The Optimum Project

Chapter 11

A place not known (present day)

I jerked awake with a gasp, I had been holding my breath... A dream? I started to roll over but quickly shifted onto my back again, my arm was killing me. I looked down at it and groaned, it was covered in scrapes and bruises, running up from my wrist and getting sparser as it reached past my elbow and up to my shoulder. I took deep, laboring breaths, already tired from the effort of trying to sit up, I sighed lightly and closed my eyes, feeling drowsiness weigh on my eyelids.

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Consciousness came slowly this time, as if I was slowly lifting my head out of a pool of water. I took a deep breath, what was that smell? Wine? No... It was to sharp for that... Antiseptic? The Selena didn't have any antiseptic that strong... Something had happened... some accident...

I gasped as the memories rushed in and gave me a solid uppercut to the stomach. Everything came flooding back, the cargo, the pirates, the fighter, our ship... I sat up and felt a slight twinge in my shoulder, I looked at my hands, they were fine. I looked at the long sleeve shirt I was wearing, it was red and tight fitting, emphasizing the muscle I had from years of handling cargo.

I felt one of the sleeves material, It was very fine, silky smooth, yet I knew it was extremely durable. I glanced at my wrist peaking past the fabric, there was something there... Ink, I rolled up the sleeve slowly watching with growing curiosity as the small dot on my wrist ended up being a complex tattoo, stopping just before my elbow. I huffed, dad was going to kill me when he saw.

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That is if he's even here, I hopped out of the hospital bed, for indeed that was where I seemed to be, and disconnected the monitors hooked up to me. I glanced up sharply as the heart monitor flatlined, I groaned, it was probably hooked up to alert someone if it changed much. I rushed over and shut it off knowing that it was probably to late, but I didn't want it going off as I left, it might attract attention.

I turned and walked towards the door, I reached for the handle, looking into the bathroom as I did it. My hand grabbed air. I looked at where the door knob should have been, instead there was smooth flat metal. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, a hospital wouldn't have motored doors, I looked carefully at the walls, there, a panel, it was cleverly disguised as an electrical outlet. I popped it open and looked at the array of wires, I reached in and pulled out a red wire, biting it in half I reached in and pushed it into the processor core. With a surprisingly bright spark the processor shorted out and gave me a shock, my vision blurred slightly, trying to blink it off I stood up and walked out into the hall. And into an array of spacial seals, yeah, not a hospital, I gradually raised my hands into the air as a sign of surrender. The guy in front walked up and grabbed me by the neck, I'm sure he wasn't trying to be gruff, but the tactical mech suit he was wearing made it hard to gauge pressure, and they could apply a lot.

Before he tossed me back in my room, a full technical schematic became overlaid on the mech suit, giving me details about its workings. I blinked, the overlay was gone and the seal tossed me back into my room, closing the door behind him.