Morning came, and with it a crush to get fed, dressed in breathing suits, and packed. Finally they set off, Aurelia skipping a moon-step or two to catch up with Jonathon, and Nicholas last, switching the dome off as he went. They set a steady pace, but still, Jonathon thought it would take a solid seven or eight hours of walking before they were close enough to Lunar for Nicholas and Aurelia to camp out and wait for their escort.
"Were you okay last night?" Jonathon asked Aurelia, once they were a distance ahead of the others.
"Sure, why?"
Jonathon laughed. "Not a lot gets by me, Aurelia. You and Nicholas were outside for quite a while. Was everything okay?"
Hmm. Was he actually choosing now to play the jealous boyfriend? "What are you implying?" she asked archly.
"Nothing," Jonathon replied with calm.
"Right. Nothing."
He took her hand and held it as they walked. "Really nothing, Aurelia. I have many faults, but lack of trust isn't one of them—quite the opposite, in fact. I've never distrusted you, and I'm not about to start now. I know Nicholas has feelings for you, and I know you have feelings for me. There's nothing more to it, as far as I'm concerned."
She smiled inside her hood. "Really? Is that why you gave him a solid punch in the head yesterday? Because you trust me?"
"Hey! I was worried, and I thought he'd hurt you. It had nothing to do with trust . . . just my temper, which I'll admit can definitely be a fault."
"Okay, okay. Truce?"
"Truce," he agreed. "Was everything okay last night? I'm assuming Nicholas took the chance to confess his feelings for you?"
"Yes," Aurelia sighed. "He did. It was . . . awkward. But sweet. You have nothing to worry about, though. He and I have an understanding."
"As long as it's not as understanding as our understanding," Jonathon said with a wink.
Aurelia rolled her eyes. "If we're getting personal," she said, suddenly remembering what had happened when she was leaving the dome. "I met someone who shared your surname; she helped me out of the dome, actually. Any relation?"
Jonathon shrugged. "Could be. There are a few different branches of the family. What was her given name?"
"Tara."
Jonathon let go of her hand and walked more briskly.
"Hey, wait up; I'm injured, remember?" Aurelia said, skipping again to keep up with him.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"What's all this about? Come on . . . spill it. Who's Tara?" She knew she was prying.
"Gods," said Jonathon. "You can't let things lie, can you?"
"Nope."
"She's my sister."
Aurelia greeted this with shocked silence, which Jonathon took to be her customary way of keeping quiet to get more info, so after a moment he spoke again.
"It's not unusual for elite families to have a four, sometimes even a five. We have the resources to take care of them, after all. Tara is my parents' four. She's younger than I am."
"There's more to it than that, though, isn't there?"
"We don't speak. She's, well, a little rebellious. You might have noticed."
Aurelia thought back to the purple hair and nodded. "Yeah."
"She takes drugs, drinks, parties, just generally gets into trouble and couldn't give a damn about keeping a clean profile in case she happens to damage someone else's reputation." His voice grew angrier by the second.
"Someone who's thinking about a serious political career, for example," said Aurelia.
"For example."
She let the subject drop. It was really none of her business whether or not Jonathon got along with his family, although Aurelia had to admit she had grown fond of Tara. Besides, how much embarrassment could the girl possibly cause Jonathon? It wasn't like most of the other elite kids in the city weren't doing the same thing. Aurelia filed the information away, but she was determined to do something about it. Dammit. She liked Tara.
***
It had taken them a little longer than planned, but Jonathon assured them that that wasn't going to be a problem. He'd had second thoughts, however, about leaving Aurelia and Nicholas alone.
"You said you trusted me!" Aurelia blurted.
"It's got nothing to do with distrust. I worry about you."
"And I worry about you. There's no point in taking more risk than we have to," Aurelia pointed out. "You, Elza, and Jason can all get back into the dome the normal way—in fact, it'll look weird if you don't, because your number will be registered leaving but not returning."
"I know. I was simply going to wait with you until your escort arrives, then go in the normal way," said Jonathon.
"That's ridiculous. I've been out for almost two earth-weeks on my own or with Nicholas; I'll be fine. The three of you go inside. Besides, we need to arrange somewhere to keep Nicholas safe once we're inside."
"I agree," said Jason, who had overheard most of the conversation. "Anyway, the less people around here, the better. You don't want to attract attention to yourselves."
"Thank you," said Aurelia. "So you three go in, and Nicholas and I will wait here for whoever it is that's going to take us back inside."
Jonathon sighed but nodded. "Fine. I'll be there to meet you when you emerge from the tunnels. I know where you'll be, and I'll find a way to get Nicholas back to my place . . . at least for the time being."
"Deal," said Aurelia.
Elza and Jason had shouldered their packs and taken some of Nicholas's equipment as well, leaving Nicholas and Aurelia unencumbered except for a small bag containing a little food, some water, and a blanket.
"You won't be waiting long . . . an hour or two at most," said Jonathon, grabbing his own pack. "I should see you again around midnight, I think."
He kissed Aurelia on the cheek, a weird gesture since they were both wearing their breathing suits and hoods. He nodded at Nicholas and left with the others. Aurelia watched until they disappeared around the dome before she sat on the ground. "What now?"
"I rescued this," said Nicholas with a smile, pulling his small chess set out of his pocket.
If it had occurred to Aurelia, she might have reasoned sitting on the surface of the moon and playing chess with a clone was more than a bit odd. But her life had changed so much in the last month that she gave it little thought. The game calmed her mind, and since they had to wait anyway, they might as well play.
She was down to six pieces left on the board, and she had considered her next move for a good five minutes before picking up her queen.
"I wouldn't if I were you; you'll be in check in three moves," said a voice from behind her.
"Bryn!" said Nicholas, getting up and welcoming the man with a slap on the back. "What are you doing around here?"
"Thought I might find you in the area; heard through certain channels about you coming in and thought you might need some help," said the man.
Aurelia hid a small smile at the thought of the gruff man actually wanting to help, but then she remembered that if it hadn't been for Bryn, she'd still be enslaved by Garda and his bandits.
"If you've heard that," she said, "you've probably heard we've already got an escort coming to get us inside."
Bryn nodded. "I did," he said. "But there's something going on; I can feel it. More sec Workers around than I've seen for a long, long time. Thought it might be an idea to have you arrive a little unexpectedly, maybe, just in case."
Nicholas looked at Aurelia. "Seems like a good plan to me. I trust Bryn."
"As I trust Jonathon," said Aurelia. She'd had enough of this competition. It was about time for Nicholas to take Jonathon at his word.
"But . . ." Nicholas started.
"But nothing. You promised me you would trust Jonathon and at least learn from your mistakes."
He sighed but nodded. "Alright, alright." He turned to Bryn, who was casually watching the sky and pretending not to listen to them. "Thanks for the offer, Bryn. It means a lot. Like Aurelia said, we've got an escort, and I'm sure that it's going to be fine."
Bryn studied him for a second before he shrugged. "Maybe I'll stick around anyway, if it's alright with you. No harm in having two escorts."
Aurelia agreed. After all, Nicholas had made the effort, and Bryn was right—why not have two escorts?
They went back to their game, Bryn providing Aurelia with a few helpful hints that resulted in her winning her first ever match. "You're quite the player," she told him as Nicholas packed away the pieces.
"He should be," said Nicholas, turning to Bryn with a grin. "He taught me all I know."
"You can't beat me yet," said Bryn. "Which means that I didn't teach you all I know."
Aurelia laughed. The two men were obviously used to sparring in this way, and it was nice to see Nicholas so comfortable with someone.
Maybe ten minutes later, a figure appeared, close to the dome. Bryn saw him first. "That'll be your escort."
The three stood and stretched, ready to make the final walk back into Lunar.
"I thought there were only two of you," said the figure when he was within recognition distance.
"My fault, Jed," said Bryn.
"Oh, it's you, Bryn. Don't need an escort, do you?" the guy laughed. He sounded young and friendly, although Aurelia didn't get a good look at the face under his hood.
"Doing a little sec Work on the side," said Bryn quietly. "Want to keep these two safe, that's all. Personal friends of mine."
The escort shrugged. "No skin off my nose if you want to come in, too. We're taking the far exit, the one at the heating shaft. Then we'll go through the tunnels and come up close to the old crematorium building, if that suits you? It's all been arranged."
Bryn nodded. "Fine."
Aurelia and Nicholas were well acquainted with the building, which often acted as a resistance meeting place. Aurelia felt thankful that she was going to arrive in a familiar part of Lunar.
"Come on, then. Let's get to it," said the escort.
He took the lead, Aurelia and Nicholas following, and Bryn bringing up the rear. A fifteen-minute walk led them closer to the dome, where the escort stopped. He leaned down and felt around the ground, which to Aurelia looked pretty much the same as everywhere else. When he found what he was looking for, he gave a short, sharp tug, and a small trapdoor opened next to his feet. He turned to Bryn, who nodded. Then the escort jumped into the hole.
"It's only a few feet down," said Bryn, gesturing to Aurelia to make the drop next.
The heating shaft was narrow enough that Aurelia needed to duck her head, and both Bryn and Nicholas were almost bent double. Still, the escort took the shaft as quickly as possible, jogging its length until they came to a ladder. Once down the ladder, he led them a little way along a tunnel then into a niche.
"We're going to need to be quiet and careful and fast," he told them as they caught their breath. "For some reason, there's plenty of sec Workers around tonight. There's no need to run into one; there's enough tunnels for all of us, but there's no reason to bring them running. Got it?"
Aurelia and Nicholas nodded. Bryn narrowed his eyes and then nodded, too.
At a jog again, the group made its way through various tunnels until they came to a large crossroads that Aurelia recognized as the one where she had waited. They were about to make a turn when a shout echoed around them. Looking to the right, Aurelia could see two sec Workers who had obviously spotted them.
"Follow me," said Bryn immediately.
The escort didn't question him, and as Bryn took off at a run, they all followed. He led them through narrower tunnels. By the look of them, they were older, too; most had chipped paint and cracked concrete floors. Aurelia was doing the best she could to keep up, but her chest was aching, reminding her of the broken rib. Finally, Bryn slowed. "Lost them," he grunted.
"Me, too," said the escort. "I've got no clue where we are."
"No reason you should," said Bryn. "Few come this way, and there are no escape hatches close by. We're not far from where we need to be, though."
He walked now, and Aurelia was glad for the rest. Nicholas caught her eye and gave her a tight smile. She smiled back, grateful that he was with her.
A further twenty minutes saw them in large, open corridors that were well lit. Bryn came to a halt next to a metal door. "Security seems to be around the perimeters of the dome," he mused. "Haven't seen or heard from them for a while now, so we should be safe. This door will take you to a staircase. Go up and lift the hatch at the top, and you'll find yourselves in the grounds of the crematorium."
The escort nodded. "This is your drop-off point," he said.
"You're not coming?" Aurelia asked Bryn.
Bryn shook his head. "Best for me to stay down here for now. I don't like being up there much anyway."
The escort opened the door. "I need to stay, too. Good luck to you both."
Aurelia thanked them, as did Nicholas, and as soon as they were through the door, it banged closed behind them. A metal staircase was at the end of the corridor, and they slowly climbed the steps until they reached the hatch Bryn told them of.
"Ready?" asked Nicholas with a smile.
"Ready," confirmed Aurelia, anxious to get back to her real life.
Nicholas pushed the hatch open, climbed half out, and reached back to pull Aurelia after him. Bright lights clicked on, shining into their faces so they could see nothing around them. There was a whirr of transport pods coming to a halt and the sound of marching footsteps on the gravel around them.
Then a voice: "Clone, raise your hands. You're under arrest."