Her heart was beating hard, and for once, Aurelia's logical brain deserted her. She had no plan, zero chance of escape. This was it; it was all over. She couldn't help but think of Jonathon, the man who hadn't betrayed her, the man she loved. The man who would now be arrested and probably injected because she would be forced to give information about the resistance. Moreover, there was absolutely nothing she could do. She was paralyzed, tied; all she could do was wait until that door opened, and the sec Workers came in, their green uniforms glinting in the light, to take her away.
All these thoughts spun through her mind. The footsteps outside stopped, and she knew they were here for her. She took a breath but did not close her eyes. No, she would see this. She'd played a dangerous game, and she wasn't coward enough not to look her fate in the eye.
The door opened, revealing a large man holding a stunner at waist height. He moved, but Jason was fast, yanking his own stunner out of his belt and half-raising it. Too late, though. The device in the man's hand hummed, and a bright blue light flashed. Jason writhed, the light swallowing his body as it danced. Just as suddenly as it had started, the light disappeared, and Jason fell to the floor. He twitched, but Aurelia had seen enough death to know that it was a biological response to the electricity still flowing through his system and nothing more. Then he was still.
Her eyes flew from the body on the floor to the man in the doorway and back, and then to the man again. How? How had he been so fast? How had he gotten here when Tara had barely had a chance to call him?
"Nice shot, Jonathon," said Nicholas approvingly.
"I thought so," said Jonathon, grinning. "Should I untie you, or would you prefer to remain as you are?"
Nicholas pretended to think. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe freedom for me, Aurelia?"
She could only nod as Jonathon got to work untying her. Elza pushed into the room, ignoring Jason's body on the floor. She picked up items and shoved them into a bag. Finished with Aurelia, Jonathon offered her his hand and helped her stand. Then she was in his arms, feeling his warmth, his soft skin, his lips kissing her face.
"Hey!" said Nicholas. "You're not done yet!"
Jonathon grinned down at Aurelia and went to untie the clone.
Elza thrust the chess set into her bag and looked around the room, nodding. "I have everything," she said. "Let's go. Fast."
There was no time for questions or answers; Aurelia knew they were racing to get out of there before the sec Workers arrived. Jonathon grabbed the two travel bags, and they hustled from the room, breaking into a run to get up the stairs and out the door. Nicholas was the only one who spared a second to glance at Zak, but with his own life on the line, he didn't have time to mourn.
It was dark outside, and a transport pod hummed, waiting close to the exit. Jonathon opened the doors, flung the bags inside, and waited while Elza, Aurelia, and Nicholas climbed in before getting in himself. He fastened his safety belt and pressed an icon on the control panel at the same time. The pod hovered and departed. As they turned the corner, Aurelia looked out of the back window to see lights appearing at the other end of the street. They'd done it.
She heaved a huge sigh, but as she turned back to the others, she caught a glimpse of something in an alley.
"Stop!" she cried.
Jonathon heard the panic in her voice and didn't question her, immediately hitting the emergency halt button as Aurelia flung the door open.
"In here!" she shouted. "Fast!"
There was silence, then the sudden sound of flying footsteps. With relief, Aurelia saw a purple smudge move against a building and appear on the street: Tara running as fast as her feet could carry her. Aurelia held out her hand, and Tara reached for it. Aurelia tugged and pulled the girl into the pod, slamming the door as she was barely inside.
"Go!" Aurelia yelled to Jonathon.
The pod swerved and went up two levels, correcting its course. It sped off, leaving the dark blocks of the outskirts of Lunar City behind it.
"Nobody speak," Jonathon ordered. "Wait."
Now was not the time for talking. There was no guarantee who was listening in on a transport pod. Jonathon is simply trying to keep us safe, thought Aurelia. But she had also noticed the tightness on his face when he'd seen his sister, though he'd said nothing.
Aurelia saw the hard, firm line of Jonathon's jaw as he concentrated on the console of the pod and the grim set of Elza's face, focussed on the task at hand. Nicholas looked more relaxed than anyone; his smile was easy when Aurelia caught his eye. Tara was white, and looking down, Aurelia could see the girl's hands were shaking and moved over on the bench seat to put an arm around her. To Aurelia's surprise, Tara leaned in and held Aurelia. It took a moment for her to realize the warmth she felt on her shoulder came from the girl's tears. She cried silently, and Aurelia held her all the way home, stroking her purple hair.
The pod slid through the city, lights bouncing off the glass windows, the kaleidoscope of color that Aurelia loved about Lunar. Now the streets were wide and familiar, and she knew where they were going. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the pod halted outside of Jonathon's house.
"Out," he ordered.
Aurelia inhaled the fresh, clean smell of grass as she obediently exited the pod. Jonathon held up a hand to stop everyone from speaking, and he led them into the house. Like a military parade, they trooped after him in the front door, through the long, bare corridor, and finally down the stairs into the basement. Aurelia shook her head. She'd gladly never enter a basement again in her life, if she had any choice about it.
It wasn't until they were all closeted inside a small office with a thick metal door that Jonathon finally spoke.
"It's safe to talk here; no one will be overheard. I think that there's a fair amount of talking to be done," he said.
His voice was stern, but Aurelia saw a twinkle in his eye. He's nowhere near as angry as he is pretending to be, she thought.
"I think we'd better start with how the hell you found us," Nicholas said.
There was the sound of sniffing, and Tara was crying again. With her makeup running down her face, she looked impossibly young. "I tried," the girl said, sobs spacing her words. "I honestly tried."
Jonathon looked confused.
"As soon as I heard you, I knew what you wanted to do, even though I didn't really understand. I was trying to get to a com system; I promise I was." Hot tears flowed.
Jonathon shook his head. Pulling a disposable wipe from a box on his desk, he got up and handed it to Tara, who took it gratefully.
"I think it's time for us all to be honest with each other," he said, taking his seat again. "There have been too many misunderstandings and too much miscommunication and mistrust." He looked at Tara. "Even so, I think you're going to have to sit this one out."
"No," said Aurelia immediately. "I don't think she does. You have no idea what she's done for us, and she deserves to know the truth. She deserves to know who her brother really is and to make the decision to join you if that's what she wants."
Elza eyed the young girl curiously. Jonathon bit his lip, shaking his head.
"Look, let her hear. If she's half the person her brother is, she's going to be joining us eventually anyway," said Elza. "If not, we can always wipe the memory if necessary."
"Fine," said Jonathon, obviously far from fine with anything.
"So how did you find us, then?" asked Nicholas impatiently.
"It became pretty clear the only person who knew enough to get Nicholas rearrested was Jason. He overheard the com conversation when I arranged for your pickup outside the dome, so he knew where you would be," said Jonathon to everybody. "We made a mistake in trusting him. Once we were on to him, it was easy. He found you through com records and a quick trip to the arena, and we simply followed him. We knew he was watching you, and we planned to get you out as fast as we could. He took us by surprise tonight; we hadn't expected him to move so quickly. However, we were in the area."
"It was you, wasn't it?" Aurelia asked him. "That night when I was outside, I felt someone watching me. It was you."
"Actually, it was me," said Elza. "We needed to keep an eye on you to make sure you weren't coming to any harm. Just as well we did, really."
Tara had stopped sniffing and was looking from Jonathon to Aurelia to Elza, thoroughly confused.
Noticing the girl, Aurelia said, "I think we'd better start from the beginning."
As Jonathon explained to his sister about his work in the resistance, Aurelia watched as her face changed from surprise to pride in what her brother was doing.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked when the explanation was clear. "I just thought you were a stuck-up, arrogant politician like everyone else. Why didn't you tell me what you were doing?"
"You were too young and too unreliable," said Jonathon. "And I'm not entirely sure you're ready to hear this now, but circumstances have dictated your need to know, so you're being told."
"There's one thing that I don't understand," Tara said. "Who are you?" She was looking at Aurelia.
"Ah," Jonathon replied for her. "I think it's time you met properly. Tara, this is my . . ."
"Girlfriend," said Aurelia. "I'm his girlfriend."
Tara grinned. "Really? But . . . you know, the clone?"
Aurelia shook her head. "Only a plan to get us out; Nicholas and I aren't together."
Aurelia thought she was the only one who noticed the light in Nicholas's eyes fade as she spoke.
"And what exactly was your plan?" Jonathon asked.
Aurelia and Nicholas quickly filled Elza and Jonathon in, emphasising Tara's role in the scheme.
In the end, Jonathon nodded thoughtfully. "Not bad," he said to his sister. "I see why Aurelia thought you might be an asset. Sweet, short, simple planning. Nice."
Tara beamed. On the inside, Aurelia was beaming, too; it looked like the family breach was about to be healed. Though, she thought to herself, if they'd been honest with each other in the beginning as family members should, they'd never have become estranged in the first place.
"So Jason tracked us from my com record," said Aurelia, getting back to the original point.
Elza nodded, her blonde hair perfectly coiffed as usual. "Not tough to do; he did a little detective work. But to be fair, we gave him a lot of the pieces ourselves. We took for granted he was trustworthy because he was so damn likeable, and think of all the things he's seen in the last few weeks. It was only a matter of time before he put all the pieces together. We thought we might head things off at the pass by recruiting him to work for us, but as it turns out, his greed for power and money was greater than his need to do good."
"I did like him," said Aurelia. "And trusted him, too."
"We all did," said Jonathon, "so don't feel bad."
But she did, and sad that he'd been stupid enough to sacrifice himself in this way—to let his personal needs override those of others. Now he's dead, and it's a waste, she thought.
"So now we're pretty much back where we started," Nicholas said, reclining in his chair. "At least, I am."
Aurelia couldn't help but agree. Nicholas had started right here in Jonathon's basement, and now here he was again.
"But something has changed," the clone said quietly. Getting up, he approached the desk and held out his hand. "Sometimes we trust people just because they're likeable, even though we have no real reason to," he said, grasping Jonathon's hand in his own. "And sometimes we don't trust those whom we should, even though we have plenty of reasons we should. Jonathon, you have my apologies. I doubted you, and I was wrong."
Jonathon squeezed Nicholas's hand. "I appreciate your apology," he said. "Though in truth, I understand why you acted as you did. You don't need to explain yourself more."
Nicholas looked at him for a moment and turned to face the rest of the room. "I do," he said. "I need to explain myself because I've come to a decision."
Suddenly Aurelia knew what he was going to say, and her heart pounded.
"It's time to turn myself in," said Nicholas.
No one said a word, and he sat again in his chair, prepared to hear their arguments even though definite in his decision.
"No," said Jonathon.
It surprised Aurelia that he was the first to speak. She would not argue the resolve to surrender, herself. She had no right to now. Having turned Nicholas down and yet again chosen Jonathon over Nicholas, she didn't feel that he would listen to her, anyway. Still, her stomach sank at the thought of being without him in her life.
"Yes," said the clone. "Yes, it's time. You have all done so much for me . . . more than I deserved. I have risked all of you as well as myself, and it's time for all of this to be over. Without me, you can concentrate on your political goals; without me, you can go about your work. I have placed you in harm's way enough, and it's time to end this. I have to go."
"What about your work?" asked Jonathon. "Your causes, your goals?"
Nicholas shook his head. "Others will carry on."
"Elza," said Jonathon. "Perhaps you could take Tara down the hall. She looks like she could use a clean-up and maybe a cup of something hot?"
"Of course," said the blonde woman. "Come on, Tara. Come with me." The two women left.
"I said it was time for honesty, and so it is," said Jonathon when they were gone. "Nicholas, you and I have not seen eye-to-eye, and I think we may have been competitive over more than just our original beliefs." Both men turned to Aurelia, who felt uncomfortable under their gaze. "Now we need to let these other things go and concentrate on what is important."
Nicholas said nothing, but he looked like he was prepared to hear Jonathon out.
"There was a time when I thought clones were lesser men," Jonathon continued. "It was an attitude I was brought up with, but one I should have been intelligent enough to overcome. It wasn't until I met you, heard your arguments, saw your passion, that I began to reconsider things. Nicholas, I can't forbid you from turning yourself in, but I can tell you one thing. There are people who need you. You have a brilliant mind as well as passion for something you believe in. The world needs someone like you, and without you we will all be less."
Jonathon stared into space for a moment before going on. "You and I are a lot alike; we are both men who believe deeply in our causes and are willing to do whatever necessary for our beliefs. Personal differences aside, I have watched you. I have seen your bravery, witnessed you bleed just as I do, feel exactly as I do, laugh just as I do. I have seen you love as I do. Those are the things which make us human."
Nicholas bowed his head.
"The conclusion I have come to, Nicholas, is both of us would be better men and more successful in promoting our causes if we were to work together instead of against each other."
The room was silent. Aurelia watched them. Jonathon sat, his arms resting lightly on his desk. Nicholas still had his head down, and she couldn't see his expression. The tableau remained for what seemed like hours before Nicholas finally looked up. He nodded once, his face hard. "I give you the military," he said.
"I give your people freedom," said Jonathon.
A match made in heaven, thought Aurelia wryly, wondering why the hell it had taken so long for the two men to see eye-to-eye. But she knew deep down that her presence had had a lot to do with it.
"Aurelia," said Jonathon. "Perhaps you'd be kind enough to join Elza and Tara for a while? Nicholas and I have a few things to discuss."
His smile was kinder than his words, and Aurelia knew he was putting Nicholas before her deliberately to show the clone that the issue of their little love triangle was over. She grinned back at him. "Glad to. I'll see you both later."
Closing the door behind her, she walked along the corridor, listening for signs of the other two women. After a several steps she heard the clinking of cups and opened a door to find Elza making tea.
"Want one?" the woman smiled.
"Haven't got coffee, have you?"
"Sure."
Elza prepared another cup.
"Where's Tara?"
"Still cleaning up."
Aurelia stood first on one foot, then on the other, her legs tired. She needed to say something to Elza but wasn't sure where to start. "Er . . . I think I owe you something of an apology."
Elza grinned at her. "Seems quite the day for apologizing," she said. "What do you need to be sorry for now?"
Aurelia cleared her throat. "For not really trusting you enough," she said.
The woman laughed. "I didn't give you much reason to trust me, did I?"
"Yeah, well," said Aurelia, shuffling her feet. "I'd say you've more than made up for that. Also, you were right; I should have spoken to Jonathon, and I shouldn't have made you do things behind his back. If I'd known what was going on with Jason, if I'd thought things through. Maybe I would have made better decisions. So I'm sorry for putting you in what must have been an awkward position."
Elza poured hot water into the cups. "You know," she said, "Jonathon needs someone like you. Someone as strong and determined as himself. I think things are going to work out between you two." She handed Aurelia a cup of hot coffee.
"I hope so."
"It probably won't be the last argument you have, though," she said with a laugh.
"Definitely not." Aurelia smiled.
"Want to take this to Tara? She's just down the hall."
Aurelia took the proffered cup of tea. "Sure thing."
Tara was sitting on the couch in what had been Nicholas's room when he had been held in the basement. Aurelia passed her the tea. "Feeling a bit better?" she asked.
Tara nodded. "A lot better."
Aurelia sat beside her. "Given any more thought to that favor you're going to call in?"
The purple-haired girl smiled. "I'd say giving me back my brother was pretty good payback, wouldn't you?"
"Hmmm, I don't know. He can still be pretty arrogant, even if he is fighting for a moral cause," teased Aurelia.
Tara laughed. "Hey. Maybe I'll just hold on to that favor for a little while, then. Always useful to have a hold over someone, even if it is my sister-in-law."
Gods, sister-in-law? Aurelia hadn't thought of it like that. Once she'd rolled the term over in her mind for a moment, though, she decided she liked it. "You know, Nicholas was always so confused about why you would be helping us," she said to the girl. "He couldn't understand why someone he didn't know, someone who wasn't being paid, would go out of her way and take risks for him."
"It was pretty exciting." Tara shrugged.
"Crap," said Aurelia. "That's not why you were doing it."
The girl looked deep into her cup for a moment. "Maybe you're right," she said. "Maybe I did it because you needed help. It's kind of simple. There didn't seem to be anyone else around to help, so I did it."
Aurelia nodded. "I think you're a much better person than you've been given credit for. A lot more like your brother than you might think."
Tara squirmed. "Gods, bite your tongue. I've spent most of my life hating him; it's tough to think I might be his mirror image."
"Well," said Aurelia, laughing, "it does make me wonder about one thing. What on earth are your parents like?"
The girl's face turned hard. "You really don't want to know. Trust me."
Aurelia was curious, but she let the matter slide. Meeting one family member was probably enough for now, she figured. She had plenty of time to make the acquaintance of the other Hansens.
The sound of rough whistling came from the corridor outside, making both Aurelia and Tara look up. Who on earth could that be? There was a brief snuffling sound, and Aurelia felt sure in that moment of who would be outside. She opened up the door and saw a big black figure.
"Bryn!" she cried. "What are you doing here?"
The clone turned around at the sound of her voice. "Looking for Nicholas; he called for me."
Tara had followed Aurelia out, and the two girls decided it was time to find out what was happening in Jonathon's office, so they led Bryn to the door.
A half hour later, everything was sorted. Bryn was to take Nicholas with him and make him one of the men in black, though in name only. His mission was primarily to keep safe and away from danger, but he would also be going out to drum up support for the resistance in the settlements.
"There are more on the moon's surface than you think," grunted Bryn. "And plenty of 'em are disgruntled enough to join you."
"You'll look after yourself, won't you?" Aurelia asked Nicholas, who was already preparing to leave.
He looked at her and gave his old, familiar grin. "Be a damn sight easier looking after myself if I don't have to worry about you coming after me and getting kidnapped."
She threw a gentle punch at his shoulder. "Idiot," she said.
"I'll keep an eye on him," said Bryn. "There's plenty I've still got to teach him."
"Who knows?" began Nicholas. "Maybe I'll be able to beat him at chess by the time I get back."
Aurelia walked the two men to the front door. Once outside, Bryn diplomatically took a little stroll around the grounds.
"I'll miss you," she said.
"Me too," said Nicholas, gripping her shoulder. "But I'll be out there; just get in contact if you need me." He held up a com. "Jonathon gave me this. I'll be a button press away."
"Will you be gone long?" Aurelia asked, now talking for the sake of idle chatter, putting off the inevitable moment when he would leave.
"I don't know," said Nicholas. "But if you need me, I'll be here. I promise."
She smiled up at him. "You once told me I should be careful about who I tell you to hurt. That it might be someone I love," she said.
He nodded. "It's not an order to be taken lightly," he said.
"I know." She paused. "Nicholas, please don't take this the wrong way. I'm not saying this because I'm able to give you orders. I'm saying it because I trust you to make your own decisions, I trust you to determine what's best and be able to decide things yourself."
He looked at her curiously.
"Nicholas, I order you to hurt anyone who you feel it's necessary to hurt. Do you understand?"
He gasped a little. "Aurelia, are you sure? You can take the directive back; all you have to do is say I can't hurt anyone and it'll be undone."
She shook her head. "No. That's not right. You needed the order, so I gave it. But the responsibility is now yours to do with as you wish."
He pulled her to him, enveloping her in his arms and holding her so tightly that for a minute she couldn't breathe.
"Thank you," he whispered.
She disentangled herself from his arms, trying hard not to show how much emotion she felt. "You should be going."
"Damn right," said Bryn from behind her.
"How do you do that?" she said.
"What?" asked Bryn.
"Appear suddenly out of nowhere?"
"Remind me, and I might show you some time," he said with a gap-toothed grin. "Come on, cadet, time to get out of here."
"Cadet, my ass," grumbled Nicholas. "Gods, this is going to be a long trip."
Aurelia went back inside, closing the door so she didn't have to watch them walk away.
When Jonathon found her sitting in the living room later, her tears had dried and she'd helped herself to a drink. She didn't think he'd mind, and suddenly she'd felt a yearning for the deep warmth whiskey gave her.
"Where are the others?" she asked when he came in.
"Tara went up to her own rooms, and Elza went back to the hospital to take care of things there."
He poured himself a drink and came to sit next to her on the soft couch.
"Did you mean what you said earlier?" he asked. "About being my girlfriend?"
Aurelia took a burning sip. "If you still want me," she said quietly.
"Of course I do! How could you ever doubt it?"
"How could I have ever doubted you at all?" she responded. "I thought you had betrayed me, Jonathon. You. The sweetest, most honest person I've ever known. I don't know what I was thinking. It was just the only thing that made sense at the time."
He sat back on the couch, letting the cushions swallow him. "Sometimes we need to doubt things so that we know they're true," he said, reaching for her hand. "Yes, I was hurt and even insulted, but Aurelia, I love you. I know you did what you felt you had to. You had a duty to Nicholas, and you put his welfare in front of your own personal wants. I respect you for it."
She squeezed his hand gently. "Which is rather ironic, since the whole reason I was mad at you is because you put your duty towards the resistance in front of your personal need for me by reporting Nicholas."
Jonathon sighed. "I don't pretend our relationship is going to be easy," he said. "But I have the feeling how if it were easy, neither of us would want it. We both like things we have to fight for. We both have a strong sense of duty and what's right."
"Hmmm, I've got a very similar feeling," Aurelia said, smiling. "At least we'll never be able to complain that our lives are boring."
"Boring? With me being President of the Empire, and you looking after our six children, life will never be boring," he said with a grin.
"Six?"
"Well, there have to be some benefits to freedom and no population planning," Jonathon objected. "As the president's wife, you're going to have to set a good example. I think six is a nice round number."
Aurelia giggled. "Maybe we should argue this one another day."
"Maybe," he said, turning so he could look her in the eyes. "I think we have better things to do than argue right now, don't you?"
"Like what?"
"Like make up?"
"Oh no, you don't." Aurelia smiled. "I need you to meet my father first."
Jonathon laughed. "I have already met him."
There was a puzzled look on her face, and her eyes questioned him.
"I am not going to tell you." Jonathon got up to leave. "Sleep here tonight, and I may reconsider."
Aurelia pouted.
*****THE END*****