Fractal

by Rachel J Mannino

  They held still for a while as a small rattling noise reached their ears.

  “What is that? Is that the air shaft?” Anna took a couple of steps to stand below the metal grate in the center of the room.

  “Yeah, it’s loose. Which will drive us crazy for the rest of the time we’re here.”

  Anna’s eyes narrowed as she surveyed the grate. “How large do you think that air shaft might be?”

  “I have no idea. Why? You want to use it to escape?” Hannah came up beside her

  “Perhaps, but first we have to find out if they’re watching or listening to us in the cell. Then we can make some plans…”

  Chapter Eleven

  Over the next few days, Councilor Illeel came and went. He would come and sit with Anna for a few hours each day, and then he would leave to collect more statements or write his notes for the day.

  As they talked through the case, Anna sprinkled in innocent questions about the ship, the race of police guards known as the Mara, and the layout of the prisoner deck. She asked only enough to sound vaguely curious and not to arouse his suspicions. He even offered to give her a tour of the ship.

  Anna had learned a great deal about the ship, in fact. She expressed some concern to the councilor that the Mara might be watching her bathe or dress. He soothed away her anxiety, explaining that the Mara wanted to install cameras several years ago, but the larger Star Alliance courts struck down their suggestion as a violation of prisoner privacy, since a low brick wall separated their bathing and bathroom area from the rest of the cell. The fact that prisoner cells were not monitored by camera or recording devices gave her a great deal of relief.

  The hallways, however, were monitored, and all of the cameras were linked to a single control room on the prisoner deck of the ship. Councilor Illeel even let it slip that the ammunitions room was right next door.

  Anna didn’t expect to find that her ship was being held to the Star Alliance vessel through something called a collar, a retractable gangway tunnel. The collar was accessible three levels above her. Anna almost felt guilty for deceiving Councilor Illeel, his kindness and warmth toward her making every question more difficult to ask.

  What Anna hadn’t yet figured out was where everyone was being held. She knew from her brief tour that everyone from her ship was on this level, and there were seven cells holding her and her crew. Varick and Councilman Meroca were together. Most of the Guards, some of the higher-level officers, and Brendan were in another cell. Some of the larger holding cells held the rest of the ships’ crew and Decana. She feared getting lost, and the size too enormous for a quick escape.

  Hannah and Anna took time each night to practice hoisting one another other up to the broken air vent. They pried it off, and found they could crawl around inside the wide, expansive duct. Yet, she would gladly choose acquittal over a dangerous, foolhardy, and desperate escape plan.

  Early on the morning of the trial, Councilor Illeel showed up at her cell door. He held a blue garment draped over his arm. In his other hand, he held a plate full of food.

  Anna brushed her tousled hair from her face as she sat up in her cot.

  “Good morning.” He set her breakfast in front of her. “I have a gift for you.”

  He flashed her a charming smile, and then he held the garment out to her. It glowed and sparkled in the light. The neckline dipped into a low V, and in the center a strip of gold embroidered ribbon ran from the neckline down to the hem of the gown. The sleeves were three quarter length, made of gossamer, see-through gold

  “It’s lovely, but I cannot accept such a gift.” She fingered the slippery fabric of the sleeve.

  “Nonsense. The color blue suggests truthfulness and innocence to the mind, and it matches your eyes. No man in his right mind will convict.”

  She flushed at his praise as he beamed down at her.

  “Now, please, eat. I want to go over your testimony one more time prior to the trial.” Councilor Illeel gestured to her breakfast.

  Anna shoveled down her food. She went over her testimony with the councilor from beginning to end. She covered the collapse of the Dahrel system twenty-five years earlier, her parents fleeing to Earth, the death of her parents, and then the sudden appearance of the Dahrelian ship in her hometown. Councilor Illeel planned to call on Varick, Captain Fayn, and the other control-room crew to fill in the rest of the story.

  “Wonderful, you will do very well today.” Councilor Illeel gripped her shoulder.

  “Thank you. Perhaps I should shower and change now.” She picked up the gown

  “Yes, certainly. I will step down the hall to review the rest of the testimony, and then I will return for you.” The councilor pressed his hand to her, letting the caress linger for a moment or two before he broke away and moved to the cell door to wave down a guard.

  Anna showered with lightning speed. She put on the new dress. It was soft and cool against her skin. After three days of wearing her old gown, new clothes revived her sense of well-being. Anna had no mirror, so she asked Hannah for her opinion.

  Hannah shrugged. “I don’t think it suggests truthfulness to me, but as long as it does to Commander Vok, that’s fine.”

  “I couldn’t agree more. Are you ready in case it doesn’t?” She toyed with her mother’s necklace.

  “I’ll be ready with proverbial bells on.”

  “Good. Now, you have to promise me something.” She knelt down beside Hannah. Hannah cast her a wary look, but Anna continued. “If they…if they do convict us, and they take me away right then and there, you have to promise me you’ll go forward with our plan.”

  “Of course I would.” Hannah’s brow furrowed

  “And you won’t try to come and find me.”

  “I will absolutely not promise that.” Hannah rose from the cot with a grunt of dissatisfaction

  Anna lowered her voice and pursued her across the room. “Hannah, please. Please, you must promise me this. I may be dead by the time you even find me. You won’t have much time to get everyone out of here.”

  “No. I will not promise that at all. You know what? If you ask me that again, I’m going to crawl up in that vent, find Varick, and tell him what you just said to me. I know there’s a lot between you two right now, but I’d be willing to bet this entire ship that he’d be over here in seconds to tell you in no uncertain terms that no one will agree to that request.”

  Anna was about to pursue a new line of attack when the cell door opened, and Councilor Illeel strolled in. He flashed her a warm smile. “Are we ready, Your Majesty?” He held out his arm to her

  Anna cast a glance at Hannah, who crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows. Defeated for the moment, she squared her shoulders and faced the councilor. “Yes, I’m ready,” she replied.

  She hesitated before she took his arm. As they came up to the cell door, one of the guards came forward.

  “I’ll escort her.” The Councilor waved him off

  “She’s a prisoner.” The guard raised his shock stick

  “She’s not the typical prisoner we see here. She is a queen, and she should be treated that way. I will escort her.” The Councilor moved past him out into the hall

  The guard let out a low growl. “She will at least be cuffed,” the guard said

  “She doesn’t need them.” Councilor Illeel waved him off

  “She goes to trial with cuffs, or she doesn’t go to trial at all.” The guard rattled the cuffs and took a step forward

  “It’s fine.” Anna held out her hands to the guard

  “I apologize, Your Majesty. The Mara were not hired to be our guards for their knack at diplomacy.” Councilor Illeel glared at the two guards

  “I understand. They’re just doing their job.” She held still as the guard snapped the cuffs in place.

  Councilor Illeel offered her his arm again. Anna took it with her shackled hands, wrapping them around his forearm. The other guard shackled Hannah’s hands next, and the council
or escorted her down the hall.

  There was no one in the hall, but the guards barked out orders in each cell, shackled her people, and prepared them to walk out. Councilor Illeel chatted at her, but she wasn’t paying attention.

  She memorized who was in each cell as they passed. Varick’s guards and her brother filled the cell next to hers. At the end of the hall, in front of her, a holding cell was bursting with most of the ship’s crew. The people in them looked up as she passed. Some of them smiled.

  Councilor Illeel turned right in front of the large holding cell, heading away from the other prisoner cells on the floor. From there, he entered the large metallic doors of the courtroom

  The room was empty. Her heart thrummed in her chest. Thoughts of Hannah and Brendan and how scared they must be wracked her with guilt and anxiety. And then there was Varick. She needed to talk to him so badly her throat burned with it. He would know what to say. She missed his confidence, his warm embrace. Councilor Illeel roused her by covering her hand with his.

  “Take a deep breath,” Councilor Illeel urged her. “All will be well.”

  “Thank you. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I got so nervous.” They climbed the suspended walkway out to the stone desk

  “It’s to be expected, but we have prepared very well. The law is on our side, and I think Commander Vok will see that.” The councilor slid his hands down her arm

  Anna nodded. Her stomach flipped over and over again. She whirled around as the doors to the courtroom opened. The guards brought in members of her crew and guard. Hannah came in not too long after. The process took an excruciatingly long time, as they stopped bringing in prisoners so the Mara could push their way through the doors and find their own seats.

  About two thirds of the way into the process, they brought Brendan in. Seeing him in handcuffs, her eyes glassed over with tears. She had brought him along to discover their heritage, and now they faced the trial of their lives. He looked unharmed, and that brought her a measure of relief.

  Her breath caught as Varick appeared beside Brendan. He stared at her, his expression unreadable. He did not look well; his face had thinned, and large, dark bags hung beneath his eyes, a stark contrast against his pale skin. Varick leaned over and spoke to Brendan. Brendan replied, and then he peered up at her and bestowed her with a smile. The tension sitting at the base of her neck eased, and she thanked Varick with her eyes. He nodded, his face a mask of stone.

  The doors to the courtroom slammed shut, and Councilor Illeel coaxed her to face the commander as he strode in from his own private entrance. He sat down at the stone desk in front of her. Councilor Illeel tapped his chest with an open palm and performed a deep bow.

  “Sit,” the commander told them

  Councilor Illeel and Anna took their seats. The Councilor launched into his pre-trial speech, telling the commander what he understood about the heart of the issue.

  Then he laid out the facts: the ship was on a rescue mission, following an emergency beacon leading them to the heir to their throne, the leadership of the ship was divided between the Captain and the Protector; the urgency of retrieving their chosen ruler from a foreign planet dictated that they couldn’t wait for the results of the log check; and the Vadana was not even on the ship and could not give proper guidance to her people even if she had been.

  Impassioned, Councilor Illeel cited the applicable case law and how they demonstrated they should all be acquitted and returned to their ship. Anna sat speechless, watching the man beside her as he wove his story. Never once did the councilor even look at her; he spoke solely to the commander.

  Next, the councilor asked permission to have her speak. the commander gave consent, and all eyes in the room focused on her. More than anything, Anna drew strength from the presence of the people behind her.

  She stood up straight, and launched into the testimony Councilor Illeel helped her put together. Commander Vok didn’t move except to drink water from a nearby glass. His face remained expressionless, like the steel walls of the courtroom.

  When she finished, Anna sank into her chair. Councilor Illeel called Captain Fayn to come forward. When Captain Fayn finished he called on Varick. She stiffened, as Varick approached her chair. He stood right behind her. She wanted to turn around, to look up at him, but Councilor Illeel had told her during their preparation sessions to keep her eyes on Commander Vok. When Varick spoke, a tiny shiver ran down her spine. She had not heard his voice in days, and she missed him terribly

  Councilor Illeel called two more members of the crew, before he summarized his case. Afterward, Commander Vok sat in silence. He tapped his finger on the water glass beside him, and Anna’s vision wavered. Her palms sweat and she trembled, but she forced herself to meet Commander Vok’s level gaze. It may have only been minutes as Commander Vok considered the case, but for her they dragged by like hours.

  “You will rise,” Commander Vok said to her

  Councilor Illeel stood with her, and Anna took a deep breath.

  “I understand that the vessel was on a rescue mission, yet they would have had enough time to check the federation and alliance logs prior to landing. They are found guilty,” Commander Vok said

  Shock hit her like buckets of ice water

  “But they were trying to rescue their queen.” Councilor Illeel protested

  “She was away from her people for twenty-five years. A few minutes more would not have harmed her,” the commander said.

  “They had no way of knowing what her circumstances were. She could have been dying. Her parents did die unexpectedly. All they knew was that their queen was on a foreign planet, and the emergency beacon was active.” Councilor Illeel gestured to the crew behind him

  Commander Vok leaned forward in his chair, his eyes flashing with lightning. “My verdict stands—they are guilty.”

  Councilor Illeel flushed, his jaw tightening. His hands knotted into fists. “Then, please, at least spare her life. She wasn’t even on the ship when they decided to land.”

  “No. She is still the leader of her people. Guilt or fault in the crime has never had a bearing on the decision to execute,” Commander Vok told him.

  Councilor Illeel raised his hands in supplication. “But—”

  “Silence. I have had enough. My verdict is final. Take these prisoners to their cells. Give the female her last meal and bring her to me at dawn,” Commander Vok bellowed.

  Commander Vok rose and strode from the platform without so much as a backward glance. The Mara erupted into laughter. Some even applauded. Anna stood in the midst of all the chaos. She fought to get ahold of her emotions. She had failed. Now her people, Varick, Brendan, Hannah—everyone she cared about was in grave danger.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I don’t…I don’t know what happened, but I will find out.” Councilor Illeel grabbed her hands and squeezed, but everything went numb.

  She was terrified to face her people, yet, she had to do it. She had to show them not to be afraid. Her guard grabbed her arm from behind and dragged her off the walkway.

  The crew and the Guards of the Realm exploded in anger. They yelled and screamed at the guard with all of their pent up rage and indignation. Varick and several others surged forward, ready to aid her. A moment later, they dropped to their knees, their handcuffs activated

  Horrified, Anna held up her hands to them. “Do not be afraid. There is still reason to hope.”

  Her cryptic remark silenced them all. Some of them stooped to help up the people who had fallen. The guard swept her past everyone. She didn’t fight him as he dragged her out the door and down the hall. Instead, she half jogged to keep up with his ground-eating stride.

  The guard shoved her into her cell, and she stumbled forward, almost falling to the ground before she caught her balance

  The guard made a low hissing noise. “Have a good night, Your Majesty.” He laughed and slammed the door.

  Anna bit her tongue to keep from replying, rememberin
g that he would not be laughing tomorrow morning when he came to her cell only to find her gone. Another guard shoved Hannah into the cell.

  “Oh, God, I’m so sorry.” Hannah drew her into a hug.

  “I can hardly believe it.” Anna dug her fingers into Hannah’s shoulders. “I was so hopeful that Councilor Illeel would be right. He’s never lost a case.”

  Hannah squeezed her harder. “At least we didn’t count on an innocent verdict.”

  “We’ll go up into the vent when the night watch begins.”

  Hannah stepped away and nodded. Councilor Illeel appeared at their cell door. He motioned for the guard to let him in, and once he entered, he hurried forward to take Anna’s hands

  “I’m sorry, Your Majesty,” he said. “I failed you.”

  She shook her head. “You did the best you could. I don’t blame you.”

  He ran his long fingers over her palms. “I will appeal the commander’s decision at the main court on Star Alliance base Tesoc. I will leave right now.” His eyes warmed as he gazed at her.

  “Will that put off the execution?” She held her breath

  A grimace pulled the councilor’s lips thin. He peered deep into her eyes. “No, Your Majesty. It will take me at least a day to get to Tesoc. Gaining an audience with the commandant will be difficult, but I have a few people who owe me a favor.” The councilor squeezed her hands. “Do what you must to save yourself, but do not destroy the ship or kill the commander,” he whispered

  Her eyes widened as they rose up to meet his. She tried to snatch her hands away, but he held them tightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  The Councilor smiled at her, amusement turning up the corners of his eyes. He brought her fingers to his lips and brushed a kiss over them. “I am not as inattentive as you assume nor are you half as subtle as you would like.”

  Anna blushed, her heart skipping a beat. Fear seized her chest, making it painful to breathe, but Councilor Illeel stroked her palms with steady fingers. His eyes floated down to their attached hands for a moment, and roamed over her torso until they met her own. He had a look of naked longing in his eyes that made her breath catch.