by Magus Tor
His eyelids looked heavy; he really needed some rest. “Should I give you another sedative now, before I leave?” she asked him.
Surprisingly, he shook his head. “No, thanks. I'll be fine.”
His wrists had to be burning. “You sure?”
“Definite. I don't like being drugged. I don't like my mind being clouded,” he explained.
She couldn't argue with that; she felt exactly the same way.
Before she left, she put a package on the desk. “This is your new uniform,” she said.
He smiled his thanks, looking almost asleep. On impulse, Aurelia bent and dropped a soft kiss on his forehead and then let herself out.
Jonathon was waiting for her in the living room, and when she arrived he held out a small glass with a centimetre of tawny brown liquid in it.
“I know you don't drink,” he said. “But I thought you might need this after this evening.”
She took the glass and sniffed it; the liquid smelled deep and autumny. A small sip burned her throat, but the warmth as it slid down gave her comfort.
“Whiskey,” Jonathon said.
The word meant little to her, but the drink was draining the aches and stresses from her bones, so she swallowed it all in a gulp and winced. “This will take some getting used to.”
Jonathon just laughed. “Another?”
“No.” Somehow the world felt a little light, and her head began to spin. “I think I better go back.” Aurelia tried to stand up but fell into Jonathon’s arms.
Jonathon scooped her up like a baby and carried her to his bedroom. In the half-darkness, she could see little of the room. He placed her down on a soft, comfortable bed and said, “Sleep.”
She felt his hands patting her head as the darkness took over.
They were both drowsing when a soft beeping began. Jonathon groaned and leaned over towards the intercom.
“What is it?” he said in a husky voice.
“Sorry to disturb you, sir,” said a polite male voice. “But there's been a security breach. The outside perimeter has been broken, and we assume someone is in the house.”
Chapter Three
Jonathon leapt out of bed.
“Stay here!” he said.
Aurelia was just as fast, though, and was already pulling on her clothes. “No way,” she said. “What if they've come for Nicholas?”
“And what if they've come for us?” countered Jonathon. “Stay here. Lock yourself in the bedroom, and I'll be back as soon as I can.”
“Absolutely not,” said Aurelia firmly. “I'm going to check on Nicholas.”
In truth, she wasn't sure why she was being so stubborn, when every bone in her body screamed at her to stay put and keep safe.
Jonathon shook his head impatiently, but seeing that she was intractable, he quickly keyed a code into one of the cupboards on the wall. He pulled out two metallic devices and threw one to Aurelia.
“It's a stunner; do you know how to use it?”
“Nope,” said Aurelia, catching it deftly.
“Then you'd better learn fast. Point it, press the trigger. The longer you press, the harder the shock. Press for more than three seconds and you'll kill. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Alright, sec Workers are going to be surrounding the house and searching room by room. I'm going to join them and oversee what's happening. I need to code them into some of the rooms, so I have no choice. You go straight down to the basement and meet the sec Workers there, okay? When you've satisfied yourself that Nicholas is fine, get one of the Workers to escort you back up to me.”
“With Nicholas,” added Aurelia.
“No, without Nicholas. He'll be fine locked up with his security guards, and prisoners aren't generally allowed to wander around the house at will. It will look suspicious and alert the rest of the staff that he's here. Either leave him or stay locked in the room with him, one or the other.”
She had never seen him so in control and was impressed with how coldly and logically he could think in a crisis. It was a talent that she herself had, being a med Worker, but not one she encountered often in others.
He came to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “I wish you would stay here, but I can't force you, Aurelia. Be careful. Whoever got in will be caught soon enough. They can't be that professional if they set off the alarms. Just watch out for yourself.”
She nodded, and Jonathon opened the door, checking the corridor.
“Clear. Go. Run to the basement stairs, and I'll cover you from here. After that, you're within shouting distance of the sec Workers down there. Go on.”
He almost pushed her out the door, and she fled down the hallway.
Thrusting her way through the door, she took the stairs two at a time, adrenaline powering her onwards even as fear tried to paralyse her. As soon as she reached the bottom of the steps, she could see the body of the sec Worker who had been guarding Nicholas lying prostrate on the ground. Her legs stopped without her even ordering them to. She took a deep breath and clasped the stunner more firmly in her hand. Walking as quietly as she could, she approached the body. Bending slightly, she could see the calm rise and fall of his chest, so he wasn't dead. She had no idea if that was good or bad, but the mere lack of death calmed her a little. Surely if someone were breaking in they would have killed him?
The door behind the sec Worker was ajar. She pushed her body against the door frame and waited, holding her breath. No sound came from inside. No sign of movement. Gently she pushed at the door until it swung fully open and, scanning the room, she saw nothing. Suddenly feeling foolish, she lowered the stunner and stepped inside. Nothing. No one. Whoever it was had taken Nicholas. No. Wait. Something didn't make sense. There was no sign of a struggle in here, nothing broken or overturned. The bed was neatly made. And... yes. The package she'd left on the desk was gone. Now she knew what had happened, though she didn't know why.
Bounding back up the stairs, she shouted for Jonathon. He appeared almost immediately from one of the doors down the corridor.
“Didn't I tell you to get the sec Worker to escort you?” he said shortly.
“Call the search off,” she said, her breath coming in deep gasps. “There's no one here.”
“How do you know?” His face was suddenly worried.
“It wasn't someone coming in that triggered the alarms; it was someone going out.” She tried to control her breaths, steadily breathing in and out.
Jonathon grabbed her by the shoulders. “What are you talking about?”
For a moment she thought he was going to shake her, and then she realised that she probably sounded crazy. “It's Nicholas. He's gone. Escaped. Get the security holo-vid.”
It wasn't until Jonathon saw the video that he actually called the search off. There was Nicholas, very clearly dressed in the blue tech Worker uniform that Aurelia had brought him, pushing through the barrier around the property. Aurelia watched him spare a glance at the control box mounted close to the boundary, then look down at his wrists, still bandaged, and obviously decide there was nothing that he could do to stop the alarm system. Then he took the barrier at a run.
“But why?” Jonathon asked, as he watched the holo-vid again. “I don't understand why he'd bust out of here when we were about to get him to safety.”
Aurelia sat next to him. “Neither do I,” she admitted. “I know he wasn't exactly excited to go and leave Lunar, but when I spoke to him, he said he knew it was the right thing to do. Stay alive first, plan for the future second, is how he put it.”
Jonathon put his hand on her leg. “Aurelia, I know you're not going to like this, but I've got to report this.”
“No,” she responded immediately. “I'll find him.”
He shook his head, his deep blue eyes sad. “I know how much Nicholas means to you, but I don't have a choice. Think of things from my point of view. Nicholas knows a lot, more or less everything. He's out there with information, and chances are that he decided h
is best chance of survival is to turn me in for being in the Resistance, rather than rely on us to keep him safe.”
Aurelia sat up straighter. “He would never do that.”
“But it looks like that's exactly what he has done. If I report him as escaped, then any story he tells will likely be viewed as just an attempt to save his own skin, and the Resistance will be untouched. If I don't, then who knows what he's going to do with his knowledge? I have to, Aurelia.”
“You don't have to. You're Jonathon Hansen, remember? You don't have to do anything.” But deep down, she knew that he did.
She felt like a child and wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all. Jonathon was going to report Nicholas, and then he would be injected. End of story. Unless... unless she could find him first. She was absolutely and completely certain that Nicholas had no intention of damaging either of them. Her, because he loved her still, and Jonathon because he was the Clone's only chance at getting equality. Sure, Jonathon hadn't agreed to help Nicholas yet, but he had agreed to consider the matter, and as far as Aurelia knew he was Nicholas's best shot at getting taken seriously. No, whatever the reason Nicholas had gone, it wasn't to betray them.
“Aurelia, I'm sorry,” Jonathon was saying, softly. “I really am. I never want to hurt you, and I know that this will.”
Aurelia shrugged. “Fine,” she snapped. “Do what you have to do, but that's not going to stop me trying to find him myself.”
Before Jonathon could react, she was standing. She heard him shout her name as she walked out of the room and down the corridor towards the front door. But neither he, nor the sec Workers, tried to stop her leaving.
Once out of the house, shivering in the cold night air, Aurelia realised that she had little idea of what the hell she was doing. Trying to think calmly, she schooled herself to go step by step. First, she pulled out her screen and ordered a transport pod. Once it was on its way, she considered her options. Nicholas has been gone for, what? Half an hour, maybe a little longer. He can't have gotten too far. She resigned herself to navigating the transport pod around the streets in the vicinity, just in case. She wasn't foolish enough to presume he'd be that easily found, but she had to check, and besides, it would give her time to come up with a plan B. She just hoped that her plan B was going to be a whole lot better than her plan A.
At least the transport pod was warm. She programmed the console to do a grid search of the surrounding area, then sat back to see what she could see. The immediate area around the compound was empty. The streets were wide, and it was obvious that there were other large buildings around, probably other Ruling Class homes. It wasn't until a couple of blocks out that things started to get more interesting.
As the neon lights got brighter, more and more people appeared. They were dressed in garish colours, some wrapped as though in cloaks, others barely wearing anything. All around her Aurelia could see teenagers. She presumed they were the spoilt children of the Elite, because who else would be out at this time and out of uniform? Looking around, she realised that these people lived a life she could never even imagine. And that gave her an idea.
She had no idea where to even start looking for Nicholas. Where do people hide when they don't want to be found? It was a question that she quite simply couldn't answer, and given that she didn't have time to search Lunar City from top to bottom, it was a question that needed an answer. And what better people to know than those around her? These kids looked rich and spoiled, sure, but half of them also looked drunk or drugged up on something. If anyone could tell her about the City's underground, it would be them.
She pulled the transport pod over, getting out onto the street itself, and rapidly found herself surrounded by a small crowd of teens, everyone trying to talk to her at once. For a second she thought they might try to hurt her, but they didn't seem agitated. Then she thought maybe it was the novelty of seeing a Worker in their midst. But no, that wasn't it either. It took her several seconds to realise that it was her uniform that was attracting attention, though she wasn't sure why. She caught the eye of a tall young woman, her hair a striking shade of purple. The girl looked more alert than the others: her gaze was steady and her dress somewhat more modest than those around her. Aurelia jerked her head towards a doorway, and the girl nodded.
Pushing though the crowd, which groaned but parted, Aurelia made her way to the doorway, where the girl was already waiting.
“Wachya selling?” Her voice was gravelly.
“Sorry?” Aurelia said, confused.
“What have you got? Stim patches? Seds? Uppers?” The girl licked dry lips, and her eyes darted from side to side.
So that was it. Apparently her med Worker uniform marked her out as a drug dealer. Aurelia made note of this for future reference. Is this a problem at the Hospital? Could be. But for now, it made her life a little easier. At least people were willing to talk to her.
“I don't have anything,” Aurelia said. The girl looked like she was ready to bolt, so Aurelia quickly added, “right now.”
“What're you looking for, then?” Purple Hair asked suspiciously.
“I need some information, that's all.”
“Don't got any,” the girl said and turned to leave.
Aurelia grabbed on to her sleeve. “Wait. Are you hungry?” she asked desperately.
The girl eyed her up and down, thinking. Then she shook her head. When she spoke, she sounded a lot more Elite than she had before. “You're really new around here, aren't you?” There was a small smile on her lips. “Gods, come with me and I'll get you a coffee. If I leave you alone, you're going to be mobbed or mugged or both.”
Without looking to see if Aurelia was following, the girl took off around the corner. A couple of buildings later, she stopped and then entered a small, warm café. Aurelia pulled up a chair, and they both sat at a table by the window.
The girl ordered them both a drink, then turned to Aurelia.
“So, what's a nice girl like you doing here?” she asked.
“Here?” Aurelia said, aware that she didn't actually know exactly where she was.
The girl sighed. “This is the rough area of town,” she explained. “And I use the term loosely. It's what we'd like to think of as the rough area, but since we're all Elite kids, it's not really as rough as it could be. That doesn't mean that you wouldn't get hurt, though. There's enough alcohol and drugs floating around here that anything can happen.”
Aurelia nodded. “Got it,” she said. “But I needed some help and didn't know where else to go.”
Their coffee arrived, and the girl picked up her cup and blew gently on the steaming liquid. “What kind of information are you looking for?” she asked.
Aurelia contemplated her options. Then she decided that she should stick as close to the truth as possible. “I've got a friend who's gone missing, and I need to find him. I need to know where he might be hiding out.”
“He's gone off-grid?” the girl asked, taking a drink.
“Off-grid?”
“You know, off the system. Not registered, not using his number, that kind of thing. Off-grid.”
Aurelia nodded.
The girl put her cup down and put her chin in her hand, thinking. “I can think of a couple of places that he might be,” she said. “But nowhere that you'd be able to get to, not dressed like that, anyway.”
Crap. The girl must have noted her expression, and she continued.
“I could ask around for you, if you like?”
Finally. “Er, yes, that would be great,” said Aurelia.
“But I don't work for free,” the girl said.
“What do you want?”
“No drugs?” Purple Hair asked, carefully.
Aurelia shook her head. “No.”
“Then a future favour,” said the girl. “What goes around, comes around, and when I need help, I'll call on you.”
Aurelia had little choice. She agreed and gave the girl her com number, Nicholas's name, and a brief
description. The girl stood, as if to leave.
“Wait up,” Aurelia said. “What's your name?”
Purple Hair smiled. “Tara,” she said. She put a handful of coins onto the table. “I'll call you later.” And she was gone.
So far, so good. Aurelia's coffee was only half empty, so she stayed seated, thinking of what to do next. Then she remembered Zak. Nicholas had told her to talk to Zak if she needed help, and she certainly needed help. She looked at her time reader. There was about an hour until dawn. She racked her brains, trying to think of how she was going to contact this Zak. With no second name, she couldn't find his intercom number, which meant she was going to have to track him down personally. Trying to think logically, she figured that the most likely people to know Zak were other Clones. So that had to be her next step. She drank up and went back out into the hazy night.
The streets around the café where she'd met Nicholas just a few days before weren't quite as busy as those she had just left, but there were people around, and a fair few Clones. What now? Aurelia cursed herself for not thinking ahead for once. Was she just supposed to walk up to random Clones on the street and ask them if they knew Zak? She felt like an idiot. Then she shrugged and walked up to the first Clone she saw.
The man was polite, but he looked at her as if she were crazy and shook his head. No, he didn't know any Zak. She must have asked two dozen people in the next thirty minutes, and as the dome lightened and morning came, the streets emptied out, and still she had found nothing. She was about to turn and head back to the hospital when she noticed a movement in an alleyway in front of her. A man appeared, sliding out of the shadows just enough for her to see him gesture to her to follow him.
She almost didn't. Aurelia might have grown up on relatively safe Earth, but she wasn't completely naïve. But then she felt the metal weight of Jonathon's stunner still in her pocket. Screw it, she thought. She grasped the stunner in her hand and slowly walked towards the alley.
Seeing her coming, the man turned and began walking away from her. The alley was lighter than she had expected, and she could hear a busy street at the other end. She concentrated on following the man, who wore only black. Then, without turning or stopping, he spoke.
