Kate sat on the bed in her quarters. She did not change her clothes. She did not remove the key from her pocket. Nor did she remove the small sliver of glass from the palm of her hand. She only sat and waited.
Io was getting the same security briefing she went through when she arrived at Shackleton Base. The Alexanders were under special protection normally, but after Yori’s death security was even tighter.
Kate needed to wait until Io was finished before they could speak alone. It gave her nothing but time to speculate. The only reason Io would slip her something before the briefing was to keep it from her security team.
Since the bomb that killed Yori had been placed inside the professor, scanning became the first step in the vetting process. Io wasn’t suspected of anything, but she would be scanned anyway. Those around her would know everything she had on her. All the devices, bionic implants, and any small, glass slivers of information.
It seemed like days before someone came to Kate’s door and informed her that Io’s briefing was complete.
She practically jumped to her feet and headed out the door. Just before Io’s arrival, Kate had several things on her mind. She was focused on how to embarrass Omari. She was focused on escaping the base. Even when she thought of Io, it was how Io could help her or how Io would make her feel better.
She did not realized how selfish she had been until Io slipped that sliver into her palm. She finally arrived at her door and knocked.
“Come in,” Io said. She walked right up to Kate and hugged her, then turned to the guards at the door. “Thank you. We’ll let you know if we need anything.”
Kate stepped inside and the door closed behind her.
“It’s good to see you, Io.”
“I wish it were under better circumstances.”
“As do I,” Kate said. “Do you think we are alone?”
“Yes, I was clear in the briefing that my quarters were to be left alone.”
“Do you think they listened?”
“I do,” Io said, holding out a small black device. It was the size of pen, but thicker on one end than the other. “I’ve already scanned every inch of this room. There’s nothing here for us to worry about.”
Kate relaxed at the news and pulled the glass sliver from under the leather guard on her left hand.
“What is it?”
“A message from your father.”
“Of what? Why didn’t he just contact me?”
“Those transmissions can be watched by others. He wanted to make sure this message did not get out.”
Kate looked down at the sliver. “Do you know what it says?”
“I do.”
“Why don’t you just tell me?”
“He wanted you to hear it from him.”
“He should know I trust you.”
“He does. It’s just something that you need to hear from him.” Io sat down beside Kate. “I’m going to leave you here to view the message. I’ll get some food and drink for both us. When I return, you can ask me anything you want. But he wanted you to watch the message alone.”
Kate smiled. After Io left, she walked over to the desk and slipped the glass sliver into the reader. Her father’s face popped up on the screen.
“My dear, Kate, I have much to share with you. But no matter what I tell you, you must not return to Earth …”
•••
James sat at his desk for some time, watching Ceres on the security feeds. She had gone to the kitchen and gathered a basket of food. She went to the library and took several books, the old kind with paper pages. Then she slipped into her quarters, where the cameras were not allowed to follow.
He sat and stared at the empty hallway, wondering if he was just paranoid. His parents knew something was wrong. The way they spoke to him in the atrium outside the vault. The words his father spoke were thick with implications.
He left the feeds on outside his aunt’s quarters, just in case she left. But he couldn’t stop making assumptions. He couldn’t stop thinking the worst. He couldn’t stop reminding himself they were his mother and his father.
Suddenly, he dropped his head into his hands and wept. He couldn’t keep the emotions in check any longer. What had he done? He was so jealous of his sister. She was given so much; while he could only sit and watch it all happen.
“Why do they love her more?” he cried out. He took deep breaths, trying to regain control of himself. Then he stood up and began pacing around the office. He wanted to drop to his hands and writhe around in anguish. He wanted to pity himself, no one else ever did.
But, the soldier inside him began to emerge.
“One can only save themselves,” he whispered to himself.
He wiped his face with his sleeve and continued pacing around the office. Perhaps the best deception was truth. If he told his parents the plan, they would feel guilty for treating him so poorly. He hoped. And, he would have his revenge against Ceres.
James walked around to his desk and grabbed a small black box. He pushed one side and a small gray part slipped out of the top of the box. He pushed that side again and the gray piece dropped back inside.
“If you want me to place the device, Ceres, I will do just that.”
James held tightly onto the device and left his office.
The screen on his desk still displayed several of the security cameras around the compound. James could be seen headed for the council chamber.
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