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Adrian's head ached horrendously, and the left side of his face throbbed in pain as he sat in the darkness of what he assumed was the brig of a Gnol spacecraft. He wasn't sure, however. After his capture, he had been severely beaten to unconsciousness.
When he awoke, he was in the very place he was sitting now. The small cell was totally dark, and the only food that was provided to him in the two days since his capture had been the small slivers of bread already in his cell. The only water he was able to obtain was from the droplets of condensation that dripped from the pipes that crisscrossed along the ceiling of his cell. The pipes were the clues that led him to believe that he was aboard a ship because the pipes contained a cold liquid that he guessed cooled some sort of nuclear reactor powering the ship.
Adrian licked his dry lips and swallowed as he tried to ease the dryness in his throat. He slowly stood, but nearly fell from the dizziness in his head. When he regained his balance, he stood on the only piece of furniture in his prison - a small wooden stool. He inched up on his tiptoes and licked at the condensation on the cold pipes.
He continued to lick as much moisture from the pipes as he could. When he couldn't scavenge for any more water, he stepped down from the stool. As he was doing so, the doors of his cell slid open. The brightness of the light outside of his cell pierced his eyes, causing him to wince in more pain. His heel caught the edge of the stool and he stumbled backwards, cracking his head on the wall behind him.
He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs as he opened his eyes. He saw two blurry images approach. He felt muscular arms grab him from under each armpit and lift him to his feet.
As the two Gnols pulled him from his cell, Adrian tried to keep their quick pace, but the weakness in his legs wouldn't allow him to keep up. He stumbled and decided to conserve his energy as he let the Gnols drag him through a long, sterile corridor.
Adrian's eyesight began to improve. When they reached the end of the corridor, they turned right and made their way down another long corridor, and into what Adrian assumed was an elevator. When they entered the elevator, the door behind them slid shut.
"Bridge," one of the Gnols said.
Adrian felt the elevator lift upwards for about a minute. The elevator stopped, and the doors opened. Adrian's vision was back to normal, and he wished it wasn't, for his worst fear was in full view in front of him. Through the elevator doors and beyond the protective plasma shield of the bridge was the blue and green image of Earth. Adrian felt a lump form in his throat as he saw his home for the first time in twenty-five years.
He swallowed and felt a small surge of energy flow through his body. He shook loose. "Where's your commanding officer!" he said angrily.
The Gnol to his left looked angry and stepped forward to throw a punch into Adrian's face. But the Gnol on Adrian's right stepped around Adrian and stopped the Gnol before he delivered the blow. He glared at Adrian and gave him a knowing smile then he pointed to the left of the bridge and said, "He is through that door, and he is expecting you."
Adrian looked in the direction the Gnol pointed and made his way to the door. The thirty plus crew members working at various stations on the bridge immediately stopped working and stared at him as he walked to the door. Adrian felt the anger surge through him, for he knew what they were planning to do. He looked at Earth through the bridge and stopped just in front of the door. The door slid open.
Adrian stepped into a spacious office about half the size of the bridge. The door slid shut. The office was dimly lit, but Adrian could see a large crystal desk to his left. On the desk, were two computers and behind the desk was the long back of a leather office chair. The chair was swaying gently back and forth as its occupant stared at the planet outside of the giant plasma shield separating Adrian and his companion in the office from the vacuum of space.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" said a familiar voice from behind the chair.
Adrian stepped closer to the desk and replied, "Yes, it is, but-"
Adrian was cut off by the familiar voice. "Twenty-five years. Has it really been that long?"
Adrian moved in closer. He recognized the voice as Dorange Gar's, Koroan Chast's right hand Gnol, but was confused and wondered what Dorange was talking about.
"Twenty-five years. Where has the time gone, Adrian? We were so young back then, and we had so many dreams of greatness."
Adrian's mind was reeling. The voice of Dorange Gar was so familiar and almost reminded him of an old enemy from his past, but how could that be? Adrian began to step around the desk when the chair slowly began to turn his way. Adrian stopped as the chair turned.
His jaw dropped after Dorange turned the chair around to face him. Adrian met the tear -filled eyes of Dorange and spoke in almost a whisper of shock. "D ? Don!"