When I awoke, my head was still throbbing in pain. I was still mostly blind but as I blinked my eyes I could sense that there was light around me.

“Stay still,” a cold voice said over a speaker.

I rubbed at my eyes but otherwise obeyed the voice. Slowly, my vision returned and the room I was in came into focus. It wasn’t very large, perhaps ten or so feet on either side. I was in a bed in the middle of the room and there were no other amenities. There also wasn’t any doors or windows that I could see.

I sat up in the bed as the pain in my head finally subsided to a more manageable level.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“You’re in Fort Henniger,” the cold voice replied.

“Where’s that?” I asked.

“Middle of the Atlantic ocean,” they said.

I moved to get off the bed.

“Stay where you are!” the voice commanded me and I stopped moving. “If you leave the bed, or do anything against our orders, your room will be dropped into the ocean. Your body density is too great for you to be able to swim and you will drown.”

I was reminded of the time at the Cain Center when I tried to catch the boat and wound up in the water, unable to swim and had to walk back to shore.

“Why am I here?”

“You disobeyed orders, nearly destroyed the plane you and your fellow supers were supposed to be escaping on, and you leaked classified information to the public.”

“First of all,” I replied, “Captain Collins was breaking the law by kidnapping those supers, and then he murdered them in cold blood.”

“Those supers were crucial to national security.”

I ignored that argument for now.

“And what secrets have I leaked?” I asked.

“You sent your father home with information that he then shared with national news outlets,” they replied. “There’s a public outcry at the moment and we’re having to put significant resources into controlling the situation.”

“I was never told that my forced service was classified information.”

“That doesn’t matter. You’re here until we decide otherwise.”

“Don’t I get a trial?” I demanded.

“Theoretically, yes, you will get a trial,” they said.

“Why theoretically?”

“It’s theoretical in the same sense that the prisoners at Guantanamo will get a trial.”

“You can’t just hold me here forever!”

“I assure you, we can.”

I waited a beat, thinking, but no great jolt of genius came to me.

“That’s right, now listen,” the voice said after a while. “In a moment we will let you get off the bed. You will be allowed to move about your cell as long as you obey our instructions. If you damage any of the walls, floor, or ceiling, you will be dropped into the ocean. When it’s time for your meals, you will return to your bed and stay there until it has been delivered and you are told you can move, otherwise you will be dropped into the ocean. If you make any threats against us, you will be dropped into the ocean. Twice a week you will be given soap and a fresh change of clothes. Water will pour out of the ceiling in the corner to your right for ten minutes so you can wash. You will be given a five minute warning before lights out at night and if you aren’t on your bed when the lights go out, you will be dropped into the ocean. You must remain in your bed until the lights come back on in the morning. Any questions?”

“Can I speak to my lawyer?”

“One will be appointed to you once you have a date for your trial.”

“Great,” I muttered. “What about the bathroom?”

“There is a hole in the back corner of the room and toilet paper is stored beneath your bed.”

“And what am I supposed to do to pass the time in here?” I asked.

“Contemplate the error of your ways,” was the snide reply.

“Can I get a book at least?”

“If you behave yourself, then after an initial review period of one week you may be allowed items for entertainment. Your next meal will be arriving shortly. Remember to stay on your bed until instructed otherwise.”

“Yes sir,” I gave a mock salute and lay back down on the bed.

A moment later, a section of wall slid open revealing a tray with food.

“You may leave your bed.”

I got up and took the tray. The food looked like a military ration but tasted worse. It was bland, the texture was all wrong, and when I was finished eating I was still hungry. I put the tray back on its shelf and the wall panel slid shut once more.

“Can I get a chair?” I asked.

“If you need to sit you may sit on your bed.”

I slumped back down onto the bed, dangling my legs over the side, and wondering how long I’d be here. I smiled as I thought about my dad getting the word out and hoped that that would lead to my being able to get a trial sooner rather than later, or at all.

“Hey, how long was I out?” I asked as I realized I had no idea how much time had passed.

“It’s been three days since the incident.”

“My dad hasn’t gotten into any trouble, has he?”

“I’m not allowed to discuss that matter with you beyond what I’ve already told you.”

With nothing else to do for the time being, I got up and began to stretch. Now that I was paying attention, I could feel the stiffness in my muscles and joints from lack of movement. That took up around half an hour, I guessed. Then I paced around my cell. I looked down the hole in the back corner and could see the ocean some fifty feet below. If I had to guess, I’d say Fort Henniger was some sort of retrofitted structure like an oil rig or something.

I didn’t know much about oil rigs, but didn’t they have anchors that went all the way to the bottom of the ocean to hold them in place? I couldn’t feel any rocking from the waves, which were pretty substantial from what I could see down the hole. If we were floating on the water like a boat then I’d expect to feel some rocking. That meant if my cell got dropped into the ocean, my only hope would be to find one of the anchors and climb up it. Easier said than done, I’m sure, in the dark, choppy water.

I moved away from the hole before my curiosity could raise any suspicions. The far corner was where the shower was, marked only by the little holes in the ceiling where the water would come out. There wasn’t any drain that I could see on the floor so perhaps it all had to go down the one hole on the opposite side of the cell. Not the most efficient method. If the floor was sloped then it was subtle enough that I hadn’t noticed.

“Do I ever get let out of this cell?” I asked. “Like, get to hang out with the other supers you have here?”

“No, you will remain confined to your cell for the duration of your stay.”

“Isn’t solitary confinement consider cruel and unusual punishment or something?”

“It’s deemed necessary for supers like you.”

“Is there any way you’ll ever let me out?”

“Some supers see the error of their ways and agree to rejoin the Protection Force. They’re closely monitored, however, and there are no second chances.”

I wasn’t about to go begging to be let back into the Protection Forces but I could see how this confinement would be very persuasive.