locked. She pulled and pulled, but still it would not
budge. “En Yu Kian!” she swore as she beat on
the door with her fists. Tears welled in her eyes.
I trusted him, she thought as her throbbing fists
gave way, and she ran her hands helplessly down
the cold metal door.
***
“You can’t do this!” Trave bellowed as he slammed
his fist on the Admiral’s desk.
“We appreciate your assistance Captain Macom.
The Federation will take it from here.” The Admiral’s voice was cool and distant, his gaze never
lifting from the datapad in his hands.
“Eden Prime is neutral territory. You cannot hold
her prisoner. She has done nothing wrong, and
you are violating the Eden Directive!”
“That will be all, Captain!”
At the Admiral’s harsh bark, Trave turned and
stormed out of the office. That wouldn’t be all, not
if he had anything to say about it.
***
Satal had no idea how long she had been locked
inside the cold and sterile room. She guessed it
had been hours, judging by the number of UIF
personnel who had come and gone. They had
interrogated her with question after question. She
had remained rigid and silent, refusing to show
them the slightest hint of weakness despite the
tears that wanted to fall.
They had left her alone again, nothing but her and
these four blank walls. She slumped down onto
the floor, curled up, and wrapped her arms about
her knees, hugging them to her.
***
Trave watched the parade of UIF personnel come
and go from the isolation cell. It had taken him
nearly an hour to find her, even longer to work
his sources to get the information he desired. He
waited for the last round of officials to disappear
down the hallway before he approached the door.
He didn’t have clearance to access the control
panel, so he was going to have to do this the oldfashioned way. If he got caught, it would mean the
end of his career, possibly the end of his life as
he served his remaining years behind bars. But
he had to do it. He owed her that much. She had
risked her life to save him, and now it was his turn
to return the favor.
He slipped the knife from his pocket and carefully
unscrewed the door control panel. Finding the red
wire, he slipped the knife underneath it and sent
up a silent prayer before slicing it in half. With any
luck, it would register as a malfunction on the system, and they would have several minutes before
anyone arrived to investigate it.
He pushed open the door and found Satal huddled
in the corner. She didn’t bother to look at him, her
head only slowly rising at the sound of his voice.
“Satal.”
Her watery eyes narrowed on him and she huffed
out a harsh whisper, “I trusted you.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” It was the only apology
he could offer. “Please,” he said, holding out his
hand for her. “We only have a few minutes before
they get here.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Satal, please,” he begged. “I have the information about your sister. If we can just get you out of
here, you can go to her.”
“Why should I believe you?”
He slipped the bag he’d been carrying off his
shoulder and tossed it across the room to her. “Put
these on, we have to get you out of here.”
January 2014 | 77