by Day Leitao
Nadia seemed confused. “What do you mean?”
Dess looked away and back. “The Mainlanders are hostages. You know that, right?”
“And you’re afraid…” Nadia was thoughtful.
“I rescued them. I feel responsible.”
Nadia looked at him. “Did you… know any of those girls?”
“I don’t socialize on Mainland, in case you haven’t noticed.”
She cocked her head. “You did. On that island.”
“And?”
Her eyes were wide. “Is it… some kind of plan?”
Dess glared. “Just listen to you and think about your words. You’ll find your answer.”
“You’re afraid, Dess. You’re afraid they’ll harm them. Is that it? What’s happening? What is it you aren’t telling me?”
Dess crossed his arms. “I told you everything I know.”
“I’m your friend, Dess, I want to help you. I need you to trust me.”
That was it. He couldn’t take it anymore. “Friend? All the time you and your friends made fun of me at the Academy?”
“I never… You can’t blame me for what a couple of dumbasses did.”
“I’m not blaming anyone. I’m just saying. We were never friends. And I’m not sure you want to call me a friend now, do you?”
She frowned. “You aren’t making sense.”
He pointed at himself. “The kitchen boy here is tired.”
Dess then turned around and walked away.
“Dess,” she called.
He turned. “What?”
She frowned. “You think people weren’t friendly to you because you worked in the kitchen?”
“You have an alternate theory? I’m curious.”
She stepped close enough to him that she had to look up.
“If anyone was mean to you,” she had a mocking tone. “It might have been because you were a self-absorbed asshole who thought you were better than everyone.”
Dess was taken aback. He hadn’t expected that. “Nobody’s begging you to give attention to any asshole.”
“I thought you changed. Or that my impression had been wrong. I it wasn’t.”
It was Nadia who turned away.
Dess called her, “Nadia!”
She turned.
Dess smiled. “I was better than everyone.”
She rolled her eyes. “Congratulations.”
Dess walked back to his apartment hoping maybe she’d give up on him. He would never know if she had anything to do with her father’s request and how much she knew about Saytera, but he hoped he hadn’t given anything away. Dess felt as if he were in a room with walls closing in. The only thing he could do was help Saytera and her friends to escape. But how could they leave the moon without alerting anyone and without Sylvia or Nadia’s help? There was also the threat on Sapphirlune, and the horrific realization that the leaders of his city didn’t seem to care. But he was only one person. Just saving Saytera would be almost impossible. How many impossible things could one person do?
27
Through the Gates
Being locked in that room without any idea about what was going on had Saytera on edge.
Larissa leaned on the wall. “Do you think if we had gotten caught in Citarella our life would be any different?”
Saytera glanced at her other friend. “We wouldn’t have dragged Christina.”
“I dragged myself into it.” Christina sounded resigned.
“Do you regret it?” Saytera was curious.
She thought for a moment. “Parts of it. I wish we had planned a better escape, I wish I had known the military archives would be so closely watched.”
“Wishing about the past is a pointless thought,” Larissa said.
Saytera shrugged. “You started it.”
“I was hoping one of you would remind me that we’d probably be dead.”
“Right. Let’s cheer each other up by thinking about dreadful alternate realities.” Saytera laughed, but she could hear her heart beating. The uncertainty of their situation and their powerlessness were getting on her.
“It is cheerful, in a way,” Christina said. “I think I learned to appreciate the value of food and water. Before this, I would feel horrible by being locked in a room. Now I’m like; well, at least there’s water.”
Larissa put her hands behind her head. “I feel it’s pointless to lock us here. I mean, it’s not like we can grab a spaceship and escape this satellite.”
“We did that in Mainland,” Christina said quietly.
“Well, they don’t have an artificial bubble, and controlled gates and tunnels.”
Saytera was thoughtful. “If they fear we’re spies or something, it kind of makes sense to lock us up. I wish they wouldn’t think that.”
“You—you hear that,” Larissa looked up and yelled. “Creepy hearing people, we are nice and not spies.”
Saytera chuckled. “That’s definitely going to convince them.”
Christina was looking down. “I truly wish we had allies here.”
She probably meant Dess. Saytera thought the same and felt as if she’d betrayed her friends by misplacing her trust in him. But then, it wasn’t as if she had come to the moon on purpose. They had just been desperate, on the run, and forced into these circumstances. He had saved them. It still hurt that he was ignoring them now.
Another thought came to her. “I wonder what they’re going to do about it.”
Larissa wiggled her eyebrows. “About us not being spies?”
“About a threat of somebody destroying their shield and annihilating their city.” Then it hit Saytera. “Weren’t they… too calm?
“If they truly think we’re lying, it makes sense, right?” Larissa said.
“It means they won’t do anything.” Christina grimaced.
Saytera was still thoughtful. “And what if, what if what we found out isn’t true? What if it’s just a plan, for a distant future, or a way to enact an empty threat?” She wasn’t sure she was making sense.
“Anything is possible, right?” Larissa said. “That said, you need to consider that they want to end the truce. Why would they do that for empty promises?”
Saytera exhaled, annoyed. “So why aren’t these Lunars more worried?”
“Maybe they know something we don’t,” Christina said softly.
Larissa snorted. “Imagine if they have an even worse superweapon.” She then stopped laughing.
The three friends looked at each other.
Thoughts kept circulating in Dess’s head without getting anywhere. He’d need to find out where Saytera and her friends were, render some guards unconscious, rush to the civil port, and hope that there wasn’t much security there or around the gates. He’d need help to leave, and yet felt torn at the idea of ruining Marcus’s life. But how could he do it alone? At least his friend wasn’t there, and Dess was free to ruminate his thoughts in solitude.
That was until somebody knocked on the door. Dess knew who it was, and when he opened the door, his suspicions were confirmed: Nadia. Perhaps it wasn’t her fault that her father was threatening Saytera, but then, perhaps it was, and that small possibility was enough for him to feel almost nauseous at seeing her. But he’d better not show any of that.
“Hey, Dess!”
Her tone was cheerful. Lovely to see someone happy and ignoring all that was happening.
“Hello.” He managed not to sound angry or annoyed.
She then put a finger over her mouth, pointed up and made a circle with her hands, then pointed to both ears.
He was wondering if she was feeling well, when he realized what she meant. Well, duh. It was obvious, and yet, he hadn’t considered it. Somebody was watching him and had microphones in his apartment. Dess was stunned, and yet, he shouldn’t be.
For once, he wanted to hear what the girl had to say, and asked, “Do you want to go for a walk?”
She shook her head and pointed to the apartment, then said, “I
’m a little tired. Do you mind if I come in?”
This was not good. He wanted to know whatever she had to say and how she’d found out about them hearing him. “Are you sure? It would be nice to go for a walk.”
“I’d rather not, Dess.” Nadia grimaced and pointed inside, then to him and to her ears, as if saying, “it’s you they are watching”. It didn’t really explain why they couldn’t go out, but he didn’t want to argue. Well, he couldn’t argue, not without dragging her outside.
“Do you want something to drink?” he offered.
“Sure. Some water.”
Water. He had no idea she was capable of drinking anything without alcohol.
She sat down and asked, “So what do you think about the Mainlanders’ talk?”
“I… don’t know what to think.” Indeed he had no idea what to say in those circumstances. “I mean, it’s possible it’s a setup.”
Nadia took a sip. “I agree. I mean, no way they would have access to a kind of weapon we didn’t even know existed. But who knows, we might learn more about whatever Mainland is planning. It was a good thing you brought them here.”
Dess sat at the table. “Glad to serve Sapphirlune.”
Nadia pointed to him and to her neck. She meant the chip on his neck. Wild. The government could control each of his movements. Then she pointed inside the apartment. “I’m tired. Do you want to lie down?”
Was she for real? “Sure.”
Nadia got up, but to his relief, she didn’t go to his bedroom. Instead, she headed for the door in silent steps. She put her hand over her lip and asked him to open it. Open silently. Dess didn’t like it.
He whispered in her ear, “What are you going to do?”
“Stay here with you.” Her whisper in his ear was barely audible.
He stared at her.
Nadia then whispered, “Don’t worry.”
Dess shrugged and watched her go, partly wanting to run after her and demand the truth, partly glad she was leaving, but most of all, curious and worried at whatever she was going to do. Regardless, as soon as Marcus got home, they’d go for a walk. Dess wasn’t going to stay home and wait for things to get sorted out by themselves, regardless of what Nadia thought.
It was hard to sleep in that place, despite how tired Saytera was. The lights had been shut down and there was no switch in the room. The Lunars wanted to keep them in the dark—literally. Saytera was lying down, trying to come up with a solution to end their predicament. Nothing came to her mind other than waiting and hoping that the Lunars weren’t murderers and didn’t use torture methods for interrogation. One more thing they hadn’t counted on. Somehow, Saytera thought that Dess there would be enough to keep them relatively safe. Unfortunately, she had been wrong.
The door opened suddenly while she was about to doze off.
The blond girl who had been at their testimony pointed a pistol at them.
“Get up, get up.”
A dark-haired girl was with her, also pointing at them.
“What’s happening?” Saytera asked.
“You’re being transferred,” the blond girl replied.
Strangely, the girl’s hand was shaking. Saytera glanced at her friends. This would be a perfect opportunity to overpower them and get their weapons. Saytera closed her eyes. There were probably more guards at the corridor and they wouldn’t go far anyway. Both Larissa and Christina got up and also seemed confused.
“C’mon. Quick,” the girl said.
They followed her as they passed two guards in the hallway and a safe door, which the girl opened with a code. As they were outside, the other girl took three pistols from a bag and handed them to Saytera and her friends. That was surprising and probably meant that they weren’t just transferring them.
“They are set to stun,” the dark-haired girl said. “Use them only as a last resort.”
“How do you know we’re not gonna stun you?” Larissa whispered.
“We’re assuming you’re not stupid,” the blond girl said. “C’mon, let’s move.”
Saytera felt weird holding a pistol and handed it to Christina. “More useful with you.”
“Are you sure?” Christina whispered.
“Positive.”
Her friend shrugged and took it while they walked in fast steps through a corridor surrounded on one side by glass walls from where they could look outside. It was still day. No. Stupid idea. Of course it was still day. Lunars didn’t have night-day cycles like Mainland. A strange place for a person to live on.
They were on a balcony overlooking the port from where they had come in. Their Mainland ship was at a corner, battered and bent from being pushed. The way they’d been brought was completely insane. Saytera’s heart tugged, thinking of what Dess had done for them, and how he’d found them. It was just that it didn’t make sense and it made her even more confused.
There were some six guards around the place. The dark-haired girl called them. She pointed at each guard and at one of them. Of course, they should split and get them by surprise. So many things could go wrong, though.
Christina turned to Saytera and mouthed, “I got it.”
The one assigned to her, she meant.
The dark-haired Lunar girl pointed to the two stairs, made a gesture to split the group, then raised three fingers, then two, then one. When she closed her fist they ran to the stairs. Saytera ran but found cover, until she realized it wasn’t necessary. Christina had jumped and already taken four guards. The two others were easily overpowered. The blond girl went to a control booth while they followed the dark-haired girl to a spaceship. This was a military model, with a powerful cannon and a shield. Inside, it had seats on the sides, and an open area with handle bars, so that it could transport people standing. Saytera, Larissa, and Christina sat on the sides. The dark-haired girl went to the front.
“What’s going on?” Saytera managed to ask.
“Exactly what you’re thinking,” the girl in the front said.
The blond girl came running in, they closed the door, the ship took off and sped up through the tunnel.
The passage opened for them and soon they were in outer space, the moon getting smaller behind them.
“Who are you guys?” Larissa asked.
“I’m Sylvia,” the brunette girl replied.
The blond girl was shaking, and started sobbing.
Her friend, Silvia, touched her back. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Do you want to go back?”
“No,” the girl said between sobs. “I just… I can’t believe… I can’t believe it worked.” She turned back to face Saytera and her friends. “I’m Nadia.”
“Are you taking us back to Mainland?” Saytera asked.
The girl shook her head. “No. No. We need to figure this out.” She turned to Saytera. “Like you said, work together.” Her voice was cracking. “But it’s much scarier in reality than when we planned this.”
“Where are we going, then?’
“Tahari Moon.” Her voice was still weak.
“Can anyone land there?” Larissa asked.
Nadia was still sobbing. “Probably. Maybe. According to my plan, yes. But… we’ll only really know when we get there.”
It didn’t take any effort to notice that the girl was absolutely terrified.
Marcus was taking so long to get back that for once, Dess started fearing for his friend. When he arrived, he was not alone. A middle-aged man with dark skin and grey hair and beard, carrying a case, accompanied him. Before Dess asked anything, Marcus put a finger on his lips. Right. It sounded as if they were all in some joke Dess didn’t understand. The man put a finger on the back of his neck and pointed to Dess.
The idea of removing his chip was amazing, even if it was what had saved him from being stranded on an island. At the same time, he feared what would happen if they made a mistake.
But then, Dess trusted Marcus. The man he brought was unlikely to be some clumsy noob. And it could be a ticket to freedom. If it
didn’t get Dess killed.
Saytera was still stunned and somehow suspicious that these girls had taken them out of Sapphirlune.
When they were far away, and certainly not yet followed, Saytera asked, “Do you guys have a plan or something?”
“It’s what you said,” Nadia turned back to face them. “We need to work together.”
“How is going to Tahari Moon going to help?”
The girl sounded uncertain. “I’m… not so sure. You need to tell your people about what you found out. We need a safe space to stop and think.”
“Thank you for rescuing us,” Larissa said.
Nadia frowned. “We’re the ones who should be thanking you. I mean, it’s my city that’s being threatened, and you’re trying to stop it. You should have been treated as special guests.”
Larissa was thoughtful. “Any idea why we weren’t?”
The blond girl shrugged. “My parents. I don’t know, I guess they think they know everything, they think they’re mighty and invulnerable, or they don’t want to create panic. I’m not sure.”
“Who are your parents?” Saytera asked.
“Leader Aziz and Mr. Tarel, they were both in your testimony.”
That woman who interrogated them. “I see.”
“I think they’re stubborn,” Nadia said. “Maybe they didn’t believe you.”
“Why do you believe us?” That was a genuine curiosity.
“Nobody almost dies for some kind of sham. And your ship had no food and no oxygen. I saw the reports. If it hadn’t been for Dess, you’d have died. It would be a pretty flawed plan to count on such luck.”
Larissa cocked her head. “Wouldn’t it be easier to stay in Saphirlune and convince your parents we were telling the truth?”
Nadia sighed. “They wouldn’t hear it.”
Larissa scratched her head. “And they’ll… hear it better from the another moon?”
“Mainlanders can hear it better from the Tahari Moon. And Lunars.”
Of course, it made total sense. “There’s a communication station there,” Saytera said.