Calla never seriously considered running away before, although Jess had been plotting escape for years.
The obstacles were too high and the consequences were too terrible for Calla to try, and Jess would never go without her. But now that Jess was gone, she had very little left to lose. It was time for action.
With a new sense of purpose, Calla got up and crept back into the common sleeping room. The hostel had been her home for more than ten years, and she knew every nook and cranny of it. Now was the time to put that knowledge to good use, before she lost her nerve. Quietly gathering what few possessions she had, Calla placed them in a small rucksack and made her way to the storeroom. It was locked, of course. Jenner doled out supplies carefully, accounting for every credit’s worth.
What Jenner didn’t know was that Calla and Jess had managed to break the door’s code years ago, programming in their own palm prints. As high-spirited teen-agers, they’d used the storeroom as a location for late-night feasts and planning pranks. As adults, she suspected Jess used the room to meet with his women; he was careful to keep that side of himself from her, but she’d heard rumors about his activities from the other slaves.
It was during one of their childhood feasts that they’d discovered Jenner’s little secret–a trap door that let out into one of the station’s ventilation tubes. At the time, they figured that Jenner’s paranoia had finally gotten the best of her. After all, pilgrims were notorious for their survivalist tendencies, so it wasn’t that strange that Jenner had a secret way to leave the hostel. Now it would give Calla a way to escape without any of the guards seeing her. Getting off the station would prove harder, but Dani might be able to help with that.
In the back of the room were several crates of expired emergency rations. Calla made her way over to them, picking her steps carefully so as not to kick anything and make a sound. Somewhere in the crates was Jess’ emergency stash, everything he’d saved for their escape. Another stab of guilt hit her ten minutes later, when she found the pitifully small package containing Jess’ hopes for their future. Inside were a few credit chits, two sets of dark clothing, and a fully-charged, palm-sized blaster pistol. Calla turned the weapon over in her hands several times in awe–how had Jess gotten it? She couldn’t imagine...
It took another five minutes to replace everything and pull the dark clothing over what she was wearing.
She didn’t want to leave Jenner any clues as to how she’d escaped. Maybe, someday, another slave at the hostel would need to use the storeroom exit to get away. Then, grimly whispering, “It’s now or never,” to herself, Calla opened the trap door and lowered herself into the tube, carefully pulling the door back into place. For the first time in her life, she was free.
“I’m coming, Jess,” she said quietly into the darkness. “I’ll save you if it’s the last thing I ever do.”
Chapter 3
“Calla, I can’t believe you’ve done this!” Dani said, filled with a mixture of horror and admiration at her friend’s audacity. It was early morning, and she had returned from work at the House of Lilies to find Calla huddled in an alcove outside of her apartment. “Are you sure you want to go through with it?”
“Yes, I am,” Calla said, meeting Dani’s gaze firmly with her own. “I need to find Jess, and we need to get away from Jenner. He’s always taken care of me–I can’t just stand by now that he’s in trouble. We both know what happens to slaves out in the asteroid mines. He’ll die if I don’t save him.”
“You’re right, he will,” Dani said quietly, wishing Calla’s logic wasn’t so strong. A slave in the mines was lucky to survive a year.
“I understand if you don’t feel like you can help me,” Calla added. “I know the penalties for assisting a runaway slave.”
“Calla, you’re my friend and I’ll help you,” Dani said, tossing her hair defiantly. “Besides, I happen to be on very good terms with any number of our Saurellian landlords, and I have the Guild to back me up.
Nothing’s going to happen to me. I’m more concerned about you. Don’t you have some kind of implant they can use to track you down?”
“Yes, but fortunately for me, Jenner’s a cheap old bitch. She didn’t want to spring for one of the high-end models that can pinpoint exact location. She’ll be able to tell I’m on the station, but that’s about all. Of course, getting off the station is another problem. It’s programmed to release a toxin into my system if I leave the station’s electrical grid, unless it’s deactivated. That’s the only way slaves who are sold are able to leave alive.”
“I’ve heard of that,” Dani said, a frown marring her perfect brow. “We’ll need to get rid of the implant somehow.”
“I’ve heard that there are surgeons who will do it, for a price,” Calla said carefully. This was as far as she’d gotten with her escape plan–getting to Dani and asking for help. Everything was riding on what Dani said next. It would be almost impossible to get away without some kind of assistance.
“Oh, Calla, that’s dangerous,” Dani said. “Those things are supposed to be tamper-proof. Won’t it release the toxin if someone tries to take it out?”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take, if I can find someone to perform the procedure,” Calla said. “Jess and I talked about doing it lots of times, but I was always too afraid and he wouldn’t go without me.” She added bitterly, “ Now I realize that staying a slave with Jenner was every bit as dangerous as escaping.
She sold Jess knowing he would die–she just didn’t care. If I hadn’t held him back he would have gone years ago, but he thought he needed to stay and take care of me. Now I need to take care of him.”
Looking at Calla, Dani could certainly understand why Jess had felt that way. Calla was had told her once she was 27-years-old, but with her small frame and freckled face she looked younger. If Dani didn’t know better, she would have thought Calla was nothing more than a girl in her late teens. Perhaps they could turn fragility to their advantage.
“Calla,” Dani said. Her tone was slow and hesitant, as though she really didn’t want to even suggest her plan. “I have an idea how to get you off-station, but it’s kind of tricky.”
“What is it?” Calla asked, cautious hope in her voice.