Almost immediately after he told Cassie he was going to rest, Serix passed out. Sleep was a sweet relief after everything he had just been through during the interrogation. He wished he could just lie on the ground forever and never have to wake up again, but unfortunately he knew that was impossible. He had to keep fighting for Cassie; he couldn’t give up after just one interrogation.

So, when the first guard entered the hold that next morning, Serix forced himself to wake up. He lay on the ground for a moment, mentally evaluating his condition before making any attempt to move. The wounds on his back didn’t pain him nearly as much as the night before, which was a good sign that they were healing. His worst discomfort was the incessant headache he had from the lack of food and water. He was beginning to crave food so badly that he could almost smell it…

[i]…Wait a minute.[/i]

Serix sat up slowly, wincing when he felt another short burst of pain in his back. He looked up to see Ray walking in with two bowls of food. The human slid one under his door and the other under Cassie’s, explaining that he wasn’t going to let them starve. He glanced at Serix with an almost sympathetic expression. [i]Almost[/i]. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to give the Lunairan hope that he would be able to persuade the others of his innocence.

The rest of the day went by without much activity. Serix spent much of it napping in his cell as he recovered from the events of the previous night. He only got up again when the humans returned to bring him to his next interrogation. He looked at each of them searchingly. Had they found the passage or were their defenses intact? Were they going to hear him out this time or were they just going to beat him again? Their blank expressions told him nothing.

Serix’s heart began to speed up as Jake stepped forward to unlock the cell door. He dreaded the thought of going back to that dark cavern where he was completely vulnerable to whatever forms of torture they had planned for him. His eyes darted to Cassie as Monty and Connor stepped over to lead him out. He swallowed and looked back at the two males, steeling his resolve. He had to go through with the interrogation. It was his only way to get out of the hold. Whatever pain the humans inflicted on him would be worth it if it meant that he and Cassie could live normal lives again.

Monty and Connor dragged Serix along as the group walked to the interrogation room. Once there, they arranged themselves as they had before. Ray, Jake, Connor, and Gunner all sat at the table while Ryan and Monty stood by to conduct the interrogation. Ryan tossed Monty another short rope and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at Serix, “You know the drill. Take your shirt off.”

Serix wavered for a moment, eyeing the whip that lay coiled on the side table. He turned away from the weapon and closed his eyes, slipping his shirt over his head and tossing it into the corner as he had done the previous night. Behind him, Monty let out a whistle, “Damn. Hey, Ryan, check it out. The alien’s gashes are already starting to close. These bastards really do heal five times as fast as us.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ryan said. “If the old wounds close, we’ll just cut him some new ones. Now hurry and tie him up so we can start.” He waited for Monty to bind Serix’s hands and tie him to the hanging chain again, and then turned to Jake. Once he was given the signal to begin, Ryan turned back to Serix, “Because we’re reasonable, we decided to go ahead and examine our defenses. Unfortunately for you, we didn’t find the ‘secret passage’ you tried to sell us on.”

“What?” Serix’s eyes grew wide. The unknown tunnel was his only chance at freedom. “A-are you sure? You must have overlooked something. It has to—” He screamed when he felt the whip lash across his back. His vision went momentarily spotty. Was it his imagination or did the weapon hurt even worse this time? He peered over his shoulder to see Monty holding the end of the whip, letting its thin end drag on the ground. There was something embedded in it that caught the light.

“We went easy on you yesterday,” Ryan spoke up, noticing Serix’s surprise. “We just beat you with the plain whip.” He eyes turned cold. “This one has a couple of glass bits in the end. I was hoping they might persuade you to be more cooperative with us. Now then, stop arguing and tell me the truth: You were the one who brought that Lunairan into our home, weren’t you?”

“I didn’t do it,” Serix insisted. “Please, check by the river again. You must have missed something! I can’t—” He cried out as the whip struck him again, tearing open his old wounds. He caught his breath as another thought came to him, “Who… who helped you search for the passage?”

“Why does that matter?” Ryan glared at him. “It makes no difference who was on the search team. The results will always be the same.”

“Who helped?” Serix asked again, his tone slightly more urgent.

Ryan looked at him warily, “Fine. If it will make you shut up about this imaginary tunnel, I’ll tell you. It was me, Jake, Jerry, Gunner, Connor, Sarah, and Hunter. Now let’s get on with—”

“Where did Hunter look?” Serix interrupted.

“What are you trying to say?” Ryan hissed. He seemed to realize that Serix was accusing Hunter of betrayal.

Serix hesitated, “I just think that… maybe you should double check. He might have missed something.” He felt the whip lash across his skin again and he gasped, going on hurriedly before Ryan could open his mouth to speak, “Please, just check again! That’s all I ask.”

“I’ll do it,” Gunner said from where he sat. “Hunter was down by the river, right? There’re lots of crevices down there. He could have skipped over something. Might as well look, y’know? I can even bring Dash with me.”

“There’s no point,” Ryan turned to him. “The alien’s just making up lies to save his skin.”

“Well I’d rather go look around the river than sit here and watch you beat him half to death,” Gunner rolled his eyes and got to his feet. “Hunting for alien tracks is way more fun.” He walked around the edge of the room and exited into the tunnel.

Ryan shook his head and muttered, “He’s just wasting his energy.” He turned back to Serix. “Don’t get your hopes up. I’m not gonna wait around for him to get back. We’ll continue the interrogation as planned.” He stepped closer to the Lunairan. “Was anyone else in on your little plan? How many aliens did you tell about us?”

“None,” Serix answered angrily. “I’m not involved with any of them anymore. I told you: I left my people for Cassie.”

“And I told you,” Ryan spat. “I don’t buy that for a second. Maybe this will convince you to be more truthful with us.” He signaled something to Monty, and Serix stifled another howl as the human struck him with the whip three more times. His legs trembled slightly, threatening to give way, but he continued to glare challengingly at Ryan. He wouldn’t let the human have the satisfaction of knocking him off his feet.

Ryan waited for Serix to steady his breathing before he went on, “Since you’re unwilling to tell me who else is involved in your plans, I’ll ask you this: What were you planning to do when you hid them all inside? Were you plotting an ambush to kill us all or what?”

“I don’t know what the Pilot was planning,” Serix replied, staring down at the floor so the human wouldn’t see how unfocused his eyes were. “I wasn’t part of it. For all I know, he could have stumbled upon your hideout by accident and tried to attack on impulse.”

“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Ryan growled, beginning to pace back and forth in thought. After a moment, he stopped and looked up at Serix with a look on his face that gave the Lunairan chills. “You can fight,” he observed. “Were you part of your people’s military?”

“Sort of,” Serix said uneasily. “I never officially completed my training. Why do you ask?”

“Good,” Ryan said, ignoring the question. “Then you can tell me all about Lunairan battle strategies and technology, can’t you?”

“I only know what my rank would have permitted,” Serix answered hesitantly.

“And what would that be?”

Serix paused again. Even though he had left his people, it still felt wrong to give away their confidential information, especially when it was something that could end with the loss of lives in a war. He glanced over his shoulder at Monty. The human glowered back at him and flexed his bloodstained whip, sending a wordless threat. Serix turned away from him with a shudder. He had to say something or they would just torture the information out of him anyways. He looked back at Ryan, “I know a few drills and formations, as well as the standard weapons and other technology that the foot soldiers use.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Ryan smirked. “How about you start by telling me about some of the most common formations you aliens use in combat?”

“Hey, Ryan,” a voice said from the entrance of the cavern. Gunner had returned. He entered the room with his dog trotting along at his feet. The animal’s nose twitched at the smell of Lunairan blood, but it remained otherwise calm. Gunner walked up to Ryan with an amused look on his face, “You’ll never believe it, but the alien was right. I brought Dash to the river and he sniffed out an unmarked tunnel near the rapids. I didn’t follow it, but I’ll bet you anything that passage leads up to the surface.” He glanced at Serix. “Looks like our intruder really did get in on his own. I have no idea how Hunter missed that.”

Ryan turned back to Serix as well, “Looks like you got lucky. I’ll give you one more day while we investigate this.”

“Err… Ryan,” Gunner went on. “There’s one other thing: I found some bloodstains on the rocks inside the tunnel. They look like they’re a few days old, which means that our alien invader has been here since before the bonfire, and he was already injured when he arrived.”

“What?” Ryan said in surprise. His eyes flicked to Serix for a moment and he turned to Monty. “Take the Lunairan back to his cell. I need to see this for myself.”

Monty gestured for Connor to come help him as he untied Serix’s wrists from the chain. The Lunairan sighed in relief and slowly lowered his arms while Connor splashed his back with another bucket of water. He found his shirt and slipped it back over his head, biting his lip as the fabric rubbed against his fresh wounds. He might have only received five lashes that night, but with the addition of the glass shards, his shoulders burned as if it had been fifteen. He hoped the evidence of the hidden tunnel would be enough to prove that he had nothing to do with the Pilot. He didn’t think he could stand another round of whipping like that.

The two humans guided him back to the hold, moving slowly so he wouldn’t collapse, and dropped him off in his cell. Immediately after they let go of his arms, he staggered and had to hold on to one of the metal bars for support. He closed his eyes, silently cursing himself for showing such weakness. He glanced at Cassie. Maybe he could just play it off as fatigue? It wouldn’t be too difficult. He already felt like fainting from the pain in his back. 

Serix yawned and sat down on the stony floor, looking at Cassie across the divide and offering her a weary but hopeful smile, “Hey, guess what? We might be getting out of here soon. They found the tunnel Hunter used to sneak the Pilot in.”