Page 22 of Galactic Sentinels: Vol. 1
“Hi, Sleeping Beauty,” I say with a grin, quoting one of the old Earth movies we used to love.
“Hey there! Sorry to be a bother,” she replies, her voice light.
“Are you kidding? I finally got to pick the movie without your dictatorship. It was glorious. I watchedThe Witcher—you know, the series you think is ridiculous because it’s ‘not believable’?”
She giggles, and the sound is like sunlight. It’s moments like this that make everything feel worth it.
Still, a shadow lingers in the back of my mind. One day, the sarcophagus might not be enough. One day, it might not be able to fix her.
But not today.
I hand her the soft tunic I laid out earlier and roll her wheelchair closer, just in case she wants to use it. She’s safe. She’s smiling. And for now, that’s enough.
She gets up and dresses quickly, then gently closes the lid of the sarcophagus. Her hands rest on the top, and she stands there, motionless.
“Prianka? Are you okay?” I ask, instantly alert.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just… weird.” She points to the small display on the pod’s surface. “Do you see that number? That’s the cycle counter. Last month, it was higher. There’s a two-cycle difference.”
My blood runs cold.
She turns to me, her eyes narrowing slightly, searching my face. I try to stay calm, to keep my expression neutral, but inside, panic flutters like a trapped bird.
“Look,” she insists. “Remember? I told you it was at two hundred twenty-two. Now it says two hundrednineteen. That’s strange, right? Do you know who else uses this pod?”
Her voice is calm, but her gaze is sharp—too sharp. She’s always been observant, always noticed the little things. I can’t lie easily to her. Not for long.
And yet… I have to.
In an instant, I’m back to that evening a week ago—the one that turned a perfect day into a nightmare.
I had pickedUnderworldfor our movie night, one of those old Earth films with vampires, werewolves, and, most importantly, a fearless woman at the center of it all. A woman whose courage I secretly admired. After gushing over the heroine’s haircut, Prianka and I dove into the video archives to find a tutorial on how to replicate it. An hour later, I had a pretty decent short bob—and I was proud of it. For the first time in years, my hair was above my shoulders instead of trailing down to my lower back. I felt lighter. Freer.
When Henri showed up, I was nervous about how he’d react. But his usual smile put me at ease
His friendliness didn't last long, though. No sooner had the door closed than he slapped me on the bed.
"How dare you?" he asked, sounding pretty angry.
"Don't you like it?" I stammered a little and cried a little.
"Why exactly did I think you were my partner? Because you were gorgeous and young. Now, not only are you a terrible lover, but you've also ruined your looks in the most ridiculous way imaginable! It'll be years before it's back to an acceptable level."
"But I'm more comfortable like this!" I made the argument that...
"After all the trouble I went through to get you! You're all mine. Your hair is mine. Every part of you is mine. You're going to regret damaging what's mine!"
And then the violence started. It wasn't the first time, but it was definitely one of the most brutal.
The next morning, I woke up in the regeneration sarcophagus. Henri was telling me to get dressed before my sister woke up.
The hard truth was that Prianka was there for two reasons. First, she made sure the community thought the governor was a caring and compassionate person, not afraid to take on his disabled sister. Second, she had a regeneration sarcophagus at home, so he could beat me up as much as he wanted without ever leaving a trace.
There was no way to tell anyone. I'd already tried that with his assistant, Hilda. I guess I was naive enough to think that, as a woman, she'd be more understanding. She just dismissed my complaints as tiredness and youth, and had me taken home. Man, I really paid for that attempt at denunciation. My sister didn't know anything about it.
One time, Henri asked me if I wanted us to split up. He said he'd understand if I didn't want to be tied to a man more than forty years older than me, like a nobleman. If I'd made that choice, I would've permanently lost the regeneration pod for Prianka. He would've only gotten sympathy from the colony since his ungrateful, frivolous young companion bailed onhim. His request was pretty strategic. He knew exactly what my answer would be. The whole point of his proposal was to mess with my head, which he loved to do!
Long story short, I was stuck with a nasty, violent guy in the privacy of our bedroom, and I couldn't tell anyone. Especially not my sister, who would have been horrified to learn what I was going through.
