Bitter - Sweet (Installment 4)

Nalia lead Anton through endless passages. Light of foot, she made virtually no sound. Anton had to struggle to keep up with her so as not to lose his way. He was not as gifted in stealth and the young woman frequently glared. Suddenly, the girl ducked into a doorway and yanked the breathless Anton after her.

The young man stared agape and the massive door. It was made of some unusual alloy. He blinked and discovered it to be mysteriously opened. He had no idea how. He suspected Nalia had something to do with it, yet she was standing next to him. I saw nothing, simply that there was a door there, and suddenly there was not.

"Are you going to stand there all night, or indulge in some ill-gotten goods?" Nalia hissed before disappearing into the gaping hole. Anton had no choice but to follow her.

Once again, he stood agape. Not so much at what he saw, he had been inside kitchens before. But rather, what he did not. No sound aside from Nalia and his own breathing, he found it odd though he was unsure why. Then he realized that there were no electro-atom fields. At all.

"Electro-atoms can alter food composition after a while. It’s not a concern on , say, Earth where food is acquired and consumed rather quickly. But in places like this, where food is acquired and stored in bulk for extended periods, it’s best to do without." Nalia offered before he could even ask.

"Alter how?"

"Depends. Some things just spoil, some become toxic. Depends really on what it is you are eating."

"But," Anton’s brow furrowed in concern, "we are ‘stored’ with electro-atoms for extended periods of time. Does that mean we alter over time?"

"Oh, we are far too complex to be altered by electro-atoms. Our own electrons cancel them out. It’s the simple organisms, like yeast, that are at risk."

"How do you know so much?" Nalia shrugged.

"I read," the young woman said as she made her way over to a door that Anton figured must be the cooler.

"Read? Read what?"

"Anything I can get my hands on . . . paper," she pulled it open, "damn!" she cursed.

"What?" Anton thought they might be in danger.

"No ice cream," she sighed as she slammed the door closed, "brownies it is."

"Brownies?"

"Ah," Nalia removed a plate heaping with brownies,"just as I suspected." She offered the plate to Anton, who reached for one. Nalia smacked his hand away.

"You fool! You don’t want to make it obvious to them!"

"What?"

"The kitchen staff will notice if you take just any brownie. You must practice discretion." Anton watched as Nalia deftly removed a brownie from the pile. Took a second brownie and replaced the first. Effectively covering the gap. The plate was replaced to its spot in the cabinet and the commandeered brownie broke in half. She handed her companion half, "the important thing is to not be greedy."

"Greedy?"

"If you want any minute measure of success in missions such as this, you’ve got to take steps to avoid suspicion. How quickly do you think security would tighten if the kitchen staff started noticing food was missing."

"Pretty quick, I imagine," Anton halfheartedly replied as he nibbled on his brownie.

"Like lightning," Nalia snapped, then abruptly cooled, "It’s why I am careful never to take more than one scoop of ice cream, occasionally two, but never more. That is, when there is ice cream." She glared at the freezer.

"I’ve been wondering . . . " Anton began, then trailed off.

"What?" Nalia finished her brownie.

"Well, you can easily escape your cell, how come you’ve never escaped out of here?" To his surprise, Nalia began to laugh, "What?".

"Escape . . . from intergalactic prison. On Pluto."

"I don’t see why not, obviously you understand how security works here." Anton finished his brownie.

"You really don’t know anything about where we are, do you?"

"What is there to know. Intergalactic prisoners get sent here." Nalia rolled her eyes.

"First of all, we are on Pluto. An barren wasteland, hardly more than a rock. No air, no vegetation, nothing except rocks and dust. One atom outside this facility and we would be gone in a nanosecond. Either through suffocation or freezing, though freezing is the much more likely option. I doubt you could measure how long it would take our bodies to reach absolute zero."

"I--" Nalia silenced him with a hand. Anton heard nothing.

"Shit!" She leapt to her feet and dashed to the doorway. Mysteriously open, she peered into the hallway. Anton came and stood next to her, "Something has alerted the guards. We must hurry!"

Nalia pulled the young man through the passages at dizzying speeds. She took just as roundabout a way as before, yet Anton sensed it was a different set of passages she tore through recklessly. Before it could register that they were back at their cells, Nalia shoved him and reactivated his cell; trapping him as it rose. She easily swung into her own cage and reactivated her own electro-atom cell.

"Pretend to sleep!" She ordered in a hushed voice before curling up and shutting her eyes.

Anton stared wordlessly at the motionless young woman. Soon he too feigned sleep, more questions than answers haunted his mind.