Just my luck—mom had hidden all my winter clothes. I had to make do with a universal hoodie with climate controls. I ordered our home assistant O to secure the apartment: switch off all the electrics, darken the windows, draw the blinds, activate extra electronic locks on every room…
I switched off AT the catdog last. Right now he was a German Shepherd. I looked into his intelligent eyes.
“I don’t know when we’ll see each other again, AT, but I’ll miss you.”
He licked my face and I scratched him behind the ear. The robot pet curled up as if going to sleep, then shut down.
Before leaving the apartment, Hairo brought his disguise back, pulled the door open an inch and threw a flight of miniature drone eyes through the gap to check the path to the roof. While they did their work, the man spoke quietly: “Stay behind me, don’t stick your neck out, and if anything happens, go back to the apartment and call the police… Got it? Let’s go!”
Hairo’s flyer was as ordinary and unassuming as they came. Maybe it was used only for work, but I was in no state to be pick}. We began to take off. The security explained: “We’re going to meet Willy and the others at a hiding spot and spend the night there. In the morning we’ll fly to school and apply for a transfer to distance learning. Your parents can confirm it remotely, but you have to be there in person.”
“I know. They check the student’s biometrics. I’ve looked into it…”
“Right.
Hairo flew the flyer not just with confidence, but with mastery’—he shot ahead at the fastest possible speed, overtook, maneuvered, hopped from one skylane to another. Closer to the edge of the district, he suddenly gained height above the directing lights of the skyway and rewed the flyer to even greater speeds. At the same time, he kept talking.
“I’ll talk to the local police department, get them to send some droids just in case. There’ll be plenty of journalists and rubberneckers at your school. Decide for yourself what to tell them, if anything. I can’t advise you there, and you don’t pay me to. That said, you can’t go wrong with ‘no comment.’ We’ll fly from there to Alaska. We have a fully-equipped bunker there.”
“What about the capsules?”
“We can rustle up a couple. Not like the ones you have, of course, a little more basic. But that’s just until the end of the week. By then, we’ll have the base in Cali ready. It’s a waste, but you’ll have to buy a new capsule. We can’t take yours. They’ll track it down.”
“And they won’t track down another we buy?”
“It’ll be billed to someone else, on the other side of the planet. Without add-ons. Yoshi will deal with that. He’s a good guy, knows all about networks, encryption, AIs… I want to bring him in, along with a few others. What do you think?”
“Let’s discuss it later,” I suggested. “Are you sure the building in Cali is a good fit, Hairo?”
“It would have been compromised if I’d stayed in Excommunicado. But Willy and I activated our old ‘New Leaf plan when we left. We signed up our families as Mars colonists, but sent some noncitizen acquaintances in their places—the checks there aren’t particularly thorough. They take all comers. By the way, we don’t have to rent that building. We could buy it. They want ten million for all of it…”
I nearly swore when he mentioned money and reminded me of tomorrow’s auction. If we sold the Portal Key, then we could hire more people and buy the building…
“…and that will solve the security issue,” Hairo continued. “I have friends among the Wild Ones. They live in the Zones. They have nowhere else to go. If you offer them a place to live, then the Triad will never reach you. Some financier will need to calculate it all. The wild ones can’t pay until they get back on their feet. They might want to go into Dis, apply for those free noncitizen Snowstorm capsules. I don’t know…”
He seemed to be thinking aloud, but expected no decisions from me. I thought there was some sense to his ideas. But there was an even simpler way—delete Scyth, accept Snowstorm’s promised rewards and live out my life in peace. A high citizenship category, money, an education, a job—all my dreams were a few clicks away. Goodbye Scyth, hello calm and prosperous future… I spent the rest of the journey deep in thought, realizing that I was blindly trusting someone I didn’t really know, essentially placing my fate in his hands.
My already sour mood worsened when my parents called. I saw mom first:
“Alex! What’s going on? The hotel is crawling with journalists.
We’re shut up in our room! Our comms are blowing up! Everyone wants a comment from us! Where are you? Are you going somewhere? What’s going on, Alex?! We’re on our way to you right now!”
Mom’s worries and questions poured out without pause until dad interrupted her.
“Relax, Ellen,” he said gently. “Let Alex answer.”
Mom fell silent. I told them what happened in brief, explained who Hairo was and what we planned to do. I also asked dad to hire a guard with my money.
“That’s unnecessary,” dad said. “The hotel is perfectly secure. Could I talk to Mr. Morales, son?”
I have to credit Hairo. He answered all dad’s questions confidently and calmed down mom, comincing them that they’d best stay on the Moon for now—it would be safer there. On parting, mom said: “Mr. Morales… Hairo… Alex’s life depends on you. Keep my son safe! Swear that…”
“I swear on my life, Mrs. Sheppard. I’ll do everything I can to keep Alex out of danger.” Hairo crossed himself. “God as my witness.”
A tear rolled down mom’s cheek. I, on the other hand, felt calmer, as if Hairo’s vow was proof that he wouldn’t betray me. I knew it was silly to trust him blindly, but staying home would
