by Seven Steps
Her mouth formed an O in shock. “You want me?”
He nodded. “Yes Eva. Very badly. Do you want me?”
Her heart leapt to her throat.
This is it. This is the moment. This is where it will all change.
“Yes Lex. I want you.”
Their lips came together again, and Eva drowned in the warmth of his touch.
With hands, lips, and tongue he worshiped her, gave her the love that she didn’t know she craved. She was a mystery, a foreign world waiting to be explored and he an eager pioneer, mapping and studying every inch until he knew what made her sunrise and set, and how to turn her winters into spring.
“What have you done to me,” he whispered against her plump lips. “I think about you all day. I dream about you all night.”
“What do you think about?”
He traced butterfly kisses up her jaw towards her ear. “Your eyes. Your lips. Your touch. My heart is telling me that I’m falling in love with you, but my head is screaming that you’ll destroy me. Please don’t destroy me, Eva.”
Her heart pounded, and before she could reply, he returned his full attention to her lips.
The kiss was more than just raw passion. It was filled with a promise. She couldn’t send Lex back now. Not now that he’d promised her his heart. Not after she promised him hers.
“Eva Amerish!”
Eva’s lips broke from Lex’s, and she stared at her mother, who stared wide-eyed back at them.
“Mother?”
“Eva how could you?” She turned to Lex. “How could you? I knew you were trouble the first time I laid eyes on you.” She marched to the wall comm. “Comm Enforcer station.”
“Mother, what are you doing?!”
An Enforcer’s face appeared on the screen.
“Enforcer Station.”
“I need an Enforcer at the home of Empress Eva Amerish in the Outer Ring. Her slave just tried to violate her.”
“We’re on our way.”
Lex gasped.
Eva screamed. “Mother, no!”
“My daughter will not be a Rogue! Not while I am still breathing.”
Anger roared through Eva, and she stared daggers at her mother. “How could you do that to me? How could you comm the Enforcers on me, on Lex? Do you know what they’ll do to him?”
“Don’t say that name any more. He will no longer be a problem. The Enforcers will come, he will be executed, and we will put this whole problem behind us.”
“Why are you even here?” Eva demanded.
“I woke up to news about hostages. I came to check on you. The door was open. Never in my life would I have imagined that my daughter would turn into... into....”
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Enforcer sirens.
Lex met her eye, she met his.
“Run, Lex,” she whispered.
He shook his head. “I can’t leave you. Not now-”
“Run. I will find you.”
“No. I’m not going.”
Eva threw herself at Lex, kissed him hard, pushed him to the door.
“I can’t sit back and let them kill you,” she cried. “Now Run!”
“Meet me in Mahala.” And then, he was gone, lost in the trees surrounding her property.
Amerish’s voice came from behind her. “I hope the Enforcers shoot him dead.”
Eva backed away from the door. The air turned heavy, unusable. She placed a hand on her chest, willing her lungs to work.
“Believe me, Eva, its better this way.”
“Mother, how could you?”
“Eva, don’t you dare defy me. Not after what you’ve done.”
“He’s in danger.”
“As well he should be.”
“I can’t stay here. I have to find him. I have to be with him.”
“Eva Amerish if you leave this house, you are dead to me. Do you hear me? I will never utter your name again.”
Eva’s heart dropped and she stared at her mother.
“Is that what you want? To defy your mother, to shame her? Is that what you want?”
The Enforcer ships landed in her front yard.
“Eva, are you listening to me?” Amerish demanded.
Two Enforcers walked up the front steps, stopped at the open front door.
“Good day,” the first one said, “and may your mother be well. Are you Empress Eva Amerish?”
The second Enforcer disappeared from view as she searched the perimeter of the property.
“Yes.”
“We have received a report of you being violated by a slave? Are you all right?”
Eva’s eyes took a quick sweep of the front yard. She wondered where the second Enforcer was.
“Empress?”
With shaking hands, Eva attempted to compose herself. She zipped her jumpsuit up to her neck and tried to keep her breathing even. “Can I talk to you privately?”
“Where are you going?” Her mother said behind her.
“Of course, Empress.” The Enforcer turned, and Eva followed her back to the hovercraft, her thoughts wondering to Lex’s safety before focusing back on the Enforcer. She looked at the Enforcer’s nametag. It read Officer Lao.
“I wanted to talk to you out of my mother’s hearing,” Eva said. “I didn’t want to shame her.”
“What is it, Empress?”
I’m about to do the worst thing a woman could do on this planet. Mother Goddess Venus forgive me.
Her heart went cold. Venus would not answer such blasphemous prayers.
“My mother is suffering from delusions. I didn’t get to the comm in time to stop her report. I’m sorry for your trouble. I don’t even have a slave at the moment. I took him back to the Slave Market this morning.” It felt as if she had swallowed bricks. Her lies sat heavy in her chest.
The Enforcer shook her head, tipped her hat to Eva as the second officer reappeared.
Eva shifted her weight.
“I’m sorry to hear about your mother. Please let us know if we can be of service at any time.”
“Thank you.”
“Good day to you, Empress.”
The officers climbed back into their ship, and left.
Eva turned, saw her mother standing in the doorway.
Hot shame flowed through her cheeks. She had slandered her mother, lied to an Enforcer, and given her heart to a slave.
What have I become?
“What did she say?” Amerish asked. “Why are they leaving?”
She walked to her mother, placed a kiss on her cheek, wrapping her arms around her.
Amerish squeezed her back.
“Oh my child, everything will be alright. As soon as you’re dressed, we’ll go to the Slave Market and get you another slave. One not as troublesome. Until then, you can borrow Tigrim. Don’t you worry. You’re a good daughter, and you will honor your mother. We’ll put this whole mess behind us and in a few days, you won’t even remember that man, just wait and see.”
“Goodbye, mother.”
And before Amerish could protest, Eva had grabbed her boots, jumped into her hovercraft, and left.
Chapter 30
“I’ll be there,” Baleen said into her wall comm to the visibly shaken woman on the other side of the screen.
“Are you sure? With so much happening-”
“Astra, the vote is two hours away. Plenty of time. I can assure you that I will be there for it.”
A red light in the bottom of the screen flashed, indicating another comm.
“Someone else is on the line. I have to go.”
Baleen clicked over to the other comm, and reassured another trembling Councilwoman.
It was late afternoon, only two hours before voting began.
I must’ve talked to every woman on High Council.
Though the councilwomen’s polls showed that they planned to vote for Arees, from the comms that had poured in since the night of the slave riots, their votes were saved for Baleen, on two
conditions: first, she had to show up at High Council Hall for the vote alive and in person. Second, once elected, Baleen must order the immediate execution of Arees.
The councilwomen told no one of their plans, fearing the certain retribution that would come against them if Arees found out she had been crossed.
It figures. If I show up, they’ll vote for me, and if I don’t show up, I’ll be out of the running anyway. No risk for them, but for me it’s everything.
Baleen swore. The knowledge that she was the only thing standing between Arees and world domination weighing heavy on her shoulders.
She walked over to the window near the door, confirming that her visitors were still there. Two men sat in a black hovercraft, partially hidden among the trees that lined the perimeter of her house. They’d been out there since she arrived home yesterday.
Only two hours left until the vote, she thought. I have to get out. My planet needs me.
“Are they still there?” her servant Yalen asked.
“Yes.”
He put the large barrel of the Venian Blaster on his shoulder, stood behind her.
“Do you think they are with Arees?”
Baleen shook her head. “Who else would they be with? I never thought that I would spend the day of the vote wondering if I can sneak out of my house without getting shot at. I’m between the proverbial rock and a hard place.”
“I’ve seen bigger rocks, and harder places,” Yalen said. “And since when did you give up so easily?”
“Years serving the bureaucracy has made me soft,” she replied. “I don’t even know if the other Councilwomen will vote for me. I might get there and they all turn and run back to Arees.”
“They’ll vote for you. I know they will. You just have to believe in them, like they believe in you.”
“Forgive me if their belief seems a bit one sided,” she snorted, turning to him. “Yalen, if anything should happen to me, I want you to know-”
“Don’t say it.” Yalen replied, running a hand down her cheek. “Don’t say goodbye just yet.”
“What if I don’t make it out of here alive?”
“You have to. If you’re not in High Council Hall for the vote, you forfeit. We can’t let that happen. You have to be there, you have to let the people speak for you. Let them know that there is another way besides blackmail, tyranny and lies.”
Baleen wrapped her arms around Yalen’s waist.
“What would I do without you?”
“You would love another man, as you love me.”
“No,” she said. “There is no other man for me but you.”
They kissed desperately, frantically, drawing every ounce of strength from each other before they had to part.
Yalen pulled away, walked to the door.
“Are you ready?” He asked.
“Do I have a choice?”
Yalen opened the door, peeked out.
The origgrow showed brilliantly in the day, giving off a fresh scent as sprinklers misted it from below.
Something moved in the distance, or perhaps closer. Yalen couldn’t be sure. He looked left, then right. No one was around. No one but the men in the black hovercraft.
“Get to the hovercraft,” he said.
Baleen ran to the hovercraft hanger behind the house while Yalen approached the men in the black ship, Venian Blaster cocked, ready.
“Come on out,” he said. “I know you’re there.”
The men didn’t move, just watched. Waited.
“I said come out. I want you off of this property now.”
The men shifted, ducked, reappeared with Blaster’s in their hands.
The doors to the hovercraft were flung open. They screamed something.
The men’s blasters aimed not at Yalen, but behind him.
A whizz from behind.
A pop.
Yalen screamed, dropped to his knees as the back of his leg was reduced to a bloody hole.
He heard Baleen cry out, saw her rush towards him.
The war erupted around them, and all Yalen could do was watch.
She never made it.
Chapter 31
Eva’s hovercraft moved swiftly past the reservoir, its blue waters sparkling in the light. Lex was gone, and Eva knew exactly where he had run to.
Mahala.
Though no woman knew where the free slave colony was, one thing was for sure. It was somewhere in Habitat Beta.
She flew past the recycling center, staying near the edge of the dome. A few run down homes sat squat out here, mostly recycling plant workers, too poor to live anywhere else.
She passed a circular Enforcer station, and maneuvered her ship through the travel tunnel that led into Habitat Beta. Three shipping tunnels ran parallel to her on the right, filled with large, cylinder hovercrafts bringing lumber and food to Habitats Alpha, Zephta and Omega.
She reached the end of the tunnel, and stopped at the Enforcer checkpoint.
A blue electrified wall appeared ahead. Her front window suddenly showed an Enforcer’s beefy face, examining Eva with plain irritation.
“Destination?”
Eva thought quickly.
“My name is Councilwoman Eva Amerish. I am here to tour the lumberyards on behalf of the High Council.”
“Eva Amerish?” the Enforcer looked at her touch screen, then back at Eva. “It says here that we should hold you for questioning at the request of Czarina Arees.”
“Why would Arees want me questioned?”
“It doesn’t say. I’m sorry Empress, but before I can let you through, I’ll have to comm this in, clear this whole matter up.”
“I intend to comply fully,” Eva said.
The blue wall disappeared, and Eva maneuvered the ship to the side of the Enforcer’s booth. She looked right, then left. Though the large shipping hovercrafts moved in and out of the tunnels, no other regular crafts came up behind her.
The Enforcer left the booth, walked to her, tapped on the window.
“Empress,” she called. “You will have to exit the hovercraft and sit in the station while we clear this up.”
Eva kept her knuckles tight on the wheel, the hovercraft humming beneath her as she contemplated her next move.
The Enforcer knocked again.
“Empress this is the last time that I’ll ask you to step out before I’ll have to use force.”
Her breath came fast, fogging the glass.
“Alright officer,” she called. “I’m coming out.”
She looked at the Enforcer, and slowly raised her hands.
The Enforcer, now a little more at ease, backed up, making room for Eva to step out.
Then, before she could talk herself out of it, Eva slammed on the accelerator, and swung the hovercraft up and to the right, knocking the Enforcer beneath her.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, before shooting the hovercraft forward and into the heart of Beta.
Her heart banged against her chest, and once again, she asked the Mother Goddess for forgiveness that she was sure would not come.
Behind her, she could see other Enforcers leaving their booths, tending to the fallen Enforcer, who sat up, grabbed her head, and pointed at Eva’s ship.
She swung her hovercraft towards the trees, keeping the craft low through the wide paths.
I can’t believe I did that. I ran over an Enforcer. Who am I? What have I become? What have I turned myself into for him, for love?
The word jarred her. Love? Do I love Lex? Do I even know what love is?
She accelerated a bit faster, passing women walking the path, unaware of the criminal who flew overhead.
It must be love. If I’m willing to break every rule, to run down Enforcers, then it can’t be anything else. But what about him? Does he love me too? Or has this all been a cruel, twisted game for him? I have to know. I have to look into his eyes just once more. I have to find Mahala. But how?
She blew out a harsh breath, turned the craft and flew between a scho
ol and the graveyards.
In the distance, Enforcer sirens screeched.
They’re looking for me. I have to get out of here, and fast, but who can I...She gasped. Baleen. Nadira’s spoken to her, probably told her all about Kiln. If she knows we’re sympathetic, maybe she can help me.
“Navigate to Empress Baleen’s home,” she said aloud. The hovercraft bucked a bit as the autopilot kicked on, turning the ship west.
What will I say to her when I arrive? I wish Nadira would pick up her comm. I haven’t been able to reach her since last night. I hope she’s okay.
The ship set down a short distance away on the lawn of a large home surrounded by trees. The front door was full of holes.
“What happened here?” Eva whispered.
She climbed out of her ship.
Two male bodies lay in front of a nest of trees near a black hovercraft.
Between the house and the trees was a third body. It shifted a bit, groaned.
Eva ran to it, kneeled down next to it.
“By Venus, you’re bleeding.”
“Who are you?” the bloodied man asked, his deep skin shimmering with the thick red liquid.
“My name is Empress Eva Amerish. I came looking for Empress Baleen. I’m a friend of Empress Nadira.”
“Nadira,” the man whispered.
Eva nodded. “You’ll be alright. I’ll comm for help.”
She ran back to her hovercraft, pressed the comm.
“Emergency. Physician required at Empress Baleen’s house. Quickly.”
The comm beeped, the inside of the hovercraft flashing red, indicating a woman in distress.
Eva jumped out of the hovercraft, ran back to the man.
“Who did this to you?”
“Enforcers came out of the trees and attacked us. The two men over there tried to help us.”
The man wheezed, coughed. His chest rose and fell in harsh waves.
“Enforcers? They must have been here because of Arees.”
“She has her,” the man said, trying to get up. “She has Baleen.” He collapsed back down, falling into a coughing fit that spewed blood onto Eva’s knee.
“Just stay still. Someone will come soon.”
“You have to save my Empress. You cannot let Arees win.”
More sirens in the distance.
