She shook her head, a tear slipping free to track hot down her cheek.She dashed it away."You don't understand, Lucy.There is no door.Daaynal...the Emperor...he interprets 'choice' as letting me pick which charity to run.He can't let me go.The Council, the Empire...I'm a matter of fucking intergalactic security now."
Lucy was quiet for a long moment.She bit her lip, using her fingertip to trace around the top of her cup.
"What if…" Lucy's voice was barely a whisper."I told you there was a way out?"
Emily froze."What?"
Lucy leaned in closer."A wayoutout.Gone.Back to Earth, or...somewhere else.Somewhere they can't find you.Somewhere the Emperor's reach doesn't extend."
Emily stared at her."That's impossible.I'm the Emperor's ‘matched mate’.They have fleets and trackers and things… don't they?"
"They have blind spots," Lucy argued, her eyes intense."Big ones.They're so arrogant, so sure of their power, they don't see what's right under their noses."She nodded toward the entrance."Even him.Especially him.He looks at you and sees a duty, not a flight risk."
Emily followed her gaze.Raaevik stood like a statue, scanning the crowd both in the cafe and on the promenade outside.Shit, he'd found her already.
If she left...
Daaynal would be free too.The image of the woman in stasis filled her mind.Humiliated, maybe… hurt, but free.Free to be with the woman he actually wanted…
"How?"Emily breathed.
Lucy reached into her pocket and slid a small, flat device across the table.It looked like a standard data chip, but thicker, encased in black matte plastic that absorbed the harsh light of the café.
"There's a network," she said, her words tumbling over one another."People who think forcing species together isn't diplomacy, it's slavery.They help people like us, Em.Safehouses, transports, jammers that can block the trackers."
Emily looked at the device.It was so small, just a piece of plastic.
"Take it," Lucy urged, pushing it closer."Keep it hidden.If you decide,whenyou decide, you press the center.That's it.That sends the signal.They'll handle the rest."
"They?"
"I'm just a contact," Lucy shrugged."But they're real.And they can get you out.Whenever you're ready."
She reached across the table.Her fingers brushed the cold plastic.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Lucy smiled, but there was fear there, she realized.Real fear.
"Us humans have to stick together," Lucy said, standing up and smoothing her clothes down."Drink your coffee, Em.It'll all be okay, I promise."
With a wink, she walked away, threading her way through the crowded cafe.She disappeared into the mass on the promenade without looking back.
Emily sat alone at the table.She looked across the café at Raaevik.He was watching her, his face impassive, his gaze fixed on her like she was the only thing in the room.He took a step toward her, then stopped, holding his distance.
The device sat heavily in her pocket.He'd made his choice.Now she had to make hers.
She finished her coffee.It tasted like ash.
