Chapter Thirty-Two: Wait and See

“Any word from Io?” Sun asked.

“They haven’t found anything, yet. She and Omari are going to stay on board at least until the Odyssey reenters the system. If she finds anything in the meantime, she’ll contact me immediately,” Kate said. “Have you given any thought to James?”

“I have,” Sun answered.

“Should I return with him?”

“I’ll let you know once the fate of the Odyssey has returned,” Sun told her. “We cannot play our hand until all the cards have been dealt.”

“Very well.”

“Keep your eyes open until then.”

“Eric and Lucas are with the leader of the Machinists now,” Kate said. “And, Io plans to contact you first once she knows if the Odyssey has entered our system.”

“Good.”

“Until then, mother.”

Kate ended the transmission, but did not get up from her station for some time. It wasn’t the unknown fate of the Odyssey, the threat from the Nekuia, the strange behavior of the residents on Jupiter Station, the change in Lucas, or even a possible alliance with the Machinists that bothered her.

It was James.

No matter what he might be doing to help, the fact remained that he had betrayed the family. He had planned to destroy all of them, and he was still marked for execution. For the first time since her father helped James escape, Kate understood why. She was now thinking of helping him escape a second time.

*          *          *

For the past week, Io had helped the residents of Jupiter Station solve some basic issues with the tram’s operating system, and completed repairs on one of the Europan ice drills. What she did not accomplish was discovering what the station commander was hiding. Because of her schedule repairing things, she did not have a chance to explore the station’s layout. That task was left to Omari.

Several times he was able to sneak off and examine sections of the station, but he had barely scratched the surface of the massive outpost surrounding the moon like a ring. And, their time was up.

Io again dressed in her formal attire and headed off to the Brig. That was the nickname for the main operations room for the station. It’s high security and long shifts left workers feeling like they were prisoners. So everyone called it the Brig, even the commander.

Omari was waiting in the hall, and escorted Io. The two said nothing along the way, knowing they could easily be watched in the corridors.

Besides, they already had a plan. No matter what happened.