Remnant by Dwayne A Thomason

Author:Dwayne A Thomason [Thomason, Dwayne A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Into the Inner Prison

Cel gasped and opened her eyes, shocked awake by a blaring klaxon. Bright, white light burned her eyes. Her heart raced. Her hands tingled and went numb. Her head spun and she didn’t know which way was down. She struggled for breath.

Then the klaxon stopped as suddenly as it began, the light dimmed, and she realized she was lying on the floor. Cel sat up and found herself in a featureless, black cube. Four black walls. One black floor. The ceiling was one big, white light.

She was still in her off-duty clothes, now ripped and bloodied. The only addition was a set of metal cuffs at her wrists and ankles. Someone had tended to her injuries. Even her knee felt good as new.

“Good morning, Ms. Numbar,” came a voice from everywhere.

Cel stood up. “Anatheret.” She looked around but found no visible sign of cameras or speakers, not even seems for a door.

“I will make this quick, Ms. Numbar. I am, after all, a busy man, as acting governor.”

Cel scoffed. “I’m sorry to take up your valuable time. Let me out and I’ll let you get to your busy schedule.”

“Not quite.”

Cel spun around, looking for something to give her attention to but found nothing. No double-sided window, not even a camera lens to peer into.

“But I will make you a deal,” the voice said.

“No thanks.”

“You might want to withhold judgment until you understand your situation. All I want is Ashla Vares’ location. If you give it to me, you will be remanded to a standard-security Alliance prison to wait for your trial.”

“Trial?” Cel asked.

“You cost the Alliance millions in damages and killed four members of the Alliance Peace Corps.”

“Jin,” Cel said. “Those men working on the shuttle?”

“Mm hmm.”

Cel shook her head and gritted her teeth. “No one was supposed to die.”

“You can tell that to the judge. But I’m sure with a full confession and my recommendation for leniency based upon your cooperation in recovering Ashla Vares, you’ll get five to ten years in prison which you can cut down with good behavior.”

“And if I refuse?”

“You stay here.”

Cel made a crooked smile and shrugged. “This place isn’t so bad. Great view. Black is my favorite color. And this broad light source really helps my complexion.”

“When you change your mind, call for me.”

“Nah,” Cel said. “Wouldn’t want to take your time away from running a puppet government.”

“We’ll see.”

The room fell silent. Cel could hear nothing, no talking, no air circulating, no footsteps. Silence. She had no idea what time it was or even where she was. She figured she was still in or near the palace, but she could have been anywhere. She expected her mission was a success, otherwise Anatheret wouldn’t be asking. That was the only thing she could hang her hopes on. Ashla had escaped. Cel had kept her promise.

Before she even recognized it, Cel began to tremble. As she breathed, white mist puffed from her nose. She hugged herself but to little effect. There was no wind to hide from, not even a breeze.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.