The Technician's Fight, Draft 1, CH42

“And don’t ask me how they work,” Jeremy said, highlighting a section of the projection made from the compiled scans of the bridge pared down to only the circuits. “But that controls maneuvering thrust.”

“How can you be certain?” the maintenance technician asked after she made notes on her tablet.

“I can’t be certain. None of this is my department. But the circuits match those in Toom’s shuttle I’ve ‘worked’ on, and they resulted in him being able to drift it around the civilian hangar. You’ll have to talk with the Earther pirates about how to get visuals going. If you confirm that, let Toom know. The analog should also work with his shuttle.”

She and other techs made notes.

They would be added to the manual for how the ship worked. He’d already filed the section for engineering and had only agreed to look over the pilot’s section when they’d promised not to take what he said without getting confirmation from one of the Earthers. Toom had already given them a rundown of the controls, in the early days of the ship being attached to the Bane. Back when Jeremy was banned from helping with it.

As he’d told them, he couldn’t be certain any of what he’s said was accurate; standardization didn’t always carry through when dealing with completely different designs.

“You guys have your work cut out for you writing a complete user manual for this ship,” he said, then waited for further questions he might be able to answer.

*

“Message me whatever other questions you have,” he said to the tech who had followed him out of the ship. “I’ll do my best to answer them. Right now, I need to go home before my mate does more than call me with a reminder I’ve again worked past the end of my shift. If he shows up, you’re taking the blame.”

With a chuckle, the tech headed in on his own, and Jeremy headed home, looking over the questions the other tech had already sent him. He was amused that they didn’t seem to understand that just because he was an engineer of Earther reactors; it didn’t mean he knew everything else about Earther technologies. They’re taken the concept of standardization well beyond what it meant.

He moved before the black form finished registering. Polished armor, helmet, blunt fingers. He ducked under the grab, and elbowed them in the stomach, only for his forearm to go numb from the pain of the impact.

Another form and he couldn’t avoid it.

He turned, using leverage to pull them along in an attempt to use them against his other assailant.

Anger made him fight harder than he had to. He didn’t have to fight at all. He knew what this was. But he was angry he’d let his guard down. He’d expected it weeks ago. But he’d grown complacent. Complacence killed hunters. This wouldn’t kill him, but he wanted to make them work for his capture.

Weight on his back, and before he could reach, something pricked his neck. Claw was the first thing that came to his mind, in spite of the blunt fingers trying to fool him into thinking these were Earthers.

The weight disappeared from his back as he grabbed the cylinder that had been against his neck. Hypo-injector.

The bastards weren’t happy with just dragging him….

He fell to the floor, the thought unfinished.

*

Jeremy fought to regain consciousness, unable to escape the sense he was in trouble. The struggle caused him to fall off the mattress and onto the freezing metal floor. The cold pushed him the rest of the way, and he hurried to sit on the bed.

His nakedness registered first, his bare hands being the worst. He was declawed in an unknown place, in enemy—

No, not enemy.

Although the narrow, flat bed, and the claustrophobicly small room tried to convince him he was on an Earther ship. The toilet against the wall, in the open, nearly pushed him over. No Kelsirian would ever think of making those without privacy walls.

But this exercise was about testing him, making him think he was in enemy hands. So, those setting this up would have made sure it was as Earther-like as they could manage. And with access to an Earther ship, they didn’t have to guess. Jeremy didn’t know if there were cells on the ship, but he expected there were.

He almost called out they weren’t fooling him, but remembered he wasn’t supposed to know what this was about. Had Gral told those who would test him about the warning? Would he get their Alpha in trouble if he gave away he’d been warned? Strangely, that worried him more than whatever form his training would take. He didn’t want to be the reason Gral got in trouble with those in authority over him.

Wasn’t that the gods?

No, those were ultimately in authority over all hunters, but there was someone; his Alpha’s Alpha. This was hunter training, so it didn’t fall under the Leadership’s control.

Jeremy wouldn’t give anything away. Not even that he knew what this was about.

He used the thin pillow to keep his back from touching the frigid metal wall directly and settled in to wait.

Jeremy eyed the toilet.

He didn’t know how long he’d been waiting, but by how badly he needed to take a leak, it had been a few hours.

Fuck, he needed to go.

Could he make himself a privacy curtain? He had the sheet on the bed. As thin as it was, it was opaque. But the walls lacked anything to hook it to.

Maybe he just had to wait until someone came for him.

He wasn’t going to last that long.

And it wasn’t like they were watching. Kelsirians were pathologically private about this stuff. Gral had freaked out when Jeremy had pissed in the shower because he’d been in the toilet and the door had been locked.

The people organizing this wouldn’t be watching him.

With that thought, he stood over the toilet and let go.

“Good evening, Jeremy,” a loud digitized voice said in Earther.

When his breathing settled, his face burned, and there was piss all around the toilet. The floor, the walls. And it stank.

“What’s the matter, Jeremy?”

They weren’t watching, he told himself. It might not be an automated system, but they would not watch him. A sensor in the bowl told them what he’d been doing, and they spoke to startle him.

It had worked.

Fuck had it worked.

What was he supposed to do now?

Well, if this was supposed to make him think he was a prisoner on an Earther ship, what would he do if it was true?

He’d be pissed. He’d demand to be returned to his people. To his Heart.

Only that was Jeremy the technician.

What would Jeremy the hunter do.

The hunter is patient.

The hunter is cunning.

The hunter chooses his moment to strike so his claws sink deep.

If he was a prisoner, his goal was to escape.

This wasn’t a movie, so he also needed to manage his resources. He didn’t know when, or even if he’d be fed.

The one thing he wouldn’t do was acknowledge his captors.

Closing his eyes, and focusing on the thought no Kelsirian would watch, he finished and flushed.

“There,” the voice said. “Was that so hard? Feeling better?”

He walked to the door, figuring leaving him naked was one place Earthers wouldn’t go. They were too uncomfortable bring naked. They’d have provided him with something. Possibly the bare minimum, but at least shorts so they wouldn’t have to look at his cock.

“Now, now, Jeremy. You aren’t getting out that way. Don’t waste your time.”

Not telling them not to address him that way was difficult. Even if they were Kelsirians, they hadn’t earned the right.

But they were correct. He wasn’t getting out through the door unless they opened it. Like the wall, it was metal. Even if he’d had his claws, he wouldn’t have been able to slip them in the jam for purchase and pull it into the wall, where it slid. There was no indication of where the control panel was on the other side.

Again. This wasn’t a movie. A cell didn’t come with a convenient escape method.

He returned to his bed and tried to ignore the acrid smell of his piss.

“Sleep well, Jeremy.”

The room fell into complete darkness.

He waited, figuring this was a trick. They’d have sensors, and as soon as he closed his eyes, they’d wake him.

He didn’t know how much time passed when he stretched and closed his eyes out of boredom. If nothing else, this would cause something to happen.

*

“Good morning, Jeremy!” the voice said, too loud and cheerful. The light was blinding, and he forced himself to sit.

The smell of food reached him through that of souring piss. Something familiar, fried. There was an opening in the wall.

“This morning, it’s bacon and eggs, sunny side up, with hash browns. A glass of milk and apple juice. I remembered correctly, didn’t I, Jeremy? That was your favorite, back when you lived with your parents, right?”

He paused, his hand nearly to the tray. The floor stealing warmth from his feet.

How did they know that? What he’d eaten when he lived there had never come up, had it? He couldn’t recall any discussions where that had. Not on the Bane, at least.

Back on Einstein, with his…well, they had been his friends, then. Their youth had come up often. Their families. And he was confident preferred meals had also come up.

He took the tray out, and the panel closed. The fit made it nearly unnoticeable, even knowing it was there.

Without a table, he sat on his bed, legs under the sheet and tray on his lap. He had said he wouldn’t acknowledge the voice, but maybe he could gain information.

“Who are you?”

“Now, now. Jeremy. I’m hurt you don’t recognize me.”

Pointing out the voice was digitized would be playing into their game, he was sure of it. He tested the food, and it had the aftertaste printers always left, but otherwise, it was good. He ate slowly, going over the voice. It was digitized, but not so much as to remove the inflections. And there was something familiar in those. He was also confident the voice hadn’t been changed so much as to alter the gender, so a male Earther he was familiar with.

He corrected himself. The people administering this test wanted him to believe that.

Which meant that the voice wasn’t digitized; it was fake.

But who were they trying to convince him was talking?

“How does the food compare to what the cats have been feeding you? They have been feeding you, haven’t they? You look healthy, although with how sick they are, I guess they could be feeding you something that isn’t food. I’d better not tell your mother about that. I don’t think she could take it. It’s already hard enough on her to know you picked them over your family. But don’t worry, Jeremy. We’ll have you all fixed up soon.”

A trick, he told himself when he almost told them to leave his mother out of this.

He didn’t know what the point was. But it was all a trick.

He was tempted to throw the half-eaten food away as protest, but he needed his strength, and that meant eating what he was given. Once he was done, the panel opened again, confirming they had sensors. Looking inside showed it was nothing more than the print platform. Unless he could cut through the wall and reach a circuit, he wouldn’t be able to use that to make himself tools.

The tools he’d need to cut through the wall, to access the circuits. To reprogram them in to making the tools he’d need.

The thin mattress was part of the bed, so he placed the sheet on the freezing floor and went through stretching exercises.

“Tell me,” the voice said. “Did they teach you those because they like looking at your ass? Looks like you’re expecting one of them to bend over you and shove his—” the silence stretched. “How can you even stand that? Just the thought is making me sick.”

His hand slipped as he thought he knew who it was.

Who they wanted him to think it was.

Where had they gotten enough of Omar Seywan’s voice to pull this off? The station. They’d copied all the data off the servers. Omar’s reports would have been there.

It didn’t explain how they’d know what his favorite food was when he was a kid. Maybe Omar Seywan had mentioned it in a report? The doctor was methodical. If he’d been asked for everything he knew about Jeremy, he would have included absolutely everything. Which probably included things he had no right knowing.

Had the male had access to his quarter’s sensors? Had he watched him sleep? Jerk off?

His hands too cold, he returned to the bed to wait, pulling the thin sheet over him.

He got out of bed when the smell became too much and used half the roll wiping the walls and floor and flushed that. It made him realize that at some point he would have to go. Sit down and…. He shuddered at the idea he’d be watched. And tried to forget he’d had it while on the bed.

Sooner than he expected, the panel opened again.

“Lunchtime, Jeremy. Turkey sandwich, coffee, and a jelly donut for dessert. Enjoy.”

He made a face at the coffee’s off taste.

“What’s wrong, Jeremy?”

“It’s printed,” he replied before he could stop himself.

“Of course it’s printed. This isn’t a luxury hotel.”

“Can’t stand the stuff anymore.”

“Where have you gotten real beans?”

“The Quar—” he snapped his mouth shut, his ear burning at having almost revealed something. He wasn’t going to make it that easy on them.

“I’m going to have to let my superiors know there’s an illegal trade in coffee. We definitely don’t want that going to the cats. Although, I need to have someone look into if coffee is poisonous to them. Could be an easy way to get rid of them.”

Based on coffee vanishing from his cups when his back was turned on his mate, coffee wasn’t poisonous to them. In fact, Kelsirians might enjoy it as much as Earthers did. If they were clever, the Earther government would get into the coffee trade. Introduce it to enough Kelsirians and they’d be able to finance whatever operations they had that way.

He returned the tray to the open panel and sat on his bed, trying to come up with something to keep himself busy. There was only so much thinking he could do without a way to write it down.

When he had to take a leak again, he held it as long as he could.

Then, the idea they were watching caused him to stand there, nothing happening, no matter how badly he had to go.

“Do you need me to hold it for you?” the voice asked, chuckling.

He comforted himself with noting that other than him startling, nothing happened as a result. “How about you go mind your own business?” he snapped, hating himself for playing into their game. “You ever heard about privacy?”

“I didn’t think that was something the cats cared about. I have it on good authority you actually like putting yourself on display for them.”

“How?” He snapped his mouth shut and focused on the toilet. Of course, they knew that. This was the Bane, not an Earther ship.

Which meant they were not watching.

He repeated that over and over, and finally it happened. The voice didn’t comment this time.

As soon as he sat on the bed, the panel opened.

“Dinner time,” the voice announced.

Already? He hadn’t expected that much time to have passed yet.

“Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, and Caesar salad, no coffee, since you don’t like it, so hot chocolate and a glass of red wine.”

That smelled alcoholic, and he didn’t touch it. One glass shouldn’t be enough to affect his judgment, but he didn’t want to risk it.

“Is there something wrong with the wine too?”

Jeremy tested something. “I don’t drink red wine.”

The reply was a few seconds in arriving. “Really? Since when? You like the occasional glass with your steak. Please tell me they haven’t converted you to whatever cats drink. What is it, sour milk?”

The response was correct for Omar Seywan, but the delay? Them having to check their information? He wondered if he could make them trip. What would happen if he got them to make a mistake? Maybe get them to reveal something, instead of the reverse?

What would he want to know if he was really captive on an Earther ship and his interrogator was Omar Seywan? Other than how the man could live with himself.

He finished eating without an answer and returned the tray to the panel. He still didn’t have one by the time the room fell into darkness again.

He almost closed his eyes, but realized that in the darkness, no one could see him.

The cell was small enough he touched the toilet before he had to get out of the bed, then sat on it and, fighting the fear the lights would come back on and the wall would be transparent and people would be watching, pointing, he forced himself to go.

Done, and relieved of more than that weight, he returned to the bed and drifted into sleep.

*

“Good morning, Jeremy!” the voice announced cheerful and loud.

He turned and pulled the thin pillow over his head. “Fuck off.” He felt like he’d barely slept.

“Now, now, Jeremy. Don’t be like that. I have a day filled with activities for you.”

“Come back tomorrow.” He pressed the pillow tighter, wishing it was thick enough to block the light.

“Why do something tomorrow, Jeremy, when you can do it today.”

“Go fuck yourself, Omar Seywan!”

“You remember me,” the voice said with glee.

Jeremy cursed himself for having played into their game. “Now go away!”

“No, that won’t do. Come on, Jeremy, it’s time to get up.”

He raised his hand and flipped the room the finger.

The voice chuckled.

“Have it your way, Jeremy.”

Music played. Something symphonic, with an entire orchestra, and loud.

So loud, Jeremy’s ears rang, and he could barely hear himself scream to turn it off.

He sat up, and the music stopped.

“Happy?” he asked, and the continuing ringing made the response difficult to make out.

“You can’t imagine.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes.

Once the ringing subsided, he asked, “So, what are those activities you have for me?”

“Oh, I’ll get back to you later about those.”

He rested his head against the wall with a groan and closed his eyes.

“Now, now, Jeremy. Don’t you go falling asleep on me.”

He forced them open and glared at the door, since he had nothing else as target.

This was going to be torture, he thought, then the panel opened and breakfast made his confinement slightly more bearable.

Outline section 

no outline

Addition 

Jeremy working on the Earther ship.

Touch on the interrogation training

With having touched on Jeremy and the ship in the previous chapter, this became simply the starting point for his capture and the rest.

Using Omar struck me as a good idea I was writing, since it fit the scenario being built.

I’ll say upfront that I have no idea how accurate I’m being in how those things are done. And I’m not really interested in giving a ‘blow by blow’ of Jeremy’s training. I’ll do a bit of research on the other things experts go through as part of training like this, but I plan on mostly glossing over them. Possibly showing Jeremy once he leaves each session.

About this one, the biggest surprise is that it’s going to take a second chapter to resolve.

Which means I get to show Gralgiran dealing with this.