Scenes From Space

Chapter Thirty-Eight: A Collective Vessel

I regained consciousness to feel my body laid flat on something soft and my arms tied up above my head. I was confused. Why soft? I kept my eyes closed and let my body tell what if anything was wrong. My shoulders weren't sore so I hadn't been tied up for too long. My head was still pounding from being knocked out but it wasn't as bad as it could've been. I could hear the air flow and gentle hum of being on ship. My jacket and boots had been removed but the rest of my clothes were on my body. I couldn't feel the pressure of the tech-mask on my face. I was laying on something soft. 

I opened my eyes. One of them was working. The lights weren't red. Ben and I had been fighting Kuzzon. I must've been on his ship but the lights weren't red. Oh fuck, Ben! Was Ben okay? I lifted my head and glanced around the room quickly. I was in some sort of small bedroom. There wasn't a door but there was an arched entry to the right of me. There was the bed that I was on and an armoire in front of it.

My eyes found the camera in the high left corner, I looked right into the lens and wiggled my fingers. I was in a nice guest room somewhere on a ship that was hopefully Kuzzon's. Ben wasn't with me. Ben must have pulled some stupid self-sacrificing nonsense to put me here instead of him. Dammit, Ben.

"Greetings, Guinevere," Kuzzon said and came around so he was in between the bed and the armoire, facing me. "Or is it, Penny?" His arms were behind his back respectfully but his expression was not polite. I tried to keep my expression ambivalent and not wince. I tried to keep my eye on his eyes and not wander over his features. He was still freaking beautiful. I let out a breath. I couldn't think about that.

"Guinevere, Your Highness," I responded. No point in lying now.

"I assume you have figured out by your position here and not in a cell that you have been chosen as the Representative while Benjamin has taken the position of Collateral," Kuzzon said.

"Yes, Your Highness. May I ask why? Benjamin is a higher ranking than I am," I said and anxiously pulled at the cuffs.

"Your Captain insisted," Kuzzon answered. I bit down on my bottom lip to stop myself from saying something out loud but Kuzzon cut into my efforts with a command of, "Speak your mind Representative Guinevere."

"I was stopping myself from calling my Captain a stupid self-sacrificing moron, Your Highness," I answered truthfully. Kuzzon cracked a smile at that.

"And, you're certain that you are not involved with your Captain?" the Prince asked.

"Is that an official question from the Collective or a question from a former sexual partner?" I shot back quickly before wincing. That was not appropriate for this exchange.

However, Kuzzon snorted and then cleared his throat. "You are correct, Representative, that was not a relevant question." Oh. Okay then.

"I'm not dating Ben. I am involved with someone else," I answered softly.

Kuzzon nodded before getting back to business. "The terms of the exchange are these: you and Benjamin have been taken to ensure that my crew's mission is not interrupted. This is not officially sanctioned by the Collective but you have my promise as the Prince of the Collective that you and Benjamin will not be harmed so long as you are aboard my ship and my mission is successful. After the mission, you and Benjamin will be dropped off at a neutral location and both parties may resume their lives as if the exchange never happened."

"That sounds like the standard exchange Your Highness," I said. "May I inquire as to your mission?"

"We are escorting a high-level Commander to my Father at the Collective Capital," Kuzzon answered. Good, great. That checked out. We had just been too early on the whole Commander thing, and, mislead.