Chapter 17

As Cora made her way around the transit base, she had to keep hiding from passersby. This is crazy, she thought as she climbed out of her latest hiding place, which happened to be a dumpster. She had tried to tail the two Jorvlens, but too many onlookers lingered nearby.

It will take forever to find this parts place if I have to keep hiding and staying away from thoroughfares. She needed a plan.

She was still in the residential district. She hadn't even made it to the industrial sector yet. She could wait a few more hours until everyone went to bed, but she was feeling impatient. Anything could happen to Levi if she didn't hurry.

She heard voices approaching. Damn, more beings. She just had time to dive under a parked flyer before they caught her.

She watched them walk past with interest, recognizing the arm-in-arm couple as belonging to the Egshur species. Egshurians were short and stocky with furry faces, and a lot of them lived in that part of Jorvla. They were often employed to do menial tasks.

An idea formed in Cora's mind. She could quite easily pass for Egshur if she could make herself look a little fatter. The furry face could be a problem, but she'd witnessed enough sentient beings here with clothes wrapped around their faces as protection against the sand-laden wind that blew from the desert to know she wouldn't look particularly odd.

As she clambered out of her hiding place, she looked down at the tight-fitting clothes she was wearing. I'll never get away with wearing this, she thought.

She took a side street at random. She needed to steal some clothes. The narrow service road between two lines of houses was choked with trash and overfilled dumpsters. Even at this time of night, the flies swarmed up at her passing.

How can anyone live like this? she thought as she picked her way through the debris.

She kept her eyes on the passing yards, looking for dwellings that appeared to have no one home. At this time of night, however, enough beings were going about their evening chores for it to be a problem.

She peered over another fence. Yes, I'm in luck, she thought. The owners had left their washing out on the line, and a line of garments blew in the cool night air.

She tried the latch. The gate was locked, so she pulled an old trash can over. As silently as possible, she climbed over the high fence and into the yard. She was filled with trepidation as she lowered herself down to the other side.

Once in the yard, she hurriedly gathered the washing from the line and tied it up into a fat package.

She squatted down next to the fence to consider her options. The first problem was how to get back out again. The fence was so high, she couldn't simply jump it.

As she was hiding quietly by the fence, she heard a conversation drifting through an open window.

"Can you call in at the Control Office on your way to the starship factory tomorrow?" asked a female voice.

"I don't think I'll have time," said a male voice.

"I only want something dropped off. It shouldn't take long. It's right next door after all."

Could it be the same factory? And wasn't the Control Office where they were keeping Levi? This chance conversation could be just the lead she needed.

She was listening so intently that, for a moment, she forgot where she was, a lapse that nearly cost her life.

"I'm just going to get the washing in," said the male voice. "I forgot to do it when I got home."

Cora scrambled to her feet, knocking over some gardening tools as she went.

"Hey!" yelled the man as he opened the door.

"Fuck!" cursed Cora as she made a jump for the fence, throwing the bundle of clothes over.

She didn't know how she did it as she sprang, but she managed to grab the top of the fence and get her leg over.

The Jorvlen in the yard made for the fence. "What do you think you're doing? Come back here!" He was righteously angry and made a grab for her leg as she tried to wriggle over the top.

She felt his fingers close on her ankle. With a scream, she threw herself down the other side, barely escaping his grasp. She landed in a heap in the alleyway among the trash and the stolen bundle of clothes.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" she cussed as she disentangled herself from the garbage. Terror beat its fearful toll against her chest. She couldn't get caught now.

By this point, the entire neighborhood was alert. The dracoon pets were howling and yipping in several of the yards down the road, desperate to get out and give chase.

Grabbing the precious bundle, she ran helter-skelter along the service track, back the way she'd come. She could hear shouting coming from behind, which spurred her legs to faster action.

She spared a glance back down the alley. Damn, someone's let a couple of the large dracoons out of their yard. They're as bad as dogs. Worse, really.

Cora hurled a dumpster into their path and turned down a narrow alleyway between dwellings. To her dismay, a high gate across the far end forced her to turn back to face her pursuers.

The two dracoons slowed, their lips pulled back in a snarl. They were still some distance down the alley, approaching slowly and low on their fat, stubby haunches.

A memory came to Cora. When she was little, she and her friend used to play in an alley like this. They would brace themselves between the two walls, their feet against one wall and their backs to the other. They used to be able to get really high until her friend's mother caught them and banned them from doing it again.

She was sure she could do the same between these buildings. She held the stolen bundle in her teeth and braced herself between the two houses.

"Hey, there she is!" came a cry from the end of the alleyway, forcing her to act.

"Get her!" came another voice.

The fear and adrenaline pushed her on. She shimmied up the wall, ignoring the shaking in her legs and willing them to support her.

The dracoons were beneath her now, snapping and yipping. But she was out of reach. Just a little bit further and she would be over the fence. Two big Jorvlens came into her line of sight. Too late, she thought. You're not going to catch me today. And she dropped nimbly down the other side of the gate.

As soon as her feet hit the ground, she was running, and she didn't stop until she was certain there was no sign of pursuit.

Gasping for breath and shaking, she came to a halt behind an office building. It was dark and shut for the night—a safe space for her to don her disguise.

The clothes were all too big for her, but that was okay. She needed to make herself look like the squat Egshurs. She padded the oversized clothing out with all the spare clothes she'd taken. Finally, she wrapped a length of cloth around her head and face.

She didn't have a mirror, so she checked herself out in one of the windows of the office. Not bad, she thought. Not bad.