The ride down in the elevator was a tense one. I went from feeling confident, thrilled to be back with my crew to angry that they’d locked us up for so long and then finally settled on anxious just as the lift slowed to a stop.

What’s that noise? Gem thought, jarring me out of my thoughts.

My heart was pounding so loudly in my ears that I was deafened to anything else but I forced myself to listen beyond that. There was a strange noise coming from beyond the doors. Banging and the rush of voices all echoing together. My brain was too anxious to be able to translate the noises into anything that made sense.

What are they saying? I asked.

The lift stopped abruptly before anyone had a chance to reply and I barely had the chance to take a deep breath before the doors opened. I’d seen pictures of the Council Headquarters in class before but nothing prepared me for the pretentious gaudiness of it. The foyer was huge with giant bejewelled statues of the Councillors in the centre, standing back to back and staring down at the people milling about in the room. A huge row of gold and light marble counters stood along the wall next to the lift we’d just emerged from with smartly dressed people standing behind them, politely answering questions. An ostentatious chandelier swung gently above us, the lights flickering slightly and bathing the room in a deceptively welcoming glow. People strode about in formal military uniforms, robes or suits having loud, important-sounding discussions as CameraBots floated overhead and projected their images onto the screens on every wall.

My jaw was slack as I stared around the room and, for a second, no one noticed us but then a sinister susurration whipped through the room. The CameraBots abandoned their previous posts and swarmed us. Our shocked faces appeared on all of the screens and I rolled my shoulders back, determined not to look weak.

We stepped out of the lift and immediately, I was almost deafened by the cheers that broke out. My eyes flew to the large glass doors at the front of the building. Some of the doors were missing and replaced by big metal sheets but through the uncovered ones, I could see the crowds. There were so many people out there, held back by rows of Guardians but that didn’t stop them from cheering and screaming our names.

My heart leapt in my chest and a weight lifted from my shoulders. People were supporting us. They supported what we had done.

Some of the glass is broken. Peggy pointed out, her voice quiet. They must have been fighting.

They're protesting. For us. I almost couldn’t believe it.

I started to raise my hand in a wave of… acknowledgement? Thanks? Support, maybe but I was yanked forwards. A new chant had broken out as we were ushered hurriedly across the room. It chased us across the foyer and into another lavishly decorated corridor.

“Free them! Free them!”

They support us. Cas whispered, his voice awed.

As we moved further away from the foyer and the chants quietened down, the Guardians slowed but my heart rate just increased. Panic flooded me as I realised that this was it. We were walking towards the end. Either the end of our imprisonment or the end of our freedom. We’d know soon.

We were steered past more Guardians standing to attention and finally into the Council room. My eyes scanned the faces of the Councillors who sat on high raised platforms opposite the doors and stared down at us. Councillor Harvey was in the centre with a self-satisfied smile on his face.

“You may be seated.” He droned ceremoniously.

We stood awkwardly whilst the Guardians unclipped our cuffs from each other before clipping them to the loops on the hard metal chairs at the front of the room.

I looked up at the Councillors again. They didn’t look as intimidating as they did on the news or in textbooks. I’d gotten used to seeing Councillor Harvey over the last few months but the rest of them looked so different to what I was used to. They looked younger, more real. Whenever I’d seen pictures or videos of them they always looked older, regal almost with no imperfections but in reality, they just looked like people.

“This is the trial of Trainee Crew 761 of the Nova base 225.” Councillor Ortiz read from the screen in front of her.

My hands trembled as I listened. This all felt so real suddenly and I wasn’t ready.

“You have been accused of treason, terrorism, trafficking and hacking Council property. We will start by reviewing your accounts of the events before moving onwards. Please begin, Captain.” She peered down at me over the screen.

I jolted as I realised she wanted me to talk.

“Um okay… I guess it started when Peggy got sent something from a stranger she didn’t know about the situation on Irision…”

I launched into the exact same story I’d told Councillor Harvey a dozen times, the others occasionally adding additional details I’d intentionally left out so it seemed like we hadn’t rehearsed it. It was almost the truth. I can admit that now, I guess. We left out the bits about hacking Frida years ago and said we did it on the night, not knowing if it would work and obviously we left out the stuff about Captain Aquila. And that Peggy had been frequenting the back channels of the web for a while. No need to tell them that. It wouldn’t help our case. We wanted them to believe we were somewhat dumb or at least naive. I tried to emphasise the fact that we were just trying to help people rather than deliberately act against the Council but I couldn’t tell if they believed us or not because their faces were unmoving throughout the entire time we talked.

“Then we landed and were taken here…” I trailed off not sure what else to say.

“Well, I was taken to the medBay on the base and then to a hospital,” Gem added helpfully.

“Mmm.” Councillor Harvey said, his eyes fixed on his screen.

We waited for him to say more. I could feel Cas bristling next to me, his hatred of his dad becoming more and more evident.

“Well, I think that is all that we need for now. We’ll review the evidence. You may leave.” He dismissed us without even looking up.

My face screwed up in confusion. I’d expected more. I’d been waiting for a big, dramatic trial and this felt somewhat anticlimactic.

The Guardians entered the room again and uncuffed us from the chairs. I tried to stretch but we were lead out of the room quickly. I thought they’d lead us back through the foyer and up to our rooms but we turned in the opposite directions, following the corridor around, deeper into the building.

“Are we not going back upstairs?” I asked the Guardian, almost panting from how long we’d been walking.

“No. It was deemed too dangerous.”

“What? Why?”

“The protesters. Once they saw you, they started fighting with the Guardians more. The Council thought it may aggravate the situation more if you were to walk through again.”

“Where will we be staying then?” Cas asked from behind me.

They brought us to a halt outside a room with a clear glass door. I peered inside, catching a glimpse of dusty stacked furniture.

“It’s a storeroom but we’ve put some mattresses in it… Sorry, it was the best we could do.” They sounded genuinely apologetic as they pushed the door open with a grimace.

I stepped inside and looked around. The walls were a plain dull greyish colour and it was filled with chairs and desks which had been hastily pushed to the edges of the room to make space for the five mattresses which lay haphazardly on the floor. I went to step further into the room when the Guardian held their hand up to stop me.

“We’ve searched it. There are no weapons, no way out and a camera up there but it means you can be uncuffed in here.”

A small smile lit my face. It wasn’t much but it felt like freedom.