Later that week, Vera dropped off the remains of Rayner’s dinner in the kitchens, her mind cloudy with thoughts of him. The last few days had been a flurry of learning. Of settling into the routine of the city. Of getting to know the man she now lived with and slept beside every night. Rayner was a perfect gentleman and had broken more of Decallian’s servant rules than Vera could count to make her feel like an equal instead of a servant.

But no matter how hard he tried when they were alone and inside his house, she was still a servant. She did laundry and cleaned and brought him food. It had been over a week since they’d arrived on the planet, and the only thing Vera had fixed was the lamp she’d broken. Her fingers ached for the feel of metal and grease; her heart longed for the sense of accomplishment when she made something broken work once again.

Turning from the vast stone basin that served as a dish sink, she noticed a pair of female servants staring at her and whispering. Their gazes darted over her tunic and leggings, then back to her face. Face burning with a poisonous cocktail of shame and anger, Vera whirled away from them.

“Vera,” a voice hissed. She turned to find Rebeka gaping at her. “Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick!”

Guilt swamped Vera. She’d been so wrapped up, first with Niva and now with Rayner, that she’d almost forgotten about the other women counting on her. “I’m sorry. I’ve been … busy.”

Rebeka studied her, and Vera had to fight the urge to squirm. “We’ve heard the rumors.”

Vera’s stomach sank. “About what?”

“Your boss. The Beta.” Rebeka crossed her arm. Around them, the other servants ignored their conversation, save for the occasional nosy glance. “Everyone is saying you’re sleeping with him.”

“I—” But the blush heating Vera’s cheeks gave her away, and Rebeka pounced.

“How could you! After what they did to Niva? These people are monsters!”

“Calm down,” Vera tried. “It’s not like that.”

“How can I possibly calm down? Look at me!” Rebeka angrily gestured to her skimpy clothing. “At least you’re covered up! Or did your boyfriend not want the other guys checking out his piece of ass?”

Vera grimaced, but she deserved the harsh words. Finding an escape plan had been the last thought on her mind these last few days with Rayner. “I can ask Rayner to get clothes for you and the others too.”

“I don’t need new clothes! I need to get the hell out of here. My mother must be sick with worry over what happened to me. What’s wrong with you? We have families back home. Isma has a daughter waiting for her.” The woman pinched a fold of Vera’s tunic between her stained fingers. “You might have a sexy alien boyfriend, but the rest of us aren’t so lucky. Have you forgotten you promised to get us out of here?”

“No, of course not. I haven’t forgotten.”

Rebeka leaned close, nearly spitting the words. “Then how do you plan on getting us the hell off this planet?”

The question stung like a whip. Vera traced her plans back to the moment everything had derailed, when she thought sleeping with Rayner might be a good idea. She’d just wanted to forget and forget she had. How stupid and selfish could she be? Perhaps she really was the pet servant everyone thought she was.

Setting her jaw, she resolved to remedy the situation. When she arrived on this planet, she’d promised to use every tactic available to get the captives free. Her duty was to these women and getting them home. “Rayner has a desk in the house.” Vera forced out the words even though they felt like a betrayal. “I’ll look through it. Find some passwords or flight schedules. Meet me here again and we’ll talk more.”

“And if you just ignore us again?”

“I won’t. I promise.” Vera scrambled for something, anything to make the situation better. She lowered her voice and said, “There’s an Omega Selection in a week. It’s a big event for the clan. We could slip out when everyone is distracted.”

The words were a lie, of course. After the last few days with Rayner, she didn’t know if she could just leave. The other women had families to return to, but Vera had nothing aside from her job. But even as she thought about staying, she hated herself for it. Rayner might be a good man, but she was still his servant. She had no freedom here on Kladuu.

“Okay.” Rebeka nodded. She gripped Vera’s hand and squeezed. “Please, Vera. You can find a way to get us out of here. Don’t let us down.”

“I promise,” she said for the countless time. How many more times would she have to say it for the words to not feel like a betrayal?

When she returned to Rayner’s small house, she paused and looked back at the massive hollowed mountain behind her. Such a feat of engineering, and yet everything around felt natural. Basic. Pure. The Vilkas had done such a tremendous job of keeping things natural, she half expected to see a sunset. She had to struggle to remember the price of this artificially natural setting came only by the sweat of servants.

Rayner may have thought much had changed since the time when his mother was a slave, but Vera knew differently.

Her heart ached for him. She knew his intentions were good. But from his position as Beta that was so high above everyone else, he hadn’t seen clearly what was happening amongst the lowest class of the clan. He hadn’t felt the derision and electric tension coursing through the tunnels like Vera had. He hadn’t seen the servants’ faces after a higher-ranked clan member disrespected them. He hadn’t heard the murmurs of discontent.

The servants stood upon a precipice of change, and it wouldn’t take but a tiny nudge to push them over the edge.

With an uneasy feeling, she entered the house, expecting to find Rayner working at his desk or maybe even standing there waiting for her, but the room was empty.

“Rayner?” she called, moving into the bedroom, which was also empty. The soft pillows on the bed looked intensely inviting, but for all Vera knew, the other women were shivering on bare cots each night.

She squeezed her eyes shut. What was wrong with her? How could she have so easily forgotten the plight of her fellow captives because of a few placating words from a man she barely knew?

With Rayner gone, she had an opportunity to get a good look around just as she’d promised Rebeka she would. He was a man of power, and Vera was in a position to use that. She needed every advantage she could get. She’d already tried to access the netscreen on his desk the first day she was in his house, but she’d found out it only unlocked at Rayner’s touch. She’d poked through most of his things, but now she went at it with a critical eye.

She sat in his high-backed leather chair and, with shaking hands, opened the main drawer. The drawer smelled fresh, like wood resin and perhaps a hint of ozone. She riffled gently through Rayner’s pens and papers. Methodically, she worked her way through all the drawers, finding boring memorandums on clan policy, a training schedule at the arena, a map of an agricultural layout, and some personal correspondence. She felt bad about reading his letters, but curious as well, and found herself unaccountably relieved there were no love letters among the notes.

After she’d flipped through what felt like an entire library of useless papers, she leaned back in the chair with frustration. How could he have nothing at all here of a serious nature? He was second in command. He had to have some official paperwork lying around.

She scoured her gaze over the walls, trying to imagine where he would keep a hidden wall safe in a home made of stone. Rising, she went and checked his shelves, pulling all his clothing out and running her hands along the compartments before replacing the folded fabric. Nothing. She went back to the bedroom and checked the furniture there. A bedside table held two hard-bound books and a pair of reading glasses. Cute. But no official documents. What had happened to the strange missive telling him about the Omega Selection?

Going back to the desk, she opened the main drawer again. Among the papers, she spotted the strange light he’d used to read the Alpha’s letter about the Omega Selection. Rolling it around in her fingers, she discovered how to turn it on and played it across the topmost layer of papers.

She gasped.

Glowing white writing was scrawled across the top of the agricultural schematic. Breath held tightly in her chest, she scanned the light over the page. What had been labeled as crops and irrigation lines became buildings and tunnels, distances and personnel. There was the kitchen, the laundry, and the lowest cells of the mountain.

She traced a finger along the tunnels, following one that seemed to lead straight out of the mountain’s lower peaks. It ended at an area labeled Southeastern Combat Pad. Dates had been marked beneath the label, along with an update on the reconstruction. From the notes, it appeared that the area wasn’t in use, but being rebuilt after an attack of some sort. Labeled in the upper corner of the pad’s area, Vera could just make out two tiny words.

Combat Pods.

“What do you know?” Vera mumbled.

Combat pods had to be ships. Probably small ones if Vilkan “pods” were like the ones humans used to transport materials and passengers between the space station and cargo shuttles. The map didn’t specify how many pods were on the pad, but the Earthen pods could carry two people comfortably, four people in a pinch. There had to be at least two pods at this location; otherwise, the map would be labeled combat pod, right? But she couldn’t count on there being enough pods to carry all twenty women. Not to mention Rebeka was the only pilot in the group.

That meant only a few of them could get home. They’d have to bring back reinforcements to save the others. It also meant Vera had a reason to stay that wasn’t a blatant betrayal of the women or Rayner. She would remain to watch the others until Rebeka sent back help.

She knew Rayner felt strongly about keeping Kladuu a secret from the humans, but if they just returned to secure the women and left, what was the harm? He thought Gideon’s fleet raided planets and left them in ruin, but that wasn’t the case. If the Kladians didn’t want to barter their resources, the humans would leave with just the women.

But if she were to split up their group, it meant their plan had to be executed perfectly. No one could know Vera was involved in the women’s escape, or else she’d be exiled before she could help the others. They’d only have one shot at this. The consequences for getting caught would be certain death.

Adrenalin flooded her bloodstream as she traced the route to the pods, memorizing every corridor, ever descent, every turn.

She had a week to prepare herself and the women before the Omega Selection. She would need every second.