Chapter Fifteen: Hard Time

Discipline was one of life's hardest lessons. Children often interpreted discipline as punishment for some wrong-doing. The truth was however that discipline wasn't about punishing the child. No, discipline attempted to prevent said child from becoming an all-around screw-up. Punishment had a totally different feel to it; where discipline carried love, punishment carried pain.

As a young tailed girl, I was guilty of numerous offenses. Some of such childhood crimes were trivial at best yet others were rather serious. Most of the times I was punished, I either cowered in fear or I felt personally wronged, like my parents were out to get me or they refused to believe the whole gosh-darned story (which in kid terms, meant they were out to get me).

Alright, so the time I sat the living room couch on fire, I understood why I got spanked. THe time I accidentally pinned a giant sunflower head to the side of Mrs. Borealis' house with an amazing shot from my bow, that time, my parents seriously treated me unfairly--I'd just wanted some fresh sunflower seeds! In my opinion, the crime hadn't deserved capital punishment in the form of a sore bottom and three weeks of restriction.

Usually, it was my dad who disciplined me. Of course, when he was away, my mother did most of the dirty work; if I did something while he was in space, that night would be spent wincing every time the phone rang. Every now and then, I'd get off easy, even when I should have faced so much punishment I'd still be scrubbing the kitchen capinets with a toothbrush. Since I was an only child, both parents tended to baby me although my father did so a smidgeon more than my mother; sometimes I could give him those endearing eyes and he'd soften up but the same trick never worked with my mother.

Although I never enjoyed it at the time, in retrospect I appreciated what my parents had done in discipling me. My parents did it right; never were they too harsh, too mean, or too judgemental. I couldn't recal a time when they had ever jumped to conclusions about my actions.

Unfortunately, my parents weren't always the ones to punish me--they never were actually.

They disciplined me.

The ones who punished me, normally one of the village elders, they tried but I never listened. Back then, I'd made a habit of refusing to learn anything from their scoldings and knuckle-raps. Several times, I went out of my way to continue defying their pseudo-authority. As such, my antics usually resulted in purther puishment and tyranny but I couldn't bring myself low enough to respect anyone trying to role me.

I just didn't work that way.

"You're kidding, right?" Victor laughed, wiping a tear from his eye.

Hearing a noise that particularly unsettled me, I strained my ears to hear the sound again. "No--shut up for a sec"

Assuring myself I wasn't going crazy, I waited for the sound I'd heard to repeat.

"I'm telling you, the party responsible for the communication must be the Desert-"

Victor started to say something, thus cutting off the last part of what the Catrion said. Before he could finish the first half of his sentence, I socked him in the chest with my tail; I had to know what was going on. I promised myself I'd apologize later for thinking the Catrions were more interesting than him.

"Is this why we've been sent to retrieve it?"

It seemed the Catrions were coming to get something, though I didn't know what because Victor had stopped me from hearing clearly; at first it seemed like I was the topic of discussion, but I couldn't be sure any more.

"In what manner will Lord Nosamar react?" The second Catrion asked, the one who had asked the previous question; it sounded wishy-washy, almost without direction.

In responce to the mention of Lord Nosamar's name, I received the image in my mind of a very, very bad word. Though I couldn't be sure of the exact connotation, I gathered the word was probably the Catrion version of the f-bomb or a derivative. It was at least as vulgar, I knew that much.

Wincing at the disturbing concept in my head, I then heard the actual language the image corresponded to. "Do you think Lord Theoro even cares about that Yrohtsi?"

Again, I sensed the anger which usually accompanied profanity, only this time it was tagged specifically to the word 'Yrohtsi.'

The wishy washy Catrion gasped. "That which you say has the potential to cause our deaths!"

The Catrion potty-mouth scoffed, "The same potential lies within the Desert Arachnid and the fate Nosamar would deal is much preferred!"

A shudder rippled down my spine as the Catrion finished talking.

"Then let us hope it is feeling generous and merciful this day."

That was it! No--I was it! The Catrions wanted the Desert Arachnid--me!

My first thought was the fluid tanks the Catrions always put me in: My second was the well-being of my Aidyn, Nellya, and Leroy.

For them, I had to act! It was possible if I let the Catrions take me again, I'd be able to help them!

Mind reeling, I began screaming at Vctor as loud as I dared, "Get out of her, go!"

Poor Victor looked hurt at my sudden outburst.

"Get into the ventilation duct, now!"

As Victor started to move, I tore at the straps keeping my top on because for my feeble plan to work, the Catrions couldn't find me any different than they'd left me. Victor being within eyeshot caused me to hesitate for a mere second, lest I abandon my dignity, but I hastily concluded the lives of my friends were more important.

Halfway between clothed and naked, I had the presence of mind to give Victor a heads up. "Hey, they're about to take me again!"

In my mind, my words spoke for themselves but apparently Victor didn't get my point.

"Okay?"

That was it? Okay? Shaking my head to refocus myself, I explained. "Follow me, darn it!"

Right as my pants zipper ripped open, I noticed Victor wiggling back out of the airvent.

Flustered with embarrassment, I couldn't believe Victor's stupidity! "No, darn it, I mean follow them when they take me! In the airvent!"

"Oh! Sorry!" He scrambled to get his legs back into the ventilation duct.

By the time I'd chucked the last of my clothes into the chest, along with my sword (much to my chagrin), I started doubting myself because the Catrions hadn't showed yet. On top of that, I was convinced Victor had at least one eye on my fleshy posterior.

Inhaling slowly, I counted the heartbeats pounding in my eardrums; each one accentuated the fact the Catrions still weren't there.

Feeling like I'd humiliated myself for no reason other than to create an awkward tension between Victor and I, I remembered I wasn't that lucky.

The door to the room whirred open, sticking slightly on the weathered frame--I knew the Catrions had been coming!

What I hadn't known was how many would be coming and I'd never expected to see so many. Maybe two dozen Catrions flocked into the room, most of them armed with menacing Biorifles. Grimacing, I wished they'd brought Biospheres since I sometimes could fight off the effects of the gas; I wasn't immune to the gore Biorifles had made out of Mr. Dabahov's body.

Surprisingly, they also brought with them a shiny metal object, handcuffs it seemed.

Biorifles and handcuffs. I was starting to wish I hadn't discarded my sword.

I gulped down my raw fear--it gave me food poisoning--and I prayed this wasn't the end. In an effort to avoid a ball of acid chewing on my skin, I held out my wrists for easy clasping.

With some trepidation the cuff-bearing Catrion approached. As if they were one, six Catrions grabbed me and held me still so the one could lock my wrists together.

Just as the last click sounded, I glanced at the airvent and nodded, praying that the Catrions wouldn't tilt my body at an angle that gave Victor a show I wished were censored.

They didn't carry me to the familiar liquid tanks I'd hoped they would but rather to a room I'd not yet been in.

The room appeared to be a public restroom of sorts. Because my father was the captain of a spaceship whose population rivaled that of any post-war city on Earth, I had a hunch this was a public shower facility, probably used originally by enlisted personnel. Unlike the ones on my father's ship, this one was tiny. On the E.S. Next Dimension, my dad's ship, public showers like this one w ere rather large but then again, the Next Dimension was more than twice the size of the Kyokujitsu.

The odd thing was, along the wall of honeycombed shower stalls, nearly every shower lacked a door or plumbing fixtures. Here and there, such features remained intact, but overall, the room was in disrepair. That, coupled with the skanky pepper of black mold didn't bode well for my health.

One stall over by the far wall, one of the few with both a door and fixtures, stood out to me; whereas the others with doors were open, this one was locked tight. Behind its foggy translucent door, was a still figure, though it was impossible to make out what.

A voice I'd heard only a few times before spoke; I hadn't heard it enough times before to recognize it. I just knew I'd heard it talk before.

"Well, well," For reasons unknown to me, this one was arrogant, cocky, and masterful. "If it isn't the Desert Arachnid,"

In my mind, I was under the impression the voice had paused to savor the moment.

"You should be honored, my friend, for I have only ever addressed two other humans. ONe was the Animal, and the other, a fellow by the name of Erma."

"Whatever you intend to do to me, you should probably reconsider because it won't be long before I'm rescued." I sneered, yearning for an ounce more bravery.

"Ah, then we should get right to it, shouldn't we?"

In the pit of my stomach a nervous dread began churning. It was like getting butterflies in my stomach, only an excited anticipation of what was coming didn't cause it. No, this was the sort of apprehension one experienced just before the math test which would decide whether or not one's spring break would be spent grounded.

The Catrions holding me jerked me into the corner behind me and to the right. I hadn't noticed it upon entering, but the room had a distinct L-shape to it.

The crook giving the room its shape was actually little more than a ressessed area a little smaller than a standard bedroom closet. Although there were a few cupbouards and drawers remaining on each of the cavity's three walls, there were many more missing, just like the rest of the shower complex. Between each row of cabinets or drawers were eighteen-inch-long stainless-steel grab bars to help navigate the room sans gravity.

Freeing my wrists from the chain that bound them at the same moment a second and third pair of handcuffs snapped shut, the Catrions locked wach of my limbs in opposite directions to the nearest handhold. It happened so fast, my mind barely had a chance to register the transition, let alone the jarring pops in my shoulder sockets as they forced me taut. The way I ended up felt like time had stopped while I did jumping jacks.

Only my tail and head remained free, and for that, I was grateful.

"You should be proud of yourself, Desert Arachnid," The voice cooed while the Catrions who'd chained me up retreated to a safer distance.

You are the third human I've ever addressed. That means only two other humans have been worthy adversaries of Lord Theoro."

"I can count, you know," I glared at every Catrion in the room, daring the speaker to pop out. "But you'll have to forgive me if I can't add two and two."

I meant that last part as a mockery of Lord Theoro's intelligence. My tone had been pure sarcasm, my motive pure hatred.

"Yes, I'll have to do that,"

For reasons unknown to me, Lord Theoro came off as puzzled; at the same time, I kept receiving blurry images of my father. Also, his voice repeated my statement so many times, I began to think my father had said them to me when I was a yound chlid as strange as it sounded. Shaking aside that impossible thought, I focused on how menacing my angry face looked.

"To give you an idea of how significant your achievements are, let me characterize the other two humans with the same honor,"

Lord Theoro spoke like a dignified monarch. Never once did I feel as if he were stuck-up or egocentric--I thought it several times, but they were my opinion alone, not anything provable. The actual impression I got was Lord Theoro had the right to sound like he did, and no one thought any differently of him because of that right.

"If the fellow named Erma hadn't been there when the Catrions first landed on Earth, then I doubt the Catrions would have succeeded in the taking of Earth as much as we did. Interestingly, Erma was the only deserving human who lacked a spinal appendage."

Lord Theoro spoke so nostalgically, I felt my stomach prepare to disgorge itself entirely in a brilliant display of projectile puking.

"And then, there was the Animal,"

I saw my father again, standing almost exactly like I was, only he was chained to the floor.

"Without the Animal, humans would be extinct," Lord Theoro sighed. "Yes, I think the Animal was the greatest rival I shall ever have."

His tone changed to utter disgust.

"If the Animal hadn't intervened, I wouldn't have to deal with that Yrohtsi Nosamar."

Unsure of what my dad had to do with the division of power that kept resurfacing among the Catrions, I stayed silent.

"But you, the Desert Arachnid, are an enigma. You're the first human of your sub-species to earn the privilege of this discussion."

"I'm flattered, really." Anger and I were good friends with one another.

"I find interest in that you in particular are in my captivity. Tell me, are the similarities between your current predicament and the imprisonment of your father mere coincidence?"

Had I been thinking clearly at that moment, I would have noticed how uncertain Lord Theoro sounded in his inquiry. Unfortunately, my consciousness focused on other matters.

"My father?" Panic gripped me because Lord Theoro's knowing my father was impossible. "What do you know about my father?"

He was chucklking.

I felt as if Lord Theoro were behind an oversized mahogony desk at a large bank while I slumped in a stiff wooden chair pretending my loan request wasn't the reason Lord Theoro was laughing.

"I assure you the Animal and I are well acquainted."

It was true. He knew I was my father's daughter, the only blood relative of the decorated war veteran Admiral Lygre Grifin. Gulping down the thick wad of warm vomit, I longed for a way out of my hopelessness. With the identity of my father common knowledge, Lord Theoro could potentially know even more. For all I knew, retired Captain Tamina Nicole Griffin's relation to me could come up next. Without a way of guauging the extent of Lord Theoro's knowledge, I had to assume he'd assembled a scrapbook on my entire life. As terrifying as it was, it was entirely possible Lord Theoro knew my every secret, my every weakness.

But wait, whatever he might know would be limited to my life before being captured, at least in theory. If so, I'd discovered one secret dear to my heart Lord Theoro couldn't yet know. Determined not to let the secret out, I smiled at all the Catrions who could see my face; because I had a secret Lord Theoro couldn't know, I had a strength Lord Theoro couldn't destroy.

I had Victor.

Even if he hadn't managed to evade the Catrions since being captured originally, his existence alone encouraged me. If for no other reason, I could handle whatever the Catrions dished out just so I could see Victor again. There was no possible way Lord Theoro could understand the bond I had with Victor.

I had hope.

Determined to squeeze all I could out of my newfound morale booster, I gritted my teeth and turned on my teenage arrogance.

"I'm not telling you anything else until I get treated with respect!"

Alright, so it sounded cornier than I'd expected, but I'd said it because it was the sort of thing adults always used when scolding a child. To my astonishment, the clichéed expression of frustration worked; Lord Theoro was stunned.

"Now that that's over with, you better start telling me why I'm naked!"

Random, yes, but in thinking about Victor, I'd remembered how humiliated I'd been to shed my clothes for the safety of my friends, and as such, my demand was the first thing to pop out of my mouth.

"You and your father are just alike," Lord Theoro mused wile I winced at the second mentioning of my father. "Removing your coverings dehumanizes you. We do it to all the humans we come to possess to facilitate the humans' submission."

Lord Theoro's answer apalled me. The scary part for me, was his answer made sense. I'd never imagined the same state of undress worn in the shower could be a form of torture.

"It is your turn to forgive me Desert Arachnid, for I can no longer continue our lovely conversation due to other pressing matters."

All the Catrions I could see vacated the room, leaving me feeling somewhat defeated, being left shackled there.

The absense of Catrions did however give me a chance to look around my new dungeon some more.

For the most part, the room was uninteresting, except for the shower stall with the fuzzy shape inside. After staring long enough, what was behind the frosted glass door revealed itself to me.

Judging by the relative crystalline pattern in the glass, I gathered the inside of the shower was dry, which helped me recognize the shape inside as that of a girl, her limp torso pressed at an odd angle against the door. The color of her exposed flesh seemed frighteningly colorless, even through the distortion of the translucent door. In a few spots, it looked like I could see the blue and red spider webs of her arteries and veins. Shrouded by her tangled hair, what little I could see of her face appeared gaunt and lifeless. Despite her matted bangs over her forehead, I had what I thought was a clear view of her eyes; they were dark, devoid of color. The frosted glass might have prohibited me from seeing it, but the apparent absense of any white in her eyes worried me.

What frightened me the most however were her jagged cheekbones, Aidyn's jagged cheekbones.