He grabbed her bag. “Come. We gotta go.” He turned and made his way down the hallway.
Alexa stood, confused for a moment, before chasing after him. She caught up to him as he was going down the stairs. “What about Pigeon?”
“Bastard won’t leave the brig, says he needs a free trip back to Earth anyway. He can suit himself.”
It was then she noticed Horace had a second duffle.
“You’re leaving too?”
“I ain’t staying here after crossing the captain. I’m not stupid like Pigeon. I know what Cyborgs can do, what they’ve done, the power they wield,” he said, speaking quickly. She’d never seen Horace like this before.
Was he scared?
“I thought Daniels vanishing was odd, but now that Raul’s gone, too, and there’s no trace of them being fired on the servers…” He shook his head. “I’m not willing to stick around and find out what really happened to them.”
She caught her breath when they stopped at the hatch. Wait. Had she heard that correctly? “Raul’s gone?”
“Never saw him again after we landed on Libra. Boss said he quit. I’m not so sure anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
Horace shook his head. “Raul needed this job. Even if he and the captain didn’t get along, Raul was drowning in debt, and loan sharks were after him. He wouldn’t give up the pay, couldn’t from what he told me. Jobs like this don’t come around often. The pay’s enough to look past a lot.” Horace dropped the bags and started typing something in on the panel beside the hatch. He glanced at her. “But not everything.”
Alexa licked her lips. The hatch opened before she could respond. Horace grabbed their bags and they entered the pressurization chamber. The inner hatch shut, the chamber recalibrated, and the outer hatch opened. Horace leaned out, looking right and left.
“Thank hell there’s no cameras out here,” Horace muttered.
Bright desert sunshine blasted Alexa’s eyes. She hadn’t seen anything but stars, metal walls, and outer space for weeks, even before Libra. When her irises adjusted, a golden haziness met her, as well as swirling dust and rows upon rows of ships with cement buildings between them. She curved her hand to shade her eyes, peering out.
In the distance was a single large mountain, and surrounding it was a swirling dark cloud.
Not a cloud.
Millions of locusts.
Alexa dropped her hand as Horace walked down the ramp. She remembered the male locust and how it watched her. How it made her uncomfortable, nervous. She hated it.
Feeling exposed, she ran after Horace. He went right, carrying their bags with him. Ahead were a bunch of ships and people and androids loading and unloading them.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
He faced her, and she stopped before she ran into him. “We’re not going anywhere. You and I split here.” He dropped her bag.
She reached down and picked it up, throwing it over her shoulder. Horace walked away several steps, stopped, and came back to her. He fished something out of his pocket.
“Here, I almost forgot. I snagged it off of Hysterian’s console this morning after he left.” He handed it to her.
My wristcon.
Alexa put the band on her wrist, clutching it gratefully. “Thank you.”
“No need. It’s the least I can do after letting him lock you up,” he said, his chest rising and falling. “Good luck, Alexa. I never thought I’d have to question a Cyborg’s honor. I’m sorry it came to this.”
“He’s not…” She swallowed, deciding what he believed about Hysterian was for the best. “Bye, Horace.”
He grumbled and turned. She watched him walk away.
When he was gone, Alexa scanned the ships around her. She needed one that was leaving today, right now preferably. She hoped Hysterian wouldn’t come after her—that he’d be happy to be rid of the burden—but dread wormed its way into her soul and she wasn’t sure anymore.
