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    Cia
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Denied - 32. Chapter 32

I curled up on the edge of the couch, my head on Captain’s thigh. I felt better when we were touching. He crafted messages that seemed completely normal, until he showed me the code he used with his contacts. Then I could decipher the hidden messages inside them requesting more information on the current council and political maneuvering among the military.

“Hopefully these will yield results. They’ll go out as soon as we hit non-shielded space, before I approve Kekillill’s reports, just in case.” Captain stood, gently lowering my head. “I need to go check on the crew that’s on shift. You can stay here, or I can escort you to your quarters, or you can come with me.”

“I’d like to stay here.” It was an easy decision. I didn’t want to see the crew or any of the other rescued victims. And I liked my small room, but I liked being in Captain’s quarters more.

“In that case, here.” Captain handed me his handheld vid. “I’ve queued up my reports from the other missions. I think it’s important that you know what kind of life my crew lives. See how the missions can go.”

“You can let me do that?”

“These are my private files. Nothing restricted. It’s not all good. If it’s too upsetting for you, you can stop reading.”

He didn’t have to tell me that. I’d existed in that cell, other than when they were testing me, for years. I couldn’t have put a number on the eternity that felt like, until Captain and Deke had when they rescued me. People who were willing to make someone do the things they made me do…?

They were capable of anything. Everything. I watched as Captain moved purposefully around his quarters, changing into a formal uniform. The snug fabric hugged his body, leaving no loose cloth to get snagged onboard the close quarters on a spaceship.

“I’ll be back soon, Kohen. Use the vid if you need to get in touch with me. If you have even the smallest difficulty breathing, you page Aparoe and then me, okay?”

“I will.” I didn’t want to feel that suffocating darkness ever again, but I wasn’t ready to face the crew either. Most of them probably had no idea what was going on, but I couldn’t shake my fear that the Trepharo, Kemit, or Ss’merit had done something more than just that one attack. There had to be plans within plans within plans; the only way I felt safe was to hunker down and seclude myself.

That I could do it in quarters surrounded by the Captain’s scent was even better. From the beginning, I’d only felt comfort with him. As soon as the door sealed behind him, I lifted the vid. I was curious about his other missions; what had his crew done to free other victims?

 

The thought of some sensationalized story, the type told over cheap, homemade alcohol that burned more than it intoxicated, was far from the truth as I read Captain’s accounts of his missions. Pages of dossiers on station blueprints, scientists, guards, rescued survivors, and experiments gone wrong outweighed the short pages of battles to overcome the resistance and save the poor people being tortured in the Brox Consortium’s bid for power.

It made for some dry reading, but I faithfully flicked through every page, scanning and reading while some light music Captain must enjoy during his short leisure time played in the background. It was the only thing that kept me awake.

But Captain and Deke were right. This mission had been different. First, Captain had never been ordered to take a bigger ship before, or the augmented crew he had to use to run it. The Brox Consortium had their arm of the galaxy, but they wanted the center, the rich planets that were part of the Central government and lacking in most defensive capabilities.

What they didn’t lack was the funds to pay for soldiers or mercenaries from more outlying planets where violence was a way of life. So the rich and powerful stayed rich and powerful on the backs of loyal soldiers and those who respected the credits above all else.

It made me sick. They were willing to do anything. Looking through the files, though, I couldn’t find any other notes about the ports some of us rescued on this mission had. Those were different.

No on else had the extensive experimentation on their brains and bodies like I had. Worried about what would happen when we passed the radiation barrier, I focused on the mission reports post-rescue. I flipped through report after report.

A frown creased my forehead. “This can’t be right,” I muttered to myself. Captain didn’t seem like the type of man who’d just shove his problems off on someone else. I paged him on the vid.

“Are you all right, Kohen?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” I’d forgotten he’d warned me to contact him if I felt like our separation was hurting me. “But I had a question about your reports.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“After you returned to Central space, you and the crew were debriefed, then went off-mission. But the victims were taken for readjustment, you said? I think someone told me they are helped to go home or to start new lives.”

“Yes.” He looked at me expectantly, his face blank.

“Did you ever actually follow up with any of them? Do you know for sure that happened?”

Copyright © 2017 Cia; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Chapter Comments

4 hours ago, Shadow086 said:

Are they even victims?  This sounds more like an infiltration than any kind of rescue operation.  I mean, what better way to get your soldiers behind enemy lines than by allowing them to be "rescued"?

Either that or the arm of the Bronx consortium reachs someone on the central planets, and the rescue team is just doing a delivery.

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I don't like the sound of that question... The Captain had no reason to ask about the victims. I'm guessing he's experiencing that sinking feeling that comes from sudden clarity.  

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Awesome that Kohen put some of the pieces together. Can’t wait to see where we go from here. Thanks. 

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6 hours ago, Shadow086 said:

Are they even victims?  This sounds more like an infiltration than any kind of rescue operation.  I mean, what better way to get your soldiers behind enemy lines than by allowing them to be "rescued"?

I had the same thought.  That makes me wonder what Kohens role in all this is.   I hope if it comes to it his humanity and feelings for Everett can overcome any programming that he might have.  

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2 minutes ago, glennish said:

I had the same thought.  That makes me wonder what Kohens role in all this is.   I hope if it comes to it his humanity and feelings for Everett can overcome any programming that he might have.  

I'm thinking that whoever the "spy" is has some sort of device to control the people with implants, like Kohen, and was in charge of starting the attack.  I wonder what their backup plan is now, since I'm sure they accounted for the possibility of their spy being discovered.

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I have a feeling that the Bronx Consortium has someone in Central Space doing the transfer of the victims of the Consortium held at these bases and labs to other facilities. I think Kohen has figured out that the ones that were supposed to be home again and to new lives. Kohen asked the captain if he ever followed up with any of those that he and his crew rescued, I have a feeling that he never did any type of follow up with those who have been rescued previously. Kohen has an idea that they might've just been moved at the request of the Consortium through someone at Central Space, if they were then the captain has been lied to all along. The question is who wanted the lab where Kohen and the other's were rescued from raided and who said the captain was to get the bigger ship and crew for the rescue? I hope that the feeling Kohen has turns out to be just nerves and that the victims are all very safe and enjoying the freedom again. Great chapter it's definitely worth the time to read it. 

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Holy crap on a cracker! That would be a clever way to get your people in the right places. Wow. Thanks, Cia... Kohen is hella smart. :) 

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