“Explain.”

For a long while, he didn’t speak. Then he sighed and said, “The aliens who need it will stop getting it.” Pause. “See, a while back, I chased a predatory alien into an alleyway very similar to this one. He was suspected of beating a human to death. We questioned him, found him guilty, and killed him. Then, because I’d been the one to catch him, I had to be the one to tell his family what had happened.”

Guilt and pain dripped from Erik’s voice. A part of me wanted to tell him to stop talking, that I’d heard enough. But I sank to my knees and motioned for him to continue. He needed to get it out and I needed to know the truth. “What happened then?”

“He had a wife and two little kids and they were devastated. Sticking to procedure, I instructed them to leave the planet.”

“Did they?”

“No.” He laughed bitterly. “They couldn’t return, they said, because their planet was in ruins. There was nothing left and they would die there. But you see, they were going to die if they stayed. They were not oxygen-tolerant. And, linked to a predatory alien as they were, they could no longer get their supply of Onadyn. They couldn’t afford to buy black market, either.”

Erik’s features glazed with fury, obliterating the guilt but not the pain. “They’d done nothing wrong,” he said, “but they were being punished.”

“That wasn’t your fault, Erik. You were doing your job.”

“My job could have killed them.” He slammed a fist into the brick wall. “I visited them a few days later and they were near death already. Two little kids, Camille, unable to breath because of me. Me! You should have seen them. Writhing. Groaning. Contorted.”

“Erik.”

“Have you ever seen someone die from lack of Onadyn?”

“No, but I’ve seen pictures of the end result.”

“That’s nothing compared to watching it happen.” Scowling, he punched the wall again. “I was determined to save those kids from that kind of fate.”

My respect for him deepened.

“I’d investigated an Onadyn dealer who we hadn’t yet proven guilty and approached him. He refused to sell to me, thinking I meant to bust him. I—I stole it from him and took it to the kids.”

“I’m glad,” I said, meaning it. Of course he’d taken the kids Onadyn. He cared about people, about innocents. He would not have allowed them to die, no matter what he’d had to do.

It had taken courage to do what he’d done. It had taken honor. And it had taken determination. He had to have known he’d lose everything. But he’d done it anyway. I told him all of that.

Erik peered over at me in surprise.

“You did the right thing,” I said. “I understand now. I do. And I agree with you. That family should not have been punished for their father’s sins.”

He turned his gaze to his feet. “I came to District Eight because I knew Silver’s dad was selling Onadyn illegally. I’d heard about him from another agent, but I’d never met him. I worked my way into his life and bought the drug from him until I ran out of money. I didn’t know what else to do, so I started selling it for him to pay for what I needed. I didn’t know what else to do,” he repeated.

“I wish I had the guts to do something half as brave.”

Quicker than the blink of an eye, he moved in front of me. He cupped my jaw and planted a swift kiss on my lips, a kiss that was hard and soft at the same time. “You’re braver than you give yourself credit for.”

I met his stare. “And you’re more honorable than you give yourself credit for.”

His grip tightened. “I’ve never sold it to humans. You have to believe me. I’ve only ever sold it to aliens who needed it but couldn’t get it on their own. My goal has always been to learn how to make it myself and set up my own lab.”

“I believe you. But you don’t need your own lab, Erik, you just need to change the law.” The words came out of my mouth, but they were straight from my dad. He loved working and manipulating the legal system almost as much as he loved me and my mom. Never for aliens, though, always for humans.

That needed to change, I decided.

Erik snorted.

“No, I’m serious. It can be done,” I said.

He shook his head and stepped away from me. “That takes time, and these people don’t have time.” He held up his hand to silence me when I opened my mouth. “A.I.R. already knows where Silver lives, so going there won’t give them any information they don’t already have. Can you make it?”

I nodded. No way I was staying here, so close to A.I.R.

“Then let’s go. We’ll figure out our next move when we get there.”

10

Panting and sweating, we ran for over a mile. Always we remained in the shadows. Always my heart beat like a war drum. Somewhere along the way—between looking over my shoulder for the thousandth time and praying God struck me with lightning so the night would end—I tripped and scraped my knee, ripping my new, cool syn-leather skirt (not to mention my pride).

“You’ve had enough,” Erik said between heavy breaths. He eyed the nearest street, left and right, then withdrew a black velvet pouch from his pocket. He crouched in front of a blue four-door car. “Let me know if anyone drives by.”

“O—okay.” I guess being his lookout makes me an official criminal, I thought, scanning every shadow, every hollow, every building. “Where’d you get that?”

“From one of the agents.” Unrolling the velvet produced two thin, scalpel-type objects. He cut the plastic ID pad in the center, digging a deep hole, then rewired several of the lines. “Accept new voice,” he said. “Start.”

The car roared to life.

“Open.”

The driver-side door opened.

Grinning, he ushered me inside and then claimed the programmer’s seat. He keyed in Silver’s address and we eased onto the road. All the while, he (and I) watched for any sign of A.I.R. They never appeared, thank the Lord, and soon we reached the Morevv’s mansion perched on top of a hill.

A rainbow of pale pinks, yellows, and blues, the house seemed to pulse with energy. Trees and roses flourished throughout the manicured lawn. They were fake, those trees and blooms, since Mother Nature had been decimated during the Human-Alien War so many years ago and had yet to replenish herself properly.




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