Bane

Planet Kosmora 0938

Ironport Maximum Security Prison

I’m convinced that I’m dreaming with my eyes wide open when I hear the sound of the gates creaking open outside of my cell. I should have kept track of time by marking the walls or something. That would have been smart. Then I’d at least know how long it has been since I had contact with another living being. I’d even settle for conversing with the guard who brings me slop for food, but he must be some sort of mute because he has never once said a word to me. I knew when they put me in here that they were planning on leaving me for dead. Someone had to pay the price, Phantom saw to that.

A bright light shines through the rusty bars and I wince away from it. Darkness is all I know. The light of day would likely burn me to dust if I stood before its glory again.

“Hello?” My voice comes out like a gravelly whisper. I don’t remember the last time I had the opportunity to speak with anyone. Not that I was ever much for conversation but now, I think I’d welcome it.

The lock turns and clicks in the cell door before being pulled open wide where three guards stand in the entrance, looking more like massive black shadows from the depths of the lower realm than guards.

“Bane,” one of them says.

I’m not sure if that’s a question or a statement. Are they asking if I’m Bane? I haven’t attached a name to myself in years but that is what I was called. Bane. It sounds strange as it rattles around in my head. I wonder what it would feel like to speak it after all of these years.

“Bane,” I whisper in answer to their question.

“Get up and come with us,” he says.

This is strange. I wonder if this is some sort of trick. I’ll crawl to my feet and move toward the door only to have it slammed in my face. Freedom is something I gave up on long ago. Dangling it in front of me is the cruelest of jokes.

“Let’s go!” The shadow closest to me moves a step into the cell. From down here on the cold, grimy floor, he looms tall over me. It’s comical to me that after all of these years, suddenly we’re in a rush. In the dark on the floor, I roll my eyes while I slowly sit up and get to my feet. Once I’m up, I find that I’m actually looking down on the guards. I didn’t notice the weapons in their hands initially, either.

“What do you have planned for me today?” My voice still doesn’t sound right. It’s too raspy and too quiet.

“I won’t ask again,” the guard says, raising his weapon.

Exhaling, I dip my head and walk out of the cell. The guards lead me through a dark hallway, the only light supplied by the guard in the front. We wind around and eventually I can tell we’re moving higher. The air smells different once we reach a certain point. It’s no longer dank and stale, like the smell of death. We continue moving up and at this point, I don’t care where I’m going. It just feels damn good to be able to get out and stretch my legs. We get to a point where I’m surprised that we’re even in the same building.

The first thing I notice is the window. I haven’t had access to a window in years.

“What’s going on?” I wonder out loud, but I know the guards won’t answer me.

Eventually they lead me to another room. It is sterile, almost empty. I linger at the entrance, wary of the situation, until one of the guards gives me a push.

I step inside and turn around, waiting for some sort of explanation.

“Clean yourself up,” he says simply. “And put on some clean clothes.” Then he steps back and closes the door behind me. It’s like another world from where I’ve been for so many years. There’s a stall in front of me that must be the shower, with clothes set off to the side. Without giving it too much thought, I walk forward fully intent on taking advantage of the situation.

“You didn’t think to shave?” The guards have led me into another room. Completely empty aside from the two chairs in the middle of the room. I was hoping for a window but there isn’t one in here.

I don’t bother answering. I had just pulled my shirt over my head when they came barging back in and pulled me from the room, walking me in here. “What’s going on?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” The guard secures my wrists to the chair and then all three of them walk out, closing the door securely behind them. I don’t have a fucking clue as to what is going on today, but I welcome the change of scenery…and the shower.

It doesn’t take long for the door to open again, a familiar face walking through. He sits across from me in the other chair and I know now why they chose to secure me to the chair. After all of these years, I can’t believe this bastard is the first face I get to see.

“Bane,” he says. He looks at me like he’s waiting for me to return the same pleasant greeting. As if it was just yesterday that we were working together. I can’t answer him. All I can do is sit in this chair and wish I could turn it so I don’t have to look at his face. “I have a job for you,” he says, getting right to the point.

My initial reaction is to laugh but I haven’t done that in years. I don’t know if I can laugh anymore.

When I still don’t say anything, he continues. “I want you to do something for me.”

“You must be joking,” I say, finally finding my voice.

“I have a job for you. A job we need done by someone who will leave no trace. Someone that can’t be tracked.”

“I’ve been rotting away in a hole, because of you.” You’d think after all of these years the anger would have dissipated. But seeing him again brings everything back to the surface. No matter how hard I’ve worked to push it all down.

“And because of it, you are invisible. No one could trace you back to us.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“I can offer you something I know you want.”

“You don’t have anything that I want.”

“Your freedom. I can offer you your freedom.”

That gives me pause. I know better than to trust anything this bastard says and yet, he has my attention.

“One job in exchange for your freedom,” he continues.

“You’re full of shit. Always were, always will be.”

“You’re willing to give up the chance to be free all because of what happened in the past?”

“How is it that you even have the power to set someone like me free?”

“Things have changed since we last worked together, Bane. A lot has changed. Agree to the job and you’ll walk out of here today.”

“And what would keep me from getting out of here and getting as far away from here as possible?”

“Before you will be released, you will be given an implant. It allows us to track you. Of course, it also contains an explosive device, should you decide to run instead of doing what we agree upon. It will be removed as soon as you complete the mission, of course.”

As much as I loathe Phantom, I don’t think I could go back into that prison cell and keep my sanity. The thought of it makes me feel weak, a feeling that I’m not accustomed to.

“What does the mission entail?” I finally say.

He sits back in his chair, obviously relieved thinking he is finally making progress. “A journalist, from Earth.”

“Earth?”

“A distant planet that mirrors Kosmora in many ways. We have recently begun dealings with them. They have things we need and we have things they need. You know how it works.”

“No, I really don’t, not anymore.”

“Don’t be a stubborn asshole, Bane. We all do what we need to do to survive.”

“That explains the suit.” He used to look like me, someone living on the edge of civilized society. Now it looks as if he is running the show.

“A lot has changed since we last saw each other,” he says, simply. I don’t hear any regret in his tone, just a statement of facts.

Eventually I say, “What do you need from me?”

“One of the members of their diplomatic mission has stumbled across restricted files. If the information in those files gets out, the treaty we are preparing to sign could easily be compromised, the relationship between our two planets crushed.”

“I can already guess what you want but why don’t you say it for me, just so we’re clear.”

“I need you to find the files and destroy them.”

“And the member of the mission that stole the files? What do I do with him?”

“Well, Bane. You know how things work. That’s why I came to you.”

“You’re right. I do know how things work.” Before he changed the rules, that is. “But that’s how I ended up rotting away in this foul prison. What makes you think I’m the same man that will blindly follow your orders, regardless of consequences?”

“There isn’t much that someone won’t do in exchange for their freedom,” he says.

And damn it, he’s right.