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  MY EYES FLITTED FROM SPACE to space, and Abby was nowhere to be found. The house was empty. I knew I should’ve have left her so soon, but it couldn’t be avoided. My superior had made an order, and even though I was given certain privileges in Vesuvius, all Lessers were expected to follow the orders of Greaters, especially those of direct superiors.

  She was gone. Rationally, it made sense that she would’ve taken off on her own. I pinched my lip, thinking through the possibilities. Maybe she went to check on the others—the ones with which she had arrived. But something in the back of my mind said something was amiss.

  I shook my head. The pit of my stomach screamed something had happened.

  Abby was in trouble.

  I needed to be sure, though.

  The neighbors were all gone, working at assigned tasks. Vesuvius had a two-caste system for Lessers, unlike the other Greater cities. As an Upper-Lesser, I was given clearance to work on certain government-controlled jobs. I was stationed at The Center for Technology and Defense. It might cost me a few favors, but Abby was worth it. I had to find her.

  I thought better of locking the door, just in case my gut feeling was wrong and Abby was simply taking a walk and looking around the city. She’d need access to the house if she did make her way back. I’d forgotten to give her a key.

  And then I realized I might need to take a few things with me. Rushing back inside, I grabbed some lorra, the currency in our city, and my handgun, which my father had given me before I was taken from Orchard and sent to Olympus. Though Kaia had gotten me transferred, the only reason that the Vesuvians had granted me asylum was because they had heard of my ability to both repair and decipher things, and they’d used my talent for such evil things over the years it made me physically ill to think about it.

  I swallowed my rage. Most of the time, technology interception and security were my tasks. Even so, such jobs facilitated immorality when guided by an unscrupulous hand.

  Walking quickly down the street, I climbed a metal staircase to the nearest PerT station, drumming my fingers impatiently against the steel gate until a ride finally approached, and I climbed aboard.

  “Destination?” a robotic voice questioned.

  “The Center of Technology and Defense.”

  “Place your finger against the scanner.”

  I did as instructed and watched the green lights gather the whorls of my fingerprints.

  The mechanized voice came over the speaker. “Fingerprint authenticated. Adam Kelley, please hold the rail.” Only after I settled my hand on the metal bar did the vehicle zip toward the center of the city.

  The sun sank low in the western sky. People would soon begin filtering out of the city, heading toward their homes where they’d remain until dawn pushed the darkness from the sky, and they’d be made to return to work again. Such was the life of a Lesser, Upper, or Lower. Villager or not. Our lives were built on a work ethic ingrained by the vilest of methods. No one dared utter details for fear of being on the receiving end of the harshness.

  The vehicle slowed as we approached the destination. The Center was a swirling form of metal and glass reaching into the sky. It was one of the tallest in Vesuvius and was also the most secure. The metal of my revolver heated menacingly against the skin of my back as if to give me away, but I trudged forward.

  They hadn’t installed full-body scanners yet. Though, they were planning to do so in the near future.

  No Lesser was permitted to possess firearms or weapons of any kind. That offense was punishable by death.

  Passing the first round of security scanners, I thrust my forearm against the tracker detector. “Adam Kelley, Upper Lesser, Technology Floor Fourteen. Proceed to elevator two.”

  And, just like that, I was in.

  On the way to elevator two, I passed a couple of guards. My heart beat at a frenzied pace against my sternum. But I smiled and averted my head as was customary. Elevator two was open and waiting for me when I arrived. It swiftly took me to the fourteenth floor where I stepped into a brightly lit room full of cubicle dividers and humans struggling to keep pace with the amount of information filtering in from the various defense monitors in the city.

  The din of clicking keyboard keys, mixed with mechanical beeps and methodical speech, flooded the room in a cacophony of familiarity.

  I eased my way toward my assigned desk, situated along the wall farthest from the elevators, encased by several cubes on either side. I’d been provided with a short leave of absence to help Abigail assimilate and wasn’t supposed to be there. Luckily, everyone was so busy I’d gone unnoticed, flying under the radar thus far. If only that luck would hold out.

  My computation unit booted up quickly, and I logged into the system. I wasn’t the best hacker in the building. And, unfortunately, my skills were rusty. With sweaty palms, I accessed the systems I needed.

  A small window popped up in the right-hand corner of my screen. Phoenix.

  U AREN’T SUPPOSED 2B HERE.

  I typed back, I KNOW.

  U LOOK TROUBLED.

  I peered over the carpeted wall in front of me. Phoenix eased his head up and smiled. His green hair, twisted into what he called dread-locks, set him apart. For some reason, our superiors allowed him to keep it.

  In reality, Phoenix was a genius. The Greaters were wise to keep him happy. With a few strokes of the keyboard, he could bring their entire system to its knees.

  Inch by inch, his head sank back down until it disappeared from view. A new message popped up.

  WHAT DO U NEED? IS IT ABBY?

  My fingers paused over the keys. I didn’t want to get Phoenix in trouble.

  I CAN ERASE THIS. PLEASE TRUST ME. IT NEVER HAPPENED. IT’S NOT HAPPENING NOW. I’VE ENCRYPTED THE MESSAGES.

  Swallowing my pride, I replied. SHE’S MISSING FROM THE HOUSE. I WANT TO MAKE SURE SHE LEFT ON HER OWN. IF SHE DIDN’T, I NEED TO KNOW WHERE SHE IS, AND WHAT THEIR PLANS ARE FOR HER.

  GIVE ME 5.

  He only needed three. THEY HAVE HER. SHE’S @ THE PALACE. 2ND FLOOR.

  PLEASE MAKE THE CONVERSATION DISAPPEAR.

  I closed the window on my screen, my leg jiggling nervously. What could I do next?

  A window popped up again.

  SUBJECT: ABIGAIL BLUE KELLEY

  LOCATION: VESUVIAN PALACE, SECOND FLOOR, ROOM 6

  MEDICAL ALERT: NEARING END OF GESTATION WITH FIRST BORN

  CONDITION: HEALTHY

  RELEASE DATE: NONE

  DEFENSE NOTES: LESSER SUBJECT DANGEROUS. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

  PLAN: CESARIAN SECTION IN 47:38:02. CHILD WILL BE REMANDED INTO VESUVIAN CUSTODY. SUBJECT WILL BE TERMINATED.

  I had no breath. What? Abby will be terminated?

  Phoenix was staring over the wall at me. Instead of a look of pity, his was of determination.

  “It’s done. I erased it. But you need help, and you need it fast. Approve my absence so we can work somewhere more discreet.” He looked around at the flurry of activity.

  The absence approval form was already open and staring at me.

  Though he was superior to me in every way, somehow I’d been assigned as his boss. I approved his leave of absence for the next two days, and the two of us slipped out of the chaos. No one even looked up as we walked by.

  Silently, we rode the PerT to the station nearest my home and walked quickly from the station to my house. Immediately, Phoenix grabbed a glass of water while I set up a spare portable computation unit. He went to work. I had to talk to Kaia, so he connected me with her comm. The call would have to be blocked and then erased altogether.

  When the shroud was in place, he gave me the go-ahead and I dialed out. It took several moments, but she finally answered.

  “Adam? Is Abigail all right?”

  “No, she’s not all right! Tell me you didn’t know about this!”

  “About what? What’s wrong? Is it the baby?” Kaia was frantic. She didn’t know.

  I sighed and then told her everything
from the moment I found Abby missing to the notes Phoenix had found on “Subject: Abigail Kelley.”

  “We have to do something,” she said, her voice quivering. “You can’t let them do this, Adam. They’ll kill her, take the baby, and when she is of no more use, they’ll kill our granddaughter! You can’t allow this! I can’t allow this!”

  Pinching the bridge of my nose, I growled. “I know! I’m trying to figure out how to get her out of there.”

  The phone was being shuffled around. A male voice came over the line. “Adam? Can you send a train to Orchard? I have a plan.”

  “Who is this?”

  “Kyan, I’m Abby’s best friend, and I’ll be damned if this is going to happen. Now send a train! Please... uh, sir.”

  Phoenix nodded, so I responded, “One is on the way. We’ll comm the details, but be ready.”

  “Oh, I’m ready.”

  I wasn’t sure I liked that boy.

  WIPING KAIA’S COMMUNICATOR WAS EASY. There was only one tracer found, a digital imprint of the call. A few buttons pushed. A double-check to make sure the history had been erased, and we were good.

  “They’ll send a train?” Kaia asked. I could feel the trembling of her hand when she took the device from me.

  “Yeah. Details will come soon, but one’s being dispatched now.” I summoned the locator screen to look at the trains closest to Orchard. “There are two that are fairly close. I’m not sure which they’ll send, so I need to run home and grab a few things.”

  “As do I.” She clutched her chest, eyes wide.

  “You’re not coming, Kaia.”

  “Oh, yes I am. This is my daughter we’re talking about, Kyan. My granddaughter. And you listen here—”

  I raised my hands in surrender and smiled at her. Abby had obviously taken her short temper from her mother.

  “All right. All right. Go get packed. Meet me back here, but listen. Don’t say a word to Julia about this. She stays behind. Got it?”

  Kaia nodded once. “Got it. I promise not to say anything to her. Besides, you’d be the one likely to see her, wouldn’t you?”

  Damn if my face didn’t get hot. Julia had been staying with me. We were keeping it secret, but apparently not doing a good enough job.

  I cleared my throat. “Meet me back here in half an hour. Send me a comm if you get word from Adam.”

  She nodded. “Certainly. And, Kyan?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Good luck keeping Julia in the dark.”

  I huffed and turned away from her. I’d keep Julia out of it. Half of me was just plain worried about her. If she got hurt going into a mess like the steaming pile of poo I was about to stomp on, I’d never forgive myself. The other half was plain insecure male. I worried if she went home, she wouldn’t want to come back to Orchard with me.

  Admitting the truth to yourself was a scary, sobering thing sometimes.

  With those parting words, we started walking down separate, well-worn pathways. The Vesuvian guard was still an ever-present reminder of our status in the world. For the most part, they tended to leave me alone. I helped them obtain things from their home, from their families, and made sure the packages sent to loved ones arrived intact.

  Passing two guards standing sentry along the path, each nodded and waved me on. It wasn’t unusual for me to run home at the mid-point of my shift to eat, and that day would’ve seemed no different. Unless they checked and saw my shift was over in an hour, we’d be good. Thankfully, the pair seemed too engrossed in conversation to care.

  Slipping over the land, I made my way home. Julia would be there. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I couldn’t risk telling her the truth. She’d be the first to jump on the train and the first to debark once we crossed the Vesuvian line.

  The light from the candles in the windows flickered a welcome. I’d miss her something fierce. In the time I’d come to know her, she’d become everything to me. I thought I’d loved Abby Blue, and I had, but not the way I loved Julia. She turned my blood to fire, burning me from the inside out.

  Knocking my boots against the porch step, the mud clumped between the tread fell off in thick, half-dry clods. When no more would fall, I climbed the step and went inside; it was eerily quiet and mostly dark.

  I’d never been nervous in my own cabin before. But my palms began to sweat a little, and I wiped them down the legs of my jeans.

  “Jules?”

  She wasn’t in the kitchen, so I made my way down the hall.

  Shuffling noises came from behind the bedroom door. When I eased the door closed behind me and walked to the room, I found Julia. She was throwing clothes in a small bag. With two knuckles, I tapped on the door, startling her.

  The surprise faded into something that was definitely not good for me... Not good at all.

  She pinned me with an angry glare before returning her attention to packing.

  She must’ve changed her mind; because before I could move forward, or even open my mouth to ask her what she thought she was doing, she’d wheeled back around and stalked toward me, poking her tiny fingernail in my chest.

  “Don’t say a word, Kyan. I know what you’re planning, and there’s no way I’m letting you do this alone. I’m going. I’m helping. And I’m coming back home with you. Do you understand?”

  “Kaia sent a message, huh?”

  “Yes, she did. She may need my clearance. You might need it as well.”

  Kaia Kelley. The woman was as frustrating as her daughter. I’d underestimated her, that was for sure. She was going to get Abby Blue out of there come hell or high water.

  I nodded. “You sure about this, Jules?”

  “You aren’t going without me.” She huffed, enunciating each word with a poke to my pectoral.

  Grabbing her finger, I brought it to my lips. With a single kiss, she sighed and melted into me. That was my favorite thing on Earth. No way I’d ever get tired of that. “Yes, ma’am.”

  She smiled and threw her arms around my neck. “I love you, Kyan.”

  “I love you, too. Thanks for helping.” Kissing her forehead, I smelled her hair. I knew it was weird, but I couldn’t help it. Julia smelled like she was made just for me.

  She pulled back a little. “It isn’t just for her, you know. I want us to be safe in the future as well. This is for us.”

  “I know. I want the same thing. Believe me, I don’t want her to be hurt, but this is much bigger than Abby. This is for everyone. I’m so tired. We’re all tired of living every second of our lives for people who don’t appreciate it. It’s time we start living. It’s time we take back control.”

  “Okay, then.” She mumbled against my chest. “As long as we’re clear.”

  “We’re clear, babe.”

  We hugged for a long moment before I swatted her backside and told her to finish packing. She feigned a mixture of surprise and disgust, but the smile tugging at her lips nearly did me in.

  I grabbed a sack and packed in a hurry, too. Just the basics: clothes, food, and a few things that might come in handy in a bind.

  When Julia was satisfied with the contents of her bag, and I was satisfied with mine, we worked together extinguishing the candles throughout the house. I doused the fire in the kitchen with water. Steam billowed into the room and up the chimney.

  I held the door open for her, and we stepped off the porch hand in hand, leaving the dark cabin behind us. I just hoped we’d both make it back—and soon.

  MY BACK ACHED. I MOVED around the room taking in the strange furnishings. There was simplicity in the clear plastic furniture, and yet the ornate carved moldings around the ceiling were beautifully crafted. It was as if the Vesuvians, or the decorators, weren’t sure where to take things. Much like the city’s architecture, there was a mixture of old and new.

  Everything about me felt out of place there. Looking out over the city made me feel like a caged bird. I was able to clearly see freedom, but not touch it. We’d kept our heads down, worked hard, and
hadn’t seen the cage perched overhead in Orchard. The cage’s wires had been invisible, made of threats and mandates, callouses and punishments.

  Maybe others had noticed. Maybe I’d been blinded by my own youth or naiveté?

  Either way, no one had ever been brave enough to do anything about the captors.

  My stomach growled. With baby girl taking up so much room, I couldn’t eat much at a time, but I got hungry fast and needed to eat more often. The stretching sensation in my skin and abdomen, the aches and cramps, said she’d soon make an appearance. What should be a joyous moment, filled with promise of the future, was being overshadowed by a different kind of promise. The Greaters wanted my child.

  Well, guess what?

  So did I.

  Rubbing my stomach, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I just had to figure out how to get us out of this mess—out of that room and out of Vesuvius.

  There wasn’t much time to consider the options. The locks on my room door disengaged one at a time.

  Click.

  Click.

  Click.

  Click.

  And a familiar face walked into the room: Vivian.

  “Hello, Abigail. I’ve been sent to provide a medical assessment for you and your fetus.” She smiled sweetly. Her hair was still pulled back in a tight bun, the coal strands glistening under the fluorescence.

  And, of course, she wore her strange glasses. Iris issues, that’s right. She was sensitive to the light.

  I made a note to search for a flashlight. Maybe if I shone it in the eyes of the Greaters who tried to stop me, I could make a break for it.

  She moved across the room, put a black leather bag on a nearby plastic table, opened the catch, and began removing various items. Some of those items looked sharp. That was definitely not a good thing.

  Time for a diversion. “Vivian, can I ask you a question?”

  “Of course you may.” She stopped unpacking and gave me her full attention.

  “I’m not sure how to ask, but, when I was in the medical facility, was I given something that accelerated my pregnancy? It’s just that I’ve gotten so much bigger, and it’s happened so fast.”