CHAPTER 38

The walk to the apartments was torture. Mia wandered slowly, trying desperately to gauge the passing of time. She fought the strong urge to glance at her phone, which she had slid into her pocket. Even if the battery hadn't finally been drained, the phone would show what time it was in Rockforth, on Earth. Without knowing what time the midday chime had sounded, she still would have no idea how long it had been since. Never had an hour felt so incredibly long. She considered the distinct probability that Phoebe had been unable to produce the distraction she had wanted. Or perhaps it hadn't been distracting at all. Or maybe she got caught.

Ugh. She had to stop stressing and think.

When they had nearly reached Phoebe's building without any sign of disturbance, Mia stopped, pretending to study a small plant growing through the stone walkway. It wasn't a totally bogus excuse; the stem was a deep gray and it twisted and gnarled its way upward. Tiny pale pink leaves sprouted all over, most almost white, but the newer buds were fairly vibrant. It was a pretty little thing.

“Are we going to go in? There isn't much to see from out here,” Ashley grumbled.

Becky stopped beside her. “It's just dophili. I'm told it's basically a weed. There's tons of them over by the dorm and they're already slipping into my garden. I'm sure you've seen them before.”

“Yeah, it's just...”

A shrieking blare blasted through the compound, high and shrill enough to make Mia clamp her teeth together. The fleck filled dome that represented the energy field flashed once, and again. Despite knowing that this must be Phoebe's promised distraction at last, Mia's heart hammered in her chest. Visions of the hell world and the ruined bodies of the two Livarians reminded her why the dome was necessary.

The guards froze, their faces suddenly serious, as three more flashes lit up the dome. These, Mia noticed were localized at the edge of the compound a few streets away. The

Galoo must be passing through the field. Phoebe said she would make a mistake so that their genetic code no longer registered as neutral.

“Come on, let's get you back to the dorms,” the lead guard commanded.

Mia opened her mouth to protest, or at least come up with an excuse, but three more men burst from the street behind them and headed toward the group. This was just what she needed.

“I...I think we'll just run into Phoebe's apartment and wait there,” she allowed a waiver into her voice. “I don't want to be out in the open right now.”

The guard did not look convinced. Well, there was a reason why she had become a teacher and not an actor.

“There are multiple breeches of the energy field. We need all available men at the perimeter.”

Mia didn't wait to be told what to do. “Come on girls, let's go check on Phoebe.” She jogged toward the apartment door. There was a second exit on the other side, out of view, she would only need to slip through it and over to the other apartment building without being seen. She could do this.

“We don't know what's causing the disturbances. It's possible that drones have slipped into the pattern again.”

Mia held her breath as her guard watched the women trail toward the building. She didn't release it until she made it to the door, and they didn't follow. She easily slipped into the building, Becky and Ashley following her, worried frowns on their faces.

“Drones?” Ashley whispered behind her. “How would drones get through their energy field? And who would be running them, anyway? Aren't the Livarians the only people left on this world? That's what the orientation said.”

The hallway was as Mia remembered it: well-lit, but quiet, and oddly empty feeling since the doors were hidden along the walls. Ashley's whisper bounced back toward them and she fell silent.

“Orientation didn't get everything right,” Mia told her. They made their way along the hall.

“I thought there were apartments in here. This is just a long hallway.”

Mia looked back over her shoulder. Becky had stopped near the spot she estimated Phoebe's door to be. Ashley was still trailing her and both women were looking perplexed.

“Beck will show you how the doors work,” Mia told Ashley, pointing back toward the woman.

“Where are you going?”

Mia had made it to the end of the hall and the door that stood there.

“There's something I need to do. You guys go ahead and wait with Phoebe.”

Ashley looked at Becky and then back toward Mia.

“No,” she said, crossing her arms, “I think I'll go with you. I want to know what the hell is going on.”

There wasn't time to argue about it. Besides, Ashley was as much a grown woman as she was. If she wanted to get involved in the trouble Callaphria was facing, Mia didn't have the right to stop her. She simply nodded and opened the door.

The area behind the apartment was a sort of courtyard that joined several of the cube-like buildings. There was a small, well maintained patch of grass. The same stone that paved the walkways around the dorm filled much of the area and a mismatch of benches had been placed about the perimeter. The beginning of some construction that looked much like a playground stood to the left side. Mia crept into the courtyard, hugging the wall of the building, and took her bearings. According to Phoebe, Jhudur had been placed in an apartment that wasn't part of this group.

She peered around the corner and surveyed the street from which they had come. Her guard, along with the other men that had approached them, had moved on, so, for now, the street lay empty. She hurried across the opening and pressed herself against the next building, checking around the corner once more. She risked a glance back and found, with surprise, both Ashley and Becky were trailing along. Fine. This was fine.

She moved along two more buildings and across another courtyard before she found the apartment that Phoebe had indicated.

“What exactly are we doing?” Ashley demanded.

“Shh,” Mia warned. They were at the rear of the building, away from the street. There shouldn't be any men outside that could see them, but she wasn't certain about the building itself. She suspected Jhudur would be heavily guarded, which meant they were in the building, and she still didn't know how good Livarian hearing was. She turned to the women.

“The Livarians are keeping someone in here,” she whispered. “I need to speak to him. It's very important. I think that this compound is in danger.”

Ashley frowned at her. Becky peered around her shoulder, her face pale and eyes wide.

“How would we be in danger? There's nothing else on this god forsaken world? Besides, if there was danger, wouldn't it be best to let the men deal with it? I mean, they were...are soldiers, after all.”

“I'm not doing anything dangerous, just gathering some information,” she hedged; talking to Jhudur was probably not dangerous. “This is the only chance I'm going to get. Are you guys going to help me or not? If you think this is a waste of time feel free to head back and wait at the dorms with the rest of the women.”

“How would we help you?” Becky whispered. Mia couldn't tell if the woman was questioning her thought process or genuinely looking to help.

“Can you get the guards out of this building?”

A mischievous glint crossed Ashley's face.

“Sounds like fun, but here's the deal. We get the guards out, and you tell us everything.”

Mia considered. Sounded like a fair deal to her.

“Ok.”

“Alright. Come on, Beck, let's have an adventure.”

Becky did not look excited. “I'm not sure I want an adventure.”

“Come on,” Ashley told her. “This is the most fun I've had since we got here. No one lets us do anything interesting. If I can't go back to Earth, at least I can be entertained. And from what I can tell, you need some fun even more than I do.” When Becky didn't respond immediately, Ashley grabbed her arm. For a moment it looked like Becky wouldn't budge, but after a long sigh, she followed Ashley. “Give us ten minutes,” Ashley told Mia, and then disappeared around the corner of the apartment.

Mia studied the outside of the building. A small, bright yellow bird flew over, its shadow skimming up the wall in front of her. She checked the courtyard, but it was quiet.

She hated waiting.

Fortunately, it wasn't long until she heard a muffled exclamation from within the hallway. She counted slowly to ten and then cracked the door open. Empty. Thank you, Ashley. She slipped inside and closed the door behind her. According to Phoebe, Jhudur was being held in the first apartment on the left. Why the Livarians had to hide their doors and access panels, she didn't understand. It took four tries before she palmed the right area and a cheerful beep sounded.

Behind her, the front door, the one Ashley and Becky must have gone to, creaked.

“I swear it was a woman, maybe two. I saw someone dodge around the storage shed across the street.”

“That makes no sense, where were their guards, then?”

“Maybe they were called to help with the perimeter,” a pause, and then, “still no word of what's causing the alert.”

The door to the apartment slid open and she rushed in, turning and slapping at the wall desperately hoping to hit the right spot.

“And leave a woman unprotected? The Prime would have their head.”

Blessedly, the door slid closed.

Mia collapsed against the wall, willing her heart to slow. It worked. She really hadn't expected it to, so it took some time for her mind to process what the hell she was going to do next. Her thoughts began to clear, and she found herself studying the apartment.

The contrast to Phoebe's living space was brutal. The blinds on the tall windows had all been closed, only the dimmest light seeping through. A single cot, like the ones from the medical unit, stood in the center of the living space, a thin blanket hanging from it. The door that led to the bathroom was open, darkness obscuring any of the room's features. On one of the ledges that marked the kitchen was an untouched plate of food. A sour, almost sickly smell assaulted her nose, combated with the harsh scent of cleaner, or medicine maybe.

Mia made herself stand. The only other shape she could make out was a crumpled shadow in the corner. It wasn't until it moved that Mia realized the shadow was alive. Jhudur. She squinted and made her way carefully over to the windows. It took some time running her hand along the wall before she found the control for the blinds. Guessing at what the different symbols meant, she jabbed at one.

Light flooded the room suddenly, the brilliance chasing away any darkness.

Jhudur hissed and turned toward her, his black eyes hollow and suspicious.

“Christ,” Mia cursed.