3. Ohara

Ten years.

That's how long I'd been in this place.

Ten whole years.

It'd been a shock when I first arrived, as only being incarcerated could be. Suddenly, you were thrown into a new world, one where you had almost no control — a big change from the space station I'd been living on before coming here.

But, much like anything, you got used to it. You got used to the smell of sweaty bodies, the taste of half-rotten food, the lack of privacy, and totally lost track of how it felt to have a warm female at your side…

Ever since I got to this place, I decided not to take part in the fighting pits. Injuries were common and this was not the kind of place you wanted to advertise weakness.

I'd seen former champions cut down in the hallways due to a broken arm, and others who were meant to have taken a dive but changed their mind at the last minute, suddenly lose their balance and "fall" over the railing to their death.

I decided I was better off keeping away from that world. There was too much power at stake, too many alliances and politics at play.

Not that I didn't want to get my hands on one of the tasty Prizes…

I shook my head. I shouldn't lose my focus now, not when I was about to meet Thillak. He was the boss of a major crime syndicate in the Hydroxor System.

Ordinarily, he could have bribed his way out of the situation — people in his position never did time — but I guess he must have pissed off the wrong person for him to have ended up here.

I waited outside his office — what was really a second cell he had commandeered from one of his underlings. I don't know how many hours I'd spent waiting in that room. Likely a high percentage of the ten years I'd almost fully served.

I couldn't wait to get out and the day was fast approaching. Then I would never have to sit here or wait for anybody ever again.

"Thillak will see you now," Cayggod said.

He was a thick-set rhodissar with broad shoulders and a calm demeanor. He wore glasses that perched on his small nose that he squinted through. But his studious appearance was misleading.

His arms were bigger than most Champions' and I'd seen his horns pin a fully-grown missar to the fighting pit's walls. That was when he was angry with the prisoner who had made the unfortunate mistake of offending his honor.

Cayggod was meant to move on to the next round as per the competition's rules but, after sating his anger, he forfeited the next match, washed up, and immediately returned to his desk.

"Thanks," I said, entering Thillak's office.

He sat behind a plain desk adorned with nothing but a single sheet of paper and a pencil sharpened to a perfect point.

One of his goons stood in the corner, hands clasped in front of him. He gave me a respectful nod before resuming his thousand-yard stare. He knew I wouldn't be a problem but he was still required to be on guard.

Thillak motioned to the hard wooden seat opposite and I took it.

"How many days is it now?" he asked.

"Seven," I said. "Seven and a wake up."

"We're going to miss you around here."

"Oh, there are plenty of others who can do the same job."

"Maybe. But none I can trust."

Thillak was a rhodissar with a hard, lean frame and arms used to pulling a hundred reps on the pull-up bar in the corner. He spent most of his time behind this desk but he didn't let that stop him from maintaining a rigorous exercise regime.

He could have literally anything he wanted brought to him — either inside the prison or from outside it — and yet, he maintained a lifestyle of simplicity.

Thillak fasted most of the day and ate the same lunch and dinner as regular prisoners. His cell was similarly plain with the standard cot and broken chest of drawers.

I asked him once why he chose to live this way and he replied: "I've avoided penance all my life. I figure if I'm going to do it, I might as well make up for all the wrongs I did at the same time."

Thillak leaned back in his chair. "I'd hate to lose a Nor of your means. I have a proposition for you. When you get out of here, come work for me. You can choose any planet, any city within the Ujun Quadrant. We have a presence in every city."

Presence was an understatement — his organization practically ran things.

"I'll give you a room, a good wage, a network of friends you can tap into. Use it until you get on your feet or keep the position for longer. It's up to you."

Thillak was not someone you wanted to annoy but he was also fair and even-minded, and so I knew he wouldn't take offense to my response — in fact, he almost certainly expected it.

"Thank you, but no," I said. "I did wrong to end up in here and I won't take the chance I could make the same mistake again."

"Stealing food to feed your loved ones isn't exactly doing wrong," Thillak pointed out, referring to the misdemeanor that got me locked up at Ikmal.

"It was still wrong," I said.

"If the chance to feed your family by stealing came up again, would you take it?"

"Maybe," I said. "I'd just be smarter about it. People have got to eat."

Thillak grinned. "We do everything we can for the ones we love, don't we?" He sighed, his attention taking him somewhere in the past. "Well, the offer is on the table, in case you change your mind."

I smiled politely but knew I would never accept his offer.

"As for today…" He nodded toward his desk.

I leaned down and opened the top drawer. Inside was a package wrapped in plain brown paper.

"Delivery to Cell 6706," Thillak said.

I rolled my eyes. "More Quet-Dreai?"

Thillak shrugged. "It's the only way some can win in the fighting pits."

"If they need to take this to win, they're not going to be winning for long," I said.

Thillak used a stick to scratch his back. "They're going to get it from somewhere. Might as well be from me. At least then they know it's the genuine article."

"Whatever makes you happy, I guess," I said, getting to my feet. "Is this all?"

Thillak looked me over, sizing me up. "I imagine you could have done well in the pits, if you had a mind to."

"That's the problem. I never had a mind to."

The goon in the corner snorted at my comment before returning to his empty stare once again.

"I could have done well in the pits too," Thillak said. "I'm still in good shape."

I nodded. "You could. But then, who would dare touch you?"

Thillak threw back his head and barked a laugh.

He laughed because it was true.