"She means no harm, uncle," Wared said, and hurried to Tarun's side. He pulled Tarun to his feet and helped him in the living room where they sat down on the couch. Shea took one of the chairs opposite them.

Tarun cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his hair as he stared at Shea. "I saw you. You were there, at the Departure."

Shea nodded. "I was."

Wared looked at Tarun, his eyebrows raised. "You know her?"

"We met at my place," Shea said with a smirk, and leaned back as she crossed her legs.

Wared furrowed his eyebrows. "What does that mean?"

"I came looking for what is mine."

Tarun gasped and swallowed. "I don't have it anymore."

Shea leaned forward towards Tarun. "I know," she said, then looked at Wared. "A certain someone managed to lose it."

Tarun's eyes widened as Wared shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "You lost it?" he said after a few moments, his voice slightly raised. "You lost the memory card?"

Wared put his hands up and shifted away from Tarun on the couch. "Wait a second. Yes, I don't have the card anymore, but I didn't lose it," he said and shot a glare in the direction of Shea. He then proceeded to tell Wared about what had happened after he left the hospital, how Henrin had paid him a visit with full knowledge of their conversation at the hospital.

"He knew exactly what to look for," Wared said with a sigh.

Tarun stood up and walked over to the window, his face covered with his hands. He exhaled forcefully, then gazed out the window for a moment before he turned to face Wared.

"This is a disaster," he whispered.

"That's why we're here," Shea said. "Because of what has happened, you're in danger. We need to get you out of here and to safety."

Tarun looked up with raised eyebrows. "Get me out of here? To where?"

Shea hesitated for a moment. "My place."

Tarun stepped closer. "By the trail?"

Shea nodded. "You can't stay in the city. The Protectorate will come for you if you stay here."

"What happens after I leave?"

"I don't understand."

Tarun sat back down on the couch. "Think about it. I've just been elevated to Elder. I hear that people already see what happened as some sort of miracle. I guess I do too, since I expected to be dead."

"Dead?" Wared said, "Why would you be dead? The Departure is the greatest experience of our lives, the start of a new journey."

Tarun looked at Shea. "Well, it's the start of a new journey, that's true, but it's also the end. Shea, would you care to explain since I suspect you know more about this topic than I do."

Shea sighed and looked at Tarun, then at Wared. She then nodded and clasped her hands around her knee.

"Tarun is right. The memory card you had, Wared, contained information about the execution of what the Protectorate calls the Departure Protocol. Tarun stole this from me after I rescued him."

Wared sat straight up. "You rescued him from what?"

"After he fell on his hike."

"You didn't tell me about this," Wared said and turned Tarun. "When did this happen"

"The day before the Departure ceremony. I was on my way back from the Outlook and I fell. I took the memory card from the facility where she patched me up."

"It wasn't exactly like they were happy to see me," Tarun said with a glare in Shea's direction.

"Whatever happened on that day is of little relevance today. Our problem today is that the Protectorate now knows that Tarun knows more about the Departure Protocol than most people on this planet. He knows more than most of those inside the Protectorate. That makes him dangerous. Considering that you, Wared, had the memory card, they may draw the conclusion that you also know more than you should. In fact, they probably already have. That makes you a problem as well."

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Wared felt a chill run down his spine. "Well, I didn't. I mean, I don't know anything."

"Doesn't matter. If they think you do, you're as good as dead."

"What is the Departure Protocol then? What makes it so dangerous to know about? You said you expected that you'd be dead after the ceremony? Is that it? What does that mean?"

Tarun stood up and walked over to the window. "It's best you don't know."

"I don't think so. I'm in this mess because of you," Wared said and followed Tarun over to the window. "I think I deserve to know."

Tarun sighed and looked at Shea. "It may be better if you tell him?"

Shea nodded and took a deep breath. "The Departure Protocol isn't what you think it is," she said and paused briefly. "We celebrate it as the beginning of a new journey, the start of something new. 's ambitions to colonize distant planets. "

"Yes, and . Everybody knows that," Wared said.

Shea glanced at Tarun before she continued. "What if I told you that there is no trip. There is no journey, no distant colony, no messages of successful arrivals. What if I told you there is only death."

Wared shivered at the thought as he felt the color drain from his face. "You're lying."

"Why would I?" Shea said. "Think about it. Why would the Protectorate go through all that trouble to take that memory card if it wasn't true?"

"Or it's fake and they don't want us to spread false information inadvertently."

"I believe her," Tarun said.

"It just doesn't make any sense. If the ceremony isn't what we think it is and it's a death sentence, why continue?"

"Because the Departure Protocol was put in place for a reason many centuries ago when this planet was first settled. We believe that starting out, the vision was for each inhabitant of this planet to one day go on to another planet."

"What changed?"

Shea shrugged. "I don't know. Somewhere throughout the decades, something changed. I haven't been able to determine why, only that in official Protectorate documents available only to the highest ranking officials, no-one that departs today actually survives. They all die."

Silence descended on the room as Wared took in what Shea had shared.

"So everyone that has departed recently, they're all—"

"Dead." Shea finished his sentence with a nod.

"We must tell everyone," Wared said and sat straight up. "We can't allow any more Departures to happen."

Shea stood up with both of her hands held up in front of her. "No-one will believe you."

"Of course they will. Tarun was just elevated, he can tell everyone. They'll believe him."

"The Protectorate won't allow that to happen," Shea said. "Why do you think they brought Tarun here? Here he's protected, he's out of the public eye. They can control what he says and when he says it."

Wared turn to Tarun. "We need to get you out of here."

"No," Tarun said and shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere."

Wared furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean? You can't stay here."

"Think about it. If I leave, it won't be long before they discover that I'm gone. I know the truth about the Departure now. They'll lock everything down, they'll hunt you down. I can't allow that to happen."

"Tarun—" Shea started.

Tarun shook his head. "My mind is made up, It's up to you two to find a way to reveal the truth without causing a panic."

"How do we do that? We don't have any proof. They have the memory card."

"You'll have to get it. Shea?"

"Tarun, I don't know—"

"The memory card held just a fraction of what you know, right? The map on the table, it's a clue, isn't it? What about all the other memory cards you have? I saw dozens. Surely there's something on one of them you can use."

"Maybe."

"If I may interrupt," Alice said in a calm voice, "A dozen Protectorate men have entered the lobby. They are heading towards the elevator."

"They're coming," Wared said immediately.

"No-one knows we are here," Shea said as she slowly stood up.

Tarun glanced out the window at the street below. "Something's going on. I see a bunch of Protectorate vehicles on the street. It seems unlikely they're all there just to protect me." He stepped over to Wared. "You've got to go, Wared, right now."

"But what about you? We can't leave you here."

"Like I said, it's better if I stay here, for all of our sakes."

Shea grabbed Wared's arm. "He's right, we need to get going."

"Shea, the map. I'm convinced the map is the answer," Tarun said. "You need to find the truth about the Protectorate, for all our sakes."

With a silent nod, Shea led Wared back out into the corridor. The ran to the service elevator and squeezed in just as they had before. Just as the door closed, they heard the ding of the elevator doors opening further down the hall and the rhythmic sound of boots running.

Wared and Shea rode the elevator down in silence. As soon as they arrived at the bottom floor, she led the way back towards the door into the tunnels. In the distance, they heard the echo of boots approach rapidly as the ran towards the door into the tunnels.

"Come on, we don't have much time," Shea hissed as she picked up the pace. Just as they reached the door, they heard a shout behind them.

"You there, stop," the a voice shouted from the far side of the corridor. "Put your hands up and don't move."

Shea tapped in the code on the door and was greeted by a flashing red light. "Come on," she said and keyed the code again. Behind them, boots were running towards them at a rapid clip.

"Come on, come on, come on," Wared urged as he glanced over his shoulder at the approaching men. They carried weapons across their chest and were clothed in full assault gear. "They're almost here."

"Stop at once or we'll fire," the lead soldier shouted.

Shea keyed the code again, slowly and deliberately, and was rewarded with a green light. She ripped the door open and pulled Wared in behind her, then slammed the door shut behind them just as a shot rang off.

~~~