I look upward, and of course my eyes are drawn instantly to Oasis. It’s circled by a blue ring on the glass, which moves as the planets shift in their endless dance around each other. Deemak and Oasis are known as the ‘twin brothers’ – from stories of two warring celestials who could not be more different.
That’s an apt description. Deemak is rich in resources, but barren and harsh. Oasis lives up to its name, rich in water and fertility, but there’s little to offer industry or production.
I keep walking.
In the center of the spaceport is a massive ring. The ring is made of a ferrous metal, perhaps iron, and it looks like the world’s biggest wedding ring. People crowd around it, flicking their fingers and staring. To anybody unfamiliar with it, they’d look like crazy people.
I step in front of the ring, and the magic of it is revealed.
“Welcome to the Deemak Interplanetary Spaceport,” comes a tiny voice, as the ring projects a hologram in front of me. The hologram is a sliver – visible only head on, for privacy reasons, and that’s why it looks like everybody around me is flicking the empty air when, in fact, they’re selecting things on the screens.
I navigate to the map and see the spaceport projected from a bird’s eye view. Only I can see the hologram and hear the voice being projects, and while I don’t understand the science behind it, I know every person using the ring is experiencing the same thing.
I command: “Oasis.”
“Excellent choice,” the AI responds perkily. “We have a wide variety of options to interest you.”
Fourteen ships appear in front of me. As I focus on one, it grows bigger, tracking my eye movements.
I reach my finger up to select a small, sleek ship that can make the journey between worlds in just half a day.
“An excellent choice,” the AI says reassuringly. “Please place 14,000 credits onto the ring.”
I reach in my pocket. 14,000 is a tenth of what I’ve amassed. It’s steep, but I’ll still have plenty left over to start my new life. I count out the bills one by one and place them on the ring, where they seem to simply melt into the metal.
In their place, a thin, steel rectangle with my flight details appears. I pick it up. The shuttle is leaving in forty minutes, and as long as I’m on it, I’ll be gone from this place.
I take the ticket and walk towards the ship bay. My heart is pounding. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve dreamt of Oasis. I can’t keep my eyes from that blue circle of promise hanging above me.
I find the vessel I’ve booked passage on. A boarding tunnel is attached to the airlock, and the ship bay doors hiss open as I approach.
I’ll be traveling on a pure, white vessel, parked in the smaller of the docks.
I approach…
…and then, suddenly, my feet freeze; as if stuck to the ground.
I can’t do it.
I can’t leave – not with so much left unfinished.
I try to force myself to move forward, but I just can’t do it. I just can’t make myself move.
I need to see them.
I need to know.
Like someone else is controlling me, I turn around. Fear is gripping my throat, but I walk through the spaceport and back towards the entrance. I need to know why the Aurelians didn’t report me. I need to know if, somehow, they see me as more than just another pretty little slut to add to their overstuffed harem.
I know I’m stupid to be doing this. Idiotic, in fact.
I know I’m an idiot. All my life, I’ve been trying to survive, and now I finally have my chance to escape this dirt hole planet and thrive.
And yet… I can’t do it.
My memory is suddenly flooded with the sensation of Cyrus’s lips against my own.
I’m suddenly overpowered with the memory of every inch of Gallus’s perfect physique, burned into my memory like a brand.
I feel a powerful craving for the way suspicious, cunning Varian turned so caring and considerate as he held me tightly in his arms, cradling me like nothing could ever go wrong as long as the three of them are protecting me.
My heart is pounding, and now it’s not just with fear. I have excitement coursing through my veins. Going to Oasis felt wrong, somehow – despite it being my lifelong dream.
Conversely, every step towards Sector 1 and the estate of those towering Aurelians feels oh-so-right.
I’m smiling, even though I’m terrified. They might lay those slate-grey eyes on me and take me immediately to the authorities. They might be happy to throw me into jail for fifteen years. All that affection that had for me – the adoration and protectiveness… That might all be over, dead…
But, if I don’t see them now, I’ll never have the courage to leave. I’ll never be able to begin my new life in Oasis; not until I close the one last door of my former life here.
I find myself walking through a small marketplace, listening to the music and shouting of the vendors as they sell their wares. I begin to smile, remembering the route from here to the Aurelian’s mansion, along the same path that I’d flown over with Sarah…
…and then, suddenly – seemingly out of nowhere – a thick hand grabs my wrist and yanks me off the path.
I’m thrown down into a chair, one sitting next to a market stall.
I don’t know who grabbed me. I don’t know why. I just know I’m in danger.
I act without thinking – reaching into my shirt and grabbing the knife I’d hidden there. I stab blindly at whoever grabbed me – knowing, somehow, that it’s Darr…
That much is confirmed when those quick reflexes I’d come to know about him break
