Chapter Nine
He pulled out of a drop tube onto a familiar route.
Without the Coalition, Jule had nothing; he'd even lose the upcar it had taken him so long to earn. He couldn't give it up.
Not just for Violet.
He knew it now; all the times Violet had said she'd been busy last winter…she hadn't. He had no idea what she'd been doing. And when she finally drifted away from him, from the Coalition of Pity, she'd said her father wasn't happy with the trouble they could get into…Ember had been there for Jule.
And now Jule, too, was doing the same…drifting away from the Coalition, his friends, Marton, Ember. He knew he didn't want to become as lonely as Violet, couldn't get himself disassociated.
Yet even so, he didn't think he could tell it to Violet. Not face to face.
Jule pulled into a lay-by amidst the furious honking of horns. He ignored them all and composed a short feed message.
Sorry, etc, that I can't contact you any more. My place at the Coalition depends on it. I'm hoping you'll understand. Jule.
His cache set to block incoming messages, he learned back in his seat, listening to the hiss as upcar after upcar sped past him en route to their meaningless, feed-orientated destinations.