Saturday, October 20, 2007

Here on Ibitus 412N (Part 4)

Well, another one of us has made his way out of our cell. It looks like a few more might do the same, but not for good reason.

Before I finished writing last, L1 Ensign Klausen started complaining of feeling ill. At first he was coughing up thick wads of blood, phlegm and fluff mixture but soon it became tinged with bile, something I immediately identified - having had a bout with my gall bladder myself a long time ago. He was complaining of cramps and weakness while growing increasingly pale. Before too long he was passing in and out of consciousness and this is when I decided to flag down the guards.

It's interesting how this all happened when it did. When the guards came in to take Klausen away, the rest of us had a long, hard look at what they were carrying. This time there was no gurney sort of contraption used to take away the afflicted, no. It was a bag...a transparent one, with a kind of magnetic closure on it and a vent at the top to allow for breathing. We were motioned to stand clear of his body which was, at this point, lying lifeless on the metal floor of our room. We watched diligently as the ET's carefully placed Klausen into the bag, closed it, and together hoisted him up and out of sight.

It's been about 2 days since we last saw him and we're pretty sure he's not coming back. We can't think of a good reason why they'd keep a living one of us anywhere else but here, unless Klausen provided some sort of utility to them that the rest of us did not. Were they going to kill him? Is he already dead? Don't we fucking deserve to know what's happening to us? What if his sickness is a result of this substance we're being fed? I guess it doesn't make much sense to ask questions as we're not understood here anyway.

The count now is 47, excluding me. A few of the men are complaining of symptoms similar to what Klausen experienced but so far they haven't become a real threat. I'm quickly losing patience and am starting to wonder if we're going to ever get out of here.

On a positive note, one of the guards left a small satchel behind it after coming to take Klausen away. Since the guard hasn't returned to reclaim it, we're going to hide it from sight for now, until we can figure out how to get it open. It's sealed tightly by a kind of powered lock - there is a slight humming that can be heard inside it. We must find a way to break it open.

I'm going to get some sleep. Once things change, I'll write more.

Astron Czissin, out

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