Extensis Vitae

Chapter 14



A chime sounded in Reznik’s ear. He awakened and was alert almost instantly. He knew right away that something was wrong. Myrna stirred in the bed next to him, the cover sliding down off her bare shoulder as Reznik sat up.

A voice spoke in his ear through his Datalink. “Mr. Reznik, it’s June. I’m sorry to bother you, but there’s trouble. I tried ringing your room, but you didn’t answer or weren’t there.” She sounded distressed.

“What is it, June?” he asked quietly, already getting up and dressing.

“It’s Rin—they’re hurting her. Some of the other officers. I tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t listen…”

“Where are you?”

“I’m heading back to the Security Office. I don’t know what to do—I don’t have any reason to like that woman, but what they are doing just isn’t right.”

“I’m on my way. Wait for me outside and don’t get involved. I’ll take care of it.” He ended the connection and pulled on his shoes.

“Michael, what’s going on?” Myrna was awake now, concern on her face.

“There’s some trouble with the prisoner. It sounds like some of the guards have got a little backwoods justice going on. I need to put a stop to it.”

“Why? She’s one of those outlaws. She’s not worth it. Do you think it’s a good idea to involve yourself in this? I doubt you want to get on the administrator’s bad side by messing around with his guards again.”

“I gave her my word that this type of thing wouldn’t happen. How is what they are doing any different from what those outlaws did? Beating an imprisoned woman is something I would expect from the outlaws, not the colonists.” He headed for the door. “You probably shouldn’t follow me. It could get dangerous.”

“Be careful,” was all she said.



***



Rin gritted her teeth as the electricity coursed through her body. She didn’t want to give these a*sholes the satisfaction of seeing her in pain, but even with her high tolerance, she was nearing her limit. The guard pulled the baton back from the metal bar of the cell. He hadn’t even touched her directly, but cuffed as she was, she couldn’t avoid the electrical charge.

There were five of them all together—three of them dressed as security officers, the other two apparently civilians. They were careful to maintain their distance, though, she noted. The biggest and cruelest one was in charge of the group.

“You f*ckin’ bitch!” he spat at her. “Those were our friends that you bastards ambushed and gutted like stray dogs!” Being as disoriented and in as much pain as she was, she couldn’t avoid the strike in time. He smacked her right on the ear with the electrified baton. Her knees buckled involuntarily from the pain. She slumped, but was unable to fall down, since the guards had manacled her wrists to the bars of the cell. She managed to furtively slide her leg through the bars as much as possible as she hung by her wrists.

The big guard got right in her face and growled, “And you and your scumbag friends raped our women, too! We should gang-rape you and see how you like it, bitch.”

Rin stared him in the eye, not backing down. “I had nothing to do with any killings or rapes of your people. I guess you are too f*cking stupid to notice that I don’t have the right equipment to do any raping. I doubt you do, either, big man that you are, torturing a chained up woman. You aren’t even man enough to step inside this cell.”

The big guard’s face flushed and his eyes blazed with anger. He opened his mouth to say something, but Rin took advantage of his proximity and cut him off with a swift kick to the groin. She couldn’t quite reach far enough to deal a crippling blow to his testicles, but she managed to connect hard enough to take the wind out of his sails.

“Uhhhhhhh,” he groaned, bending over in pain. “Bitch, you’re gonna regret that!”

One of the civilians stepped forward. His face was an ugly red, and a vein pulsed in his temple. Rin pulled her leg back through the bars before he could kick her. He looked like the stereotypical angry drunk. “I’ll show you who’s man enough, whore!” He took a swing at her. She leaned back and turned her head, but he still managed to land a blow on her cheek. “Open the door, Cole,” he demanded. “Let’s teach this mouthy bitch a lesson.”

The one in charge balked as he gingerly straightened back up. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea—” he began.

“That’s a very bad idea,” a voice said from behind them. Rin thought it was almost comical to see the five of them all whirl around in shock. A couple of them nearly lost their balance in the process due to their intoxication.

Reznik stood in the doorway, his face hard with anger. His sleeves were rolled up and the veins in his forearms bulged from his clenched fists. She was a little relieved at his appearance. It wasn’t going to go well for this lot, she knew.



***



“This is none of your business, Reznik,” Cole threatened. He glanced at his friends to make sure they were standing with him, but Reznik could see the uncertainty in his eyes. He had seen enough of the situation to know that he had gotten there just in time. Rin was obviously in pain, shackled and hanging limply by her wrists from the bars, the men threatening her with the electric riot batons and their fists. She grasped the bars and pulled herself to a standing position again.

“I’m making it my business. This woman is my prisoner and wasn’t to be harmed, or did you forget the administrator’s orders?” He made eye contact with each of them. Two of them looked a little chagrined, but he knew Cole and a couple of the others were going to be a problem. “Obviously, she has been harmed, so now we have a problem.”

“Why don’t you back the f*ck off before we beat your ass, too?” the red-faced civilian snarled.

Reznik could smell the alcohol on Red Face’s breath even from where he stood. From what June had told him, all of them had been drinking. She had wanted to help him, but he had told her to wait at the security desk and watch the monitors. He warned her that Cole and his buddies would probably retaliate against her later if they knew she had helped him.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Reznik warned them. “If we do it the hard way, you’ll probably end up paying a visit to the med bay.” A couple of the men exchanged nervous glances, but Cole and the other two just scowled at him belligerently. Fueled by an excess of liquid courage, I see, Reznik thought.

Red Face puffed up his chest and took a step forward, putting his arms out to shove Reznik in the chest. Reznik swatted his arms wide and stepped close, head-butting the man. He could hear the man’s nose crunch, and he screamed as blood spurted out. He stumbled backward into his buddies.

One of the guards raised his riot baton and came at Reznik from the side. He ducked under the swing and gave the guard a hard shove, knocking him back into one of the other men. The two of them got tangled up and went down together, the electric pulse getting triggered in the process and shocking both of them.

Cole tried to punch Reznik in the face, but he caught Cole’s fist in his hand and squeezed, causing the guard to cry out in pain as his knuckles cracked. Reznik yanked him forward, twisting his arm up behind his back. The big man was no match for Reznik’s augmented strength as he propelled him toward the cell. Cole’s face met the bars of the cell with a dull clang. Reznik turned around, pulling the suddenly listless Cole in front of him just as Red Face lunged at him with a utility knife in his hand.

Cole grunted as the blade jabbed him in the stomach, and his legs went out from under him. Reznik let him fall, and Red Face stumbled sideways, trying to avoid Cole. He punched Red Face in the side, his ribs cracking under the blow. A subsequent uppercut to the jaw dropped him like a marionette whose strings had been cut.

Reznik looked at the remaining guard, who had stood still during the brief scuffle. The man’s eyes were wide and focused on Cole and Red Face. When he saw Reznik’s glare, he ran for the door. Reznik extended his arm and clotheslined the guard. It looked as if he had run into a steel bar at full force. The breath whooshed out of the guard and he went down hard. Reznik grabbed him by the vest one-handed and tossed him up against the wall. The man slid down, wide-eyed, gasping for breath.

The sound of slow applause drew Reznik’s attention. Rin was clapping her chained hands. She sagged weakly against the bars, but her eyes were bright and her lips were curved in a cynical smile. Surprisingly, the batons and fists of her attackers didn’t seem to have left any marks on her.

“Are you all right?” Reznik asked. He retrieved the key ring from Cole’s belt and walked over to the cell.

Rin met his eyes as he unlocked her handcuffs. “I’ve survived a lot worse than what these fools could manage, but it’s good that you got here when you did.”

“I’m sorry this happened. I gave you my word that you wouldn’t be mistreated, and then this happens.” He scowled and tossed the handcuffs on the desk.

“You could have done a lot worse to them. Why show so much restraint?”

Just then, June entered the room. Her eyes went wide at the bodies on the floor. Cole and Red Face were out cold, and the other three weren’t much better off.

He walked over to June. “Did you take care of it?” he asked under his breath.

She nodded. “Just like you said, they had switched off the camera,” she replied quietly. “I caught it all on tape—starting with the part when Cole zapped her on the ear.”

Reznik smiled at her. “Nice work, June.”

He turned back to Rin. “That’s why I showed restraint,” he said with a nod at the camera in the corner. “Need a bargaining chip when I talk to Swanson again, which I imagine will be soon.”

Rin just nodded. She turned away and stretched, trying to massage the cramps out of her back and shoulders. She took a seat on the cot. “I’m going to sit the rest of this one out.”



***



“What in the Seven Hells happened here?” Swanson barked. He stood just inside the doorway of the detention room with his hands on his hips. His hair was sticking up from sleep and his uniform was rumpled. June stood behind him in the doorway. Reznik sat on the edge of the desk, while Cole and the four others sat lined up on the floor against the wall. Rin lounged on the cot in her cell, feigning disinterest.

Cole was holding a bandage to his gut, and his forehead was developing a vertical bruise from where he had met the cell bars face first. Red Face held a rag to his nose, trying to stop the bleeding.

“Officer Cole, report!” the administrator bellowed.

Cole flinched and spoke up. “Sir, there was a problem with the prisoner. She was being unruly, so we had to calm her down.”

“And I suppose she kicked all of your asses while locked up in that cell, did she?” Swanson asked with raised eyebrows.

“Well, sir, we were tending to her when her accomplice, Mr. Reznik here, jumped us from behind.” Cole evidently thought the cameras had remained off during the whole incident.

“And my security team brought along Mr. Murphy and Roberts here as back up, is that it?” Swanson asked incredulously, looking at the civilians. “I’m sure when I review the surveillance footage, your story will be corroborated, yes?”

The five of them looked very nervous now. “You said the video is prepped for review—right, my dear?” Swanson asked June over his shoulder.

“Yes, sir. I pulled the tape and it looks like about ten minutes are missing, but there should be enough there for you to review if you like.”

Cole and his friends were sweating profusely now. Reznik had to force himself to keep a smile off his face. Swanson paced back and forth, glowering at them. He stopped in front of the cell and looked over Rin. “You sure you don’t want to change your story before I review the video, Officer Cole?”

“Sir, we had a little bit to drink and decided to check on the prisoner. She started taunting us and we had to teach her a lesson! I guess we got a little carried away.” Reznik was sure the part about Rin taunting them was a lie. Cole appealed to Swanson, “Surely she can’t get away with murdering and raping our people and who knows what else they did to the citizens of Colony 13!”

“I haven’t made up my mind yet what I’m going to do about her. But I do know that my security detail should be above abusing prisoners, no matter what taunts she may have hurled at you. Effective immediately, you, Greene, and Garcia are suspended from duty, and the five of you are assigned to sanitation detail until further notice. Go see Dr. Kane and get checked out, and then I want you to report for duty first thing in the morning.”

“Yes, sir. Understood.” Cole and his buddies started to beat a hasty retreat.

“There will be one other thing, though, Officer Cole.” Swanson held out his hand. “You are relieved of your position as Captain of Security. I’ll take your bars now.”

Cole’s face fell as he removed the captain’s bars from the breast of his uniform. He handed them over and left in shame.

“All right, let’s take a look at this video,” Swanson said.