2055, November 12th

Collapse + 6 years

"How do I look?" Helena asked. She twirled before the mirror. Her green dress flared outward, expanding to show a gradient of blues hidden within. When she stopped, the colors folded out of view. Winnie thought of it as a blooming flower, not that she'd tell Helena that. It would only turn her off the dress.

"You look amazing," Winnie said. "It came out just the way I imagined."

Helena practiced her come-hither look in the mirror while running her finger along her bare shoulder. "My mom has never dressed this well, has she? She always in those pantsuits or those god-awful gowns. People will notice this."

"How could they not?" Winnie checked the time. "It's eight o'clock. Should we head up?"

"As soon as my mom is ready. Are you?"

"I am." Winnie checked herself over. Winnie's dress used the same color scheme as Helena's, only to a lesser extent. She knew better than to wear anything that might compare to Helena. It wasn't much different than what the charity staff would be wearing, which in turn, complimented the decor they'd selected for the Starlight auditorium.

"Maybe we should head up anyway," Winnie said. "We're already late."

Helena turned to her. "First of all, no. We are never late. The fundraiser is not going to start when neither I or my mom aren't there, so how could we ever be late? We could show up tomorrow and everyone would still be be waiting for us. Secondly, we're not moving until my mom is ready, and she will be late. She's always at least thirty minutes behind whatever her schedule says. If we go up now, we'll just be waiting on the roof. Besides..." She tapped at her lower lip. "I feel like we're forgetting something."

"Your speech?" Winnie held up index cards.

"It'll be there. I sent a copy to Madeline yesterday."

"Do you want to rehearse it?"

"Why would I? It'll be on the teleprompter."

"I don't know. Maybe so you don't trip up? When I get nervous, I stumble over my words sometimes."

Helena snorted. "Well, I'm not you. I don't stumble, and I'm definitely not nervous. Everything is going to go fine, at least on my end. What else do we need to bring?"

"I think that's it. Your dress looks beautiful. Your hair and makeup are perfect. I think Madeline is taking care of everything else."

"Then I guess we just wait." Helena sat beside Winnie on the bed. Winnie burned time on her tablet. Minutes passed.

"What's taking my mother so long?" Helena said. "She is getting ready, isn't she? She promised she'd come. You don't think something came up, do you?"

"Wouldn't Madeline have told us?"

"Yeah, she would. I guess... ugh." She flopped back. "I guess she's just taking forever."

A light tap came from the door. Helena bolted up. "Yes?"

Madeline's voice. "Your Highness. We'll be departing from the roof pad. Your mother will be ready in five minutes."

"About time," Helena replied. "I'll be up momentarily."

"Thank you, ma'am." Footsteps retreated.

"Okay. Okay." Helena's checked her hair over. "I'm fine, right?"

"You're fine."

"Okay, let's go." She headed toward the door. Half way there, she paused. "You have the flashcards, right? You know... In case I get bored in the shuttle or something. Who knows? Maybe the teleprompter will break."

Winnie kept her face neutral. "Sure."

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"Incoming shuttle. Identify."

"This is tail number lima alpha four seven delta returning from Emohua relief, scheduled for an oh one twenty arrival. Submitting clearance now."

The shuttle pilot dragged an image of his flight clearance onto a tower icon that had opened up. Beneath the icon were the words, "HMC Orinoco flight comm."

Moments later, communications got back with him. "Acknowledged, lima alpha four seven delta. Flight plan transmitted. Switch to grid and proceed."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The pilot pressed a button that slaved the shuttle to the local repulser grid. There was a bump. Then the ride smoothed out. The shuttle drifted through the air with flawless precision. The pilot was done piloting. Before the craft landed on the citadel, he would need to submit a manifest, but apparently he decided that could wait. He reclined in his seat and rubbed his temples.

The smoke was giving him a headache.

Twice now he'd had to reset the shuttle's internal smoke alarm, and he kept coughing, as though hinting to his passengers that smoking was prohibited, though he couldn't even recall that he had passengers.

Josephine and Tan had stowed away aboard the shuttle when it was making a supply run with a military depot in town, although stowing away was a strong word, since they both sat in plain view, strapped in like any passenger would be.

Whenever the pilot realized he wasn't supposed to have company, Josephine would wipe his memory. She shouldn't have to do it often, given their stolen uniforms. Unfortunately, Tan would not stop smoking aboard a smoke-free vessel.

He always smoked before doing anything nerve wracking, but he should have done so before the flight. No matter how many times Josephine motioned for him to put it out, he just kept right on smoking. She suspected it was his own little protest about this trip.

Rescuing Naema had been Josephine's idea, not his. After the fighting had settled down at the market, she had looked around for Naema, but there was too much confusion. When the wall bots started locking the place down, she knew they had to leave. For hours, Josephine fretted. She just knew they'd captured her, but Tan had told her to wait, that Naema's power would protect her. But then Josephine had gone to check Naema's home. The Lakirans were there. Two prowlers drifted overhead while soldiers questioned neighbors. Naema's shack had been torn down. That decided it.

"We're going," she'd told Tan.

"No."

"Yes. We are."

"Too dangerous. They catch her. They catch us too."

"You already know what it means for us if they get her power."

"They can't. Her power break theirs. No good for them."

"So you want to just leave her?"

He'd shrugged so casually that she'd wanted to sock him. "We save her if we could, but she is on Citadel now. Not safe. They will see us. High exemplars will find us. Not a chance. Will."

"That's not for certain."

"Every time we go onto military base, Bishop come. Every time."

"If it was you they caught, I'd come save you. I did once."

This silenced him.

"You can stay if you want. I'm going," she said. "I could use your help though. If they catch me, how long do you think you'll last on your own?"

The look he'd given her was withering, but that had settled it. Two hours later found them aboard this shuttle. Josephine tried not to dwell on the argument. Tan should have wanted to come in the first place, but threatening to withdraw her protection like that, even implying it... that was something Sakhr would have done.

A popup appeared on the pilot's screen. He needed to submit a manifest now. Josephine unfastened her seat, stepped to the cockpit, and reached over the pilot's shoulder to fill it out.

"Hey!" he shouted.

"I'll do this," she said while clearing his memory. She filled out the form. Three passengers: the pilot and the names of the officers from whom Josephine had stolen the uniforms. The rest was cargo information. She submitted it and sat down in the copilot's seat. Whenever the pilot started to ask her a question, she pulled from his memory. Any time he glanced back to see Tan, she performed her mental exercise.

Tan and I work toward the same goal right now. We act as one.

And she'd pull.

Pretty soon, he just accepted his mysterious crew. The grid system guided the shuttle into one of many bay doors along the citadel's hull. Like a feather, it touched down on a landing pad. The doors opened, and soldiers gathered in to unload supplies.

Josephine and Tan walked past them. She cleared the soldiers' memories as they went. Outside the landing was a narrow corridor. Soldiers sidled by to get around them. None paid them attention.

Tan and Josephine weren't intruders. They were just in the way.

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Her Majesty the Queen was not on the roof when Winnie and Helena arrived, but their ride was. The shuttle was Victoria's personal hopper. It looked a giant, chrome beetle. One of its wings was up, and a red carpet led into its exposed flank. Wind whipped at Winnie and Helena's dresses. A few service men were scouring the landing pad and all the other corners of the roof for security. Other guards waited by the door. It was all a bit much for Winnie, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the fanfare. Tonight, she was part of the royal procession.

She and Helena boarded the hopper.

The inside was small for a royal vehicle, but it didn't lack for luxuries. Seats lined the walls like a limousine and it had the same accommodations. The ice compartment had fresh ice. The bar bay had chilled drinks. No sign of wear and tear. At the front was a little window showing into a cockpit. This shuttle could fly on its own. The charity was in Cuba, and while Cuba had acted as a fantastic neutral ground during the war between the empire and many North American factions, it didn't have a repulse grid.

Helena sat in the seat near the door, where she could see anyone approaching. Madeline emerged on the roof holding a box covered with a blanket. Helena rolled her eyes and scooted to make room. Madeline loaded the item in beside them. Winnie's quick mental glance inside revealed Willow, Victoria's pet hawk, sleeping soundly on a perch.

"Sure," Helena said. "Let's bring the bird. Why not?"

"Your mother will be right up," Madeline said. "She's just had a quick delay."

"Figures."

Madeline ducked out and scurried back to the roof exit.

"Why are we bringing Willow?" Winnie asked.

"Because my mother is borderline insane, and this is not a quick delay. Where the hell is she?"

Winnie remained quiet.

Helena looked square at her. "Well?"

"What?"

"Where is she? Use your power."

"I'm never supposed to use my power on her."

"Oh, Christ. Don't search her bedroom. Just check the stairwell or something. Is she coming?"

"No." Winnie hadn't use her power, but the absence of any commotion outside the shuttle was enough to tell.

"I wonder if she's doing this on purpose?" Helena said. "I had to remind her about this a thousand times. It's probably a power play. She wants me to wait."

"She's never on time for my tutoring sessions... except when she's really really early."

"Yeah, but that's different. She sees you every week, and you're just a flair. You'd think she'd care more about her own daughter." Helena sighed and slumped back. "She doesn't even want to do this."

Winnie didn't know what to say. Fortunately, Helena didn't look to her this time.