Chapter 1: Carnath

The chess game goes on for some time, before resulting in a disappointing stalemate. Afterwards, those that require sleep find themselves getting drowsy. Dr. Mullins finds himself re-reading various paragraphs and he occasionally nods off in tiny micro-snaps, and eventually gives up his efforts to continue with his book.

Twelve hours into the journey, Annalise, Bud, Riggs, and Mullins are sound asleep on the "safer" side of the cage, while Dodger naps on the other side. Ellos is busy contemplating the fact that her access to the prisoner database has been restricted when her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of scraping and scratching. The smaller man in the cage is at it again.

Approaching the cage for a closer vantage, Ellos sees that the floor of the cage is covered with a rubber matting, likely designed to be sprayed down with a hose in the event that blood, urine, or other bodily products need be washed out after a voyage to the prison. Where the rubber matting meets with the bottom of the cage work, there was a small channel the cage base adjoins to, and is sealed shut, but it appears that the man has used what appears to be a small piece of metal acting as a primitive chisel or shiv, and has been steadily cutting away the rubber matting from the cage base. By the looks of it, the man has nearly cut the entire cage base loose from the rubber matting.
Ellos approaches, remaining careful to stay out of grabbing range, and the smaller man looks up from his work, and gives a sinister smile. "Hey, Elmer," the man says.
The larger man, had previously taken a seat from another inmate closed his eyes for a short rest, having lost interest in leering at the workers on the other side of the cage, but at mention of his name one eye winks open.
"Almost there, if you want to grab some of the stronger fellas to help." He says this while maintaining his gaze on Ellos, a look of almost mocking nature on his face.
Elmer stands up, stretches, and begins slapping the shoulders to wake a couple of other prisoners inside of the cage.

Dodger’s nap is suddenly interrupted by the sounds of shuffling and shifting bodies around him, and he opens his eyes to see some of the men rousing from their sleep. The large inmate wears a mean looking smile on his face, and Dodger’s been incarcerated enough times for petty crimes in his younger days to recognize anxious feeling that comes when something is about to go down in a jailhouse.

As soon as the group of new employees begins reacting to Ellos’s news, Elmer shouts to those he roused, "Now!" Hurry up. Elmer, the smaller long-haired man with the shiv/chisel, and two other inmates grab hold of the cage and begin working in tandem to push-and-pull… push-and-pull… push-and-pull… The cage rattles loudly, and those watching see that the cage is quickly being ripped from it’s rubber mounting at the base. Ellos-11’s assessment of the situation does seem indeed to be the case. A prisoner escape seems imminent; an attempt at a hijacking the forgone conclusion afterwards.

As panic builds in the main passenger area of the ship, Mullins rushes to the front of the transport and searches frantically for an intercom. There’s a speaker to the left of the locked cockpit door, but no button is evident or any means to contact the pilot’s on the other side, so he begins frantically hammering on the door with his fist. After a few seconds, which feel like long, precious minutes wasting away as the doctor tries to ignore the shouts and primordial whoops of excitement now emanating loudly the prisoners from the other side of the cage, the annoyed-sounding voice of the shuttle’s first pilot crackles over the speaker.

"…Kkksh… —have nearly twenty-four hours of travel time remaining. What the hell do you assholes want?"