***

  Summers was in a confused state. She was sitting on the ground; it was cold, and her hands were tightly restrained, cinching her wrists. She felt a throbbing localized pain, and her muscles were tight.

  She wiggled, trying to get comfortable, and looked through foggy eyes at the vaguely familiar shapes of the CO’s office. She held out hope the major would retake the ship and restore proper order, but, as the time went by, her hopes dimmed. But not her zeal to fight.

  She tried to curse under her gag, despite her self-discipline. She was no longer able to contain the swirl of boiling frustration eating her insides. She let out a string of curses with the word “Calvin” tossed in intermittently. It sounded incoherent with the gag in place. Eventually she calmed down but couldn’t hold back a river of silent tears as she waited for what felt like an interminable amount of time.

 
Richard Sanders's Novels