Mimic and the Space Engineer Boxed Set, Books 1 - 3

by James David Victor

  Fascinating. It must have been some sort of shield-resistant material. I was sure that could be of some use.

  “Gonzales—” I started as soon as the guard was gone and the door slid shut behind him.

  “They come and collect the trays in an hour,” she said without me even asking my question. “So, if you want to eat, you better do it now. And if you try to break that tray, they will cuff you until they find every piece. Even if they have to do a full body cavity check.”

  I didn’t want to ask her how she knew that, and I certainly wasn’t going to question her expertise, so I shut my mouth and nodded. So, I couldn’t collect any pieces now, but I could hold onto the information for later.

  “Ciangi, when you’re done, make sure you push your tray out of the shield as soon as possible.”

  “Again, why do you keep telling me these strange things?”

  “Just trust me, okay?”

  “…alright.”

  The conversation died at that and soon we were stuffing our faces. I was much hungrier than I should have been, which made me wonder exactly how much time had passed while we were unconscious. Part of me felt like it couldn’t be long, but another part of me knew that it must have been enough for them to drag us to the infirmary, identify us, strip us of all our belongings, and then transport us to wherever we were.

  Unless there wasn’t any transporting at all. I supposed it was possible that we were below the hangar somewhere, locked in some super-duper, high-level clearance prison.

  If only I had been more careful! I had been relying on luck for far too long and clearly, it had finally run out. Now, no one would be saved and the Earth was possibly about to throw itself into its first major war in ages. All because of me.

  My sour thoughts continued and I found myself caught in a wheel of self-pity until the door opened again. True to Gonzales’s word, a guard came to collect the trays. I quickly slid mine across the floor, where it crossed through the shield with no problem, while Gonzales and Ciangi had both already left theirs in the hall.

  The guard collected them without a word and then disappeared again, leaving us to plan and rest. It was in silence that my first full day in captivity passed.

  8

  BULLY

  I HATED TO ADMIT IT, but days began to pass into a clear routine. I would wake up and the four of us would discuss any thoughts that came to us until we fell asleep several hours later. Well, Ciangi, Bahn, and I would chat. Gonzales would listen idly, but didn’t contribute. I knew that her month here no doubt wore at her, and that she had probably been through at least a dozen or so plans herself, but I couldn’t just give up.

  We were her cavalry, after all. Even if how we ended up trapped with her was accidental.

  It wasn’t until what I guessed was the third day when something happened to knock me out of the ritual I wasn’t aware that I had settled into. Gonzales was right, the longer we were here, the more the days and details started to blend together into an endless rush.

  The door slid open and loud footsteps sounded. I looked to the entrance to see a guard I didn’t recognize enter with a handful of what I guessed were the sani-packs that Gonzales had mentioned. He was a touch shorter than me, but one of those incredibly jacked individuals that obviously was trying to make up for his lack of vertical growth with horizontal gains. His face was your standard, tough guy fair, and his thick, blond beard was meticulously trimmed. I didn’t like him from the moment I saw him, but I figured our interactions would be too small to matter.

  I could not be more wrong.

  “What’s this?” he said, deep voice booming throughout the space. I instantly thought of all the bullies who had mocked me on the colony. They all had a certain way of carrying themselves and speaking. Like they were constantly performing and trying to impress someone I couldn’t see. “We’ve got a whole crowd in here. No one told me you were having a party!”

  None of us said anything, we were far too alert for that. Maybe it was a terror that all of us nerds shared, or just the vibes he was putting off.

  He continued his approach, but didn’t stop walking until he was past us and to a command console on the far side of the hall. He pressed a series of buttons, and a small square opened in the center of our shields. Barely enough for a hand to fit through, but enough for him to toss through a couple of the packs.

  When we all had them, I thought that would be it, but he paused at Gonzales’s cell, turning the items over in his hand.

  “What’s this, big mouth? No taunts?”

  I watched, the hairs rising at the back of my neck. Everything was telling me that his tone was dangerous.

  Gonzales didn’t say anything, but that only seemed to interest the guard even more. “You’re not ignoring me in there, are you, big mouth? You know how I hate that.”

  I crossed to the edge of my cell, my stomach twisting. The tension was cranking up steadily by the minute, and my eyes locked onto Gonzales. She was sitting against the back wall of her room, a blank look on her face.

  “No, sir,” she said finally, her gaze completely avoiding me.

  “That’s better. I have your sani-packs here.” He held them up and shook them. “Now what do you say?”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

  “Thank you, sir!”

  “Much better.” He laughed and tossed them in. I heaved a sigh of relief, glad the situation was over as the guard walked off.

  Except he didn’t leave. Instead, he walked right back to the console at the end of the hall and dropped her shielding entirely.

  Gonzales was on her feet in an instant, and for the first time since we had arrived, I saw her without a double shield of demi-transparent light between us. Suddenly, I could make out dozens of bruises along her arms and neck, some faded and some fresh. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to vomit or throw myself against the shield, but I very abruptly knew exactly what all of Gonzales’s warnings meant.

  The guard sauntered back, a superior, obnoxious grin on his face. My skin crawled at the sheer smugness rolling off him in waves. He stood at the opening of her cell, hands on his hips and his back to me.

  “Well, aren’t you going to wash up, inmate?”

  “Waiting until I go to sleep later. Nothing like hitting the hay all refreshed.”

  “And have one of you eggheads use the wrapper to somehow fabricate some amazing escape? I don’t think so. Go ahead now, so I can collect your trash.”

  “You’re not collecting anyone else’s trash,” she murmured, almost so low that I couldn’t hear it.

  “Are you back talking me, prisoner?”

  “…no.”

  I knew it was important to stay quiet, to not make any waves. And I also knew that I could do nothing from my cell. But I couldn’t just sit silently and watch the uncomfortable exchange.

  “Hey, it takes a very little man to torment someone who can’t even fight back,” I cried, affixing my best glare at his back.

  He turned to me almost in slow motion, the air crackling around him. But my stomach didn’t drop and I didn’t feel fear. If anything, I just grew angrier.

  “Relax, Higgens, I got this.”

  He spun back to the woman so fast, I didn’t know how he avoided whiplash. “Oh, you got me, huh? Like I’m just another dumb guard you can wrap around your finger,” he countered, voice low and threatening.

  “That’s not what I meant,” she replied. “I was just saying—”

  His arm lashed out almost too quickly for me to even see, and the next thing I knew, Gonzales stumbled back, her cheek a vibrant and irritated red.

  That set me off, and I slammed into the barrier, as if I could break it down by sheer force of will. “Leave her alone!” I screamed, orders to stop coming from Bahn and Ciangi as well.

  “Look, I’m sorry.” Gonzales tried to speak over us. “I’ll clean up. We’re cool, okay?”

  “Cool? Yeah, we’re cool. So
very cool.” On his last word, he struck out again and Gonzales’s head bounced off the solid wall of her cell.

  I was practically losing my mind. I was so close to her, just a few feet away, but I was powerless. Every time I slammed into the shield, it just threw me backward, the sleeve of my shirt smoking slightly.

  “What, you have to pick on women who are smaller than you?” I cried, stopping my mad assault on the barrier to bang my fist against the energy field. If only I could catch his attention, maybe I could give Gonzales enough of a break to run. “Did your mother kick you as a baby or something?! Daddy not love you?”

  Instead of turning to me, or even looking in my direction, he just gripped Gonzales by her hair and twisted her head so that she was facing him. “You hear those rude things they’re saying? Your friends aren’t very nice.” I could only hear Gonzales groan tightly as he squeezed her head. “Almost makes me think you told them all sorts of nasty things about me. We both know how much you like to blabber.”

  I wouldn’t blame the weapons engineer if she capitulated to him, if she whined and wheezed and said whatever he wanted her to. In fact, I almost wished she would, so that he would grow bored with her and leave her alone. But of course, the woman was far too proud for that.

  “Can you blame me for word getting around?” she countered, her words muffled from all the pressure his hand was exerting onto her face. “Just like your stench, your reputation proceeds you.”

  “There’s my girl,” he said before letting go of her face. For the smallest of moments, I thought that maybe it was over, and he would let her be. He took a single step away and my eyes locked with him. I hoped he could feel all the rage and hatred I felt for him, but instead of looking intimidated in any way, he just smirked.

  I opened my mouth to spit an insult when he suddenly whirled, and his fist connected with Gonzales’s middle. She retched, tumbling to her knees, and I slammed into the barrier again, shouting nonsensible threats.

  I didn’t stop, or calm down, even as the man walked back to the console at the end of the hall. He pressed something and Gonzales’s shield-wall popped back into being, but it seemed the man wasn’t done yet.

  He did something else and several small openings appeared in the ceiling above my head, each barely big enough to stick a finger in. I looked up, my curiosity interrupting my rage for just a moment, and barely had time to close my eyes before a vicious stream of water shot out of the little circle.

  It was painfully cold, and the spray bit at my skin like thousands of burrowing bugs. Just when I tried to move out of the way, more openings appeared in the walls and shot water crossways.

  “How do you like our riot control?” the guard asked. I could tell by Ciangi and Bahn’s cries that he was giving them the same treatment. But thankfully, he seemed to be giving Gonzales a slight modicum of mercy. “It’s supposed to be the top of the line, but we haven’t really had anyone to test it on. Maybe if you all were a bit politer, I wouldn’t have a reason to use it.”

  I tried to say something, but my jaws were chattering from the sheer temperature drop. I was going numb very quickly, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Gonzales had been subjected to this in the many days she had spent alone.

  “You know what, I haven’t had a chance to test out this button yet. Let’s see what that does, shall we?”

  I knew the moment he pressed it because the floor pulsed, and then the next thing I knew, I was flat on my back and seizing violently.

  It felt like every muscle in my body had been drawn as tight as possible and my teeth were clenching so hard that I might burst. It took several seconds for my brain to catch up and realize that there were electrical impulses going through the floor every ten seconds or so.

  “Whoops, probably shouldn’t have used that one with the water, but live and learn.” I couldn’t say how long the man let it go on, but my whole mind and body started to shut down from the torture. I wondered if maybe the psychopath of a guard was going to let us die like this, when I heard a small voice from Gonzales’s cell.

  “I finished washing up,” she murmured. “Thank you for taking care of me, Lazer.”

  Suddenly the electricity stopped, and I gasped, my lungs able to expand to capacity for the first time in minutes.

  It took quite a bit of willpower to roll over and look to Gonzales’s cell. She was standing toward the edge, looking battered but more determined than ever. She was pressing the empty packets to the shield and waiting patiently.

  Sure enough, the guard—Lazer, apparently—crossed over to her. He looked from her face, to the packets, to her face again before smiling. “Good girl.”

  With that, he punched a code in on the panel next to the shield, which caused a small opening to appear, just big enough for her to slide her trash through. She did so silently, and then he assuredly walked toward the exit.

  Silence reigned over us for several moments. I laid on the floor, gasping, heaving, and trying to get my breathing back to normal. My eyes locked with Gonzales across the hall, who was standing just at her shield, trembling.

  “Are…are you alright?” I managed to rasp between split lips.

  She nodded, and I could see her trying to arrange her face into some sort of acceptable emotion. “I’m fine,” she answered after a few moments. “Or I will be. Are you guys okay?”

  “Forget about us,” Ciangi said from her cell. “What about you? Who was that man? And why does he want to hurt you so bad?”

  Gonzales shrugged, pacing to the back of her cell. “That’s Lazer, as I’m sure you put together. You know how it is. When I first came here, I fought as hard as I could to get out. And when I couldn’t get out, I settled on tormenting everyone I could. I have a knack for getting under people’s skin, as you know, and a big, strong man with a power complex was the easiest target out of all of them.” She paused for a moment and sighed. “Unfortunately, he decided not to be the bigger man. The risk you run with a silver tongue, I guess.”

  “Gonzales…” I didn’t know what to say. The thought that she had been beaten in this prison for days on end while I had been complaining about living in the lap of luxury made me sick. “This isn’t right.”

  She shrugged. “I’ve been in worse situations, believe it or not. He’s not the first man I’ve met who likes to beat on smaller women, and he won’t be the last. I’m a big girl, and I’ll get through this like I get through everything else.”

  “Smaller women…” I could almost hear Ciangi’s thoughts as she spoke. “Is that why you told me to stay toward the back of my cell?”

  “Yeah And you did a terrible job of that, FYI.”

  “You were being beaten! What did you expect me to do?”

  “I dunno, listen to your survival instinct and not draw attention to yourself?”

  I could sense that the tension and trauma was whipping up an unnecessary fight between us. “Gonzales, you know that we can’t stand by and let you get hurt any more than you could stand and watch us get hurt.”

  “Ugh. We’re all too noble for our own goods.” I sensed that this might have been a moment where we once would have all laughed, but the most I could manage was a half-sigh. But Gonzales kept going, resorting to her tried and true defense of dry humor. “Hey, at least we all are gonna get a nice wash from these sani-packs, right?”

  “Actually,” I said, holding up the drenched packets that were now a mix of deep brown and black after being electrocuted. “Not so much.”

  “Oh…” She sounded a bit guilty, but Bahn could only sputter in amusement before breaking out into a full on manic laugh. I was tempted to join him, but I couldn’t quite bring up the energy, so I only managed a desperate giggle. It wasn’t long before we all joined in, sharing a sad, desperate moment together.

  When it finally faded, I drew in another breath. “I’m going to get us out of here, you know. All of us.”

  Gonzales’s tone grew melancholy as she replied, “If you say so.”

  9<
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  THE DREGS OF MONOTONY

  DAYS PASSED. Or at least I thought they were days. It was hard to tell with no window, no sun, and no clocks. Our only way to tell the time was by the guards who brought us food or sani-packs, but I doubted they followed a specific schedule.

  Lazer didn’t show up every day, or even every other day, but he haunted us at the edges of our minds, not allowing us to ever grow complacent.

  He mostly liked to focus on Gonzales. It seemed nothing she did could ever placate him. If she was silent, he would accuse her of ignoring him. If she talked, he would find a way to twist her words into some sort of insult. We would yell, insult, and throw ourselves at the shields holding us back to no avail. None of us could distract him from torturing her.

  He never did enough to kill her, or even permanently harm her. But he did hurt her. Whether it was smacking, punching or kicking, he was ruthless. His favorite thing to do seemed to be to pull her this way and that by her hair, and every time his fingers wound in her dark tresses, I felt like I might be capable of murder.

  Of course, the weapons engineer tried to pass it off, but I could tell that it was wearing at her. I didn’t know why she felt the need to be so strong all the time, but I sensed she had her own reasons. I didn’t push her, but I wished she trusted me enough to let her guard down. It wasn’t healthy to constantly try to stay so in control all the time.

  Granted, the instances that she slipped into silence allowed me to plot. Not that my plotting got me anywhere considering we were locked up tighter than Alcatraz, but it made me feel somewhat accomplished.

  And when my brain finally grew tired from all the plotting and planning, I wondered if anyone would notice our disappearance, or if the treacherous generals already had a cover story. It wasn’t like I had anyone who would miss me, or notify the police. All the people in the world I talked to were gathered around me.