The swoosh of the sliding door jolted her awake. She lifted her head so rapidly that black spots loomed in front of her eyes.

A skinny Celestian stood at the doorway, holding folded clothes and a little box. He appeared to be just over fifteen years old, but he wanted to look older by his posture and stone face. Cerridwen found it funny but said not a word.

“Your things,” he said. He shot her a fleeting glance, but his expression remained stern.

Hissing through her clenched teeth, Cerridwen wiped her eyes. She unfastened her belts and slipped off the bed. Eyeing the stranger, she approached him. She collected the given items, but before she walked away, she leaned against the door frame and spoke, “Can I ask what’s going on there?”

“I’m not authorised to give you any information,” he recited.

Cerridwen squeezed her eyelids and flicked her hair. “I came here suddenly, I have no idea where I am or who you are.” She sighed, looking at the floor and digging through her pocket. “I just want to go back home, I won’t tell anyone about you.”

“Refer to General Antares with all questions,” he mumbled and stepped aside.

“Of course,” she called after him, “stupid question.”

The Celestian tapped the lock button and walked away. Cerridwen placed the articles in the cabinet, kicking the doors several times to shut them. She came closer to the entrance and grasped the handle. Listening to the sounds from the outside, she took a breath and pulled on the handle. She’d done it. She opened the door a few millimetres apart, then closed them back so as to not attract the guards’ attention.

Frowning, Cerridwen clenched her teeth and smiled triumphantly. Her idea had worked. While she had been asking the guard pointless questions, she’d slipped a packet of tissues between the door rails, so he could not close the door properly or lock them. That was the way she could hear what was going on outside.

She sat on the floor, listening and waiting for the right moment.

When the slight pain began to insert in her spine, she took a break during which she ate what she got. A yellowish mixture with the texture of a paste was tasteless, but a hunger too strong had squeezed Cerridwen’s stomach for so long that she couldn’t begin to make herself care about such petty things. She also did away with her muddy clothes and got changed in baggy cargo pants and a brown jacket. She tied her greasy hair and using the rest of the water assigned to her, she cleaned the dust off her face.

She’d also prepared something more, what had to help her get out of there.

She had known the system of the watch guards. Soon, her cell should be guarded by the young Celestian, the same who had brought her clothes. She waited until he approached her billet, when she knocked on the metal door. He looked around and leaned over the microphone.

“What?”

Cerridwen lifted her head, squinting. “Do you have a bathroom here?” she asked, forcing an urgency in her voice, “or something that looks like it?”

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“I’ll take you there. Stand back and put your hands up.”

She did what he ordered. The Celestian opened the door and aiming his shotgun at her, he commanded, “Get out. And no sudden moves.”

Cerridwen backed out of the cell. Doing what the guard said, she crossed the corridor. The rest only observed their novice and his prisoner. Cerridwen entered the long, narrow room with him.

Watching her, the boy closed the door and stood in front of it.

“There.” He pointed at the aisle at the other end.

“Okay,” she mumbled and turned away.

She unzipped her jacket slowly. The Celestian raised his shotgun and stepped back. His face went white, and his hands started shaking when he put his finger on the trigger. He held the weapon with great difficulty, standing on legs shaking from fear.

“Yes, this is exactly what you’re thinking about,” she said, piercing him with eyes full of madness. A brown-grey, cylindrical thing dangled from her neck, and a thread resembling the fuse string hung out from the bottom of it.

“Do as I tell or I’m pulling the pin,” she ordered, gripping the string.

He put his trembling hand on the door handle, but Cerridwen shook her head.

“You better not. Do what I say, or we both,” she spread her arm, “blow up.”

„Alright… fine,” he mumbled in a trembling voice, placing the shotgun on the sink, “I’m outta here, okay?”

“Stay.” She pointed at his weapon. “Empty out the clip.”

The Celestian swiped the lock frame up and down several times. Bullets fell out of it, drifting in space in every direction.

“Done.”

“Show me,” she said and surveyed the weapon. She looked into his eyes ominously. “And now listen. One mistake and we both end up like boiled-over stew.”

Gripping the empty shotgun, the young Celestian nodded, and drops of sweat shone on his forehead.

Cerridwen carried on, “You’ll lead me along the corridor to the lift. If anybody asks, you say that Antares wanted to see me. When they notice what’s wrong, you’ll stand back and let me run.” She raised the corner of her lips. “The rest I can handle myself.”

“I have to… go against orders?” he asked, touching the door with his back.

“Yeah.” Cerridwen shrugged and twiddled the string. “Unless you want me to pull this.”

“No! Don’t do it,” he shouted, raising his hands.

Cerridwen put her finger on her lips and frowned, then she changed her expression to a friendlier one. “See?” She smiled slightly. “You can always solve problems peacefully.”

They left the room as if nothing had happened. Cerridwen wrapped herself in her jacket, gripping the string all the time. The Celestian calmed down and stopped shaking, but he still observed Cerridwen with an added anxiety.

Instead of her cell, she turned towards the lift, and her guard had no other choice but to follow her. He looked around hoping that one of his older associates noticed something questionable.

He exhaled noisily when a Celestian, guarding one of the cages, turned his head and asked, “What’s going on, kid?”

Help me! He wanted to scream, but feeling the eyes of the insane girl boring into him, he sped up his pace and answered, “Antares wanted… I mean, General Antares wanted to see her and…”

The older Celestian snarled. Narrowing his eyes, he raised his shotgun. “If it were so, I’d know about it.”

Without waiting for Cerridwen’s reaction, the boy stopped. He gripped his weapon more firmly but after a while, he remembered it was empty.

“Cover me,” she growled into his ear and darted towards the lift.

The other guards fired, but Cerridwen charged inside, avoiding the bullets whistling over her. She locked the door before any Celestian could catch up to her. She hit the button with the largest number, and the pressure of the lift moving up squeezed her stomach.

After a few seconds, the sound of shooting metal bullets fell silent. Leaning against the wall, she breathed a sigh of relief. The adrenaline circulating in her blood calmed down like the sea after a violent storm. Amused by the gullibility and cowardice of the young Celestian, Cerridwen took off the fake bomb and threw it on the floor. No one could hear her, so she took a deep breath and laughed with all her might until she started coughing.

The lift stopped, twisting her guts again. Cerridwen pulled the hood on her face and looked out of the lift. She sneaked out, flickering like a wraith among the other Celestians. She distinctly remembered that Antares was beholden to her. After all, he owed her two favours.