by Brinda Berry
“Relax.” Regulus’s voice was heavy and sounded on the edge of sleep.
He rolled to face the door and we were back-to-back. I listened to his slow, regular breathing and allowed my own breaths to match his.
17
Company
I moved a centimeter at a time away from Regulus’s side. Not wanting to wake him, I gradually lifted the arm I’d thrown across his chest. His chest rose and fell rhythmically like the slow tick of a clock.
“I’m awake.” His low voice startled me.
“Um…sorry. I, um, didn’t mean to—”
“I’ve been awake for a while.” He shifted to a sitting position. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Oh.” Heat crawled up my neck to infuse my face. I awkwardly pushed my body away from him and teetered on the edge before getting my balance.
“You act like I’m diseased,” he muttered and hopped from the bed.
“Nope. Tired of being crushed while I sleep.” I searched for something intelligent or witty to say as I stared at the wall, refusing to meet his eyes, hoping he couldn’t read my mind. When he acted hurt by my less-than-friendly attitude, my insides squeezed painfully in a vice grip. Would I ever get over him?
Not likely. But I could give a performance worthy of an Oscar.
Regulus had risen and looked out the glass door. “How in the—”
“What?” The alarm in his voice sent a nervous chill up my spine that delivered goose bumps as it went.
“Come here.”
I met him at the door. He moved aside to give me a vantage point that allowed sight of the other cells.
Four cells down, Em stood in the corner of the door with her face pressed against the glass. She lifted her hand in a slight wave before it slid down the surface.
I put my hand on the glass as if I could touch hers.
“I assume they didn’t come with you?” Regulus said.
“They?” I was unable to take my eyes from Em’s.
“Austin’s in there too. I saw him a second ago.” Regulus crowded me while trying to look out. He placed his arm and face over my head to see better.
“How?”
He stepped back and looked down at me with a grimace, then shrugged. “Now we have the bigger problem of getting us out of here.”
“What do She-ra and the others want from us?” I turned away from the glass to face him.
“I don’t know. We thought we could seek refuge here.”
Down the hall, Em had fogged up the glass door with her breathing. She began writing a message with backward letters appearing one at a time.
“UR house. watched U leave. tiny. cell phone,” she printed across the glass. Regulus read the words aloud.
A door opened and stomping sounded from somewhere. Em quickly erased the words with her sleeve. She backed away from the door in a ninja move that made me blink.
I went to sit on the bed and Regulus followed. If Arizona had told my friends to come, I planned to do serious damage to him.
“Relax. If we look nervous, it gives them an edge.” Regulus examined our rigid, side-by-side positions on the bed. I shifted to a reclining position with my back against the concrete wall.
Regulus reached over to take my foot and placed it in his lap. He proceeded to massage it.
Which was ludicrous.
And a little creepy if I didn’t know that it wasn’t the norm for us. I was taken aback but tried to steady my breathing at the unexpected move.
I wondered if this whole thing he had about doing something unexpected to divert attention was an IIA tactic. Maybe the IIA had classes titled ‘Diversion by Impulsive and Unanticipated Behavior.’ I stifled a nervous giggle at the errant thought.
I had my attention on Regulus’s hand rubbing my toes when a knock on the door startled me.
Two men stood at the glass door. One unlocked it by waving his hand above the threshold. I made a mental note to see how he did that parlor trick. I grabbed my boots and hauled them on when the other man motioned that we should approach the door.
A short walk later, after we were granted a restroom stop, we followed our captors without any handcuffs or other restraints to a large room that resembled a meeting area. Twenty or more chairs circled a long table in the center of the room.
“So, what do you think they want now?” I fidgeted in the chair I’d chosen at the table end. No one else had arrived.
“We don’t appear to be prisoners.” He held up his wrists and waved them freely.
“It’s not like they’re torturing us, but—news bulletin coming in—we are prisoners.”
“I know you think being locked up with me is torture.” His grimace at me was self-deprecating and sad.
I felt the emotion stab my chest and slice into my barely healed heart. I remembered to breathe a second later.
“I never said that. Sorry. Confinement, starvation, no bathroom. Those things put me in a very bad mood.” Trying to hate you, I mentally added.
He nodded. “We should make demands if they plan on keeping us.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m demanding to be let out.”
“Maybe they can help us.”
I eyed him skeptically. “They don’t look like they’re in the mood.”
“It’s called bargaining.” His confident smile made me swallow hard. I hoped he hadn’t heard my gulp.
“Where is Arizona?” I was suddenly aware that I’d expected he’d be with us.
“I doubt they’ll question us together.”
“Why not?
“Arizona and I would be a threat together.”
“What about me?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“They’re not worried about you.” He dismissed me to look around the room.
“What if they are underestimating me?”
“Oh, they are certainly underestimating you. You could literally kill someone with your incessant questioning.” While he continued his study of our surroundings, he put his finger in front of his lips and emphasized with a negative shake of his head.
He was afraid they were listening. I reviewed what I’d already said. Great.
The one door to the room opened to admit the two guards who’d escorted us earlier. They stood on each side of the door as sentries while several more men and women entered afterward.
A woman wearing some sort of body armor sat at Regulus’s right. That was interesting. The others sat in the chairs nearest us at the table. A young guy with a friendly, open face smiled at me. His tousled hair gave him a carefree look.
Tousled Hair Guy began the questions. “Identify Regulus B7V.”
“You know who I am,” Regulus said.
The young guy smiled brightly. “Yes. It’s true. You know we must. No harm in confirmation.”
Regulus held out his wrist in a bored manner to the woman at his side. She produced a wand that she passed over Regulus’s wrist.
“Good. Thank you.”
Regulus inclined his head. “May I ask your identification? Or do you have one?”
“You may call me Corona,” he said.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Corona,” Regulus said.
My head whipped to the side to stare at him. I managed to keep my mouth from a Grand Canyon sized drop at his polite and formal phrasing.
“And your identification?” Corona looked at me expectantly.
“I think you know that she has none,” Regulus said.
“Mia,” I said. “Why—”
Regulus put both hands on the table, face up. It was an odd gesture. “It is nothing to concern you. We appreciate your hospitality, but we cannot stay. This girl is with me.”
“Why is she with you? We need to understand her purpose.” Corona leaned forward and placed both his hands up on the table.
“The girl is unimportant.”
“Sitting right here. You could at least use my name,” I mumbled.
Regulus glared at me.
Coro
na turned his attention to me. “Mia, I would like to hear your information.”
All faces at the table except for Regulus’s turned to me. I could feel that he was holding his breath.
“Um…well…I am here with Regulus. But we are leaving. I’m visiting.”
Regulus closed his eyes.
He may have even been praying, but I didn’t think he ever prayed. Maybe he had just started.
“That is extremely interesting to us.” Corona took his hands from the table and leaned back in his chair. “Would you like to take a walk with me?”
Regulus removed his hands from the table and I sensed eyes watching his movements.
“We would walk with you,” Regulus said.
Corona gave him a tight smile. “You understand that I wanted to walk with her alone, did you not? Where is your trust?”
Corona stood and held out a hand. “Come with me. You have nothing to fear. Regulus B7V will be here when we return.”
I looked from Corona to Regulus, not knowing quite what to say or do.
“I insist. I would like to show you our facilities. You could talk with me about the food you prefer.”
I wondered if I looked hungry. Corona had chosen the right thing to say to me. The pink color he emitted like a shawl around his frame told me he was excited, but harmless. I’d have known if there was danger.
“Sure.”
Regulus stood and the woman beside him shook her head. She held a silver disk the size of a playing card. Regulus immediately returned to his seat and rested his hands palm up on the table again.
I rose but didn’t take Corona’s hand. “I’ll be right back. It’s OK,” I said to Regulus. The nervous vibes poured off his skin and I wanted to soothe him. Regulus’s actions seemed so out of character.
“Ten minutes,” Regulus said. “I want her back in ten minutes.”
Corona eyed him steadily. “She will.” He grinned at me. “Come, before Regulus starts the clock.”
Out in the corridor, Corona led the way while talking. He never looked to make sure I stayed near his side.
“Is he usually this distrustful?” Corona’s pace could only be described as a stroll. No time demand by Regulus would worry him.
“Yes, as a matter of habit.”
“That must be a very uncomfortable habit,” he said.
“Uncomfortable, but safe.”
He glanced sideways and chuckled. “So it is.” He halted at the intersection of hallways. “Here we have the sleeping quarters.” Corona nodded to a left wing. Turning right, he added, “Let’s go to food storage.”
“You didn’t actually bring me on a walk to show me around.” I peered at him to see his reaction.
“You are very astute. But a walk through the mundane makes serious discussion less…intense.”
“So, tell me what you want from us.”
“Are you searching for something in this place? Cassie tells me that Arizona should not be here. That he is here without authorization. I believe the same of Regulus. You…” He took a minute to stop and look me in the eyes. “You are not supposed to be here.”
I raised an eyebrow, not wanting to give away more information than necessary.
Corona reached out slowly and took my hand, flipping it face up. He rubbed his thumb over my wrist. “No chip.”
“How did you know?”
“We scan all those who enter our home to be sure. Your scan didn’t show identification.”
“Hmm…” The room we’d entered boasted shelves of silver packets.
“And now we are to the problem that needs answering.”
“Which package to eat first?”
He laughed and handed me a package. A transparent film proved that the container held what appeared to be dried apples.
“Open it,” he instructed. “I like your confidence, Mia. Who are you?”
“You go first. Who are you and why did you lock us up?”
“A precaution. Arizona has stayed with us before. He and Cassie…” He wrinkled his nose, making me think it was a distasteful subject.
“Are good friends?”
“Yes.” Relief washed over his face.
Did I seem that delicate? Or was he?
“And so Cassie captures her former flames and locks them up.” I raised one eyebrow and popped a dried apple into my watering mouth.
“No. I’ve ordered the accommodations for security measures.”
“Mmm.” I savored the apple.
Corona smiled. “You’re not worried about my intentions, are you?” The statement came out loaded with implication.
I knew he read more into my trust than I wanted. Maybe he knew about my synesthesia.
“Should I be?” I glanced sidelong at him and admired his soothing cool blue aura.
He laughed, a soft, amused chuckle that tickled my ears and made me want to join him.
“It’s been too serious around here. Your honesty and trust is disarming.” He handed me another bag of dried goodies. “We have to return. Cassie wanted you separated from Arizona. She assumed you were paired.” He signaled with his head that I should follow him out of the food storage area. “After Regulus’s reactions, I’d say she was mistaken. He’s very protective you.”
“Habit.” I immediately regretted the slip. “We’re not…um…paired.” I’d stopped munching on the apples at the sour note my thoughts had taken. I noticed the surroundings. “We didn’t come this way.”
“It’s a tour. Remember?” he answered.
“OK. Where now?”
“Surveillance.” He picked up the pace to a near jog.
Turning another corner in the winding maze, he opened a door to a dark room and indicated that I enter.
One wall served as a screen with dozens of video scenes.
“Here we have the ability to watch people in every corner of the city.” He swept his hand in a circle.
I twirled to see that the opposite wall boasted more video. “So this is above our heads?”
“Above our heads and extending in a five hundred-mile radius in prime locations.”
“Oh.” I studied video of a riot. “Where’s that?”
“Close,” he answered. “Mia, I think you deserve honesty.”
“Right. When are you releasing us?”
He placed one hand over his mouth. “We are holding you to protect you. Cassie requested this. If we let you go, you may fall into unfortunate circumstances.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Do you really not understand the danger you are facing by being here?”
I glared at him. I’d tried to be friendly, but I was getting tired of his hinting and questioning. “I know and trust Regulus and Arizona.”
“Regulus and Arizona are now fugitives. There are directives to find them and bring them to the IIA. They are to be detained if found. Another agent, Carina, is supposedly traveling with them.”
“Who?” I stopped myself from gaping. A tickling warning traveled up my spine to set off the red alert. The name was too coincidental. Too unusual. Too me.
“Regulus and—”
“No. The other name.”
“Carina?”
He didn’t realize that he’d said my middle name. Or that he was baiting me to see what I’d confide. “So, do you get many visitors?”
“Time to return. I told Regulus a few minutes and I’m a man of my words.”
“There’s something in this for you.”
“Yes.” His steps slowed as he thought.
“What?” I could hear the cognitive wheels grinding while he hesitated. We’d stopped walking and looked at each other, assessing. I watched him twist a thin bronze band of metal on his wrist.
“You’re Carina.” His voice was low and even.
“I imagine I am.”
“You aren’t chipped.” He looked around and stepped closer.
I stepped back. It wasn’t that I thought Corona would harm me. But he was in my personal space and that
alone made me nervous. Arizona did it to me all the time, but I’d gotten accustomed to his familiar attitude.
“We’ll talk more later. Regulus will be wondering where we are.” Corona turned and resumed a clipped pace.
I struggled to keep up. The switch in topics had been on edge, nervous. What had happened in that moment?
“Wait. You don’t want to know why I’m not chipped?”
He paused, looked around, swallowed with a deep gulp, then answered in a rush. “There are plenty around here who aren’t chipped until they’re caught. People like us, down here living our simple lives away from the eyes of the Makers. The problem is that you are wanted as an agent and you are unchipped. That is unusual.”
He turned and continued in a jog. “Later. We’ll talk later.”
He didn’t even look to see if I had followed.
We turned another corner right and a left to stop at what I now considered my cell. I still held the food packages he’d given me.
“I apologize for this. It’s necessary.” Corona scanned his wrist across the entrance and the glass door opened. “Regulus,” he said.
“Corona,” answered Regulus. They did the head nod thing that only guys do. It seems that some gestures were universal, even in the Twilight Zone.
18
Regulus
Mia walked to the bed and sat beside him. “You OK?”
“Yes. OK.” Regulus stared at the wall and gathered comfort from the fact that she’d sat so close to him. He’d wondered if she’d ever feel relaxed and let her guard down.
She scooted back until she sat reclining against the wall. Leaning her head to the side, she said, “That was different from what I expected.”
“What did he say to you?” He needed to know everything. There was a reason he’d been told to stay behind. Corona could have told her anything and he suspected he wouldn’t be portrayed in a good way.
She offered the two bags she’d brought back. “Here.” When he didn’t take one, she nudged him with her knee. “Go on. We have to eat.”
Turning to her, he took the one with the dried apples. “This is one of the things that draws me to you. You always look out for the people you care about.”