Starfire

Scene 5: Sadistic Experiments

The guards that had been holding Koriand'r were dead the moment they were pulled out of the ship. The two Tamaranians, however, were a different matter altogether. Part of their psychology was their ability to breathe perfectly in space.

Komand'r, was currently unconscious, having hit her head on the side of the ceiling as she had been pulled into the void of space. Koriand'r, on the other hand, was still awake, and therefore could see the ship that had attacked the Citadel closing in on her position.

In moments, a bright light shot down and stopped in front of both sisters, pulling them up into the ship. Koriand'r had little reason to hope that these Psions had come to her rescue. She had been told by her parents that the Psions aspired to be scientists who performed the worst kinds of experiments. She had a feeling that was what was waiting for Komand'r and herself.

Sure enough, when Komand'r woke up, she was in restraints alongside her sister. Thrashing wildly, Komand'r shouted, "What is this? Where am I? Why am I in restraints?"

"We were just about to tell you now that you're awake," said a Psion. "For the longest time, now, we have been looking for Tamaranians to perform a special experiment on."

As he was talking, more Psions were rolling the sisters on wheeled tables to a lab. On the walls were dozens of organized tools. Close to the window was a machine.

"Now," said the lead Psion, "we know that you Tamaranians use your emotions to convert solar energy into flight energy. We have become curious to much your bodies can absorb before you finally explode. We appreciate you for volunteering."

Komand'r thrashed harder. "I suggest you release me! Do what you want with my sister, but the Citadel will be on its way to exact retribution for kidnapping me!"

"We'll take our chances," said the lead Psion. "Place them in the machine, both of them. Then we'll have them begin absorbing the solar energy, and make sure we get the readings we need.

All this time, Koriand'r had said nothing, knowing that no talk would stop the Psions from executing their experiment. Now opposite of Komand'r, she began to feel incredible pain. All that energy being forced into her body was nearly as bad as her years of slavery.

"They're above stable levels now," one of the Psions said after a moment. "We should be done with them at any moment."

"I agree," said the lead Psion. "Clear the room quickly. Activate the shields on the walls to contain the explosion and protect the rest of our inventions."

The moment the order was carried out, an explosion did go off, but it wasn't from the either of the sisters. It was outside the ship. If she had not been crying in pain, Komand'r would've laughed in delight, because she knew the Citadel had come at last.

"Sir, we have to get to safety!" said one of the Psions."Not yet!" said the leader. "I must see them explode!"

That was when the lab door was blown apart by another explosion. The two Psions died instantly, and one of them hit the switch restraining Koriand'r, switching it off.

Sensing freedom, Koriand'r shook with all her might and broke free from her restraints. However, it was not with her own strength, but with something new. The solar energy had given her a new power: she was now permanently equipped with the ability to shoot green energy beams called starbolts from her hands and eyes.

Marvelling at what she had just done, Koriand'r turned to her sister, who was still absorbing the radiation. She hesitated for a moment. Should she free Komand'r the one who had taken her into slavery? She hesitated a moment longer, then decided to be the better person.

"Hold on, sister. I will use this new power I have to free you."

Concentrating, Koriand'r fired a pair of starbolts at her sister's restraints. Komand'r fell down and was helped up by her sister, who asked her urgently, "Sister, you are okay? How do you feel?"

Komand'r focused on her sister and grinned. It wasn't a pleasant smile, though. It was cruel, like when she had tried to kill her sister in the past. "Have you learned nothing about your own sister, Koriand'r. You should've left me to die."

Then with a flash of purple light, Komand'r shot a starbolt of her own at her sister, who doubled down in agony.

"Don't worry, Koriand'r, we can carry your sentence out right here, right now. Just hold still."

Koriand'r looked around the destroyed lab wildly. Behind her was a table that had miraculously survived the explosions of the attack from the Citadel. There was a chance she could defend herself if she got to it.

As Komand'r rose to strike, Koriand'r pushed with her legs, sending her behind the table. Koriand'r kicked the table in her sister's direction, who simply blasted it aside. However, when the dust settled, Koriand'r shot a barrage of her new starbolts at her sister. When she finally stopped, Komand'r was out cold.

Despite the newly formed resentment for Komand'r, Koriand'r still couldn't bring herself to kill her. She would let her live, because aything could happen to her if she tried to take her sister's life. So in the end, she began to run for the hangar, where the Psions and the Citadel were in a fierce clash with each other. Taking flight, Koriand'r began to fire her starbolts down on them all. Unprepared for the attack, both sides had no time to mount a defense against her until they were all blasted aside. Some of the aliens she had fired at were killed; others were out as cold as Komand'r.

As Koriand'r ran for one of the ships, some Psions entered the hangar. Seeing Koriand'r trying to escape, the fired down at her. Most of their shots missed, though one came close to hitting her shoulder. The only reason she didn't have to defend herself for long was because more Citadel guards arrived to shoot the Psions. By the time they had killed the last of them, Koriand'r had entered the ship's cockpit.

She had only flown a ship a few times, but Koriand'r had never flown a Psion fighter. Fortunately, she had learned how to read Psion and soon found the ignition. When she pressed her thumb down on the correct button, the thrusters activated, throwing the Citadel guards backward.

The Psion ship then left the hangar and flew off into space. Eager to escape, Koriand'r hardly looked up at the coordinates she punched in and fell out of the pilot's seat when she flew into hyperspace.

***

When Komand'r woke up, Koriand'r was long gone. The captain had found her moments after the last of the Psions had surrendered and been taken prisoner.

"What is your next course of action?" he asked her.

Komand'r looked up at him fiercely. Koriand'r had humiliated her again, and she had escaped her execution. However, Komand'r would be patient. There were other matters she had to attend to first.

"We will return to Trogaar at once. We'll take the Psion ship with us. We may have use for their inventions. Keep the prisoners locked up until they tell us how to use them. After that, we will go after my sister."