Chapter 5: Prisoner

“War can be an unpredictable environment. It is possible that the soldier will be captured. However, it is the goal of the prisoner to adapt to the circumstances, resist, and never give up. Those that survive from it are ten times stronger than any warrior alive.” Shira, 2348 AD.

It was like a nightmare. Javier could hear the distant sounds in his head. His eyes were closed. It must have been a dream. It had to be a dream. Battle and carnage ... death and valor. His home was under attack. He felt afraid but did the right course of action. He was no coward, but at what cost? Cason...

“Cason...” Javier whispered. “My friend is dead ... others are dead ... no ... it was a dream ... it was a dream...”

The sounds in the distance grew louder. He felt pain in his neck. The pain...

“God, please let it be a dream...” he whispered.

The voices were getting closer and closer as he saw nothing but black all around him. The daze in his head felt like it was fading, but it was rough. He remembered getting slammed to the ground and then getting knocked unconscious.

“No ... no ... it was real ... NO!” he yelled.

His eyes opened up as he saw the light above him. He could feel it. The environment was completely different. The air felt new or artificial in nature. The walls were different than anything he had ever seen before.

Javier was strapped to a lab bed. Held in position, he turned his head to look at the environment. The first thing he noticed was that he felt very light. It was the feeling of zero gravity as the straps held him in place to prevent him from floating away or escaping. He noticed other things. He was mostly naked and only had his underwear on. Stripped of his uniform, his bare chest was exposed to the open air.

“I must have passed out and had a dream of the battle...” he said, trying to calm himself down. “Yeah ... that’s it...”

His eyes continued to scan the room. The walls had some sort of blue veins that circulated. Was it water? It seemed to have aquatic life of some kind that swam through it. Occasionally, there were chambers in which the veins connected as they led to other veins. It was somewhat similar to the reports he heard about regarding the Itrean vessels. The T’rintar ships had organic vines and branches that grew in the hull. Food could be plucked from the walls and devoured by the crew. It was like...

“No ... it can’t be ... it is real...” he said. “I’m on board an Itrean warship. I’m onboard a Shal’rein clan ship. No ... fuck...”

The reality set in like a hammer blow. He suddenly realized that he had not only survived a battle but had also been captured by the enemy. But it felt...

Javier’s mind was in a partial panic. He began to struggle as the straps firmly held him in place. His mind began to picture the worst. The T’rintar clan reported that the Aksren clan was taking prisoners at Cipra. Millions of prisoners were experimented on horrifically and then executed, at least if the stories were true. He realized that the Shal’rein must be doing the same thing.

His heart and adrenaline surged. He turned to scan more of the environment on one wall that led to an overhead digital screen. There was a table that had various surgical instruments of mixed design. One of the sides of the room was a door. Another door on the other side led to a smaller place.

As he turned his head, he could see other beds strewn about. It appeared to be some sort of medical lab or even a sickbay. The ceiling had large overhead lights that beamed down to his face. He started to recognize that more and more instruments around the room were medical equipment, but they looked slightly different than what he had seen before.

The door of the small room slid open to reveal a towering figure of a woman before stepping inside. She was clearly Shal’rein as she stood about seven feet tall. She had light gray and soft brown scale-like features on her body. On one side of her head was a tied-up bun of purple hair. Her large tail swung behind her as she walked on her digitigrade legs. She had fins that protruded from her arms, legs, and back. She even wore a pink skintight coat covering most of her body. Javier was surprised to note that she was chubby. She was busy looking at something in her hand and didn’t even notice him at first.

Javier recognized that she held a tilon in her hand. The Itrean tablet consisted of two metal bars that were connected together. They can be pulled apart to create a digital screen to interface with a computer. Her yellow shark-like eyes were busy as she was reading the report.

He felt a sense of panic hit him. He was being held prisoner by the enemy. Strapped to a bed, he couldn’t move as he tried to calm himself down. He grunted a little bit, and it was enough to grab the Shal’rein’s attention away from her tilon.

“Ah...,” the Shal’rein woman said as she closed up her tilon. “Human ... can you ... understand my words?”

There was a thick accent to her voice. It consisted of the French and Japanese accents that would go back and forth when the words were spoken. The Itrean language was still a big mystery to Javier. Apparently, it was a complex language to learn. All Itreans, in general, seemed to learn English exceptionally well and spoke it without any problems in a short little time. She was evidently trying to ask him a question to make sure he understood her. She also had a very faint and dainty voice when compared to some of the other Shal’rein.

“Yes...” Javier reluctantly answered.

“Good,” she replied. “I didn’t know if you spoke English or ... umm ... what is it called? ... Chinese?”

“I know both,” Javier said. “I prefer English.”

“Of course ... human ... your uniform had a word called ‘Jay ... ver.’ Is that your name?”

“Yes, but it is pronounced ‘Ha ... v ... air.’ My family spoke a language called Spanish, as well.”

She put her hand to her chin and snout. “Oh ... my apologies.”

“What’s going on?” Javier called out. “Why am I being held here?”

“Umm ... ahh...” she seemed to hold her answer back a little bit. “Maybe I should introduce myself. My name is ‘Folar’sha.’ I am the doctor on the ‘Garja.’”

Javier seemed in no real position to do anything. She walked a little bit closer, went to the table, and grabbed a small gray cylinder device. She approached his bed. He could see her feet and knew that she was walking on magnetic straps. He knew well that he was on a ship. The magnetic foot straps indicated the zero-g environment. He was in space and no longer on Aphadus.

As she got closer, Javier’s heart began to pump hard. He felt that he was about to be attacked. He pulled hard on the straps and couldn’t move.

“Relax!” she called out. “I am not here to hurt you. I don’t want you to hurt yourself against the restraints.”

“I am being held prisoner ... I remember it all ... I was in a battle. Get me out of this!”

“I can’t,” she replied before she got next to him. “I am under orders to keep you alive. It is surprising to me. Normally, we don’t ever take prisoners. You are the first human I have ever seen up close.”

“I’m glad to know that I am a lab rat,” he angrily replied.

“What is a rat? No ... this is no lab. This is the medical bay. I am the doctor responsible for treating the injured. I was chosen for this mission because I took a study on human phys ... physiology. I was happy that my work was a success and that I was able to treat you.”

“Treat me?”

She held the cylinder and pressed a button on it, which made a little beep sound as she turned her shark-like head toward the digital display. It featured an X-ray-like picture of a human neck.

“The soldier named Girsha’lar was the one who knocked you out. She gripped your throat so hard that it crushed the muscles and bone. She then tossed you to the dirt and twisted the neck more. Your ... spinal column was cracked. I have had to work and repair the damage for the last two days. How are you?”

“I’m being held prisoner. How do you think I feel?”

“No. I am asking you. Are you in physical pain?”

Javier sighed. “I feel a little bit of pain in my neck. How long have I been here?”

“I can’t answer that question. Adjunct Dalejar wanted to talk to you once you were conscious. She wanted to have you awakened sooner, but I was against it. I wanted to make sure that you were in good health before it happened.”

“Why?” Javier asked.

Her head seemed to give a confused look. “I am a doctor. I help others. Those that can’t regenerate come to me to get healed. I like healing people. Enemy or no enemy, the healer must take responsibility for everyone.”

It was evident to Javier that he wasn’t going to get many answers from her. Her hands were tied. Oddly, her light voice seemed to make her sound more innocent. He could at least do one thing for her, though. It was his goal to escape. How it would be accomplished was beyond his knowledge. He remembered the stories of the responsibilities of the prisoner. If taken captive, it was important not to reveal any classified material. Even in a situation like this, she could be playing nice and might pry relevant data from him.

Nonetheless, a POW still needed to... “placate” their captives. This didn’t mean to give them information that would compromise the UHN exactly but to ensure that he didn’t anger them to the point that they would hurt him. For all he knew, this doctor would just as likely take a laser scalpel and try to hurt him. She might seem innocent, but he still remembered the barbarity of the battle he was only in. Regardless, it was best to just play along.

“Thank you ... Doctor Folar’sha,” Javier said. “For treating me.”

“You are ... welcome. Yes, those are the words. I apologize. My English is good, but I am still getting used to it.”

“It doesn’t sound that bad. Your accent is thick, but I can still understand you.”

“That is good,” she replied. “I was worried that you spoke Chinese. I had to pick the main language you humans speak, but I didn’t know if you only spoke one of those languages. My Chinese would be very bad.”

“It is alright. It is our second language. I admit I’m not a master to it either.”

She turned to look at the x-ray. “Your neck is fully healed. There is still some bruising to the skin, but it will go away. If you feel any pain there, that is the cause of it.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

She turned to look at him. “I had to take care of your body functions. Curious as to your face? The hair that grows from it? I have never seen anything like it.”

“My beard?”

“Yes, you creatures grow hair from the most curious of places. You even have hair near your reproductive area.”

It had been evident from how she spoke that she had examined him. It was not a good sign, perhaps. What had they done to him?

“Yes,” he replied. “Some humans have facial hair. I notice that the Shal’rein have hair that grows from their heads as we do. It really varies from person to person through their genes.”

“I see. All of you humans come from a similar origin?”

“Yes. I know that the Itreans all come from the same planet, though ... ours.”

Those words seemed heavy for her. She closed her eyes and looked away. She sort of shook her head. Javier had no idea if she believed him or not. She remained silent for a little bit.

“I am going to notify the Adjunct that you are awake,” she told him. “The Lesser Adjunct wishes to talk to you, but she is currently overseeing the repairs to the centripetal ring of the Garja.”

“Where are we?” he asked. “Am I on a ship?”

She went to a small console on the wall. She pressed a button as Javier watched her speak. The doctor seemed to wait a little bit.

“Doctor Folar’sha,” a voice echoed through the console. “What is your report?”

“The human is awake. His vitals are still stable.”

“Then I want you to continue running tests. I will come down there myself.”

The console shut off as the doctor turned around and looked at Javier. He decided the best course of action was to continue talking and find out about his surroundings.

“Folar’sha,” Javier asked her. “Do I need to be restrained?”

“You are our prisoner. I am sorry. I don’t feel it is needed, but we wanted to make sure you wouldn’t try to run away.”

Javier tilted his head and tried to move his arm. The feeling of being trapped was rough. It was mind over matter, trying to keep his emotions under control.

“You guys fought hard...,” he told her. “So many of my people are dead.”

She looked down. “It wasn’t my choice. We are the Shal’rein ... I follow my orders.”

“I understand,” Javier admitted. “Soldiers follow orders, just like me. Now, I have been taken prisoner to be experimented on. How long do I live before I am flushed out of the airlock?”

The doctor seemed to shake her head. “No ... that isn’t our goal. I ... can’t answer that question.”

Those words seemed to convince Javier that he wouldn’t be executed anytime soon, at least by one Itrean’s word. This was both a good thing and a bad thing. It would possibly give him more of a chance to escape. However, his fate remained unknown.

“How is that one Shal’rein I shot?” he asked the doctor.

“Girsha’lar is fine. You shot her twice. She came in here earlier, and I pulled the two bullets out of her body. Her body will regenerate naturally. That is all that I can tell you.”

“Regenerate?”

“Yes. Our bodies are designed to regenerate. You humans have not mastered bioengineering like we do. You rely on artificial organs. I remember the artificial lung you have. It saved you from being knocked out by our gas.”

“Yeah ... lucky me.”

“If you had gone in the direction we had, you would be able to breathe underwater. Our people can breathe on land thanks to our technology and evolution. Maybe your people should look into it.”

“I don’t know ... I’m pretty happy with what I got.”

Folar’sha gave her quick nods. “I heard you humans have a number of water worlds that you cont...”

She was interrupted as the other set of doors opened up. Javier could momentarily see the outside passageway as a figure walked in. What stepped through was an Itrean that looked different than Folar’sha.

The Shal’rein that came in looked important. Unlike Folar’sha, she was skinny and built. She was slightly taller than her and was bald. Her uniform consisted of black and purple mixed together. Her gray skin-like scales showed through the areas that weren’t covered up by her uniform. She seemed to have a longer tail but smaller fins on her arm. On her right arm was a wrist-like computer. Javier even noted that her hand had a tattoo of a trident that was painted in purple. Her uniform had a single icon that was near her collar. It almost seemed to be a rank insignia of a trident and buckler mixed together.

The one thing that also stood out was a weapon’s holster that was connected to the side hip of the woman. Attached to the uniform, the gun was nothing more than a magnum. It was huge for a firearm, much like the assault rifles the other soldiers used. There was a look of intensity in her eyes as she first gazed at Javier and then Folar’sha.

Once she fully stepped in, she put her hands behind her back as she moved. The magnetic straps on her feet clicked the ground a little bit as her feet touched the hard metal surface.

“Doctor Folar’sha,” the new Shal’rein in the room said. “The human is awake. Is he stable enough for me to question him?”

“Yes, Adjunct,” the doctor replied to her.

The commanding Itrean walked up to the bed where Javier was strapped to. The man gave a look of intense anger towards her. The closer she got, the more his blood began to boil. Finally, she stood next to him.

“Hello human,” the female Shal’rein told him. Her voice was that of a person in charge. Oddly, her voice didn’t sound like the one communicating with Girsha’lar back on Aphadus. She didn’t have a deep voice, but it was one that was deeper than Folar’sha’s. Her accent was less than the doctors, though.

She reached her hand and gripped the human’s throat. She brought her snout a little close to his face as she seemed to examine him up close, looking at his cheeks.

“My name is Delajar,” the Shal’rein told him. “I am the Adjunct of this fleet. Tell me your name.”

“Adjunct,” Folar’sha called out to the leader. “I just fixed his neck. If you nudge it too much, you will risk hurting him or...”

“Shhh...” Delajar hushed her. She didn’t even look at the doctor. “Human ... tell me your name.”

“My name is Javier ... I am an Ensign ... serial number 6554390203 ... assigned to Aphadus military base.”

It was the words that Javier was instructed to say in case of a possible interrogation. While being taken prisoner was a remote scenario, at least the training given to him paid off. However, Javier knew that this person seemed to desire to harm him.

“Javier...” Delajar questioned him. “We are going to be making good use of you. We are going to make sure that you are treated just fine...”

Her last sentence sent chills down his spine. She said it with an insidious smile on her face. She even opened up her mouth to display her row of serrated shark teeth. Finally, she released her large vice-like grip on his neck and face, leaving a mark on his chin.

She backed up a little bit from the bed as she put her arms behind her back. “Human named Javier. You are going to provide us all the answers we need. Tell us ... what are your current defenses over Cebravis, New Olympia, and Mars?”

He looked straight up into the ceiling and kept his composure. “Javier ... Ensign. Serial number 6554390203. UHN officer ... assigned to Aphadus military base.”

Delajar smiled a little bit. She reached forward again and looked at him closely. Her vast hand encompassed most of his chest. “Defiant little human. Trained little warrior.” She pressed one of her pointer fingers to his beating heart. “A little bit bigger than the Yutilians. A little bit bigger than the Aksren too ... yet you foolishly made friends with the T’rintar clan. You allied with our enemies. You know what we do to our enemies when we capture them alive ... or at least the few that we do?”

Javier refused to answer. She then lowered her head to look straight at him. Her shark-like eyes peered into his as he tried to ignore him. She then opened up her mouth to display her serrated teeth again. Then she lowered her pointed snout straight to his left ear.

“I will ask you again...” She whispered into his ear. “Javier ... what are your defenses?”

His answer was the same as before. “Javier. Ensign. Serial number 655439...”

Suddenly, she used her massive jaws to bite into his left ear. Two of the serrated teeth clamped down on the earlobe. Teeth cut clean through the flesh. She jolted her head away from his as Javier screamed. The Adjunct had clearly bitten and torn his left ear off from his head.

“AHHH!” Javier screamed in pain. It felt like someone used two knives and surgically cut it off without dulling the pain. Blood began to pour into the bed and a little bit into the zero-g environment.

Delajar then stepped away from the bed again as she watched the human continue to agonize in pain. He struggled against the straps as his adrenaline continued to help him with the pain.

“Adjunct!” Folar’sha called out. “He won’t be any good to us if...”

The Adjunct replied by opening her mouth and removing the severed ear of Javier’s in her hand. She gave a sort of quick nod. “Too bad ... maybe if he doesn’t cooperate, I can still devour him. Not as tasty as Yutilian prisoners ... but I can still make an exception.”

The doctor seemed to nod a little bit as Javier was still writhing on the bed. She grabbed a surgical instrument and some sort of syringe from her table before approaching Javier.

“He will live, Doctor ... even a Yutilian or Aksren can still live without a tail or arm,” Delajar told her.

The doctor almost ignored her as she used her syringe to inject into Javier’s neck. It seemed to activate immediately the moment she plunged into his neck. Javier could still feel the agonizing pain in his head and ear, but he could feel a sort of calming effect hit him. The pain seemed to subside little by little as each second went by. Within less than ten seconds, he felt more and more tired as he closed his eyes and fell unconscious.

“Adjunct...” the doctor explained. “Lesser Adjunct Shira rules this ship. I have been instructed by her to keep the prisoner functional. I can’t do that if you begin ripping off his body parts.”

“I see...” Delajar said. “Hmmm ... this language is so interesting. So well defined in its words.” She walked up to the doctor and gave the severed earlobe to the doctor. Folar’sha was trying to clean up the blood that had gotten into the bed and air.

“You do realize that I am the overall Adjunct of this fleet, Folar’sha?” the Adjunct continued.

“Yes..., Adjunct.”

“Good. Heal him and, Doctor?”

Folar’sha turned her head to look at the Adjunct. “Yes...,” she reluctantly answered.

“This language ... I heard you speaking to the prisoner in his words ... tell me ... were you talking to him?”

She lowered her head. It almost seemed to scare her to answer. She gave a series of quick nods.

“Honor...,” Delajar replied. “Good ... the truth is more important than anything. I heard you talking to him the moment I stepped in. You answered truthfully, so your punishment will be less severe.”

The Adjunct then took her left hand and backhanded the doctor hard in the face. The powerful slap echoed in the room. It caused the doctor’s head to recoil a little bit as she kept her eyes closed. The Adjunct then put her hands behind her back.

“That is a warning ... I don’t care what Lesser Adjunct Shira says. I am your Adjunct. Do not speak or associate with the prisoner. He is the enemy. He belongs to a people that decided to ally with an enemy clan. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Adjunct,” the doctor replied.

“Good. Continue with your tests. Run your examinations. Ensure that he remains alive so we can extract all valuable information from him.”

“Yes, Adjunct. I will notify the Lesser Adjunct.”

The leader of the Shal’rein fleet noticed that there was a tiny amount of blood that was on her lip. She used her tongue to taste it as she reached her finger to scoop it up. She pulled her finger to grab what was left before putting it into her mouth. There was a certain admiration on her face before she resumed her stance and proceeded to go. The doctor would watch as the door slid open and the Adjunct left the room. She waited before the doors slid closed before grabbing a laser scalpel from the table. With the severed ear in hand, she gently placed it in the severed section. Using her laser scalpel, she began the process of surgically reattaching it back to its former place. By the time he woke up, it would look good as new.

The doctor remained quiet as she continued with her work. She had a tear in her eye as she felt shaken by the events. She would say nothing more as she did her job and making sure that Javier was in good shape for the future events to come.