“Telion has an underworld?”

“Of course. On all planets, there are those who need to avoid the eyes of the law.”

“Avoid the eyes of the law? Klowix! You’re the Commander of the Telion army.”

Klowix shrugged. “No man is perfect, even a king. This isn’t the first time Sirin has made a bad decision, though this is by far the most catastrophic of them all. In order to truly serve the people, I must know the channels to take when the king’s law is contrary to their well-being.”

Bethany burst out laughing. “I never would have guessed.”

“Let’s hope the king feels the same way.”

“I’m sure he does.”

“We should also hope the king too busy evicting the rest of the humans to worry about me for the next week.”

That sobered Bethany up. “What are we going to do?”

Klowix sat down on the bed, thinking. “Well, we can’t stay here permanently, that’s for sure. I meant what I said when I told you Telion wouldn’t be safe for you after the last of the shuttles left. What if we went back to Earth? To your family?”

For a moment, Bethany could see it. She imagined seeing her parents again, telling them she was ok. Then she saw them recoiling in horror at the sight of Klowix.

Her voice sounded sad. “We can’t. Telion is actually a lot more advanced than earth – or at least, it was. Evions aren’t accepted there at all. Besides, doesn’t Earth have extradition agreements with Telion?”

“It does. All planets under the council are interlinked. If I desert Telion, the king will come after me. It won’t matter which planet we’re on. He’ll find me. There really is only one thing to do.”

“What’s that?”

“We’ll have to go somewhere else.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, go to another planet. Either an uninhabited one, or one far enough away that it’s outside the intergalactic alliance.”

Bethany’s eyes went wide. “That’s a death sentence. The outer planets have no law other than brute force. There’s no civilization, it’s a jungle.”

“Then we’ll find our own planet. With my connections, I can get us a travel ship. We’ll jump from solar system to solar system until we find somewhere safe that can support us. It’ll be hard work; we won’t have any of the technological support we do here. We’ll have to build everything ourselves, and stay under the radar, but we can do it.”

Bethany whispered now. “You’d do that for me? Give up everything, start a new life on an undeveloped planet light years away from everyone?”

“You are my secrena. Your choosing me over everything else confirmed your bond. My choosing you over everything else confirms mine.”

Bethany didn’t know what to say. She wrapped her arms around Klowix, and he held her protectively. In the end, there was only one thing she could say.

“Yes.”

“Then there is work to do. I must get to it.”

While Klowix made calls and sent multiple messages on his T-screen, Bethany picked through the bag he’d packed for them. To her surprise, she saw her own things there as well. She wanted to ask Klowix how he’d gotten them out of her suitcase by the shuttle without the guards noticing, but he was intently talking to one of his army connections.

She imagined Beoli had something to do with it. Beoli was scrupulously honest, but if she wanted to, she could steal the shoes off your feet without you noticing. Bethany had been astounded at some of her demonstrations. Those guards would have no idea what hit them.

Bethany pulled out a book and began reading, trying not to look out of the window. To say a rough crowd lived down here was putting it mildly. She understood why Klowix had been so tense getting her through the streets.

Finally, after three long phone calls and several typed messages, Klowix put down the screen. “It will be tight, but it can be done. The travel ship will be purchased and ready in one week. I’ve arranged for one of my people to be at border control as we leave the atmosphere. I still need to talk to someone about getting the proper supplies. Planet terraforming gear is regulated, so I’ll have to go through underground channels.”

“How many people do you have? How many would choose you over the king?”

“Enough. Many that I think would, but not nearly as many that I’m completely certain about. For this, I can’t risk anything on uncertainties.”

Klowix grabbed the screen and made another call. When Bethany heard the voice on the other side, she rushed up next to Klowix.

“Trili!”

“Bethany! I’m so glad you’re both all right.”

She could just see Beoli and Snia peering in from behind Trili.

“Report.”

“Everything is going as it should, Commander. I’ve put out the story that you’re ill, just like you told me. We’ve got Dr. Yie in on it; he’ll be arriving soon. We could really use Culip, though; some holograms of you in bed wouldn’t go amiss.”

“You can contact her on the secure line. I’ll send you the link now. She should be able to send you anything you require. Now, we need to plan your exit. Once the king discovers I’m gone, he may take out his anger on you three. We should time it so that you leave planet a couple of hours before Bethany and I do. Tell them that I’ve sent you away; it’s happened often enough in the past that it won’t raise any eyebrows.”

Snia interjected now. “Where are you going, Commander?”

“We can’t tell you for now, in case anything goes wrong. Once we’ve arrived, we’ll try to contact you so that you can join us, if you wish.”

“Try to contact us?”

“There may not be a signal for quite a while, and when we do get it set up, it’ll be very basic.”

Trili and the others were beginning to look worried. “Commander, where are you going?”

“Never mind that. Just focus on keeping up appearances and keeping yourselves safe. I should go now; there is much still to organize.”

“Commander, there’s one more thing.”

“What is it?”

Trili hesitated. “Now that all the shuttles have left, there is a decree of death to any human left on Telion.”

Klowix growled. “I know. “I fought against it, but to no avail.”

“It’s already started.”

“What?”

“Sirin hasn’t just left it to the army and law officers to round up any humans who refused to leave. He’s let the people have free reign. There are already killings in the streets. Many have lived here their whole lives and didn’t want to leave. It’s – been brutal.”

Bethany gasped. “How? How can they even tell? Humans and Evions look the same!”

“They’ve been snatching random people and demanding for them to prove they’re Evion by demonstrating their ability to move at super speeds. If they can’t, then those who don’t have weapons use whatever is at hand, like rocks. Sometimes just their fists.”

Klowix was clutching the T-screen that so tightly that it looked in danger of breaking. “This will not stand. The intergalactic council will have Sirin’s head – doesn’t he know that!”

He took a calming breath and forcibly loosened his hold on the screen. “This is worse than I thought. This will cause civil war; not all Evions have turned against humans, not by a long shot. It’s not safe for any of us anymore. You three need to leave right now, before you get caught up in a war you can’t escape.”

“What about you, Commander? We have to keep your cover until you and Bethany escape.”

“Talk to Culip. She can do anything with a T-screen. She’ll have to use holograms and recordings to create the best cover she can. It’s the best we can do remotely, but I’ll not have you here any longer than necessary. Get far away from Telion; go to another solar system if you can. This is going to get very ugly very quickly.”

Bethany couldn’t believe what she was hearing. History was making and unmaking itself even as they spoke. Klowix quickly hung up and began making urgent calls, moving forward the transportation for the Evion girls.

“Commander, what about the humans? We can’t just stay down here; we have to do something to help them.”

“Oh, you don’t worry about that. I’ve served in the army for many years. My men and women know the difference between right and wrong. Their loyalty to the king won’t hold for long, if it hasn’t already broken. There will be some who remain, but enough will turn away from this madness.” Klowix took her to the window. “Look.”

Bethany looked and saw a steady trickle of people coming from the same place she and Klowix had entered the underworld.

There was pride in Klowix’s voice now. “They’ve already begun. Already, those loyal to me are evacuating humans down here. They’ll be arranging shuttles off-planet for them as we speak. A truly good army doesn’t rely on one Commander; a Commander can fall. If you wish to be a leader, you need to teach people how to lead themselves and do the right thing when you are not there to help them.”

Bethany was awed. She watched as a couple of people in military uniforms began directing the newcomers to various buildings. Klowix went back to his calls. From what Bethany heard, it was getting more difficult by the minute; the planet was being overrun with people leaving, and not just humans.

Throngs of Evions lined up to leave, refusing to live under a king who would allow such atrocities. More stayed, helping the humans escape, or hiding them. Others joined the fight. Through the background of the connecting T-screen that Klowix was talking to, Bethany could hear the shouting and the shooting. Klowix was right. This was going to trigger a revolution.

“Shouldn’t we stay? Try to help?”

Klowix laughed. “You would have made a great officer, but no. Part of being a good fighter is knowing how to choose your battles. This planet is going to become a war zone. No one here will be safe. Those who have the power to truly make a difference will come from outside. Once the council hears about this, they will release weapons of war to the People’s Intergalactic Army and send them to end this nonsense.”

Bethany kept a watch outside as Klowix made more calls. The trickle of humans continued. Some of them were injured and were directed to one of a couple of shabby stores along the street that looked to Bethany like they provided medical services. She hoped they were at least clean.

When Klowix finally finished his next call, Bethany decided to ask him. “Commander, where we’re going, what we’re doing – it will be dangerous, won’t it?”

Klowix’s voice was heavy. “Yes. I will do whatever I can to keep us safe, but colonizing a new planet is dangerous enough even when you have teams of specialized workers. With just the two of us, I still think that gives us a better chance than anywhere else, though.”

“How likely is it we’ll get communication up?”

“I’ll get Culip to send us instructions before we’re out of range. Hopefully we’ll be able to establish some basic form of transmission relatively early on, though it may be slow until we can upgrade the system.”

“I want to message my parents.”

“Your parents?”

“They probably think I’m dead. I may well be before we reach the end of this. Before we leave, while we still have the connection, I want to send them a message telling them I’m alive and happy.”

“Of course, but you will need to take precautions. Tell them nothing of your exact situation, in case the message is intercepted. Tell them of your safety and happiness, nothing more. Details can come once we’re set up and have a secure line from our new home.”

Bethany nodded. “I’ll let you read it before I send it.”

Klowix did something on her T-screen to make it safe for her to use it without being detected by the authorities – he called it a blocking mechanism – then went back to his own messaging.

Bethany typed and deleted many times before she had a letter she was happy with. Finally, she read it through.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I know you must have been worried sick about me; maybe you even thought I was dead. I’m sorry. I couldn’t contact you before, but now I can. There’s a lot of trouble, so I can’t give you specifics, but know that I am all right, and I am happy.

The day I was taken, I thought my life was over. It turned out that was the day my life began. Mom, Dad, I’m in love. I never thought it would happen like this, but it did. We’re going away together, to a place where we will be safe.

It’ll be a dangerous trip, and it may be a long time before I can contact you again, but know that I am thinking of you. If you don’t hear from me again, know that as short as my life was, it was beautiful. I got to experience more happiness than most people would in a thousand lifetimes.

I don’t regret a second of it, and neither should you.

I love you always

Your daughter,

Bethany

Bethany wiped away tears as she showed Klowix the message. He squeezed her shoulder and nodded. Bethany pressed send, then turned off the T-screen. She didn’t want to get their reply until they were away. It would be a breath of home when they found their new world.

Klowix pulled on her arm. “Come on. We should get some sleep.”

The week in the dingy room went by quickly. As Klowix had requested, Bethany remained inside. He mostly made calls and arrangements. She got to talk to Trili, Snia, and Beoli a few more precious times. They hadn’t yet heard from Culip except for the short messages she managed to send Klowix when no one was looking. She would soon be safely out of the eyes of the authorities, though.

On their last morning on Telion, Bethany had everything packed. Klowix woke early to confirm all the arrangements. The others had left a few days before and were safe. Now, she and Klowix needed only to escape.

One of his men met them at a different exit to the underworld.

“Your ship is up there, Commander.”

“Thank you, soldier. Take care of yourself. Things aren’t going to get better here for a while.”

“I know, sir. We’ll keep fighting until the intergalactic army gets here.”

“I know you will.”

Klowix ushered Bethany onto a huge ship and closed the door behind her.

“Get ready.”

Bethany strapped herself in as she had been instructed, as Klowix took command. She could feel the ship rising into the air. The picked up speed as they started leaving the atmosphere.

They were almost free; Bethany started breathing easier.

Suddenly, the monitors began going wild.

“What’s wrong?”

Klowix’s face was tense. “No! No, it can’t be!”

“Klowix, what?”

“It’s the planetary border control. They’ve spotted us. They’re firing up their guns.”