The Ransom
Prisoner and Ransom, Story 2. The captive, now ransomed.
She stirred awake once more, expecting the freezing winds of the air conditioner, but instead felt warmth. Her body was sluggish, but not unresponsive. The fog in her mind remained, screaming of gas, submission, and captivity. But not quite. There was smell dominating the air, but it was of familiar antiseptic, a far cry from the unknown chemicals she had grown accustomed to. And her head… it rested on something soft, not metal.
Her eyes fluttered open. Light - much gentler than she was expecting - filtered through her vision. She wasn’t on the cold, hard floor of her cell. Instead, she was on a bed, a real bed, with soft white sheets tucked neatly around her. Her arms, rather than splayed on the floor, instead rested atop a blanket. A blanket that covered her entire body.
Underneath that sheet, her tactical suit was gone, replaced by a hospital gown. Her arms - still bare but no longer exposed - remained heavy, this time weighed down by an IV taped into her wrist.
It was as if her ordeal on Planet Usuria had been nothing more than a nightmare. She felt free. But was she truly? For a moment, she froze, panic flooding her chest. Was this a trick? An illusion crafted by the Megacorp to manipulate her?
She breathed heavily, her eyes scanning the room. The walls weren’t metal, nor were they dehumanizingly white. Instead, they were light grey and rough, giving her the feeling of reality. To her left - a monitor, its soft beeping in sync with the rhythm of her heartbeat. The room was too cozy to be a cell, and the absence of the all too familiar hiss of gas made her chest relax.
She soon slumped onto the bed. She almost didn’t care how she got here. It was over, her ordeal was finally over.
But not yet. The door to the room opened with a faint click. Her heart skipped a beat, her muscles tensed by instinct. She tried to sit up but could only lift her head slightly before it fell back onto the pillow.
“Easy, Lieutenant,” said a familiar voice, masculine and reassuring. A dashing figure in a military uniform stepped into the room. His presence filled her with relief: Major Pawel Sobieski, or just Paul to her. His face carried the weight of authority and fatigue, the lines ensured he looked older than he was. He certainly looked older than she remembered.
How long had it been?
“Pa—Major…” Her voice cracked, weak from disuse. She swallowed with pain. “Where… am I?”
“You’re safe,” he said, stepping closer. “We’re aboard an EDC transport vessel, orbiting Usuria. We’ll be heading back to Senta soon enough. We got you out of Megacorp HQ two days ago.”
Two days ago. Those words were all but foreign to her. Her mind, still caught in the endless cycle of waking and fading from captivity, struggled to grasp the very concept of time. She blinked at him, still unable to reconcile his presence with the terror that had once been her world.
“You… rescued me?” she asked, her voice tinged with lingering disbelief.
“We ransomed you,” Sobieski said, his tone careful. “A trade. Some assets in exchange for your release.”
Her chest tightened. Her newfound relief was quickly tangled with something heavier, sharper. “What… assets?”
“Classified,” he said, his eyes didn’t meet hers.
She knew that look. Whatever the price was, it had been steep. Perhaps too steep. She let herself sink deeper onto her bed. She wasn’t sure how to feel; relief and guilt warred within her, each taking turns twisting her stomach. The Megacorp had put a price on her life, and the EDC chose to pay it.
She spoke again, this time her voice soft and barely audible, “Was it worth it?”
Sobieski grimaced. “You’re alive, Jen. That’s what matters.”
Her heart skipped a beat; it had been a while since she was called by her name. For a moment, the room was silent safe for the steady beeping of the monitor. She stared at the ceiling, her mind drifting to the cell, to the gas, to the featureless walls that had been her world for… how long? She still didn’t know.
“Do you remember anything about the extraction?” asked Sobieski, his tone now practical.
She shook her head. “No. I… I thought I was still there. In the cell.”
“They sedated you,” he explained, no doubt unaware of how little that narrowed it down. “The Megacorp didn’t want complications, and neither did we. It was a clean trade.”
Weakly, she curled her hands into the sheets. “So they won.”
Sobieski slammed his fist on the bed. “Don’t think like that!” His tone was sharp, snapping her focus back to him. “You survived, and don’t you forget that!”
She nodded faintly, unsure of what to make of those words. Survival had been her focus for so long. But now that she was free, the weight of what had happened - of what might have been sacrificed - pressed down on her.
“I need time,” she murmured.
“You’ll have it,” Sobieski said, stepping towards the door. “Rest. We’ll debrief you when you’re ready.”
“Paul, wait!”
“Jen?”
She coughed before she spoke, “You came for me.” She coughed again. “Thank you.” Tears fell from her eyes, flooding her face. She would like nothing more than to jump out, embrace her superior, and give him a kiss - just like old times; if only her body would let her.
Paul smiled. “Welcome back, Lieutenant. It’s good to have you again.”
As the door clicked shut, Jen closed her eyes and exhaled, shivering. Her face was still wet with tears, she didn’t bother drying them. She was free, but the captivity lingered. It clung to her thoughts, her skin, and her breaths. Her body was no longer on Planet Usuria, her captors cosmic-miles away, but her mind hadn’t left the cell. She would need to find her way back to herself - one breath, one moment at a time.
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Wow. I am loving the pace. I will be thinking about the ransom made until the next chapter on Friday.