He didn’t have to get up and put on a prison uniform. He didn’t have to spend hours slaving in the administrative center. He didn’t have to wonder for the millionth time if he’d ever escape. Because he’d actually done it. He’d gotten on the Imojenna and was now light years away from the prison and getting farther away all the time. He still didn’t fully trust that Rian wouldn’t change his mind and either dump him or alert the authorities, but the more distance he put between him and that planet, the more chance he had of staying out. A knock sounded on the door and he sat up, pushing the blankets off and glancing at the clock in the nearby bulkhead. It’d been fourteen hours since he’d left Zahli in the galley, and though he’d missed two meals, he’d spent most of those hours sleeping more soundly than he had in all the time he’d been on Erebus. He walked over to the small crystal display in the bulkhead next to the door and brought up an image of Zahli waiting in the corridor, plate in her hand.
