Heart of Gold

Chapter Twelve - Communication

Sunny kept a close eye on the Miotalan guarding her. She had calmed down from her previous shocked state, and reasoning and meaning was beginning to return to her.

She did not like this cell. She did not like the fact that the bars meant that she could be observed at all times. She did not like the hostile looks the Miotalan was constantly throwing her way. He sat in a small room she had not immediately noticed upon her introduction to her cell, a room that had evidently been designed to allow a guard to watch prisoners at all time.

The only redeeming fact was that she was clothed. But clothes would not help her should her need for the toilet grow any greater. She sat on the narrow bench with its thinly padded mattress. she could feel her weight sink straight through the padding to sit firmly against the metal beneath.

What was she going to do now? She didn't know if Kilnor was alive, or if he had succumbed to his injuries. She didn't know where in the Universe she was. She didn't know why she was locked in a cell, and she didn't know what to do to get herself out.

She knew that she had been found by more of Kilnor's kind, but she didn't know if they were friends of Kilnor's or not. They clearly knew who he was, had evidently been tracking him and wanted to save his life. But did he know them on a personal level?

Sunny sighed. Her cheeks felt stiff with salt from her crying jag earlier. She had no more tears left to cry. She squeezed her knees together, trying to push past the urge she was feeling to go to the toilet. Another look at the guard told her he was still watching her.

There was no helping it. She would have to expose herself to his view and go to the toilet, or risk sitting here in a puddle of urine, an outcome which was far from desirable. She moved to the toilet slowly. The guard watched her progress, her evident destination causing a lecherous grin to rise on his face, and Sunny felt her face flush with heat from embarrassment and anger combined.

She sat down over the toilet, only sliding down the pant and underwear as little as she could help it. She hunched over, shoulders curing in on herself, arms pressed against her abdomen, hoping to obscure anything from view.

The guard's grin only grew, and Sunny sensed he was drawing an inordinate amount of malicious glee from her humiliation, and she closed her eyes, not wanting to see his face. She finished as quickly as possible, restoring her clothes to their rightful position. She rushed back to the bench, and lay down on it, facing the wall, keeping her back to the guard.

The position made her feel vulnerable, knowing that there was a hostile entity at her back, but she reasoned that she would feel the bars opening should he decide to approach her. She wrapped her arms around herself, closing her eyes tight and trying to will herself into believing that it was Kilnor's strong arms that were embracing her.

With that thought in mind, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

She jerked awake not long later, staring around at her surroundings, trying to determine where she was. It hit her in a flash - her and Kilnor walking to the space port before being chased by the Olcens. Kilnor falling, a knife buried in his chest.

The sound of footsteps reminded Sunny that she had been awoken by a noise, and she spun around, suddenly terrified that the guard from before had waited for her to fall asleep before deciding to enter her cell.

She threw her hands up, prepared to shield her head and face, but the footsteps stopped outside the door to her cell. She lowered her hands slowly, peering past them

Copper eyes stared into hers, and Sunny recognised the Miotalan that had handcuffed her and led her onto the hovercraft, and then place her in this cell originally before disappearing. She glanced at the observation room. It was empty. So this was a changing of the guards, she thought.