The Sympathizer

Chapter 32

The stars have aligned tonight, precisely in my favour. Lazarus is held up after the celebratory dinner above the pits. He exits the room after giving me a deep kiss - purely for show - and last I heard he accompanied a few commanders to the training rooms to congratulate the human winners. 

I don't want to delve too much into it, considering we don't party with the humans to begin with. This might be my one and only opportunity to find some time with Lucian. 

I've been carrying the pocket sized comm he gave me and I shoot him a quick message. I know he told me to wait for his signal but I can't allow such an opportunity to escape. My parents are busy as well, I catch them talking to General Lyra and Mondric. 

Her eyes flit to mine briefly before I cross the threshold and slip into one of the lifts. Thankfully, this one is empty. I slip off my heels just as a message comes in, telling me Lucian is waiting for me by the back entrance. 

We're still in the experimental phase when it comes to blocking off or disrupting the camera signals on Pluto, so all I can do is duck under the doors and hope that the camera above didn't catch my face. 

I rush to Lucian's glider, thankful that he's using a basic one without our signature symbol plastered on each side. Keeping my head low, I slip in and the doors whizz shut with a soft buzz beside me. 

I let out a long exhale and he kicks off immediately, both of us aware than the longer we spend away, the more likely we are to be tracked. 

"I checked the glider for bugs, don't worry," Lucian tells me, silencing my worries as I shift around and scan the compartments. 

"Whose glider is this anyway? Haven't seen you in a model like this for months," I chide him. Lucian's a glider geek, always getting the latest models on the market before anyone else. 

"Borrowed it from Cyscus." He grins at me and I can only imagine his chief attendant reluctantly lending this reckless driver his ride. Poor Cyscus. 

We drive past the checkpoints, Lucian showing the drones his face briefly before swerving off track and heading for our safe place. 

My nerves spike just as we head straight for the crack in the rocky mountain wall. In the distance it appears to be a crack between two hard surfaces but we glide through as Lucian makes a sharp turn, the glider turning almost ninety degrees when he does so. 

I only ever do this on a rider but this madman makes it work with a much larger vehicle. We make it to the small cave overlooking outer space without scraping against any rock and I step outside, our breather suits already activated. 

Even though my breathing is controlled by the suit, I take in a long and steady breath, feeling like I'm inhaling fresh air after years. I can't remember the last time I felt this...free. 

I walk over to the edge of the promontory, watching the barely moving stars and asteroids in the distance, all far away and idle. Only the clusters of Planet X are fast approaching, the ones predicted to collide with Pluto in a dozen or so Earth years. 

And the only reason we've timed the collision in Earth years is because we expect to settle there by then. 

I turn on the static device we Sympathizers use to make eavesdropping impossible even though we are miles away from civilisation. If paranoia was a disease, I am certain I would be diagnosed with it.

"There's a human who came to me for help. He works in Onyx as a waiter. His name is Ron." I tell Lucian while he sits in his favourite spot, legs dangling precariously over the edge. "His brother went missing after volunteering for a job."