“So, Max, how should we play this out? Do you submit, or do I take?”
“Is that another Patrician leader perk, or are you naturally a fucking asshole?”
“Such language, Max.”
He kisses me hard, practically ramming his tongue down my throat. But I bite back splitting his lip. He backhands me across the face. I squirm under him trying to throw him off, but he’s too heavy.
“You wanted to kill me yesterday, but now you want to fuck me? Get off,” I scream.
“Only when we’re done.”
He leans closer in and I slam my head against his. The world spins and I see stars, but it’s enough to daze him too. I slide out from under him and onto the floor. I bolt towards the bathroom, but Jack is only one step behind me. I round the corner and am reaching for the door handle when Jack’s full weight takes me down. My chin hits the wood planked floor causing me to cut my lower lip. Nausea washes over me as Jack flips me over onto my back. I know I have a concussion. I drift in and out of consciousness, but I know what he’s doing. I grab a hold of reality long enough to plant my foot firmly into his crotch. I take my other foot and knee him in the face. He moans in pain as a move out from under him. I get back to the bedroom and grab the Kopis, which I left slung over a chair at the foot of the bed. Jack gets to his feet and runs after me. I hold the weapon out in front of me and he stops.
“You won’t always be armed, Max.”
He backs away and leaves. I call for one of the Matrons to come up and tend to my injuries, then I go check them out for myself in the bathroom mirror.
So much for being a utopia.
I’m sitting on the floor against the wall of the bathroom when the Matron from earlier enters. She applies a healing ointment to my lip, an ice pack to the bump that has formed on my forehead, and gives me painkillers. She doesn’t ask any questions and says she’ll come back up in a few hours to check on me, but that I shouldn’t go to sleep. She takes my dirty clothes from the bathroom and leaves. I drop my weapon onto the bed, put on clean linen pants and shirt, curl up on the sectional, and turn on the flat screen.
There isn’t anything to watch except what looks like security footage from Tarsus. No one is in the streets. The flashy lights are off, making the large city look eerily abandoned. I pick up a remote from the coffee table and scroll through the few channels available. Previous episodes of The Litarian Battles run in a loop. None of them look recent, so I guess they’re probably from when the show originally started. I shut the screen off, move to the sun-room, pull one of the lounge chairs closer to the windows, and sit. The sun is high overhead and there are more people in the courtyard than there were yesterday.
I wonder how many people live here now that Thrace Tower is empty. Would the Patrician have moved any of their loyalists who lived in Tarsus to here as well? Is that why the city looks so empty?
The front door chimes, so I get up and go over to the communicator. Garrett stands on the other side.
“What do you want?” I ask through the device.
“You all right, Max? You don’t sound right.”
“I’m fine,” I lie. “I’m just tired. I guess the traveling from the Dead Zone to Icarian took more out of me than I thought possible.”
“Then why don’t I believe you? Max, let me in.” He starts pounding on the door.
“Go away.”
“No, not until I know you’re ok.”
“Fine,” I say as I push the button.
The door slides open and Garrett storms into the room. He takes one look at me, picks me up, and sets me down on the couch. He closes the door, goes into the kitchen, and comes back with a cold drink.
“What happened?” he asks, handing me the glass.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
I swallow the glasses contents in one gulp, hand the empty glass back to Garrett, and he goes back to the kitchen to refill it. This time, he returns with two tumblers. He hands me one, but keeps the other as he sits next to me.
“Are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess?”
“You just won’t give up, will you?”
“Not when it comes to protecting you.”
With that last remark, he sounds like the Garrett I met back in Thrace Tower.
“I’ll take care of it,” is the only response I give.
We sit in silence until the Matron returns sometime later with lunch. Somehow she knew Garrett was with me since she brings in two meals. We eat in the dining room, but I only pick at my food since I don’t have much of an appetite. Garrett tries to coax me into going outside with him, but I decline, so he kisses me gently then leaves. I go back to the sun-room, but not until I take my Kopis off the bed. I’m not letting go of it. I probably won’t sleep either while we’re here since Jack can get into the apartment whenever he wants.
I quickly become bored and restless. Sitting idle has never worked out well for me. I go into the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face and notice the suit is hanging on one of the hooks by the shower. It should’ve been removed when the rest of my clothes were, but the Matron left it behind. Why?
I go into the kitchen and push the call button. The Matron responds, asking what I need.
