by Seven Steps
She wondered what the Eminence of Earth was like. Was it shimmering like the Eminence of Nova 1? She’d never even heard of Earth until she arrived there a year ago with a bomb in her head and no memories. How close was Earth to being reaped? A year? Ten years? Ninety years? There was no way to tell.
She remembered what it was like living on earth. Eight billion people thought that they were alone in the universe. Little did they know that they weren’t even alone on the planet.
“Sorcha.” Leilu came to stand next to her, interrupting her thoughts.
Apparently, her and Ivan had made final decisions on her life and were ready to share the results with her.
“You’re so quiet,” she said. “That’s not like you.”
Sorcha shook her head. “Leilu, I can’t stay on Sorin.”
Leilu wrinkled her brows. “Why not?”
“I just … I’m not good with settling down.” She avoided Ivan’s eye, knowing the look of hurt that had probably taken up residence there. “And there are things we have to do here. Things that are bigger than us. We have to stop Mega-Corp from killing the Nadir for fuel. It isn’t right.”
Leilu’s eyes turned soft. “You'll only be there for a little while, Sorcha. Just until things calm down.”
“You, of all people, should know that things will never calm down. Phineas Zorg is a monster. He will never stop looking for Ivan and I.”
“Let me worry about Phineas.”
“He won’t listen to you.”
“You’d be surprised.”
Leilu turned to walk back to one of the comfortable chairs, her hand going to her belly.
“Surprised? I think I’d drop stone dead. Phineas is a tyrant bent on liquefying every Nadir in the universe just to line his pockets. You think he’d stop his money train because you whisper in his ear at night?”
The moment the words left Sorcha’s mouth, she wanted to take them back. She squeezed her lips together and crossed her arms again, her gaze turning to the ceiling. It didn’t matter what she said now. She didn’t intend to hurt Leilu, but the words were out and, what’s more, they were true.
“Sorcha, Sorcha, Sorcha.” Leilu clicked her tongue and shook her head, a sign of her displeasure. “You’ve always thought you were so smart. So high and mighty. Righteous and full of truth and honor and virtue, while the rest of us know nothing.”
Leilu’s blue eyes took on a knife-like edge that Sorcha had never seen before. But Sorcha wouldn’t be intimidated. Especially not by Leilu Zorg. The woman slept next to the evilest man in the universe. The man who killed trillions of people, including Sorcha’s family fourteen years ago. Who melted their bones down into fuel to power his ships. When Sorcha saw Leilu, all she saw was her own loss, hurt, and pain. Pain caused by Leilu’s husband and his machines.
Her anger blazed, and Sorcha glared at the woman, ready to unleash a barrage of hate filled words that had been building within her for far too long.
Leilu pressed on. “One day, you’ll come down from your sky high pedestal and realize that life is a lot less black and white than you think. Perhaps, when you are older, you will understand the sacrifices that some of us have to make.”
“Yes, Leilu; I can see the sacrifices that you’ve made. You’re really living a life of poverty and denial here.”
“How dare you! I should have known. You’re just as smug as always. It may seem that I live in luxury here, but let us not forget the work that I do.”
Sorcha bit the inside of her cheek and kept silent.
“I help people like you get away from Mega-Corp. I betray my husband’s trust every day to make sure that people like you survive. That you can have a life.”
“Yeah, Leilu; you’re a regular Harriet Tubman.”
Leilu didn’t get the reference, being from space and all, and Sorcha smirked at the woman’s confusion.
“Do you think you’re the only two people on Mega-Corp’s hit list?” Leilu asked. She didn’t give Sorcha time to respond. “I’ll bet you did, because you are a selfish child. Well, guess what, Sorcha Blitz? There are thousands of you. Hundreds of thousands of you, and I help them all as best as I can. Every day, I lie to my husband so that I can help the people who want to rip everything I have away from me. And you have the gall to stand here and judge me?”
“If you really wanted to help, you’d put a knife to Phineas Zorg’s throat and push until it came out the other side.”
Leilu looked as if she would be sick.
“No matter what he’s done, I love Phineas and I will never harm him. Not for you, not for the jumpers, and not for the Nadir.”
Sorcha shook he head.
“Then you’re no better than the agents that he sent after us. You talk about the cause, but you’re not part of the cause. This is a game to you. Something to help you sleep at night. Your husband is a murderer, and you still sleep beside him. You can fool yourself into thinking that you are some saint, but you are no saint, Leilu Zorg. You are just as much of a murderer as he is, and no amount of saved souls will scrub away the blood that stains your hands.”
“Sorcha, that’s enough!”
Ivan’s sharp tone ended Sorcha’s tirade.
Leilu’s eyes left Sorcha, and she took a deep breath, her hand going to her belly again.
The tense silence in the common room stretched taunt.
Sorcha didn’t care. Everything she said was true, and Leilu needed to hear it. While the woman basked in a life of luxury, her husband raped the universe. His company moved from planet to planet, reaping and seeding over and over again. The Nadir lived their lives, believing that they had roots and lineages. In reality, their planets were reaped, and then seeded with more Nadir so that the cycle of blood for money could continue.
It made Sorcha sick.
Several minutes passed before Leilu spoke again. She didn’t look at Sorcha, or Ivan, instead choosing to keep her eyes on the wall mural and her hand to her protruding stomach.
“We all have our lot in this life, and we do what we can to live as best as we can. I love Phineas. It is an honor to be his wife, despite what he does. That will never change. Stay or go, Sorcha. I don’t care. But you will not shame me anymore.”
And then she was gone, her white slippers silent as she disappeared into the recesses of the house.
“Sorcha.”
Sorcha felt Ivan’s rebuke coming and turned from him. She didn’t need it now. She felt raw, angry, and hurt. His words would only make it worse.
Still, she heard his voice behind her as she walked toward the door.
Whatever he said wouldn't change things. They would find a place to re-group that wasn’t Sorin, and they would do it without Leilu’s tainted pity.
“Sorcha, wait.” Ivan grabbed her arm and turned her to him. She pinned him with a deadly look. One that he ignored. “This has been a stressful day for everyone,” he said. “Maybe we can stay here for a few hours and rest up. Clear our heads. Then, once we’ve discussed it, we can decide what we will do.”
“I’m not staying here with her.”
“Sorcha, please! Leilu is just trying to help. If you don’t want to go to Sorin, then we don’t have to. We will figure something out. But, we have to find somewhere to go. We’re only two people. We can’t fight Mega-Corp on our own.”
Sorcha’s temper felt as if it was on the verge of explosion.
“We will fight them. I promise you that. Your family and the rest of the Nadir will be avenged, but we can’t help anyone if we’re dead. Please, stay here just for a little while and then we can figure things out together.”
His words cooled Sorcha’s temper. But not by much. Leilu’s words had hit too close to home.
Am I really self-righteous? Do I really see everything in black and white?
Her brain hurt as anger and fear coursed through her. Anger at Leilu’s hurtful words, and fear that those words were true.
“Sure,” Sorcha said. “Whatever.”
&nbs
p; Ivan nodded, and moved his grip from her arm to her hand. She looked at their interlaced fingers, trying to decide if she should shake them off. In the end, she allowed him to lead her up the stairs.
He is not my enemy, she reminded herself. My enemy is Mega-Corp. Ivan is not my enemy.
Chapter 3
Heavy footsteps awakened Sorcha and Ivan from their troubled sleep.
She didn’t remember falling asleep, nor did she remember Ivan wrapping her in his arms and pulling her so close that she laid flush against him. She didn’t even remember arguing with him, which she must have done. After all, that was what they did. They fought, made up, then fought again.
I must have been more tired than I thought.
Voices rose from the common room below.
“Lei? Lei, are you here?”
That voice. She knew that rough, gravelly voice. And why shouldn’t she? It had graced every newsfeed throughout the universe for years. The voice of cheap fuel and hard bargains.
Phineas Zorg.
“Leilu, where are you?” the voice called again, nearly frantic this time.
“Phin, I’m here.”
There was a pause, and Sorcha could only imagine that the two were embracing. As if they were just an ordinary couple in love instead of a murdering trillionaire and his traitorous wife.
“The guards picked up a ship coming this way and contacted me. You didn’t answer my calls. I was so worried I came right back home.”
“I’ve been asleep.”
“You’ve been asleep, and I’ve been having a heart attack for the last hour. I thought something had happened to you.”
“Phin, I’m fine.”
“I brought some agents with me. They’re going to keep an eye on things around here, to make sure no one breaks in.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“Of course I do. After last time, I…” Another pause. “If anything happened to you and the baby I don’t know what I’d do. I’d be lost again.”
Baby? Leilu was pregnant? Of course. That's why she kept touching her stomach!
She nearly snorted. That child would be the most powerful toddler in the universe. She almost envied him or her. Though, she had to admit, that was a side of Phineas that Sorcha had never seen before. The Phineas Zorg that sat in front of cameras and gave interviews was hard-nosed and ruthless. Yes, he was handsome, but he was also an oily snake, able to wriggle his way out of any attempts by the Universal Council to put restrictions on his too large business. Some said he was more powerful than the Council itself. Sorcha didn’t doubt it. But she did know one thing. Men like Phineas Zorg didn’t blubber over their wives. At least, she thought they didn’t.
“Phin, we’re fine. There’s no need to miss an entire trip on my account.”
“I’d miss a million trips on your account if you needed me to. I told you that I’d always protect you, and I meant it.”
Is it true? Does Leilu have power over her husband? What does that mean? Could she convince him to shut down his business of murdering innocent souls for fuel? Would he listen?
There was another long pause, giving Sorcha time to climb out of bed, put on her boots, and peek out of the room.
The long, dark hallway was empty. The top of the white, spiraling stairs sat only a few feet away. Apparently, Ivan had selected the first guest room he saw.
She now wondered why she hadn’t thought to question it. Shouldn’t they have chosen a room deeper in the house, and further away from any place they could have been seen? A basement maybe? A closet.
They must not have expected Phineas to come back so soon. After all, didn’t he say that he had to turn around and come back home? That had to mean that he was going somewhere, didn’t it?
She shook her head and began to army crawl to the top of the staircase to get a better look at the richest man in the universe when a hand grabbed her calf and yanked her back into a wall of warmth.
Ivan.
He grabbed her around the waist, and shuffled them back into the bedroom, silently closing the door.
“What did you do that for?” she hissed, trying to ignore her body’s instant reaction to him.
He didn’t answer her at first.
She tried to whip around and pin him with one of her infamous glares, but he held her tight, making her mind slow and her breath hitch.
She cursed her treasonous body.
“Phineas was supposed to be halfway across the galaxy.” His voice was soft, as if he were apologizing. Warm breath played at her ear, and she nearly sighed. How was it possible that he could bring out the woman in her so quickly, even in the most deadly situations? She wretched her mind away from the thought and focused on her anger at their carelessness, and on freeing herself from his grip. “He wasn’t scheduled to be home for another two cycles.”
“Let me go. We’re trapped,” she said, trying to convince herself not to blame Ivan for their predicament.
“No, my Sorcha. We’re not. We are lying in wait.”
Lying in wait? What are we waiting for? For Phineas or one of his agents to find us and murder us?
She struggled again to break from his grasp, but he refused to release her.
What was he doing?
“Let me go, Ivan.”
“Why?” She felt his lips graze her ear, and she shivered. “So that you can run and get us both killed? Not a chance.”
Focusing on her anger, she tried to pry his thick fingers apart.
“Ivan, if we stay here, we will die.”
“Not if you trust me, Sorcha. Do you trust me?”
No. The word appeared in her mind, hard and strong. It made her eyes widen, and her heart beat fast.
If she didn’t trust Ivan, what did that mean for them? For her? Could she love a man she didn’t trust? Why didn’t she trust him? He hadn’t done anything for her not to trust him. Maybe it wasn’t intentional. With the parade of people who had left her heart broken, it was hard for her to put her complete confidence in anyone. After all, they might not be around tomorrow.
Is Ivan any different than them?
Before she had time to think on it, the door cracked open, and Taklin’s pale face appeared, looking as sour as ever.
Is he here as a friend, or as a foe?
His face disappeared from the doorway and, only then did Ivan release her. The loss of his heat chilled her, but she had no time to listen to her shivering body or her pounding heart.
“Let’s go.”
Ivan grabbed her hand and led her to the door. They dropped to their hands and knees as they followed Taklin’s shadow down the hallway. Sorcha tried not to think about how close they were to Phineas Zorg. How exposed they were in the hallway with the large gaps between the elegant glass topped balustrades. All anyone would have to do was look up and they’d be caught.
She took in a deep breath, trying to calm her racing pulse. She dared to peek between the balustrades, and saw the reason why Phineas wouldn't be looking up any time soon.
He and His wife were devouring each other’s mouths like love struck teenagers. His hands gently stroked up and down her back, the delicate fabric of her white robes moving between his fingers. Leilu had somehow managed to turn Phineas so that his back was to the staircase. Her small hands framed his strong chin, her body melting into his so naturally. So beautifully.
She cracked her eyelids open, and looked directly at Sorcha. She held her gaze for a moment longer before closing her eyes again, whispering something to Phineas that made him chuckle and rejoining their lips.
Sorcha’s cheeks reddened beneath her caramel skin, and she refocused on Taklin, her mind not sure of what to believe. Who was Leilu Zorg? What was one to think about a woman who seemed desperately in love with a monster like Phineas, while helping runaways and convicts escape his clutches?
Taklin stopped. He raised his arms so that his robe hid both Sorcha and Ivan from whomever had appeared in front of him. He slowly turned and walked in th
e opposite direction, careful to keep his body between them and whoever was at the opposite end of the hallway.
Sorcha’s heart pounded in fear. She didn’t want to die, and definitely not in the house of Phineas Zorg. Regret ate up her throat.
Why didn’t I leave and go to Sorin when I had the chance?
She lowered herself further into the carpet, crawling as quickly as she could toward the other end of the hallway. Her lungs closed as she passed the open staircase. It would only take one look for Phineas to spot them. What would he do if he saw them? Would he kill her? Lock her back in one of his labs? Cut the bomb from her head? The thought made her hands sweat.
Arm over arm, they crawled over the white carpet. Past closed white doors engraved with jewel encrusted constellations. If someone opened one of those doors, they would be spotted for sure. Was anyone else there? How many other fugitives did Leilu have in the house? And where were the other agents?
Her body shook. It became harder and harder to crawl. She kept her mind focused on the other end of the hallway. On the dark staircase that awaited them there. In just a few more feet—
“Taklin, is everything alright?”
Lungs frozen in fear, body shaking in terror, she practically threw herself into the darkness and prayed that Phineas didn’t see. A moment later, Ivan was next to her.
They held their breaths. Waiting.
Two small guns dropped from Taklin’s robes and onto the floor in front of them before Taklin turned around.
“Everything is as it should be, Mr. Zorg,” Taklin said, walking back toward the steps. “The rooms up here are clear of intruders.”
Sorcha’s eyes scanned the staircase in front of them, fighting the fear that rose up her spine. Was someone awaiting them at the bottom of the stairs? Would they get out of the house alive?
“Good,” Phineas said. “I want you to keep this light of mine safe.”
“Of course, sir.”
“She’s the last part of my heart that I have left.”
Another pause.
Sorcha watched as Taklin’s eyes dropped to the floor, avoiding the no doubt intimate moment before him. A few seconds later, he descended the grand staircase, his white slippers silent over the carpet.