Sleep Tight (M/M)

[bigsmile21]

"I find the accused 'guilty' of all charges: dereliction of duty, insubordination, and conspiracy to commit mutiny." the officer said.

Alejandro could not believe it. His breathing quickened and his hearing became muffled. Around him were distorted noises: talk from the crew around the room, muttering from his attorney, a gavel banging. He wanted to shout, to run, to do something. But he just stood there in shock.

"Bail--f, esc--t th- pris---r -o th- bri- -o a-ait -entencing." Alejandro's hearing and focus returned when he felt a grip on his arm. He began wrestling against the bailiff.

"Sir," Alejandro pleaded, "I have not nor have I ever been a part of any mutiny aboard this starship. You have the wrong person!" He felt pressure on the back of his knee and was pushed down. His upper body slammed against the table. There was more shouting from around the room. There wasn't a courtroom in the starship, so they were using the mess hall for his court martial.

He felt his arms wrestled behind his back and locked in place. His wrists were kept close together. The restraints were like metal mittens: his hands were balled up and now encased in metal. There would be a keypad on the outside for entering a release code, so he had no chance of picking any lock. Even in low-gravity, the weight of the restraints was noticeable. When he was stood up from the table, the weight of the restraints pulled his arms down, his back arched.

The bailiff escorted him down a hallway. It was narrow and empty, since most of the crew were still in the mess hall. The sound of the shouting cut off when the door closed behind them. While walking, the bailiff kept one hand on Alejandro's arm and the other on the back of his neck. When they reached the brig, he pushed Alejandro's face against the wall and entered the access code. The door opened slowly upwards. A wispy white mist began flowing out of the brig. Alejandro tried to pull back from the wall. He wanted to kick his captor and run. But run where? The ship was halfway to Mars, months away from Earth. The bailiff must have felt the movement because he pressed Alejandro closer into the wall.

"Don't even think about it." he said. "What? Getting cold feet?" He chuckled. Once the door was opened completely he pulled them into the brig. Inside, the temperature of the room was chilly. The floor was covered in mist, excess cooled air coming out of the active pods. Along the walls were five "holding cells": cryogenic sleeping pods. Three were in use: one for the newly appointed Governor for Mars and two more for new scientists specializing in botany and geology. Alejandro could see each of them, standing in their pods but asleep. Since it was a six-month voyage from Earth to Mars, the pods were meant for civilians. Or in this case, convicted crew members. The bailiff moved them to the nearest inactive pod and touched the keypad. The pod began whirring gently.

"Listen," Alejandro started, "You have the wrong guy." He began pulling against the grips on his arms but the man held tight.

"You were found guilty and are going in this pod." the man said. His face was serious. "Security found you hiding outside of Central Control. Who knows how long you were listening to the upper officers? They also found schematics of the starship under your bunk, with markings over Life Support, Engineering, Docking, and Central Control."

"Like I said before, I don't remember how I got to Central." Alejandro said. The pod meant for him beeped and white mist started seeping out of the exhaust. He didn't know how much time he had before it was active. He had never been in cryo-sleep before. Would he dream? Would he blink and wake up three months later? "I woke up at Central when Security tackled me. I work in Engineering, on the other side of the starship."

"Surveillance cameras conveniently cut off when you say you left your bunk for your shift." the man replied. Was that a smirk on his face, or just a trick of the lights blinking in the room? "And Security confiscated a recording pen on your person. Seems pretty open-and-shut to me."

"You. Have. The. Wrong. Guy!" Alejandro stamped out, his volume rising with each word. He began looking around the room. The door had closed behind them, and he'd need to enter the access code for it to open. For that to happen he'd need to 1) know the code and 2) have movable fingers. The metal mittens were getting colder in this room, and it sent a chill down his spine whenever the metal touched his back. Keeping his arms extended behind him to avoid that cold touch was wearing down on his muscles' endurance.

The pod beeped again. Such a soft melody for a such stressful situation. The lid began to rise, more white mist pooling out and onto the floor. The bailiff began circling Alejandro as he looked around the room. "If you're lucky, you'll wake up on Mars and be sentenced to manual labor." The man said it so plainly. "Lord knows the colony needs work. If you're not lucky, we'll keep you on-ice until the starship returns to Earth. That's at least a ninth-month wait. But it may just seem like a quick nap to you. There, you'll likely be sentenced to life in prison. And if you're really lucky-"

The man stopped talking. He shoved Alejandro backwards, who fell into the open pod. The cold around him took his breath away. He leaned forward to step out of the pod but couldn't. The metal restraints behind him were locked to the back of the pod. The lid started to close. He wanted to raise his knees, to kick the lid back, but couldn't. His boots were locked in place. Crew members used magnetic boots to traverse the ship, and in case the artificial gravity stopped working. The lid closed, and frost started forming inside.

"Of course, if there was a different person..." the man started. His voice was muffled slightly by the lid of the pod and the gently noise of cool air pumping into the pod. He was standing outside the pod, looking almost eye-level at Alejandro, whose breathing was becoming longer as the cold enveloped him. "That would mean the mutiny was real. And having you accused of the conspiracy would serve multiple purposes. The upper officers would think they've dealt the with problem, making it easier to blindside them with the time is right. And, having you wrongly accused could incite other crew members to defend themselves against the corrupt upper officers."

The frost was creeping more across the lid, limiting Alejandro's vision of the bailiff. His eyes were so heavy now. He blinked to keep them await but it wouldn't be long. At least he knew he was right: he had been framed. But who? His bunkmates? The bailiff? Did it matter? There were enough people involved in the conspiracy to tie up all the loose ends: to delete the surveillance footage, to knock him out, and to discreetly move him to Central Control.

"If you're really lucky, you'll wake up to a new command chain. No more of this appointed governor crap from Earth. Mars rules Mars, or at least we'll make it that way. Independent. Free. Finally. So think hard on what side you want to be on when you wake. You're already considered a mutineer. One more thought: we haven't tested how the keypad on the metal restraints will hold up against long-term freezing. If it turns out we can't open them when you thaw, we'll think of something. Sleep tight."

[Stoutland395]

I liked this story. It was short, simple, and had a good twist to the ending. i don't know if you're thinking about continuing it, but I think it definitely stands on its own if that was your intention. I also like the futuristic setting of the story. A few points of constructive feedback: The inclusion of the keypad mittens and magnetized boots is a cool sci-fi element to bondage. I, personally would also like to see what kind of futuristic muzzles they have in this setting to keep prisoners or criminals quiet. I know the cryo-sleep chamber's function, but part of me was hoping for some kind of Loki-esque device to slap over Alejandro's mouth just before he's shoved into the chamber. It would definitely come in handy to keep him from telling everyone who is really responsible for that mutiny attempt. Still, overall, this is a very good story.

[grayboxers]

Oh. My. God this is great.

This is a story that wouldn't look out-of-place outside this board too, since it's a really interesting premise that happens to involve bondage moreso than a story about bondage. And that's cool! I might even steal it as a plot hook for some of my (non-TUG related) writing...

[bigsmile21]

Greatly appreciate the feedback! Glad to see it wasn't too technical to get the bondage descriptions and themes across.

This was a one-shot, so feel free to utilize elements of it for your own story in the (hopefully near) future.

[Carnath]

I like those kind of sci-fi bondage one-shots