50

Camille didn’t even have a chance to register what Sia had just announced before the woman was off out the door. Speechless was perhaps an understatement for how Camille felt and she tried to get her brain to compute while also trying to dampen down the alarm and panic rising up inside of her. She didn’t want to go to Draygon. At least, not like this. Earth, despite all the history Camille had there, was her home and it hadn’t even crossed her mind to leave. That seemed absurd! At least, right now it did. She couldn’t imagine why she would agree to the whole thing but at the same time, Camille got the impression that her agreement wasn’t necessary.

She had no time to object though. Everything around her moved on while Camille found her mind frozen in alarm. Before she knew it, she was standing in the infirmary hallway as Jag and Sia discussed something with the doctor. In fact, it was the warmth of someone’s hand on her lower back that helped ground Camille once again.

“You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders once again.” Kal murmured.

“Something like that.” Camille confessed, looking up at the male. “Did you know Sid’s mother was going to turn up?”

“I had my suspicions.” He confessed with a guilty smile. “Sia can seem a bit caustic, but I promise that she means well.”

“I hope so.” Camille murmured. “She wants me to return to Draygon with her.”

Kal raised his eyebrows, but Camille wasn’t fooled by his attempt at pretending to be surprised by the revelation. Instead, it was Camille who left stunned and then angry, her eyebrows pinching together in an upset frown.

“You knew?”

“Yes,” Kal sighed when Camille shrugged his hand from her back. “Cam, come on. It really isn’t a bad idea given the circumstances. You’ll be much safer there...”

“No.” Camille shook her head. “Not happening. If you guys are staying, then I’m staying.”

“Staying where?” Jag’s voice cut into the argument before Kal had chance to explain. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. It’s fine.” Camille muttered. “Can I see Sid now?”

“You can.” Jag nodded. “I’ll take you to him.”

Camille was grateful to be leaving the subject of Draygon dead in the water, but Kal’s expression of frustration and guilt wasn’t lost on her. She decided she would deal with the matter later. Besides, they couldn’t make her go, especially if she wasn’t around to pressure. Camille wasn’t going to sit around moping or be willingly dragged of to some place she didn’t know.

The sterile infirmary was quiet compared to the last time Camille had been there. It occurred to her that she had seen the inside of the wing too many times in the short space of time that she had been in New York albeit this time it wasn’t because she was a patient; not that the thought brought any comfort. Sid’s room was in the ICU section of the infirmary with his bed the only one occupied. The first thing that struck Camille were the number of alien equipment surrounding Sid or attached to him in some way. Warm yellow LED light pulsed from a machine that looked a bit like a silver screen used by people to try and get a tan. Only this was much sturdier and a small monitor on the top showing strange symbols. It hovered only inches from Sid’s torso and chest.

But that was far from the surprising part. Despite the evident injuries and being surrounded by all kinds of equipment, Sid was awake, yellow eyes catching Camille’s attention almost immediately.

“Hey, beautiful.” Sid croaked but managed his signature smile even if it was weak.

“Sid...” Camille breathed, her feet moving on their own accord to take her to the male’s bedside, fingers itching to reach out and brush away the few silvery strands of hair clinging to his clammy forehead. “How are you awake?”

“Given the major’s improvements, I felt that keeping him in a coma would do more harm than good.” The doctor stepped in with a smile. “Everything is healing nicely but I want to run some tests to make sure we haven’t missed anything. I can give you all five minutes.”

“Make it ten, doc.” Sid croaked. “I’m feeling pretty good.”

“Five minutes.” The doctor repeated in a firm tone before stepping out of the room to give the small group privacy.

“Everyone needs to stop acting like they are attending a funeral.” Sid teased, tired eyes flicking from one face to the next. “You heard the doc, I’m recovering.”

“Well, we very nearly did attend a funeral.” Sia snipped, raising a sharp eyebrow at her youngest child.

“Hello to you too, Nona.”

“It’s good to see you are awake.” Camille quickly cut in before mother and son began to bicker, her hand gently resting over Sid’s as if the slightest bit of pressure by shatter him. “You had us so worried.”

“It’s going to take more than a suicide bomber to take me down.” Sid chuckled only to wince as the gesture caused something hurt.

“That will teach you for joking around about something that isn’t funny.” Sia tutted but despite her scolding Sid (who naturally was unmoved by the reprimand), The worry was clear in the woman’s features as she brushed the hair from Sid’s forehead. “Just be grateful your Tanas are not here, or you’d be in a lot more trouble.”

Camille couldn’t help but think that this was far from the truth. Sia was already proving herself fiercer than the three men in the room, Camille was pretty certain it would be the same if Sid’s fathers were present. At least Sid was in good hands with a mother close by to dote on him.

Now if only they could put a stop to Nathan’s reign of terror.

“I’m glad you’re going to be okay.” The blonde finally spoke up in a soft voice.

“Well, I couldn’t leave you with these two.” Sid smirked as he referred to Kal and Jag.

Kal rolled his eyes. “Shame that blast didn’t knock the cockiness from you.”

“You wouldn’t have me any other way.”

“Five minutes is up.” The doctor announced with a gentle knock on the doorframe. “You’re welcome to hang around but Sid’s going to be gone for a few hours.”

“Thanks doc, we need to get back to work anyway.” Jag nodded and looked to his injured friend. “Try not to wind the nurses up while we are gone.”

“No promises.” Sid replied.

“Camille, why don’t you wait with me?” Sia suggested.

“Oh, um...I was actually going to sort some things out...” Camille stumbled over her words, trying to think of something to cover her tracks. “If I’m going with you to Draygon then I need to make sure everything is ready.”

“What?” Sid barked. “What do you mean?”

“Major, I must insist you calm down.” The doctor quickly interjected. “You can pick this up when you’re back.”

“Listen to the doctor. There is plenty of time to discuss everything.” Sia sighed before turning to Camille once more. “Perhaps we can talk later then, say over dinner?”

“Sounds perfect.” Camille smiled before making a swift exit.

---

“Are you sure she’s Sid’s mother?”

“Positive.”

“But she sounds so different from him...”

“I guess Sid got his personality from his biological father.”

Charlotte was silent for a few moments, pulling one of her lip piercings through her teeth. Her silver eyes were darkened by a thoughtful frown and yet the silent contemplation only lasted a few moments.

“Are you sure she isn’t actually Jag’s mother?”

Camille groaned and rolled her eyes at her friend. “Char! The woman wants to drag me off to another planet and you are trying to work out how Sia is related to Sid?”

“Well, that’s because Sid is nothing like Sia!” Charlotte replied with a huff. “Either way, she will have to answer to me before she abducts you.”

The moment Camille could escape Sia’s presence, she had headed off to find Charlotte. She hadn’t necessarily been lying when she said she would be sorting things out, but she may have omitted that what she meant was, follow up on a hunch both Camille and Charlotte had about their so-called friend, Tina. Either way, the excuse had bought her time and now, Charlotte and Camille were making their way through the Ark under the guise of being cleaners. It was a pretty convenient disguise. No one would question them because well...technically they both worked for the cleaning contractors. If anything, they were just doing their job.

“Are you sure Tina is working today?” Camille moved away from the subject of her new and rather intimidating mother-in-law .

“Yup.” Charlotte gave a firm nod. “And her shift finishes in ten minutes.”

“Okay, well how are we meant to find her?” the blonde raised an eyebrow.

“She’ll have to head back to staff area to collect her things and sign out, remember?” Charlotte explained. “All we have to do is blend into the background and when she leaves, follow her.”

Camille didn’t say anything to that. It wasn’t the most sophisticated plan, but it was a plan. It didn’t guarantee them results on the first go but it was better than sitting by idly while everything went to shit. Sure, she could be by Sid’s side and in truth her heart ached with dread whenever her thoughts turned to how close she had been to losing him. Camille couldn’t help but blame herself for what happened despite logic telling her that it wasn’t her fault. She had given over the address of where Nathan was supposed to be. She had inadvertently helped set the trap.

Now she had to help fix this.

So, Camille followed her best friend’s lead, waiting for the familiar form of Tina to appear after a long shift of cleaning (or espionage).

They didn’t have to wait long. As if on cue, Tina appeared to clock off for the day, oblivious to the fact she was being watched. Outwardly, nothing seemed a miss, but Camille could feel the burn of her anger towards this woman running through her veins. It was becoming a familiar but unwelcome feeling for someone who had once seen the best in people.

Mentally shaking the thoughts from her head, Camille followed Charlotte as they trailed after Tina. A part of the blonde still felt that this was all a big misunderstanding, and that Tina would return to her rooms or something just as innocent and yet instead of heading to the elevators, Tina went in the opposite direction, heading for the the service tunnels. It was enough to have the pair exchanging a confused look.

Camille grabbed Charlotte’s arm before she could move any further. “Are you sure we should follow her down here?”

“It’s fine, Mills.” Charlotte chuckled. “No one really comes down this way anyway.”

“So, why come this way?” Camille frowned as they walked.

“I don’t know.” Charlotte shrugged. “There is nothing down this way except the tunnel to the apartments and those have been sealed off because of what happened.”

“So, this could just be a wild goose chase?”

“Maybe but we won’t know for sure if we don’t follow Tina.” Charlotte pointed out. “We need to keep our voices down though.”

Camille would be the first to admit she didn’t know the first thing about the tunnels or how to stalk someone, but Charlotte seemed pretty knowledgeable and led the way through the dimly lit tunnels. They seemed to go on forever and Camille soon began to wonder if they were going the right way or if Tina was as equally lost as she felt. She was about to tell Charlotte they should give up when the sound of multiple voices of in the distance flittered down the service tunnels.

“I thought you said no one comes down here.” Camille whispered as she shared an alarmed look with her friend.

“They don’t.” Charlotte replied. “There is no reason for anyone to come down here except in emergencies.”

Camille’s brow pinched into another frown as she tugged her bottom lip through her teeth in thought. Her eyes darkened as she listened to the soft voices echoing up the thick concrete walls. There were clearly multiple people talking but the distance meant that the words and sounds were too muffled to make out what was being said or who was saying them. Her mind was already conjuring up explanations for what she was hearing such as a guard patrolling the tunnels and their radio was on. Or perhaps some old homeless person had snuck in to find shelter and was watching TV. All highly unlikely scenarios and yet far more comforting than anything else she could imagine.

“C’mon, let’s get a bit closer and see if we can work out who it is.” Charlotte suggested, pushing forward further down the corridor.

*This is a bad idea.* Camille thought as she trailed along behind her friend, heart now pounding in her chest.

It had been okay when they were just tailing Tina but now, they were possibly going to land them in trouble if they were caught. But nothing could have prepared Either woman for what they found as they crept closer.

Each step brought them closer to the hum of conversation and activity. The tunnel wasn’t poorly lit however, the corridor leading towards what remained of the apartment building basements were meant to be dark. Power had been cut for safety reasons and the tunnels sealed off. There wasn’t a single reason for anyone to be down in this particular area. And yet, when the pair approached the final corner and peered around, they were met by a lively scene.

Camille didn’t take the time to count properly but she guessed there were at least a dozen people moving heavy duty boxes and weapons through the now very open doors that had been shut and locked. She didn’t recognise any of the faces at first but then she spotted Tina speaking to someone out of sight.

“What the hell is this?” Camille uttered.

“No idea.” Charlotte sounded as freaked out as Camille was feeling. “Hang tight.”

Charlotte grabbed her phone from her pocket, opening the camera app and turning the flash off before raising the device to take photos of the bizarre scene before them. It was only after clicks that Charlotte gasped sharply, her fright pulsing off her like a shockwave from a bomb.

“We need to go.” She whispered frantically.

“What’s wrong?” Camille asked. “Did they spot you?”

“No, but we have to go.” Charlotte fumbled with her phone as she forced it back into her pocket. “Now, Mills. Please.”

Camille didn’t argue. Something had obviously freaked Charlotte out but if it wasn’t them being potentially spotted then what was it?

Charlotte didn’t want Camille looking but that only made the urge to look all the stronger and Camille found herself defying her friend’s request and crawling closer to the corner to peer around. Only what she saw had her blood freezing in fear as the familiar sickening feeling of terror twisted in her gut.

Now she had a clearer view of who Tina was talking to. She could make out the dark hair that glimmered in the sterile light. She could make out the defined features, tanned skin and green eyes that were both beautiful and empty. She could make out every detail even from a distance and suddenly, as if the past few months had been nothing but a dream, Camille was transported back to a dark and terrifying place that she had hoped she would never experience again.

And all because of…

“Nathan?”