The Hourglass by Casey Donaldson

joined the others. Half of the ship’s top deck was
open to the elements, the other contained the enclosed bridge and what looked
like private cabins, encircled by a promenade. The ship looked only slightly
newer than the bus they had arrived on. They were marshalled into a line by two
guards, one solid and short, the other lean and of average height. The
prisoners stood shoulder to shoulder, nervously facing a grey-haired woman with
a stern mouth. Sarah didn’t need to know anything else about the woman to know
that she was in charge. It was in the way she stood, and in the way she coolly
assessed each prisoner in turn. When the warden finally turned to look at
Sarah, she felt as if the warden could see every single misdeed of her past.
Without so much as an eyebrow twitch, the warden somehow managed to convey that
she ranked Sarah somewhere near “pathetic”. Sarah felt like throwing something
at her. The warden turned away from her and addressed the group as a whole.
    “Welcome to the
prison ship Anoscosa . I am Warden Krogan. These gentlemen are Mr
Painter,” she inclined her head to the lean guard, “and Mr Wall,” she inclined
her head towards the solid guard. “They lead the guards and you will show them
the upmost respect during your stay. You will serve out your time on this ship
quietly and efficiently. This ship is tasked with making supplies for the war
effort and you are thus contributing back to the society you scorned when you
committed your crimes. I trust that you will all be most diligent in your work.
Myself and my officers do not take kindly to laziness or disruptive
personalities. You will find that your time here will be best employed by the
task in front of you. I advise you to not get involved in the business of
others.” She gazed impassively at them. Nobody spoke. She nodded her head at
one of the guards and departed through a door behind her. The tension on board
eased visibly upon her exit.  Mr Wall, who looked like he could crack open a
watermelon with his bare hands, turned to face them. His expression was
surprisingly kind.
    “This way then
chaps,” he said. They all filed after him. He led them down a metal staircase
into a plain metal corridor that ran down the ship lengthways. The boys and
girls were then divided, boys went left, following Mr Painter, who so far
hadn’t spoken a word, and the girls went right with Mr Wall. As they walked
away Sarah glanced back over her shoulder. She could make out Finn quite easily
by his white hair. He was walking erect with his shoulders thrust back. She
wondered if he was making a conscious effort to do it or if that was just his
usual posture. Her own shoulders were hunched in a subconscious effort to go
unnoticed. On an impulse she straightened them. It took a lot more effort than
she thought it would. Colt turned around and saw her looking. He winked at her.
Sarah blushed and hurriedly turned back to face the others. They branched off
the main corridor and passed through a number of heavy steel doors. Each door
had an electronic lock system that required Mr Wall to display an encoded
bracelet that he wore around his wrist to a well hidden scanner to gain them
access. After passing through the fifth door, Mr Wall raised a hand, bringing
them to a halt. He rapped his knuckles on the door infront of him. They waited
in silence for a full thirty seconds before the door opened to reveal a female
guard sitting in a chair. She had not bothered to get up, instead she had leaned
as far back as she could while still seated to unlock the door and turn the
handle. She was surrounded by monitor screens. Two empty mugs, and one
half-full one, all mismatched, bespoke of someone who didn’t clean as a matter
of habit.
    “I’ll take over
now, Ms Hutchen,” said Mr Wall with busy officialdom. “You see to the ladies.”
    Ms Hutchen
managed to give him a look that somehow both conveyed her utter disdain of his
position and her displeasure at doing the