Page 71 of Between Earth and Eternity
“No . . .” she whispers fearfully.
Before she can protest, I pull her with me out of the suite and walk toward the several badges lining the hallway. One stops us before we get too close.
“Stay back,” she orders, blocking us with her armor-plated arm. The open door everyone is staring at is luckily not Payson and Laz’s, but it’s soon revealed who it belongs to when a fellow Lottery winner, the man with the young daughter, is dragged roughly from his room.
“You won’t be able to hide this forever!” he shouts, but one of the badges forces his head down and another cuffs his hands behind his back. “You bastards! You can’t do this.”
A badge sticks what looks like a syringe into his neck, and he goes silent and limp. Ori and I gasp in unison along with a few onlookers. The man is deadweight, his feet dragging behind him as he’s pulled out of sight. I immediately think of the prison vessels Sarah briefly mentioned, and I feel sick to my stomach thinking that could be his fate—or worse.
“Everyone, back to your cabins please,” Osman directs while badges urge fellow curious passengers to move along. I search the crowd for either Payson or Laz, but I am unable to locate them.
“Do you see Laz or Pace anywhere?” Ori asks. Her voice is shaky.
“No, but I’m sure they’re fine.”
Instead of finding our friends, I find Vallen and Captain Carter, the crowd now dispersed. The captain has his hands clasped behind his back, nodding along to what a badge is saying. Neither one shows an emotional response of any kind. As if he feels me watching, Vallen’s stare glides to mine. I glare back, and the smallest hint of a smile flashes across his face.
“You’re a mystery I haven’t been able to solve quite yet.”I think back on his words.
If he could read my mind, he’d find me thinking the same thing about him. He’s an enigma that I want to ignore, and yet I find myself enraptured by the little hints of what lies beneath.
It doesn’t matter how fascinating he may be, I still hate him, but even on the other side of the hallway, I feel more.
More alive.
More everything.
It’s like he’s a thought always floating near my mind, like a moth fluttering around the room, quiet and erratic, just waiting for me to reach out and catch it. Near one another, it’s impossible to ignore. Drawn to the flame. Before I lose myselfcompletely, he snaps his attention back to the badge still in deep discussion with the captain.
“Runa, what is happening?” Ori frantically grabs hold of Runa’s arm as she approaches, always radiating a calm aura.
“Mr. Timmons was arrested for conspiracy and intentions of a terrorist attack on the ship,” she replies.
“You mean these radical groupsareaboard Zenith?” Ori asks softly, like maybe if she says it quietly, it will make it false, but Runa nods, confirming.
“Is there evidence?” I ask.
Runa gives me a stern look, like a mother scolding her child. “We don’t make arrests we aren’t certain of, Miss Andrews.”
I cock my eyebrow. That doesn’t sound at all suspicious.
“Now, I think it’s best you two return to your rooms. Quickly now.”
We don’t waste time heeding her command.
“I never would have pegged that guy as a conspirator,” Ori says. I catch the worry in her tone.
“Me either, but don’t worry, if there are any others, I’m sure they will uncover them quickly.”
She nods. “Since when am I the worried one?” she asks with a small giggle.
“Nice change of pace I’d say,” I reply, and she laughs again.
“Well, I guess I’ll try to go back to sleep. Good night.”
“Night, Ori.”
When I snuggle back up in my bed of clouds, sleep surprisingly comes quickly, but it’s anything but restful. I dream of moths floating through constellations as if they are lost, searching for the light, and once they find it, they fly straight into a ball of fire.
