Jacen Quinn hung by his arms in the prison cell. His black overcoat lay disbanded on the cold cement floor, next to his pathetically thin mattress.
The Somakian patrol had picked him up four days ago, they'd inspected his ship, the Blind Pope, and had discovered his illegal goods that he had tried to smuggle into the Empire. It was just some antimatter, no big deal, but no matter how many times you try to argue with a Somakian naval officer, they just won't listen to a lowly human smuggler. In Jacen's opinion, he was just living up to his planet's name, after all, what kind of Keltoran doesn't smuggle, it's just unnatural. So after some beatings and interrogation, they'd thrown him into this cell, where the beatings and the interrogations continued, if less frequent. The Somakians were known for their brutality and violence, though this was the first time Jacen had ever experienced it, if you don't count that time on Raxon II, that is. The Somakians treated him as if he was a career criminal they'd been trying to catch for decades. In Jacen's thirty-three years of life, he'd only been smuggling for ten of them, before that he served in the Alliance Navy. Of course it was a well-known fact that the Somakians hated the Alliance, they'd even fought a war against each other, back when Jacen was a child. It had lasted five years and killed over one billion individuals. Talk about hostility.
The cell door opened, two Somakians came in. The cell was so dark that Jacen couldn't see their red skin or pointed ears, but who else could it be. They approached him, one of them said "ready to talk?" It was in Somakian, most likely, but Jacen had a Universal Translator installed back when he joined the navy, and now everything was in English.
"Talk about what?" Jacen spat back
"About why you were illegally transporting antimatter into the empire".
Jacen shook his head from side to side, and an explosion of pain appeared in his skull.
"Doesn't ring a bell, maybe if you-" he was cut off mid sentence by one of the Somakians planting a fist in his ribs.
"You're a human, humans almost never come into Somakian space, so you must be getting quite a hefty payday to bring antimatter in"
"Antimatter? Me? You must have the wrong man, I'm a simple trader, I'm no smuggler"
Another fist found its way into Jacen's ribcage.
"If you don't cooperate, then we really have no use for you"
"But you know who does?" said the other Somakian, who'd been silent up until now, "our hounds haven't been fed in a week, and they're real hungry"
Jacen laughed, "ever heard of a fair trial?"
"You're a smuggler, if it was up to us you'd be dead already. Unfortunately the governor wants to know who you were taking the antimatter to".
Jacen contemplated it for a second, all they wanted to know was the buyer's name.
"Okay, okay. I was transporting the antimatter to a guy named Tal Lorin"
That name seemed to click in their heads because the two Somakians looked at each other in a moment of clarity.
"I think the governor is going to want to talk to you"
They took Jacen off the wall and marched him outside the cell, and down a corridor into an office. The governor sat behind a desk typing something into a desktop. He swiped it away when they entered.
"Governor Vizak, sir. This is the smuggler who was caught bringing antimatter into the empire, Jacen Quinn"
The governor looked slightly angry, "well why is he here in my office?"
"He told us who was buying the antimatter, sir. It's Tal Lorin"
The governor's mouth opened a fraction, then quickly snapped shut.
"Leave us" he said to the guards. They did and Jacen was left alone with Vizak.
"Do you know the man you were selling to?"
Jacen shook his head, he didn't care who he was, as long as he got his money.
"Tal Lorin was a former Imperial governor, in charge of watching over the Nilios system, that was before he began a rebellion against the emperor".
So the guy he was transporting antimatter to was revolting against the Somakian emperor, which meant that the antimatter was most likely going to be weaponised against the empire. By that extent Jacen was associating with a rebel leader and was most likely going to sentenced to death. Except, if that was the case, then why bring him into the governor's office, and why would the governor be telling him this, unless he was needed for something.
"Where were you supposed to take the antimatter?"
Jacen sat down on one of the chairs opposite Vizak's desk, a smirk beginning on his face.
"You need me to tell you this rebel's location, so you can kill him and end the revolt, and of course, gain the emperor's approval"
Vizak smirked himself, "very good, but just tell me where the hand-off was going to be, and not only will we give you your ship back, we'll let you go"
"But of course I have no guarantee you won't just kill me once I tell you Tal's location. Here's what we're going to do, I will take my ship to the hand-off, and lead you to him, in return for my freedom"
"Now why would I do that Mr Quinn?"
Jacen stood and walked over to a table in the room's corner that held various alcohols and glasses. He poured some ossevian wine into a glass, swirled it around a little, and drank it in one long gulp, it tasted just like the stuff back on Keltor. If Vizak seemed to mind at all he showed no indication.
"because, governor, you have no choice. If I don't tell you where the hand-off is Tal lives to cause trouble for the empire, and you remain as the overseer of a second-rate prison on the fringes of the empire".
Vizak gave on long, winding sigh, then he opened his mouth and spoke again, "okay, tell me what you need".