I feel itchy all over, my stomach lurching as I lean over the grass, feeling sick. The flowers are in bloom this season and Lucian's courtyard are littered with them. I stare at the red ones from Earth, thinking about Ron. 

I sent him in there, knowing he would die but the reality is so much crueler. He will be maimed and disfigured first, losing part or all of his consciousness till he can't recognise himself or much else. 

And General Aldric knows I did this. My palm goes up to the side of my mouth, where his lips touched moments ago. I washed my face numerous times after but it still feels contaminated. What did he mean by that warning?

Aside from keeping this meeting a secret, he never stated what he wanted from me.

"All set to go?" Lucian walks up to join me. He sent off the generals and the absence of their gliders fill me with ease. "Or do you want to stay longer? I could fix us up with those nice hot chocolate drinks." 

I nod automatically. I'm not ready to go anywhere. To be honest I'd rather stay here, staring at the flowers for as long as I can. 

"You more pale than usual. Is everything alright, Luna?" Lucian asks before telling his bartender to prepare our drinks. "Did our conversation disturb you?" 

I shake my head incessantly whilst my fingers thrum against the arms of the chair. I can't meet his eyes when I reply. "No, nothing happened."

Lucian would have mentioned if he knew I had snuck in those humans. The fact that he hasn't said so could only mean he doesn't know. Which means only General Aldric holds this secret over my head. 

I chew on my lip, wondering if anyone else knows as well. 

"This whole thing is terrible. They've been lying from the beginning and we've done nothing to prevent it. All in the name of rebuilding our population." Lucian plops down on the couch beside me and an attendant places two steaming cups of hot chocolate on the table before us. 

"Can we talk here?" I ask him and he tells the staff to clear the room. 

Once we are alone, he nods for me to continue. 

I swallow hard, hesitating for a few seconds and then realise that I'm desperate. I can't do this alone. 

"Listen, I know a human there." I say reluctantly and he frowns.

I lean closer, not wanting to say the words so loudly. "I sent in a human and I need to get him out before they kill him. 

"What?" His eyes widen with surprise. "How?" 

"I needed to earn their trust," My gaze lowers, not wanting to see the judgment in his. "That is how I found out."

"Oh, Luna," Lucian takes my hands in his and squeezes them. "You shouldn't have gone that far, what if the authorities find out--."

"I know!" I snap, feeling a rush of frustration threaten to overwhelm me. I made a stupid mistake and now I am paying for it. 

"I'm sorry," I say softly, rubbing my thumb against his palm. "I'm worried." 

"This might not be the nicest thing to hear but wouldn't it be better if you left it this way. If he's dead, there would be no evidence of your involvement." 

"No." My fingers release his and instead grip the seats tightly. "I promised him I would try. And don't you think it's wrong to leave it be? We voted to send in more than a thousand humans with the War Council but none of them know that it doesn't work. It would be cruel to send in those humans with the information we have now." 

He remains silent for a moment before speaking. "What do you propose we do?" 

"We go in there and get them out. Do it covertly. If anyone can do it, it's us." 

I can tell he's considering my words. Lucian's always voted for better treatment for the humans, if I can convince anyone to save them, it would be him. 

"It's not enough. We have to expose the results to stop them from sending in the batch of humans we approved of." He tells me and his eyes are focused on the wall, eyebrows bunched together in concentration.

"But the generals?" Both the generals were adamant on keeping things between us for now. Even General Lyra. 

"Since we're up for leadership, don't you think it's time we started acting the part? We don't have to follow their every whim and fancy," He says with a glint in his eye and my pulse spikes with excitement. 

I smile, finally feeling some semblance of control for the first time in awhile. 

It takes us a few cycles to get things in order. I copy my father's fingerprints and retinal imprint after drugging him to sleep and Lucian's squad member hacks into the system at the lab, gaining control of the camera feeds.

We initially planned to act independently but that proved impossible so we got a few helping hands involved. Lucian's squad members Pollux and Remulus are our eyes and ears on Pluto and Commander Axis volunteers to accompany us to Earth, unbeknownst to General Lyra.

We plan to release the feed exposing the experiments just before arriving to Earth, giving us the perfect distraction to get in and out unscathed. 

Pollux, one of Lucian's trusted commanders helps us take off from the landing base in secret. Lazarus and my parents are scheduled for a meeting with some of the prominent businessmen on Pluto for more funding, so it's unlikely that he'd be tracking me at the moment. 

The tension is palpable when we're on the way to Earth in a bottle space craft. We take the longer route, avoiding the drones but Earth approaches faster than I anticipate. 

"We can do this," Lucian says with conviction, his beautiful ice blue eyes focused on the screen before us. 

I interlace my fingers with his, not wanting to think too much about it. All I know is that I need to feel a part of him. His grip tightens around mine and we hold on to each other as we approach the turbulent atmosphere that belongs to Earth. 

Our shields keep the ride smooth but the moment Lucian releases Ron's leaked feed from the labs, my heart does little flips in my chest. I can only imagine the turmoil going on in Pluto right now. 

As expected, the town is desolate when we land and we board the underground train with Pollux's help. The Plutonian is a genius when it comes to anything computer related. If he didn't work for Lucian, I would have taken him in to my squad a long time ago. 

The doors to the labs approach from a distance and I cast a furtive glance at Lucian. We're really trying our luck here, because if my father's prints and scans don't work, then we would have come all the way for nothing. 

Axis disengages the shields that arm the metal doors and I quickly key in my fathers details. My stomach is churning with apprehension when the door doesn't budge. We're wearing helmets now, to avoid being recognised but I can tell Lucian is staring at me through his. 

My heart is about to drop when a soft beep echos and the door slides open. I let out a breath of relief just as the cloud of smoke dissipates, revealing a bunch of attendants who weren't expecting visitors. 

"Who are you--." The one in front is zapped by our stun gun, the others falling by his side like bowling pins when we shoot them down. 

"Tha cameras?" I murmur. 

"Got them covered." Lucian says and we head down the side, to the wall of rocks camouflaged as the lifts. I remember the depression in the wall of grey and insert my palm to put some pressure on the button. 

The lift activates and we get in quickly. 

The trip to the lower floors takes longer than I would like. I tap my foot on the floor, wondering if they've disabled the thing, keeping us stuck in here. 

Eventually, the doors slide open with a whoosh and I all but run out. The scientists here are no threat to us, but Axis rounds them up so that none of them can call for help. I aim a stun gun at one of them, barking out an order. 

"Where are the human quarters?" 

He points to the far left and I drag him with me. 

"Are you here to shut this thing down?" He asks me hopefully and I ignore him, hurrying forward.   "We're rounding up the humans who haven't been compromised. Help us do that." 

To our surprise, most of the scientists help us, eager to be rid of the humans themselves. This makes the process much faster but I scour the place for Ron and can't seem to find him. 

"Have you seen a brown haired boy, about five foot seven? Came in about a few days ago?" I ask the scientists who stare at me blankly and then the humans. "Is he dead?" 

Nobody answers and I run past bunks, throwing sheets across the unmade beds and kicking past the piles of clothes scattered over the floors. Finally, one tiny girl sitting on one of the mattresses points to the bed across from hers. 

I gesture for her to head to the group of humans by the doors and turn around. At first I think Ron's brain dead already. He's lying on his back, facing the ceiling with a vacant expression. 

I rush over to him and catch the steady rise and fall of his chest. 

"Ron, it's me. It's time to go," I bend down and make a move to grab his arm. I shake him and he stirs slightly. 

When he doesn't respond, it slowly sinks in that I'm too late. 

"Ronald's dead. I found his records." He says suddenly. 

I'm about to ask who and then I remember his missing brother, the reason why he came here. 

"I'm sorry to hear that, but we need to leave. There's no time." 

"It's alright. I'm fine here." He says in a dejected voice. 

"Listen, there's no time for this defeatist attitude," I says irately, I've risked so much coming here to get him and now this.

"Do it for him. He wouldn't want you to suffer the same fate." I yank him out of bed and drag him along with me. Ron doesn't put up much of a fight and I notice he's lost a considerable amount of weight. All the humans here look underfed. 

Lucian has already begun sending the humans up by the larger cargo lifts with the help of the scientists. He goes up with the first batch and I send the rest of them up. There aren't many functional humans left, probably around thirty. 

I take the last lift with Ron next to me and a loud blast shakes the entire building around us. The lift jams and the lights go out around us.

Axis calls out to me from outside and I tell the humans to step back as I blast a small hole through the ceiling. I climb out and make sure the coast is clear. 

The alarms in the lab are now ringing loudly and I hear the humans panicked cries in the lift. Axis and I try to pry open the lift doors. I break the metal leg from one of the chairs and jab it past the doors, pushing it open. Axis helps me and soon the doors open just enough for one human to slip through. 

They take turns to escape, delaying our progress and soon there are guards bounding down the stairs, heading towards us. 

"Hands up! Surrender or we shoot you all!"