Remember Me (ONC2020) ✔

Chapter 17

The guard's face paled. "No!" He slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a hole. "What do we do?"

Tunia studied the man's uniform with a knitted brow. "You work at the Lower to Upper Caldozzan elevator."

"Yeah, he does." Ju'rah gestured to the body.

Tunia turned to Solara. "How long did it take to reach here from Lower Caldozza?"

"Maybe thirty minutes."

"One of you go down with him to recruit Lowers who are ready to fight. I can falsify some royal orders for you to transport them up here."

"It should be Solara. She's better with people." He placed a hand on her arm. "You could stay there while the others come up."

"I would never leave you guys up here. You need me."

Runan squeezed her hand. "It's not safe."

Solara smiled at him. "You couldn't even make an announcement without me. If nothing else, I can rally our people and the Uppers."

Tunia nodded at Solara. "The video is doing well, and you're quite effective. I'll send you and Ju'rah down tonight and bring you back tomorrow morning. Recruit anyone you can. Runan, we'll work on the attack plan for the royal residence."

"Can Messita wait that long?" Runan asked. "Every hour allows the queen to hurt or search for her."

"We need support and more time means more views, and the number of Uppers who will support us grows. If we move now, we'll fail. We do this right, not hastily. Your sister would agree," Tunia said.

Ju'rah nodded and studied the guard's hands while she typed.

That night was the longest of his life as images of Solara hurt, shocked and maimed filled his mind. He told his racing heart Ju'rah was there, and she'd be fine, but he woke up on a moist couch with beads of sweat covering his skin. Tunia had several cups beside her and a container of pills.

"Have you slept?" he croaked.

"I'll sleep when this is over. Your friends are on their way to the elevator with four full vehicles."

Runan pressed his nose to the window even though it faced the opposite direction and the craggy cliffs surrounding today's destination.

"We need to be ready in ten minutes in guard uniforms. Their convoy will pick us up on the express pods." Tunia closed her hologram screens and headed to the washroom.

Runan brimmed with energy, picturing his sister in the queen's body. How confident and assured she was that her plan would go well. He had to restore her to her life somehow. Tunia didn't have much faith in Messita's body's viability, but he had to stay hopeful. He wandered into the guard's room to find fresh clothes in the auto-closet. It wouldn't be the worst idea to blend in as a guard to dispel some suspicion. He found a few weapons Ju'rah had missed, a knife and an electric baton.

Once Tunia was dressed in a uniform that somehow fit her snugly despite her twiggy frame, they returned to street-level and hurried to the station. At this hour, more people bustled by, blending into the shaded walkways. Runan kept his cap pushed down almost over his eyes to avoid being recognized. He hustled to keep up with Tunia and weave through the crowd.

At the station, employees waved them through to the express pods without scanning them and they shot up to a higher platform. Guards on this level cleared grumbling passengers, telling them to wait for the next pods. An employee scrutinized Runan longer than comfortable. He checked something on his watch then looked again at Runan.