He glanced at the striping on his biceps.
Scarring where they'd opened slivers of skin to dig around underneath and attempt to remove the lysteel in his veins.The stripes were the healing patches that had been placed to restore the wounds.
Many more of those, and he'd wind up looking like he wore clothing.
He did not die this time.
He found that to be good.
However, he was not sure he was pleased with the results.
Marcin was so tired of being a prisoner.He wished they would just cut his head off.End the torture of being locked away and exposed to all the tests.
At least death brought an end.He was ready to move on, to no longer be tortured with this--
Voices getting closer.
He could hear the guards.
He shifted to see the disruption.
"We have to get them all," one said.
He blinked, though his impulses said that this was important, and he snapped himself out of his sleepy state.If his mental clocks were right, he should have had three more hours of rest time before the next required testing.
Then he heard it.
The engines.
They were not at their usual cycle.
They were moving much faster.The thrum of the engines echoed in his ears.They were going somewhere, and they were in a hurry to get there.
"Move it, Rhimodian," one of the guards said.
But not to him.
He looked around, out the metal caged cell, could see Kolvin being brought into the main corridor.Marcin got up to seem more.He could feel the ship's engines shifting again.The heavy, loud engine quieting.
They were slowing.Or stopping.
They had reached their destination, whatever that was.
A different guard came into his cell.
The guard had out his baton, the one with the charging posts on the end, and the obvious blue light on the tip, signifying the baton's active.
Marcin grimaced."What do you want now?"
"Get in line."The guard slammed him in the shoulder with the baton.
Pain radiated through the shoulder.
He didn't let himself buckle, though.That showed weakness and Marcin would not let them see they broke him.In any way.
The guard didn’t allow for any sort of recovery time."Get going.We haven't got all day."
Marcin was shoved out of the boxy cell and saw that Kolvin was already out in the walkway, looking exhausted.
