“They're going to follow us,” Riza said as the cargo ship thrusted further and further away from the Command ship.

  Pilo wanted to respond, but choked on his words. He still hadn't forgotten what she'd told him before they boarded the ship, and wasn't sure what to make of it. He knew her, of course, well enough to know that she wasn't a schemer– she was much too obsessed with her research to be working for the rebellion, and he believed her when she said it was an old job.

  The conversation with Violet weighed on her when she came out with her truth, and he'd imagine it was similar for Riza. But. What had his mind spiralling with uncertainty was why she wouldn't tell him. He thought he'd earned her trust or, at the very least, her respect.

  “Why didn't you tell me?” Pilo asked.

  “What?” Riza muttered, but Pilo didn’t repeat himself.

  She took a moment to think. “I don't really know… It was something I just wanted to move on from, y'know? I didn't want it to affect how you or Duncan saw me.”

  He knew how that felt, he’d said the same to himself over the course of his life. Maybe his frustration was rooted in his own secrets. Ones that he was projecting outward. The things he was too afraid to tell anyone, and couldn't help but bottle up behind every smile.

  “I think you and Violet were strong for what you did,” He nodded, challenging himself to be accepting in a circumstance where he might not expect it for himself. “I've heard about what they do to people who leave,”

  Riza passed him a long glance, she didn't say anything, but he could feel how his words resonated with her. It made him feel better to know she certainly valued his opinion.

  “I saw there was a turret below the cargo hold,” He continued, “We might be able to defend ourselves.”

  “Against those Atlas Fighters? I doubt it has the firepower. Cargo ship weapons systems are designed to deter pirates– we wouldn't survive a gunfight.”

  “Then what should we do?”

  “I think we need to leave the system.”

  “The ship doesn't have an AG drive, we can't jump.”

  “Then we'll have to use a port.”

  “We've probably been flagged at every port in the galaxy by now,”

  “Yeah, but couldn't you rewrite the ship's ID?”

  Pilo paused, considering the task. It would take a little while, but it's not impossible.

  “I could, but… I dunno, I guess I'm just wondering where we’d go? Why not find somewhere to hide out instead?”

  “Liveria.” She responded, “We need to go to Liveria.”

  “Liveria?” He raised an eyebrow.

  Liveria was homebase for the research division that they were a part of. Kythera has three key labs across the galaxy to which they'd assign their scientists depending on speciality and needs. Pilo was assigned to Riza’s team in Liveria a few years ago, but to his knowledge, Kythera had essentially cut all ties with them.

  “Kythera is suing us for what happened on Prion-A.” He informed her.

  “I know,” She said, rather sternly as her grip tightened around the yoke. “But… Don't you want to know what happened? To know what's really going on?”

  She turned, looking into Pilo's eyes with a certain vigour that he'd rarely seen from her. A flame grew that he hadn't seen in her eyes for a long while. The last time she was this driven was a few years back, before the Prion job, when he'd first been assigned to her crew. At the time, she had a point to prove. She was seen as one of the industry's most promising candidates, but failed to achieve anything since her thesis.

  At the time, he wasn't sure what her goal was, but over the years, and now that he knows more of her past, it's clear he'd misread the situation. She didn't want to prove herself to the world, like everyone presumed– she wanted to do it for herself. To become someone new, to become her own person. All of that was being threatened again, and the fire within her ignited.

  “The truth,” Pilo pursed his lips, “I think Duncan and Violet deserve that much,”

  “They died on that rig, victims, just like everyone else that was lost. They all deserve the truth.”

  “Alright… What's the plan, Boss?”

  “We take the jump port to Liveria, and find the operations manager in charge of Prion-A, the one who assigned us as supervisors, and politely ask them what the hell is going on.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Got it, I'll get to work on the ship's ID.” He said as he started making his way to the engine room.

  “When we get to the port, I'll head inside and get us a ticket.”

  “The Atlas will be there, you sure this is the best way?”

  “If we try to jump illegally, we'll draw more attention to ourselves and ruin the new ID. It's risky, but I think I can sneak by. If we can get the ship verified, we'll buy ourselves some time before they can track the ship again.”

  “Copy that,” He said as he made his way to the ship's manifest.

  Pilo was a competent engineer, in fact, much more competent than he'd let on in most cases. He didn't want to draw attention to himself, and the galaxy valued scientists so much that in the past, he'd been a little overwhelmed by demand when he performed well. He passed his Kythera entrance exam with sixty percent, knowing he could've scored a ninety. But didn't want the positions that came with such a high performance, and when he'd met Riza for the first time, he finally felt like he was in good hands.

  Under the leadership of someone who could see his talents, but didn't expect more than what he was willing to give. That's what he'd appreciated most about Riza, she'd sussed out early on that he was smarter than he'd led on, but she accepted that it was intentional and didn't ask anything further. Now, when she asks things like ‘Can you rewrite the ship's ID?’ It isn't because he'd done it before or been anything she'd needed of him in the past. But it's because she was more aware of his capabilities than everyone else, and still didn’t pressure him to do things he might not be willing to do.

  In this instance, he knew the steps to achieving an override, but hadn't actually done it before. Re-engaging the engines and bypassing the access codes was already a tall order, but one he'd managed to achieve under the stress of the moment. This would be no different to him.

  The jump port was a large, cylindrical piece of mega-engineering that hovered within the interconnected trade routes of each system. With a large energy mass at the core and various ship lots and buildings built into it, it was the place where the majority of ships could use an antigravity highway to travel between systems in short time spans. Not every ship could afford or even facilitate an AG drive, and even if they had one, the most advanced drive could only provide two long-range jumps before it needed a rather hefty and pricey recharge.

  As Riza and Pilo arrived at the Sashin Jump Port, Riza geared up to head inside. Nervous about its security, she noticed a rather beefy presence of Atlas security in the area.

  “Stay cautious in there, boss,” Pilo said over comms.

  Riza took a deep breath and made her way into the facility. Surprisingly, she was comforted by the sudden bustle of the port as individuals and crews scurried from left to right, making their way to different pads and lots. It was a flurry of bodies moving in all directions, and she felt safe knowing she could blend in among the massive crowd.

  Landing Bay H-twelve has been closed for repairs. Landing bay H-twelve has been closed. Please refer to port management for access to any displaced ships.

  The speakers boomed with a soft, but confident voice of the ports informer, constantly coming up every few minutes with new information or changes to various schedules. Riza was waiting in the queue for a jump pass, keeping an eye on the different Atlas soldiers that walked on by, seemingly unaware and uninterested in her presence as she tucked herself behind the crew hoodie she picked up in the cargo ship. She presumed they hadn't been updated yet, but her anxiety suggested they’d have pictures of her and Pilo in no time. If she could get the pass and leave before the update, she'd be golden.

  “Next please,” a voice came over the speakers, and Riza noticed she was first in line.

  She walked over to the glass that separated her from the attendant and took another glance around her, seeing that there were no Atlas guards around, considering she was more exposed now than in the queue.

  “I need a ticket to Liveria, for a cargo ship docked in B-fourty-four,” Riza said softly.

  “Name?” The attendant asked, without passing Riza any eye contact.

  “Riza Beleke,” She hesitated, uncertain of whether or not she should give her real name, but also aware that she had no other choice. She glanced above her, where she noticed the massive holo-screen that cast a secondary light among this section of the port as it ran an advertisement.

  There was a pause as the attendant typed her name out and began scrolling through the database. When he found her name, he finally passed Riza a glance, but it seemed rather distrustful.

  “Do you need the name of anyone else on board?” She asked, trying to act Natural.

  “No,” He said before typing away again. “Is Liveria your only destination?”

  “Currently,” She nodded.

  “That'll be four hundred units. Please look into the camera for identification and payment,” He pointed at the small camera beside his window that was facing Riza, and she turned to glance at it.

  There was an awkward silence, and the attendant didn't tell her when he'd finished, causing her to stare into the camera for rather long. Her nerves didn't help as she noticed another group of Soldiers walking by, some of whom looked over in her direction.

  The sound of a sudden click and whirr startled her when the attendant began printing her ticket.

  “Everything seems to be in order. Have a great jump,” He said, sliding the ticket underneath the window. “The jump will be in fifteen minutes. Please make your way to the launch pad by the time recorded on your ticket. Don't be late.”

  “Thanks,” She half-heartedly grinned as she took the ticket and walked away.

  As she continued walking, she heard the holo-screen chime the audio of the galactic news network, when a sudden broadcast began beaming into the port.

  BREAKING NEWS!

  Two former Kythera scientists, Riza Beleke and Pilo Sama, have escaped holding from the Atlas Command ship in the Sashin Rehousing System. They are primary suspects of the Prion-A mining disaster and known members of the AA Rebellion. The Atlas has informed us that they are armed and dangerous, and if you are to see either of these individuals, you shoukd immediately report it to your local officers, security or soldiers in Atlas uniforms. It is unknown at this time whether or not they are still in the Sashin system, and it is advised that people from all systems be on high alert… in other news,

  Riza’s heart skipped a beat, and she looked up at the screen to see her face and Pilo’s plastered on the giant screen for all to see. She immediately looked to the floor, anxious to look anyone in the eye as she ensured her hair was fully covered by the hoodie she was wearing, and continued walking to the ship.