Will drove the small cart towards the warehouses.

“Turn here,” called Debra as they passed a sign.

“What’s down this way?” Will asked as he turned.

“Parking lots where crews park their cars while they’re away,” she answered with a smile.

“You don’t mean …”

“Yes, we’re stealing a car.” answered Debra with a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ve done this before.”

They stopped at the edge of a large parking lot which was about a third full. There were several people looking for their cars and a few cars were in line at the main gate.

“Look for dirty cars,” advised Debra. “They’ve been here the longest and likely won’t be missed for a while.”

The two of them headed into the lot, staying well away from the other people who were there.

“This one looks good,” suggested Will as he walked towards a car with a thick coat of dust.

Debra came over and looked around to be sure no one was watching. Bending over the hood, she quickly rubbed the sleeve of her overalls along the bottom of the windshield to wipe away the dirt.

“Won’t work,” she said as she began walking away.

“Why not?”

“No parking stub. We’ll need that to get out of here,” explained Debra.

She walked over to a nearby car. It was also covered in a layer of dirt and the tires were slightly low. She rubbed off the dirt along the bottom of the windshield.

“There it is,” she said gesturing at an orange piece of paper sitting on the dashboard. She walked over to the driver’s side door which had a numerical keypad mounted to it.

Debra took out the scanner. “These older type of electronic locks have a unique feature. If you hit them with the proper frequency pulse, they’ll unlock.” She pressed a button on the scanner and within a minute there was a click. She opened the door. “Hop in.”

Will climbed in the passenger side while Debra took the driver’s seat. “Now let’s get this thing started.”

She pushed the seat back and bent down under the dashboard. Reaching behind the keypad which started the car, she pulled out several wires. Using her teeth, she stripped them and twisted them together. Bringing her seat back up, she pressed the ignition button and the car roared to life. While Will went out and did his best to clean off the windows, Debra adjusted the mirrors.

“Grab some money from the backpack,” she told Will when he got back in the car.

She slowly drove towards the main parking lot entrance and got behind the other cars in line. When they reached the gate the bored looking young woman at the window said, “Ticket please.”

Debra handed her the parking stub. The woman looked at it with surprise. “Boy you’ve been gone a long time,” she exclaimed.

“Yeah,” answered Debra with a smile. “It’s good to finally be home.”

The woman put the stub in a small slot and “three hundred and thirty credits,” showed up on the screen. Debra handed her the money. “Thank you,” said the woman as Debra and Will drove off.

Will just shook his head. “Excellent work.”

Debra smiled. “Did you expect anything less?”

She took the car onto the main highway which led to the capital and as they drove kept looking at signs.

“What’re you looking for?” asked Will.

“A hotel,” she said. “We need to get cleaned up.”

“Won’t they require identification?”

Debra shook her head. “Not if you choose the right one.”

He gave her a confused look. “Oh, you’ll see,” she said with a chuckle. “This is going to be fun.”

After another ten minutes, she took an exit off the highway and eventually pulled up to a single story hotel that’d seen better days. There was a sign out front reading “Honeymoon Hotel.” Debra smiled as she looked it over. “This will be perfect.”

“You’ll need to follow my lead for this to work,” she explained. “Be ready to plop down some money on the desk if we get any pushback.”

“Okay,” answered a still confused Will.

Before Will could say anything, Debra got out of the car. When he got out, he saw her stepping out of her overalls. When she had them off, she tossed them in the car.

“What …” began Will, but stopped when she started unbuttoning her shirt. After unbuttoning the top three, she looked over at Will.

“What do you think,” she said leaning slightly to the side. He just stared at her.

“That’s perfect,” she said with a smile. She slipped her arms around him. “Let’s go inside.”

The two of them walked into the small lobby. There were a few chairs and a counter which looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a while. Once inside, Debra had started kissing the side of Will’s face and running her hands along his back.

“You need a room?” asked the middle-aged man behind the counter. He didn’t look directly at them as Debra started nibbling Will’s ear.

“Yes,” replied Will. “The best you have.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Name?” he asked.

“Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” answered Debra with a giggle.

“I’ll need to see some id.”

Will pulled out fifty credits and put it on the counter. “There you go,” he said in a firm voice.

The man looked at the money and slipped into his pocket. “Welcome to the Honeymoon Hotel, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” He handed them a key. “I gave you the Honeymoon Suite. It’s around back, can’t miss it.”

“Thanks,” said Will as Debra grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door.

“Come on,” she said seductively. “Let’s get to the room.”

Once they were back in the car, Debra started buttoning her short, but stopped and looked at Will. “Or would you prefer I leave it this way?” she said with a smile.

Will sat there for a moment before he realized that he hadn’t answered her question. “Oh, button it up.”

They drove around to the back of the building where they found a small cabin with a peeling sign that said “Honeymoon Suite.” They parked beside it and headed inside.

“Kind of reminds me of your place,” observed Debra as they stepped inside. It was a medium sized room with a couple of doors. There was a large bed with an ugly green covering. The only other furniture was a faded couch worn through in places, a small table, a few chairs, and a cabinet. The cabinet had a small viewscreen sitting on it with a refrigerator and microwave sitting on a lower shelf.

Looking around Will shook his head. “My apartment is better than this.”

Debra walked over to one of the doors and opened it. “Closet,” she called. “And not a large one.”

“Then this must be the bathroom,” surmised Will as he opened the other door. Looking around, he suddenly wished he hadn’t. The tiny room had a small sink filled with rust stains and a tub/shower enclosed with a hideous pink tile that had a number of tiles missing. For a moment he thought there was no toilet, but then he saw it squeezed between the sink and tub.

Debra came up behind him. “I’ve used worse,” she said with a shrug. “As long as water comes out of that shower, it suits me fine.”

She went over to the backpack and took out a change of clothes. “I’d invite you to join me,” she said coyly, “but I doubt that we could both fit.” Stepping into the bathroom, she closed the door behind her. A few minutes later there was the sound of gurgling and then the sound of running water.

Seeing the viewscreen, Will picked up the remote and sat on the edge of the bed. He’d heard no news of Earth since he and Debra had left and was curious to see how people were reacting to Grandle’s actions. He turned on the viewscreen and went to one of the news channels.

He jumped with surprise as President Grandle’s face appeared on the screen.

“… to those who disagree with you declaring Will Power a traitor?”

President Grandle grimly shook his head. “I fully understand their feelings,” he said sincerity dripping from his words. “Will was like a son to me, but his actions left me no choice.”

Will had to refrain himself from throwing the remote at the screen.

“But you’ve never explained what those actions were,” called one of the reporters. “Surely, you can’t people expect to agree with your actions if they don’t know all the facts.”

“I wish I could explain,” answered Grandle staring at the camera. “Unfortunately, that information is classified. All I can say is that he interfered with Earth military operations meant to protect our planet.”

“You mean invade another planet,” muttered Will.

Grandle looked off to the side. “I have time for one more question.”

“President Grandle,” called out a female reporter. “Do you plan on taking any action against the ongoing protests?”

Grandle shook his head. “No, as long as they remain peaceful we’ll let them continue. Will Power was a hero to many of us and people need time to come to grips with his treachery. When we capture him, and I assure you we will, I only hope he’ll tell the truth about what he’s done. That’s the only way this dissention will end.” He walked away from the podium and disappeared down a corridor. Will turned off the viewscreen.

“Will?”

He looked over and saw Debra dressed in a different outfit and rubbing a towel through her hair. “Yes,” he said.

“What’s wrong?”

It then that he noticed his hands tightly gripping the bed. He released them. “Just watched a news conference with Grandle.” He laughed bitterly. “Did you know I was like a son to him?” Before Debra could answer, he continued angrily. “Yeah, and the reason for my supposed treason is classified.”

“Are you done?” quickly interrupted Debra.

Will looked down. “Sorry. It’s just that seeing Grandle there lying through his teeth was so infuriating. People here have no idea what he’s up to.”

Debra put down the towel and sat down on the bed by Will. “Hopefully we’ll be able to do something about that.”

He looked over at her and gave a small smile. “Well at least not everyone here thinks I’m a traitor,” he said. “There’s even been some protests. Maybe that’s why Gwen’s been trying to get me to confess?”

“Makes sense,” answered Debra. “She did seem pretty insistent about it.”

The sat there for a few minutes, but finally Debra stood up. “I’m hungry,” she said, “and I’m not about to eat any more of those nutribars. I saw a small shop not far from here. I’m going there to get us some real food.”

“I’ll come with you,” offered Will as he got to his feet. “We should probably stay together.”

Debra shook her head. “No it’s better if I go alone. I’m less likely to be recognized.” She went into the bathroom and brushed her hair. “Besides, you need a shower. The shower wasn’t too bad although I think I used all the hot water.”

Will knew he wasn’t going to win the argument. “Just be careful.”

“Always am.”

She took some cash from the backpack and headed out the door. “I’ll be right back.”

Will grabbed some clothes from the backpack and headed over to the bathroom. Debra indeed had finished all the hot water and he had to bend over to get his head under the shower head. However, there was soap and at least the towels were clean.

He’d just finished getting dressed when he heard the door open. “Welcome back, Debra,” he called as he opened the bathroom door. He stopped in his tracks as instead of Debra, he saw the clerk who’d given them their room holding a pile of towels.

“I’m so sorry,” he said sounding embarrassed. “I knocked and no one answered and not seeing a car I thought the two of you had gone out." He put the towels down on the coffee table. “Just wanted to drop off some fresh towels.”

“Thanks,” said Will handing him five credits.

The man turned to leave, but suddenly stopped. “Hey, I know you,” he cried.

Will shook his head. “I doubt it. Just got back from six months on a transport.”

“No, you’re Will Power,” insisted the man. “I’ve seen you on the viewscreen lots of times.”

Will looked at the man. He’d be easy to overpower, but then what. If they left him behind, he’d alert the authorities and they certainly couldn’t take him with them. He heard the sound of a car pulling up followed by running feet.

“What’s going on?” asked Debra sweetly as she reached the door.

Will gestured at the hotel clerk. “This man’s crazy,” he answered. “He thinks I’m Will Power.”

A look of terror passed over Debra’s face. She walked over and stood beside the hotel clerk and stared at Will. “I don’t know. I always thought Will Power was taller and had blond hair,” she said tilting her head. “But if he were that would be quite a story to tell. Spending the night with Will Power. All the girls will be so jealous.” She giggled and clapped her hands.

She looked at Will. “You’re not, are you?”

“No.”

“Too bad, but you’ll still do,” she said walking over and wrapping an arm around Will.

Will could see some uncertainty starting to show in the man’s face. “Well maybe I was mistaken,” he admitted in a stuttering voice. “Sorry for the confusion.”

“No harm done,” said Will.

The clerk quickly left the room, closing the door behind him.

“Do you think he bought it?” asked Debra.

“Don’t know, but we’d better not stick around to find out,” replied Will.

It didn’t take long to gather their things and in a few minutes they were ready to leave. Will peered out the window. It was just starting to get dark and he didn’t see any people around. He tossed a hundred credits on the bed.

Debra just shook her head.

“Let’s go,” he said.

The two of them got in the car and drove off.

The hotel clerk stood near the front of the lobby watching them go. He held a small phone-like device in his hand.

“Yeah, they just left. An older car. I think it’s white, but it’s very dirty. They’re heading back to the highway.” He was silent for a moment. “Of course I’m sure. I looked online and he matches the picture perfectly. I’d stake everything I own that the man who just left here is Will Power.”