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Aliyah
Three mafia guards crash through the door of our transporter room.
My sister shrieks with dismay because the guys who’ve arrived are heavily armed, dangerous and look really, really pissed off.
How did these fuckers find us so fast? Hadn’t I thought of everything? We’re here at two o’clock in the freaking morning, when the entire Mumbai transporter station is closed to the public. Thank gods Jada is already standing on the lighted disk, ready to depart to our next destination.
My sister and I are rushing to Tarvos, a planet populated by an entirely different species, on the opposite side of the four sectors, because we’re trying to escape the criminal machinations of our father, Darius Williams—the President of the New Earth mafia. Our dad has nefarious plans for us, and we need out of here fast before these fucked-up plans come to fruition. Somehow his enforcers have learned of our escape and are here to drag us back to the compound?
No fucking way.
I meet Jada’s panicked gaze and make an instant decision to send my identical twin sister off without me. It’s the only way to keep her safe. “You’re the oldest and nicest, so you go first,” I announce as I hit the transporter sequence.
“What? No,” she gasps. “Aliyah, don’t…I can’t go there without…” But my darling sister is already dissipating, and her words evaporate in the chaos that arrives with her exit.
A guard roars in anger at the possibility of losing his high-value target. He charges for Jada but phases through her loose, ghost-like form and hits the wall behind her scattered shape. I sigh with relief as he crashes to the ground, empty-handed as Jada winks out of existence and the lights to the disk shut down. She’s gone, safe on Tarvos with our cousin Ariana. This is all that matters.
The other two guards turn and point blasters at me.
“Don’t move,” the tallest guy snarls. He’s the enforcer who’s been staring at my ass every single day for the last week. “We’re here to take you back to the Prez. If you don’t start trouble, no one will harm you.”
“Yeah right,” I snark back. “Do you think I’m stupid?” This has got to be the craziest situation, because my life is full of them—my father has discovered my sister and me escaping off planet? I blame it on this smarter-than-average enforcer he’s recently hired. “Look, asshole,” I tell him, “I know you want me for yourself, but it’s not happening. Darius would never give me to anyone who couldn’t pay a fortune for my hand in marriage. And if you take me back to him, I’m as good as dead. Maybe not right now, but certainly within a few years. I’ll either be raped and beaten by the violent, misogynistic criminal lord Darius has planned for me to marry, or I’ll be assassinated by my future husband’s mafia rivals, or simply caught amid gang warfare crossfire. And any children I have will be used as leverage against me and will also be in harm’s way. That’s why Jada and I are on the run. If we hide out from Darius on the opposite side of the four sectors, hopefully we’re safe to finally live the lives we choose for ourselves in peace.”
He bares his yellow teeth and takes a threatening step forward. “Both of you need to learn your place in the family. You’re going back with us.”
I shake my head, “Nope. Not ever happening. I’d rather die than return to the life my father has planned for me.”
“Grab her,” he yells.
I might be overweight and not the most fit-looking individual, but I’m quick-witted and scrappy. Most beings underestimate me because I’m a style influencer who never went to university. They think I’m not very bright. It’s true that my sister has a lot of book knowledge, but my street smarts come in handy.
I toss out a smoke bomb and place a tiny breather in my mouth.
Gray mist swiftly clouds the entire space. The guards double over, coughing. They can’t see me or even find each other. I immediately head for the door in the ensuing chaos. Twenty steps and then I open it and turn back to use my recently purchased black-market code to lock the door behind me.
Heh. The hallway is dark and quiet. I tuck the breather back in my pocket and let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully this delay will allow me to enter another room and maybe I can still make it to Tarvos with Jada?
I don’t like the idea of being separated from my twin.
Jada might not know it, but she’s the most important thing in the universe to me. We live together and share the same upbringing, the same features, and even have our own shared language, making her the easiest person for me to talk to. She always jokes that I’m her evil twin, which is hilarious. Evil? Because I live life to the fullest and enjoy parties, clubs and events? What’s so wrong with that? But really, she’s a sweetheart and my best friend, plus she doesn’t know it, but I promised Mom before she died that I’d take care of Jada. I plan on keeping that vow to the letter.
I power walk down the dark hall and pause at the next door, coding it open. This room will have a dormant transporter unit I can use to send me to Tarvos. But I open the door and find the lights on and the transporter already in use. What the heck?
Two young men dressed in long, brown multigod priest robes turn and stare at me in shock.
“Wh…what?” I sputter.
“Who are you?” the blond-haired one hisses. “What are you doing here?”
“No, what areyoutwo doing here?” I question back. Then I throw up my hands. “Oh hells. This place is closed. I thought I was the only one who broke in here tonight, but I was wrong. All of us are here for ‘reasons’ trying to escape in secret, right?”
A loud, ominous bang reverberates from the vicinity of the room I left.
“Oh shit,” I whisper.
“What have you done?” the other guy with wide dark eyes accuses. “Are you trying to get us all arrested?”
