Hyper

[Location: Decontamination Depot t3rm1nu5 - Cafeteria]

Linda turned her head slowly to look at the shiny silver box and then back to Charlie with a worried look on her face. She took a slow deep breath and exhaled the single word, “Prisoner?” The knot that had set up residence in her stomach, double and then triple tied itself.

Linda was no stranger to prisoners. Being that she had worked at an all-male prison, female workers had to enter the prison through a separate secured door for their protection. There were strict rules about communicating with prisoners which basically boiled down to—do not do it.

From the prisoners’ point of view, they had no rules and constantly ogled any female staff member they could lay their eyes on. Linda was an attractive twenty-year-old blonde woman at the time and the prisoners seemed to give her the most trouble. They would whisper inappropriate things to her when they saw her in the cafeteria serving line and yell rude comments any time they got a glimpse of her in the kitchen. The intimidation always made her nervous so she would ask Charlie for an escort to her car at the end of each shift.

When she had received the news from Charlie that they were to relocate to D.D.315, the one positive aspect that came to mind was that she wouldn’t have to be anywhere near criminals ever again. She had been elated to accept the role as the queen of the welcome-wagon for the refugees from Earth. Her job was to provide her guests with a friendly smile, a couple good meals, and then get them on their way to Mars. Now it looked like some of her experiences from the past were coming back to haunt her in the form of a prisoner in a silver metal cube.

Jozef answered in a matter-of-fact voice, “Yes ma’am. We’re transporting a prisoner from Earth to Mars with authorization from Elixer Pharmaceuticals.” He gestured toward the metallic cell behind him. “He will remain in his secured container the entire time he’s on your depot.”

Linda slowly walked closer to the silver cube and inquisitively inspected all four sides of the container trying to understand what it was made of and how it worked. She wasn’t a technology savvy person, but she had never seen anything like it before. Linda found it hard to believe that a human being could actually be inside of the glowing box a few feet from her. “He’s in there?”

Jozef answered dryly, “Correct.”

Linda continued, “How does he breathe?”

Jozef folded his arms over his chest. “The cell is considered a self-contained living space. It has its own oxygen scrubbers that produce an Earth-like atmosphere. It has a place for the prisoner to recline and the surface inside the box can display images to prevent any feelings of claustrophobia.”

Linda was concerned with the safety aspect of having a criminal onboard D.D.315 and had more questions. “Can he hear us? See us?”

Jozef pulled a small control device from his right pants pocket and held it up for Linda to see. It was a little smaller than a pack of cigarettes and had two small circular buttons on the front as well as a number keypad. “I can adjust the transparency of the container a few different ways. I can set it so we can see him but he can’t see us, or it can be adjusted so both parties can see each other.” He turned toward Charlie and held up the device so he could see it too. “This also controls the audio of the pod. Right now the pod is in isolation mode; he can’t see or hear us. Any time we move the prisoner we put it in isolation mode so he has no idea where he’s being moved to.”

After years of marriage, Linda had learned to gauge a situation by watching her husband’s demeanor and facial expressions. When she broke the news to Charlie that she had backed his new truck over the mailbox, she knew he wasn’t upset just by the look on his face. When Linda had tried a recipe for tofu meatloaf, Charlie’s facial expression told her exactly what he thought about her ill-conceived experiment.

So Linda looked over at Charlie hoping to see a little reassurance that allowing a criminal on D.D.315 was acceptable and most importantly safe. Being the ever-loving husband, he gave his wife a slight nod and a look of confidence.

Even so, Linda continued to question Jozef. “And that control you have there…it can release him from the pod as well?”

Jozef frowned and shook his head. “No, ma’am. The pod can only be opened by Elixer officials on Mars. There is a highly encrypted software code that must be entered to allow the prisoner to exit the pod.”

Linda peered at Jozef for any indication that he was lying or at the least, stretching the truth to make the situation sound better than it really was. “So, we’re safe?”

A smile appeared on Jozef’s hardened face. “Yes, ma’am. We just traveled half way to Mars with him inside of our transport without one bit of trouble.”

Linda folded her arms across her chest and was silent as she thought about Jozef’s answers and the safety of both her and her husband. She wasn’t thrilled to have a criminal onboard and wasn’t all that happy with two of her four guests either. The refugees that frequented D.D.315 were usually regular folks like mothers with children, the guy that ran the dry-cleaning store down the street, and the lady that rang up your bottle of pop at the Texaco station. Guards with guns and criminals in floating boxes had never been on the guest list before. She bit her bottom lip and exhaled as her level of stress started to diminish.

Linda confidently walked in front of the four men and said in a serious tone, “I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit, but the only thing we can do is get you guys fed, refueled, and on your way.”

Charlie put his arm around her shoulder to show a united front. “We’re familiar with prisoners. Both of us were employed at the state pen in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I was a guard.”

Linda raised her hand. “And I was a cook.”

Jozef tilted his head slightly and questioned Charlie, “You were at Tuscaloosa?”

Charlie nodded. “Uh huh.”

“Huh.” Jozef said. My brother was there. Small world.”

Linda quietly watched as her husband walked closer to the metallic cube. “So, who is this guy? What did he do?”

Jozef slightly wrinkled his brow and shook his head. “Regulations state we cannot disclose any information about the prisoner to non-Elixer personnel.”

Charlie’s face dropped with disappointment. “Come on man,” He said in a convincing tone. “We’re millions of miles from Earth and Mars. Who would know?”

Tom stepped forward with a twisted look on his face, as if he had just bitten into a lemon. He glared at Jozef and sneered, “You’re such a fuckin’ company man.”

The knot in Linda’s stomach began to tighten again as Tom walked past Jozef, and then looked at her with his lifeless eyes. “You want info? Here’s some info for ya: the ass-hole in the pod is Harry Hell Raiser McCormick, one of the most ruthless killers on the planet Earth.”

“Never heard of him. What’d he do?” Charlie asked, and folded his arms over his chest.

Tom pushed some of his black greasy hair from his eyes and peered at Jozef with a look of defiance. “He started off robbing a mini-mart at the age of sixteen. Was in and out of juvie a bunch of times—more petty theft, armed robbery, and fighting. Did some nasty shit when he was in the can too.”

Linda sighed and shook her head. “Sounds like a model citizen.” She pinched her bottom lip as Tom continued with his story. She wondered if it was too late to change her mind and ask her visitors to leave.

Tom glared at Linda and replied with a dialect that was straight from the south side of Chicago, “Yeah, a model citizen of Hell.” His scuffed black boots clunked on the glossy tile floor with each step as he walked toward the pod and glanced back at Jozef to see the look on his face.

Jozef’s face had turned red and he clenched his jaw in anger as Tom’s insubordination continued. “When he was nineteen, he robbed a bank and ended up killing most of the people he was holding hostage. Thing is, he didn’t have to kill anybody. They had already given him the money, but he wanted to leave his mark on the job and started shooting. And ya know what the kicker was?”

Charlie and Linda answered in stereo, “What?”

Tom glared at the two and lowered his voice a bit. “That fucker right there,” he pointed at the cube, “he ended up blowing away three kids—a ten-year-old and a seven-year-old boy and an infant girl.” Tom opened his eyes wide and exhaled as a look of disbelief washed over his face. “I’m not big on kids being that I’m not really your typical daddy material, but that’s just fuckin’ sick. Killin’ kids is wrong. Just wrong.”

Linda wasn’t happy with the details she was hearing and looked at Charlie to see if he was as disturbed as she was. But she received no feedback from him as Charlie stood there memorized by Tom’s story, hanging on his every word.

Tom grimaced. “And the only reason he didn’t kill all of the people was a couple of the workers were able to run into the vault and close the door before he got to them.”

Seeing no reaction from her husband, she bluntly asked Jozef, “We are safe…correct?”

With a reassuring smile and a calm voice, Jozef answered, “Yes. One hundred percent safe. We have the situation under control.” He walked past Tom and gave him a look of anger mixed with revenge. “Plus, any time this one’s mouth is moving,” he raggedly pointed at Tom with his index finger, “consider it a lie.”

Tom shrugged, held out his hands, and rolled his eyes at Jozef’s comments. “Hey, I’m just sayin…” Then he walked a few feet away from the group.

Jozef snapped off the words, “Yeah, you’re always just sayin. Providing details about a prisoner is a breach of protocol and is punishable by the forfeit of three days’ pay.” Jozef gave Tom an evil smile.

Tom turned toward Jozef as his face boiled red with anger. He slowly walked toward him, pushed his own face within six inches of Jozef’s, and the two stood eye to eye. Jozef returned Tom’s look of hostility with a cold, intimidating stare of his own.

Tom spit out the acid covered words, “You think you run this show, but ya know what? You ain’t shit.”

Tom wiped some of the grime from his greasy face with his index finger and then stuck it less than an inch from Jozef’s nose. “If I was you, I would make sure to sleep with one eye open for the rest of the trip. Hell, for that matter, the rest of your life. ’Cause if I don’t fillet your guts by the time we get to Mars, I’ll make a point of it to hunt your sorry ass down and do it then.” He balled his fists, ready for war.

Jozef chuckled at Tom’s theatrics. “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not the first person that has wanted to kill me, and I’ll make a bet that you won’t be the last.” He rolled his eyes.

The muscles in Tom’s body flexed in unison, preparing to attack as he got into Jozef’s face again. “And after I cut your stinkin’ guts out, I’m gonna take that lighter of yours—the naked lady one. I must have challenged you to an arm wrestling match at least ten times so I could win it from you fair and square, but if you happen to be bleeding out on the floor someday, don’t be surprised when I reach into your pocket and take it from ya.”

Jozef replied with spite laden words and shook his head. “Why do you want that stinkin’ lighter so bad?” He moved his right hand onto his firearm.

Tom continued with his intimidating stare and grunted. “It’d give me something to do in my bunk for the rest of the trip.”

Linda didn’t like where the situation in front of her was going and slapped her husband’s forearm with the back of her hand as the knot in her stomach grew as tight as it had ever been. She knew Charlie was used to snuffing out situations like this from his experience as a prison guard and wanted him to take action.

Taking her cue, Charlie pulled the two potential combatants apart. “You two break it up.” He pushed Jozef to his right and Tom to his left. “If you want to beat the snot out of each other that’s fine by me. Just don’t do it on my depot.”

He stood between the two with his hands on his hips like the referee of a boxing match. “Now both of you, stand down! Take your gear off and get yourselves something to eat. The sooner you guys do your repairs and refuel, the sooner you’re outta here.”

Jozef and Tom slowly separated but continued to pitch visual daggers at one another. Linda worried that even though Charlie had thrown some water on the situation, the smoldering ashes of this conflict could reignite at any moment.

Tom looked toward the married couple and whispered, “If you gotta few minutes later on, I can tell ya how The Hell Raiser stabbed a guy in the joint. Carved out his intestines and draped them inside of his cell.” His brow popped up and down. “Somethin’ you’ll never forget.”

Jozef’s face relaxed as he returned to business and pulled a digital pad from his pocket. He pushed the e-pad in front of Charlie. “You need to sign the decontamination paperwork and verify that the prisoner is in transit.”

Charlie tightened his lips and shook his head. “I don’t verify anything I can’t see.” He snorted and pushed away the electronic pad. “Hell, for all I know there might be a unicorn stuck in that box. I’ve never heard of a Harry McCormick and there’s no way in hell I’m signing any paperwork to verify he was here without seein’ him.”

Jozef rolled his eyes and sighed. “Why does this always have to be so fuckin’ difficult?” He pushed the pad back toward Charlie. “As I said before: policy says I am not allowed to disclose information about the prisoner—and that includes letting you see him.”

Charlie walked past Jozef and guided Linda forward as the two headed for the cafeteria line. “Forget it. Ain’t happenin’.” As they got closer to the cafeteria line he announced. “Fire up the skillet and let’s get these guys fed and outta here.”

Linda wasn’t sure of the correct paperwork protocol for a situation like this, but followed her husband’s lead since she knew he was an expert at his job. She walked behind the griddle, adjusted the knobs to fire it up, then turned to the refrigerator behind her and took a visual inventory. She allowed herself to relax a bit and was happy to see that things were finally moving because she wanted to get her guests off of D.D.315 as quickly as she could and return to her normal life.

Jozef lowered his head and through his clenched jaw he whispered, “Collecting protection money in Horodenka was easier than working with these ass holes.” Then he threw up his hands. “Fine, whatever. You wanna see the guy?” He pulled the small control from his pocket and pushed one of the buttons. “There now you can see him.” He exhaled and continued to swear under his breath.

Charlie and Linda stood frozen for a few seconds and then walked back toward the cube. The silver pixilated color that had previously covered all sides had vanished and was now perfectly clear. Three florescent green lines intersected at each corner of the invisible cube to provide a frame of reference for its size and location.

The two stood side by side, about six feet from the box, fascinated by what they saw. A man was sitting on a padded chair inside with his arms folded across his chest and his headed lowered. It gave the distinct appearance that the prisoner was comfortably taking a nap.

Realizing that isolation mode had been disabled, the inmate slowly raised his head and opened his eyes. Then he turned his head to the left and noticed Linda and Charlie staring at him. The man kept his arms crossed. He smiled and said in a smooth and welcoming tone.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Harry. Harry McCormick.”