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Elizabeth opened her mouth, but Nova cut her off.
“Besides, I’m not spying on Altair anymore, so you might as well bring me back.”
“Why not?”
“He’s in love with me,” she admitted. “And I have my limits when it comes to destroying other people’s lives. I’m not going to take advantage of someone in love.”
Elizabeth bit her lip like she was trying not to smile.
“What makes you think he loves you?”
“He told me. We had sex and now he thinks he’s in love with me. And I can’t do it anymore!”
“Wait, spy or sex?”
“Spy! And sex. I’m out.”
“I’ve already told you that I’m taking you with me as soon as I leave Mudden.”
“Yes, but who knows when that will be?”
“Usually, I’m on the planet for a year then off-planet for a year.”
“A year?!”
“I’m sorry Nova, but that was our deal.”
“I could be dead in a year.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
Nova wasn’t sure there was much Elizabeth could do about it. Sure she’d saved Brent, but not before he’d gotten so beat up he couldn’t stand on his own.
Honestly, she didn’t understand why Elizabeth would want to even stay in Mudden.
“Why don’t you escape? You leave the planet all the time? Why do you come back?”
“I want to help.”
“But why? This place is awful. And not just the kidnapping and hanging part. You have people so poor that they live in shacks and slave in mines all day, while at the same time you have people so rich they keep their flintoid statues out in the open like it wouldn’t even matter to them if someone stole it.”
“What’s a flintoid statue?” Elizabeth asked, a confused frown on her face.
“A statue made from flintoid stone.”
“Where did you see that?”
Frustrated with Elizabeth’s obvious avoidance of the real issue, she stopped pacing and turned toward her. “In Altair’s office. It’s what I used to hit the intruder on the head, the most expensive weapon I’ve ever used.” The expression on Elizabeth’s face changed to complete blankness. “I don’t know how Altair got it. Maybe he doesn’t even know what it is. Very few people even know what flintoid looks like in its solid form. I only know because someone hired me to steal one once. It’s so rare that it’s almost become a legend in the collector’s market.”
Elizabeth continued to stare at her like she was kilometers away. Suddenly, she got up and left the room without saying a word. Nova stood there awkwardly wondering if she should leave. Maybe she’d offended her somehow.
As she was deciding to go, Elizabeth walked back in and handed her something.
“You’re telling me this is flintoid?” she nearly yelled, obviously having a hard time controllingheremotions.
Nova took the object from her. It was a beautiful piece. She’d been searching this town for valuable things, and it looked like Elizabeth had been hiding them all along. Shaped like a small bird, the dark flintoid stone turned multicolor when the light hit it just right. It was tiny compared to the statue in Altair’s office, but if she found the right buyer, she’d be able to get enough money to buy herself a villa on one of the vacation moons of Minas.
“Where did you get this?” she asked, her hand itching to slip it in her pocket when Elizabeth wasn’t looking.
