Hardwired

chapter five.

I was shuffled across the enclosed catwalk slowly, as if they assumed I would jump off of it to spare my imprisonment but I knew it would be pointless. For how much trouble the commander had gone through to arrest me, I assumed he'd collect my drifting body from space.

As we entered the ship, I was dumbstruck.

Never in the entirety of my life had I ever seen such a sophisticated, well-maintained ship.

"Is that..." I trailed off as I stared dumbly at the state-of-the-art weapons system mounted on the wall. Unlike mine- which was just holsters rigged to stay up on an interior mount- this ship came equipped with a full weapons panel and it wasn't just blasters. The system held hand to hand combat weapons, other types of blasters for species that were non-humanoid, as well as restraints and stun devices.

I lost sight of the system I was preening over as the enforcer led me through a threshold. The hall had several rooms with clear doors to reveal barren rooms only equipped with a bench, a toilet and a sink.

The enforcer blocked my line of vision as he put in an alphanumeric sequence on the control panel and the pressing his palm against the sensor pad. The door hissed lightly before sliding open in one fluid motion. Pushing me into the cell, the enforcer spoke, "Commander N'Vorti wants you to take off that suit. I'll give you five minutes to do it before I come back for it."

I stumbled and caught myself against a bench, glaring over my shoulder at the enforcer who still had his face shield fully activated. It made me wonder what he was hiding. "What about clothes?" I asked. The ship was cold and they couldn't expect me to just sit around in my under things while I waited for them to drop me off at the work camp.

The Enforcer just ignored me and walked out of the door without a word. The door hissed closed and once it settled into place a quiet hum emanating from the clear glass.

With a loud sigh, I pulled the helmet free before tossing it onto the bench. I didn't hesitate as I unzipped my suit and pushed it down until it pooled at my feet. Stepping out of the puddle of fabric, I was left standing in a skintight pair of white shorts and a simple tank with my breast restrictor underneath. I didn't bother picking up the suit as I took a quick check of myself.

My body still ached and throbbed from the abuse and more now that the adrenaline was making its way out of my system. Looking down at myself, I saw that my chest had dried blood streaked across it. No doubt from where it leaked into my suit from the helmet. My whole left side was covered in a dark blue and purple bruise, the most prominent stretching across the expanse of my ribcage. Gently, I ran my fingers across my ribs and wincing as I palpitated them. Counting to making sure none of them was displaced.

I jumped when the door hiss opened without warning and the mysterious enforcer stepping inside, his hand resting on the blaster strapped to his hip acting like I would attack at any moment. He didn't say anything to me as he bent down to snatch up the suit.

"Can I get something to wear?" I asked again, trying not to sound as annoyed as I felt.

Once again, he ignored me as he snagged the helmet off the bench before turning away from me and retreating as quickly as he had entered the cell

I suppressed a growl as I glared after him. If looks could kill I would have eviscerated him. After a moment I let go of my anger and circled the cell a few times, taking in everything even though there wasn't much to look at before deciding to see what I could catch a glimpse of from her door. Shuffling towards the door, I touched it tentatively and received a small electrical snap. "Oh," I gasped in interest as I inspected the door carefully. It was electrified as a second defense, so that way if someone was smart enough to somehow know how to disarm the lock, they still wouldn't be able to touch the door to open it. Or they could but the prolonged exposure to electricity would most likely leave them incapacitated.

Even though I was under arrest and would no doubt spend the rest of my life in a work camp, I couldn't help but be amazed by the technology I saw. Everything was so new, shiny and clean. Something I'd never gotten the privilege of experiencing and my mechanics heart wouldn't let me overlook such craftsmanship.

I wasn't sure how long I inspected my cell but by the time Commander N'Vorti made his appearance I was exhausted and my body ached fiercely. The only thing keeping me from curling up on the bench and sleeping was the fact that I was freezing and in too much pain. I stepped back from the door and crossed my arms over my chest as I pinned the Commander with a glare.

He didn't open the door as I expected him to, instead he spoke to me through it, "Where did you get the suit, psenasu?"

Staring at him, I took in his appearance and put it to memory for when I either escaped the work camp or was released. I would hunt him down and punch him in the mouth for the dirty slur many Pharsiian used towards humans to call them ignorant and weak.

While he still had his flight suit on, his helmet had been taken off to clearly reveal his sharp features and red skin. What I hadn't seen before was his hair; and I couldn't help but marveled at the ebony length. The thick, black rope was braided tightly and hung down his back to his waist. Most his species wore their hair long but his was exceptionally long even by their standards. Fashion magazines from Pharsouk always showed the men with their hair anywhere from their shoulders to their upper backs.

I wondered what it would feel like if I ran my fingers through it. "Nope." I denied to myself, shutting down that train of thought as I glared at the Commander reminding myself that he was the enemy. "Go fuck yourself," I snarled.

Commander N'Vorti growled at my disobedience, "Tell me where you got the suit, Nova Sorken."

My blood ran cold at the sound of my name and my mouth fell open as I gaped at him in disbelief. "H-how do you know my name?" I sputtered stupidly but it was the only logical reaction my brain could manage.

I knew I didn't have a birth record. I hadn't ever attended a school or gone to a hospital and I had never been arrested before. None of the records on the ship had my name and everything was done under the ships label or my father's name. There should have been nothing with my name on it.

It was then that Commander N'Vorti grinned arrogantly which would have irritated me more if not for the fact that I was still dumbstruck. "The registration of The Culprit still had Andors Sorken as the registered pilot. In the record for the ship was an arrest made a dozen rotations ago- when he was caught in Veron with several of his crew- one of them admitted that the captain had a female offspring who was born off planet that lived on the ship. Her name? Nova Sorken. It was not hard to determine that you must have taken over your father's pilots chair when we arrested him the last time... When his ship left port after we took custody of it."

As the shock wore off I clenched my hands into fists and glared at the commander even harder. "You think you know everything, don't you, you filthy government dog? Well, you'll never get the information out of me about the suit, ever, and there is no trail you can backtrack to find the information."

"Fine," Commander N'Vorti snapped angrily, golden eyes staring me down. "We'll be taking off for Pharsouk soon and then, you will be handed over to the custody of magistrates to wait your work placement."

The commander turned and walked away without another word. I watched as he left, taking note that if he wasn't a Pharsiian Commander that his butt would have looked great in that flight suit but his shitty personality put a damper on that.

"What the fuck is wrong with me?" I murmured to myself as I shook my head. The only excuse was that I had to be concussed. There was no other reason for me to be checking out Commander N'Vorti's ass.