The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 28.4

[Gabriel]

A morning sunbeam cast through a small window woke Gabriel from a restless sleep. He rose from his cot, but then flinched as bolts of sharp pain shot through his shoulder.

Rolling the meal cart into the cell, Sura caught his eye. "Are you alright, Gabriel?"

The genuine concern projected by her eyes warmed him, bringing forth a small smile. "It's my shoulder." He supported his left arm against his stomach. "Hurt it during the fight."

She came nearer. "Let me look at it. Take your shirt off."

He grimaced as she helped him pull the black shirt over his head, then grinned at her. "Are you just trying to get me undressed?"

Sura helped him lie back on the cot, drawing down dark eyebrows. "Do not delude yourself. I have some medical training."

A dark bruise discolored Gabriel's shoulder and upper arm. He grunted from the discomfort as she probed the injury and manipulated the shoulder by pulling his arm up.

She said, "I watched the fight. You were amazing last night."

Gabriel smirked. "Usually when women tell me that, it is about something else."

Sura rolled her eyes, but grinned. "Do you ever cease?"

"Hey, you brought it up." A slight twist of his arm brought another twinge of pain and a grunt. Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "You did that on purpose."

Tilting her head, she smiled sweetly, then lowered his arm. "Nothing appears broken, but you have extensive tissue damage and maybe a torn rotator cuff. After we get out of here, get it scanned."

Gabriel lowered his voice. "Speaking of that, did you get the portable AI gateway?"

Glancing behind her, Sura replied, "Yes. It is in the cart. I will give it to you after I serve the food."

As she turned away, Gabriel touched her arm. "Any news of my sister?"

She shook her head. "Nothing of her. I am sorry, Gabriel."

An icy wave of dread chilled him. Please be well, Hope.

Sura served Gabriel last, passing a small tablet-like device to him with the food. As all the other prisoners busied themselves with eating, she whispered, "I took this from the Gamemaster. Whatever you plan, do it soon. It would not take him long to determine that I stole it."

Gabriel took the device in his lap and turned away from the others, including a guard who slumped in a chair on the other side of the bars, twirling a silver shock-baton in his hands. "No time like the present. I hope this works."

Sura glared at him. "What? You are not sure if your plan would work?"

He shrugged. "It probably will. Let's find out."

Gabriel activated the gateway with a finger touch. It spoke with a tinny electronic voice. "Enter authorization."

Here goes... "Sol override. Code sigma-omicron-lambda."

The device replied, "Enter biometric confirmation."

Gabriel held a finger against the miniature scanner on the back. Please work, please work...

The reply, "Identity confirmed. Override achieved, Empress," brought a sigh of relief from him.

"Alright, then!" he said with a half-smile. "Display security settings."

By now, many of the other prisoners took notice, some coming closer to look over Gabriel's shoulder. He turned and grinned at them. "Are you all ready to get out of here?" Turning back, he said, "Deactivate and lockout all security systems. Disable all alarms. Deactivate all prisoner monitor collars."