by Jocelyn Han
“What will it do to Saturn’s rings?” Lana repeated dumbly.
“Prometheus was a shepherd moon,” Anna explained. “Without it, the rings around the planet will no longer be constrained perfectly. They might start to drift apart.”
They all watched the video footage, shot from one of Mimas’s patrol cruisers. It was of poor quality, but the soundless explosion in the mute vacuum of outer space was clearly visible.
“All the gemstone is gone,” Mr. Ivanov burbled numbly. “I can’t believe they did this. It must have been the Brits.”
“What do you mean?” Tori asked.
“The Russians would never blow up that moon,” Mr. Ivanov clarified. “They wanted to recapture it and secure their position within the solar economic system. Tourmaline is power.”
“Then why would the Brits destroy their own moon?” Lana wondered out loud. “Aren’t they interested in securing a powerful position?” She stared at her dad wide-eyed. He stared back, the frown between his eyebrow deepening as he seemed to consider something. An incredulous smile slowly started to tug at his mouth.
“My God,” he said. “It wasn’t an attack at all.”
Before the meaning of his words had time to sink in, Alen burst into the bar, followed by a dark-haired man who looked just as Slavic as him. “We just got word from Mimas,” he said once he’d reached the couch, gesturing agitatedly. “Pavel talked to the guy leading tonight’s border patrol. According to him, the Russian and British troops were just withdrawing after another fruitless attack. Suddenly, they picked up a broadcast on all broadband frequencies, stating that Prometheus was rigged with explosives. The message warned everyone to keep clear. Randall’s fleet got out of there before anyone could say ‘bomb’, and then the whole moon got blasted to hell.”
“He destroyed Prometheus himself,” Lana gasped, clenching her hands into fists. “His billion-dollar moon.” She glanced up at Alen defiantly, as if to dare him to say one more bad thing about the British pirate.
This was what Bruce had ultimately set out to do – take away the corruption that had taken root in their society. And by blowing up the source of the precious tourmaline that fueled the Elite economy and showing the world what had been going on behind closed doors for all these years, he’d killed two birds with one stone.
“I – might have misjudged him,” Alen admitted. “I didn’t see this coming.”
“What’s going to happen now?” Tori asked squeakily.
“That’s anybody’s guess. There’ll be a monetary crisis for sure,” Lana replied, distractedly picking up a beer mat from the table. “Not to mention a manhunt for Bruce and his army. He just managed to get himself even more out of favor among the Elite.” But at least he was alive, she mused with a secret smile.
“I’m sure he’ll have won friends among the common rebels, though,” Pavel spoke up. “This is going to be huge. Imagine what this will do to boost morale among the commoners back on Earth. Randall will be their poster boy for revolution. An Elite man who turned against his own kind.”
They all sat down and ordered some more drinks. Lana suddenly didn’t feel the need to numb herself with alcohol anymore. Instead, she wanted to be as alert as possible. This evening was possibly the dawn of a new era – an age in which commoners and Elitists would work closer together, but not without a fight.
“Feeling better now?” Tori mumbled when they both got up to head for the restrooms.
“Yeah.” Lana gingerly smiled.
“So, maybe it’s time to admit to yourself – and me – that you have a very weak spot for the guy.”
They halted at the door to the bathroom. “You think my dad knows?” Lana whispered, biting her lip.
“Yes, I think he does.”
“You think he’s upset?”
Tori shrugged. “Well, he lost his fortune, his mines, and his old life within a few days. I think he’s just happy he still has you, whether you have the hots for some criminal mastermind or not.”
Lana let out a chuckle. “You have a nice way of putting things, Vitusya.”
At midnight, the bar closed and they went home to get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, there’d be plenty to do – some members of the Space Exploration team had already announced that the Desidan Alliance had used an emergency fund to preserve Saturn’s rings. Scientists would construct a high-density satellite to orbit Saturn, taking Prometheus’s place as a shepherd moon. Alen would have to deploy a security detail to chase away scavengers drawn to the explosion site, looking for undamaged emerald and tourmaline in the rubble. The Alliance had also called for an international conference with all the big players involved – the Brits, Germans, Russians, and Japanese would sit down at the meeting table and lay down new agreements. Commander Aataaq would host the conference on Desida One, and Desidan President Alvarez was going to make sure the Germans and Japanese wouldn’t blame the Brits and Russians for the Promethean disaster. The political games involved made Lana’s head spin.
She’d report to Commander Kelso tomorrow first thing. He needed a Russian interpreter for a small delegation visiting the station from Europa. Even though her father had kept her face out of the media from an early age, she was still a bit apprehensive about meeting the Elite delegation tomorrow. What if one of them did recognize her for who she was?
After she entered her quarters, the door slid closed behind her, plunging the room in total darkness. The blinds were still down and she had no idea where the light switch was. Lana took a step back and felt around for the switch next to the door, but no luck. And yet, she saw now that the room wasn’t completely dark. A faint, blue light was flashing in the corner. A sudden quiver ran through her body when she realized it was the light signaling a text message on her smart phone – a number no one ever contacted her on anymore.
Tripping over her own feet, Lana stumbled toward the light, remembering she’d put her phone on a low table near the window. Her hands shook as she picked up the device, her index finger gingerly tapping the little envelope icon blinking in the corner of the display. Her heart stopped when she read the few words the message contained, sent from an unknown number.
‘i miss you. you tricked me too. B’
19.
“My God. You look like death,” Tori exclaimed, stepping inside with two big take-out coffee cups stuck in a cardboard carrier.
“Thanks,” Lana grumbled. “I haven’t slept a wink, so that figures.”
The message from Bruce had left her completely elated and desperate at the same time. She was overjoyed he’d broken the silence he’d insisted on, but the fact he had used a number she couldn’t send messages back to was inconvenient, to say the least. Trying to work around his security measures had kept her up most of the night, but to no avail.
“Well, I brought you coffee,” Tori said, thrusting forward one of the cups. “We can’t have you dozing off on the job on the very first day.”
“Thanks! That’s sweet.” Lana turned around to face the mirror next to the door again, applying as much foundation under her eyes as she could without looking like a stage actor. “I’ll be done in a minute.”
Before she left her apartment, Lana slipped her smart phone in the pocket of her jacket. Commander Kelso had asked her to dress up for the occasion, so she turned out to have some use for her old Elite garb after all. Gulping down her coffee on the go, she followed Tori to a large elevator bank down the hallway. She’d be taken to the heart of the station on her very first day – the Observatory, from where Commander Kelso ran Desida Two.
“Good morning, Miss Petrova,” the commander greeted her when she entered his meeting room at nine o’clock sharp. He extended his hand and shook hers warmly. “I’m very happy you’ve agreed to helping me out at such short notice. I normally ask Alen Novak to interpret for me, but he’s busy elsewhere.”
“I’m glad to be of service, Sir,” Lana replied. “Thank you for being so generous to me and my father.”
C
ommander Kelso nodded gravely. “Well. Let’s just say there are interesting times ahead. I have to admit I wasn’t entirely altruistic when I said yes to offering Mr. Ivanov a home on Desida Two. He knows more about the ins and outs of Russian politics than many of my Desidan colleagues. What’s more, he’s probably willing to talk about them, now that he’s no longer a part of the Realm.”
“Have you asked him for his cooperation?” Lana asked guardedly. She wasn’t entirely sure her father was willing to trade state secrets with the Alliance just yet.
The commander noticed her discomfort. “Don’t worry. I’m not asking him to betray his people. I just want to know where we all stand. Apparently, the Russians have had a disproportionately large share in tourmaline trading for decades, aided by their immoral extraction techniques. Part of their revenue was paid to the Brits as a thank-you for their labor force. The Brits are just as guilty of lying to the rest of us.”
“So the conference at Desida One is just going to address the fact that one Elite faction stole from another group of affluent Elitists?” Lana surmised. “Nobody cares that human beings were treated as nothing more than mining machines?”
Commander Kelso smiled at her, his eyes scanning her face. “You have your heart in the right place, young lady. But you have little regard for Elite etiquette, or you wouldn’t be talking to me like that.” When Lana turned red like a tomato, he quickly continued: “I agree with you, Miss Petrova. But today, we are just going to talk to those visiting Russians about rich people stealing from other rich people, like you just put it so succinctly. Can you interpret for me without letting your own personal opinion getting in the way?”
“Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “Yes, I can do that. I apologize for my outburst. That was uncalled for.”
Commander Kelso arched an eyebrow. “Good. Now, let’s go over my point of view before that cruiser from Europa docks.”
The entire morning flew by in a blur. As expected, the Russian delegation wasn’t interested in the least to somehow compensate the Amaltheans for their loss. They mostly wanted to know who they could blame for everything that had transpired.
“I don’t think there’s any point in discussing that,” Commander Kelso told them sternly. “No system can be made completely hack-proof. Sooner or later, if somebody wants in badly enough, he’ll get in.”
Lana rapidly translated the commander’s words. Despite being bilingual, she was completely knackered by the time the meeting was over. She shook hands with the Russians and watched them trudging out the door on their way to the Celestial Rings, where they’d have a complimentary lunch.
“That was taxing,” she mumbled, turning around to face Kelso. “I think I’m gonna lie down for a bit. I haven’t really slept well.”
“Yes, you should rest,” he said. “And take today and tomorrow off. Maybe I’ll ask you to assist at that convention during the weekend, if you don’t mind.”
“Anything I can do to help.”
Svetlana booked it to the nearest elevator in the corridor. Of course, she wanted to get some rest, but she also desperately wanted to check her phone . She’d felt it vibrate in her pocket a half hour ago but she hadn’t been able to take a look during the negotiations – or the glorified bickering between Kelso and the Russians, more like.
Once the elevator doors closed, Lana slipped the phone out of her pocket and opened the message that had landed in her inbox, again sent from an unknown number.
‘if you can and want to, meet me at 1800 hours desidan time in the lobby of the astoria hotel in new vegas, rhea. B.’
Her mouth went dry. Oh God – he wanted to see her again. And he was prepared to stick out his neck for her. Bruce had just trusted her with his life. If she wanted, she could immediately rat him out to Desidan security and send them over to Rhea, the colonized Saturnian moon close to Titan with the best casinos in the solar system.
With trembling hands, she deleted the message and pressed the button to go down to Deck Eight. She’d book the first available flight to Rhea, no matter how tired she was or how much she’d longed for a nap just five minutes ago. The anticipation of actually seeing Bruce again hummed through her body, kicking up her adrenaline levels in the process.
Before booking a cruiser, she needed to do something else, though. Once on Deck Eight, Lana set course for Genki-Tei. She knew Tori and the other two girls would be having lunch there, and she needed to ask her friends a favor.
“Vitusya,” she panted as she stormed into the restaurant, plunking down on the sofa her friends had claimed in the corner. “Or Anna, or Shirley. Can I borrow any of your credit cards?”
Tori raised an eyebrow. “Sure. Where’s the fire?”
“I, uhm...” Lana averted her gaze, staring hard at the avocado rolls on the table. “I need to go somewhere. So I have to book a flight.”
“Where? And why?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Well, if you borrow my card, my online statement will show me where you went anyway,” Tori pointed out to her.
“Fine,” Lana grumbled. “I’m going to Rhea.”
“Oh, can we come too?” Anna exclaimed. “I haven’t been to the casinos for ages.”
“It’s kind of personal.” Lana shot the brown-haired girl an apologetic look. “So I’m going alone.”
Shirley chuckled. “I bet you’re a really good cards player and you don’t want to share your winnings with us.”
“Not really.” Lana turned to Tori and grabbed her arm, lowering her voice. “Look, I know Bruce will be there. He – he asked me to come.”
Tori’s mouth fell open. “He did? Wow.”
Shirley and Anna were both staring at them with bewildered looks in their eyes. “You mean Bruce Randall?” Anna hissed. “But he attacked you guys. Why would you want to meet up with him?”
“He didn’t just attack me,” Lana confessed. “He kidnapped me. I spent more than a week in his house.”
“Why?” Shirley frowned. “You’re just a regular girl. What did he want with you?”
Lana sighed. “Let’s just say I’m a bit more Elite than you both are aware of. Or I was, anyway.”
“So how did you escape?” Shirley went on. “Or did your family pay him ransom?”
“And why are you running back to him if he let you go?” Anna persisted.
A heavy silence hung between them as Lana sank back in the cushions, her eyes darting from Tori to Anna to Shirley and back. “We stopped being enemies at some point,” she mumbled quietly.
“Ah.” Anna and Shirley nodded knowingly, both looking even more freaked out now.
When Lana awkwardly turned back to Tori, her friend was just rooting around in her bag to look for her wallet. “Go,” Tori said, handing her a bright-yellow card. “Be safe. And pay me back!”
“I will.” Lana quickly waved goodbye and rushed out of the restaurant, darting down Saturn Boulevard to find the nearest ticket office. Fortunately, she was the second in line.
“A ticket to Rhea?” the saleswoman mumbled, tapping away at her computer. “Regular flights are just before midnight and tomorrow morning.”
Lana shook her head. “I need to get there ASAP.”
The woman frowned. “Well, there’s one seat left on the space liner, but it leaves in five minutes. I’m not sure...”
“I will take it,” Lana cut her off. “Here’s my card.” She slapped Tori’s card down on the counter.
“Okay then.” The woman shot her a wary look, then scanned the credit card and her fake passport. Lana’s fingers trembled as she typed in the security code for the bank card, sighing with relief when her ticket uploaded to her ID-card in the blink of an eye.
“Thanks,” she mumbled, looking at the overhead announcement board. “Which airlock?”
“Six,” the saleswoman replied.
Smiling gratefully, Lana stuffed her cards in her pocket and pelted down the boulevard on her way to the airlocks. When she got to Six, one of the
flight attendants was just about to close the door.
“Wait,” she panted, completely out of breath. “I need – to get – on.”
The immaculately-dressed woman smiled beatifically. “Of course, Madam. Could I see your passport, please?” She wielded her hand scanner, reading Lana’s card details. “Welcome on board, Miss Petrova. You’re in seat D64.”
“Thank you.”
As Lana made her way down the aisle, she realized how washed-out she must look. On either side of her, people looked up with disapproving frowns. All of them were Elite, of course, since the space liner was usually too expensive for regular travelers. Once she got back, she’d owe Tori a huge apology for splurging on a flight ticket. Suddenly, she felt strangely out of place, although she was wearing a business outfit. These people could see she no longer belonged. Something in her face and posture had changed, maybe – either that, or she no longer felt comfortable around these people herself. Most of them were Russians, on their way to spend big bucks in the British-owned Rhean casinos. How the hell was it possible that Bruce Randall was hiding there, of all places?
“Excuse me,” she mumbled in Russian, gesturing at her seat in between two grim-looking men. “Could I just squeeze past? Thank you.”
Both men grumbled irritably as she folded herself into her seat. Thank God this would be a quick flight. Lana couldn’t stop coming up with worst-case scenarios in her head as she looked around. Maybe one of these Russian Elitists would recognize her and have her arrested so they could get to her father. Maybe she was being followed by British spies who knew she was on her way to Bruce. Maybe he could have just sent her a message she could reply to, the idiot. That way, she wouldn’t have had to panic about missing the time and place he’d proposed.
After fifty minutes of excruciating silence sitting crammed between the two Russian bulldogs, Lana let out a sigh of relief when Rhea slid into view. The moon sported a giant illuminated sign on one side of its surface, the neon letters advertising ‘Rhean Roulette – The Best Game In The Galaxy’.
