SHE HAD NO IDEA HOW LONG she had been asleep, but Olivia hadn’t felt this rested and refreshed in a long time. It felt like she had slept in but for some reason the alarm wasn’t waking her up. She was tempted to get up and contact the bridge when she finally noticed something: she wasn’t in her room anymore. Olivia looked down to realize the bed she was in was different as well. She wasn’t in her usual sheets but was covered by a blanket and a quilt that actually looked handmade. As she looked around the room, but there wasn’t much to report on. There was a dresser, a nightstand, and a window but the drapes were closed. The drapes must have been very thick because it blocked out any light from coming inside, which is why it was reasonably dark in her room. As she slowly got out of bed, Olivia realized the floor was different as well. The carpet from her quarters was now replaced with tiles, which were a little chilly on her bare feet. Yet the biggest surprised was waiting for her at the window. Olivia walked over and pulled open the heavy drapes, and the sunlight was so bright that it had almost blinded her. The moment the sun shone into her face was when Olivia suddenly realized she was no longer onboard her ship. She was on what appeared to be a planet. She wasn’t hooked up to any machines, which mean the air was compatible to humans. As she gazed out the window all she could see where houses and other apartment buildings. So, not only was she on a planet but in what looked to be a highly populated city as well. She was about to look around when someone came into the room and called out to her. Olivia was surprised as she turned to face the visitor only to realize he looked quite familiar. He looked quite human, European as well, which only confused her more. The man tried to speak to Olivia, but she could not understand a single word that came out of his mouth. Whoever this man was, he didn’t speak English or any other Earth language for that matter as she couldn’t recognize the dialect he was speaking to her in. After a few minutes of talking the man started to become agitated from her lack of response.

“I’m sorry,” she called out, “I don’t understand you.”

The man stopped speaking when she did and had a blank expression on his face which meant that he didn’t understand her either. There was an obvious language barrier between them, and that meant despite how it looked she clearly wasn’t on Earth. Before either of them could speak again, another man strolled into her room. He was a younger man with what appeared to be a uniform of some sort, and he immediately started to yell something at her. Since it was also in the same unknown language, Olivia had no idea what he was saying or even asking her to do.

The younger man became frustrated and started to walk towards Olivia, which she responded to by backing away from him. The young man disregarded her backing off and tried to grab her arm, which was clearly not a wise move. She slapped the young man’s arm away from her and before he could react, she grabbed his uniform with both hands and used a Judo move to toss the young man across the bed and over to the other side. She looked back at the older man who was stunned to see how easily she flipped his co-worker over to the other side of the room. She pointed a finger at him and made a very stern face.

“Tell him to stay away from me!” she called out.

As the young man slowly got back to his feet, Olivia thought maybe gestures might work better than using words neither man could understand. She pointed to the young man and then to the older man, and then she pointed to the door. She was doing her best to order both men to leave without actually saying it. The young man was eager to say something, but the older man walked over to him and explained what he thinks she meant with he gesture. The two men slowly backed up and walked out the door, but there was a loud clicking sound after the door closed. They had locked her door, which meant she was unable to get out.

“Lovely,” Olivia said, as she strolled back to the window she was looking out of.

After a few moments, the lady put the tray down on a desk that was in the room and then slowly backed away. The young man closed the door once the lady was out and promptly locked it again. Olivia walked over to the desk to inspect the tray, and the food seemed vaguely familiar. There was rice, a piece of fish, and a small cup with diced fruit in it. She only took small bites, just to make sure she wouldn’t react to what are likely foods she’s never eaten before. After having no reaction after ten minutes, Olivia cleared her plate and went back to bed to rest and started to concentrate on coming with an idea to get her out of there.

Olivia had thought about using the cover of night to make her escape, thinking that maybe there wouldn't be as many guards working at night. It was an interesting idea, but that's when she made a startling discovery: the sun never went down. The reason why the drapes were so thick was because there was no sunset or sunrise. There was nothing but light for the entire day. Olivia thought this was very weird, but there were many scientific explanations that might solve this issue for her. The plant she was on might not rotate, or she could be in a part of the planet that was always facing the sun like that annoying location in Alaska. As fascinating as that was, Olivia had to instead concentrate on getting out first and then figure out everything else later. She was going over ideas in her head on how she could escape but it didn’t look plausible at the moment. Her window was too high, and she didn’t have much confidence to fight her way out. She needed to build trust and get gather intel about the facility before attempting any kind of break out. The young Captain bided her time and kept her eye on the clock to see if there was a pattern that she could exploit. When she became confident enough to give it a try, she made her move.

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About a week after her arrival, Olivia used her pillows and an extra blanket the nurses were nice enough to provide and created a decoy for the staff. When the nurse and the guard arrived to give her breakfast, they assumed she was lying down and still asleep. Before they noticed it was a dummy in the bed, Olivia surprised the guard by lunging out from behind the door and knocking him down with a round house kick that would have made her dojo trainers very proud. She was able to grab the door before it closed, and the nurse watched with a stunned face as Olivia stole the guard’s ID badge, his keys, and his gun before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

She tucked the gun into her pants to hide it, and casually walked down the hallway pretending to just be going on a leisurely walk. She was almost at the stairs when several other guards called out to her and appeared to have both hallways covered. Rather than surrender, she grabbed another nurse that was walking by. She also pulled out her gun and fired a warning shot at the guards, missing them all on purpose, but letting them know she was a good shot and not to get any closer. The guards keep yelling at her, but it was no use as she still had no clue what they were trying to say to her.

“I don’t understand!” she called out, “What the hell are you saying?”

One of the guards got too close, and she fired another shot at the ground, inches from his foot which caused all the guards to jump back.

“Do not try that again!” Olivia called out, as she backed up into a wall which would guarantee that she could be attacked from behind. She didn’t like the idea of possibly shooting her way out, but the peaceful alternatives were not looking good.

She was about to fire another warning shot when a man came screaming into the hallway. He started shouting at the guards and moments later after he arrived, the guards lowered their buns and backed away from Olivia. The old man appeared to be talking the guards down, possibly being the voice of reason and as he was talking another woman came running over and the guards all jumped to attention at her presence. She was clearly in charge. She spoke to the old man, and then ordered the guards to back away even more to give them space. After the guard retreated a bit further, the old man she was talking to turned to face Olivia. He was smiling at her, and even waved a bit.

“He… he… hello.” The old man suddenly blurted out.

“Hello!” Olivia called back to him.

“My name… is… Franklin,” the old man continued. “I was… told… that… you speak… English.”

“Yes!” Olivia said, as she excitedly smiled back. “I speak English!”

Upon hearing that both people were speaking the same words, the woman who appeared to be in charge seemed let out a huge sigh of relief. The old man smiled as he seemed to understand what she said to him.

“My name… is… Franklin Swayson.” The man continued, “I am… a… professor in speaking.”

“Okay, Professor.” Olivia said, “My name is Olivia Howard.”

“Hello Olivia,” Franklin said, smiling to her. “It is a leisure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Olivia replied, as she knew what he was trying to say.

“Can you please…” Franklin paused for a moment, “Let her go.”

“I’ll do one better,” Olivia said, as she started to walk with her hostage.

Once she was close enough, she handed the gun over to Franklin and released the nurse into the arms of the woman who appeared to be in charge. After releasing her hostage, Olivia raised her hands and looked Franklin in the eyes.

“I surrender,” Olivia said to the old man, smiling at him. “Tell them I wish to be taken back to my room.”

Franklin nodded and explained this to the boss lady while the other guards walked up and seized her. After listening to the boss bark out some orders, the guards walked Olivia back to the same room she had just escaped from. Once the door was locked she expected never to see anyone for the rest of the day, but that assumption was incorrect. Less than an hour after surrendering the door opened up, and Franklin walked in with a tray of food. He placed it onto the table and smiled at her.

“Hello,” he said again. “How are you?”

“I’m alright,” Olivia said, as she started to walk closer. “Where am I?”

“Oh,” Franklin replied, “This is a hospital. You are patient.”

“Well, that’s a start,” Olivia continued, “What city is this?”

“City?” Franklin repeated, as he was unaware of the word.

“Okay,” Olivia said as she walked over to the drapes and opened them. She gestured to the tall buildings outside. “City!”

“Oh, our village,” Franklin said, “This is Frascopa.”

“Let’s try bigger,” Olivia said, “What country am I in?”

“Country,” Franklin said, thinking about it. “This country is called Berca.”

“Last one,” Olivia said, taking a deep breath. “What planet is this?”

“Planet?” Franklin said, “This is… Earth!”