SHORT STORY
The ship slowly drifted through the crystallized multicolored dust of the Carina Nebula. It’s hard metal, alien to the landscape. The smoke from Lieutenant Iger’s cigarette billowed from his mouth until it reached the captains nose, causing him to wake up in one violent and sweaty burst.
“We’re hit…holy shit…what’s going on?” said the Captain.
“We’re not hit.” said Lieutenant Iger assuredly.
“That thing…again…I don’t know why you just don’t take the Nicotine drops, those things will kill you, moreover, I keep thinking the ship is coming down, one of these days, I’m liable to kill you.” said the Captain.
“What can I say Captain, a lot of education is sentimental….”
“What are these jokers doing here?”
Lieutenant Iger points to one of his men to bring him the first prisoner. The prisoners lay on the ground, their mouths and hands taped together.
“Which one do you want?” asked Henry, lieutenant Iger’s right hand man and a nasty son of a bitch in his own right.
“Bring me Mr. Special.”
“Trigger boy?”
“No…tick, tock.”
“Oh, boom boy.”
“Yea. why don’t you bring boom boy over here.”
Henry kicked him hard in the stomach, then trampled on his chest lightly to make him angry. When the prisoner was roused enough, he slapped him across the face a couple of times.
“Wake up, act like God taught you better.”
“In my planet, we don’t believe in Gods, only in the evil of men.” The prisoner said as his lip began to ooze blood.
“The Lieutenant wants to talk to you…if you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut the fuck up.”
Henry dragged the prisoner and brought him before the lieutenant and the captain. The lieutenant looked at the prisoner with cold contemplative eyes.
“I suppose you think, you’re some kind of hero…” said the lieutenant flatly.
‘I just want to die free…” said the prisoner.
“Because you can’t live” said the Captain.
“You call this living sir…no sir, it’s really not hard to understand what we want and why we want what we want…” said the prisoner.
“And what do you want?” said the Lieutenant.
“To live free sir…it’s all a man has.” said the prisoner.
“And what about his mind?”
“What about it sir?”
“How could you spoil yourself with such idiocy…are the dead free?” said the Lieutenant.
“No but they weren’t alive to begin with.” said the prisoner coldly.
“You made that decision for them?” said the captain.
“No, you did, sir…and your father before you…we were born into this rotten system…”
“What did this rebel scum do?” asked the Captain.
“We caught him at a terminal with five pounds of C-16 strapped to his chest…” said the Lieutenant.
“C-16…Jesus Christ, you could have blown up the whole thing.” said the Captain as he angrily pounded on his desk.
“Does it make you mad, that some rebel scum could have so much power?” said the prisoner as he stared into the eyes of the Captain, insidiously invading his ghost.
“You call that power, you freak…” said the Captain.
“I can’t wait to string you up…” said the Lieutenant as he puffed his cigarette.
“No doubt, I’m looking forward to it myself, I don’t like the accommodations here and well…I certainly didn’t expect to get a trial…” said the prisoner.
“You sound like a little brain washed monkey…” said the captain.
“Captain, I know you can’t understand irony, but if you did, I think you’d look at yourself in the mirror and realize how truly ridiculous you really are, how much of a joke the war really is and how even the gods themselves want us to win because the gods want truth and you’re a fucking lie…” said the prisoner who then spat directly in the direction of the captain, his liquid mutiny nearly landing on the Captain’s countenance.
“I’m a lie…a murderer calling himself a freedom fighter…fucking scum like you…” said the captain.
The prisoner looked away; Henry kicked him hard in the stomach.
“Freedom-time is over, sweet-hard, you better listen. I know you don’t believe in God, but I’m going to show you the devil…” Henry said as he unsheathed his knife, blood still warm on the blade.
“You know what this is?” Henry said as he showed the prisoner the bloody knife.
“No.” the prisoner said.
“Freedom Juice.” Henry said manically.
“It doesn’t have to be like this…you know” said the lieutenant encouragingly.
“Just tell us…where the rebels are in your sector…and we’ll let you go.” said the Captain.
“They don’t tell me shit.” said the prisoner.
“Think harder…better yet, think smarter.” said the Captain.
“I’m don’t know anything and that’s perfect because I’m not going to tell you shit.” said the prisoner.
The Captain stared down at the prisoner in mild admiration. The prisoner looked up at the Captain with the scorn of a thousand imprisoned men.
“You’re a real idealist…If I offered you a thousand credits for every rebel you turned in…what would you tell me?”
“That I’d rather live free…than die at the heel of another man’s boot.” the prisoner said proudly with his head raised, his chest out and his eyes pointed towards the stars. The pupils of his eyes glued to the crystallized images floating before him in an otherwise endless black sea.
“Huh, well…at least we tried.” said the lieutenant.
Henry took the prisoner by the back of the neck and dragged into the other room. Henry took the blade and begin to run it slowly through the dimensions of the prisoner’s chest, with every inch poking further and further into the skin. The prisoner’s scream were muffled first by the Captain who played a little bit of music on his radio and then by the dark enormity of the space surrounding them.