“Oh Gods, Corra, something’s happening,” Leta said breathlessly.  “They’re talking to a security guard. They’re leaving the party. You need to get out of here.”

Corra pounded through the kitchen, rushing out the back door and onto the loading dock. A few shuttles sat in her path and she haphazardly dodged around them straight out onto the main lawn.

Above her, the sky was alight with falling stars, blazing through the atmosphere and burning out, sending shimmers across the grass. Just ahead, moving far too slowly and carefully, she could see the mass of allies making their way out. And just to her right, descending from the side of the house, a security team.

An armed security team.

Panic ripped through her, but action set in only a moment later. She fumbled to grasp her own gun, never stopping her race towards Cai and the others, and lifted it into the air. A decisive bang filled the lawn and all at once, five security guards and sixty four Almost-Frees were looking her way.

She seized the chance.

“Run!” she roared at the top of her lungs, and then the scene dissolved into chaos. Suddenly half the guards were barreling towards her and the other half towards the escapees. All of them were on their COMMs calling for immediate backup. A cavalcade of screams erupted amongst the allies as they too tripled the pace, a stampede of legs and desperation all sprinting towards the gate. All except one.

It didn’t take long for the dark shape of people to surpass the one skinny man who couldn’t keep up. Cai’s leg, of course. She’d forgotten. He was clearly going as fast as he could, but it wasn’t fast enough. The three guards who’d gone straight for the allies were gaining on him and quickly.

“Cai! Look out!” she shouted.

One of the guards — so dangerously close — raised a night stick above his head. Cai spun around, but his legs got tangled up and he fell backwards, landing on the grass with a thump even Corra could hear.

“Don’t damage ‘im too much, he ain’t ours!” one of the other guards yelled. “Get after the rest!” shouted another. But all Corra could see in her tunnel vision as she ran towards the scene was her friend about to be beaten by a slaver and it filled her such fury that she didn’t even feel it as her finger pulled the trigger.

Cai scrabbled backwards and stumbled back to his feet as the man with the stick screamed and fell to the ground, clutching his abdomen as it started to seep with blood. Minutes too late, Cai seemed to remember the gun in his own hand and pointed it haphazardly at the fallen man, just as the second approached with a gun of her own.

“Put the gun down, kroppie, or I’ll–” started the guard before she too received one of Corra’s bullets, right in the shoulder.

As the woman reeled back, Cai looked back at Corra in alarm, and it was a second later when she realized why.

A sharp, searing heat tore across her shoulder.  She clapped her hand over her upper-arm and felt warm sticky blood between her fingers. And only moments later, both of her arms were torn back as the guards caught up to her and held her in place.

Her vision grew hazy, and the pain in her arm making her nauseous, but in the darkness she could see Cai’s panicked face. And he was coming closer. At once, she was struck with a panic of her own. “No! No just run!” she shouted to him. One of her captors tried to hold a hand over her mouth, but in her desperate struggle, he couldn’t keep it there. “Get them out, Cai! You have to get them out! I’ll be fine!”

“Sure as hell you won’t be, you kroppie bitch!” growled one of the men behind her and she jerked her body to kick him in the leg. Still, she couldn’t free herself and already, they were succeeding in dragging her back toward the house.

Cai, who had stopped running halfway between the gate and her, was just staring, lost like a deer in headlights. He needed to get back to the group. He needed to get them on the ship. He needed to finish this job.

“Just go!” Corra shouted, angry this time. “Go! Now!”

He was shaking his head when he followed her order. Shaking his head and looking back in regret as he turned and started to run back to where the allies were still being pursued as they fled the gate onto the streets of the city. They’d be okay. He’d lead them back to the ship and they’d be alright. Corra breathed a sigh of relief. As for her…

“Don’t care whose property you are, the boss is gonna have your head for this,” said one of the men carrying her as Corra struggled against his grip. It turned out, though, that it wasn’t her head that was in trouble. One minute the guard was yapping slurs and threats and the next…well, he didn’t have a mouth to yap from.

Again, Corra barely heard the shot. But she swore she saw the bullet as it went straight through the man’s head and out the other side. She also didn’t realize that she shrieked until the second one fell and she was staggering backwards away from two men who barely had faces any longer.

Frantically, she spun around and easily found the source. Finn, his gun raised and his face stone, was marching towards her.

Just beyond Finn was Leta who was sprinting towards them as fast as she could while dragging a young blonde girl behind her. Elli, Corra assumed. Snitch as she may have been, Corra couldn’t hold a grudge and she certainly didn’t want the poor thing to face whatever wrath awaited her now that sixty of her peers were gone.

“Corra!” shouted Leta. “You’re bleeding, are you okay?”

Corra waved her off, “I’m fine, we need to go. There’s probably more of them coming and–”

“I really don’t think so,” said Finn. He flashed her a grin. “There’s enough chaos at that party to keep ‘em busy for a while, we made sure of that.” As Corra tilted her head at him curiously. “He’s not dead, if that’s what you’re thinking. But he’s certainly gonna have a lot to think about for a while.” Finn lifted his other hand which held a knife, a copious amount of blood and–what was that? Corra squinted her eyes at the bloody chunk of — was that — it was — an ear.

At first she was shocked. Nausea swam in her stomach. And then she thought of all the conversations the one-time ally owner was going to have in future where he had to explain that he was not, in fact, the kroppie scum he so loved to abuse, and she felt a grin bloom on her face.

Corra hadn’t trusted Finn when they first took on the Beacon together. He’d always seemed mostly out for himself. That opinion had already changed over the last few months, but never had she respected him or cared for him or trusted him as much as she did that night. Unable to stop herself and despite the searing pain in her shoulder, she threw her arms around him and squeezed.

“Thank you,” was all she could bring herself to say.

Finn laughed, hugging her with one arm. “For cutting somebody’s ear off? You’re welcome? I guess.”

“No, not that,” she scolded, shaking her head and burying her face in his chest. “Thank you for taking this on with me. Even though we’re not getting paid for it. Even though Callahan will be mad. And everything. Thank you. This means a lot to me. I really appreciate it.”

“You two are adorable,” said Leta, “but we need to get out of here before someone finds us.”

“And before you bleed all over me,” Finn added, patting her back. “C’mon, back to the ship.”

As she walked through the crowd on her own, taking careful steps and trying to smile kindly at everyone who passed her, Corra spotted Leta in the crowd, holding a glass of wine. She met her eyes and they exchanged a silent conversation. Everything okay? Leta asked, lifting her brow. Corra smiled an all good.

Just then, an older gentleman, without even a word of greeting, plucked the last bite-sized concoction from her tray. She resisted the urge to make a rude remark to him and instead took the opportunity to approach the table where a couple of the household allies were arranging more trays to be taken around the garden.

She was about three feet away from it when one of the women working, without even looking up, pointed at a tray at the end and said, “Take that one.” She pointed to a stack of used trays behind her. “Place the old one here.”

Corra hesitated, a little stunned, but she wouldn’t be deterred. Slowly, she did as she was asked, but as she hoisted the new tray onto her hip, she watched the woman a moment longer. She was clearly a ball of stress, just barely keeping afloat as her fingers worked doublespeed placing the — what were those things even? Corra’s understanding of rich-people food was limited — exactly two inches between one another in three columns of five. Corra had brushed it off before when the cranky woman had threatened her with ‘punishment’ but it occurred to her as she watched that this ally standing in front of her knew exactly what the punishment was and was trying very very hard to avoid it. She felt a subtle ache in her chest.

“Tired of doing this?” Corra asked abruptly. The woman snorted.

“Don’t see what that has to do with anything,” she growled, rolling her eyes and continuing her work.

Corra felt a slow smirk spread across her face. “A lot, actually,” she said and felt a beat of hope when the woman looked up at her, her eyes growing wider. “I’m with the Conduit.”

– – – – – – –

In the crowd of mingling party guests, Leta managed to keep an eye on Corra and was pleased to see that her disguise was working perfectly. She flashed her friend a brief smile, then turned around to find Finn again. They were supposed to be watching the other guests, staking out the important figures and making sure anyone who could pose a threat to the operation was accounted for, but the man had seemingly disappeared. Probably to enjoy the open bar and fancy finger food, she assumed.

Leta resisted rolling her eyes. But it was of no matter, she didn’t need him. She could take care of it herself.

Before she could melt back into the crowd, however, a snippet of nearby conversation caught her ear.

“Have you heard what’s happening on Vescent?” breathed a man over her shoulder. Leta froze in place, turning to listen, subtly as she could.

“It can’t be true, can it?” said a woman in reply, sounding terribly worried. “It’s just rumors! There’s simply no way the Society would permit — would permit — ”

“Executions,” the man finished darkly. “Executing their own people. And how are we to know what’s true and what’s isn’t? No media is allowed anywhere near that planet anymore. . . ”

When their conversation broke off, Leta found herself gripping the edge of the nearest table. Executions, media black out — her stomach dropped. It was true, of course it was. She had guessed that things would be growing darker there after what had happened a few weeks ago, the riot that she herself had been a part of. Their words didn’t ring untrue, but they still sent a shiver down her spine and she felt powerless to help. For one fleeting moment, Leta knew what she’d do next. She’d tell Fiearius about this and he’d understand; maybe they could even do something —

But then she remembered. Fiearius was gone to her now.

Her chest gave an ache of longing. Quickly Leta pushed away from the table, determined to get a hold of herself. Around her, interested murmurs and excitement rippled through the garden; the meteor shower was beginning.

—————-

In a rush, Cai pushed through the kitchen doors, skidding to a halt in front of her. “It started! It’s time!”

Corra had been waiting there for only a few minutes, but it felt like hours. The word of their planned escape plan had spread like wildfire, reaching every ally on the premises in under twenty minutes and now, she was surrounded by over sixty equally jumpy people who barely fit in the space. Some of them had asked her a thousand questions, others had glared at her with skepticism, but most had just stood quietly nervous, ready to bolt at the very first sign that this was going south.

She could hardly blame them. Misbehaving on the job was bad enough, misbehaving by trying to get away from the job was a sentence she didn’t want to consider. These people were on the verge of either sweet, wonderful freedom or what would likely be very harsh punishment. Of course they were afraid. They had every right to be terrified. The Conduit agent who had visited before must have given a very convincing sales pitch though. They’d all shown up after all. And Corra was determined to get them out of here. No matter what.

“Alright, everyone stick together!” yelled Corra over the crowd as she waited near the doors. “Head straight for the gate and don’t look back. There’s not a lot of time, the shower won’t last long, we need to make the most of it.”

“I’ll lead the way,” Cai volunteered, meeting her at her side. “But if you get separated, the docks are just north of here, a few blocks, can’t miss them.”

“The ship you’re looking for is the Beacon. Big, silver boat,” Corra explained. “We won’t leave until either we have everyone aboard or–”

But suddenly a third voice rang out in the crowd. “Wait!” cried one of the younger allies in dismay. His face shone with worry. “This isn’t everyone.”

Corra froze. Not everyone? That couldn’t be right. She’d done a head count. She’d done a head count eight times. Counting heads was all she had been doing for the last few minutes. There were sixty-three allies total and sixt- three in this room. But the man insisted, “Elli, she’s not here. We can’t leave without Elli.”

A murmur of agreement rang through the room. “She was here a few minutes ago,” someone else pointed out. “Where’d she go?” asked another. “She said she had something to do,” said one more.

Corra couldn’t believe that someone on the verge of everlasting freedom would suddenly feel the need to take a bathroom break. There wasn’t time for this. One loose cog could make this whole machine crash. But they were right. They couldn’t leave without Elli, no matter how bad her timing was.

“I’ll find her,” Corra promised the concerned faces around her. To Cai, she added, “Take them out of here. You know the way.”

His face darkened with worry. “Are you sure? Maybe we should just wai–”

“There’s no time,” Corra insisted as she reached around him to the small of his back and seized the small gun he’d concealed there. Grabbing Cai’s hand, she placed it in his grip and held both for a moment. “You can do this,” she assured him with a smile. “Just remember what I taught you. And hopefully you won’t need to use it at all.”

His hands were still slightly shaking as Corra dropped her own, but he nodded firmly. “Right.” But then he turned those big sad puppy dog eyes of his on her. “But you’ll catch up, won’t you?”

Corra grinned. “Of course. My ship can’t take off without me!” She patted him one last time on the arm before turning to head back out of the kitchen. “Good luck!” she called over her shoulder as the caravan of allies started to make their way out.

Praying to God that this would all go as planned, Corra started to scour the hallways.

She found that the first floor was empty — even the bathrooms were deserted. Then she found her way to the ally barracks in the basement in case this Elli girl had needed to grab some personal possession. But they were also empty. As she continued to search the halls, dead quiet now that everyone was either outside watching the meteor shower or outside fleeing for good, Corra hit the COMM hidden behind her ear.

“Leta, are there any allies out there? We’re missing one.”

There was a brief silence, presumably while Leta situated herself to both look around and talk to herself without anyone noticing. Finally, she answered, “I don’t see any. All the trays are gone. No one by the food table…There’s a bartender, but he seems paid, I–oh! Hang on.” Leta’s surprise called Corra to freeze in place, right on the precipice of the staircase.

“Yeah?” she insisted impatiently. She could still hear the ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s from Leta’s side of the COMM so there was still time — but it was fading fast. As soon as the meteor showered ended, it wouldn’t take long for people to start wondering where all the food had gone off to.

“I think  –” It sounded like Leta was quickly weaving through the crowd. “She’s not working, but–yes, okay, there’s a girl. Young girl. Blonde. I saw her cleaning tables earlier. And she’s with that sour looking woman we left you with.”

Corra groaned. How the hell did that happen? What had this Elli girl done? But then Leta said something that made her retract the question.

“This doesn’t look good…They’re going up to this guy, the host of the party. Corra–I don’t think there’s–she’s whispering something in his ear.”

Corra’s heart thudded. It wasn’t what she’d done. It was what she was about to do. Without even thinking, she started to run.