The female officer—now named Osiris—stared at Amazon. "It's President Osiris now."
Taz turned back to look at Amazon. She looked stung.
"You will each be questioned individually before we decide what to do with you," President Osiris said curtly. Taz detected an Egyptian accent. "Take them." President Osiris waived her hands at the guards surrounding her before turning to leave.
More guards began to surround the group as they walked through tunnel after tunnel underground.
Taz held tight to Up's hand as they wandered the underground tunnels.
Taz couldn't help but feel that she had heard the name Osiris mentioned before back at X702, but she couldn't remember when Amazon had mentioned her.
"Hey Up?" Taz whispered, being careful not to let the guards hear.
"Yea, Taz?" Up leaned down so his mouth was right next to Taz's ear, giving her the shivers.
"Where have we heard Amazon mention the name Osiris before?" she asked.
Up looked puzzled. "Now that you mention it, the name does sound familiar. But I dunno where I've heard it before." Up scratched his head quietly.
Taz thought hard about Osiris on the way to the private interrogation rooms.
Once there, they were divided up so that each person stood outside of their own interrogation room. Taz was apprehensive of what would happen. It would really be bad if this were some branch of the Galactic League; the officers would soon find out that they were fugitives and they'd be in deeper trouble than ever. But on the other hand, if they were another secret organization, then they may feel like they're threatening their security. Taz's only hope was that they were a friendly group, but based on their "welcome," Taz wasn't so sure.
The door to the interrogation room opened, and a burly looking officer escorted Taz in.
Taz sat down on what was supposed to be a chair, but in actuality was a couple sandbags piled on top of each other. Taz now knew that this was no branch of the Galactic League; the G.L.E.E. always had to appear to be the most powerful, by having the finest facilities and most high tech equipment. They never let any of their facilities fall below par.
A moment later, an officer for the unknown organization sat down across from Taz.
"Hello, my name is Chief Specter," he said. "And your name is?"
"Taz," was all she said. She felt no need to tell the officer her last name.
Taz looked behind Chief Specter and saw a scrawny looking boy scribbling away quickly at a piece of paper. Taz was curious, but didn't think that it was her time to be asking the questions.
"Alright, Taz, why did you come to our planet?" Chief Specter asked. His electric blue eyes looked kind, as if saying I'm your friend, you can tell me all your secrets, but Taz knew better than to fall into the trap.
"Why should I tell jou?" Taz asked stubbornly.
Chief Specter cocked his head to the side. "Because I am your only hope of being set free, so you will cooperate with me, or else."
Taz debated on how much she should actually tell him. She decided that the simple truth would be best. "Me and mis amigos were prisoners at X702—you may or may not be familiar with the place. There was a riot there after everything that happened at the Galactic League headquarters and in the confusion me and my friends ended up on a Starship. We went to the first planet we could."
Taz found the story hardly believable herself, but Chief Specter seemed to accept it.
"Okay. So then, you are fugitives, no?" Chief Specter asked.
Taz hesitated before nodding.
"What were you put in prison for in the first place?" Chief Specter prodded.
"We were wronged by the Galactic League and Dr. Space-Claw, but they wouldn't admit to it. So they just got rid of us to cover their mistakes," Taz said simply.
Chief Specter scribbled something down on some papers, and pulled out a small communicator. He spoke in a language unfamiliar to Taz, so she couldn't tell the nature of what he was saying. But she couldn't help but feel like she had felt something wrong.
"You are an active member of the G.L.E.E.—at least, you were before your imprisonment?" Chief Specter asked.
"Si," Taz said curtly.
"For how long?"
"Since my fifteenth birthday," Taz said. She didn't know how long ago that was. She only had a rough estimate.
Chief Specter wrote some more things down on the paper. Taz tried to get a glimpse of it, but it, too, was in another language.
"You are free to return to the holding cell." Chief Specter waived Taz out of the interrogation room. Taz looked one last time at the scrawny boy in the back corner before being shooed out by guards.
Taz walked back down the dirt tunnels back to the holding cell, as Chief Specter had called it.
The holding cell was empty, apart from February.
"February," Taz said in a low voice. "What exactly did jou tell the officers?"
"Just that the G.L.E.E. totally ripped us off, and that we didn't mean to find their stupid hideout," February said absentmindedly. She appeared to be more interested in her cuticles than in the fact that they were buried beneath the ground in some unknown planet.
Taz nodded. "That can't directly hurt us," Taz mused.
The cell door opened, and Up and Tootsie entered.
"What did jou say?" Taz asked yet again.
Both Tootsie and Up said things along the lines of what February had said.
Taz sat down on a sand bag, and Up sat next to her.
"Have you figured out what organization this is?" Up asked.
"No," Taz said. "But I don't think it's the Galactic League we're dealing with."
"Me too." Up ran his fingers through his hair. "What do you think they're gonna do with us?"
"That all depends," Taz said, "on whether they're pro or anti G.L.E.E." Up nodded in agreement.
The last of the Rangers got shoved back into the cell, and the waiting game began right where it left off. Taz picked at her finger nails, witling them down to the quick.
Up gripped Taz's fingers to stop her from picking at the now-bleeding nail bed. "Quit losing more blood than necessary," Up scolded.
"Whatever," Taz grunted.
Taz looked over at the corner where Amazon was sitting. She looked confused.
Taz wished that she could remember where she'd heard the name Osiris mentioned before. Taz knew that Amazon had told her the name in the past, but she couldn't remember when. It was on the tip of her tongue, but the memory just wouldn't come.
Taz closed her eyes for just a second, but ended up falling asleep.
Taz awoke with a start. Most the other Rangers appeared to be sleeping. Taz disentangled herself from Up's arm and stood up. She didn't realize how stiff she was until then.
Taz paced around the world, being careful not to step on anyone sprawled across the floor.
Taz wondered how long it had been since the interrogation.
Taz knelt down in front of the metal door. She knocked the metal in the center carefully. It wasn't even a centimeter thick. Taz unhooked her dog tag necklace and held the one with her X702 ID number on it between her forefinger and thumb. She scratched around the lock. Slivers of the metal rained down and littered the floor.
Taz shifted her knee, and a piece of the metal shaving jammed into her kneecap painfully. She bit down on her tongue hard to keep from yelling out. Taz looked down at the wound on her knee, which had a tiny bit of blood forming around it. For a simple solution, Taz ripped off the edge of her shirt and tied it tight around her knee.
Being more careful now, Taz continued to scratch at the lock.
Taz worked the metal away until she could wiggle it around in the door.
"Taz, whut're you doin'?" Up sat upright, sleep heavy in his eyes.
"Shhh, Up, jou will wake the others," Taz hissed.
Up's eyes widened when he realized what Taz was doing.
"Taz!" Up stood up and took two small strides over to the door. "Stop!" Up swiped the dog tags out of Taz's hand. "This ain't the way to go about things."
Taz took her fingers and began scratching at the lock again, despite Up telling her not to.
"Taz," Up said. "Taz!" he repeated when she didn't respond.
Up gripped her wrists and dragged her away from the door. Metal shards dug themselves into Taz's legs, but Taz didn't notice anymore.
"Stop it!" Taz cried. "I've been locked away for too long Up, too long! I need to be free!"
The others began to stir awake.
"I know, Taz!" Up held Taz against the wall. "But we don't know what the future holds. Maybe we'll be let free! But that won't happen if you jeopardize that by tryin' a stupid jailbreak!"
Taz struggled to break out of Up's grip, but failed. A lone tear fell down Taz's face, followed by a waterfall. "I can't take it anymore," Taz sobbed.
Up wrapped his arms around Taz's petite frame and held her close. "Shhh, its okay, Taz. Everything'll be fine."
A/N: I'm excited…this story's already reached chapter 21(technically 20). And it's at, like, 26,000 words. Half way to my goal! But I've still got a lot of plot left for you guys :)
Oh and, if you like my story, please review! It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside ^-^
Kateword