The combination of the bright lights and still being halfway down the staircase meant Aurelia could see nothing. But she could hear the crunch of boots on gravel, and she felt Nicholas being pulled up and away. He hadn't stood a chance. He was obviously surrounded and couldn't run, and he couldn't get back into the tunnel because she was blocking the way. He was gone in a moment, not uttering a word, and she didn't even get the chance to see his face.
With Nicholas gone, a dark shadow loomed over the door. "There's a girl here," said a voice.
A hand reached down and yanked her up.
"She's with me." It was Jonathon. Squinting, Aurelia could see him hurrying across the courtyard towards her, a group of sec Workers standing back to let him pass. The Worker holding Aurelia seemed reluctant to let her go. He didn't release his grip until he had a clear look at Jonathon's face.
"Yes, sir," the Worker said finally, surrendering Aurelia into Jonathon's custody.
He grabbed her arm roughly, pulling her along, her feet catching on stones so she nearly tripped and would have fallen if it weren't for his support. She could barely comprehend what was happening. Inside, she was screaming Nicholas's name, but on the outside, she kept silent, allowing herself to be dragged clear across the courtyard to a waiting transport pod. Jonathon pushed her inside, and desperately she looked around for any sign that Nicholas was here. She couldn't see him. Maybe that's a good thing, she thought. At least it meant they hadn't injected him on the spot. Jonathon pulled her seat belt on, fixed his own, then sat back as the transport pod began to move. His jaw was tight and his eyes hard.
"Where are we going?" Aurelia asked. Of all the questions running around in her head, it was the banal one that escaped.
"To my house," Jonathon said shortly.
She wasn't sure if he was angry or merely thinking, but she was sure his house was not where she wanted to be. There was something wrong here, and as the shock and exhaustion wore off, the pieces were coming together.
"No. I want to go to the hospital."
His eyes flicked over her in surprise, but he nodded and leaned forward to reprogram the console.
He said nothing for the rest of the trip, pulling out his screen, fingers tapping furiously over it. Aurelia's mind whirled, and she couldn't make things stay still long enough to figure out what was going on. Yet something niggled at the back of her head. It told her there was only one way for all of this to make sense. She wasn't ready to hear it yet, though. Nicholas was gone. Nicholas, whom she'd tried so hard, risked her life, to bring back inside, had been arrested as soon as he'd hit Lunar City territory.
When the pod entered the hospital grounds and slid to a stop, Jonathon escorted her out and to the elevators.
"I'm coming," he said when she protested.
He deposited her outside of her quarters and told her to remain there. He would be back as soon as he could. When Aurelia stared down the corridor after him, she saw him head to the stairs. He must be going to see Elza.
Her quarters seemed stale, unlived in. She pulled her shoes off and sat on the couch, not even able to make it to the bedroom. What the hell had happened? Her body was so battered and exhausted that it was numb, and her mind so full she felt like her head might explode. She had felt like this once when she was a student. Her final year of med training had contained so much information that she could barely keep track of it all. The only thing that had worked was to take one point and follow it logically until it led her through everything swimming in her brain. A focus.
Laying her head back, Aurelia closed her eyes. Nicholas is gone. Arrested. That's the biggest problem. But why? Because someone must have told the sec Workers he was coming. There were plenty of people who knew he was coming back to Lunar, though: Elza, Jonathon, Jason, Bryn, their tunnel escort, and whoever else Jonathon had told when he was making arrangements. The suspect list needed to be narrowed, but how?
Okay, the sec Workers had known where to find him. Presuming they didn't have patrols at every possible exit point from the tunnels, which seemed unlikely, it meant whomever had reported Nicholas knew where he was coming out. Bryn and the escort both knew. No, wait, Bryn hadn't known until the escort told him, so the escort knew. Jonathon presumably knew since he'd said he'd pick them up. Did Elza and Jason? It also seemed unlikely; why would they need to know?
The niggling voice at the back of her head was screaming at her now, jumping up and down, trying to get her attention. Aurelia put her head in her hands. She had to listen. She had to accept. It must have been Jonathon.
He'd reported Nicholas before, twice now; it was his career that was being threatened here, and he had known exactly where Nicholas was to be found. Who else would have reason to turn Nicholas in? She'd assured Nicholas again and again he could trust Jonathon. She'd defended him. She'd said that there had been no underhanded plan to have Nicholas killed, but how had she known it? All she'd had was Jonathon's word that the clone was to be taken to Earth.
Jonathon's word meant a lot, and she knew it did. But did it mean more to him than his career, his ambitions? With Nicholas out of the way, all risk to Jonathon from the clone was gone, and he didn't need to consider the issue of helping the clone cause either. Getting rid of Nicholas was the simple solution to a lot of Jonathon's current problems.
Aurelia rubbed her eyes, which felt gritty and tired. Her heart hurt so much that she couldn't feel it. Would Jonathon really do something like this? Before, she would have said no, but now she wasn't so sure. She'd seen the way he treated clones; he had the typical Lunar prejudice against them. He hated them. Also, he had his career, his cause, and those might be enough to make him sacrifice the life of a mere clone.
Her door slid open. Jonathon came in, followed by Elza. Aurelia stood, readying herself for a confrontation, but her body and brain simply refused. They had been through too much. Aurelia had pushed herself to the limits, and her muscles were rebelling. Knees shaking, she sank back to the couch. She barely even heard Elza's words: "It's just a sed injection," the older woman's blonde hair fell over her shoulders as she bent next to Aurelia.
Aurelia felt a small prick on the inside of her elbow.
"She'll sleep at least until morning," Elza said to someone. Aurelia's mind was getting cloudy.
Strong arms lifted her like a child, picking her up from the couch. The soft voice of sleep was whispering in her ear. The sedative crept upon her, silencing the thoughts in her head, seducing her with the idea of sleep. Real sleep.
She felt the softness of her bed beneath her, a blanket being placed over her, and then she surrendered herself and her breathing deepened.
***
She had no idea how long she'd slept. But the moment she woke, everything clicked into place in her brain immediately. The first thing she did was to call Elza on the com. Fortunately, the woman picked up and seemed both surprised and happy to hear Aurelia's voice.
"Awake now?" Elza said.
"Yes, and I need to see you."
"I'll be right there."
Aurelia managed to pull herself together, take a shower, and change into a clean uniform before Elza arrived. All the while, Aurelia thought about what she was going to say. She still hadn't decided by the time the door opened, but as soon as she saw Elza, she knew.
"You slept for the entire day," the blonde woman said with a smile. "How are you feeling?"
"About as good as can be expected," said Aurelia.
Elza sat on the couch, Aurelia on a chair facing her.
"Elza, I need to talk to you about something."
"Sure, whatever you need."
Now came the hard part. "Thank you. I need this to stay between me and you. Completely confidential."
"You mean don't tell Jonathon," said Elza, raising an eyebrow.
"Right."
Elza bit her lip. "I'm not sure that I can promise such a thing, Aurelia. I mean, if it's something to do with the resistance, then I'm morally obliged to talk to him about it if it concerns him."
Aurelia sighed. "I'm going to ask only for this, Elza. I need your help, and I need this to be just you and me. Furthermore, you owe me." She hadn't wanted to say that, but it was true. Elza was indeed indebted; the woman had tried to kill Aurelia, yet she had saved Elza's life.
"I know," was all Elza said.
"This isn't directly resistance business, and Jonathon shouldn't be truly affected. I mean, his career or anything. And it's time for me to call in my favor. I need help, and only you can give it to me."
Elza nodded. "Okay. Tell me what you need."
"To rescue Nicholas."
The older woman shook her head. "Aurelia, don't you think maybe it's time you let this go? I know you consider him a friend, but have you not done enough already?"
"Would you do the same for me?"
"Of course," said Elza. "But this is different. He's a clone."
"To me it's not different. I need him out of wherever he's being kept; I'll handle things from there."
The older woman nodded again. "Perhaps can help you. I've been thinking about a way to get him out, because I had a feeling either you or Jonathon were going to want to get your hands on him. And there's something we can do."
"Without telling Jonathon?"
"If necessary, yes." Elza leaned forward, her elbows on her knees as she explained things. "Nicholas will be in the military prison down at the arena."
"Okay, as long as they haven't injected him yet."
"They won't. I'm sure of it. There's something going on here—he should have been injected when he was arrested, no questions asked. The fact it didn't happen makes me think they need something from him before he can be killed. Something like information about the resistance maybe."
Could be, Aurelia mused. On the other hand, it could be because he'd been arrested on the orders of Jonathon, and the sec Workers were waiting for his say so before they did anything. Nicholas wasn't in the resistance, and as far as Aurelia knew, she, Elza, and Jonathon were the only ones who knew of his connection to it.
"So how do we get him out?" she asked.
"I can get him out," Elza said. "The hospital has a clone quota to be used each month and can take clones from wherever we like to fill that quota. Generally we take them from the military prison anyway, since it's a good use of resources. I might be able to either persuade someone to give me Nicholas or smuggle him out with the others we take."
Aurelia's mind eased somewhat at the possibility of getting him out. "Wait a second," she said, processing what Elza had told her. "Why do you have a quota?"
"For testing, of course."
"Testing what?"
"Drugs, medicines, procedures, new operations, you name it. There's a huge research facility at Lunar Hospital."
"You use clones as lab rats?" said Aurelia, disbelieving her ears.
Elza sighed impatiently. "Look, Aurelia, I know how you feel about clones, but you know how they're viewed here in Lunar. New drugs and procedures need testing before we can use them on people, and we use clones for the purpose. Most of the clones we take from the arena would be injected anyway, and there are strict protocols to prevent us from taking underage clones, unless really necessary. We do not subject them to needless pain and suffering. You're a med Worker, Aurelia; you of all people should understand. We need test subjects, and this is the best way for us all."
Gods. Aurelia hated that half of her even agreed with the argument. She took a deep breath. Now was not the time to argue with Elza, and she knew it. If the clone testing facility was the excuse needed to get Nicholas out, then so be it.
"Okay," she said. "Is there something I can do to help?"
Elza shook her head. "Leave it to me. I'll need to talk to a couple of people. Meanwhile, you can arrange whatever it is you're planning for when Nicholas is freed."
"How long will this take?"
"A couple of days probably. The faster the better, though," said Elza. "I can probably pull rank and get him sent to me, but that will attract suspicion. I think the best bet is going to be smuggling him out with a group of regular test subjects. It's going to take a little while to arrange. I'll do what I can and let you know when I've got a definite date and time, okay?"
Aurelia nodded. "Fine." She looked at the beautiful woman. Elza was quite something, Aurelia had to admit. Not only beautiful but clear-headed, smart, and logical, too. When not addicted to stim patches and trying to kill everyone, anyway. Suddenly, Aurelia felt a wave of affection for Elza. The woman felt uncomfortable helping without Jonathon's knowledge, but Aurelia also knew Elza felt she needed to honour her debts, and Aurelia liked that about her. "Elza," she said, leaning forward to grasp the woman's hand. "Thank you."
Elza smiled. "You're welcome. But maybe you shouldn't thank me until I've done what you've asked of me."
Aurelia grinned at that. "I've no doubt that you can do absolutely anything you put your mind to," she said.
"Well," said Elza, getting up, "it's something that you and I have in common, then."