path from the door to the cot. That gave me just enough space to lie on the floor if I wanted to do push-ups. Which I did not.
But I did want to go through a slow movement-based meditation routine. It would waste time while also gently working my muscles. I’d asked a lot of my body over the last few days, especially with the lack of sleep. Thanks to my forced nap, sleep was no longer a problem, but another day of rest would do me good.
And it might lull my guards into a false sense of security. Lord knew I needed every advantage I could get if I wanted to escape.
I eased into the first form and let my mind drift. I could always plot later. For now I needed to focus on my body and just be.
I felt calmer after completing the routine. The residual muscle stiffness from being knocked out for sixteen hours had faded. I remained stuck in an untenable position aboard an enemy’s ship, but I was ready to tackle the challenge of finding a way out.
I propped my pillow against the wall to cushion my back and sat crosswise on the narrow cot. Looking at my bare feet, I realized I hadn’t seen my boots since I’d woken. Unless they were hiding in the bathroom, Richard had confiscated them.
Those were my favorite boots, dammit.
If he thought missing footwear was going to keep me from breaking out, he was sadly mistaken. With that in mind, I focused on recalling everything I knew about the Santa Celestia. It was not a lot.
The huge ship was newly built and freshly christened when Richard took command six years ago. And while House von Hasenberg had acquired a full set of blueprints and schematics, we’d never managed to get anyone on board long enough to verify their accuracy. I had a basic understanding of the ship’s layout but unfortunately didn’t know of any weaknesses in the holding cells.
I tried to mentally place where this cell would be in the ship. I couldn’t hear or feel the engines, so we had to be toward the front. The fact that this cell was nicer than most meant it was designed to hold high-value hostages and political prisoners.
My mental map was fuzzy, but I thought I was on the second deck in the front quarter of the ship. If House Rockhurst would do us all the favor of using the same ship designs for hundreds or thousands of years like House Yamado, it would be much easier to memorize their ship layouts.
The crew quarters would be on decks two through four in the front quarter of the ship, while the two battalions of shock troopers and their air support personnel would be quartered on the same decks in the rear half. All of the common areas—galley, mess hall, medbay—would be on the bottom midship decks to better serve both crew and troops. The middle midship decks would house the hangars and landing bays.
The landing bays were precisely where I needed to be, if I could just get out of this damned cell.
Richard had not been obviously armed when he visited. He didn’t carry a blaster or knife I could steal and use against him. And in a straight battle of strength, he would trounce me, even with surprise on my side. The soldier who brought my food was similarly unarmed. I suppose they weren’t risking me taking a hostage. It was smart—and annoying.
I turned escape possibilities over and over until the door clicked. A half a beat later, it slid open to reveal a new soldier carrying a food tray. The door closed silently behind him, giving me no chance for escape. And not only was each soldier unarmed, but they were sending a different person every time, so I wouldn’t be able to build a rapport with any of them.
He set the tray on the table and turned to leave. The door clicked again then slid open. It stayed open for three seconds, then closed behind him. I caught a glimpse of at least one other person in the hall and he or she was armed.
So I had half a second’s worth of notice in order to rush the door, push out the soldier who was either entering or leaving, disarm the other soldier, and disappear into the maintenance tunnels. It was technically possible. It just wasn’t very probable.
But if that remained my only option in a few days, I’d likely