~Conrad~
After a little hesitation, I follow Astra and Rainbow Girl even though I have a sinking feeling in my stomach. It didn't matter at this point though. I'm already too far into this. I doubt these people would just let me leave. And Astra had once again over exerted herself to save me from death. I couldn't just leave her. The inside of this military-esque car is way bigger than I imagined. It reminds me of Astra's mustang except I couldn't see the sky above. No fish bowl effect for this car I guess.
I look at the front where Bear Ringer is situated and seems to be the designated driver. The console has the same concept as Astra's. They must be utilizing the same technology for both cars. This confirms it for me. Astra definitely knows these people. Or she is related to them somehow. It makes me feel a little better.
...Very little.
Astra is lying on her stomach on a flatbed on the opposite wall of me. It looks like a hospital bed to me. I took a seat on the one attached to my wall. But I couldn't find any chains attaching it to the wall or poles coming out of the floor. I see Rainbow Girl busying herself at a counter full of tubes of multi colored liquids towards the back. She turns and comes toward Astra with a syringe full of blue liquid. A black medical bag rolls after her. My heart seizes for a moment.
They wouldn't hurt her, would they?
As Rainbow Girl is about to inject it into her neck, she stops an inch away from her skin. She backs away and sighs.
"Astra, this is to put you to sleep, not kill you. Dear Magi, I'm just trying to treat your wound!"
Astra sat up with difficulty. Her eyes blazing with distrust. Rainbow Girl meets her glare evenly.
"I didn't see an exit wound which means the bullet is still in you. I don't know what you did before you got here but your body isn't even putting itself back together as it should. I'm just trying to help."
Astra's pale face shifts slightly to me. "Are you injured?"
Her voice is meek but her tone is pretty even. I gesture at my knee.
"Besides that?"
I shake my head. Part of me is too afraid to speak. All of today's events are sinking into me and I am most definitely not taking it well. The trembling is beginning to spread. It's too cold in here and I rub my arms to try to keep warm.
Rainbow follows Astra's gaze and her eyes rest on me. "...I see."
She turns back to Astra. "Astra, I promise that I won't let anything happen to Conrad while you're under."
Astra's face is full of hesitance but I'm not deaf or blind. I heard what Rainbow had said about Astra.
"Astra, I'll be fine. But you need to get that bullet out."
Astra grips Rainbow's shoulder. "You swear to Magi?"
She nodded.
"I need to hear you say it."
Astra's statement sounded strong and like she was pleading at the same time.
"I swear to Magi. No harm will come to Conrad while you are unconscious. That good enough for you?"
I hear Rainbow impatiently tapping her foot. Astra lays back down, appeased. Rainbow injects the liquid into Astra's arm. She makes eye contact with me. I heard a whisper in my head.
I'm sorry for this. I promise I will protect you.
Then Astra's warm cinnamon brown eyes flutter close. That was Astra I just heard, wasn't it?
"Damn it, Astra. What mess did you get yourself into", Rainbow asks as turns around to look down on me.
A pod chair zooms in and Rainbow takes her seat.
"I apologize for Bear Ringer's actions. I had given strict orders and they were not followed thoroughly."
She gives Bear Ringer, who I'm sure can hear her and is pretending not to, a dark look. She crosses her legs indian style in her chair. And...I try to avoid looking in that general area. Doesn't she realize that she is flashing me?
Rainbow took a deep breath and put a hand to the bridge of her nose, face scrunching up in pain.
"I feel a migraine coming on. I need a drink."
"There is no alcohol", Bear Ringer called from the front.
Annoyance flashes on Rainbow's face. "I know that, Bear Ringer, because somebody wouldn't let me bring it."
"It's against the rules."
"Well it's a stupid rule! Now I have to deal with this sober."
"I have these."
I gasp in surprise as a small box hits my shoulder and lands on my bed. I pick it up. It read Marbolos in black letters. The box floats away from my hand to Rainbow's. She pulls a lighter out of the medical bag and a cigarette out of the Marbolos box. She held it up.
"Do you mind? I have a killer headache right now."
I shrug my shoulders. I doubt I actually had a say in what she did. "Shouldn't you get the bullet out of Astra first?"
She glances back. "Oh yeah. But it's going to take a few minutes before what I injected goes into full effect. I doubt I will even get half way through this cigarette."
Rainbow lights her cigarette and takes a long drag. She exhales contently. Then looks pointedly at me.
"Don't ever smoke. It's absolute murder for your health."
"...ok."
I'm not sure what else to say to that. I'm in a car with strangers and the only one I kinda knew is unconscious. I need to tread lightly. These people are terrorists. I have to remember that.
As she blew smoke out above her head, she asks me, "You have no idea what you just got yourself into, do you?"
I don't want to nod even though I completely agree.
Rainbow meets my eyes. "Don't look so frightened, Conrad. You just stumbled upon a rabbit hole. That's all."
An "Alice in Wonderland" reference? Also...
"How do you know my name?"
She took another long drag from her cigarette before tossing it to me. "Sterilize the area."
Before it reached me, it was sucked upwards into circular black hole that materialized in the ceiling and closed just as quickly.
"My name is Data. The man driving is Bear Ringer."
I'm sick and tired of people not answering my questions.
"Answer me. How do you know my name? I never told you and I didn't hear Astra say it either."
"Watch your tone, brat", Bear Ringer called from the front.
But I'm focusing on the weird Indian girl in front of me. She smiles a Cheshire Cat grin at me.
"That's what you're worried about? Not who am I? Who is she? Where are we going? How is your cot floating? Just...how do I know you're name? You are a strange one."
I remain quiet. I would love answers to all those questions. I hadn't bothered asking because I don't honestly believe she will answer me. But where are we going? What kind of people have technology like this? Maybe it's a secret branch of the CIA. Why would Astra be labeled as a terrorist than? Or maybe it is a secret organization that works for the government and not even the CIA knows of its existence. It's possible. Hell after today that seems really plausible.
I feel a sharp prick on my the good part of my knee. "Ow! What the hell?!"
I watch as Data quickly pushes the blue liquid from the needle into me. I look up at her in shock. I could feel the cold dread of fear building up in me. My breathing is becoming uneven.
"Relax, Conrad. Think of it as a sleep aid. You're not going to die."
I can hear her and I can't. It sounds distorted. Like that time Drake and I drank the bottle of rum his mother had forgotten to hide in her room.
She pulls it out and looks at me thoughtfully. "I can't say what will happen after we arrive at headquarters though. Your fate is out of my hands once we arrive. But for now... rest easy. Sweet dreams, Conrad."
The world became black.