Original Fic -- Stolen Planet - Rebellion -- Chapter 2
Chapter 2
The first thing to register in Nevin’s mind was the pain. It seemed to hit him everywhere at once, bombarding his brain with messages telling him he should lie still and take it easy, not that he ever listened to those kinds of messages. Concussed and confused, he opened his eyes to be greeted by the sight of water-stained, graffiti-covered concrete walls, basic military issue furniture, and a sheet metal ceiling held in place by substantial rivets. Illuminating all this finery was a bare halogen bulb, which burned a glare on his retina as he stared at it, trying to figure out where he was. Unless he was very much mistaken, he was in an underground bunker, and unless those pains were a cruel penance, he was very much alive.
When he tried to rub his aching temples, he found his wrists bound tightly to the bed frame. That instantly rang alarm bells, and he tried to lift his head off the pillow to take a better look. Feeling several vertebrae creak under the strain, he decided to stay exactly as he was. His curiosity would have to wait until his body could cope with it.
So, what could he figure out from where he was lying? The fact he was in a bunker was clear enough, but with over fifty of them scattered across the United Kingdom, that didn’t narrow things down much. Of course, there was also the question of how he’d got there. He’d felt pretty certain he was about to die out in that shuttle, so what events had taken place to bring him back to Earth? Had another shuttle picked him up after he’d lost consciousness? He hadn’t known there was another in the vicinity, but he supposed it was possible.
A movement in the doorway caught his attention. Though his vision remained somewhat blurred, he recognised the outline instantly.
Emma.
He tried to call out to her, but found he had no voice. His throat felt dry and scratchy, causing him to cough with the effort of calling to her.
Emma continued to watch him from the doorway, making no attempt to help him.
Someone else joined her there, someone he couldn’t recognise. They both stared at him through the open door, neither of them approaching as if they thought he might be contagious. He found it odd that they continued to keep their distance, but his training told him to assume nothing. Things might not be quite as they seemed.
Deciding to break the standoff, he tried to speak again. “W’ter...pl’se.”
Emma looked as if she was about to react, but her companion held her back. “Let me do it.”
Nevin vaguely recognised the voice, and as the figure approached, he realised it was Ryan Lucas, one of Emma’s work colleagues from the Greenwich Garrison infirmary. Well, at least that meant he had two doctors to hand; he certainly felt like he needed them.
Ryan sat on the edge of the bed, lifting Nevin’s head and tipping the glass to his lips. He flinched at the contact, but drank gratefully, the water bringing instant relief to his arid mouth and throat. When the doctor pulled his hand away, Nevin noticed blood on his fingers. Apparently, he’d taken quite a battering. So, why couldn’t he remember it?
With no conversation forthcoming, he decided to kick things off. “So,, either of you want to fill me in on what happened?”
Ryan shot a look back over his shoulder at Emma, as if ordering her not to speak. Turning back to Nevin, his face was an essay in mistrust. “Don’t pretend you don’t know.”
The curt tone of his answer surprised Nevin. “Who’s pretending?” he laughed, trying to lighten the atmosphere. His attempt failed dismally.
Emma shuffled further into the room, her face now clearly in view. She looked pale and tired, not to mention grubby, and appeared to be sporting an impressive black eye along with other cuts and bruises. When he returned his attention to Ryan, he spotted a handprint on the doctor’s throat.
Suddenly, things began to add up. “Have we been invaded?”
Ryan snorted out a laugh, but said nothing more.
“Are you saying you don’t remember anything? Emma asked.
“Remember what?”
Ryan laughed again. His lips drew back to reveal his nicotine stained teeth, but there was nothing friendly about his smile. “Of course he remembers. He just wants us to think he’s an innocent party in all this.”
“In all what?”
“Oh, he’s a gem,” Ryan growled. “Like he has no idea what’s going on out there.”
Nevin could feel the anger behind the doctor’s words. They’d always been on friendly terms before. They weren’t best buddies - they’d crossed paths several times in the infirmary a few times, and had socialised a few times because of his connection to Emma - but they certainly weren’t enemies as far as he was concerned. “Look, the last thing I remember is being on the shuttle. I don’t even know how I got back to Earth, let alone how I ended up in this bunker. Where’s my team? Where’s Stevens?”
“Matt, that was over two years ago. We thought you were dead,” Emma gasped
Two years! Okay, that had to be a joke. He waited for them to crack up laughing, but it didn’t happen. In fact, their faces looked as though they hadn’t seen laughter in a long time. “This is some welcome back party,” he quipped. They still didn’t laugh. “Where are we?”
“Need to know basis...and you don’t need to know,” Ryan said bluntly.
He stared back at them in disbelief. “What?”
“Where have you been for the past two years?”
“I told you. The last thing I remember -”
“- is being on the shuttle, I know. Strangely, I don’t believe you, so why don’t you try again?”
“I swear that’s all I remember.”
“Maybe this’ll jog your memory,” Ryan said, pulling a gun from under his baggy shirt and jabbing it under Nevin’s chin.
The already frosty atmosphere suddenly froze solid. Any doubts the captain still had about this being a hoax evaporated. Calling on his military training to stay in control, Nevin kept his voice even as he replied. “Sorry, but that’s really not helping.”
“Why were you trying to kill us?”
“What?”
Ryan called Emma over and pulled her in close to the bed. “Take a good look, Nevin. A really good look. You did this. The only reason she’s alive is because I beat the shit out of you.”
Emma gripped Ryan’s arm to steady him. The gun remained under his chin and could easily go off. Nevin waited for her to tell him it wasn’t true, but the expression her face told him the truth.
“I wouldn’t do that...I’d never do that.”
“You did, Matt,” she said softly.
He flinched as the gun jammed harder into his already tender skin. “I swear I don’t remember,” he said again.
Emma stepped forward as if trying to help him, but Ryan’s grip on her wrist tightened. “Leave him. He’ll be fine,” he warned.
“Can’t we at least untie him?”
“What? So, he can take another pop at you? I don’t think so, love.”
She snatched her arm away from him, obviously infuriated by his condescending tone. “I doubt he could fight his way out of a wet paper bag in his current condition,” she said. “I suppose that’s why you’re feeling so brave.”
“Just because he looks helpless it doesn’t mean he is. How do you know this isn’t an act? You know what they’re like. They’re tough bastards.”
“They who?” Nevin asked.
“Shut up!” Ryan shouted. “Em, there is absolutely no reason why he should have suddenly switched allegiance. You untie him and you’re putting us all at risk.”
“At least let me treat his injuries,” she said, by way of a compromise.
“When I’m sure I don’t need to kill him.”
She recoiled at the suggestion, her eyes filled with horror.
“Go check on Graham. See if he’s come round yet,” Ryan ordered. Though it looked as if she might argue, she eventually walked silently from the room, giving Nevin one final sad look as she left.
“So, you don’t remember anything, huh?” Ryan asked again, folding his arms over his chest.
“I already told you that.”
“Well, I’m still not buying it.”
“Whatever, Lucas. I’m too tired to care,” Nevin said, turning his face away to the wall.
“Oh, you’re tired. Eighteen months, that’s how long it’s been since we’ve had a good night’s sleep, so how do you think I feel? How do you think Emma feels?”
That touched a nerve. He turned back to face him. “I think I have a better idea of that than you do.”
“I don’t think so. Not anymore.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Need to know -”
“- and, don’t tell me...I don’t need to know.”
“Exactly.”
“Look, I’ve told you I don’t remember doing any of that stuff to her. I would never intentionally hurt her. You should know that.”
“I don’t know anything anymore. Right now, I’m keeping an open mind.” He paused, finally taking the gun from under Nevin’s chin so he could pick something up off a pile of things heaped in the corner of the room. Made of highly polished chrome or something very much like it, it appeared to be a weapon of some kind. “You were going to shoot her with this. How does it work?”
He held the gun up in front of Nevin for him to get a better look. “I have no idea,” he replied. He’d never seen the thing before.
“Oh, come on, Nevin. You must know something.”
“I told you, I don’t know,” he snapped.
Ryan’s eyes hardened and he stalked away, shaking his head. “Is there anything you do remember?”
Like Emma, Nevin didn’t care for his tone. Apparently, he’d been missing for two years and he really didn’t think much of the welcome back party so far. He rolled his eyes as he told his story again. “Just what I told you; being on the shuttle and…oh, why am I bothering?” The doctor didn’t have to show his face for Nevin to know he didn’t believe him. “Come on, Lucas. Give me a break.”
“Give you a break? Okay, I’ll give you a break.” The blow came out of the blue, and caught him in his already cracked ribs. He howled, but Ryan muffled his cry, slapping his hand down over his mouth.
“Does that really hurt or is this all part of the act?” he whispered in Nevin’s ear, a savage smile twitching like a nervous tick at the corner of his mouth. “Not another sound. Understand?”
He nodded, and Ryan slowly withdrew his hand. Nevin suspected the punch was the proverbial warning shot, and there was more to come if he didn’t humour him. “What do you mean an act?” he asked carefully. “I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t,” Ryan said, “because apparently you don’t know anything.”
“So, explain it to me.”
“Not in the mood,” he said, reaching for his medical kit and searching through it. “You say you’re tired? I bet I’ve got something here for that.” He turned on him, syringe in hand.
The room suddenly felt much smaller, too small for the two of them. A lump of panic rose in Nevin’s throat as Ryan squirted a tiny rainbow of droplets into the air, a flash of memory that wouldn’t quite show itself.
“No...please...I don’t need that. I can sleep...” He thrashed his body in a desperate attempt to free himself from his bonds, but only succeeded in driving the plastic cuffs further into his flesh.
“I’m sure you could, but I want to make sure you stay that way while I get some rest.” The needle entered Nevin’s arm before he could plead again.
There was a moment of delay before it took effect, then the room began to reel. In a matter of seconds, the world closed in around him.
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