idiotic, really. I overdid it, pushing Raey like that. And it was wrong of me to drag Ceri and her crew into this. They’ll resist, I know it. Once Captain Yelekal gets his orders, he won’t stop until they’re carried out. And the Stratford kids won’t like that one bit.

Oh, I really hope none of them get hurt…

There’s a knock on the door before it slides open, revealing Raey. She’s in her deep blue medical uniform and cap. Our eyes meet for a moment before she glances behind her, then steps in and shuts the door.

“Why are you wearing a respirator?” I ask, tilting my head.

Raey folds her arms and watches me from just inside the door. That she’s not coming to embrace me, or even get closer to her ex-lover, is putting a lump in my throat. I don’t want to believe she’s that angry with me. She came to see me, after all. Still, something’s wrong, and that transparent dome over her nose and mouth might have something to do with it.

“Raey,” I say. “What’s the respirator for?”

More observation. And then she asks, “How are you feeling?”

“Like the commander forgot I’m human and need to eat. And sleep. Can’t I get a pillow or a mat at least? I want to lie down.”

“Do you feel ill?”

“No! I feel exhausted! This has been a really long day. Or a couple of days.” I shake my head. “I don’t even know how long I’ve been in here!”

“Forty-six hours. Are you sure you don’t feel sick?”

Oh. So that’s what the mask is for.

I sigh. “Raey, just tell me already. Am I infected? Because if I am, I don’t feel a thing.”

“Your blood sample came back positive for viral RNA.

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