Cress sat in front of her computer and dreamed pensively of the day she would be freed from her prison. She knew that she would be saved, and that it would probably be Thorne who saved her.
It was difficult to despise him now. Especially when she dreamed that he would come bursting into her satellite and take her away from it. That he would come to save her from the life she'd been bound to live.
She had no idea what these dreams meant, or if they would even come to pass. After all, there were four other people on that ship, and any one of them could be the one to come and get her. But deep down in her gut, she knew it was going to be Thorne, and that he was going to get her to her happy ending.
For her to be able to hope again, it felt like all of the pain and misery was melting away.
At one point in her life, Cress used to dream that her father would come to save her. She'd heard that her father was the only person in her family that wanted to keep her. And that he was a doctor, something she'd wanted to be while in the lava tubes.
That's why Sybil had told her that her father was a coward. Because she knew it was wreck her fantasies of ever being rescued. And that it would take away any thought she ever had of finding somewhere besides this satellite to live out her life.
But now, there was another man who'd come along, and he could give her everything she wanted. She still didn't like the fact that he was a tramp. But if he could get her to Earth, to find a place where she could be happy, that would change everything.
All she had to do, was keep them hidden long enough for them to get to her.
Too bad that Mistress Sybil's ship was now approaching the satellite.
Her rehearsed dance began to take first priority in her mind. She quickly closed all of the tabs on her computer even remotely related to Selene or her plans.
45 seconds till docking ...
She leaped out of her chair and raised her bed into the wall. Fluttering around the room, she picked up any stray dress that might have been on the floor, and threw them into a hamper to be washed later.
10 seconds till docking ...
Cress smiled as she flew around the room to find anything that may have been out of place. Only a few things seemed to be out of place.
Now, it was time to be the good, obedient girl that Sybil could tolerate. And not squirm while she took her blood.
3 ... 2 ... 1 .. Docking completed.
.................
Thorne really didn't like the idea of waiting on his ship while the entire world was tracking him down. He had an idea to get it to stop, but he didn't think Cinder would really go for it. So, he'd probably have to do it on his own.
But maybe with a little help from someone else on the ship.
"Iko!" he called from out of the cockpit. Footsteps pattered down the hall toward him. Sadly, they weren't Iko's.
"Why do you want Iko?" Cinder asked from behind him. Great. She was exactly the last person he wanted to talk about this.
"Oh, uh..." He struggled to come up with a lie. Which was usually his forte. "I just needed to ask her a question about ... the latest fashion styles. I want to look good when I'm declared a hero for helping save the world."
That was pretty good, he thought. Half of that was true, mainly the second half.
"First of all," she began. "You're lying. Second of all, we agreed that we would help you stay out of jail for the rest of your life. I don't think Prince Kaito will want to deem you a hero after kidnapping me."
"Which you told me to do," he reminded. "But how did you know I was lying?"
She pointed to her eye, smiling. "Lie detector. It lets me know when people are lying at any time. So you can tell me what you really wanted Iko for."
Thorne sighed. "Fine. I have a plan to keep the authorities from trying to track us. But I don't really think you'll like it."
She crossed her arms over her chest. A gesture Thorne was becoming more and more familiar with. It meant she was skeptical, and maybe a little defensive of herself. It would be even harder to get her to approve of his idea.
"Okay," he started. "What if, to get them to leave us be, we send them a video. To tell them not to try to get you until after the coronation. Then, with a little encouragement, they'll leave us be."
For a minute, she just store at him, like he was either an idiot, or she couldn't believe he was really there.
"Are you crazy?" she questioned. "If we send them a video, then they'll trace it back to the ship. Better yet, any video indicating any demands would make our situation even worse."
She walked over to the copilot's chair and leaned against it. In the back of his head, Thorne wished that someday, he'd have a trusted alley to take that seat and go on grand adventures with him. Through the vast blackness of space and the stars above. Just like he'd wanted to as a kid.
"Besides, Cress is keeping the authorities off our tail and has been since we started this."
"Then why were the cops close enough to catch us when we stopped at Scarlet's farm?" That made her think, he could tell be the small, flickering light in her eye. Maybe it was calculations or some other Cyborg thing that she could use.
"That farm was at least a few miles away from any other houses or buildings. And, nobody called 911. So how did the cops know to go there?"
"Maybe they heard the gun shots," she reasoned.
"Okay, then why were there two soldiers from Levana's supposed hybrid army at the farm as well?" He could tell that had stumped her, or surprised her. It was hard to tell when she was experiencing a block or a jump start. "They were there before us. How did they know that we were going to be there?"
It was hard to think that Cress wasn't holding up in her end of the deal. If she wanted to got off that damn satellite, why wasn't she helping them stay hidden.
"Something must have gone wrong on her end," Cinder mumbled. "Someone could have found out that she was helping us."
As much as it burned to know that Cress could be in danger, there was still another question to be answered. "But how did the soldiers know to go to Scarlet's farm? Cress didn't know we were going there. So who told them we'd be there?"
"It ..." she hesitated. "It could have been Levana. Michelle Benoit was one of the few people who tried to take me from Luna as a baby. Levana could have thought that she was the one to kidnap me this time."
"So Levana only knew that Michelle was a part of the first time you were kidnapped. That's good."
Even still. If Cress had known about the lunars going to France to get the Benoits, why hadn't she told them? Or, if she'd even known about it.
"Well, if the police found us, there's no doubt they took pictures of the scene, or that they found that other soldiers body. Speaking of which, we should talk to the guy in the hanger. We need to find out what he knows."
Cinder was currently starring at him in aw, and it made Thorne feel especially weirded out.
"You're a lot smarter than you let on. You know that right?"
"I get that from some people," he shrugged.
She let out a sharp laugh. "Most wouldn't really know that, considering you got caught because you were electrocuted by a hover."
He puffed in her direction. "Of course you would say that. You could probably build a hover from scratch."
Both of them smiled, and Thorne finally had confirmation that Cinder was different from most girls. He didn't feel any sort of attraction between them, and he knew Cinder definitely didn't. It was like they were becoming good friends, or that she was the little sister he never had. It felt good, to finally feel like he didn't have to be the idiotic convict in front of everyone.
And now, he finally had a crew. Even if it was a cyborg, an android, and a fiery redhead. With the addition of the guy being held in a cargo hold.
After this was all over, maybe Cinder would consider being his mechanic for the ship instead of being Queen of a rock planet. It would be fun to keep running like this, for the rest of his life.
The never ending adventures of Captain Thorne and his crew. The idea made him grin.
But back to the matter at hand. They needed to talk to Cress and ask her about why she wasn't keeping all information related to them hidden. And, to find out everything they could from that soldier guy.
Cinder seemed to be on that part already. She hopped in the copilot's chair and found the camera feed for the hanger. "I hope Scarlet hasn't shot him yet," she muttered. Carswell leaned over to see the feed, and both of their jaws dropped.
The pipe he'd been tied to was broken, and the soldier was gone.
"Oh stars."