Prisoner Six

Part 5

Day 743 11:44 Hours

Three days after waking Dave, Sam paced the control deck. As promised, his blood sample had come back completely normal. She'd run every possible test, but they had all returned with no anomalies. What's more, he was perfectly healthy. No viral or bacterial infections. Not even a vitamin deficiency. At least she could say she wasn't abusing the prisoners nutritionally.

Though she'd had the results within hours, Sam could not bring herself to visit Dave again. The next steps were inevitable, and yet... she couldn't take them. Instead, she stayed inside the control deck, watching Dave. And he knew it.

He'd begun giving daily "confessionals" to Sam, just as she had done. Sitting alone in his compartment after meals, Dave addressed Sam in the same routine way-looking across the room at the table as if she were sitting there. And it was almost time for another confession. Sam tried to busy herself, making her mid-morning tea. She made sure it was hotter than usual, since the ship's overall temperature had been reduced to conserve power.

"We have incoming transmissions, Commander," said Vox.

"Not now."

Vox tried another tactic. "Commander, perhaps you should focus your energy on the remaining repairs. Despite reducing the ship's power output, the reactor will overheat in approximately thirteen hours without proper coolant."

"I know, and I am. I've replaced the converters in PC1, but fixing PC2's hull is a different matter. I need help."

"Perhaps, but I do not think anything can be gained in-"

"Did you know his results were normal?" asked Sam.

"I know only what is programmed in our mission files."

"Right," said Sam, unconvinced, turning her attention back to the video monitor with her tea in hand. She watched as Dave placed his empty breakfast container in the drop-box, sat down, and addressed the vacant table on the other side of the barrier.

"How are you today, Sam?" he asked. "I hope you're well. I must admit; I've become a bit lonely these days. Now that I'm awake, I wish I could speak to my colleagues and tell them everything will be okay. But, perhaps it's better this way. I don't know if they'll be okay, do I?"

Stop listening, thought Sam. Just get on with it. But she couldn't help herself. He might reveal something. Slip up. But that wasn't the real reason Sam was listening. She was stalling. Hoping... for something she couldn't put her finger on.

"I also wish I could see you again," continued Dave. "Despite our situation, I know you're a good person. And I've enjoyed talking with you. I think we could make a good team, you and I. You'd be surprised to learn how much we have in common."

Don't pretend you know me, thought Sam. But he did. She had told him all about her life, and now he could use it against her. Instead, he switched gears.

"By now, I expect you've discovered that I am not a dangerous alien. But the question remains: can you trust me? Unfortunately, it seems you don't have much time to decide. If I'm right, the drop in temperature in my compartment means a decrease in power. So, either you are depriving me of warmth, which I don't think you would do, or the ship's power supply is compromised. That's what you must have meant the other day about our fates being tied."

Sam wasn't sure if she was comforted or worried by how quickly he'd worked this out. He was observant, intelligent, and whether this helped or doomed her was entirely up to him. A fact he must have also worked out.

"So, if we could just... talk... like people, I know we could sort things out," he said, repeating another phrase she'd used. "We could work on the problem together, and then maybe at least one of us could return home."

Before she could stop herself, Sam pressed the intercom button.

"And where is home?" she asked, her voice echoing in the prisoner observation deck. Dave looked up at the direction of the voice.

"My home is the same as yours," he said.

It was an answer, alright, but not a specific one. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't dare trust him. She rarely put her confidence in colleagues, let alone convicts. But these weren't normal circumstances, and if she wanted to survive, she had to play this right. Unfortunately, there were no new revelations to be had in this setting. Sam would need to show her hand. Only then, would he show his.

"Be ready for debrief in ten minutes," she said.

"Yes, Commander."

The ship BEEPED its ten-minute warning as Sam gathered her tablets and files. This time, she entered her ID code, pressed her thumb to the control panel, and hit the re-set button without delay.

"Commander?" asked Vox, as tentatively as a computer could.

"You've seen the data, just as I have. There's no way I can fix the hull to that compartment single-handedly."

"Then there is only one thing left to do," Vox reminded her.

"Die?" asked Sam. "That may happen, soon enough. And when it does, I'll happily leave the self-destructing to you. But not yet."

Sam turned and headed back towards the prisoner observation deck, repeating the last words in her mind.

Not yet...

***

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you so much for reading Prisoner Six! If you are enjoying it so far, please consider leaving a vote or comment below. I would love to hear from you. I'm also curious to know: Do you trust Dave???