AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thank you.”
Altair went to the kitchen to get the food, and they sat down to eat.
“Gary is leaving,” he said halfway through dinner.
“That’s great.”
He nodded but didn’t look overly satisfied. “He’s only taking half of his man with him to Glaerus. The rest are staying here to continue investigating the rebel situation. Also, Glaerus isn’t far from here, so he’ll be able to come back and check up on them frequently.”
“What does that mean ‘investigating?’”
“They’ll search Brent’s house, interrogate his neighbors, and invite anyone who wants to report suspicious activity to speak up.”
“That sounds awful,” she said, hoping Elizabeth would hurry up and get her spaceship ready. She couldn’t wait to leave.
The next week passed without incident. Nova and Altair got into a rhythm. Every evening they had dinner together and talked about their day. Nova actually started to look forward to the time they spent together. She’d come to think of Altair as a friend. They talked about everything from their past to politics.
Altair opened up to her, and although he was still bossy and cool, she came to understand the meaning behind his words and actions. She no longer thought of him as arrogant. She saw that when he held himself up above others, he was actually hiding his pain, and when he was being insensitive, he was often trying to help in his own controlling way.
The more time passed and the worse she felt for hiding who she truly was. She would tell Altair stories of her life by melding them with the little bit of information that she had gathered about Meghan’s past. But it still felt wrong.
Otherwise, her days were spent working. She hadn’t seen Elizabeth since they’d had their conversation. One morning, Mari, the nurse, told her that Elizabeth had gone on a trip. Nova hoped she’d gone to get a spaceship, but sometimes she also worried that she’d gone and abandoned her.
One evening she had to make a delivery at Mak’s mother’s house. She anxiously knocked on the door. The last time she’d seen Mak, they’d exchanged some harsh words. She hadn’t heard from him or the other rebels since then.
The door opened. Brent’s oldest brother stood on the other side.
She handed him the bag without saying a word and left.
* * *
Another week passed. The Mudden military’s investigation had everyone on edge. They’d come to the house and searched the entire place.
Altair had overseen the search. He was there when they’d pulled the plain dress out of her closet. It hadn’t meant anything to the military men, but she caught Altair staring at it, though he never said a word to her about it.
One evening, he told her they’d made some arrests. She recognized the names of three of the people they’d arrested. They’d been in the rebel group. Nova’s blood pounded in her ears as he listed those names out to her.
Elizabeth couldn’t get her out of here fast enough. Nova still had no news from her.
That night, when Nova went to sleep—she still slept on her couch, though she’d stopped pushing the closet in front of the door at some point—she heard a noise outside her window.
Tap, tap, tap.
She got up to investigate. Karen stood under her window with a wooden stick in her hands.
Careful not to make a sound, Nova opened the window and climbed out.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, looking around frantically to make sure no one could see them.
“Things have gotten really bad,” Karen said. “I didn’t know where to go.”
Nova looked for bruises on her face but saw nothing, not that that meant anything.
“What happened?”
“The Mudden military is closing in,” she said with a sob in her voice. “It won’t be long before they find us all.”
Nova wanted to tell her that she was making their job easier by coming to her house in the middle of the night, but held her tongue. Karen looked really upset. Instead, she wrapped her arm around her shoulders.
