Kate knew what was happening on Earth.
William sent her a communication after the council meeting to tell her what James had done. So, she knew that her brother had betrayed everyone. She knew that he was responsible for Yori’s death.
But, she also knew that he had somehow turned a corner. He had told the family about the coup and turned on his fellow traitor, Ceres.
She still couldn’t help but dream of only one thing, his death.
Yori was her friend, and she trusted him. Kate had few people in her life she could trust, and Yori was the only one she could tell anything to. Nothing was off limits.
James stole that from her. He was a murderer, and she could never forgive him.
Then she thought of his children. Yori had twins. She imagined what their faces might look like if she told them she avenged their father, if she told them she had killed the man who murdered him. That is what she would want if Sun had been the one killed, instead of Yori.
Kate lay awake in bed. She could not sleep, not for a second. Her mind was filled with images of Yori, his children and her brother. Her heart was beating so fast, filled with anger and hatred. Eventually, she gave into her restlessness and sat up. She turned the lights on and decided that action was the only thing that would eventually give her some rest. She grabbed the docking schedules for Station Beta from her desk. It was one of the few outer rim labs that received shuttles directly from Earth.
She had originally chosen a time when several short-range shuttles were docked. It gave her a chance to hide among the unsecured deliveries.
This time, however, she looked for something else. She wanted a shuttle that was heading back to Earth, and she found it.
In less than thirty-six hours a Deep Core shuttle would be there to deliver equipment and pick up core samples to take back to Earth. Even though it was a shuttle from Earth, security and personnel would be light. Trips for core samples were common and went directly between the lab and company’s headquarters.
Two additional shuttles were scheduled to be there at the same time, rations and trash removal. So, she felt she could stick to the original plan.
The only missing piece was her disguise. The base librarian was going to get her one, but that transaction was still two days out. She needed to get it now, and there was only one person who would have access to that kind of technology. Kate got dressed and headed for Io’s quarters.
The guards outside Kate’s door seemed taken back by her unannounced exit, but followed her nonetheless. She walked quickly, and knocked loudly when she arrived. Io was still awake, suffering a little from low-gravity sickness.
“May I come in?” she asked.
“Of course,” Io said, stepping aside to let Kate pass. She cupped her upset stomach and sat back down on the bed.
“I’ve come to ask you for something.”
“What?”
“I need a holographic concealer.”
Io stood up. “I don’t have one.”
“You’re the Engineer. I know you have one in that gadget bag of yours.”
“I’m not going to help you escape, Kate,” she said. “William specifically told you not to return to Earth.”
“He killed Yori, Io. He blew him up,” Kate protested. She stood up and began pacing the room. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“Of course it does, but I promised William we would leave for Jupiter Station as planned.”
“We both know the Odyssey isn’t going to show anyway,” she said.
“We don’t know that,” Io told her. “It’s just as likely it will arrive with a fleet of hostiles.”
“Please, Io. I must face him,” Kate begged. “You should understand more than anyone.”
“Don’t use my parent’s death like this,” she said. But, Io did know. Her parents had been killed years ago in an assassination attempt on the family. And, she too had wanted nothing but revenge.
“I don’t mean to. But, Io, you are one of the few people who truly understands that I must have my vengeance,” she said, slamming her fist on Io’s desk. “I cannot let him get away with this.”
“Don’t forget, Kate. I couldn’t do it,” Io reminded her. “And, I don’t think you’ll be able to either.”
“I deserve the chance to try.”
•••
James sat in a small room with no windows, no doors, and seemingly no way out. The only links to the outside world were three small slits in the corner of the ceiling. He knew they were for ventilation because he helped redesign these rooms when he first became a commander in the Alexander military. But that was years ago.
He was only seventeen when he passed all the tests and challenges. He thought he was so impressive back then. He smiled, thinking of that young man. Then he remembered why he was now on the other side of those cell walls. He hated his sister. Something inside him still wanted to blame the scrawny little girl who was chosen to lead the family, instead of someone like him. But sitting on the bench in that tiny cell, a prisoner of the guards he once trained, he finally understood why he wasn’t chosen.
The truth was that he was the weak one.
If he had been the right choice, he never would have fallen into Ceres’ trap and become an enemy of his own family. For the first time in his life, he finally began to feel like an individual. He finally felt like his own man, in charge of his own destiny. He started laughing out loud.
“It took imprisonment for me to become a free man,” he said to himself.
James lay down on the cold metal bench and stared up at the ceiling. Looking at those three slits in the ceiling he contemplated his chances of escape. He went over all the flaws in the system. The ones he knew about and the ones everyone else would be worried about.
He wondered if escape was a real option for him. Because he was an Alexander, his face would be recognizable outside the compound walls. But not everyone knew him. Kate, Sun, and Maria were the real faces of the family. Everyone recognized them.
And, he knew where the holes in security where. He knew how to get from one side of the compound to the other without being seen. He knew how to get out of the compound.
The only problem was this newfound feeling of responsibility. He had finally revealed his vices. Sneaking around again would only void the progress. And that progress actually felt good. It made him feel more like a man than he ever had.
The wall opposite the bench began to clear, and James could see his father on the other side. The wall became like clear glass, an edge appeared and a rectangular shape eventually slid away like a pocket door had always been there. William looked solemn as he entered.
James immediately sat up. “Hello, father.”
William walked into the room, and fearlessly took a seat at his son’s side. “Ceres has been taken into custody,” he said.
“Good,” James responded.
“We found all the evidence in her quarters you said would be there,” he told him. “We also found a complete record of your actions.”
“My actions?”
“Everything you admitted to doing,” William said. “She kept a video record of it all, as well as a journal describing your actions. It was written as if she was suspicious, but not involved.”
James dropped his head. He was always being played the fool.
“I am torn, son.” William said.
James looked up at him.
“I am bitter and angry. I want you to pay for your actions,” he said.
“I have, I am, and I will.”
“I also want you to find redemption.”
James was surprised. “You would consider forgiveness?”
“No, I cannot think of that,” William admitted, “not yet. The council will meet today to discuss sentences for you and Ceres.”
“I know the laws, father. I am ready to face imprisonment or execution. Whatever the council decides, I will make peace with.”
“I do not believe it should be an equal punishment for both of you,” William said.
“You don’t?” James asked.
“No. I cannot help but see the glimmer of a conscience in you. And, I do not see that in Ceres.” William stood up and stepped up to the hidden doorway. He looked back at his son, still confused and somber. “What will you do if given a chance at redemption?”
James began to answer, but William raised his hand and exited the room. James sat back against the wall, and turned his head to look up at the three small slits in the ceiling.
He knew exactly what he would do with a chance at redemption.
No comments:
Post a Comment