By the time Wared and Shea got out of the truck and snuck out of the recycling facility, they were bruised and sore, each step painful. Shea quickly located the old vehicle Arty had left behind for them and within minutes, they kicked up a dust cloud behind them as they raced away from the populated areas.

For the first half hour, they drove in silence. Shea pushed the vehicle to its limits, eager to put as much distance as possible between them and any Protectorate forces that might be on their trail. It wasn't until the city had disappeared behind them that she slowed down.

"So tell me, what's so special about the Outlook?" she said and glanced over at Wared. "What was your brother doing there?"

"The Outlook?"

"Yeah, I found him below the trail that leads there. He fell on the way back."

Wared rubbed his eyes and sighed as he looked out at the desert terrain that disappeared behind them. "It's a memorial," he finally said.

"A memorial? What for?"

"His wife and daughter. They died up there several years ago in a terrible accident."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"There's nothing he could have done, of course, but he was heartbroken. He's returned there at least once a year since but it seems like it was more frequently this past year. I think he really missed them."

Shea looked out her side window and sighed. "I can understand. I've lost family too."

"I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"

"Not in the same way. They're still alive."

"They're alive?" Wared furrowed his brow. "So how are they lost then?"

Shea looked over at Wared as a tear streamed down her cheek. She opened her mouth to say something but hesitated and wiped the tear away with her sleeve "It doesn't matter. They're as good as dead to me anyway."

Wared opened his mouth to ask another question but changed his mind. It was clear that Shea didn't want to talk about it and he didn't want to force the issue. Instead, they continued on in silence until they pulled into the trail head parking lot leading to the Outlook. She parked in the sparsely populated lot and shut down the engine.

"This is where I found him. It's also the end of the road for us. The rest of the way is on foot. Come on," Shea said, excited the car and slammed the door shut. She took off at a brisk pace i

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

Wared sighed and let her lead the way. They left the parking lot and the trail behind. Within a few minutes, the cars had disappeared in the distance behind them. The terrain ahead of them sloped downward at a shallow angle. It was uneven and dotted with depressions and small bushes about the size of a human head. Small lizard-like creatures just a few inches long rushed away from them as they traversed the terrain. Both of the suns were setting on opposite horizons, generating a reddish glow in all directions. Wared could feel the heat of the day dissipate as a cool breeze played with his hair. He couldn't help but notice that Shea's hair was tossed around in the wind as well.

"What is this place?" he whispered, only realizing as the words came out of his mouth that he was whispering.

"For now, I call it home," Shea said as she continued into the dark opening of the cave. It was ten feet across and about as tall. Within seconds they were enveloped completely by darkness. "Put your hand on my shoulder. I don't want you to get lost."

Wared did as he was told. After a few moments, his eyes adapted to the low light. Even though it was dark, he could tell that the walls of the cave were not what he'd expect. A typical cave had irregular walls but he could tell that the walls here were smooth. He knew it could be something simple as erosion caused by water but he suspected that had nothing to do with it. His suspicion was confirmed when he saw a faint rectangular glow up ahead. As they approached, he realized it was about the size of his hand.

Shea reached for the rectangle and held her hand against it for a few moments. It flashed green twice and part of the rock wall slid open to reveal a dimly lit corridor inside. Wared hesitated as Shea stepped across the threshold. What was this place? A hidden building out in the middle of nowhere?

"Come on," Shea said and gestured for him to follow. Wared swallowed and stepped into the corridor. The door behind him shut immediately, closing with barely a sound. Up ahead the corridor curved to the right and as the walked, the lights above them grew brighter. By the time they reached the door and the end of the corridor, they were fully lit.

"Yeah, they're set to gradually become brighter. It helps your eyes adapt when it's dark outside."

On the other side of the door, another corridor branched of to the left and right. Without a word, Shea continued to the left and took several more turns before she stopped outside a door that had the word Office printed on a brass plaque. She put her hand on the handle, then hesitated momentarily before pushing the door open.

Behind a large desk on the far side of the room sat a young man about the same age as Shea. Papers were strewn across the desk and several notepads were stacked in one corner of the desk.

"You're back," the man said. He made no attempt to get out from behind his desk.

"I am. Randee, this is Wared," Shea said as she made an awkward gesture between the two men. "Wared, this is Randee. He's my cousin."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Please to meet you," Wared said and nodded. Randee glared at him with a frown on his face.

"Who's he?"

"He's Tarun's brother."

Randee's eyebrows popped up and his eyes widened. "Tarun's brother? Are you out of your mind?"

Shea raised her hands and stepped closer to the desk. "I didn't have much of a choice. His life is in danger." She continued to explain what had happened with the departure and their subsequent skirmish with the Protectorate and their eventual escape.

"If it wasn't for Arty, we wouldn't be here."

Randee shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked down and took a deep breath before he looked back up at Shea and Wared. His eyes danced back and forth between them and finally settled on Shea. "You shouldn't have used Arty," he finally said.

"Why not? He's always willing to help."

"He's been compromised."

"Since when?" There was an edge in Shea's voice now. "Why would you not tell me that?"

"I can't be sure but all the evidence points that way."

"I don't believe it."

Randee stood up so quickly that the chair flew backwards and ended up on the floor. "Well, let's take a look, shall we?" He marched right past Shea and Wared. "Come with me," he grunted as he disappeared out of the office. Shea and Wared looked at each other. Wared shrugged and motioned for the door.

"What's his deal?"

"Not sure," Shea said as she shook her head and followed . Randee was marching down the hall loudly talking to himself and gesturing. Wared had no way of telling what he was saying but he had no doubt they were words he rather not hear.

Randee stormed through a door and left it open as he disappeared they found Randee behind a bank of computer monitors. Security camera footage from various locations cycled through on one screen every few seconds. Another screen was divided into smaller sections, each showing a continous video stream.

"Here's the problem," Randee said and pointed at one of the video feeds. Both Shea and Wared leaned in to take a closer look. Since the image was in black and white because of the nightvision, it took Wared a few moments to realize what he was looking at. It was the car they had left in the parking lot. It had been parked directly beneath the camera by Shea.

"You knew we were coming, didn't you?" Wared said and pointed towards the car.

"I wouldn't surprise him," Shea said and put a hand on Randee's shoulder.

"Look up here," Randee said and pointed towards the edges of the feed. "See those vehicles there?"

Although it was more difficult to pick up details of objects further away, when Wared focused he could clearly see the distinct shape of a Protectorate security vehicle. A second one was parked barely out of sight behind the first one.

"How—" Shea started.

"I told you Arty was compromised. I bet he left a tracker in the car, sent you two clueless idiots on your way and then pinged his Protectorate handler."

"They'll never find us here," Shea said as she crossed her arms. Wared detected a defensive tone in Shea's voice.

"Oh, they will. It will take them a bit but with two people making their way through the landscape, it'll be easy enough for their experienced trackers to see your footprints in the soil, disturbed vegetation and more."

Shea sat down heavily on a chair next to Randee and rubbed her forehead as she sighed.

"So what do we do?" she said after what seemed like an eternity of silence. "How do we stop them?"

"I don't think we can at this point," Randee said. "The only thing that's working to our advantage at the moment is that you came here late in the day. In the dark, it'll be much harder for them to make progress and they have to be much more careful. I think that may have bought as a day or so of time."

"So what do we do?" Shea said.

Randee shrugged. "We need to get out of here. If we stay here, it's all over."

"We have nowhere else to go, Randee," Shea said and exploded out of her chair, gesturing. "You know as well as I do that going back to the settlement isn't an option. Neither of us can live there, you know that."

"I know, Shea, I know. But, we also can't stay here. Not anymore."

"Then it's all for nothing," Shea said and collapsed back onto the chair.

"Maybe not," Wared said.

Shea and Randee both looked at Wared at the same time.

"Remember why we came out here in the first place?" he continued. "Tarun told us we need to find the proof. We need to find the proof that the Departure is a scam, that it's a death trap."

Randee's head snapped towards Shea, his eyes wide. "You told him that too? Are you out of your mind?"

"It was the only way, Randee. Give me a break, ok? Tarun survived, it seemed like the perfect time to explain how lucky he was."

"Unbelievable," Randee said with disgust in his tone. "Any other secrets you've spilled that I need to be aware of?"

"He's right though, isn't he?" Shea shot back. "We need to find the proof. It's what we've been trying to find anyway, right?"

"Yes, but—"

"We use what we have and go for it. What do we have to lose?"

Randee looked at Wared and Shea as he rubbed his chin. To Wared, it seemed like he was conflicted about following the advice of someone he didn't know, to risk everything on something he wasn't yet ready to pursue.

Then, he sighed and stood up. "A's go find this proof. But, let me tell you, it's not going to be easy. Come," he said and nodded towards the door. Wared and Shea followed him down the hall to the map room.

"Tarun was here," Wared said as he leaned over the large table. A map had been fastened to the surface and covered the table from corner to corner. "What is this?" he said and walked around to the other side of the table as he realized he was looking at it upside down.

"This is a crude map of the surface of the planet," Randy said and pointed to each end of the map. "Your settlement is one the one end, the original base of operations of our settlers is on the other."

Wared looked up, his eyes wide. "You know the location of the original settlement?"

Shea nodded. "The approximate location," she said and pointed to a general area on Wared's left. "There are large cliff formations in the area that surrounding wide open spaces. We have found indications that the general area was the original site."

"The existence of the delivery tube also points to that," Randee said and pointed to a dark line that stretched across the landscape from one side to the other.

"The delivery tube?" Wared said, his eyes furrowed.

"Through which each Departure Candidate is delivered to their final destination."

"Oh."

"Except that doesn't happen. They all die," Randee said.

"How do you know—" Wared started.

"We'll follow the tube there," Shea said, interrupting Wared. "If there's proof, one way or another, we'll find it there.

Randee rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead with his fingers.

"You're not convinced," Wared said as he leaned across the map and traced the black line that represented the tube with his finger.

Randee chuckled. "Listen, Wared, we've been at this for several years. It's only now that this map has started to make sense. It's only recently we've been able to decode the copious amounts of information in the digital archives of this place. It might look simple here on the map but the terrain between here and there, it's some of the most inhospitable terrain on the planet."

Shea sighed. "We don't have much of a choice anymore though, do we?"

"There's always a choice," Randee said and rolled his eyes.

"Find the proof or die."

"Ok, that's a little dramatic, don't you think?"

"You pretty much said so yourself. We can't stay here."

"Thanks to you," Randee said and pointed straight at Shea's face. "It's your fault. You brought this guy here, and his brother. You violated our agreement."

"What's done is done, Randee. We can't—"

They were interrupted by a large boom from somewhere within the facility. Dust and rock fragments rained down from the ceiling above them.

"What was that?" Wared whispered.

"They're here," Randee said, his eyes wide as his face lost a little bit of color. "Follow me, we don't have much time."

~~~