Robin H. Pine

In the near future, Zach works as an advocate for an influential family in the Central Territories. His job is to keep his clients out of jail, but they make it hard for him if they can't keep their mouths shut. He manages to convince his clients not to talk, but as he's getting ready to leave the penal satellite, an escaping prisoner takes him hostage. To his surprise, Zach recognizes the man.<br><br>Aron has to consider his next step carefully and quickly. He has to decide if he wants to go for the obvious and predictable, leave the penal satellite as everyone expects him to, or the unexpected but dangerous, stay and wait out the search team. But a familiar face from his days at the Academy makes his choice for him and he decides he's going to take a hostage.<br><br>There are a lot of obstacles between Aron and Zach, from Zach's loneliness but fear of commitment to Aron's lack of communication. And if that wasn't enough, their behavior is unfamiliar and they realize they might not be the same people they were in the Academy. Why isn't Zach working for the Marshal's Office as his moral code seemed to dictate? Is Aron more than an escaped prisoner? Will they manage to find a way to find those answers without also destroying what they've got?

Without a Paddle

“That’s it?” Aron asks after some time.


“Mm-hmm.” Aron watches him. “What happened, Zachary?”


Suddenly finding his words, Zach smirks. “I made sure he got to experience the treatment he dealt onto others. The debate was the worst part for me because people kept warning me off like there was any possible way for me to be ignorant of the almost absolute power the shit wielded. So I said my arguments and smiled sweetly at my friends, pretending to be an idiot, and everybody shook their heads at the young, idealist esquire who was going to be destroyed on counterarguments. They did. And after that, it was my turn again.”


“Ah,” Aron murmurs. “So that was you. You sent him to the Dungeon.”


“To the Punishment Institution Nr. 80.” Zach wants to be specific. He didn’t invent a prison nobody uses. It’s the eightieth out of a hundred.


“You made sure he got to experience how violating human rights feels like from the other end,” Aron says.


Chapter 6