Tool

Chapter one

Aurelia heaved a sigh of relief as she kicked off her shoes. Eight hours on her feet treating some of the trickiest trauma cases in Lunar City Hospital left her exhausted. The price you paid for being head of trauma was you got the hard cases. She sat back on her couch, then groaned as the intercom beeped.

She hadn't realized the time, and her transport pod had already arrived to pick her up. She'd meant to spend a few minutes with Elza, the hospital head. She was recovering from stimulant addiction, but she didn't have time now. Suppressing another sigh, Aurelia bent and tugged her shoes back onto her swollen feet.

Yes, she was tired, but the thought of seeing Jonathon Hansen made her smile, and her heart skipped at the memory of the night they had spent together. Now, she was about to see his home for the first time because Nicholas, her clone friend, was under house arrest there—which, when she thought about it, was something very hard to explain. She took a moment to stretch her aching muscles and to run her fingers through her long black hair, then made for the door. Transport pods were not particularly patient, and she didn't want to miss this one.

The ride through Lunar was, as always, brightly lit and full of energy and neon colors. It was so different from the life Aurelia had known on Earth that it sometimes took her breath away. The transport pod zoomed through the sky lanes, dropping levels every now and again to gain a clear path. Aurelia had no idea where Jonathon lived, but the pod had been programmed with directions, so she sat back to enjoy the journey.

The streets grew wider and the buildings taller as the pod moved into the center of the city. After a ten-minute ride from the hospital, the pod finally slowed, and Aurelia prepared to get out. She was confused when her security belt refused to open, even though the pod had eased to a halt. Usually, it released automatically. She rattled the belt buckle, but it was stuck. So focused was she on the belt that she didn't notice a sec Worker beside her until he knocked on the glass. Her window slid down, and the Worker spoke.

"Number."

One word, one number, but it summed up everything that Aurelia was. She dutifully gave her personal number to the Worker, who checked it on a rolled-up screen from his top pocket. The Worker nodded, pressed an icon, and the transport pod slowly began to move again. Wait. What? She'd presumed that she'd reached her destination, but apparently not. She hadn't even considered the possibility of security, but she didn't often remember that Jonathon Hansen not only came from one of the ruling class elite families in Lunar, but was also widely considered to be the ideal candidate for the next empire president.

The pod hovered through wide lanes, and everywhere Aurelia looked was green. She knew what things were called. The stuff on the ground was grass. The tall things were trees. She'd simply never seen them before in real life. Earth no longer had gardens such as these; the soil was far too contaminated with nuclear wastes, and the air too polluted. Even on Lunar, she'd never seen anything like this.

She waited impatiently for the pod to stop. When it finally did in front of a large portico, she fiddled with her security belt and jumped out, running away from the door as she did so.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Jonathon's voice rang with amusement as he watched Aurelia run to the lawn. Hearing him, she turned, suddenly remembering where she was. He walked to her, taking her in his arms and kissing her soundly.

"That's better," he said, still holding her. "Now, where were you speeding to?"

Aurelia felt herself blush; her heart was already racing from the kiss. "Um, it's just that, well . . ." Now she felt foolish. She looked down at her feet. "Er, I wanted to walk on the grass," she admitted shyly.