Future of the Earth: The Derelict

By J.G. Contor

Captured, alone, and deep inside enemy territory, Alu'a must escape. Her enemy, her captors, aliens her people call the Apak; they are ruthless, relentless, and bent on dominating all life. Alu'a is at their mercy and has been for years. The Apak interrogations challenge everything she believes in. Unbeknownst to the Apak she has learned a great many things that may aid her people in the war. The only problem is she doesn't know if she can escape; no one ever has. She doesn't know if she will die; the Apak kill prisoners every day. She doesn't even know if her people are looking for her; after all she was a only soldier and could be replaced.

There is never a right moment to escape. Alu'a succeeds at breaking free of her cell, stowing away on a transport, and crashing on a new world barely terriformed and hostile. After days of wondering, barely able to stay alive, her fleet arrives and battles the Apak in orbit. When rescued and returned to her homeworld, Alu'a is honored by the queen to lead her people in a full on assault of Apak space.

War takes its toll on Alu'a. She watches hundreds of her people die to defeat the Apak. During key battles, Alu'a's operatives glean new intelligence of the enemy and their capability. Armed with knowledge of the Apak's homeworld, they launch their attack. With all the alleys they can gather, Alu'a places herself between the worst threat in the galaxy and the very center of her people's ethical standard.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.G. Contor
• Release date: Jan 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370001576

J.G. Contor

Born and raised in Idaho, I constantly had access to the outdoors; hiking, fishing, hunting, camping, skiing, and summer water sports. After high school, I spent two years in Korea teaching English and proselytizing for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was exposed to an entirely different culture and learned the virtues of knowing the way others think. Shortly after returning from Korea, I enrolled in college in Hawaii on the island of O'ahu, and soon became exposed to more cultures from the pacific islands. College education focusing on English, Creative Writing, and Theatre gave me opportunities to dive into literature and enjoy the depth of writing and its potential. Hawaii became my first love and the one place where I always wanted to return to, should I find myself away. In Hawaii, I met my wife, and we were married in Kona. We lived and taught in Hawaii for two years, before moving to the mainland to escape high rent prices. We are now pursing more school and continuing to write and create new stories and worlds to put them in.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

SHE IS TOO RADICAL; SHE MUST BE DEALT WITH.

And how you do suggest we proceed? She is more than a soldier; she is the offspring of a hierarch of light and a favorite among the guardians. Not to mention she follows the path to the utmost and has balance beyond contestation.

But you saw how she interprets the runes of the ancients, what she is suggesting we do; its madness, its chaos; it will be the end of us.

All things change to maintain the balance; that is way of the path. Would you challenge the judgments of the hierarchs to silence the single small voice which threatens you?

She is not just a single voice; she has many, including the matrons of temples from here to Oti’apiri listening and seeing the same signs and runes in all the ancient circles. If we don’t crush the head we can never remain as we are.

You are so worried about the head that you forget the neck and body.

Those will come in time, as the poison is slowly digested, but it is always administered through the mouth.

If you challenge her interpretation and appeal her words to the hierarch you will expose even more these notions you wish to quell. An assault upon the balance of a hierarch child will not be without its mess, nor will that allow us to continue as we always have. It will draw attention.

There are other ways we can remove her besides an attack on her position and piety.

What you are suggesting is against the path. You know this. To do so would be treachery and betrayal.

I’m not suggesting anything of the sort.

Then come to the point.

You and I both know how well balance must be maintained both for the macro and microcosmic scale of society, therefore, what I’m suggesting will not be an act against the balance nor one that any can use to point us out as the instigators, all I desire is to place her at the right place at the wrong moment and let her fall doing what she desires, and that is balancing the war.

You suggest conspiracy to murder—

But as it is not our knife that will cut her throat, are we truly the guilty?

You walk a fine path between opposite points of balance.

All points have been calculated; you must trust me. All angles have been considered. This will work.

Forgive my distrust as you certainly have misused the trust of so many; I tread with you carefully and will not stand by your deceit should inquiries be made into the matter.

Nor will I defend you should I be interrogated.

What if she overcomes this doom which you have designed to come upon her? It would not be the first time we have attempted to foil her impetuous spirit and found ourselves foolish in the act.

A warrior is loyal to the cause, and she is far too disciplined to wrestle against the challenge she will face.

Not even in full force as she is accustomed to having?

Even in full force, and her warriors to aid her.

So you intend to place more than her under the weight of death just to save yourself from her single voice.

I would sacrifice half my Akutash if it meant holding my place and protecting the path.

Your haste to secure your hypocrisy by claiming you protect the path amuses me. You speak as though you had true conviction. You speak like a temple matron.

In the face we must hold the lie, or else to the eyes our lies are told; if I believe my cause is just enough, I won’t have to hide.

And you think I have pretense sufficient to cover my intent? I do not walk as boldly as you, though at times I envy your courage.

So you agree then?

If we, despite the marks against us, allow her to be placed—

Rather led.

Yes, if we allow her to be led into the danger of a hopeless battlefield in a vain effort to restore Oti’apiri, perhaps she will, by the fortunate number Apak against her, be forced to prematurely journey to the place of Osh. Who can say it wasn’t a noble sacrifice which she volunteered to undertake.

Even more elegant if she volunteers.

But what if she does succeed?

It is unlikely that her success will require less than her death, but in the case of living, she could perhaps find herself cut off from all allies.

Her superiors might lose contact, or worse, be so occupied with other matters as to overlook her requests for assistance.

There would be nothing left, but to die or surrender.

And she will never surrender; not to the Apak.

Then we will be without contest as we prepare our true intention.

PART 1:

The Derelict

CHAPTER 1: THE PRISONER OF THE APAK

GRAND AND HOLY OSH, OSH OF MY ANCESTORS, ESTEEMED HIERARCHS, AND all the holy mothers, give me strength to withstand, firmness of faith to remain in balance, and find the path in this place of evil, blaspheme, monsters, and—

Hey, you there! the guard’s voice barked as he saw and heard the prisoner mumble in her native tongue. Long legs, keep your mouth shut, or I’ll muzzle your face.

She waited until the alien turned its back and paced his way toward her fellow captives. She continued; And upon thy well-tuned heart I lay my plea, my hope, and my destiny. Let not my path to thee in this moment come, but spare my spirit and body for the grand designs among my people, that we might join thee and mine ancestors in Oshdifimi.

At that moment of supplication, she had forgotten to watch her extremities. Her left foot was sitting on the bare bars of her small cage, a cage specifically made to be high in electrical conductivity. The guard, who had commanded her not to speak, had applied an electric prodding wand—standard issue to her jailers—to the bars of the cage resulting in an electrical shock which surged into her foot and traveled through her leg and into her back. Her body burst into dances of uncontrollable contortion causing other limbs to come in contact with metal bars of her enclosure. Each contact increased the shock through her system and forced each muscle throughout her body to quiver and harden with magnified stimulation. When it stopped, her vision was so blurred she couldn’t see, but she heard and felt the presence of the guard. This particular guard was notorious among the inmates, and was a particular well spring for most of the tortures, physical beatings, and wrath of a species—who more than any other—despised the differences between cultures. As a result he was the target for any of the prisoners’ lashings out of animosity or physical repercussion they could make. In a reverent and unspoken way, all the inmates agreed he was the vilest alien they had ever encountered, and to hurt him, if they could, was worth the hours of electrical repercussion for bold action taken against their captors.

I told you to shut the trit up you nym loving hum sucker, the guard shouted and gave his electrical device another tap on the cage to reinforce his point. Damn creature doesn’t understand me anyway. Not surprised. None of your kind speaks anything remotely understandable.

She did understand what he said though. She had been in study of his speech for years while training as a daughter of the hierarchs and even more focused study was given to her as an Akutash warrior; now as a captive she was able to practice that study and apply that knowledge with a listening ear and quiet internal conversation. She had been captor long enough to know what he, and all this allies, were saying; she even understood the dirty slang and fowl curses spat at her daily. Along with the key to language, she had given such avid attention to her captors she knew without understanding their words, what intent they expressed. And while her capture among the alien’s was not by design, during her incarceration she had the fortune to increase her study of the species’ motions and interactions with each other, memorized the way their eyes squinted, their foreheads wrinkled, and their mouths turned in conjunction with each expression, conversation, anecdote, and lash of anger. As a result, she had gained the knowledge of them that required no words. Unlike her people, this creature was dependent upon verbal communication, and failed to grasp the body’s natural means of speech by physical expression and micro emotion. She learned every intention, fear, and desire the creatures could convey and could be contained in their oversized and underused brain. She considered the knowledge she gained from them far superior knowledge than she ever granted them despite their interrogation efforts.

Her guards were the species her people called Apak; or evil ones of Osh. What could she contemplate of them as species that would be worthy of her thoughts? While all the Apak aliens were similar in shape, they ranged in size and color: even their females which she had seen only once since her time. Her guard though, was a creature of particular proportions even among his species: short, bipedal, limbs as she had, and similar shape, muscularly weak for having such a form, hairless with a pasty skin that looked as though glands under the skin secreted oils for moisture, and of course the stench of his body. All her guards were hard of hearing, for the species had small ears, and were depended on their eyes for information and awareness. Physically she had to train herself to look at them as they repulsed her so fiercely. However, the hardest trial was the air they lived in. The smell of the prisoners’ waste and unclean bodies was less offensive. If there was anything this time as a captive taught her, was the nature of her captors. It was said of her people long ago, Oku di doharo ri kari apak ja di doinlaru: the character of a daughter was seen in how they regard their foes.

For the time being she gave up her prayers. In fifteen minutes this guard would be replaced with the second watch; that guard was much less tormentuous, but still reminded her and her fellow captors of their long standing and permanent incarceration. When the guard had had his entertainment at her expense satisfied, he left the cage but the electric effects still lingered in her body and muscle; down her arms and legs she could feel the minor twitching of muscles still coping with the excess stimulus. Gathering her feet below her again, she made sure none of her body was touching the bars directly. It was a game for the aliens. Whenever they could they would touch their electrical rods to the cage bars to see those whom they caged squirm and writhe under the influence of the unconquerable electric current. They would do this to wake them up just as they found the moment of sleep, to force them out of their cages, to wear them down prior to taking them from the cage, to prevent them from lashing at the guard who distributed their meals, and even if they saw a prisoner was careless with a limb or part of their body being off their cloth and exposed to the conductive bars.

The jailers had given each prisoner some coverings, mostly a single crude article of clothing designed for an alien of their kind of physical make-up, which made a pitiful attempt to be clothing. This cloth was made of such material as would reduce the electrical shock between the bars and flesh. The inmates wore it as clothing as best they could when they were awake being interrogated or exercised. However, when in the cell for meals or sleeping, everyone would strip it from their bodies and use it as a mat. They would sit on these mats and prevent their bodies from touching the bars as best they could. This habit she learned quickly, and eventually she abandoned her efforts to move and carry her cloth with her and opted to be naked before her captors and keep her cloth within her cage.

Over the course of her time under guard, she had seen several of the older inmates leave and never return; this was before she learned the word execution. She had since been incarcerated for such a period of time she wasn’t the oldest veteran of the penal system here, but was an experienced prisoner. All the inmates learned from those captured previous to them, the schedule, the torture routine, which guards were tolerant of their voices, which guard prevented them from moving.

For some of her inmates, learning the routine had been a slow process, because all newly captured have a strong will and a fighting spirit, and despite the knowledge of the daily comings and goings, they would fight and struggle at each opportunity so that they might gain freedom at the earliest possible moment. The intent was noble, but the results were always the same; the beatings increased for the purpose of breaking down the mind and spirit. She had given up the desire for escape quickly—or rather not displayed her intentions—for the more subtle and intelligent process of study and timing, but she had the greatest sympathy for the ally of her people: especially when it came to confinement in their cages. For one of the species allied to hers, the Palanite prisoner, this self-demolition came hardest. Sitting in these cages, on their meager cloth, was difficult for her Palanite comrade because his body sizes differed significantly from all other prisoners; his size was twice that of the largest inmate, yet the cage size remained the same. The Palanite’s legs and arms would more often touch the cage bars and as a result gain the attention of a passing electric wand with greater frequency. The spirit of the Palanite was so quickly quelled, she thought perhaps his mental death would soon result in a physical demise.

For her part, she didn’t find keeping herself small and unnoticeable too difficult. She was accustomed to silence, comfortable with long hours of little to no activity which in turn made the insignificant meal portions they were served more than enough energy resource for her weekly activity. Growing up in the halls of the Aka temple, and visiting each of the temples of her culture’s religion several times in her adolescences, she knew many meditation specific positions which in this environment enabled her to find rest, even if it wasn’t sleeping, whether it was upright or prostrate. Her incarcerators found that for hours on end, without moving or making the slightest sound, she was a near statute, but not such a statute as one of the other inmates.

One of the species of their inmate band she knew to be a member of the government faction known as the Specter: not an enemy or an ally to her people’s alliances. This particular species had the remarkable ability to remain in a solid massive form, and to hide itself in its hardened like shell skin and remain in dormant hibernation like stasis. It had no such reaction against the electrical shock of the guards. This torture bore no effect on it whatsoever, and the guards quickly learned to ignore the stoic creature because there was no joy in watching it writhe in pain. Only once did she see it move, and that was to take it in and out of the cell for interrogation several months after her introduction to the alien prison. As far as she knew, her captors were now ignoring it altogether, and perhaps letting it starve to death for they neither fed it nor exercised it.

Most of the other species captured in this particular detention area were of the species known as Daegran; a species which had a long standing conflict with the captors and a particularly war filled history which stretched back to their early days of space exploration. The Daegran were a close ally of her people and associates with the Palanite as well, but the history between the Daegran and the captors went so deep, the torture received upon these inmates was far worse than any she or the Palanite had endured. These prisoners, unlike her and the Palanite were short lived guests of this facility and rarely lasted more than a month; after which they were either killed or transported to a more rigorous facility. It wasn’t often she saw new prisoners admitted to the cages and prescribed their brand of torture, but she was careful to study and learn all she could from each newly inducted prisoner, so that she could glean any knowledge from them concerning language, war time situations, enemy progress or allied defenses. It was a slow stream of intelligence, but over time, she was able to paint a picture of the exterior world and what she would be exposed to when she finally did make her escape.

In prison, time was relative; her captors counted time differently than her people. Her homeworld had a rotation around its star that was nearly three times longer than the aliens’ year. Days for them were hours for her. Her personal clock was telling her that she had been a prisoner for only one third of her homeworld’s rotation, but she had been literally beaten into the alien time table. Thus her outward and physical acceptance of time was to suit the needs of her new environment. Such an incredible time differentiation however, created alternate expectations. For example she would be considered MIA currently, until a full year of her disappearance, and finally listed KIA, so even now her capture or death was not considered an unusual absence, therefore no one would be looking for her for several more of her homeworld’s months. She had spent longer intervals of her youth subjected to training in the Akutash academies; training that was in its own right grueling and severe even by her current situation’s standards. Despite her imprisonment and physical expectations over whatever time she counted, her body wasn’t yet tried, her patience and balance were not yet annoyed, and her strength was still agile and capable. The electrical control of her guards was painful, but if anything, it taught her muscles to endure and strengthened them against the effect. Each time she was shocked, she felt quicker recuperation, and if allowed to meditate with the principles of shadow and move her body after the shock, she could develop a resistance to the effects altogether. Her guard would never know just how resistant she had become even without her deep mediation. He stopped her only because her voice and language annoyed her, but her silent prayers to Osh would eventually bring him death.

She was surprised to even be alive and captured, because in all her years as a warrior and her people’s years of war against the Apak, there was never talk of prisoners, never an offer for exchange, hardly any evidence to suggest the Apak kept prisoners. The Apak would rather kill you than take a surrendered opponent prisoner. All accounts of Wu’osh or allied warriors who surrendered were killed instantly, and they had never taken an Apak prisoner because the last act of any Apak soldier was death. No one ever surrendered to them in battle, nor did they ever give themselves up. This caused the ethical conduct of war to degrade, especially when the loosing forces were so clearly outmatched. Apak would resort to tactics of panic, and mass destruction, such as ramming their ships into their foes, destroying whatever resource was being disputed, attacking non warrior populations. Over the years, wars became ruthless and intense. And since the Apak would not take you prisoner, their enemies were similarly trained to fight until death. Millions of her people—Wu’osh—and their allies among the Unified Allies of Poegon membership would sacrifice their ships and their lives rather than tempt death after an attempt to surrender.

Learning first hand that Apak do keep some as prisoners didn’t alter her perception of them as enemies or combatants. The treatment of Apak captives was so inhospitable that upon escape she would not change belief or tactics to include surrender. To die and kill Apak in that act is a far greater and nobler end than to be subjected as she is now; a death worth to be called Jadi’oti. She herself had intended to have her last act of life be to kill the attacking force, and claim victory for her forces; she hadn’t expected to wake up in the hands of the Apak. Her suspicions as to the every action thus prior gave her cause to blame perhaps those in her chain of command who were not as fond of her tactics and ideals. To say that she was a radical against the traditional Wu’osh values was the most comprehensive way to express her position on sensitive topics.

Prison had given her the time and the clues to begin stringing together her own thoughts of the events which resulted in her capture. With such thoughts and time to conceive them now apparent to her, the desire for escape increased, perhaps more so than her fellow inmates. She had just as much desire to escape as she did to bring justice to those whom had prepared her current situation. Had she been aware of the outcomes of her command’s orders and the conditions of her enemy’s methods of incarceration, she would have tried harder to restrain from obedience or kill herself in battle; considering the tortures she had endured thus far, there could be worse ways to finish a life. Her motivation now was to gain further intelligence, and by means of counter interrogation piece together valuable information she could use once she found a means to escape: means she had been devising since her arrival.

Once a day the guard on shift escorts a servant class of their kind who brings a dish of food and cup of water. Usually the food is old versions of the meals the aliens eat themselves, or the leftovers—not from the prepared food, but from the alien plates. The first meal she was served was such a repulsive display of culinary inebriation she gagged on sight. A few weeks went by without partaking of the plate she was given, but she became so hungry she would rather have eaten her own vomit. With this in mind there was nothing preventing her from an attempt at eating the alien waste; thinking that if ever she did vomit in the process, there wouldn’t be much to regurgitate anyway. The first few meals took all the concentration her disciplined mind could muster to bypass the gag reflex and allow it to slip down. Ten minutes after her first bite, she did vomit. The second meal was equally as strenuous, but to her pain she kept this plate in her stomach long enough to cause such an industry of indigestion as to be worthy to be called the mines of Dro’osh. For days she felt she would die from fever and weakness, but the time passed. Eventually, after further discipline and mental exertion, she was able to eat the alien food without any ill effects to her body. She resolved to never show ingratitude for a meal so long as she lived.

Two events happened on a weekly basis in which the masters—a word the Palanite used for the Apak guards because he had been in custody much longer than she—found particular amusing. The first of these weekly rituals was the cleaning. The cage gallery was sprayed down with cold high pressure water, which stung to be hit by, but no consideration or concern was given to the inmates being targeted. This was a several minute long process or longer depending on the pleasure of their captors. While the cleaning was carried out with the intent of cleaning their living spaces, those who guided the water performed it for sport. She learned to ignore the punishment by non-reaction, and so she killed the enjoyment of the process.

The other task performed once a week was the inmates’ exercise; the masters would take them from their gallery of cages (for it was much more like a gallery of cages, than a row of apartment prison cells) for exercise and activity. This was not the opportunity she first hoped it would be. All the inmates were taken to a room of water and each were thrown in, or voluntarily jumped in, and was forced to swim or drown. She was capable of swimming well enough to keep herself alive, but some of the prisoners, the old Tolobar male for example, could not swim, and spent his time drowning. Guarding the room were the same sentinels as were in the prison gallery. With their electric rods they would prod the water, sending the electricity in currents should anyone perform any alms of service toward another inmate or make refusal to swim. This she learned the hard way, by helping the Tolobar and allowing him to rest on her back while she kept them both afloat. So the Palanite, a member of the Ku Lum Bral nation, and an old male from Daegra New would pass the unfortunate Tolobar as they swam laps and lift him up for a breath of air each time. The aliens saw this effort, and after a few weeks, they forced him into the water and kept the others away. They let the Tolobar male drown while his inmates watched and were unable to assist. For that day’s exercise, all were forced to swim with their inmate dead at the bottom of the pool.

Because swimming had not been her strong area of athleticism, she was forced to make it one quickly for there were no allowances to rest or treading water. The first few weeks this exercise was dreaded, but after months in the water, this was her opportunity to learn her captors’ body language as they watched and communicated between each other while she swam. The back stroke was the most profitable way to view her prey and continue the swimming regiment. She would deliberately choose a path that would pass by as many guards as possible. It occurred to her one day, that perhaps the Apak didn’t know they were conditioning their prisoners; that by allowing them exercise, they were providing them with a form of fitness that would soon rival even their most physically accomplished soldier. She resolved to never underestimate the stupidity of her enemies.

After the swimming regiment, a single captor would be taken from the pool into the interrogation rooms. She concluded that doing this immediately following exercise was to make the prisoners less apt at causing trouble or attempting physical violence on the particularly weak aliens who were not soldiers and conducted the interrogations. At first she didn’t know enough of their language to understand the guards’ conversations, and no one knew who would be selected; there was no pattern for the interrogation process. After she was better versed in the Apak language she could listen and know whose turn it was, and when possible she would alert her fellow inmates to this event. Prisoners or not, they were her allies, and their efforts for each other would help her when it came time for her to escape. Out of the seven inmates of this particular facility, six if the drowned Tolobar male wasn’t included, all but the member of Specter was exercised and interrogated in this pattern. The five long term prisoners were shuffled and prodded like herds to the various locations of interrogation. Some days the interrogation was to offer reward for information, at other times, it was a place of torture where punishment was given for no reason or in response to a non-response by the part of the interrogated.

Physical discomfort was something she had been disciplined to endure: the feeling of a needle against the back of the neck, a flame resting just out of scalding distance from sensitive extremities, or a steady slow tap against a hard joint or bone for prolonged periods of time. However, the alien interrogation was not as kind. Physical beatings to near death, cutting strips of skin off the body with precision laser instruments, dressing fresh injuries in substances to make them burn and filled the body with uncontrollable spasms and convulsions, hyperextension of limbs and joints, purposeful dislocation of sockets, threatened amputation of digits or limbs, the amputation of digits or limbs, the replacement of amputated digits and limbs, the burning of eyes with flame, substance, or light, exposure to extreme temperatures in rapid succession, displaying acts of violence upon innocent or other inmates, the acts of perverted sexual abuse to both male and females by both male and females, and the violation of all physically capable areas on the body just to name those she had been exposed to. During these sessions, there were promises of release, a better meal, more food, more clothes, end of torture, sparing of family or friends from upcoming conflicts, and so many more unrequited, uninsured, and illegitimate boons for cooperation.

Despite the horrors of these several interactions with the aliens, she never once murmured an audible word either in her language or theirs that would give them any information that would be of any leverage or use: not even her name. All her vocal exclamations were to Osh or to one or more of his eleven blessed daughters, and were for the purpose of requesting strength, assistance, balance, or courage. Never once did she sue for deliverance, for she knew they could not intervene. It was not the place of Osh nor any of the great ancestors to interfere with a trial of balance. All acts against or toward the one, were designed to better teach the balance of individual, and create a sturdy fulcrum on which a heavier beam could balance and build. Osh had already walked his path and showed his followers the way; it is not his place to walk the path again, but to offer his knowledge to those already in his wake. What interrogation did, was keep her religion near, her balance pure, her resolve strong, and that all weathering leaves behind the most precious gems.

A commotion in the outer corridors took her attention, but she gave no sign of it affecting her physical curiosity to turn and look; she listened and waited. A buzzer sounded, guards came in and began tapping their rods to the cages to prepare the inmates for the cage door openings. This was the hour which they would exercise. She prepared herself, left her scrap of fabric and would go still naked today: no sense in coming back to a cage with a wet bed cloth. Her cage door opened, and another tap of the guard’s electric wand prompted her out of the small cell. She obeyed without hesitation and soon felt her legs and arms stretch to reach full height and potential. Her bent and stored joints took only a moment to remember their upright position, and at full height she towered above her armed escort. She was tall among her people, and among the stubby squat Apak, she was an impressive height. As routine dictated, the inmates lined up along the wall of the prison gallery. The five of them, the sixth remained in stasis and caged, waited for the door release to allow them the necessary path to the watery room of either anticipation or dread. The electric wands herded them at their master’s command, and in a foot dredging march the inmates moved in slow.

That tall one, the Oshi, said the lead guard to the on duty guard who prodded her silence earlier. Give it an extra hour in the pool. It’ll be interrogated after and they want it fatigued hard.

I keep telling them, that one won’t get tired in the pool, another guard said from the end of the precession.

She reveled in their stupidity as they spoke freely thinking they had a secret language reserved only for themselves. The truth was she spoke all the languages of her inmates. Prior to their capture as prisoners of war, they were all a united people against the foreign attack of the Apak. It was expected as was a member of a hierarch family to study and speak efficiently the five languages of the Unified Alleys of Poegon, and they included, Wu’oshriu, Tolo, Palantesse, Original Daegran, and Klimtra’do. After extensive focus in the art of languages, she found the verbal commands of the Apak a swift study.

What do you know about it? hounded the lead guard.

Prisoner 11, the Oshi right? It could swim all day if you forced it and it wouldn’t tire out, the third guard replied. I think it enjoys it.

The first guard, the one to whom she had the deepest loathing for interrupting her prayer, walked up to her and tapped her left leg with the electric wand. This collapsed her muscle and forced her to take a knee. Perhaps if we wear it down before she gets in the pool she’ll drown. That would make interrogation easier.

Get them moving, said the lead guard. Three hours for the Oshi today, and see if it makes it to interrogation room alive today.

She thought about what the younger guard had seen in her actions. She had not anticipated her captor’s intelligence in seeing her pleasures and desires. In her time there she hadn’t expected the aliens to be smart enough to gain any knowledge of her intentions, her subtle nonverbal cues, and she made a promise then to double her effort in hiding herself beneath layers of false projections. For a moment she felt her skill in hiding herself was diminishing from having been so long without a true physical conversation, she feared she was losing what precious skills she once possessed as the silent daughter of the temple of light. She hid from the aliens all communicating body language or verbal signal that could suggest to them her likes or her dislikes. However, this slip in personal composure was not fatal or in any way compromising to what she had prepared. They remained ignorant of her knowledge of their language, her intricate study of their building, and their own flaws in time keeping, guard exchange, and most of all, their alien emotions. She knew she could count on their pride and overreaction to gain an advantage in a moment of panic or action.

The parade of weakened and weary prisoners reached the room of water and was lined along the smallest edge so as to be looking out over the longest length. The water was several meters deeper than any of their heights, and while treading water was the most efficient way of using their strength, she found it more useful to swim; it was the only freedom she had, other than to tease her guards and their electric wands. One by one, the guards walked behind the prisoners and shoved them in if unwilling to jump in themselves. Her position was centered, and with guards pushing others in from both sides, soon two guards approached her to ensure that she found the water. Today she protested. The guards attempted to shove her, but she allowed her body to go limp and wild and as they pushed against a shoulder; her shoulder rolled forward and their hands were useless in shoving. Redoubling their resolve, the two guards gleefully pulled their wands to the ready and aimed their points just behind the knee joint. The sudden shock caused her knees to give way and she fell to the floor. The guards then kicked her to finish her descent into the water. The kicks were not the shoving kind, but were those one would release on a object of distain for the purpose of displacing that object as far from their presence as possible. As a result, when she finally did plunge into the water, her muscles up her back and down the sides of her legs had compounded bruise upon bruise.

The water was cold. It was always cold; cold enough she felt they kept it cold on purpose, even carefully maintained its temperature at a chilling few degrees above freezing. While there was no ice in the water, she knew had there been any, the ice would have considered itself in a comfortable climate for a long life. All of the prisoners, her included, were required to overcome the physical shock of such low temperatures first or drown. Once the shock had worn off and the body was feeling as senseless as a lump of cloth, they were prompted to swim. During her first exercise block after becoming a slave, she thought this water would be a suitable substitute for the lack of rationed water during meal time, she was quickly proven wrong. To her tongue there was a strong metallic flavor which assaulted her mind and body with the uncontrollable reactions of bitter displeasure which she could not hide. Such wretched was treated with copper or other conductive minerals to make the water undrinkable, while simultaneously giving the water added conductivity for her captors’ wands and enjoyment.

Today as she allowed her body to cool and recover from the kicking of her guards, she felt the uncomfortable jolt of a wand near her: an indication that the swimming must commence. Reluctance was the only emotion she could show to convince the aliens she wished not to be there, and wanted nothing else but to be dry and warm. This would then help single out the more observant guard who saw her pleasure in swimming, and make his comments more radical and naive than supported and just assumptions. She began her first length of the pool.

On her back, watching the ceiling of the room and its familiar bars, beams, and conduits, she reviewed in her mind the tell signs of the alien emotions. Their mouths would turn upward on the corners much as hers did to show either pleasure or amusement. The differences between them all were clear when she could combine that smile with the motion of the eyes. Small, beady, squinting eyes were the only kind of eyes she had seen among her captors. For a sense so depended upon for information, she was surprised the alien eyes were so small. Like her eyes, and in combination with eyebrows, the Apak eyes were a wash of emotions and tells. Anger, rage, hate, or frustration was displayed when the corners narrowed. When the smile matched these eye contortions, the more specific emotions of lust, vulgarity, crude and cruel intentions, as well as a false sense of comfort and peace were displayed. These were the most common facial features she saw as betraying intention, and these were altogether similar to her and her people’s emotional tells, but much more exaggerated and untempered. Other aspects and limbs of the body aided these aliens in giving expressions. She was at first surprised at their abundance of gesticulative motion in the form of limb waving and hand gestures. While these were new nuances to language she soon adopted a basic knowledge of their intention. Constant motion was a sign of impatience, anxiety, discomfort, or at times conjoined with an anecdote for added information and dramatic effect. The limbs’ resting positions could tell her if they were unhappy, not listening, or past feeling.

Reviewing her study while swimming today would assist her in the following interrogation, because she normally didn’t receive extra exercise prior to the questions, she could safely assume that today held in store an interrogation more than typical. Did that mean it was to be more rigorous, more torture, or would they kill her? As of yet, she hadn’t given them anything she deemed worthy, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have pieced together some information about her. Or was that giving the aliens too much credit?. She reviewed her usage of verbal language over the course of the past months. Perhaps to her captors it would be odd to consider remembering all verbal speech over the course of a day, a week, and certainly impossible for more than a month, but as part of a people that requires so little speech, a word that must be spoken is indeed well remembered, even powerful.

Seeing in her memory the faces of those aliens who performed each interrogation, she thought what their faces and mouths had told her. They asked for names, they asked for homeworlds, they asked for military secrets, and technological advancements. But more important, they wanted to know logistics; they wanted to know how much, where it was, and what its purpose was in being there: information that by the time they asked was obsolete. On one occasion they tried an alternate tactic. Rather than the typical verbal threats and enacting those threats, they tried enticing her with luxuries: pillow, water, extra food, better accommodations. All of these were unnecessary. Proving again how little they know about her and her people. Between violent sessions with stronger male members of their species, they would send in a female. It was in these sessions she learned the most about alien body language. The female aliens usually sat in an open position and expressed with her face and eyes a sense of concern and welfare, but reeked of insincerity and deception. Something in the way the female body couldn’t hold itself in balance told her everything they said was a lie. Female would speak softly, offer an end to the physical torture, promising she had the power to change the course of imprisonment; even brought in a sample of food from her homeworld as a gesture of good faith. Rather than accepting the Apak’s feigned gestures, she believed nothing and remained silent, not even to pray, and never once ate any food or refreshment offered to her during questioning. She quickly learned that even the alien females were just as cruel, and on occasion just as strong. Every other interrogation was this process of kindness with more severe beatings and abuses to contrast. Nothing broke her will; it made the will stronger, because it was proof the aliens had nothing she wanted, nothing to threaten her with, and no means of leverage. The continuation of interrogation from then on, was for a source of control rather than information. Seeing as how her information, or rather lack thereof, wasn’t useful, she expected to be killed soon.

Two hours of swimming passed and the guards began pulling the prisoners from the pool. Every now and then a jolt of electricity would cause her convulsions mid stroke as the guards displayed their power over those who were either sluggish to obey commands and exit the pool or for the self-satisfaction of the guards themselves watching the prisoners convulse, suck in water, and then cough and sputter because of water inhalation. She made an attempt to exit with her inmates to maintain the image of her not understanding the earlier command, but one sharp wand contact to the chest, sent her back into the water, so, on she swam. She focused on the water, its cold refreshing coolant across her worked and exercised muscles. Her head became a bow, her feet the stern, and her arms the propeller of an ancient water vessel. On her homeworld, water was one of the eleven base elements, and if anyone did not know how to swim, their life was considered unbalanced. Swimming was the natural state of the element of water, as was running to earth, falling to air, and exercise to fire. While her homeworld, Ta’aka, was dedicated to the element of light, she spent two years of study and meditation on the hydrosphere Lara Inka to learn the virtues of the element of water first hand. It was there they would swim in the vast oceans learn the secrets parts of water as water learned the secret parts of them. In this mode of heightened mental discipline, the final hour of exercise passed without the slightest difference in energy expelled. When given the shock of the wand to exit, she did so at her earliest ability.

Wet, naked, and before her guards, she was thrown a cloth to cover herself. Instead of using the fabric as instructed, she wiped her face and rid her eyes and head of the chilling water. Now out of the water and exposed to air, she felt the cold again and was forced to focus on preventing her muscles from shivers and contractions just as she had to focus her muscles to operate after first jumping in the water. A sharp shock of the wand against her back told her to move, and she obeyed. At this point in time, curiosity was gaining a foothold in her mind and she walked with light and brisk step in anticipation of what long engagement she was required to be especially weary for today. At the entrance to the primary prison block facility, the two guards who escorted her passed her off to four soldiers. These were more than guards. They carried actual weapons to support their unable bodies for combat, wore full body armor which disguised their true shape, and were helmed with face covering glass and metal so as not to reveal the emotions in the presence of death. They placed her in flimsy bindings designed for creatures much smaller and far weaker than her. Now thus escorted, she was taken to a long empty corridor and shoved into a room that as of yet, she had not entered.

Unlike the other chambers for which interrogation was carried out, this room was simple, square, and solid. There were no windows, partitions, tables, or features. The blank grey walls were only shadowed by a single chair in the center. To this chair she was bound by the shackles on her wrists. She had exercised her liberty during periods away from the electric wands early in her incarceration by striking an interrogator in return for a particularly cruel injury. It was a blow in proportion to the interrogators obscene and violating act. She didn’t know for certain how severe her retaliation had been, but it was harsh enough that medical personnel were called in to retrieve the body. She didn’t know if she had killed him, but she had never seen him since. These early experiences caused precaution by her handlers in every encounter since. Despite her ability to break free of the bindings, she never tried, though she was tempted at every opportunity. Rather than succumb to this rash act, she tamed herself so they wouldn’t upgrade her restraints to bindings she couldn’t break; a plan which thus far had worked.

We’re to standby for further instructions, one of the soldiers said.

How long do we hold her here? asked the other soldier assigned to escort her.

The doctor just landed, the first replied. Don’t get frightened.

Not likely, the second replied with disdain for the comment regarding his fear.

The conversation gave her some needed information for later use; first, these soldiers wore isolated communicating devices, and those who were in communication with them were of higher more advanced rank; second was the was one called doctor, was coming from a place of landing. She had yet to learn where she was imprisoned or the type of facility, but if landing was necessary, then she was either captive on a ship or location inside a fortress or outpost near some type of landing facility. If this facility was a ship, all transport off the ship would carry the necessary requirements for traveling through space: the requirements she needed to make a complete escape. If the facility was grounded to a planet or other celestial body, she would need orbit capable transport: much more difficult to find and much more difficult to steal. That in conjunction with all the knowledge gained from other conversation bits and interrogation sessions of the past, she was beginning to build a mental map to accompany her grand design.

A short time passed, and the two guards, to her surprise, remained standing at perfect stillness, and were only moved in conjunction to some orders given to them through their communications devices because she didn’t hear any command for their next actions. They looked at each other, and from their corners of the room in front of her seated position they raised weapons to bear on her. She thought for a moment this was her execution, that she had missed her effort to escape weeks ago, and the doctor on his way was a medical examiner to study her corpse and remains for biological or chemical advantage over her people. The door opened, and she was relieved that was not the case. She could still escape.

In walked a heavy breathing, extra small, middle aged Apak, clearly not a soldier or affiliated with military practices as she wore no emblem or insignia of position or title. What did this say about her captives? What new approach did they wish to test? Sending in a female was not uncommon. Sending in one so obviously malnourished was almost insulting. She was confident there would be no physical altercations during this interrogation, so then what was being planned.

The alien female was a particularly hideous creature with scrambled wild hair, and a scent that proved she’d spent too much time wallowing in her own perspiration. Her posture was one who had a type of confidence but was not appreciated—probably because of her intelligence—however, she marked that the alien was there because of a command or for great personal reasons. This was proof in the breathing, the sigh upon finally reaching this room. That type of breathing was relief or satisfaction.

The alien female looked the room over once looking for some kind of device; possibly chair or table where she could relax herself and sit. Finding no such location, she tapped the wall opposite the door and a thin table slid out with a narrower lower seat along with it. Her countenance rose slightly to an uneasy confidence now that interrogation she was to perform was to be performed somewhat comfortably. It was apparently clear that whoever she was she was not accustomed to field work or interrogations. The way she sat at the table was slightly hunched, the neck bent back, creating a small curve where her shoulders should be straight. This posture was not the posture of the military minded Apak females that visited her previously.

The interrogator looked close at her audience and breathed in slowly and deeply. You don’t look all that intimidating up close, she said and spoke with a strange alien dialect that she had not encountered. However, the words were clear enough she needed no large effort to interpret the common words she used. I am here to analyze your mental state and determine whether you are intelligible enough to even communicate. It has been brought to the attention of my superiors that all interrogation efforts to…I am so sorry, the doctor said, and pulled a device from her pocket and placed it on the side of her head. Translation matrix so you can understand me; I’m sure you’re familiar with them.

The doctor repeated everything she had already said, and the device in her ear translated it to a ridiculously heinous attempt to mimic the language of the gods and ancestors. It was so poor in voice quality, word translation, and phraseology that it alone was a testament to the arrogance of the Apak and their belief that they can accomplish anything even with no or little knowledge. She ignored the insults and let her other senses translate the alien words.

My superiors have been informed that as a prisoner, no intelligent information has been offered during any of the interrogation attempts, he said. This brings me to the scene. I am here to determine whether you are intelligent enough for base communication, or if you are in fact withholding information as the result of a strong will and constitution against the interrogation process.

She sat and did nothing: not a single gesture was made, nor a sound was issued as she listened. If her questioner had been a hyper intelligent alien, she would have to exercise prudence and keep herself well-guarded against even subtle shows of expression and thought. She stared back at her not saying anything. Then there was a shift in the alien’s face: a change in the eyelid. It was subtle, but purposeful. It took a great measure of self-control to not react further. This alien imbecile had somehow taught itself some nonverbal communication of her people. The thought the enemy had placed in this interrogation was beyond any coy device they had yet attempted, and while she was alarmed they knew her body language well enough to try and deceive her, they couldn’t know it well enough to glean from her important information.

Should you prove unintelligible, my superiors believe it could be in our interests to educate you as a service to you. Should you be found to be simply withholding information, then our hospitality, such as it is, is over, and you are to be executed promptly. She spoke as though she was unaware of her ability to show subtle nonverbal communications. This might be true; it could have been a fluke. But the words were spoken, by their tone, speed, and articulation, this female most certainly deceiving her.

A small portion of her wanted to fulfill her own curiosity and learn just how much the alien new about her language, culture and what exactly they thought of her. She thought better of it; giving the Apak anything would be to through her balance and ruin her future with Osh. The alien, titled doctor by Apak standards, set about her task of studying her face and features to determine what evidence there could be physically to prove or disprove the existence of intelligence. The only thing she did in response to her motion was follow the ‘doctor’ with her eyes.

I’m seeing an interest at least, in surroundings and conditions, the doctor said as if she were dictating to someone; and that he might be if she was communicating to persons not visible and in some other location. But we know she responds to emotion and actions of others by what she did when you first brought her here. This Apak was watching older surveillance on her. From her actions thus far displayed, it’s clear she knows complex physical actions such as fighting, but physical capability also extends to swimming. She knows compassion. She knows pain. She can learn the routine of the day, but I can learn no more just by looking at her. If you really want me to learn more, you’d have to put her in an environment so she can speak with others?

This was such condescending speech she was ready to physically impair the observer by kicking her, for she was now close enough to be in range of her left leg. That would bring retribution in the form of weapons fire. If the soldiers carried wands, she would have dared it; they carried lethal weapons. So no, she did nothing and remained silent watching the signs of the doctor’s body for hints and clues as to the outcome of her thoughts.

The Apak was curious, that was certain. It was obvious she was communicating with someone by some means. The interrogator displayed several expressions at once. The amount of communication crossing her face was more than just words, though the words brought about the physicality. She must be in conference with several individuals, all giving feedback of varying kinds. What were they telling her? It was quite possible they were recounting her various actions over the course of her incarceration and making them known to her during this evaluation. It could be she was listening to a translation of one of her prayers and deducing what she could from its diction. But what she was seeking most was the famous Wu’osh nonverbal cues.

This tactic was new, but no surprise. Her people had been at war with the Apak for so long; new interrogation techniques were bound to happen. This ‘doctor’ was versed and studied in the nonverbal language of her people would be no grand conclusion to concoct. She may even have been somewhat studied in their arts, though she could learn to interpret the subtle language which took a life time of exposure to learn and was possibly aware of the evolutionary creation of one hundred and eighty seven muscles in the Wu’osh face, more than three times that of the Apak, what she failed to do was apply her knowledge to her own face. Though she granted allowances for trying, her face in no way remained silent. From her observation, she would know her as much as she knew the contents of the center of the galaxy.

What more could she deduce from her? Her face was arrayed with fine wrinkles newly formed from stress, sadness, joy or other great emotion; was she recently promoted—or assigned a position—which brought new life into her stress and responsibility: possibly as a result of her his pretentious understanding of her peopleThe skin below his eyes suggested long travel with little or no sleep; she either hated space travel or was prone to motion sickness from land based transportation. It could also point to a recent alteration in her routine activity, and she was in no way accustomed to such travel as one is who looks rested and energetic after such a journey. Her damp looking and somewhat disorganized hair betrayed the truth of the uncomfortable arrangement of this new assignment, superiors, or environment. The wrinkleless clothes she wore showed she cared much more for presentation than her hair suggested, and was neater and tidier in appearance than the guards she had in her cell, though, current situations hadn’t allowed her to take the care she preferred. Her footwear was worn on the soles; she had been walking or traveling a great deal, but there was nothing to suggest where she had been as far as remnants or deposits, so she was transported primarily by interior or means which kept her out of the real world. She was perhaps part of the intelligence, research, or even as her name suggested, a medical profession at the disposal of the Apak military. Her voice when she spoke was soiled with constant use, and she was likely subject to much speaking, either in report recitation or oratory presentation. With the pressure from superiors to perform well at her task without time or discipline to study, she was showing just how important a prisoner and valuable she was to them at the moment. This suggested the campaign against the Apak has begun on their outer systems. Whether she wanted to or not, she was providing intelligence just by existing in the same space with her. She concluded that her professional knowledge had had a breakthrough, and she has spent much of her recent time introducing her findings to those who can utilize the work; work which was thought to have importance in several locations great distances apart and to which she was a part.