Page 30 of Volunteer 4711

“I have never been away from my people, so it is difficult for me to fully understand how you feel. I can confidently say that I have never hurt you and have only wanted the best for you, given the circumstances. So I will repeat myself if you want to spend time with this Water woman to work out what is blindingly obvious to everyone else, go ahead. But I would advise against it. I would advise you to take the doctor’s advice.”

“You knew I was in sickbay?”

“I always know where you are,” he says. “I know when you are doing the laundry, studying, chatting with your friends, and when you are in your quarters.”

“I want to see the other Water woman. I want to be allowed to have a proper talk with her. You can have someone monitor it if you want. I think that will help me. I need to talk to another Water person about being forced off my planet.” I touch my chest over my heart and look at him sincerely, “I still carry this pain, and it has nothing to do with you.”

He holds my gaze for what seems like minutes but then says, “I understand. I will arrange a meeting tonight. Now. The doctor will sit with you both. I do not want her to poison your mind.”

“Thank you.”

“But, there is a catch,” he adds. “After this meeting, I want you to think long and hard about what I have said about mixing your good reputation with hers.” He moves over to his computer, and I watch as he organizes for the other human to come over to our ship. Of course, she is coming with guards, which means that my Commander will send guards as well as the doctor with me. “She will be waiting for you in conference room one. Do you know where that is?”

“I will find it,” I say. “May I go now, or should I finish my duties here first?”

“Go,” he waves me off.

I turn and walk as fast as I can out the door without even saying ‘goodnight.’ Once in the empty corridor, I follow the signs to conference room one. It’s in the officer’s working area. I’m so excited that I round a corner without thinking too much, as the hallways are almost empty due to the late hour, and run right into the doctor. I fall to the floor, but he quickly offers me a hand up.

“Slow down there. I am glad to see you are feeling better,” he says.

“Thank you for agreeing to this.”

“It was an order, but I would have agreed anyway. I do not know much about Water people, but I think if you want to speak to her, it is good that I supervise it.”

“To support the Commander’s will,” I say.

“No,” he replies. “To support your grasp on reality.”

I balk. “I have a firm grip on reality.”

“I know you do, but does she?” he questions me. I don’t have a chance to answer before he continues, “Before we go in, I want to assure you, I will not tell anyone what you talk about. I am just here for your health, Volunteer 4711.”

“Thank you,” I say, walking into the conference room. It’s empty except for the other human woman. The guards from the other fleet are outside the door, joined by my Commander’s guards.

I smile at the woman and sit down across from her; the doctor takes a seat on the other end of the table between us.

“This is our ship’s doctor. He’s here to monitor my health as I ….”

“I was there,” the human woman replies. “Remember?”

“Of course,” I say, thinking she must think I’ve completely lost my mind. “I’m sorry for calling you here so late. I just wanted to talk to you. To sort this all out.”

She shakes her head. “It’s fine. I don’t mind at all. It’s been so long since I’ve seen another human; it’s good to talk. I’m just impressed you managed it. I mean, with a conference room and everything.”

“I told my Commander that I hadn’t gotten over being made a volunteer, and I explained that if I spoke to you about it, it may lessen my trauma around what happened.”

“Volunteer,” she repeats back. “You mean ‘slave.’”

“I’m not a slave here,” I correct her.

“I don’t mean to offend you, but you have a slave name, and you carry the mark of a slave. You know that male sitting right there,” she points to the doctor, “could remove that in a matter of minutes as if it was never there.”

I don’t look at the doctor. “I know that now. But I assure you I’m not a slave here. I have a lot of responsibilities, and I’m treated like any other crew member.”

“I find that difficult to believe,” she says. “Do you own any clothing without your Commander’s mark on them?”

She had me there. “No.”

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