I stare at him. A part of me knows he’s right. “But what do you want from me in return?” I ask. I doubt they’ll be that concerned withsaving me when there are going to be hundreds of humans actually suffering here in a few weeks.
Something small passes from his hand to mine. I look down. It’s a vial no bigger than a tube of lip gloss; the liquid inside gleams faintly silver.
“What is this?”
“Poison. One touch will kill an Imperial. Spread it on your lips. When they kiss you, they’ll die. Imagine it, Madame Eve. Two of the most powerful men in the galaxy brought down by you. No more Grand Championships. And think of all the humans you will save.”
My knee-jerk reaction is,I can’t kill them. But I don’t say that; instead, I correct him. “I’m not having sex with them, and they don’t kiss me. It’s just the Venus Lock and the?—”
“Devotional Drink,” he supplies. “And you’re not having sexyet, but you know, and I know, you could change that, and the last night of the Championships would be a convenient time to do it.”
“I think you misunderstand. I don’t know how I would even get physical with the Sovereigns. They’re in control of everything. The Venus Lock even has a tracker on it. They know I’m here now. They might even be listening to our conversation.”
“I didn’t meet you here just because it’s private. The Starlight Array can’t hear us or see us right now because I’m using a scrambler. And their sensors won’t register it as a problem for another eight minutes down here. Make no mistake, we aren’t terrorists; we’re a movement that wants to see humans free in the galaxy, and every year we grow stronger. But still, no human like you?—”
“Like me?”
“Clever, beautiful, and influential. No woman like you, has ever been in a position like yours before. You must take it and use it—for all of us.”
I clutch the vial so strongly my fingers go numb. “Killing them won’tstop the Championships. They’ll just move them to another venue, and then someone else will run them.”
“No,” Huck says. “If the Sovereigns can be killed, then anyone can be killed for running the Championships. It would send a clear message that Terra Ka is gaining more strength than anyone ever thought possible, and it would frighten those who still keep humans as slaves.”
Is he right?
I don’t know, but I can’t imagine killing them. I can’t even imagine leaving them.Jesus, I’m a terrible person.“I… I don’t know. Is there anything else I can do? Wouldn’t it make more sense for me to stay in this position? Then I can save more humans.”
Huck’s dark eyes hold mine. “Yes. You’re a receptionist. You see everything. You have access to guest rosters, shuttle logs, training assignments, and human schedules. Terra Ka needs that information. Which trainers are arriving when. Which ships come and go. Where the humans are being kept. Their rooms. Their hours. Every scrap of detail you can slip to us makes it easier to extract humans when the time comes.”
“And if I can’t do either of these things?”
“Then you’ve sacrificed humans who could have been saved for your own comfort… for as long as you’re safe, that is.”
Huck presses something else into my palm, a small device no larger than a crystal.“Hide this,” he says. “Use it when you’re alone to pass us what you can. Rosters. Shuttle logs. Anything you can.”
“I’ll try.”
Huck nods. “I’ve seen your work. You know your way around the Spire’s firewalls better than most techs I’ve met. Impressive for a human who has only been here a few months.”
I absently touch the translator in my head that allows me to learn and retain knowledge like a superhuman. “It’s from training with Sovereign Rafe. He wanted me fluent in the Celestial Spire’s systems.”
“Because he can’t fathom his human employee would betray him again. Be careful. You’re in deeper than you realize,” he says, and we both know it means so much more. He’s judging me for not wanting to kill the Sovereigns.
“I spend most days with the Sovereigns. I’d say I have a good grasp of what they can and cannot fathom when it comes to me.”
He nods his head, almost like an apology. “Just remember—no matter what the Sovereigns tell you, you’re on our side.”
“I’m not on anyone’s side,” I say, not wanting to commit to Terra Ka or the Sovereigns.
“Just wait until you see the first human competitor die in the Championships as the crowd cheers,” he motions to the crystal in my pocket. “Then you come back and tell me whose side you’re on.”
I can’t answer him because he might be right.
He nods as if he’s called my bluff. “I’ll be in touch.” Huck turns to leave but then pauses at the mouth of the tunnel. “One last thing, if the Sovereigns didn’t already know you were here, I’d be dead, and you’d be on your knees by now. Remember that.”
I say nothing as I watch him walk into the darkness of a maintenance tunnel.
I am in a world of trouble here.
