Star Missions - Book One - Part IV

Chapter 34 - No Room For Failure

Ray didn't know how long he'd been unconscious. His head hurt more than ever before. The smell around him had not changed. He heard the same humming of ship engines and woke up realizing that his capture was not a dream. The pain he felt was also a reminder. As he became fully conscious, he also could sense that there were others in the room.

He again heard a voice in his head, a different one this time.

<He is waking>, seemingly from a masculine person.

He opened his eyes and saw the small cylindrical recording device on the floor directly in his view. He also saw the chair of the interrogation room, though he seemed to have been moved and lay behind it. The room was small, and he had the feeling he was not alone. He was confused but felt lucky to be alive. Though, he wondered if the Korram hit people in other places besides the head. His head throbbed and, at that moment, didn't think he could take another smack like that.

Then he was worried when he spotted three more blue-skinned aliens in the room. The blue people stood near the entrance of the room beyond the chair. The men wore identical light and dark purple outfits and seemed to follow the woman's lead. She, who appeared to be the Leader, wore an oddly designed outfit. It was grey and looked similar to exercise shorts and a sports bra. She also had straps around both legs that probably held weapons. Ray figured that she was some fighter or warrior of some kind. A female Alien Space Dog. If it were not for his being a prisoner, and she was the enemy, he would find her extremely attractive.

When he spotted them, his headache somehow lessened, and he wondered what had happened to the other blue-skinned man.

Without any words or seemingly even the passage of time, Ray understood what had happened. He was not sure how, but he got answers to questions he would have asked if he had had the time to ask them. It was as if Ray had witnessed the whole thing or had some sort of flash realization.

He understood that a day had already passed since he was knocked unconscious. The soldiers do not have telepathic ability, but the Jamill do. The man that was interrogating him was a Jamill, but he failed to get information from Ray because of Teleka and her guard, who helped him guard his thoughts.

The Korram leader was upset. The Jamill had previously bragged that he could 'break' the prisoner with his telepathic ability, but failed. Though the blue man asked for more time, the Leader had already lost his patience with him. The Jamill was to going to be taught a lesson.

He said, "These Jamill are weak! I should have acted sooner! Korram soldier, show this Jamill how the Korram deal with failure!"

A Korram soldier trained his staff weapon on the lone Jamill on the bridge. It was not hard for the condemned man to read the Leader's mind. He knew he was a dead man. But, before he could plead for mercy, the Korram leader said, "Your death shall serve as an example," then added, "There is no room for failure among the Korram!"

The soldier fired his weapon. A sustained burst from a meter away into the Jamill's back made his death immediate. It was expeditious and did well to demonstrate that the Korram expected the Jamill, who had decided to join them, could not fail.

The Jamill's dead body crumpled on the floor, his back smoking the not so sweet fragrance of plasma-inducted death.

The Korram leader did not need the Jamill any longer. He knew another species that could be trusted in their boasts, even if they weren't immediately at hand. He could wait a little longer to get his answers.

Then he called out a new order:

"Navigation; change destination for Sporax. We shall use the ancient one to extract the information from the prisoner."