Part 2

Chapter 7


Hayley awoke in a haze, her body aching from a night spent on uneven soil. She sat up groggily, her body jerking as she found herself in unfamiliar surroundings, the realization that she was still trapped in the black suit and helmet hitting her like a ton of bricks. She let out a shallow whimper as she forced herself into a cross-legged position, holding her head in her hands. What was she supposed to do now? The question kept on repeating in her head over and over again. The whole purpose of this type of incarceration was to keep isolated from other people. But at the same time she couldn’t just sit in one place and count down the days, could she? She would go mad in days. She knew she had to keep her mind busy. She needed to find something to do to keep herself occupied each day until the Federation came for her. Ultimately it was that small hope, that tiny possibility that she knew she’d have to hold onto to keep her from sinking too far in depression. That the Federation would come for her. After all it was their duty to protect their citizens from unlawful prosecution and confinement such as this. Particularly when it was so inhumane.

After a few false starts, Hayley finally climbed to her feet. Taking stock of her surroundings, she figured it probably looked quite beautiful where she was were it not for the devices in her eyes. Instead of the rich greens and earthy tones that one would naturally encounter in a wooded area such as that, all she saw was a bland, unsaturated drab scene lacking in contrast. The blue skies of Vega IV she’d seen when she first arrived now looked gray, despite there not being a cloud in the sky.

Is this all I’m going to be able to see for the next 18 months? Just a dull, featureless world, unable to smell or taste or feel anything? God...how can they expect people to live like this for a week, let alone years!?

She knew the more she thought about it the worse she’d feel, and tried pushing the thoughts away. Despite the low color yield and strange interpolating blurring effect when she moved her eyes or head too quickly, she could at least see everything in fairly clear detail. The sensor matrix on the helmet were obviously not affected by the latex-like material covering them.

Hayley started out of the wooded outcropping and made her way back to the road. A part of her hoped to find the others Exiles whom had been discarded with her, but they’d obviously gone at some point in the night. Nearby, she spotted the lone building in the vicinity- one of those maintenance bays she’d had the displeasure of learning about first hand the night before. It occurred to her if Exiles were allowed inside, perhaps some had taken refuge within them during the night, and perhaps she’d find the three others in there.

Quickening her pace, she crossed the grassy field, but was abruptly halted as she got within a few meters of the place. Her body froze as it filled with a painful stinging sensation for all but an instant.

"Proximity violation," the computerized voice droned in her head. "Your scheduled maintenance cycle is not for another 4.2 hours."

"What?" She asked aloud, unprepared for the message. "What did you say? How many hours? What does that mean? Hello!?"

Frustrated, Hayley took another step forward and was again greeted with pain, more intense than last, and lasting a few seconds longer. She grimaced, clenched her hands tightly into fists, her muscles contracting until the pain abruptly stopped. She let out a deep gasp as her muscles relaxed.

"Proximity violation. Your scheduled maintenance cycle is not for another 4.2 hours. Repeated violations will incur further penalty."

"Fuck!" The young woman seethed through her teeth. Rather than risk further pain, she stepped away from the building. At least she knew now. She, and by proxy all other Exiles could only use the maintenance bays when they were scheduled to use them. Turning her back to the stout single story structure she looked in the direction of the arcologies off in the distance, stretching up from the horizon like giant metal teeth. Even five kilometers away, their size was still impressive. For an instant, Hayley thought of going back there, as it seemed most of the Exiles did according to Lucas. But perhaps that was the best reason not to go back. Surely she was better off being out in the wide open spaces, far from other Exiles and the potential of getting too close to them and inciting the Warden’s wrath. No, going back there was not something she wanted to do. But she needed something to do. She needed some kind of stimuli to keep her mind from going off the deep end.

Well, she thought to herself, trying to draw strength from her adventurous spirit. I am on an alien world. Maybe this will give me a chance to explore it a little.

It was that one thought that seemed to draw her away from her despair, if just slightly. But it was better than nothing, and she would take all the small mercies she could get. She set off down the road, going in the opposite direction of the arcologies. She figured she would follow the paved path for as long as she could. Hopefully they led to somewhere a little more interesting.

After a few minutes of maintaining a steady pace, she noticed that the road was on a gradual curve and was leading into the nearby wooded area. Soon finding herself amongst the trees again on a winding path that snaked through a narrow path cut into the forest. The sensation of walking on practically bare feet, although a mild one due to the tactile inhibiting properties of her suit, was not the most natural one for Hayley. Though she used to jog quite frequently and still did from time to time, she’d always done so wearing running shoes. While the pads they’d placed on her feet certainly buffered the contact between her soles and the ground, they provided little arch support. She constantly found herself compensating by walking on the balls of her feet, limiting the contact her heels had with the ground. Her feet started getting sore after a short while, forcing her to stop for a moment’s rest.

As she sat cross-legged in the middle of the road, working out a kink that was developing in the base of one of her feet, a rumbling noise caught her attention. Looking up, she spotted a large wheeled ATV with attached tractor-trailer barreling straight at her. The driver didn’t even so much as honk his horn as he got within a dozen meters of her. Hayley was forced to roll her body off the road and into a grassy trench as the truck tore by at top speed. Quickly jumping to her feet, she screamed a flurry of obscenities at him- obscenities she knew would go unheard.

It was almost as if the driver had been trying to run her over, or just didn’t care one way or the other. Had the people really become so desensitized to the plight of the Exile that they truly saw them as nothing? She almost couldn’t believe humans could become so callous and indifferent toward their fellow man, especially when their fellow man was suffering as she was.

As she stood up and took a moment to gauge her surroundings, something along the trench beside the road caught her eye. In her tonally muted vision, she couldn’t quite make out what it was, but it was black and about the size of a large dog. Curiously, she slowly approached the dark mass. As she neared, it quickly became apparent that it was an Exile- a young one at that. She realized however that she was getting close enough to it that it should have set off the Warden’s warning. But it hadn’t gone off.

She stopped less than a foot away from the Exile. It was a female, and based on the development of her body, Hayley figured she was a young teenager, maybe 14 or 15. She could tell it wasn’t Laryssa though, this girl was far more lean and her breasts not quite as developed. Picking up a nearby fallen tree branch, she gave the Exile’s foot a gentle prod, but there was no response. Figuring that the poke just wasn’t hard enough to get through her tactile buffers, she gave the Exile’s body a firm jab, but again was met with no response, not even so much as a twitch. Hayley gasped and reeled when she realized why the girl wasn’t responding and why the Warden hadn’t given her a warning. The Exile was dead.

"God..." She whispered, slowly moving toward the dead Exile and kneeling down next to her.

The girl’s body appeared rigid. She’d obviously been dead for some time. With the shiny black suit and helmet, she didn’t exactly seem dead. Were it for the fact that she wasn’t breathing, Hayley would never have known she was looking at a dead human being. She felt a wave of sadness fill her, not simply because the girl was dead but because she’d died out here, alone and imprisoned within her own body. She couldn’t fathom what a girl this young could have done to deserve such a fate. Clearly she’d been hit by a vehicle as Hayley had almost been. But what sickened her the most was that the girl had simply been left there to rot. At least in the proverbial sense. It was likely her body was still fully preserved within the suit.

Hayley knew she couldn’t just leave her there. As she hooked her arms around the girl’s legs, she was suddenly overcome with an intense full body burst of pain. Reeling back, she fell over her own feet, hitting the soil hard under her posterior.

"Contact Violation," the Warden’s electronically translated voice droned in Hayley’s head. "Physically interacting with deceased Exile. Additional Protocol Violation – failure to notify proper authority on location of deceased Exile. DIS has been dispatched to your location. Activating compliance protocol."

"Dammit! You should know where she is! Don’t you monitor these things!? Isn’t that your job you stupid computer!?" Hayley screamed at the Warden, knowing the effort was futile but feeling better about herself for doing it at least. As she attempted to stand up, she realized she couldn’t move her body. Her arms and legs were locked, as if the suit was made out of lead. She began to panic. "Let me go you stupid piece of shit!"

Despite her struggling, she couldn’t move a muscle. She couldn’t turn her head, turn her hips, nothing would respond to her command. She figured this was what the Warden meant by ‘compliance protocol’. Within twenty minutes, what felt more like an eternity for the young woman, a vehicle pulled to a stop along the side of the road near Hayley. The vehicle, an armored 4-wheeled all-terrain truck, bore the letters ‘DIS’ in bold lettering along its doors. Two gasmask and long leather coat wearing DIS agents dismounted the vehicle. They stood along the lip of the trench, looking down at both Hayley and the dead Exile.

One of the agents hopped down into the trench and stepped over to Hayley, pulling out a DPAD from one of the pockets on his tactical vest. Scanning the information displayed on the device briefly, he then turned his attention to the Exile seated on the ground before him.

"Warden HK14, initialize free speak protocol. Exile HK14, you may now speak."

"Wh...what?" Hayley queried, realizing she could hear her voice coming through the DPAD in the agent’s hand. "You can hear me?"

"Yes," the agent replied with a nod. "When did you discover this body HK14?"

She told him. She couldn’t tell if he was convinced or not, though he did throw a casual glance at his partner who was apparently taking notes through his DPAD at the moment.

"Why did you attempt physical contact with the deceased?"

"I just wanted to move her away from the road."

"You know it’s a violation to touch another Exile," he stated the question as a fact.

"I figured because the proximity warning thing didn’t go off it’d be alright..."

"The proximity warning didn’t go off?" The agent seemed surprised.

"No. I..."

The agent turned toward his partner. "Must’ve been severe blunt force trauma to the back her head. Probably fractured her skull and knocked out her receiver."

"Yep," the other agent replied plainly, not sounding all that concerned. "Figures why we couldn’t locate it on GPS," the agent turned back to Hayley. "Alright HK14. I’m not going to add anything to your penalty. Just get out of here and remember next time, if you see a dead Exile, you report it and not touch it."

"But what about..." She wanted to tell them about the near miss she’d had moments ago.

"Warden HK14, reset to default autonomous setting."

Before she could finish her thought, Warden cut off her transmission. She also felt mobility return to her body. The DIS agent gestured at her to get up, then motioned for her to leave the area. Sighing heavily through her tightly covered teeth, she wandered off, periodically glancing past her shoulder as she walked down the road, watching as the DIS agents callously threw the dead Exile into the back of the vehicle, tossing her in like a dead animal. It was a sickening scene and left her with an aching heart.

* * *

"I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do at this point," Aegean Republic Senior Chairman Elias Spender spoke in an even tone via holographic uplink, as Max Trainor watched along with members of the Federation delegation to New Liberty.

"What the hell do you mean there’s nothing you can do?" Max stormed to his feet, slapping his hands against the table beneath him.

"Mr. Trainor," Federation Ambassador Davin Kurtis threw a harsh glance at the younger man before turning his attention to the life-sized hologram of the Aegean Republic’s number-two man in charge. "I apologize Mr. Chairman. But I’m sure you can understand Mr. Trainor’s feelings toward his client."

The gaunt-faced Chairman bobbed his head in a slow nod. "Of course. However, you must also understand our position. Ms. Komit, while a Federation citizen, was found committing a crime in the Aegean Republic. By the very laws of the Terran Federation, trying her was perfectly within our legal rights. She was given the opportunity to speak with Federation council as was within her rights to do so. And according to our laws, she has been sentenced and is being punished accordingly. We have done nothing illegal sir."

The lines in Kurtis’s dark brow became severe as he furrowed his brow sardonically. "Mr. Spender, you and I both know that her so-called trial was anything but legal..."

"The Federation’s definition of legality has no place in the Republic," Spender cut the Ambassador off. "It is how we maintain our idyllic society, and why the Federation continues to suffer from internal strife. You may think our laws are harsh, but that is because the Federation promotes individual freedom and liberties we simply cannot afford to give our citizens. Were we to do so, Vega IV would fall into the state of anarchy that nearly threatened to destroy it 30 years ago when social and political strife tore our Republic in twine."

Kurtis was clearly growing impatient. He was having a political sparring match with someone absolutely convinced of his own rhetoric, when he knew he needed to be fighting for Hayley Komit’s freedom. He raised his hands in calming manner.

"Mr. Chairman...I don’t want to get into a political debate with you. The Aegean Republic has made its decision in how it wants to govern itself, and we respect that."

"Do you? Then why has the Federation labeled us a Rogue State and declared the New Liberty colony to be the officially recognized seat of government of this world? It’s clear the only reason you want Ms. Komit extradited is to further the Federation’s own political agenda. It would be a moral victory for you, wouldn’t it? The mighty Federation successfully frees intergalactic starlet from the evil oppressive Aegean Republic. It’s obvious that the Federation simply wants to discredit the Republic in order to defer commercial interests out of the Republic and into the New Liberty colony."

"That isn’t our intent," Kurtis’ raised his voice, his impatience turning into anger. "We aren’t interested in getting involved in the economics of your nation, sir. We are simply demanding that one of our citizens be returned to us. You’re correct in that the Federation does view the Republic as a Rogue State. As such, you have no legal authority to hold one of our citizens."

"Not legal according to your laws Mr. Ambassador, not ours," Spender folded his arms. "And according to our laws, Ms. Komit will serve out her sentence fully. Upon completion of that sentence, she will be returned to you safe and sound."

"Then allow us to take our case directly to the Supreme Chancellor. Perhaps if I could speak with him directly..."

"I’m afraid the Supreme Chancellor’s views on this are quite clear. Ms. Komit will not be extradited to a state that collaborates with our enemies."

"That’s simply not good enough, Mr. Chairman," Kurtis breathed a deep sigh. "It was my hope that we could solve this discrepancy peacefully, but I see now that this isn’t possible. I will be recommending to the Federation council that we use whatever force is necessary in order to extradite our citizen."

"And we will do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety and security of our Republic. Good day, Mr. Ambassador."

The holographic image faded into static, leaving a feeling of unease throughout the circular boardroom aboard the orbiting Federation starship TFS Alliance. Max ran a hand through his hair as he stared up into the ceiling. "I’m sorry we didn’t have more success Mr. Trainor," Kurtis looked at the young man. "But I promise you, the Federation council will not allow one of its citizens to be held illegally."

"Just like you promised Hayley she’d be extradited after the trial?" Max shot an angry glare at the Ambassador. "Pardon me for not having much faith in your promises."

"Hey," Kurtis’s eyes narrowed. "I intend to fulfill that promise. I admit it may take time, but your client..."

"Stop calling her my client!" Max shot back. "She’s my girlfriend."

The Ambassador paused briefly, breathing a light sigh. "Ms. Komit will be extradited. Even if we have to storm the colony by force to get her. The Republic wouldn’t dare to oppose the Federation military."

"I hope you’re right," Max’s sighed heavily, shaking his head. He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for her now, trapped as one of those Exiles he’d heard about. He could only hope that the Federation council would approve using force. It seemed like the only way at this point.