Chapter 23
I wake up with a start, my head throbbing and throat so parched it feels like someone grated it with sandpaper. My fingers immediately go to my neck but my skin doesn't sting like I expected it to.
I turn to the side, half expecting to see Lazarus sleeping next to me but the other side of my bed is empty.
Did I imagine last night?
My thoughts flit through the fog of memories. I remember the boy named Ron, who showed me the only room on this planet that is free of surveillance. The throbbing intensifies as I recall bits and pieces, it makes me regret drinking in the first place.
I remember promising to help Ron which come to think of it, doesn't seem very beneficial for the sake of a human's life long services. And then I remember coming home, my mind and body already intoxicated and giddy, only to be strangled to sleep by an obsessive Lazarus.
But now I'm awake and there's no trace he was ever here.
My steps are incoherent as I rush to the bathroom and study myself in the sprawling mirror. Even with the dim lighting it's easy to see my bare neck, smooth and devoid of any strangle marks. If memory serves, a grip like that would have definitely left a mark.
But why did it feel so real?
Am I going crazy? I quickly splash water on my face, wash up and get ready for the day. I swallow down some medicine to cure my hangover and tell Commander Axis to meet me at the Sympathizer labs.
We meet surreptitiously in a sealed off chamber that hasn't been used since it was disinfected weeks ago. I didn't see General Lyra on the way in which is a good thing because I'd prefer some privacy for this meeting. Last I checked she was preparing for the diplomatic visit to Lazarus's lab on Earth. The first group to visit consists of a few members of the war council, General Lyra and General Xia.
Due to security reasons, the leaders have decided to travel on different dates instead of visiting together.
I am scheduled to visit with Lazarus in two cycles. Lucian in one.
It would have been nice to see the place with Lucian by my side, I've always loved gauging his reactions but sadly not this time.
Commander Axis puts a tiny coin shaped disc into the recess in the wall and activates the screen for the both of us. He lays out all the data before me, scrupulously documenting every flight path and phone call Commander Alya made over the past year.
She visited Earth twice, her dates coinciding with Lazarus's trips although never together. And then a few other excursions coinciding with my father's squad members. My head ache threatens to resurface and I swear never to drink again.
There's a growing discomfort swirling in my chest. I trusted this Plutonian. Brought Alya onto my squad when I was seventeen. There has never been a disagreement between us, never any hostility. It stings that she would turn against me but if she was involved with this experiment then the answer is obvious:
Power and money must have been offered to her. I can think of no other reason and knowing Lazarus, he would have promised a lot of it. The thing is, when it comes to power Lazarus only serves himself.
The phone logs are worse. Axis used our experimental data reviving device to decrypt their coded call logs. Most of them were destroyed once over but we have developed technology that can resurrect parts of deleted conversations.
There is no denying when I hear Alya telling my father's squad member about my conversations during each intergalactic visit.
"Don't worry. She doesn't suspect a thing."
My chest caves when she repeats those words twice during a call but the receivers voice is blocked. We were only able to salvage parts of the call. I don't know who she's talking to and it makes me feel like an idiot.
I clench my fists, listening till the end. I can't believe I mourned the betrayer. I must have looked like a fool to Lazarus and my father, who held her true allegiance till she died.
Commander Axis increases the volume, indicating that I should listen carefully to this segment. I sit up straight and watch him as her last few calls play through.
"I have to tell them the truth. They deserve to know." Alya sounds panicked here, desperate even.
A robotic voice warns her not to act but I can't place it. Maybe a voice over was used.
"You're right. You're right. I'm sorry. This is necessary for us. I'm sorry." She sounds scared here, her voice trembling a little.
The zoomed in image of Alya handing a note over to the SA minister comes to mind immediately. What was she trying to tell him?
"When was this dated?" I ask Commander Axis and he shows me the call log. Only a week before our visit to Earth. It can't be a coincidence that she has second thoughts regarding her job, tries to tell the SA minister something and is shot dead the same Earth day.
"Did you look into the human? Ron's brother?" I ask Axis dejectedly. Something doesn't feel right, the gnawing grows in the pits of my belly. A sense of foreboding I can't shake off.
"There is no record of any volunteer services procured from the human slaves in that time frame. It appears he has simply disappeared off the face of the Pluto." He says, prominent silver eye brows bunched together in a frown. He takes out one coin and puts in another, bringing up the file on Ron's brother, Roman.
Both the brothers are lanky but the similarities end there. Roman has curly brown hair, with a cluster of freckles across his face, his eyes dark brown and turned downwards. Ron's hair was moppy and straight, skin clear and pale with that birthmark under his right eye.
Non identical twins.
"He can't just disappear on Pluto, Commander." My voice comes out sharper than intended and I notice he stands up straighter.
"I will keep looking, your honour."
I sigh and the gnawing feeling deepens when I think of Lazarus, who along with my father seems to be at the centre of it all.
"Could you look up on the surveillance for the past 24 hours?"
"Of course. Which location would you like to see?" Commander Axis's fingers flex, ready for the new task.
"On my house"
It's an oddly timed request but thankfully he goes straight to business, his face a mask of neutrality. I wait for what should be a few minutes work and watch the camera's he hacks into.
My body tightens when I see Lazarus leaving his place and heading to mine. The cameras outside my house show him walking in before dinner. I watch myself hurrying away after our disagreement and then I see him leaving soon after.
I bite my lip wanting to get a closer look of his face and his expression but he's too far away. The hours zip by and my apprehension grows as I wait for him to come back but my driveway remains empty.
My father leaves later into the night and then there's me, wobbling over the porch. Still no Lazarus. The driveway remains empty till the artificial atmosphere brightens the sky with daylight.
My back hits the wall and I suck in a breath. He wasn't there the entire night. I had imagined him in my room waiting for me, threatening me and then strangling me. What the hell is wrong with me?
We had parted on a sour note so it actually does make sense that he wouldn't have waited for me in my house. But then...where was he?
I hate how I have so much doubt, so much mistrust but I can't stop thinking about him. "PG Lazarus. Where was he last night?"
I sound like a scary madam and I despise it so much. Commander Axis does as told, never looking up as he hacks into every camera system set up over the city, our facial recognition sensors honing in for Lazarus's face.
We pick up his glider and then I see him walk into his bar, known for it's sensual music and discreet hook ups. He spends the entire night there. I wait and wait until I realise the time stamp is now, meaning he's still there.
Shouldn't he be preparing for the trip to Earth? Why hasn't he left that sordid place yet?
"Thank you, Commander Axis. That will be all for now." Every inch of me is itching to go to that bar and see what he's up to. It doesn't help that I grew up watching him with other Plutonian women all the time, the jealousy I felt always all consuming.
Yesterday I wasn't ready for him, now I want to gouge the eyes of the female who dares touch him. There really is something wrong with me.
"I will let you know about the human should anything come up, PG Luna." Commander Axis bows in respect and leaves the room, the resultant silence making it seem like I stepped into a vacuum.
I board my glider and head to the army base, but somehow find myself in the city. My eyes squint over the sunny horizon, our artificial sun rays casting shadows over the buildings driveway. I park by the side and walk into Lazarus's bar, my heart thumping in my chest.
"Where is PG Lazarus?" My voice comes out hard, almost angry as I ask the main attendant manning the VIP section.
His eyes widen in alarm and I catch that fleeting glance to the back of the bar. It's all the confirmation I need to march ahead as he hurries after me.
"PG Luna that section is strictly off limits unless you have a reservation. We value our clients privacy above all else. I can't let you search through each booth."
He talking about the rows of sofa's all sealed off by red curtains and soundproof walls, leaving its occupants to their vices. The music here is low, the beats specifically designed to make your core throb. The smell of musk and incense fill the air, along with giggles and whispers from behind the curtains.
I whirl around and the attendant nearly collides with me.
"Then tell me which one he's in or I will pull open each curtain and embarrass all your guests," I whisper fervently, eyes wide with rage.
"I can't." He tells me, face etched with pure unadulterated fear.
I turn around and proceed to pull on a golden tassel holding a pair of curtains together and he quickly rushes to stop me.
"Alright. I will." He says in panic. Other attendants have rushed over to assist him but he puts up a hand to stop them, telling them to remain silent.
If I were to expose a prominent client here the business would suffer and he knows it. He nods to the booth right at the end of the room and I follow him, my apprehension growing with each step.
"Master Lazarus," He whispers through the curtains and I don't wait for a response before throwing it open. Sure enough Lazarus is lying down, shirtless and a female Plutonian is massaging his feet while another rubs his shoulders. They are both topless, with tiny pieces of underwear barely covering their behinds.
I knew I would be jealous but I never expectedly it to feel like a kick in the gut.
Lazarus glances over at us lazily, looking slightly intoxicated but then he recognises me and sits up slowly.
"Luna, I didn't expect to see you here. You rejected me so dismissively, after all," His voice is cutting and he frowns with distaste.
"Of course you didn't," I say looking at the two Plutonian women who remain frozen in place, unsure if they should leave or stay.
Lazarus places his arms across the sofa back, legs splayed, black pants stretched tight over his crotch making it obvious how hard he is.
"If you think I've been cheating, you're wrong. These wonderful females were only relieving me of some tension but this," He rubs the front of his pants, making my cheeks red because the female escorts and the male attendant are all watching. "This can only be relieved by you."
"You are scum, Lazarus." I spit out and then walk away, my body shaking with rage and humiliation as hot tears burn my eyes.
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