Voss neared closer and looked ready to lunge at her. Her entire body began to tremble, terrified of what he would do to her once he got his hands on her. There was only one thing left that she could do, even if that only delayed the inevitable because it meant she’d get court martialled by the captain when they got back to Fosfat. ‘If you kill me, your heart will explode!’ she blurted out.
‘Don’t lie to me, you wretched woman!’ he yelled at her, his face was plastered with an evil, self assured grin. He was only a few steps away from her and could easily jump forward and grab her, but he halted instead, betraying at least some hesitancy.
‘I’m not lying!’ She cried out. ‘When they put you inside that stasis chamber after your mock execution, they planted a small explosive device inside you. It’s stuck against your heart and will explode unless I send it an encrypted signal at least once a month. They do this with all resident recruits to stop them from going rogue.’.
Her words hadn't had the intended effect as Voss began to move forward again. Her gambit hadn’t worked, he didn’t believe her. She felt her legs melt away from underneath her. She collapsed and put her hands up between her and Voss in a feeble last attempt to keep him at bay. He swathed them aside with ease and grabbed her by her hair and her neck, forcibly pulling her up against the wall with his large, strong hands. As his hand forcibly wrapped around her neck, she felt her windpipe get partially cut off, causing her to struggle breathing. He raised her up to the point where she could barely support herself. The tips of her toes desperately clinging on to any footing they could find. Gargling sounds came from her mouth with each attempt she made at breathing. Staying conscious was beginning to be a struggle. If he raised her up any higher than this, it would be all over.
‘Please..’ She pleaded with him, using the final bit of air still left inside her lungs, but she found no mercy in his eyes. He kept her struggling for air for a bit. Then out of nowhere, the anger in his face melted like snow on a hot spring morning and was replaced by a triumphant glare. ‘I knew it! I bloody knew it!’ he said it with a weird laugh. He let go of her neck and took a step back. She collapsed to the floor, clasping her neck and gasping for air. She began sobbing. His sudden change dumbfounded her. She had no idea what was going on and felt small and pathetic, lying there at his feet like a whipped dog.
‘That’s the first time you’ve ever been honest with me. That's all I ever asked of you: Honesty.' He turned around as he said it and seemed to be intent on leaving the cockpit. The anger had completely dissipated from his voice. It was as if nothing out of the ordinary had transpired and he was simply stepping out to make himself a cup of coffee.
‘I…I don’t get it.’ She whimpered, her body still trembling from the aftermath of nearly being choked out.
He turned his head and gave her a victorious smile. ‘I've had a hunch for months, but I knew the only way I’d ever get that information out of you, was by scaring the living daylights out of you. I got you sized up, Ala. There’s no way you’d have ever told me the truth unless you thought you had no other choice.
It took her every bit of effort to fight back her tears and stop them from flowing. ‘But… but if you knew, then why did you act this way? I could have given the signal for your heart to explode.’
The anger reappeared on his face as quickly as it had vanished, and he lunged towards her. He grabbed her by her hair and pulled her towards his face. He held her so close, that she could feel his warm breath hit her face with a fury. ‘Haven’t you learned your lesson yet, Vanmire? Do you want me to hurt you?' He pulled her hair as he said it, making her whimper with pain. 'Don’t you ever lie to me again or there will be serious consequences’. He forcefully pushed her head away, causing her to fall back on the floor. Voss got back up and for a second it looked like he was about to slap her, but he decided against doing so and held himself back.
His voice calmed down again. ‘I took a calculated risk. I didn’t think the captain would entrust you with such codes and I was right, wasn’t I? The captain doesn't trust you. He sees you both as a pawn to use and as a threat to be dealt with. That’s the thing with the Fifth. All this infighting and politicking has turned the entire officer corps paranoid. Your mistrust makes you ineffective and predictable. You're so busy fighting amongst yourselves that you lose track of everything happening around you.’
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She felt terrified and belittled. He had just humiliated her in a way that rivalled the worst of what the captain had ever done to her. Yet, despite the humiliation, there was still a will to fight within her. She wouldn’t let him get away with this without at least making a stand. ‘You know you’re screwed now, don’t you?' She spewed at him. 'I wasn’t lying when I told you the whole ship’s been bugged. The captain will see the recordings and we’ll both be done for.’
He laughingly dismissed her comment. ‘What do you think those crackling explosions were? This ship is a marvel of technology, Ala. It comes with all sorts of things that we’ve never even heard of like a scanning system that detects and destroys any unwanted listening devices and explosives on board. These smugglers have superior technology over us.’
His comment shocked her. She had never heard of such technology before and if it hadn’t been for the fact she saw the explosions with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed him.
‘So you’re saying…’
‘I’m saying that bastard of a captain can’t eavesdrop on us anymore. Nor does he have any way of tracking where we go from here. The explosives aboard this ship have all been disabled. We’re alone now. Alone and free to go wherever we want.. As long as you send the encrypted message to my heart each month of course.’ He said with a wink.
There was a calm sincerity in his voice that made her believe everything he had just said. They were truly alone now in deep space. A prospect of which she didn’t know if it should excite or frighten her. Free? To go wherever they want? To do whatever they wanted? Where should they go from here? Where could they go? The thought of ever escaping from the captain's grasp outside of the Fifth's ranks hadn't even crossed her mind since it had seemed such an impossible prospect. What chance did two runaways have? Even now with a hypermodern ship and a large load of drugs stashed away, making a run for it seemed like an impossibility. What options did they have? Was Voss going to turn them into voidcapers?
Voss disappeared through the hatchway, back towards the living quarters. She could hear his voice move away as he spoke. ‘Take some time to process what that means, lieutenant, and know that I consider my little theatrics from just now as ample revenge for your lies. We’re even now in my books.' He snickered when he spoke his parting line. ‘You should have seen the look in your eyes.’
She closed the hatchway between the cockpit and the living quarters. Tears started running down her cheeks again. Never before had she ever felt this scared. She could have sworn she was done for, and now she had to consider the prospect of leaving Fosfat and everything she knew behind to go off into some grand unknown with some guy she barely knew and didn't trust one bit after what had just transpired.
‘Damn that asshole.’ She thought to herself. Yet, at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel relieved. He said he forgave her and she believed him. He had gotten his revenge, and had done so with glee. This meant she no longer had to walk around with this constant ominous threat hanging over her. She'd no longer have to have eyes in the back of her head, always ready to react in case he tried anything. Perhaps now she no longer had to sleep with one eye open. If he had wanted to take her out, he would have done so just now. Perhaps she could even have a normal conversation with him now, make her feel like a human being again.
All of this depended on whether he'd even take her seriously after what had just transpired though. She cursed herself for collapsing in fear like she had done. She should have been sharper. Better decisions could have placed her in a better position. She should have run into the kitchen and grabbed a knife, or run into her bedroom where she could have manually locked the door.
‘Shoulda, coulda, woulda.’ she sighed to herself. She wiped the tears from her eyes and did her best to straighten that stupid ridiculous suit of hers. How much she’d give right now not to look like some overpaid madame. Damn that captain for making her wear it. She was certain that the cover story thing had been a pisspoor excuse from his part. He just wanted to gave upon her half naked body like the filthy pervert he was.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a grumbling stomach and eyes that began to feel very heavy. She got up and made her best attempt at straightening her chin and looking dignified before she walked out of the cockpit and into the living quarters. Voss had sat down behind the central computer again, with his head turned away from her. He didn’t heed her much attention, which she was glad for.
She grabbed her meal out of the microwave and quickly shoved it down her throat, before slipping away to her bedroom. She closed her door and pulled the steel, sliding lock, like she did each night. He may have told her not to worry anymore, and that he had had his revenge, but the every nerve in her body felt like it was on fire right now, and this was the only way she could feel at least somewhat secure. Alone, with a thick, metal door securely locked between her and him.
With the lock falling in place, she finally felt some inkling of safety again. She undressed and stepped into the hot shower, washing away the sweat and tears. She put her clothes into the autocleaner and put on some fresh underwear before slipping in bed. The warm blanket offered her some comfort at least. She turned off the lights and tried to get some sleep, but a lingering tingling feeling kept her up for most of the night. All kinds of scenarios raced through her head, all revolving around one main question. Her and Voss, roaming through the void together?