I took them one at a time, fearful my shoes might give away my position. I reached the top and peered over the edge along the walkway.
I couldn’t make out any security officers but that wasn’t saying much considering how dark the shadows were at the opposite end.
I couldn’t wait forever.
I had to take the chance.
I scaled the last of the steps and breathed a sigh of relief when no one yelled that they’d found me.
Then a radio hissed.
I slipped into the shadows and pressed my back to the wall. I watched as a security officer stepped from the doorway and drew up to an inferior officer.
“Radio silence!” he hissed. “Do you know what that means, private?”
“Y-Yes, sir!” the young officer said.
The older officer glared at him before turning, still fuming, and marched toward me.
I shut my eyes, held my breath, and turned my head to one side, like a child attempting to hide from a parent during a game of peek-a-boo.
The inferior officer followed his superior, fading in and out of existence as he marched through one pool of light after another.
I wasted no time.
I hustled toward the doorway they’d come from and stepped through it.
I had no idea which way I was going, but away from here seemed the best option.
I walked for five minutes, which is a long way when you’re going as fast as you can and you’re inside a ship. I came across a map bolted to the wall and immediately ran my finger over it.
I began in the cargo hold where I’d just come from and followed the hall away from it. There was more than one but I had no idea which one I’d taken. Right now, it didn’t matter.
If I kept going, I would find a set of stairs that would take me up to the passenger deck.
The pod deck.
My heart beat faster.
I couldn’t believe I’d almost found her!
I checked the pod sections.
JJ. Where was JJ?
I located it and my heart skipped a beat. She was there somewhere tucked underneath the tip of my finger.
Hang on! I’m coming for you!
Bang!
Something clanged down the tunnel. Something big and heavy and metallic struck the aisle. I could only nail it down to two directions. One I needed to head in, the other not so much. I decided to take a risk and bolted in the direction I knew I needed to go.
Time was running out. I had to take some risks.
I sprinted down the tunnel and found the stairs I’d seen on the map. I took them two, three, four at a time and used my momentum to swing me around the corners and up the next flight.
I counted the flights as I went, and skidded to a halt when I came to the top of the fourth set.
Printed on the door in chipped blue paint were two of my new favorite letters in the galaxy:
JJ.
I threw the door open and stepped onto the pod deck. It was just as grimy as I remembered it. Occupied pods ran in infinite rows. There was little cover up here. I could hide among the pods but I could be spotted with ease.
JJ13-6492
That was what I was looking for.
But I was in the JJ12 section and it seemed to run on and on down this row. I skipped over to the adjacent row.
A spray-painted sign identified it as JJ14.
My feet quickened as I rushed to the row on the other side.
JJ13.
This was it.
I checked the numbers stenciled on the front of each pod.
6356
It ran in even numbers down one side and odd numbers down the other. I picked the right direction and walked… then jogged… then sprinted…
JJ13-6486…
JJ13-6488…
JJ13-6490…
JJ13-6492…
JJ13-6494…
JJ13-6496…
Woah. I went too far.
I backed up two pods.
And there it was.
JJ13-6492
I found her.
I couldn’t see her through the condensation on the pod.
“Hey! Hey you!”
Shit!
A pair of security officers raced down the grating toward me, their boots thumping loudly.
But I didn’t run.
They were angry. I had made fools of them. They weren’t going to take it easy on me.
I pulled my foot back and slammed my heel on the security panel on the side of the pod. Once, twice, three times.
It sure was tough!
I kept hammering at it.
Security was almost on me. It was going to hurt when they knocked me to the floor.
But it wouldn’t kill me.
Bianca was worth the pain.
I struck it again and again and again…
The damn thing wouldn’t break!
The first officer struck me from the side, tackling me to the grating. It stung—just as I knew it would—and sent a shockwave of pain from my elbow and up my arm.
“Get to your feet!” the officer said, hauling me up.
The second officer checked the pod for the damage I’d done to it.
“Do you want to explain this?” he said. “Why were you trying to break into this pod?”
“I have a ticket,” I said feebly. “I… needed to say something to her.”
The officer wiped a hand over the condensation to get a good look inside the pod.
I leaned over to see her but the first officer restrained me.
“Well, you’re not going to get to say it to her,” the officer said. “There’s no one inside it.”
His words didn’t register. They didn’t make any sense.
He had to be wrong. He just had to be.
“No,” I said. “She’s heading to Earth. She’s my godson’s governess.”
The security panel on the pod sparked and hissed, then the lid shifted and folded to one side. The condensation ran off it and dripped on the floor.
He was right. It was empty.
I didn’t understand. I checked the check-in details. She had downgraded. She had checked in.
“You’re going to have to pay for the pod,” the officer said. “Among many other things.”
I didn’t hear him. I just stared at the pod.
Empty?
Had I gotten the wrong one?
No. The number was printed clearly on the front.
Then maybe she switched to another pod?
Why? This was the one she’d been assigned.
“All right,” the security officer said. “Let’s get him out of here.”
I put up no resistance.
I was hustled into a
