"Aria, you can come in. The machines won't bite," Cassandra says and then she laughs when she sees how nervous I am.
The truth is I have been nervous for the past two months, ever since I found those files and reports in Lucian's computer. However, 'S' hasn't made contact since then so I've been carrying around these secrets quietly and sometimes I worry that they may eat me alive.
The only other person who knows about this is Rosie, that too because I told her in the freezer during one of my shorter shifts. She was just as clueless as I am and needless to say that conversation didn't make much of a difference.
The only thing I can do now is wait for 'S' to deliver another message and to meet up with the rest of the so called 'Sect' which is what Joon calls their freezer group consisting of Matt, Jade, Josephine, Rosie, and a few others.
Rosie called me this morning saying that I'm needed tonight so I'm praying that that means 'S' has finally sent another message.
"Umm, Aria? You there?" Cassandra chimes and I quickly revert my attention back to her.
"No, you go ahead. I'll wait here," I say as I place my hands under my thighs to keep them from jiterring. I agreed to accompany Cassandra after work for her follow up appointment with her doctor but going in seems like an invasion of privacy. That and the fact that all the hospital equipment around us and the smell of sterile disinfectant creeps me out.
I've never liked being here in the medical facility.
"It will be nice for her to have someone around," The Plutonian nurse says to me and I look at her apprehensively.
"Really?" I'd much rather sit out here but I know Cassandra has been going for all her doctor's appointments alone since she's a paramour and Commander Physus isn't expected to accompany her. It's not like she's his wife anyway so why does he need to bother.
I feel a prickle of irritation spread across my skin and quickly brush it aside not wanting to make Cassandra feel bad about it. She's already gone through so much because of me and her childhood pictures filled me with pity.
"Okay, but I'm warning you, I might freak out at any given moment and run out the door," I put my hands up in surrender and stand up. Cassandra beams at me in happiness and grabs my hand.
We walk into a brightly lit room and the strong smell of disinfectant immediately fills my nostrils. I scrunch my nose and follow her to the long hospital bed located in the center of the room.
Cassandra climbs on top of it without any instruction and then lies down on her back looking like she's done this many times before. I look around at the pristine white walls with a few pictures and diagrams arranged on one side.
The nurse walks in and closes the door behind her. She walks over to a large machine with a monitor and presses a few buttons on it's keypad.
She has her back to us so I mouth the doubt in my head to Cassandra quickly.
"Is she the nurse? Paternity test?" My mouth exaggerates the movements of those words so that she gets my message and she shakes her head.
"Nope," She mouths back.
Somehow that makes me feel slightly relieved.
"Mistress Cassandra, paramour of Sergeant Commander Physus?" The nurse speaks loud and clear, talking to the monitor more than she is to us.
"Yes," Cassandra replies loudly.
"Voice recognition successful. Mistress Cassandra kindly lift your shirt," The nurse says and then she presses onto a button.
A small device from above drops to our level and then hovers over Cassandra's belly. It reminds me of the scanner that stared into my eyes while I recited my pledge before being in cooperated into the army.
The scanner glides over the surface of her belly which still looks pretty flat to me. From the surface it doesn't seem like she is even pregnant. It is only when the monitor comes to life that I see what is inside.
My eyes go wide as I stare at the screen and I don't realize that I have taken a step closer and my hand is currently touching the skin above the life form inside Cassandra.
"Beautiful right?" Cassandra murmurs.
I don't reply since I'm too busy staring at the image on the screen. It doesn't look like a human baby, in fact it just looks like a blob to me but once the nurse points out the head I start to get a clearer picture.
I suddenly feel extremely protective over that little being inside Cassandra's stomach.
The nurse smiles when she sees my awestruck face and then she tells us that Cassandra is in her ninth week now. She reinforces for her to take care since this is still a fragile time for the baby and her and then she starts going over her diet.
"You can take your hand off now, Aria," Cassandra casts me a teasing smile and I stare at my hand which is still fixed to her belly.
"Sorry," I say and then I lift it. The nurse and Cassandra both laugh at me as I continue to stare at her belly when she pulls her shirt down and gets up.
"It's normal," The nurse says and then she squeezes my shoulder. "One day you will experience it too."
Her words make me shudder but I have the sudden urge to touch Cassandra's belly again. There is something just so magical about what I'd just seen.
"She's going to be the God mother to my child," Cassandra tells the nurse.
"What's that?" The Plutonian asks.
"Not sure but my mother always told me I should have been raised by my God mother so it must be something good."
"I never had one but I'd be happy to try my best," I tell her and her eyes sparkle in appreciation.
She goes for her doctor's appointment and I wait outside, all the while thinking about her baby, about her safety and worrying about Lazarus. I know he promised not to do anything but I don't trust him.
I bite my lip hard hoping that this is just paranoia which will amount to nothing. Cassandra walks out and I immediately bombard her with questions about her diet, if she is sleeping enough and if she's getting in the right amount of fitness to keep healthy.
"Yeah, yeah I am. Who knew you could be such a nag," She waves a hand at me and shrugs me off while we exit the building.
"Is he still hurting you?" I whisper in a serious tone and she stops walking. She knows I'm talking about Lazarus.
"No, he hasn't visited me ever since Lucian X talked to him," She says quietly and my shoulders slump in relief.
I clutch her arms tightly and smile at her. "That's the best news I've heard in awhile."
She laughs at me and then we board her glider. Her driver drops me off at Onyx and I rush inside for my shift.
I push past the throng of bodies in the waiting room and then walk through the restaurant. I see Jade by the bar and he side eyes me before filling a glass with some drink. I push through the plush violet doors that lead to the club and head straight for the bar island on the opposite side.
There are already a few people lounging around but it is early and most guests are still in the restaurant outside.
"Come on, we need to bring out at least one whole piece of wargol to be thawed," Rosie says to me the moment I reach. There are two Plutonian bartenders already serving so the two of us scuttle to the kitchen and then to the back.
Josephine joins us there and then we hurry to the freezer.
"Ron! Matt! We need some help with the meat," Rosie calls out and I see Ron and Matt walking out of the men's washrooms with two cleaning devices in their hands.
We go in first and take our tonics. Ron and Matt join us after a few minutes and then Jade and Joon come in.
"What's the new message?" Joon asks eagerly and we rush to the end where 'S's messages are usually placed.
I bend down and tuck my head under the hanging piece of meat. The words are imprinted into the ice and the previous message erased.
Now you know the truth but what was it all for? Do you really want to escape to Earth or save it?
-S
I read it out loud for the rest to hear while my heart thumps incessantly against my rib cage. It feels like 'S' is talking directly to me.
"Do you want to escape to Earth or save it?" Josephine repeats my words in a panicked voice. "Why do we need to save Earth?"
"How do they know that we want to escape?" I look at Rosie worriedly. All my life I have kept that secret buried in the deepest parts of my chest but now it seems so out in the open. I find it almost unbelievable that someone other than me is thinking about it.
"'S' always knew that we wanted to escape. One of their first messages to us stated how impossible it would be," Rosie tells me. "We started getting messages from 'S' a few years ago, mainly exposing things like the fights being rigged, Sergeant Atmos being a fraud who trades on humans and paramours being killed when they're babies aren't Plutonian enough. It was only recently that 'S' started hinting at helping us escape."
"Why?" I can't help but voice my suspicion.
"I know it sounds absurd but when 'S' asked us if we needed any help we wrote back that we wanted to escape and return to Earth. We didn't expect them to agree and we thought we were all going to be executed but nothing happened and then after a year 'S' replied saying they might be able to help. But recently they told us it would help if you were involved," Joon says.
I gulp slowly and then Rosie speaks up, not wasting another second of our precious time here.
"Listen guys, Aria found out something important through 'S's latest message," She says and then she briefly outlines my findings about the humans being treated as an experiment and that we have been divided into variables based on our upbringing.
I think it's safe to assume that most of us belong to the Type 2 variable after everyone confirmed that they were brought up in a stable and somewhat happy family.
"I found out something as well," Jade says urgently. "My commander and her surveillance team visited Earth's moon recently. Said they had to set up a few things and I wasn't allowed on that mission."
"That's weird. It must have something to do with Earth and why 'S' asked us if we want to save Earth," Josephine replies. She bends down and ducks under the meat again.
"Wait a minute. There's something else written here. More like drawn here."
I push past the group and bend down to see that she is looking under another piece of meat, around one foot away from 'S's message. The words OP-20 -which I'm guessing is another file- are written above a drawing.
I lean closer to look at the image below and gasp when I see three circles overlapping in the middle with a smaller circle in the center. There are minuscule words written in each circle and I briefly make out the words fighter, paramour and slave.
It is exactly the same as what Remulus described.
I gasp loudly and fall back, landing on my butt and everyone stares at me in shock.
"What's wrong?" They ask me and Joon answers after he takes a look at it.
"It is the same as the graffiti in the human quarters. Looks like we know who was behind that now." He gets up and wipes his hands over his pants.
My brain is swirling at this new information. It seems 'S' is now trying to expose things to the humans in the quarters as well. My hands are now itching to search for this new file 'S' has provided us.
I get up quickly as a chill starts to settle in my bones.
"Have you guys heard about the rebel arms deal in Taygeta?" Ron suddenly speaks up.
"Yes, but not much. They might be sending a team there for investigation," Matt says.
"The investigation's been done. They really have been supplying arms to a rebel force who wants to fight the empire. I heard the Generals are making a trip," Joon says. "My Sergeant Commander who reports to General Grievous might be going."
"Wow, someone is actually crazy enough to challenge the Plutonian empire?" Josephine murmurs looking somewhat starstruck. I notice her face has started turning blue.
"We should leave," I say and then I pull my gloves up higher so that it covers my wrists.
Everyone agrees and we leave in groups of three. Ron, Josephine and Jade leave first, then Joon and then Rosie, Matt and I blunder our way through the dark hallway with a large piece of meat in our hands which feels like it weighs more than the three of us put together.
We place the meat on the thawing plate and I wash my hands under the warm water. I walk out of the kitchen and am about to head to washroom when I catch someone standing by the entrance, looking my way.
My feet freeze in place when I see Stela staring at me with a smirk on her face. She walks up to me and crosses her arms over each other looking smug.
"It's nice to see you doing something that actually suits you, Aria. But tell me why do you need six people to carry one piece of meat out of a freezer? Sounds suspicious don't you think?"
My body shakes with the fear of being caught and ratted out by this same person and I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out.
I close my eyes, willing for my brain to come up with a snide remark to shut her up but then we hear a voice I did not expect to hear.
"If you value your life I would suggest you leave my girlfriend alone," Lucian warns Stela in the deadliest tone.
Okay, another big hint this chapter. I think most of you can guess by now but the answer will be revealed in detail in the next one k.