Chapter 10

Gaz realized that tears were rolling down her face. She sobbed in a mix of misery and anger, and turned to look at the face of the guard holding her. "Let go of me, you bastard! What are you going to do with Zim?!"

Red and Purple approached her.

"You're never going to see him again," Red said. "Attacking a Tallest is a criminal offense. As far as we know, the guards could have shot him in the back of the head as soon as they got him out the door."

Fear covered her face.

"If not, he'll be sent to a horrible prison somewhere," Purple continued, enjoying her terror. "He'll be among other criminals. Murderers. Rapists. They'll take good care of him."

"No! No, you can't do this... you provoked him!"

"Doesn't matter," Red replied. "We're getting rid of him for good. He's defective and unneeded."

"I need him!" she yelled. She hated to admit that was she dependent on someone, but it was true. She loved him like she's never loved anyone else. He taught her that life could actually be exciting. He made her smile and laugh when no one else could. He couldn't be gone.

"Oh yes, we all heard what you said to him. You two love each other, eh? Gross." Red shook his head. "Should have known Zim would be that kind... But you might as well get over him. You won't see him again." He looked at the guard. "Hey, why don't you take her back to Earth and put her in with the other slaves? She looks like she has some muscle, she'll be a good worker."

Gaz struggled as the other started to pull her away. "No! Bring Zim back! Or... take me to prison too! I don't care, just let me stay with him!"

"If we let you stay with him, then he'll still be happy," Red replied. "We can't have that. We're going to make him as lonely and miserable as possible."

"You're cruel! How could anyone like you become leaders? You should both be shot!" She managed to raise her arm high enough to stab the guard in the eyes with her fingers, and he instinctively shoved her away to cover his face with both hands. Taking her chance, she ran toward the double doors, pushing them open and yelling, "Zim! Where are you?" She looked down the hallway and saw that he was partway down it, putting up such a fight with the guards that they had stopped. She raced toward them.

"Well, go after her, you idiot!" Red shouted at the irken Gaz had attacked.

He rubbed his eyes and muttered, "Yes, sir," and ran after her.

Once he was gone, Red said to one of his aides, "Did you get the surveillance footage of Zim's orbital base?"

"Yes sir, we accessed all the cameras."

"Is the girl's family there?"

"Yes, they're in stasis."

"Why don't you send someone to retrieve them and send them back to Earth where they belong?"

"Of course, sir. Right away." The aide scurried away, and Red looked over at Purple, touching the bruise around his eye.

"He got you good, didn't he?" he asked, grinning.

"Shut up," Purple scowled. "I hope he dies in that prison."

"Oh, me too."

Meanwhile, Gaz had reached Zim, and punched one of the guards as hard as she could. It hurt her knuckles, but he reeled back. She grabbed her partner.

"Let's get out of here!" she urged, and they started to flee, but then they were both stabbed with the shock sticks. They screamed in pain, bodies convulsing before collapsing to the floor.

Zim looked over at Gaz through blurry vision, reaching toward her with a hand that twitched from the electricity. "Gaz... I won't leave you..."

She was almost sobbing from the pain, but she forced herself to be strong, reaching back toward him and brushing their fingers together. "I won't forget about you... I'll save you if I have to."

Zim started to smile, but then was kicked roughly by one of the guards and picked up. He coughed, curling up slightly. He didn't resist as he was thrown over the irken's shoulders; the shock had paralyzed most of his muscles, so he couldn't fight back. "Take good care of our smeet," he whispered before passing out.

Gaz tried to get up, but she was in pain from the electricity. She just barely managed to get her elbows under her, before the guard who had held her earlier ran up and hit her with the electrified end of his spear, causing her to seize up and fall once more. And to make matters worse, she bit her tongue when she did, and the taste of blood filled her mouth.

She didn't fight as he lifted her in an arm and walked back into the room where the Tallest were. She just didn't have the energy anymore. She had always tried to be strong and uncaring growing up, but now, she was weak. She was weak, and she cared too much. She was terrified of what would happen to Zim. She was scared of having to go through the rest of her pregnancy without him by her side, and raising their child alone. Years ago, she never would have begged. Now, it seemed like the only option.

"Please," she said to Red and Purple, once the guard had set her down in front of them. She immediately fell onto hands and knees. It was mostly because she didn't have the strength to stand yet, but maybe the submissive position will appeal to them. "Zim does not deserve the punishment you have in store for him."

"He's been nothing but trouble for our species ever since he was born," Red replied. "He's caused massive power outages over all of Irk, destroyed countless buildings and other valuable assets, killed thousands of his own kind, deliberately disobeyed his leaders at every turn... and he's defective! He deserves to be punished!"

"Then send him to work on Earth with the rest of us," she pleaded. "He won't bother you there. He hates Earth, it'll be a punishment sending him there."

"But that's where you'll be. And that just won't do. He's not staying with you," Purple said.

Gaz lowered her head. "But..." She didn't want to tell them this, but she had to. Maybe it could change their minds. "But I'm pregnant..."

They were quiet for a few minutes.

"Is it Zim's?" Purple asked.

She nodded. "I had just found out this morning."

Purple looked disgusted. "Ew! First of all, I have no clue how he was able to get you pregnant. Second of all... just ew. I never saw him as the type for that."

Red looked slightly concerned now, though. "Pur, if she's telling the truth, we might want to reconsider. Mothers and their mates are supposed to be protected. She's not irken, but her partner is... keeping Zim away from her would be illegal, wouldn't it?"

"It's not illegal if no one else finds out about it," Purple replied. "I don't care how many humans Zim has spawned with, he's not getting out of his punishment. Guard, take this girl away and do what I told you to earlier."

The guard nodded and picked her up. She said nothing, allowing herself to be carried out.

Red watched them until the doors had closed behind them, and said, "We may be the Tallest, but there are still lines we should not cross. I think we just jumped over one."

Purple shook his head. "Oh, who cares? She's just a stupid human, and I have no pity for her. She'll be better off without Zim around the kid anyway. Knowing him, he'd get mad at it and throttle it to death." He rubbed his cheek. "I think we should get to the hospital bay. Get these injuries treated before they're all over the news."

Red sighed but agreed. "Okay. I still don't think this is right, but we can't do anything now. Let's go to the hospital bay, and then we can see where Zim has been taken. Make sure the punishment is painful enough. Sound good to you?"

"Yep. Let's do it." Purple grabbed his arm and hurried out with him.

"Aagh! You!" SLAM. "Fucking!" CRASH. "BASTARDS!" Zim kicked the thick metal door as hard as he could, and only succeeded in hurting his leg. Swearing violently, he turned to find something else he could throw at it.

"Hey man, would you mind not destroying our cell?" his cellmate asked. "It's the only one we got."

Zim made a rude gesture at her and began clawing at the door.

"You're not going to get through it," she said, getting up and going to pick up the bed that he had hurled at the door earlier. She dragged it over to hers, putting them next to each other, and slumped across it. "Already tried."

"They took me away from my mate! She needs me! They're going to send her and her family back to their planet, and they'll be slaves! I can't let that happen!"

The female turned to lay on her back, digging a magazine out from under the mattress and opening it. Her glassy blue eyes scanned the pages. "Too bad, kid. If you're with me, you're going to Dethnis 13. The worst prison planet this side of the Milky Way."

Zim looked back at her. "Dethnis... 13? But... that's where they send all the worst criminals! And not just irkens... Vortians, and space pirates! It's hell in there!"

"Yeah, I've been there already. The Massive picked me up when I was trying to escape, and now they're gonna take me back there. But hey, now I've got a new friend." She gave him an upside-down grin. A few of her teeth had been replaced with sharp metallic replicas. "What's your name, lover-boy?"

Zim gave her a distrustful look. "Zim."

"Zim? No way. Are you the Zim, the guy who has probably killed more people than anyone else in history? And completely by accident?"

"Ugh... probably." He hated that they said that about him. It's not like he meant to, they were just in his way. And the number seemed to keep increasing every time they said it.

"Whoa. You'll fit right in with us." The girl rolled over onto her front, holding out her hand. "My name's Shard. Had another name once, but in prison, everyone gets new names. New identies. Maybe you should start thinking of one for yourself."

"I'm not staying in prison. My mate needs me." Zim looked back at the door, and then at his fingers. He had worn down the tips of his gloves, and his claws showed through. They were dull.

"Good luck escaping. It's hard. Usually they track you back down within days." Shard waved her hand. "You going to shake my hand or what?"

Zim sighed in annoyance, grasping her hand and shaking it roughly.

"Nice grip." She pulled hers away. "I'm sure this mate of yours is a really cool person. But forget about them. They're gone now. Hardly anyone escapes Dethnis 13 and makes it to safety. You won't be able to do it. Cameras everywhere, tracking devices in all the clothing... guards with super powerful weapons who can take you out from a distance... it's got all the works."

"I can't give up," Zim replied, leaning against the wall. "I have to help her. I'm not a criminal, I don't belong in prison."

"Um... you've been wanted for tons of crimes for quite a long time. You never noticed?" Shard had returned to reading her magazine. "The Tallest hate you. I'm surprised they didn't get you sooner."

He grimaced. "Yeah, but I don't care what they think. I'm escaping. My Gaz... she's pregnant. With my child. I have to get back to her."

"Ooh, that's rough. And she's not irken, right?"

"No, human. They'll force her to work like the other slaves, I just know it."

"That's too bad. Hopefully she'll be okay."

Zim walked over to the beds, sitting on one. "What did you do to get arrested? And get sent to Dethnis 13, of all places?"

She looked up at him. "I killed several men at a bar one night. It was in self-defense, but one of them was the son of some extremely well-known politician. He got the lawyers on my ass and I was thrown into prison. That was just a minor prison planetoid, though. I got out a few days after being put in. Stabbed a guard with a shard from my room's mirror... That's where I got my new name. When they caught me again, I was promoted to Dethnis 4. I waited there for a while, made them think I didn't know how to get out... escaped again. I'm really good with locks and stuff, it's hard to hold me in for long. But once I'm out in space, I'm pretty hopeless with directions, so usually they get me again." She smiled. "It's kinda like a game now. Just keep getting sent to higher security prisons, get out... get put back in. They probably got something real nice waiting for me at Dethnis 13. My last escape was almost impossible. It might be the last one."

"So you aren't that much of a criminal, are you?" Zim asked.

"No, not really. I'm just an example of what happens when you kill someone with the wrong connections. But as if I was going to let that prick and his friends put their hands all over me like that..."

Zim glanced around, then leaned in close. "So, you've already been in Dethnis 13?"

"Yep."

"So you can tell me how to get out."

"Ah, listen slick." She sat up. "It's hard. Hard is an understatement. It's 99% impossible. You're monitored every hour of every day. They usually put a tracking device somewhere under the surface of your skin. If you're clever, maybe you can get that out. But then you have only minutes to run before security is alerted that a chip has been removed, and they'll go to its location, so you don't want to be there. If you're out in the yard, you'll have to somehow get back into the building, because the walls there are fifty feet high and one foot thick of solid metal. No exits anywhere along it. Oh, and the metal goes underground too, so there won't be any digging out. So you'll have to get back inside and make your way to one of the exits. There's the guest entrance, though not many inmates there get guests. There's the staff entrance, and then the loading and receiving bays. Those are your best bets. It's where supplies are delivered to the prison, along with new inmates. And it's where products and stuff that we've made are shipped out. Theoretically, one could strip off their prison uniform and get into one such box... but you'd have to be super quick, and every camera along the way would have to be conveniently down."

Zim thought frantically about a way he could get around such security. It wasn't looking too good. "Maybe.. make friends with someone on the inside? Get them to conveniently take down the cameras?"

"Good thinking, but I already did that. Seduced the new guy in the camera room, he was helpless to resist. There's a good chance he's not working there anymore." She rubbed her claws against her shirt. "Nice kid. Gullible, though. Nah, we'll have to think of something else if we want to get out."

"We?"

"Sure." She stood up. "I'll get some of my buddies. We'll find a way to get us out. You're an Invader, you know your way around space, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. Get us to safety, and we'll help you save your girl. Then we can go our separate ways."

Zim looked at her suspiciously. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"You can't," she replied happily. "But you'll die in there without someone who knows the system, so you don't have much choice."

He groaned but took her hand. "Okay. You know, you're incredibly good at manipulating people to get what you want."

"I know, it comes in handy when you're in prison."

"I like that."

"Something tells me we're going to be good friends."