The Constant Star (13)

THE STORY SO FAR

She raises a disappointed eyebrow and begins to walk back to her monitor. Her focus is nowhere near her responsibilities however: there is one more clue she received last night. Opening the closet Siff reaches for her jacket, remembering the journal paper she had received: saved from the furnace with a message on the back, “Not alone.” Siff reaches for the pocket she remembers putting the paper in, then the other pocket. Then the sleeves, the hood, and eventually she frantically turns the jacket inside out.

Oh no.

She put it in her pocket. She definitely remembers putting it in her pocket. Maybe it fell out when she left the garbage, maybe it fell out on the way home, or maybe…

“Oh no…”

Siff doesn’t know if her contact can hear her, but she figures she has to try, “Hello? Can you hear me? Look, um. That paper you gave me last night. It either fell out of my jacket on the way home, or my dad found it. Either way I need to get out of here.”

No response.

“Listen. If that paper is given to security they are going to make me disappear.”

Nothing.

“Can you hear me?! I am going to be killed! You’ve got to get me out of here! Please! Don’t let me die over a stupid paper!”

There is a quiet click as the front door unlocks. Siff panics and jumps behind the couch, expecting her father or security to burst through the door. But all remains quiet. Gingerly she makes her way over and peeks through the window. She doesn’t see anybody. It is still too early for most people to be about, especially in this upper-class section of the ship. She tentatively opens the door and sees, lying on the ground not one meter away, a headset. Her eyes widen and she closes the door again, Siff begins to hyperventilate and focuses on calming herself down. What choice does she have? Stay here and get arrested again, or put on the headset and see what creepy mystery-person wants. Terrified she puts her jacket on, opens the door, grabs the headset, and puts it on.

There is a brief light from a retinal scan, and then a voice comes on. The same voice from last night, “Well, Siff. This won’t be as easy as yesterday. I haven’t had time to calculate a safe route in its entirety, so we’ll have to go section by section. Are you ready?”

“How did you get the headset here? And how did you hack through Janus’ systems?”

“Questions come after the life-or-death situation, not before or during. Copy?”

“Sure.”

“I’m serious. I’m going to guide you through step by step, but you need to do what I say the moment I say it. No questions. Your life may depend on it. Ready?”

“Oh skita.” Siff takes a deep breath, “Let’s go.”

“Okay, I’m overlaying a path into your headset now. When the path is red it means wait, yellow means get ready, and the instant it turns green you move. Ready?”

Siff sees a yellow path come into her vision, leading in a different direction than before, “Aren’t I going to the garbage again?”

“Not safe right now.” The path turns green, “Go!”

Siff runs as fast as she can, following the path around the back-side of her house and through some shrubs. It turns red again and she ducks behind her neighbor’s shed, “Wait here just a moment. Exciting, huh?”

“No.”

“Go!” The path leads her through two more yards and down a flight of stairs to a large courtyard, “Okay, walk through here. Catch your breath and look down. Try not to attract attention.”

“It’d be a lot easier if you didn’t lead me into crowds.”

“It’d be a lot easier if you didn’t lose that paper. Stay on course. Once you’ve gone down the next set of stairs follow the path to a service door. It will open for you.”

Siff keeps her eyes on the ground and follows the directions. From the corner of her vision she spies a familiar oversized shape. Bear? Skita! Why is he up so early? Why is he here? Did he just spot me? “Oh skitaskitaskita, hurry up! I think I’ve been spotted.”

“Calm down, get to the service door.”

As she approaches the service door Siff hears the lock click open and enters, hurriedly closing it behind her.

Bellerophon walks through the throngs in the courtyard, meandering his way to Siff’s house. He’s not sure if he’ll be allowed to see her, but he wants to do what he can. Hearing about her troubles has his stomach in knots: he told her to be careful, but she got caught anyway. She’s lucky house arrest is all that happened. His eyes wander over the crowds milling about their daily lives, but one hooded girl gains his attention. She is the same size and walking exactly like Siff. His eyes widen with terror; if it is her he has to stop her from doing whatever it is she’s doing. He can’t let her get in more trouble than she already is.

Bear begins pushing through the crowd, following the girl as she makes her way to a restricted-access service door. It opens for her and Bear runs to grab the handle, but the lock clicks in place just before he makes it. His momentum slams his shoulder against the steel, bouncing him back. Bear puts his palms and frustrated forehead on the door, takes a breath and turns away: back toward Siff’s house, hoping it won’t confirm his worst fears.

There is a thud on the outside of the door, as if someone was trying to catch it before it closed. Leaning against the wall in a narrow hallway she takes a deep breath and sees her pathway illuminate to the right. It is a short walk to where the path stops: a disposal chute with a sign showing it ends in a furnace, “Get in.”

“You’re kidding.”

“It’s

Enjoying the story so far? Get up to four weeks ahead at www.patreon.com/stevelikestowrite