Silhouette by Arthur McMahon Page A

time went on she started to feel the eyes of the other prisoners watching her as she walked between the cells, and she often glanced over her shoulder expecting to see them all staring at her. They could not see her, she knew. It was her own conscience staring her down from inside of the cells, filling her with guilt, making her turn to look down at the small amount of food in her hands and question why she had not grabbed more. The people around her were wasting away, either writhing in agony or going insane with boredom, but she could not help them all. Not right now. Not in this way.
    Silhouette approached Davi’s cell and saw that he was much different than the others. He was clearly bored as hell, but his mind was still alert, he looked healthy, and his eyes were bright. She could save him; that is what she was capable of. What the hell was the Presider thinking? Sending me on a mission to save a world, to take down a Burmin command ship. Ridiculous. She could save Davi, she had to, and everyone else would have to die if it came down to it.
    She opened the slot and slipped the food through.
    “When they take you and the other prisoners to the command ship for distribution, I’m coming with you,” she said.
    “Don’t be stupid,” said Davi through a mouthful of crunchy vegetables.
    “That ship is going down, and I’m going to be the cause of it. You’ll be escaping with me.”
    “This isn’t a fairy tale, Sue. You can’t possibly expect to disable the friggin command ship and ride away unscathed like a superhero white knight or something.”
    “You don’t know what I have become, Davi. I am not the little girl you grew up with.”
    “Yeah, ok,” Davi took another bite of a carrot. “You’re going to get yourself killed and I’ll still be sent off and sold to the highest bidder on some faraway planet. An escape plan I could entertain, but this? Why would you try and take down the command ship?”
    “I am just one little cog in one big machine,” said Sue. “All I can do is my task and hope that all of the other gears turn in unison. This is not just about you, or me. I could say more clich é things like all of humanity is on the table and it’s all or nothing, but then I would be mixing my metaphors. Samjha?”
    “No, I don’t understand,” said Davi, “but I guess any chance at escaping is better than staying a slave.”
    “Good. I want to give you some direction.”
    “I can’t do anything, Sue.”
    “Yes, you can. You are still strong, so much more than the other prisoners. You can’t see it, but I can. You’re going to need to help me rescue you, Davi. Keep eating everything I give to you, flex whatever muscles you can, and just keep active, somehow. The Burmin are weakening you so that you can’t resist in any way. The other prisoners will be too weak to do anything and I need you to not give up like they have. I need you to be strong. I need you to be ready to act.”
    “Well I feel alright, but it’s not like I can do any exercises. I can clench my butt, but what else?”
    “Figure it out. Push against your cage. Toe raises. Do math equations in your mind. Anything to keep yourself from deteriorating.”
    “Ok, but I don’t know what you’re going to have me do. Those Burmin are strong and I don’t know my way around a spaceship.”
    “Don’t worry about any of that until the time comes. When you are taken onto the ship you may not see me, but I’ll be on board with you. In the meantime I’m going to kill the Burmin responsible for dad’s death, so tell me everything you can.”

    * * *

    Davi did not have a name for the Burmin, of course, because Burmin did not have names, not as far as humans understood. He had enough knowledge of the Burmin’s schedule and position to give his sister a good chance at pinpointing the correct one. The unique vertical slits in the Burmin’s floppy ears made it all too easy once Silhouette crossed Davi’s recollection of the creature