Beyond the Rim

I awoke, slumped against a corner in a cell with padded walls. My back and chest ached, probably from the crash.

My head pounded, making me feel sick. When was the last time I’d eaten? Some snack in the pod on the way here….

There was nothing else in the cell but a latrine and a sort of slab jutting out from the wall, which I guessed I was supposed to sleep on. The door had no window, but I didn’t doubt they were watching.

I didn’t care, as long as they weren’t bothering me. I hoped Rock was all right.

I walked around the room, unstiffening my muscles. I tried not to dwell on the fact that I was trapped, or to wonder what was coming next.

As time dragged by, hunger gnawed my stomach, and thirst ravaged my throat. I began to wish that someone would come in, as long as they gave me something to eat and drink. I’d about given up on that when a slot in the wall opened, revealing an alcove, a cup of water and a steaming bowl of soup inside. The soup smelled wonderful and I had gulped about two thirds of it when I realized they might have drugged it. I was so hungry I drank the rest of it anyway.

It might have been drugged for all I knew, because after that I felt very tired, though it could have just been exhaustion. I lay down on the floor and fell asleep.

When I woke up, the bowl and cup were gone. Ways to escape tumbled through my mind—constructing a weapon, stealing a ship, things that were probably out of the question.

The door shot upwards, revealing a tall slim man with brown hair, flanked by two guards. The guards grabbed me by the arms; the man stood in front of me, ice-blue eyes gazing from a smooth, lean face.

“I am the Educator. Ranior has ordered me to interrogate you, in case you are a spy. I will also oversee your education when it is time for you to learn how to be a slave.”

My heart flipped. A slave? I couldn’t even absorb what that would mean.

He turned on his heel, and the guards dragged me after him.

We reached a white room lit with a soft glow. The guards took me over to a white marble slab, throwing me onto its cold surface and strapping me down.

The Educator took a small, round device from a stainless steel table and set it on my forehead. “Now, I would like to know if you are telling the truth. Believe me, I will know if you are lying.” He tapped the device. There was no pain, just a cold, liquid sensation, as if it were binding itself to my skull.

“What is your name?”

I didn’t have anything to hide, and besides, I had no idea what would happen if I didn’t tell the truth.

“Devlin Kane.” The device on my head beeped softly, vibrating against my skin.

“Where are you from, Devlin?”

“From CentralWorld Twelve-thirty-seven.” The device beeped and vibrated again, sending a soothing feeling rippling through me. It must be drugging me, I thought, but that didn’t bother me as much as it should….

“Ah,” said the Educator. “From a Core world, yet not very genhanced. Were your parents radicals?”

“Not that I know of. We were from an outer colony, so I don’t think we really had access to much genetech.”

“Almost might as well be from a Rimworld, then.

“Are you a spy, Devlin Kane?”

“No. We just crash-landed….” I was feeling distinctly dreamy. Images floated through my head: horsing around with Rock inside the pod, the fiery crash—then my thoughts flew back to college, and the pranks we used to play in the dorms…law, politics, endless legal jargon filling my mind, rather than the art that I wanted to do…then further back, to the Facility, the long, gray years with Vega protecting me from the other kids…then, at the edge of my memory, the brilliant red explosion on the edge of the snowy wasteland, the day my parents died….

A hand slammed across my cheek. “Stay with me,” said a voice, the Educator. I decided I would call him Ed for short. “Looks like we might have given you a bit too high of a dosage…You’ve got a pretty low tolerance for the drug, unless, of course, you’re faking it to try and get out of answering questions. If we had more sophisticated monitors…But I have to make do with what I have.”

He took the device off my head; it made a soft “poof” as it un-suctioned from my skin. He pressed something on it and then put it back on my head.

“Now, Devlin. I want you to give me the reason you came to this world.”

“I didn’t want to. I mean, it’s a beautiful world and everything, but we were just out to explore the Blue M Cluster. We didn’t want to crash.”

“And why were you exploring?”

“Well, we just…wanted adventure. As I’m sure you would if you were ever trapped in college for four years, people droning on and on about ‘constitutional ramifications’ and ‘court precedents’.”

Ed smiled wryly. “I’m sure I would. Were you ever contacted by the government?”

“No. I wasn’t anything special in school—only reason I got in was a scholarship. Rock got a sports scholarship, I got an arts scholarship, and we both ended up pre-law.” I laughed, then wondered if what I’d said was actually very funny. I was feeling rather fuzzy, and a sort of euphoria was making my head feel like it was hovering slightly above my body.

“So you studied law.”

“Well, my major was political science, pre-law track. I barely got ‘C’s’, but it was pretty good considering I didn’t really want to be there in the first place.” I smiled. The euphoria was washing through me; every time I answered a question that thing vibrated soothingly.

“So, you said before you did illegal things to get here. You must not have a great regard for the law?”

“Oh, well, yeah, I do, but everybody bends the law sometimes. Even law students.” I laughed again. It felt good to laugh. “But you guys are bending the law even further…you said something about slaves? Is that the law you’re bending?”

Ed took the device off, pressed something on it again, then put it back. “If you’re faking it, you’re doing a good job. The government agent that came last year was able to outwit the truthteller and had built up a high tolerance for interrodrugs. He almost succeeded, but we fell back on more…primitive methods, which broke down his resistance enough that the truthteller was finally able to get accurate readings.”

Ice tingled down my spine. The euphoria was draining rapidly, leaving hollow darkness in its place.

The Educator spoke into what must have been a com in his ear. “You can bring him in now. Yes, I think we will try that this time.”

Ed paced in the shadows, paying little attention to me. The only sound I heard was my heart beating in my ears, and his steady footsteps, pounding out an uneven rhythm.

Then the door opened with a whoosh. A guard dragged in a limp figure, and laid him on the slab next to me.

It was Rock. His clothes were ragged, and he was breathing erratically. Blood glistened on his temple.

My stomach lurched, fear coursing through me for what Ed had in store for us.