Chapter 10

Based on the number of meals delivered, it was three days later when the medic arrived to remove my bandages. His eyes squinted as he assessed my face, and he frowned.

"Is her face supposed to be this round?" he asked the guard. "Even accounting for the swelling, I can hardly see her cheekbones."

"Yeah, I think so." the guard peered at me dismissively. "Offworlders look different."

"This woman is Spectran." the medic intoned.

"Of course…" the guard stammered. "She's… she's just got an unusual face, is all."

"She has healed very quickly." the medic admitted. "I've never seen anyone recover so fast from broken bones." Of course, there was no way this man could be familiar with the abilities of my cerebonics, so I wasn't surprised by his comment.

"As I said, she's unusual." the guard repeated. He turned, catching the medic's eye. Something passed between them for a moment, before they both fell silent. I held my breath, willing them to speak further, yet they did not. Still, if they were inclined to treat me like a piece of furniture, I had discovered the value in picking up information when they 'forgot' I was privy to their conversations.

"I'll bet you're called off special duty tonight." the medic noted after a few moments. "Back to your regular rotation."

"I'll be glad enough for that." the guard replied, glancing askance at me. "She gives me the creeps."

"She can't hurt you from behind the Enerwalls." the medic reminded him.

"Yeah." the guard verbally agreed, but his face betrayed his nervousness. It was an effort not to smile. It was good to know that my past actions preceded me. If it came down to a fight, I'd have the advantage of a fearsome reputation.

The two men exited the cell, but this time the guard did not leave any food behind. I took that as a sign that perhaps I would be sent to have meals in the Dining Hall again. That meant that I'd be able to contact Norei.

I had no way of seeing my reflection, but tentatively I put my fingers to my face as soon as the Enerwalls disappeared. The skin was soft and slightly tender, and felt puffy to the touch. I recalled the medic referring to 'swelling' and guessed that this was an aftereffect of the fast healing. My bones might have knitted themselves back together, but it seemed as if the contusions I had suffered had resulted in severe hematoma.

But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered unless I got out of here.

A short while later my cell door opened and I found myself directed into the corridor. I was surprisingly relieved as I found myself in the passageway with the other prisoners, heading toward the Dining Hall. After picking up my 'dinner' I made my way to the center table.

Partov looked up as I approached, the color draining from her face as she saw me. At her small cry, the others looked up, clearly shocked by my appearance.

"Didn't you ever expect to see me again?" I frowned. "I can't have been gone for that long."

"Five days." Partov whispered. "We didn't know what had happened to you…"

"What happened to your face?" Dimal asked me. Her direct approach was somewhat refreshing, after the way the guard and the medic had been ignoring me.

"Zoltar decided to use me as a punching bag." I shrugged. "Literally."

"You let him treat you like this?" Norei's scowl further hardened her already harsh expression.

"I wasn't exactly in a position to defend myself." I replied evenly. "I'm sure you can imagine how it was."

"Why would he do this to you?" Merei wanted to know. "What reason would he have?"

"Apparently my teammates caused him some difficulties." I smiled. "He was angry with them, but since they weren't around, and I was…"

"You can't let him treat you like this!" Norei growled.

"Oh, don't worry." I replied airily. "I certainly didn't give him what he wanted."

"You look horrible." Partov's expression revealed the truth behind her words.

"It's just bruising, I guess." I shrugged. "I don't really know. It's not like I've seen myself. But it doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm back." I looked directly at Norei as I said this, communicating my intention. She froze briefly, then slowly nodded in acknowledgement.

"We'll see how much you've healed." she stated. "In the Gymnasium tonight, we will spar again."

Well finally this was getting somewhere. I nodded to show that I understood her message.

"I look forward to it."

88888

When we entered the Gymnasium, Norei took me to a corner of the room, glaring at the others. Her silent message was understood, and no one followed us. We laid a few mats out on the ground, and then began to circle each other. We feinted back and forth, but I could see that Norei's movements were automatic, and her mind wasn't really on this 'sparring'.

"What are you thinking?" she asked bluntly as we circled around each other.

"I'm thinking that our biggest problem is those Enerwalls." I replied, getting straight to the point, even as we continued sparring. "With them, just one guard can control us, even kill us. No matter how many we have. There is no successful escape without neutralizing the Enerwalls."

"Agreed."

"It must take an enormous amount of power to generate them. There has to be some kind of reactor, or other power source, nearby, perhaps even within this facility. Do you know what it is?"

"There's a hydronium reactor. I know where it is."

"Do you have access to it?"

"Of a sort. But it's not like any of us is allowed to go anywhere near it."

"So you can see it?"

"I suspect you'll be seeing it as well, tomorrow." Something in her manner suggested that I should move on to another topic.

"We also need weapons."

"You think I hadn't figured that out?"

"I'm pretty good with explosives. Perhaps some of the materials in the kitchens might come in handy."

"Perhaps. In the meantime, I have a few other things I'm working on."

"Care to enlighten me?"

"No."

Clearly the boundaries of trust were limited. I tried again.

"Why is it safe for us to talk here?"

"It's safe for us to talk anywhere."

"Then why did you wait for here?"

"Because I didn't want the others involved."

"But the Spectrans aren't listening?"

"I can't say for certain, but based on the number of occasions on which I've said something that should have 'interested' them, I'd say not. I think their detection systems make them overconfident." Now that was attention-grabbing.

"What detection systems?"

"Cameras in the main areas, of course." Norei shrugged. "But more importantly, they track our heat signatures." I recalled how Zoltar had been able to detect my presence on his ship when he had first captured me, guessing the technology in use here was similar.

"So they know where we are at all times?"

"They have identified our unique heat signatures. Not only can they tell that a person is in a specific location, they know exactly who it is. Why do you think they don't have guards outside of our cell doors?"

"That's definitely another system in line for disabling." I muttered to myself. "We need to catch them blind and with their pants down."

"That's an interesting turn of phrase…" Norei frowned curiously.

"I didn't mean literally…" I attempted to explain. "We want to surprise them. Catch them when they're unaware, so that they're unable to react appropriately."

"I see." Norei nodded. "What are your thoughts on that?"

"Surprise is about as far as I've gotten." I admitted. "You know more about the inner workings of this place than I do. What do you think?"

"I think that you're right about the reactor. If we disable it, then almost all systems will be down. There's likely to be a backup system, but that will be minimal."

"It would be even better if I could access one of their terminals." I thought aloud. "I'm pretty familiar with Spectran computer system architecture…"

"I'll bet you are." Wait, was that a grin on her face?

"In my line of work, the situation arises, from time to time." I shrugged modestly.

"I should be offended, but somehow, I'm not."

"So is there any place where I might be able to access a terminal?"

"There are no remote terminals that I am aware of." Norei admitted. "Although it's likely the Warden has one in his office. But my understanding is that the systems are almost entirely manipulated through the main control room."

"Control room?" My ears perked up like a kid hearing about a candy stash. "Where's that?"

"Next to the reactor." Norei smiled slyly.

"I guess I'd better find this reactor, then."