Karii wasn't buying it. "He won't let you off so easy this time!"
"Yes he will!" Marcius insisted.
Karii turned the capsule in the direction of Tulona. It took its course, and they spent three days in transit, anxiously awaiting what came next.
Everyone at home was already waiting for them, ready for their arrest. The Ionians had evidence against them - everything that happened on Girius was recorded and sent to headquarters.
The capsule was stopped at the gateway and they were ordered to get out. Karii led Marcius out, holding the beam to his throat, just like they agreed. Marcius' hands were bound.
"I am Karii Ougas, I have delivered to Tulona my partner, who violated the charter."
Marcius stood by, slouched over.
The guards arrested them both. Neither one resisted. For several days they were held in separate cells, being questioned one by one. Their testimonies matched, since they'd rehearsed everything ahead of time. Everything pointed to Karii's innocence, and he was let go after three days, but Marcius was a different story. He was faced with three charges: sabotage, theft of government property and damage to interplanetary technology. Marcius passed along Iza's file for Indro, asked several times for a personal meeting with him, but was declined.
His case didn't even make it to court - the evidence was so overwhelming that he was found guilty right away. Even though Marcius described everything in detail in his report - how the old man captured the otherworldly signal, and how the images it contained match the ones he saw in his visions, no one payed him any attention. His actions were seen as a violation of instructions and were punishable by exile.
His week of confinement dragged on forever. He was like a wild animal in a cage, pacing from one side to the next. Just when he'd finally found a lead in his search of the mysterious world, he'd lost his freedom.
Even in the presence of guards Marcius could not gather his thoughts and could only think of his meeting with the old man. The images never left his mind, and the piercing music kept ceaselessly playing somewhere in the distance. He never thought himself crazy, but now, with his visions confirmed by real solid facts, he was exceptionally certain of his sanity. It was frightening, almost making him wish to go back to the way things were.
"I truly am seeing a faraway world, full of life, people, feeling and intellect. It exists! But why does it call me? Why can't it let me be? Maybe it needs me? Or maybe I need it? How disappointing that the old man could not say for sure where to find it! My wish to find it does indeed border on insanity. My life seems illusory and meaningless, its only purpose lying somewhere far across the galaxy!"
On the eighth day they came to get him. The warden read his sentence out to him in private:
"Marcius Appa Laun, you have been found guilty of crimes against Tulona. You have undermined our authority in the eyes of Iona and enabled a dangerous criminal to escape. You've displayed aggression towards your partner and put your personal interests above those of your leaders. You are sentenced to ten years of confinement. You will be transported to the satellite Aiax. You will have regular sessions with a prison psychiatrist."
Everything he said was completely true, except perhaps for the part about Marcius having more concern for his own interests than those of Tulona.
Immediately after his conviction, he was led out of the cell, given a change of clothing and a number and sent on his way to the aerodrome to be taken to Aiax. He walked as if through a haze. Ten years was a number he could barely comprehend - it seemed that all of this was happening to someone else. There was a discernible ringing in his ears.
Yet there was still one last glimmer of hope. Karii was assigned as pilot to take him to Aiax, which meant he could still have one last word with him. Seeing his friend was like a breath of fresh air after so many days in solitude. He caught his eye and gave him a wink, but Karii met his gaze with indifference, which was surprisingly painful, although the real surprise was Karii being allowed to be here in the first place. Marcius sensed that Indro had something to do with it.
Giving him a rough shove from behind, the guards loaded Marcius into the capsule, tightly fastening him to the seat, isolating him from the pilot's quarters. They carried this out with stark indifference and disrespect, which Marcius quietly tried to ignore. He felt the capsule take off the ground and soar into the sky. The path to Aiax was only a few minutes long, and very soon he would come face to face with the hostile world of prison, which was to be his home for the next ten years.
The conditions on Aiax were particularly toxic. It was out in open space, so escape was virtually impossible, and it was hard to last there for ten years. Marcius knew that he was doomed, although not yet able to fully grasp the true horror of his situation.
The trip should have long been over, but the capsule continued to soar through open space. One hour passed, then another, but still they did not stop, and Marcius started to understand that he's being taken someplace else entirely. He started to yelclass="underline"
"Karii! Can you hear me? Where are we?"
But his friend didn't respond.
A whole day passed, and they were still going. Marcius was disoriented, and his ignorance drove him mad. What sort of game was this? Where could they be taking him? His friend gave him no hints.
Finally, they came to a stop. Marcius felt the artificial gravity of the spacecraft shut off and a natural external gravitational field come into play. Judging from the weakness of the pull, the object wasn't too large - the size of maybe a satellite, but definitely not a planet. Marcius started to rack his brain for all locations within a days' travel of Tulona with such a gravity. There weren't too many options - it had to be a satellite of one of the neighboring planets. But what in the world were they doing here?
Karii opened the cabin and handed him a spacesuit. "Put it on," he said.
Marcius looked at him, bewildered. The magnets holding him to the chair got deactivated and slowly he pulled on the suit.
"Let's go!" Karii commanded.
"Where are we?" asked Marcius.
Karii didn't reply, taking care to hide his eyes and avoid Marcius' gaze. He heaved a deep sigh, stretched a silver cord out to him and said:
"We are on the satellite Glo, descending to the bottom of a volcano."
"Whatever for?" Marcius asked in surprise.
Glo was Krama's satellite. They were on enemy territory. Their capsule floated above the mouth of a dead volcano, and Marcius had not the slightest clue what this could mean.
"I'll explain everything when we get down," said Karii. "It's important, trust me!"
Marcius didn't know what to do, but he trusted his friend. If Karii told him to do this, he must have his reasons. Maybe this was an assignment, maybe something else, but he didn't doubt his friend for a second and did as he was told. He fastened himself to the cable and started to slowly make his way down, expecting Karii to follow. Only a few meters remained off the ground when Marcius looked up and saw that Karii was still standing at the top.
Noticing that Marcius stopped and was looking up at him, Karii took his beam and cut the chord.
As Marcius fell, he saw the capsule door snap shut, swallowing up his friend. Leaving him behind, the craft spiraled up and flew off into the unknown. Then his back painfully collided with the exposed rock below. He groaned. The weakness of gravity was the only thing that saved him from imminent death. The ferromagnetic liquid of the severed cord splattered him with cold.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement to his left. Turning his head, he saw light shining through a crack in the rocks, illuminating the dark silhouettes of Krameans. They were watching him. They did not appear too friendly - narrow suits billowing out bell-shaped at the bottom, headpieces with ominous spikes sticking out in all directions, black lenses obstructing their faces, blinding with a sharp reflective gleam. Squinting, Marcius turned away with a grimace. He hated the Krameans with his whole heart. They were the ones that killed his parents. Why did Karii leave him here with them??