Part 26: A Prison With No Brakes

Chapter 21: A Prison With No Brakes

I awoke with a splitting headache and a tight feeling in my chest, like the worst hangover of my life. I opened my eyes and let them adjust, slowly and painfully, to the light. As I was recovering, a synthesised voice echoed through the hallways of... well, of wherever I was at the moment.



Our sentence had been passed. There was no trial and no appeal. After all, Mother Brain is the perfect judge of innocence or guilt, isn't she?

Ever since childhood, I'd felt an immense sense of gratitude to Mother Brain for maintaining the orphanage that provided for me after my parents died. We were taught to love Mother Brain like a parent, and that's exactly what I did. As an agent I served her loyally to repay my debt to her. And this is my reward? First Nei was taken away from me, and now my life and the lives of my friends are forfeit, all because we tried to protect Mota.

I'd spent my life serving my executioner. What a joke. What a sick, sick joke.



My hands, still bound to my sides by plasma rings, were cold and pale, as if my heart barely had the strength to pump blood to my extremities. I struggled against my bonds, but was rewarded with burning pain shooting up my arms as the rings shocked me in response to my movements. Even if I held still, every so often I was shocked for no reason at all.



The plasma rings were regulating my heartbeat and nerve impulses to keep me weak and under control. It was difficult to concentrate, and the plasma rings seemed able to tell when I was trying too hard, delivering extra shocks to scatter my thoughts. As long as I was bound by these rings, I wouldn't be using any techniques to get us out of here.

I sat up, resting my back against the wall of my cell, and looked around. The others were just waking up and getting their bearings.

"Amy, Anna, Shir... I'm sorry. I knew that things might turn out this way, but..." I searched fruitlessly for an excuse for sending my friends to their deaths. "I was hoping we could get out of it somehow."

"It's okay," Amy said softly, as she sat up and leaned against my shoulder for support. "We've saved Mota together. Even if this is the last day of my life, I'm happy, as long as I'm here with you."

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Anna sat bolt upright, her eyes sparking with angry resolve. "I won't let you give up. We're not going to die here!"

"That's right!" said Shir. "Where there's life, there's hope, especially with a master thief like me at your side! Let's find a way out of here!"

Shir tried to get up, winced in pain and slumped back to the floor.

"Uh, just as soon as I can stand up, anyway." She grinned sheepishly.

The plasma rings were meant to immobilise us, but we were made of sterner stuff than that. Even with our hands bound and our bodies weakened, by sliding up against the walls we managed to struggle to our feet.



Shit! A group of patrolling robots spotted us as we tried to walk out of our cell. In our current state, we were defenceless against them.



I half-ran, half-staggered past them while they were still aiming their weapons. If robots could feel surprise, these ones were floored. We kept running down the corridors of Gaila, hearing the heavy metallic footsteps of the pursuing robots behind us.



Red lights flashed and alarms sounded as we ran. The satellite must have been hit by an asteroid, or a piece of space junk. If it had been damaged or knocked off course, we might have a chance to escape. But if we were going to take advantage of the chaos, first we had to reach a control terminal and find out what had happened.



A cordon line on the floor blocked our path, directing our plasma rings to deliver agonising shocks as we walked over it. Amy cried out in pain from the shocks, Anna bore them in stoic silence and Shir screwed her eyes shut as if she thought she could shut the world out by not looking at it.



We were only minutes from entering Palm's atmosphere. I leaned against the control panel, struggling to reach and operate the controls with my bound hands. I pulled levers with my teeth, pushed buttons with my nose, tried to swing my feet up onto the control panel so I could use them too. It would have been comical if our lives weren't at stake. Despite my best efforts, the satellite's attitude jets weren't responding to my commands.

"Rolf!" Shir shouted over the noise of the alarms. "Do something! Reverse the polarity!"

I looked at her. "Do you even know what that means?"

Shir shrugged. "Not really."

I walked away from the panel. "There's nothing I can do. I've tried everything I can." I shook my head, not wanting to say what I had to say. "This satellite is going to crash into Palm with us on it. I'm so sorry, everyone."

Shir walked slowly toward me with a strange look in her eyes.

"What are you doing, Shir?"

"If we're all going to die here, then I've got nothing to lose."

Shir lunged forward, pressed her body up against mine and kissed me, aggressively, urgently, almost desperately. She tasted of cigarettes and Amy was staring at the two of us with tears in her eyes and Anna was still struggling with the satellite controls and was Shir wearing a tongue stud? Why didn't I notice that before? and Palm was getting closer and the alarms were getting louder and there was a sudden rush of heat and