Chapter Twenty-Two: Cause for Concern

“They were supposed to send word days ago,” she told him.

“I know, but I still think there’s no need for concern.”

“I’d hope that if I were missing for days you would take notice.”

William placed his hands on Sun’s shoulders, and looked her in the eye. “It’s not like you to behave this way,” he said. “What’s really going on?”

Sun swallowed her emotions before she answered. “Suddenly, I’m afraid of losing them both.”

“You sent her after him.”

“I know.”

“Was it not real until they left?” he asked.

“I was trying to do what I thought was best,” she told him. “But after she was gone, I could feel the emptiness.”

William kissed her softly, then pulled her close and held her tight. “I believe they are safe,” he said. “I just know they are.”

Sun smiled at him, and swallowed her emotions one more time before one of the guards entered the balcony.

“They have arrived, m’am.”

“Thank you,” she responded. The two walked inside to the council chamber where the other members had taken there seats for a meeting. Except, of course, for Kate.

As soon as Sun sat down, Maria asked “Where is Kate?”

“She is working, and will not be able to attend the meeting,” Sun told her. “Go ahead with your reports.”

Maria looked around the room, and then started her report first. “The Builder’s Guild has accepted the terms of the contract,” she said. “We will begin construction in three days.”

“The second prototype is almost complete,” Hermes chimed in next. “Io and I solved the power transfer concerns. We will present it to William in exactly one week.”

“Recruitment continues to rise,” William began. “And plans to assemble …” He drifted off as one of the guards entered the council chamber. William watched him walk around the table to Sun, and place a small glass-like square in front of her. It read, “You have an urgent message.”

Sun tried not to look concerned in front of the other members. But she was. Without looking up, she said, “Thank you all, we will adjourn for now.”

She quickly stood up, exited the room, and went directly to her office without even stopping for William to follow. She sat down her desk and opened her communicator.

It was not a live communication, which is what she was hoping for. It was a brief message sent with Kate’s security code.

“They’re listening.”

Chapter Twenty-One: Listen to Me

James slowly approached the door to Kate’s room on the shuttle and knocked. The metal twang echoed throughout and gave everyone notice that he was going to try and speak to her.

She hadn’t said a word since he revealed himself after takeoff.

“Can we speak?” he asked.

Finally, she looked over at him. “Where are you taking us?” she demanded.

“To the Prosperity Ghetto,” he told her. “Isn’t that where you were headed?”

She turned away, and didn’t respond.

“When you’re ready, I have much to tell you about the Machinists and Lucas,” he said, trying to tempt her attention with information.

Still, she did not respond.

He started to walk away, hesitating for a moment at the doorway. But the silence continued, so he headed back to the bridge.

Although, James was only trying to bribe her curiosity by mentioning the Machinists and Lucas, the truth was he really did know a lot. He had been on Mars for months, watching and learning the politics and secrets of Prosperity Ghetto. And, there were many secrets to learn.

The most important thing James discovered about the Machinists was that they listened. They listened to everyone and everything sending out signals around the planet and across the solar system. And in all the system, they were the only ones who were. This was their true gift, finding ways to capture any transmission.

The group had been hiding out in the ghetto for more than a decade, since their leader was executed by the Alexanders. They wanted to keep an eye on things, without making the same mistake twice.

James found out that the incident with Io’s parents was an accident. The group never intended to harm anyone; they only wanted attention to their cause. After their leader was killed, they went underground. They still kept watch over the system and the Alexanders, but had no intention of revealing themselves to anyone.

Then they heard it.

The first transmission about the Nekuia floated across the system, from Jupiter Station to the Alexander compound. It spoke of the Odyssey, and what might have gone wrong. So, they kept listening.

Eventually, they figured out everything. They know something is coming. And they know who it is. What they don’t know is what can be done about it. They need the Alexanders to do that. This is why they kidnapped Lucas. He was the most naïve, the least jaded. They figured he was the most willing to hear the listeners out.

Once James discovered this, he decided to try and make contact with his family. Maybe if he could bring the Machinists and Alexanders together, he could be forgiven. Maybe he could go home. Maybe even Kate would speak to him.

Now, he found himself in the bridge of the shuttle, reviewing life support levels and checking the navigators just waiting for a chance to explain.

For James, the real challenge wasn’t telling Kate what he’d found or his great plan to save everyone. It would be getting her to believe him.

Chapter Twenty: The Second Certainty of Life

Kate spent the day filing her taxes. She cried the entire time.

Chapter Nineteen: In Disguise

By the time Kate and Eric left for Shackleton Base on the moon, the Alexanders were constructing their third prototype ship.

Men and women from every corner of the Earth had volunteered, and the troop sizes were growing daily. It seemed everyone was willing to help the Alexanders get Lucas back. And, the best way to do that with numbers.

“The problem,” Maria pointed out at the last council meeting, “is that I don’t think the people believe they are going to have to fight.”

She explained to the other members that because everyone believed the Machinists were the enemy that in the long run no one was going to have to fight. Just showing up with a big crowd would be enough. After all, the Machinists were not that big of a group.

Maria warned Sun and William. “If they learn that you’ve been hiding something, it could backfire.”

William tried to defend the secrecy, telling the council that once the people realized the Nekuia were coming they would unite.

“But they still have to be convinced they are coming,” Maria added.

“The proof will arrive with the Odyssey,” he said.

“What if the Odyssey does not arrive at all?” she asked.

“That will also be proof.”

“No it won’t,” she told him. “Some people will choose to believe it was a mechanical problem, or that people on board panicked, or anything but an alien race attacking the ship.”

William did not say another word during that meeting. She was right. And, he knew it.

Sun said she would make a decision at the next council meeting, and then adjourned everyone.

Before they parted ways, Kate gave her own warning. “The Machinists already know. It is unclear how they found out or how much they know, but it is clear that the secret is already out. We can either tell the story, or let someone else do that for us.”

She left the next morning.

Kate and Eric traveled on a small cargo vessel under false names. They weren’t trying very hard to hide.

There were two main docking stations at Shackleton Base: one for passengers and one for cargo. The cargo docks also took passengers, but since it was low-key it was easier for the pair to travel incognito.

As the shuttle took off from Earth and headed for the moon, Kate pulled her hood over her face like any other weary traveler, and tried to get some rest.

But all she could do was replay the fight between her and James in her mind. She kept thinking of the moment when she had her blade at his throat.

Did she do the right thing by letting him go? Did she make a mistake? What was he up to?

She got no rest, which made her look even more like a weary traveler when the two finally landed on the moon. There was no grand celebration for the arrival of an Alexander, or even a small security party waiting for them. They disembarked with the others and walked off to catch the next ride.

Kate and Eric slipped through the cargo bay and approached the shuttle that would take them to Mars. This trip would be much longer than the last, so Kate was hopeful this time she would be able to get some rest. She and Eric were the only passengers listed on the manifest, which meant they wouldn’t have to worry about being recognized.

The two started to settle in as the shuttle departed the bay area. One of the pilots emerged from the bridge to greet the passengers, and most likely tell them some basic safety procedures. Kate pulled her hood down a little further over her face. She wondered if Eric would tell them who she was, or just try to play it safe.

As the pilot walked back, she watched him remove his cap like he was trying to be polite. But instead a holographic veil fell away from his face and revealed his true identity.

Kate immediately stood up. It was James.

Chapter Eighteen: Vulnerable

Kate sat cross-legged in the center of the room. Her long brown hair, braided down her back and, like her mother, not one hair was out of place.

Her wrists rested motionlessly on her knees. She was a statue, with her eyes closed and her focus on the future. All the doubts she had about her brother, all the fears she had about herself. She let them all breathe in her mind’s eye just long enough to snuff them out.

Kate could not afford to carry all that baggage with her to Mars. When the last drop of doubt fell away, she lifted her hands and reached forward for her staff, laying on the ground in front of her.

As soon as she laid her hands on it, she tumbled forward and rolled out onto her feet. She stretched forward with her left hand, holding the staff out and reached back with her right foot. Her body was elongated and moved smoothly across the floor.

This began an elaborate dance between her and her staff. She twirled it over her head and underneath her feet. She tumbled across the floor and in a balanced dance that looked more like a ballet than an exercise in hand-to-hand combat.

When she finished she knelt down on the floor and spent a few moments calming her breath and clearing her mind. Then she stood up and headed back to her quarters.

But she didn’t get far.

William was sitting on one of the benches in the atrium outside the council chamber. He stood up as she approached.

“I didn’t have the heart to interrupt you,” he told her. “You’re as graceful as your mother.”

Kate paused, swallowed her pride, and said, “thank you.”

“I wanted to speak to you about a couple of things.”

“What?”

“Well, first I think they’re listening in,” William said. “I don’t believe they have a mole, or Lucas has turned. And I’m certain that James is not with them.”

“How can you be sure?” Kate asked.

“For one,” he began, “they would know more. Just being aware of the Nekuia is nothing compared to the things James knows about this place and this family. Second, he would not have been so willing to surrender before if his treachery had been so deep. Besides – I’d still like to believe in him.”

Kate took a seat on the bench, and William sat down beside her.

“I must admit, I think Lucas sent that message.”

“Do you think they are getting to him?”

“No, I think they mentioned the Nekuia to him, and somehow he was able to send us word,” William continued, “although they might have planned on that. But, I’m certain he believed he was trying to warn us. Not trap us.”

“Do you think James is on Mars?”

“What better place to hide,” he said. “In all the galaxy, it’s the one spot where the people do not care who he is or who he was, the one place that the rest of the system does not care to look at or pay any mind. It is a place where he could hide.”

“Do think he’ll be waiting?” Kate wondered.

“Perhaps.”

“Do I want him to be?”

William laughed. “Perhaps.”

Then he stood up and reached out his hand to Kate. “The other thing I want to show you.”

She took his hand and the two headed off down the long corridor away from the main grounds of the compound.

“Where are we headed?”

“To the hanger,” he said. “The first prototype is complete.”

“The gunship is ready?”

“We test it this afternoon.”