by Lisa Lace
Bethany nodded, and to her surprise, Culip stepped into the back entrance Klowix had made.
“Culip? What are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” Culip grinned. “We told you we wouldn’t give up.”
She grunted as she pulled some huge kind of plastic device behind her, making it a very tight squeeze inside the tiny cubicle.
“What…?”
Klowix explained. “The soldiers will notice if you don’t get on the shuttle. Many are loyal to me over the king, but I can’t be sure of all of them. Someone may report it. We need to make them think you have left Telion.”
“How are we going to do that?”
“Like this.” Culip tapped the hulking metal device with her fist.
“Are you sure you can operate that, Culip?” Klowix looked worried. “It can go really wrong if you don’t know what you’re doing, and I’ve never worked with one of them before.”
“I’ve read the manual, I’ll be fine. Hold still, Bethany. I need to concentrate.”
Bethany had no idea what Culip was up to, but she kept still just the same. Culip began pressing buttons, pulling levers, and typing what looked like complex formulas onto the screen of the device.
A bright white light shone onto Culip’s face, moving up and down her body. Bethany gasped as her friend began to change in front of her. Culip’s skin stretched as the bones in her face rearranged themselves. Her hair grew longer and darkened. Her eyes changed to match Bethany’s.
Within minutes, Bethany was looking at herself.
“How did you do that?” She reached out to touch Culip’s face – her face.
“Access to these things is still very restricted; no one will guess. Most people won’t touch them anyway, it can be very risky. I’ve done everything right. I’ll go off-planet as you. Klowix will have another machine waiting for me when I land. I’ll use it to turn back into myself, then come back on-planet as me.”
Culip’s voice was Bethany’s voice. It was bizarre listening to herself speak.
“But won’t they know? In human society, they strictly monitor interplanetary travel. They’d have no record of you leaving Telion, so how could you come back?”
“Evions are the same, but Klowix has connections. He can pull some strings to make sure I get back in. Though I’m not even sure I’ll be returning here. I don’t want to be on a planet that doesn’t accept humans.”
Klowix nodded. “I’ve set up everything for you and the other girls. You’ve all got your activation codes, so you can access everything I owe you at any time. I’ve hired each of you a travel assistant to help if I’m not available. Culip, yours has connections to bend the law when needed, and he knows all my contacts. You will all be fine.”
Culip looked at him. “What are you going to do?”
“It’ll be difficult. Bethany and I will have to go underground, at least temporarily, until we figure out what to do. Trili knows what to do to cover for me. She should be able to cloak my absence for at least a week.”
Bethany didn’t ask what they were going to do after that week. All she cared about right now was that she was with Klowix and she wasn’t leaving him.
She threw her arms around Culip. “Thank you for everything.”
“Any time.” Culip returned the hug.
“Hey! Are you about done in there?”
Klowix looked at them. “Go. We’ll clean up here.”
“Quick, Bethany, give me your dress.”
Bethany shimmied out of it and handed it to Culip, who threw it on and slipped out of the bathroom, closing the door quickly behind her. “So sorry, I’m feeling much better now.”
Bethany could hear Culip tell the guard in her voice that she was feeling better. It was beyond bizarre.
“Put on Culip’s clothes, then let’s go.”
“Why didn’t she make me look like her?”
“Even I can’t operate one of these. We don’t know when Culip will make it back, or if she even will. You wouldn’t have anyone to turn you back into yourself.”
That was a chilling thought. Bethany touched her face, realizing she’d always taken it for granted.
“Come on. Be quiet and quick.”
She let Klowix push her out in front of him. The back of the guards’ quarters was facing the forest. It was close, but not close enough that they wouldn’t be exposed for a few seconds as they ran.
Klowix used some kind of torch to weld the back of the bathroom back on, pulling the machine Culip had used behind him. “I’ll carry this. When I tell you to run, run for those trees. Keep going until you reach the large rock by the stream, and wait there for me.”
“You’re not coming with me?”
“I need to drop this off somewhere safe and get our supplies. We had to come here as fast as we could. There are a few things I still need to do. Wait for me at the rock.”
Bethany was terrified and didn’t want Klowix to leave her again, but he didn’t give her a chance to protest. He was looking at something she couldn’t see next to all the guards.
“Now! Go!”
Her eyes on the trees, Bethany broke into a sprint. Though it wasn’t far, the distance seemed to stretch out forever. She expected at any moment for there to be shouts behind her, but she heard nothing.
She sighed in relief when trees started flashing past her, but kept running. Glancing over her shoulder and seeing that she was now completely obscured, Bethany slowed from her wild sprint to a steady jog. In about five minutes, she reached the rock.
She felt exposed and didn’t like it. Any moment, she felt like the guards would come for her. Of course, they wouldn’t. Culip had seen to that; she was probably on the shuttle now. Bethany’s name would be ticked off the list. Still, she worried.
Sinking down with her back against the rock, Bethany watched the forest around her for any movement. She glanced at her T-screen to check the time. Klowix had been gone barely ten minutes, but it felt like hours.
Finally, the sound of footsteps made her jump. Klowix had a large backpack on and had changed out of his military clothing. She’d never seen him in Evion civilian garb; it looked strange.
He motioned for her to follow. “This way.”
Bethany followed him away from the shuttle toward the opposite end of the small forest. Klowix stopped at another rock. Bethany watched as he tapped it four times with his fist. It made a strange hollow noise.
A voice grunted. “Code.” Bethany couldn’t see where it was coming from.
“Fourteen, eight, ninety, seventeen.”
The rock began to move, opening so that it had a wide split down the middle. Bethany realized it wasn’t a rock, but a cunningly disguised entrance. Klowix put a hand on Bethany’s back to steady her as she made her way down the long, rickety flight of stairs. It seemed to go down forever. Finally, they reached a small room with one desk that had a grubby-looking Evion stationed at it. He looked bored.
He grunted again. “Fee.”
Without a word, Klowix pulled out a handful of what Bethany recognized as Telion currency and handed it over.
“One week?”
“That’s right.”
“We don’t want no trouble.”
“Neither do we.”
He grunted again and gestured for them to go on. Klowix led Bethany to the door behind the desk and ushered her through.
Bethany stepped into a different world.
The space was huge, lit with hundreds of lanterns. Crowded streets were bordered by small stalls, and little hover carts zipped up and down. Tall, shabby buildings reached right up to the roof, which Bethany realized was the bottom of the street below. She recognized soundproof panels. No one below had any way to know that this place existed.
“This way.” Klowix put an arm around her waist and pulled her along. He seemed nervous; his eyes watched everyone. Here and there, people appeared out of the darkness, leering at her or offering to sell her a variety of things Bethany had nev
er seen before.
Klowix went straight for one of the tall buildings, pulled Bethany inside, and crisply addressed a woman just inside the door. “One room for two, one week, top standard.”
She handed over a key, and he handed over more money.
There was no hover lift here; they had to climb.
Going down the hundreds of stairs had been bad enough, but going up was awful. Bethany was soon panting. Klowix offered to carry her, but she shook her head.
Eventually, Klowix opened the door to a small, simple room. It wasn’t much, but it was certainly better than the building looked from the outside. There was a bed, a tiny bathroom, a dresser, and a small cooking area. Klowix dumped his backpack on the bed and locked the door, double bolting it and even going so far as to push a chair up against it.
“Klowix, where are we?”
He gave her a sideways grin. “Welcome to the Telion underworld.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Telion has an underworld?”
“Of course. On all planets, there are those who need to avoid the eyes of the law.”
“Avoid the eyes of the law? Klowix! You’re the Commander of the Telion army.”
Klowix shrugged. “No man is perfect, even a king. This isn’t the first time Sirin has made a bad decision, though this is by far the most catastrophic of them all. In order to truly serve the people, I must know the channels to take when the king’s law is contrary to their well-being.”
Bethany burst out laughing. “I never would have guessed.”
“Let’s hope the king feels the same way.”
“I’m sure he does.”
“We should also hope the king too busy evicting the rest of the humans to worry about me for the next week.”
That sobered Bethany up. “What are we going to do?”
Klowix sat down on the bed, thinking. “Well, we can’t stay here permanently, that’s for sure. I meant what I said when I told you Telion wouldn’t be safe for you after the last of the shuttles left. What if we went back to Earth? To your family?”
For a moment, Bethany could see it. She imagined seeing her parents again, telling them she was ok. Then she saw them recoiling in horror at the sight of Klowix.
Her voice sounded sad. “We can’t. Telion is actually a lot more advanced than earth – or at least, it was. Evions aren’t accepted there at all. Besides, doesn’t Earth have extradition agreements with Telion?”
“It does. All planets under the council are interlinked. If I desert Telion, the king will come after me. It won’t matter which planet we’re on. He’ll find me. There really is only one thing to do.”
“What’s that?”
“We’ll have to go somewhere else.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, go to another planet. Either an uninhabited one, or one far enough away that it’s outside the intergalactic alliance.”
Bethany’s eyes went wide. “That’s a death sentence. The outer planets have no law other than brute force. There’s no civilization, it’s a jungle.”
“Then we’ll find our own planet. With my connections, I can get us a travel ship. We’ll jump from solar system to solar system until we find somewhere safe that can support us. It’ll be hard work; we won’t have any of the technological support we do here. We’ll have to build everything ourselves, and stay under the radar, but we can do it.”
Bethany whispered now. “You’d do that for me? Give up everything, start a new life on an undeveloped planet light years away from everyone?”
“You are my secrena. Your choosing me over everything else confirmed your bond. My choosing you over everything else confirms mine.”
Bethany didn’t know what to say. She wrapped her arms around Klowix, and he held her protectively. In the end, there was only one thing she could say.
“Yes.”
“Then there is work to do. I must get to it.”
While Klowix made calls and sent multiple messages on his T-screen, Bethany picked through the bag he’d packed for them. To her surprise, she saw her own things there as well. She wanted to ask Klowix how he’d gotten them out of her suitcase by the shuttle without the guards noticing, but he was intently talking to one of his army connections.
She imagined Beoli had something to do with it. Beoli was scrupulously honest, but if she wanted to, she could steal the shoes off your feet without you noticing. Bethany had been astounded at some of her demonstrations. Those guards would have no idea what hit them.
Bethany pulled out a book and began reading, trying not to look out of the window. To say a rough crowd lived down here was putting it mildly. She understood why Klowix had been so tense getting her through the streets.
Finally, after three long phone calls and several typed messages, Klowix put down the screen. “It will be tight, but it can be done. The travel ship will be purchased and ready in one week. I’ve arranged for one of my people to be at border control as we leave the atmosphere. I still need to talk to someone about getting the proper supplies. Planet terraforming gear is regulated, so I’ll have to go through underground channels.”
“How many people do you have? How many would choose you over the king?”
“Enough. Many that I think would, but not nearly as many that I’m completely certain about. For this, I can’t risk anything on uncertainties.”
Klowix grabbed the screen and made another call. When Bethany heard the voice on the other side, she rushed up next to Klowix.
“Trili!”
“Bethany! I’m so glad you’re both all right.”
She could just see Beoli and Snia peering in from behind Trili.
“Report.”
“Everything is going as it should, Commander. I’ve put out the story that you’re ill, just like you told me. We’ve got Dr. Yie in on it; he’ll be arriving soon. We could really use Culip, though; some holograms of you in bed wouldn’t go amiss.”
“You can contact her on the secure line. I’ll send you the link now. She should be able to send you anything you require. Now, we need to plan your exit. Once the king discovers I’m gone, he may take out his anger on you three. We should time it so that you leave planet a couple of hours before Bethany and I do. Tell them that I’ve sent you away; it’s happened often enough in the past that it won’t raise any eyebrows.”
Snia interjected now. “Where are you going, Commander?”
“We can’t tell you for now, in case anything goes wrong. Once we’ve arrived, we’ll try to contact you so that you can join us, if you wish.”
“Try to contact us?”
“There may not be a signal for quite a while, and when we do get it set up, it’ll be very basic.”
Trili and the others were beginning to look worried. “Commander, where are you going?”
“Never mind that. Just focus on keeping up appearances and keeping yourselves safe. I should go now; there is much still to organize.”
“Commander, there’s one more thing.”
“What is it?”
Trili hesitated. “Now that all the shuttles have left, there is a decree of death to any human left on Telion.”
Klowix growled. “I know. “I fought against it, but to no avail.”
“It’s already started.”
“What?”
“Sirin hasn’t just left it to the army and law officers to round up any humans who refused to leave. He’s let the people have free reign. There are already killings in the streets. Many have lived here their whole lives and didn’t want to leave. It’s – been brutal.”
Bethany gasped. “How? How can they even tell? Humans and Evions look the same!”
“They’ve been snatching random people and demanding for them to prove they’re Evion by demonstrating their ability to move at super speeds. If they can’t, then those who don’t have weapons use whatever is at hand, like rocks. Sometimes just their fists.”
Klowix was clutching the T-screen that so tightly that it looked in da
nger of breaking. “This will not stand. The intergalactic council will have Sirin’s head – doesn’t he know that!”
He took a calming breath and forcibly loosened his hold on the screen. “This is worse than I thought. This will cause civil war; not all Evions have turned against humans, not by a long shot. It’s not safe for any of us anymore. You three need to leave right now, before you get caught up in a war you can’t escape.”
“What about you, Commander? We have to keep your cover until you and Bethany escape.”
“Talk to Culip. She can do anything with a T-screen. She’ll have to use holograms and recordings to create the best cover she can. It’s the best we can do remotely, but I’ll not have you here any longer than necessary. Get far away from Telion; go to another solar system if you can. This is going to get very ugly very quickly.”
Bethany couldn’t believe what she was hearing. History was making and unmaking itself even as they spoke. Klowix quickly hung up and began making urgent calls, moving forward the transportation for the Evion girls.
“Commander, what about the humans? We can’t just stay down here; we have to do something to help them.”
“Oh, you don’t worry about that. I’ve served in the army for many years. My men and women know the difference between right and wrong. Their loyalty to the king won’t hold for long, if it hasn’t already broken. There will be some who remain, but enough will turn away from this madness.” Klowix took her to the window. “Look.”
Bethany looked and saw a steady trickle of people coming from the same place she and Klowix had entered the underworld.
There was pride in Klowix’s voice now. “They’ve already begun. Already, those loyal to me are evacuating humans down here. They’ll be arranging shuttles off-planet for them as we speak. A truly good army doesn’t rely on one Commander; a Commander can fall. If you wish to be a leader, you need to teach people how to lead themselves and do the right thing when you are not there to help them.”
Bethany was awed. She watched as a couple of people in military uniforms began directing the newcomers to various buildings. Klowix went back to his calls. From what Bethany heard, it was getting more difficult by the minute; the planet was being overrun with people leaving, and not just humans.