CHAPTER THREE - PART II

                                    

                                              
Blackness. Darkness. One carries more weight than the other. One connotes eternal hopelessness, a never ending infinity. The other, the other offers possibility. It offers the possibility for hope, for salvation – for within darkness, there hides flickers of light. 
                          
Murphy's cell had been a place of darkness, but the bag over his head had encased his world in a heavy blackness. A deep-seated dread had settled in his soul. Dark premonitions flitted in his mind's eye. Something terrible was coming. And, what was worse, Murphy couldn't find a way out. Struggling against his captors, calling out to Emori, he neither felt nor saw the light. 
                          
He was trapped. They both were.
                          
Murphy heard Orion halt the party, all members coming to a stop after several minutes of traversing the Gagarin mining station. The guards had taken their time, looping backwards and forwards in an attempt to confuse both Murphy and Emori. Regardless, Murphy counted their steps and noted every turn.
                          
Always have an exit, a backdoor. Getting caught for stolen medicine had taught him that. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
                          
When the bags were finally drawn off their heads, bright florescent lights blinded Murphy, inhibiting his vision for several seconds. He blinked, then blinked again. The light was almost painful. Adjusting to the brightness would take time. After being locked away for so long, one masters the art of navigating the darkness and forgets how to function without it.
                          
"Ah, John Murphy and... Emori," Kalypso's voice was like honey. Several feet from him, she was nothing but a white and black blur. "I'm glad you could join us."
                          
Us?
                          
"Murphy!"
                          
The sharp voice belonged to Bellamy Blake. Murphy blinked again and again, searching the circular room for his friend. He found him, his broad outline slowly coming into focus. Bellamy was standing beside two other women, Raven and Echo. They were off to the side, flanked by guardsmen and women, their hands locked behind their backs. From what he could tell, they looked alright, looked sane, looked alive.
                          
Continuing to scan the medium sized room, Murphy noted the floor and ceiling sky-dome, noted the control panel on the left wall. Everything was white and almost sterile looking. What was more, the room smelled clean. It smelled of recently used disinfectant. From what he was seeing and smelling, Murphy could only guess. An observation deck? A torture chamber? Bellamy, Raven, Echo, Emori – they were all here...
                          
But where were Monty and Harper?
                          
"As I said before," Kalypso shot a pointed look at Bellamy. "I'm rather glad you two are here. What fun it must be to all be together again."
                          
Murphy heard Raven snort, then hiss as one of her captors hit her with the butt of his pistol. Like a feral dog, she turned and snarled at him. She was rewarded with another sharp correction, another hit. Kalypso's authority was absolute. Disrespect was not tolerated. Neither was insubordination. Murphy had learned the hard way.
                          
"I've brought us all together because we've had developments, something new – something exciting," she walked to the center of the room, her figure illuminated by the massive sky-window above. The faraway stars, their light, played against her ebony hair. To an outsider, she was paragon of virtue. Dressed in a white silk gown, her black hair tumbling down her exposed back, she embodied piety, goodness. "The news concerns you and your home."
                          
The Ark? What could Kalypso possibly want with that piece of space junk?
                          
"Is this the part where you tell us your evil plan? Your darkest desires?" Raven spoke up, not at all abashed by the butt of a gun. "Bellamy's right here. And he's been a right ass today."