Chapter 10

Ryker

So, New Horizon's council sent her to Orion's Masquerade. They turned his wife into a pawn.

He should've told her then. Should've scooped her into his arms and loaded her into his vessel. It was a solo ship, but they'd make it to a station before they ran into any real trouble with the life support's resources. Then, they could tap into New Horizon's accounts or trade Abernath's jewels for an upgraded ship.

The masquerade wouldn't penalize a couple for leaving early so long as they left together, would they? He was going to seek out one of the masquerade's employees and find out.

As he turned on his heel to exit the gardens, he froze. Jules stood waiting in the corridor. She eyed him cooly, then walked calmly past him and into the garden. It was an obvious invitation to follow, so he did.

Jules didn't reach out to feel the plants or lean in to smell the blooms as Talia had. She simply walked on by until she found a satisfactory place to stop in the back. Among a dark aisle cluttered with racks of gardening tools and half-empty planters, she turned to face him.

"I know it's you, Ryker," she said blandly. Exasperated, even.

His stomach dropped. He had to lean against a rack for support. Jules sounded so unhappy about him being alive. He didn't understand.

"How did you know?"

"I've known you my whole life, it wasn't hard to recognize you."

"But Talia hasn't?—"

"She's already mourned you." Jules crossed her arms in front of her chest and sat down on a crate. "It's harder for her to see."

"Well let's go tell her! We can get out of here. The fleet found a planet, Jules. New Horizon has a home."

"No, the masquerade wouldn't like that. Last decennial, an already engaged couple pretended to be strangers and joined together. They thought it'd get their union some media traction, they were looking to introduce some new policies or something and needed the public's support. Do you remember that?"

Ryker shook his head. Gossip news wasn't something he followed.

"I can't remember all of the details, but I do remember the masquerade's response after they found out. No one from either of their home planets is permitted to join a masquerade event ever again, they're completely barred. The shame of it cost them almost all of their trade agreements, too. Their planets are struggling. No one wants to be associated with the people who tried to exploit Orion's Masquerade." She leaned forward and held his gaze. "The masquerade would accuse you and Talia of doing the same thing. What use would the planet be if no one wants to help us? What kind of future would that create?"

"We don't tell them. We tell Talia then go through the closing ceremony, together."

Jules shook her head. "There's too much at stake, we can't risk it."

"They'll never find out."

"They would," her cold eyes met his, "because I'd tell them."

A dagger of disbelief hit his chest, knocking him back a couple of steps. "Why are you doing this, Jules?"

"We all have things we need, Ryker. I need Talia to choose Xiridian IV."

Xiridian IV was Abernath's planet . . .

"How much is he paying you?"

"That's not it." The way Jules answered too quickly told him that was a lie. Her face turned such a deep shade of red that it was noticeable even in the dim lighting.

"How much?" Ryker raised his voice.

"Xiridian IV is the only place where I can get my mom's treatment! But only if we're citizens. Non-citizen treatment is impossible."

"New Horizon will pay for it, Jules. Did you ever ask? If it's outside of our medical scope, we can apply to get her treatment elsewhere."

"No, you don't understand. They have the technology to cure her, but it's reserved for citizens." Jules' shoulders trembled and her eyes turned glassy. She hid her face in her hands for a moment, then sucked in a deep breath and sat up straight. Her cold eyes were back. "I won't let you ruin this. New Horizon has gone on for too long not knowing what's around the corner. Xiridian IV is safe. It's where we need to go."

"New Horizon already has the planet's coordinates. I sent them via courier before coming here."

Her lips pursed and she shook her head as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "No."

"Yes," he nodded. "We'll figure it out, it's okay."

"No," she shrugged, "they don't have the coordinates. All courier communication goes through the vice-chancellor now. Your message will be held for my review and once I get back, it will be deleted."

There was an emergency channel that fed directly into the command deck, but it was reserved for ships in the immediate vicinity to communicate S.O.S.'s or imminent threats to one another. Even though the news in Ryker's message was highly important, it had to be delivered via typical courier services.

Her voice lowered, "A lot has changed since you've been gone, Ryker."

"I'm going now, Jules. Talia and I will figure this out together."

He was nervous to turn his back on the cutthroat manipulator Jules had seemingly become, but it was the only way for him to leave the gardens. Ryker straightened his shoulders and turned slowly, then strode away without looking back.

"She has a daughter now," Jules called from the back of the gardens.

Goosebumps prickled down Ryker's neck. No, that couldn't be true. He hesitated, debating on whether or not to engage with Jules' little game, but the need to know was too strong. He rushed back to where she still sat in that same spot on the crate.

"Who has a daughter?"

"Talia."

His eyes burned with tears. Did they have a daughter? He missed out on five years of fatherhood.

"A baby," Jules clarified.

Ryker's heart sunk. "A baby? No, that, she wouldn't. You're lying."

"Ask her if you don't believe me. Then ask yourself, how are you going to raise a baby on an undeveloped planet? Could you even love it?" She shrugged and stood to walk away, but paused to add, "Leave now and I won't oust you to the masquerade. I'll send a rescue party to your coordinates. They'll take you anywhere you want other than Xiridian IV."

With that, she left a stunned Ryker alone in the dark to work through what it all meant.