Recap: After waking up on the ship, Sagan was acquainted with the rest of the captives, and while looking around, he noticed that each prisoner was male, and not only that, but each was of a different world.
<= Part 2 of This Story | Part 4 of This Story =>
After a few hours of wheezing and the occasional pained grunt, the Gnosian finally awoke, only to slump back into a deep and silent sleep.
All anyone could do was sit in their cells, passing the time by making small talk or sleeping. Occasionally some of the Gnosian captors would do their rounds, dispensing food and water to the captives. The food wasn't that great, but a few days with the bare minimum made each bite taste like the best meal he had ever eaten. A sentiment that seemed to be shared by all the others; judging by the animalistic grunts that would resonate with each morsel devoured.
Each cell was also fitted with a toilet; something that Sagan had no idea of, until he saw one of the others use it, an awkward encounter for sure, considering there was no cover from being exposed to everyone else in the vicinity. Privacy is an expense the likes of us can't afford.
A button on the back wall would reveal a hole in the floor, and pressing it again would see the panel slide out once more to cover it. If he could hold it, he would have, but there was no way he could hold it in forever. Each use made him feel more and more like an animal. He wondered if eventually, he would lose all of his senses and parade around on all fours, jumping with joy at the return to his new masters.
The Gnosian captive still hadn't woken up, but Sagan, along with many of the others had a slew of questions they wanted to ask him, not that he thought he would have the answers they all sought.
"Well, what's the idea now?" The Trisken asked while picking some gunk out of his teeth.
"I haven't a notion," Sagan replied from his place on the floor. The Trisken seemed to take some bitter amusement out of that.
"It's been a few days; I was doing some mental mapping, some course-plotting. Seems the first place they hit was Scoosha, and picked up our Mulu friend. Zipped over to Zun Kulla for the Zun Kullen. Then New Trisk, where they got the Rotchi. Besk, where they got the Beskin and the Arok. Then Dosha, where they picked up the Doshan. The two of us got taken from Jex. The Gnosian, he's a confusing one, wouldn't mind finding out was planet they nabbed him on because as far as I can tell, we're going in a semi-circle loop of the stars."
Sagan tried to follow the course in his mind and assumed that the Gnosian was picked up on Dosha, following the ark right around, potentially heading back to where their journey started. "What's back that way? Back toward Scoosha?"
The Trisken shrugged. "The Outer-Worlds, the edge of nothing." He replied.
A few feeble coughs came from the Mulu, attracting their attention. "Well, there are plenty of planets, bases, stations, and even a few drifter colonies out that way. Never heard much about a Gnosian presence on any of them, one notable is Scabba One Eye's army of bandits. They could be working for her, although, she has always had her mind set on The Confederation."
"What's a drifter colony?" Sagan asked.
"It's what it sounds like, human. It's a collection of ships that drift from one system to the next, self-governed collectives, sometimes they could be all one race, sometimes multiple. Most of them aren't hostile. But, then there are the Marauders, they're the biggest drifter colony out there, and should be avoided at all costs, especially if you'd like to keep whatever ship you're flying." The Mulu started to chuckle lightly. "Yeah, the Marauders. They lost their home world to The Confederation and became homeless, now they pose hit-and-run attacks on Confederation territory and Free Space alike, typically though, they stick to hitting Outer-Worlds; they're not as defended as the likes of Jex."
Sagan shook his head lightly. "Why Free Space?"
"Because when they were under siege, and their world was getting a nice dose of orbital bombardment, nobody came to their aid." The Trisken started to tut.
"We didn't get any aid either, and we understood that nobody could muster any." The Trisken replied, in an annoyed tone.
"Don't shoot the messenger, that's all I've heard about them. They were the newest world to join Free Space, maybe they still need time to evolve a bit more." The Mulu replied, putting the conversation to rest as they turned and started to slowly pace their cell. "We all get messed up." He mumbled to himself.
The hours continued to pass in silence, and in the back of Sagan's mind, he hoped that they might get boarded by the Marauders and released, they don't sound like the best people to get boarded by, but anything must be better than Gnosians.
A loud beastlike cough, followed by a growl came from a few cells up and Sagan, along with the others, turned to watch as the Gnosian contorted slightly, before sitting upright. It looked annoyed.
"Who are you?" "Where'd they pick you up?" Are you one of them?" "Where are they taking us?" A flurry of questions was shouted at the creature, bombarding it with a wall of inaudible noise.
"Shut up!" It shouted, quelling the voices and offering a tense silence in its stead. It got to its feet, towering over everyone in the cells, rubbing at its head for a quiet moment, before looking around at their surroundings.
"Are you one of them?" The Doshan asked.
"One of them? No, do I look like one of them? I'm pure Gnosian, they're half-breeds, or can you not tell the difference?"
Sagan couldn't quite understand what the Gnosian was saying, it had a thick accent and each word seemed to be blocked by teeth. "Half breeds? What do you mean?" He asked.
"What do I mean? You want me to give you "the talk." Some Gnosians are pure, and some mix." The Gnosian slowly looked around at the others, holding solid eye contact as they got to each one. "Never heard of half-breeds? They follow a queen who likes a varied gene pool, so, to satisfy her wishes, some of her foot soldiers break away, to find some diversity." The Gnosian started to laugh, but it wasn't a joyous one, it actually seemed to hide some fear.
"So, wait, we're being transported to get laid? Nice." The Zun Kullen said, wrapped with some brutish swagger.
"I can tell you haven't ever seen a Gnosian queen before." The Gnosian replied, putting to rest some of the laughs that came after the Zun Kullens comment. "We need to get out of here."