Compromised

      It mocked me. Every morning it mocked me.

           The Admirality’s dreadnought, the Peacemaker (Aptly named but for all the wrong reasons) still hung over Neptuna’s atmosphere, it’s tiers of turrets barreled down on the scattered colonies, all in the name of protection. Regional command promised us that we would’ve taken it down within a week.

           That was a month ago.

           I forced myself to drink another gulp of what apparently passed for coffee (stars, how I missed real coffee) here on Port III, trying to play the part of station-side immigrant. It didn’t matter that I’d spent four weeks practically marooned on this crowded metal giant; no amount of time here could ever accustom me to the taste. But I couldn’t afford to not do anything and risk looking suspicious. Acting was always Hale’s forte.

           True, I hadn’t blown my cover on a textbook mission like this before, but under normal circumstances, I’d have been in and out after only a couple of days, a flaming husk of a dreadnaught the only sign that I’d ever been there. It was impossible to spend a month on Port III without being noticed by someone. I took another swig of the bile, irrational, self-destructive panic starting to swell within me.

           The cheap bile warded off my anxiety with a ruthless assault on my taste buds. I swallowed down some deep breaths and tried to will in a semblance of calm. Hale and Jefford would be off the comms any minute now. Once we were together again, everything would be ok again. Solo parties attract unwanted attention from the sentries, but mingling groups and families were the norm here. I just needed to make it through the next couple of…

           “Hi!”

           For star’s sake.

           Wincing inwardly, I looked up from my morning sludge and met the dark eyes of a young women; one who’s enthusiasm didn’t match the dingy shawl she was wearing. Must be a newcomer. She’d learn soon…that is, if she survived the port that long. But I wasn’t one to judge, as I made it this far.

           “I’m Jadda,” she introduced with a smile, sticking out her hand for a shake.

           I hesitantly accepted the greeting with a half-smile. “Yuri,” I exchanged, the fraudulent name tasting hollow in my mouth. How long had it been since I’d used my real name?

           “Nice to meet you, Yuri,” Jadda said, sliding down into the seat opposite mine. A string of a thousand curses stormed through my thoughts, preventing any coherent sentence of panic from breaking through. People didn’t talk on Port III, unless it was the sentries interrogating you. “I was worried that I was the only solo party on the station.” She gave me a worried look. “You are solo, right?”

           C’mon Hale, where are you? “Well,” I mumbled. “Not exact-”

           Jadda didn’t let me finish my remark, probably for the best. Her eyes quickly darted down to my tin cup of filth. Not ever her perky demeanor could stop a foul sneer from etching itself onto her face. “What is that supposed to be?”

           I struggled to let out a passable chuckle. “I think it’s supposed to be coffee. Sure doesn’t taste like it, though.”

           The sneer vanished from her face. “Oh. It looked like it was mud in there. I was concerned for a moment.”

           “Might as well be,” I joked. I turned my gaze away from her and towards the cafetorium’s doors, praying that I’d see Hale or Jefford’s face. No dice, much to my chagrin.

           “We didn’t have coffee on my planet,” she continued with a partial frown. “At least, not while I’ve been there.”

           “Sorry to hear that.” The inward wince came back in full force. Stars, I was bad at this. I quickly brought the tin to my lips, gulping down the garbage, if only to keep myself from talking.

           Jadda only chuckled, not picking up on my lack of social grace…or just ignoring it. “Don’t be. Not having stimulants was the least of our concerns on my homeworld.” Her look darkened, if only for a second.

           “Where were you from?” Loathe it as much as I did, not conversing with her or even straight up leaving at this point would only make me look more suspicious.

           “Alderone,” she said sadly. “What’s left of it, that is.” She shook her head, erasing her forlorn expression. “I’m just glad I got off that rock when I did. Hitched a ride here with some marauders. How’d you get here?”

           Wringing my hands together under the metal sheet that served as a table, I struggled to run through my options. Hale was the one with the cover story and the backup cover story memorized. Jefford was the suave one who could bluff his way through anything. I was the verbally inept gizmo expert and somehow I was the one thrusted into this circumstance.

           The irony wasn’t lost on me.

           Just when I was about to reply with some crap that only half resembled what our actual cover story was, a familiar voice entered the ring. “Hey Yuri, we really need-” I looked up to see Hale close to our table, his face dropping and voice trailing off as he saw me of all people conversing, the one thing we weren’t supposed to do.

           Jadda beat me to the punch. “Hi!” she said to him, greeting him with the same exuberance she offered me. “I’m Jadda Keye!”

           Outwardly, Hale reacted just as I imagined he would. “Ran Gardner,” he said with a mock salute, embracing his persona. He looked calm and collected, like talking with a stranger was how he wanted to start his day. Inwardly, I knew his mind must be running a mile of minute just to process how I got us into this web.

           “So you’re not solo!” she put the pieces together. “How are you guys related?” She looked back and forth between us a few times, unsure of who to focus her attention on, until her eyes narrowed on Hale’s hand; namely the item he refused to part with, even for missions. She looked back at me, joy in her eyes. “You’re married!” she practically squealed.

           I smiled in confirmation as Hale scanned the surrounding area, no doubt seeing if any sentries had noticed the noise. They had a nasty penchant for beating up the loud ones. “For about two years,” I said, picking the first number that popped into my head. I shuffled in my set, positioning my jacket to cover up the bulge in my pant’s pocket, not needing the ever-perceptive Jadda to notice my concealed revolver. I could see Hale trying to do the same. Not the easiest thing to hide while standing up. Fortunately, Jadda’s eyes had gone straight to the ring instead of his pants.

           “It was nice to meet you,” he tried to wrap things up. “But we’ve-”

           But Jadda wasn’t done with us yet. “How’d the two of you meet? Why’d you come all the way to Neptuna? You don’t look like refugees.”

           I couldn’t help but look out of the cafetorium’s panoramic window and eye the Peacemaker just outside, at the mention of our purpose. It’s cannons and armored exoskeleton continued to mock me. I clenched my fist underneath the grime covered tabletop.

           Hale let out a laugh, one I couldn’t even tell was fake. “You’re an inquisitive one, Jadda. Anyone ever tell you that?”

           “Curious by nature,” she smiled.

           “We met on Crest not too long ago,” Hale told her, creating a whole new backstory out of thin air like it was nothing. “Planned on settling down there if it wasn’t for the rebellion.”

           I tried suppressing my flinch, but I couldn’t contain it. What was he doing breaking politics into this, let alone our affiliation? Was he not as good at this as I thought? Silent words floundered on my tongue as I tried to change the subject, but it was too late. Jadda had snagged on his bait.

           Her face darkened, but she didn’t try to hide it or wipe it away. This time, it stayed upset. “I’m sorry to hear that.” But her words of sympathy were tainted with her own pain. “The rebellion uprooted my home. They came for our mining facilities and blew them all to kingdom come. And they call themselves heroes.”

           “Wow,” I tried to offer a masquerade of condolences, but I couldn’t process the words she was saying. I caught Hale out of the corner of my eye holding up his hand towards me, silencing me before I could even speak. I shot him a glare. Like he wasn’t the one who dragged the rebellion into this.

           “That must’ve been rough,” Hale told Jadda with a knowing look on his face. I swear, if it wasn’t for the rebellion and the marks on our heads, he could’ve been a Capitol actor. Maybe in another lifetime. “It’s nice to know there are more like us out there.”

           Jadda smiled back. “You’re right. How long have you been waiting for your immigration papers to clear?”

           “About a month,” one of the only true things I had said during my time on the station. “It’s a lengthy process and the authorities aren’t in too much of a rush to get us down there. Ran and I are going to try and get jobs down there, once they pass us in.”

           Jadda raised an eyebrow. “I thought Neptuna didn’t let immigrants into their workforce?”

           The string of curses returned as I tasted my own foot in my mouth. I could almost feel Hale’s look of worry even though his face remained perfectly stoic.

           For the first time, he lost his footing on his words. “We’re…optimistic. We’ve heard stories from friends of a few lucky refugees. We’re hoping for, well…”

           “Pity?”

           Hale sighed. “Yeah, pity.”

           “Excuse me, ma’am?”

           The three of us looked to the other side of the table to see Jefford on the other side with a stained apron on, covering up a ripped bomber jacket. He gave the two of us a split-second look that spoke volumes more than any curse word or navigator’s explicative ever could before returning his attention to Jadda.

           “Me?”

           Jefford nodded. “The breakfast line is closing down soon and you’re taking the space of some paying customers. If you wouldn’t mind buying something or getting out of my cafetorium.” He let his words hang while Jadda’s face lost any glimmer of enthusiasm.

           “Of…of course,” she stammered out. “I’ll join the line right away.”

           The second Jadda had left for the line of half-awake refugees and immigants, Jefford ripped off the apron, tossing it onto the table. “You have no idea how hard the was for me to snag,” he reprimanded the two of us, perfectly fitting in his identity as Hale’s older brother.

           “For what it’s worth,” Hale offered him, a true humorous smile on his face. “You played the part of Admirality stiff perfectly.”

           “You tend to pick up a thing or two after spending so much time with them. Now what in blazes are you still doing in here? You we’re supposed to pick up Anna quickly.”

           I couldn’t help but shiver at the mention of my real name, but I couldn’t focus on that right now. “Pick me up for what? Didn’t you guys just get off comms with Brigham’s team minutes ago?”

           “Yeah,” Hale confirmed. “And his time finally finished their end of the mission. They’re waiting for us in Bay Six now.”

           “Which is where we should have been forever ago,” Jefford added, arms crossed over his jacket. “What were the two of you thinking, striking up conversation in broad daylight?”

           “Just forget it,” I told him, eager to get out of the cafetorium. “We’re finally getting out of here.” With a grin, I removed my meal card from my other pocket and tossed it onto the table. Not like I’ll be needing that or the sludge it gets me anymore. I eyed the service line, making sure Jadda had lost all interest in us. “We’re clear. Let’s get moving.”

           Jefford mockingly waved towards the main doors. “By all means.”

           The cargo hauler Brigham’s team had managed to acquire (which was our euphemism for hijack) was by no means pretty: a junker if there ever was one. But it didn’t have to be pretty. Just as long as the aged wreck still flew and did it’s job.

           “Sorry about the wait,” Brigham said as I walked up the boarding ramp, as if that made up for everything. He was rubbing his scaly green forehead, almost in embarrassment. “Your access codes worked like a charm.”

           “Yeah, because some of us can actually accomplish our ends on schedule,” I quipped back, feeling the instant relief of being able to talk naturally once more. It was good to be Anna again, even if I would be back to Yuri’s costume in a manner of days. “Tell me you brought my present.”

           Brigham indicated the table behind him. “See for yourself.”

           I ran up to the makeshift table and squealed, almost like Jadda had done back in the cafetorium. Sitting on the table were packs of Berodome explosive igniters: the best on the market. Yeah, they were pricey, but nothing brought down an Admirality dreadnaught like they did.

           “Even had our dealer stencil in the rebellion insignia on the side for you,” Brigham added. “Hope that makes up for our delay.”

           “Without a doubt!” I shouted back, overjoyed and already forgiving him. The taste of Port III’s fake coffee was worth seeing this bundle of hopped up fireworks before me.

           “I wouldn’t consider yourself forgiven just yet,” Jefford said, already cocking his rifle. “We’ve still got a dreadnaught to take down. Besides, you can’t win us all over with explosives.”

           “Couldn’t agree with you more, brother,” Hale said, running up the ramp with the last of our supplies, his sleeve now removed, revealing his rebellion tats. “Just the geeks in the group.” Before I could cuff him or shout back some other insult, he leaned in for a kiss, meshing his face against my mind. “I’ve missed you, Anna Reeves.”

           “Right back at you, Hale Reeves.”

           “If the lovebirds are done,” Brigham rolled his eyes. “We’d like to go over the mission plans.”

           “Speak for yourself,” Hale scoffed. “Some of us have had nothing to do for a month but go over the plans. That ‘naught is going down, mark my words.”

           The three of us shared a true, collective laugh at the sight of Brigham’s scowl, enjoying ourselves and the moment for the first time in weeks. Despite spending a full month talking to almost no one but my husband and his brother, this was the first time since we left that I felt like I was truly with my family. Nothing could take away my joy from this moment.

           We all froze as we heard someone clear their throat from the other end of the hijacked hauler.

           I slowly turned around, trepidatious, and felt the wince return once more as I saw who the sound belonged to.

           “I noticed you left your meal card on the table,” Jadda said, holding out the flimsy green and blue scancard I had excitedly discarded not too long ago. “I thought I’d return it to you.” She choked on her next words. “What…what is this?” No doubt her keen skill of perception had already picked up on Hale’s violent tats and the package of explosives not so discreetly placed behind us.

           Jefford sighed, disappointment in the sound. “Brigham, fire up the ship.”

           Hale met my gaze and nodded in return, his own face grim.

           “Jadda,” I said, bringing my revolver to her level, priming the ignition switch. “I really wish you hadn’t seen all this.”

           Whether I was Anna or Yuri, the feel of a trigger against my finger felt natural to me…as did the sound of a body hitting the floor.