Isaias was sitting on the sofa reading his political thriller when an empty feeling of fear settled in his belly. He cleared his throat and kept reading but the feeling only grew until he was looking for ways to escape the room. He found one in a shadow in the corner and threw all his thoughts into becoming a shadow. He dematerialized and materialized in the shadow panting as if he was in a race. Senka looked up from buffing his gun and grinned. “You’ve finally learned to travel through the shadows. Congratulations.”

“I-It wasn’t me that did it. It was Zen. She was escaping something horrible,” he said, shaking off the fear that he now knew wasn’t his. He dematerialized and materialized right by Marco kissing him.

“This does have its advantages.”

“I told you not to start doing that, Isaias!”

Isaias chuckled at Marco’s pouting and turned to shout at the cockpit. “How much further, Pirate?”

“Not far! It should be a half-hour more, why?”

“Zen is in trouble. We’ve got to get there fast,” he said before shadow-warping back to his seat.

“We have two of you now,” Kiera sighed, walking out of the med bay and sitting on the couch beside Senka.

Senka winked. “Three. If he can do it, so can Zen since they are twins and he says Zen was first in doing it.”

Isaias nodded, eyes furrowed. What was she running from?

###

Zen’s teary eyes stared into fox-brown eyes. “Can you help me please?”

Layna stared at the weak and miserable scrap of a girl who nearly bawled her over. A door slammed open and the girl panicked. “Please! I swear I’ll tell you everything just please help me,” she begged taking back glances as if waiting for the devil to show. D’Angelo’s voice rang out and the girl panicked more. She knew there was nowhere to go.

“”I’m Layna Figueroa. Let’s go to my office, little rabbit,” she said steering the girl down the hall.

I”m Zenaida Amargarita but everyone calls me Zen,” the girl introduced herself. She nodded and led Zen to a metal door. She opened it to reveal a small room set with a small desk and a bunk bed. It was tidy despite Layna’s more eccentric nature. Everything was in the closet or a small drawer by the bed. The desk was set to be the first thing you saw when you entered the room. It was made of cheap plastic and synth wood and held three large tomes on it, along with scattered papers and a smiley cup for pens.

To the side was a cheap bunk bed with polyester sheets and a drawer that held an old-style lava lamp and a picture frame. She studied the frame and gasped. Senka! Does she know who he really is?

Layna caught her staring at the photo and came over. “That was my adopted brother, Mateo. He disappeared ages ago. I have no idea where he is.” She sat on the chair of the desk as Zen took her seat on the bunk bed. They were still close enough to touch. “Now tell me what’s going on.”

Zen’s eyes teared up and everything came spilling out about the Dons and the crystal and D’Angelo. She sobbed into the woman’s arms who simply rubbed her back and listened.

“I-I got away with my shadow warp abilities but he’ll be looking for me. They all will!”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Layna reached over to her desk and pulled a Kleenex from a packet of clean ones that she had on the desk.

“Let me make a call to my boss and we’ll figure out what to do with you alright? My boss is Don Rodriguez. He might be able to help. You told me you were going to him before all of this.”

“Yes. I didn’t know you worked for him. I thought all scientists on Con Station were contracted by the reigning monarchs of the East?”

Layna grinned. “I’m special Lil Rabbit. There should be some scrubs in my second drawer for you to change into. You can use my shower while I make the call. Be quick, I won’t be more than five minutes on the phone.”

Zen nodded and walked up to the drawers, pulling the second one out and finding a pair of scrubs in grey. She picked them up as well as a clean towel from the rack of towels that was by the bathroom doors and slipped inside the small bathroom.

Layna tapped her ear and made her call.

“Yes?”

“Sir I have Zen Amargarita who wishes to have a meeting with you.”

“Wasn’t she with Bernado? Why is she with you on Con Station?”

“She is about to be put in the converter for the crystal sir. Apparently, they have fused and the Dons want to unfuse her.”

“Shit! Get her out of there Layna. You’re allowed to break your cover just get that girl to safety. Get her here. I will take care of this. I knew not to let her go to New Arctica! Damn! I can only hope she hasn’t been through hell.”

“She was almost raped sir by D’Angelo.”

“Damn it! Just bring her over here, Layna. Do whatever you have to!”

“Yes sir.”

A click terminated the call and Layna turned to her wall. She pulled her lantern off and revealed a symbol of a black widow. Touching the violin with her pinkie, the wall slid forward showing her armament of guns and knives.

Zen stood scrubbing everywhere as if she could scrub the past deeds of her skin then they didn’t happen. She passed a lufa between her legs and moaned at how sensitive she was now. Realizing her thoughts she threw away the lufa and tried to scream only to be choked by her sobs Why? Why did Uncle Bernado leave her there as easy pickings? Why did D’Angelo have to be interested in her, not the crystal? Why in the hell did this have to happen to her! She picked herself up she didn’t have time to cry. Zen stepped out of the bathroom far redder than she had been and gasped at the secret stash of weapons displayed on Layna’s wall.

“You’re not a scientist are you?” she asked, walking over and fingering a handgun.

“I’m a damn good scientist but that’s not where my real skills lie.” She tucked a pair of blazer guns into a harness she had pulled on.

“Can I use the knives?”

“Layna handed her the sheath of knives. “Sure. You a knife user?”

Zen grinned. “Am I? They’re my favorite weapon after my double swords.” She frowned. “I guess I’ll have to get another pair of weapons. I don’t know what the Dons have done with them.”

“Can you identify your dimensional pocket from others?”

“Yeah, it has a big Z on it. Why?”

“We can at least get that back. They process those in a guarded room and I have the key. You can snatch yours up. There aren’t many inmates at Con Station right now. About ten including you.”

Zen hugged Layna. “Thank you! I thought all my stuff was lost!”

Layna put the lava lamp back over the black widow and the wall slid up. She grabbed her card keys and motioned with her head. “Let’s go Lil Rabbit. You are my assistant for the day”

“Won’t they be looking for me?”

“They probably are but with that cap,” she pointed to a surgical cap by the bunk bed. “We’ll cover your hair and with a simple surgical mask, we’ll cover everything else. No one will guess you are with me til it’s too late. By then we’ll be gone.”