Free Worlds Away by Valmore Daniels Page A

Lieutenant.”
    “Of course,” the lieutenant said with a slight nod.
    “It’s not too late to change your ship’s course. Come with
us. Turn yourself in. I will speak on your behalf.”
    “I’m sorry. I’m afraid my loyalty is unwavering.”
    Michael said, “I understand.”
    With that, he and Yaxche got into the rapid transit capsule
and waited as two soldiers strapped them in securely. A moment later, they
sealed the hatch, and darkness surrounded the two passengers.
    The power of the sudden thrust as they were launched into
space toward Earth was surprising to Michael, even though he was expecting the
terrific forces pounding his body.
    It was nothing compared to the shock he got twelve hours later,
after landing in the Atlantic Ocean. When his rescuers opened the hatch of the
capsule and pulled him and Yaxche out, a military police officer slapped
handcuffs on the two of them.
    “Michael Sanderson,” the officer said, “you are under arrest
for the crime of treason against Canada Corp.”

9
    Kulsat
Ship :
    Centauri
System :
    Justine couldn’t
think straight. A cold chill ran through her entire body.
    You are to be expiring.
    They were going to extract information from her and then
kill her.
    “No,” she said. “I’m not going to cooperate.”
    The alien typed. “Where is your kind to be living? How many
are they being? How many are Risen? Describe your discovery of the Gift.”
    Instead of answering, Justine shook her head, though she
wasn’t certain the Kulsat could interpret the gesture.
    “We have biology information. Your kind does not see. Why do
you motion respond?”
    He thought all humans were blind, based on Justine’s
condition. She wasn’t about to correct his wrong assumption.
    The alien typed. “Why does your kind have eyes, if you do
not see? Are you unit-defective?”
    The Kulsat were obviously an intelligent species, and
Justine assumed this one would eventually figure it out, but she wasn’t about
to speed up the process.
    “Biology information,” the machine voice said. “Your kind is
to be communicating with sound. We require testing.”
    A low humming sound filled Justine’s tank, growing louder
and louder until she felt the vibrations go through her body. The intensity
increased. Her muscles began to ache, as if she’d just run a marathon. Unsteady
on her feet, she had to lie down.
    The sound waves pounded through her, and she started feeling
nauseated. Her heart beat erratically, as if trying to match the pulse of the
vibrations.
    She let out a groan, and held her stomach as every nerve in
her body ignited in pain.
    The low hum changed, rising in pitch. The sound waves no
longer affected her body, but her hearing. She clapped her hands over her ears.
It felt as if her eardrums were going to burst. If the torture continued, she
would lose her hearing, and she would be deaf and blind.
    The agony grew, and as much as she tried to hold it in, she
couldn’t bear it anymore.
    “Stop!” she screamed. “Enough!”
    The sound abruptly stopped, but there was a persistent
ringing in Justine’s ears. She rubbed around her lobes and moved her jaw to
increase blood and air flow.
    “Sound communication able to be causing discomfort,” the
machine voice said. “You are to be cooperating, or there is to be additional
discomfort.”
    The alien was going to torture her with sound waves. Justine
didn’t know how much of that she could take before he broke her, or before he
went too far and ruptured either her eardrums or another internal organ. Sonics
could be used as a very powerful weapon.
    The science leader had just proven to Justine that he had no
compassion or concern for her well-being outside of what information she could
provide him. If he were representative of his kind, then a species like that
would not hesitate to bring destruction to any world that got in their way. The
story Alex had told them was proving true.
    Justine had a choice.
    She could cooperate and avoid