Tom stretched his aching back. The small bed had been one of his best night sleeps in a long while, maybe because it was comfortable or maybe because he was finally free. A headache started to brew at his temple. He touched the small light that illuminated the cabin and tapped it a few times to make it dim. Two men still slept in their bunks. The last one was empty.He stood and stretched again. He tried to keep the breath escaping his lips from making too much noise, but it just felt so good. He reached towards his toes and stretched again, feeling the pull of his hamstrings. After the first two years of being trapped, he had given up. He felt he would be a lab rat forever, but within the last year, he'd had this feeling. Somewhere deep inside he knew somehow that he was going to be free and when he was, he was going to be needed. Since that moment, he'd been preparing, stretching, doing sit-ups and push-ups. Anything he could do to get his body moving. The food they gave him hadn't

Tom woke suddenly as the door to his closet cell opened. He rose to his feet sleepily. The guard slapped a pair of cuffs around his wrists and chained them to his ankles. He sighed inwardly. This wasn't exactly new to him. The guard led him down the narrow hallway. Doors lined the sides. Some of them stood open revealing identical cells.The guard pushed him forward gently into an area where other small hallways converged. In front of them, the elevator buttons lit up. The guard punched the button and it slid open. After turning around in the elevator, the guard punched the "level 7" button and the lift accelerated quietly upwards.Tom stood contemplating where they were taking him. Why would they be taking him anywhere? Maybe he would be a sacrifice. Like in the old times when they lined all the bad guys up and shot them in front of a firing squad. Only one of them could have done it, but maybe they would take them all out just for good measure.After the door dinged, the lift open

Jack turned to Tom. "Follow these guys out to the pods. I have to go. Take good care of them."Jack took off at full speed out of the room and down the corridor. Alert alarms blared through the ship. People milled through the hall finding the closest battle pod. The ship rumbled beneath his feet.Elaine's voice rang over the speakers. "This is Captain Shultz. Please prepare for a rough ride. We are going to do some maneuvering. If you have gunner training, please go to your post. Everyone else, follow return lights to your cabin in case of an emergency escape launch. All those not in a cabin will be left to maneuver their section."Jack hit the stairs and spun down them as fast he could. He jumped off at level three then slid open the door to his cabin."Do you have your pack?" He asked, a little winded in his panic."I thought we are supposed to stay in the cabin," Lexi said.Jack shook his head. "We're not leaving without something with guns. Come on."Lexi looked around frant

Jack trudged through the deep waves as they ran back past his legs. He held Lexi's hand and helped her jump up and over the ridges in the sand as the waves pushed passed her. Once they reached the shoreline, Lexi collapsed onto the hot dry sand."I never want to go swimming again.""It wasn't that bad." Jack set the packs down next to her and knelt to them. He fished out a set of clothes for her. "Here you go."She held up the white and brown camouflage patterned clothes. "This isn't going to fit.""That's what this is for." He held out a roll of duct tape.Lexi sighed and flopped back on the sand. "The warmth feels so good.""What are you talking about? The water was warm.""Well, then the light feels so good.""That would be the radiation. If you stay out in it too much you'll burn."Lexi lifted her head. "I will?" She asked with a lilt in her voice."Don't worry too much. I little UVA and B will do you good. But too much of the other stuff and you will have to spend a week

Tom woke from blackness into blackness. His heart started pounding as the darkness pressed in around him. He felt around frantically in the dark and found his harness still locked into place. He unhooked it and splashed through the small amount of water on the floor. His breath felt shallow and came in hard breaths. He found the back of the pilot's chairs and leaned over. The man was breathing steadily but did not stir.Tom blindly tapped on some controls. He felt the pod swerve sideways. He pressed more buttons randomly. Finally, dim lights finally flickered on. He issued a sigh of relief.A large starburst of cracks covered the windshield behind the latticework of carbon structure. Droplets of water seeped through and dribbled to the floor. He looked down at the newly lit controls and found one labeled "Exterior Lights". Once pushed, a small beam of light cut through the dark waters. Sharps rocks and dead reefs passed them by as the little pod chugged along on its own."Who's driv