The chauffeur turns to face me through the partition window.
“Where to, ma’am?”
“Where can I book the next flight off this planet?”
The driver nods. “The interstellar port is forty minutes away. The price will be seventy local credits.”
“Do it in thirty minutes and I’ll give you an even hundred.”
“Yes, ma’am!” The drive beams, and the shuttle darts forward.
Just thirty minutes later, my wad of bills is only slightly lighter – but I’m at the interstellar spaceport. Huge ships are slowly taking off, firing their engines and punching off into the atmosphere. I watch them as they climb – until they disappear into the shroud of smog and smoke that hangs perpetually over this dingy planet.
One of those vessels, I think to myself, will be my ticket off this rock.
The Aurelians will come for me, I’m sure of that – but the machines that dispense tickets show twelve different options for leaving this planet all within the next hour. This is a busy spaceport, and the Aurelians won’t know where I’ll go – because I don’t intend to know myself.
They’re skilled agents. They might be able to figure out my next move if I let myself chose a destination.
So, instead, I pick at random.
I just press a button, and for half of my remaining credits, I learn I’ve booked a ticket on the next ship out to Losa.
It will be two Orb-Shifts away in a transport vessel that houses tens of thousands of passengers. I’ll just be a nameless face among them.
I’ll get off this planet, I’ll arrive in safety, and then I’ll plan my next move.
I take the plastic ticket. It’s a small square that I’m expected to scan to get on board the soon-departing ship. The spaceport is bustling and full, but I make my way to the correct line through the crowds and stand in line, my brain churning and working on overtime as I consider my next moves.
Did Torelli really know something about my sister? Or was that just my suspicion? Is he really the only link I have to her?
But I can’t go back there. Going back to The Rhino alone would be suicide. I’d be snatched up instantly – kidnapped just like my sister was. I might be forced to work there, or more likely I’d be sold – just in case Daccia, Kitos, and Hadrian came back looking for me.
No, I have to get off this planet first – away from those Aurelians. I can come back later, and I can hire men to escort me to The Rhino next time.
Like it or not – this is the only way.
But what if she’s there? What if you missed her last night?
What if Lilac’s in The Rhino right now?
The thought keeps tugging at my brain. It keeps grabbing something deep inside of me – something I just can’t shake. It’s like it’s a wound, festering in my soul.
Suddenly, I step out the line and pocket my ticket. I don’t care how much it cost. I need to get a closer look at The Rhino.
The service door, on the underground level. I remember it from the holographic projection. That’s the one Daccia told me to escape through, if it came down to it.
I’ll sneak in through there and do a quick investigation. It won’t take long – and it’ll quell that insistent voice in my head. I just have to know for sure.
Then, I’ll leave on the next flight. I have to do this, though. I must – no matter what the risk is. Something tells me Lilac’s there – and I’ve learned I have to trust my instincts.
I gulp.
I’m going into the belly of the beast.
Alone, unarmed, and with barely a plan.
I take a cheap shuttle at the entrance to the spaceport, and the driver looks shocked when I demand he take me to The Rhino. The death-stare I shoot at him when he nearly refuses makes the driver instantly shut his mouth.
The promise of a little extra credits butters him up – and soon enough, the driver drops me off a block away from The Rhino, exactly as instructed.
The service entrance is at the back of the club. I have my mask back on, and I realize I’ll have to switch the purifier to its highest setting in this dingy, low-level area, with its high levels of toxic pollution.
As I stride through the smog and smoke, I see a guy – already drunk off his ass at midday – who stumbles towards me.
His eyes are full of lust.
“Hey, little lady! You lost? Why don’t I…”
Thump!
The moment the drunk reaches forward to paw at me, I deck him across the head.
I’ve slapped and punched a hundred men before – but never like this. I hear the satisfying crunch as the groping pervert’s jaw breaks. He falls like a rock to the sidewalk.
I look down at my hand with wonder.
So, this is the power that a man has in his fist. Now, that power is mine.
I take the route through the back alley, weaving through the overflowing garbage cans and bags of refuse. The air is clear through my purifier – but I can almost imagine the fetid stench.
Eventually, the service door of The Rhino stands in front of me.
Stick to the plan, Allie: In and out.
Try to find her. Ask some of the girls if they saw anyone who looks like me. If they did – even if they deny it – I know I’ll see the truth in their eyes.
I pull the door, but it’s locked tight.
For a second, I stand there, running my tongue over my gums – thinking.
I should have been thinking before – thinking clearly, at least.
Suddenly, I realize this was all a huge mistake. I should have stuck to my initial plan. I should have just taken the first flight off this rock and come back much, much later – with guards.
I need to come back with men who aren’t going to try to link me with them for all
