I had ruined their big dramatic finale.
I was supposed to yell “No!” and make a false attempt to save her.
That was why they chose Titans to act as the male stars in this program. We were good looking to Changeling eyes, in good shape, and healed fast—always necessary with the aggressive tactics the trackers employed.
They didn’t know I informed the Yayora there was something fishy about the Changeling siblings. I still might have been able to argue my way back into Control’s good graces if I didn’t race to Maddy’s rescue in the base.
But I had. And worse, she had escaped.
They would punish me severely for that.
I shivered at the thought of it and consoled myself with memories of Maddy.
She was all I had to cling to now.
The shuttlecraft descended and the soldiers hustled from it. They dragged me behind them with the bag still on my head, making a big show of how they had been the ones to discover me. They led me into Control.
Usually, they took me downstairs. I was given comfortable quarters—doorless, of course. And I’d be allowed to wash and eat and recover from my most recent ordeal. They would only come for me once it was my turn again to take part in their sadistic little game show.
But today was different.
Today, they lead me upstairs, toward the Control Room. The entire building was referred to as the Control Room but there was only one part that actually controlled the show.
It was the highest room in the building, giving it the best views of the entire section.
They were gods and this was their domain.
Iron Hoof wrapped his big hand around the back of my neck as we ascended the steps. Through a hole in the bag’s fabric, I spied a pair of soldiers stepping aside. The doors hissed open and Iron Hoof shoved me forward.
The room was large, with monitors running along the walls on three different levels. They would be divided by task, not that I knew what those were.
We wound up the steps from one level to another. I got looks from workers but they ignored me and bent back over their screens.
So many workers to produce such a disgusting show.
I was in the heart of the beast, the lion’s den. Press the right button and I could bring the whole thing crashing down.
But I had no idea which button that was or if it even existed. It was Maddy’s jurisdiction, not mine.
We came to the top floor. Iron Hoof whipped the bag off my head and I squinted against the sunlight. I was in a single room with glass walls that gave unparalleled views over the alien species’ rolling dune landscape. No computers in here. Just a single large table with a to-scale model of the section.
I could make out the barn where Maddy and I last made love beneath the starry sky. And there, the farm the big lug beside me had demolished.
The buildings had already been altered and rebuilt so they looked more like those outside. The model maker added the finishing touches to what appeared to be a new addition.
A crater just off-center of the whole section.
The Yayora base.
Former base.
The model maker straightened up and raised his microscope glasses to peer at me. He motioned to the model.
“What do you think?” he said.
“Very pretty,” I said.
I kept my voice neutral. I couldn’t help but feel disgusted toward this man. It was only a model to him. It had once been a species’ homeworld and they’d taken it from them.
The model maker morphed into his original shape, a Changeling, and moved to a small sink where he washed his hands and the paintbrushes he’d been using.
“I find hands like yours are much better for small, delicate movements and creative acts,” he said. “Necessary for a piece of art such as this. Of course, you would never hear the Changeling Council say such a thing. It’s heresy to admit there are strengths and weaknesses to be found in every species.”
“You’re in charge of Lovers’ Escape?” I said.
“Yes,” the model maker said. “Does it surprise you?”
His name was Ghoika and he was known as the Creator.
“I thought you would be… different,” I said.
“Different how? There’s no need to stand on ceremony.”
Meaning: I was going to die, so anything I said didn’t matter. The outcome was always going to be the same.
“I thought you would look more aggressive,” I said.
“Why should that be? The ones at the top never need to take aggressive actions, only order others to do it for them. Like our friend Iron Hoof here. A fine, powerful beast. He could snap your neck like a twig if I told him to.”
He looked excited by the idea. He might not physically look like a monster but he had the mind of one.
“But I won’t,” he said. “We’ve developed a much more… dramatic end for you.”
He approached me. Changelings were tall creatures, so he towered over me. He surveyed me with his black eyes.
He appeared to be looking for something. I wondered what it was.
He straightened up.
“You’re not the first to ruin an episode and you won’t be the last,” he said. “I like to get a good look at the perpetrator before he meets his end. I’m always underwhelmed by what I see. Today is no different. Your family was relying on you. Now they will have to come to a sticky end. Or else we’ll recruit them for one of our other many productions. Tell me, what made you turn your back on them?”
“I never turned my back on them,” I said through gritted teeth. “You never gave me proof they were still alive. I don’t believe they are.”
The words stung my lips. I’d never said it out loud before—I didn’t want the Changelings to overhear my concerns and consider me too much of a risk not to continue using in their games. Both me and my family would
