Natalie

Meetings

Chap 9: Meetings

Our spaceship delivered us to the rebellion space station, The Eagle, in under 20 minutes.

20 minutes for you to get your shit together.

Considering you and me, you're gonna need a bit more than that.

Being located near Jupiter's fourth moon, I can't help but marvel how far modern technology has come.

I stare outside my window before we land, taking in the awesome architecture of this station.

Wow, I missed this place. All the fun they let me have. All of those memories.

It isn't  huge, maybe the size of a normal 10 story building that is tilted on it's side, but it also has many ports sticking out, connecting smaller ships with it. It's as if the station is a lightbulb and the ships are flies.

"Did they remodel at all?" I ask August.

He does a turtle face, "honestly, I wouldn't know."

"Well, I don't like it much. Ruining it's aura as a prison."

"It's not technically a prison."

I narrow my eyes at him, "not to you it was."

To me Denmark's a prison. William Shakespeare. Hey! That sounds like something Chess would say! I wonder how she's doing?"

My teeth grit.

Attracted to the light as well, our ship latches itself onto a docking area, sharing it with a much larger space ship. Our shuttle shudders as it properly connects.

Once the trembling stops, August leaves me to talk with Edgar.

Probably giving him a good smack for being mean to us.

No, August would never...

Edgar emerges from the front of the ship, with a depressed look on his face.

"What I said to you, was completely out of line." He crouches next to where I am sitting, "I'm really sorry. I should've known that it was either now or never with Chess. I shouldn't have overreacted."

He's just trying to make you feel better. Don't think for a second he actually cares.

It does sound rehearsed.

Yes! It sounds completely rehearsed. He's just playing the part as a friend. He never truly was.

I grit my teeth as I return with a fake smile to Edgar's artificial face.

You should've known we never had real friends.

Edgar smiles back, "alright, are you ready then? August wants us to go strait to the prison ward."

Finally, revenge can begin.

The only thing that we can agree on.

I think we agree on more than you think.

My smile starts to turn genuine and, frankly, a little bit twisted.

-

"It's a real pleasure to meet you Sir." Says a tall, impossibly skinny man with deep blue hair, "I'm Woim Cuningham. I've been in charge of Prisoner 164's care for the past few days."

"To make it easier I'm going to call you Woim." I tell him.

"Certainly sir."

What's with his eyes?

I look at him hard and notice that his eyes are changing color every few seconds.

Colored contacts no doubt. Or expert breeding.

Woim began to shift uncomfortably under my gaze.

I nod once at the prison door, "How long has the prisoner been held here?"

He shrugs, making him even more stick-like, "About two weeks."

"What happened to the first guard in charge of the prisoner?" Edgar asks and takes a sip of his soda, which he procured on the flight and pleaded to keep it.

I roll my eyes, I so don't need him to be here, asking stupid questions.

I know the answer to that one! Pick me!

"He was...corrupted. As well as the second one."

So she's still up to her old tricks? Good for her! I can't help but admire her efficiency!

Edgar's eyebrows knit, "Corrupted how?"

"They slit their own throats," I say coolly.

Edgar's soda sprays out of his mouth. "She can get people to kill themselves?!?" He jerks his head towards me, "Why in HELL are they putting you in there for?"

Woim looks at me in amazement, "how did you know that? That wasn't on the file we sent to you."

"You all seem to forget that I'm actually clever." I say as I reach for the cell door handle, "can you please unlock the cell for me Woim. I'd like to take my own assessment of the situation right now."

"Uh, of course, sir." He fumbled for a second, but places his hand on the scanner and the door clicks open as he turns the key.

"Take care, sir. She's wily no doubt."

But so am I.

"That won't be a problem." I tell them both.

They stare at me in shock, probably because I'm smiling again.

I have some new tricks of my own that I want to try.

-

I open the cell door. Peering just out of the crack I could see the white padded walls that must cover the entire room.

"Hello, Jamison, it's been a while." A bewitching voice says before she can even possibly see me.

My brain freezes, and for a good few seconds I'm debating if this is actually a good idea.

No, you have to do this. No turning back.

I let out a sigh, and open the door all the way.

"Yes, far to long. How've you been......Natalie?"

She smiles.