Chapter Four

Cress despised Carswell Thorne.

She didn't think she could possibly like anyone less than him. Her disappointment with her choice of companion was weighing down on her so much that she could barely stand it. She was so angry that the first real Earthen she'd come in contact with was him. He had shattered every hopeful expectation she'd had for that planet. But it was her fault. After all, she'd contacted him—and now she had to suffer the consequences of her stupidity.

How he had mocked her attempt to blackmail him. She was sure he got joy at how pathetic she was. "Net dramas aren't real," he'd told her, laughing. Well, how was she supposed to know that? They were on every Earthen channel. They had Earthen people in them. They took place in Earthen nations. Why shouldn't it be real?

She knew criminals were supposed to be mean, ruthless, and dangerous. But somehow she hadn't even considered that she would end up bound and gagged with a man lying on top of her in any of the scenarios she'd fantasized when anticipating his arrival on the satellite. He should have seen her, realized that she was being held against her will, and swept her off her feet. Wasn't that what happened in all the net dramas too? Oh—of course. None of that was real. Criminals didn't become heroes, and heroes probably didn't save damsels in distress either. She bit her lip to keep from crying again. She'd cried so much already and she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her lose control again. He probably already thought she was pathetic enough.

And now she sat shivering on the floor of the cockpit of a spaceship, handcuffed to a pole, tormented by her thoughts. All while Carswell Thorne flew them to stars knew where. He was a terrible pilot. Another mistake she'd made. Their ride on the podship to reach the Rampion had been so terrifying that she hadn't even been able to enjoy being off of her satellite.

Not that she'd enjoyed a single moment of anything since Carswell Thorne had joined her. After he'd agreed to bring her to the Rampion, he'd picked her up like a rag doll and tried to carry her to his podship. She'd struggled and even tried to bite him, to which he set her on the ground angrily and threatened to gag her again if she didn't behave. When she hadn't responded, he'd pointed back to her room and said that he would also be more than happy to leave her behind. She knew, of course, that leaving with him was better than being stuck on the satellite for the rest of her life, but the thought of him touching her in any way, shape, or form made her feel sick. For some reason, he always got uncomfortable when she stared at him, so that's exactly what she did instead of answering him. Sure enough, he'd faltered a bit, but then shook his head and picked her up again. This time, she'd stayed still, even though she wished she could have bitten him again, hard.

She'd kept quiet on the ride back to the Rampion. She'd mocked him in her head while he muttered "Captain is King" as a password. She'd shot daggers at the back of his head when he put her over his shoulder again as they entered. And when he'd pulled out a pair of handcuffs from a crate that sat in the middle of the cargo bay, she'd slumped to the ground, feeling as defeated as she had when he'd originally gagged her.

"I don't understand why I have to wear these," she'd complained, trying to get him to look at her. He wouldn't respond. She thought he'd looked rather uncomfortable, though, for some reason, but knew that it was just for show when she saw him grab a gun and stick it in the holster around his belt. He was finally showing his true colors. He'd said he wouldn't hurt her, but everything about being on this ship now gave her a terrible feeling about the whole situation. She tried to call up a fantasy that would make her feel better, but nothing came to her.

After a while of sitting there in misery, a thought occurred to her.

"Mr. Thorne?"

He looked back at her from the controls. "It's just Thorne. Or Captain Thorne."

There was no way she was going to call him Captain. She knew his history. He was an ex-cadet. He probably used that title to trick women into thinking he was more desirable than he was. It was just another disgusting thing about him.

"Thorne it is. I need to alter some coding for the Rampion."

"I don't think so. She takes a lot of precise maneuvering and I can't risk an amateur bringing us down."

She tried to sound more confident. "One of my jobs in the satellite was to make sure that certain ships didn't get detected by satellite and radar. If you want us to stay hidden, then you have to let me alter some of the coding."

That got his attention. He got out of the pilot seat and squatted down in front of her, just as he had on the satellite. Thorne squinted at her. "Are you telling the truth?"

"I thought we went over this already," said Cress indignantly.

He fumbled for the key in his pocket and pulled it out. He leaned over her as he reached behind to unlock her handcuffs. His body was so close to hers that she momentarily felt herself tense up and could only think of when he was pressing her down onto the satellite floor not too long ago. When he undid them from the pole, he quickly put the open handcuff on her free hand. Her hate for him grew.

"I'm not going to do anything with handcuffs on. I have to be able to move freely to do some programming."

He scratched the back of his neck and looked uncomfortable again. "I don't want a repeat of our scuffle in the satellite. I think handcuffs will help us avoid that, don't you?"

"I don't know how to fly. If I kill you, how am I supposed to land?"

He held up his hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, little lady. Who said anything about killing? I just don't want to have to pin you to the floor again and gag you. But now you've got me wondering. Are you going to try to kill me?"

"No! I have a vested interest in making this ship untraceable. So if you would just let me do what I'm best at, then both of us could benefit. And—you won't have to pin me, or whatever."

"Fair enough."

He moved his hand back to the lock, but then hesitated. "And…no screaming either, right?"

At least she had done something that had bothered him.


After almost forty minutes of complicated coding, Cress felt a bit more like herself. She had even started to sing a bit by the end. When she finished, she turned in her chair to find Thorne staring at her, looking amused. He held a blanket and a mug out to her. "I thought you might be cold. And thirsty. But you seemed a bit…into whatever you were doing…so I didn't want to bother you."

Cress was surprised that he would make any kind of semi-thoughtful gesture, but she was more embarrassed than anything that he had heard her singing. "Oh, thanks," she said, feeling her cheeks burn. She took the blanket from him first, after wrapping it around her tightly, she accepted the mug. He continued to focus on her.

"What?"

"I'm just trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do with you."

"Take me to Earth."

"Well, yes, eventually that is the plan, but for now I think it's better if we stay in orbit for a while. We certainly can't go back to the Eastern Commonwealth if what you said about the military was true. And you owe me a few more things before we land."

"It was true," she said quietly, looking at the tea in her mug. "You were about to get caught."

"Nah, maybe they would have gotten close, but they wouldn't have actually caught me. I'm too quick for them."

Cress turned away from him, hoping he would leave her alone. These were her first moments of feeling any sort of peace aboard the ship, and she wanted to relish in no longer being trapped on the satellite. She gazed out at the Earth below her, and felt a tingle of excitement take over as she imagined what it would be like take a step on real soil. She'd watched the Earth for so many years, and now in perhaps just a few days time, her dream would become a reality.

But after a while the Rampion's trajectory turned, and suddenly she found herself staring at Luna. It looked huge from this vantage point, and its sparkling white and gray light seemed to reach out and touch her lungs, filling her with icy dread. Cress began to shake all over in fright.

"Hey, are you still cold?" asked Thorne. She hadn't realized he was still there.

"No—no—" she replied, her teeth chattering.

Thorne took the mug out of her hands. "Come on, let's get you some more blankets before you freeze to death. Maybe you're in shock from all the excitement today." Cress's gaze remained fixed on the moon. She was certain that Sybil would already know that she'd escaped, and that the Lunar Queen was somehow watching their ship from the moon. If she could see Luna, surely Lunars could see her.

"Hey—wait a minute," said Thorne. He came to stand next to her. "You're not afraid of the moon are you?"

She managed to tear her gaze away from Luna and studied him instead. She had been sure that he would think she was pathetic for this too, but his face seemed gentler than she'd expected. "Uh—yes. You know, Lunars."

Thorne nodded. "Your mother tell you scary bedtime stories about them too?" He shook his head. "Sorry, forgot about the no parents thing—yeah." He cleared his throat. "We're still on Earthen territory, so don't worry. They don't come over the border."

But they did. She had helped to disguise their ships for many years. And eventually, they would attack Earth when they had enough of them in place.

"I know some people who say they've come in contact with them, though," he continued. "From what I've gathered, Lunars are a crazy, psychotic species that pretty much deserve to die." He chuckled. "But we already knew that, didn't we?"

Cress forced herself to get out of her chair and walk in the opposite direction of the dashboard.

"You heading to the kitchen? I could use some dinner myself," he called behind her. "Let me just put this baby in complete auto-control."

She kept walking. He could never find out she was Lunar. Because if he did, he would probably try to kill her too.