"We can pose as brother and sister until we arrive on the islands," Heath said as he typed Violetta's birthday into the slot.
"Violetta grabbed his hand. "No. Make me the same age as you."
"We don't look like twins V." Heath explained.
"I know," Violetta said. "We don't look like siblings either. Also if I'm not twenty, I can't leave town."
"I didn't think of that," Heath said as he changed the year.
Good, If she was twenty she could pretend to be his wife. She was almost a 20-year anyway. What was the difference of only one year?
Araminty suddenly appeared behind Heath. She held a box out. "If you're both going to be 20-years then you should go as a married couple so you can share a birth."
Araminty was smart. She knew Violetta's feelings for Heath had long ago developed into feelings of love. She would help out Violetta as much as she could. "It will also be best if you pretend that I'm luggage as well. Then I can be placed in your room too."
"Birth?" Violetta asked.
"We have to go by boat now," Araminty explained the plan to Violetta. "We have to get to the harbor as soon as the new identity cards are printed, then we will board the ferry to the Inoahni islands. Once we are there we will seek illegal passage to the Nondren continent. We have to seek out the kingdom of Drohma once we get there. I have a map in my data banks."
"The ferry takes a whole day to get there," Violetta said. "Won't Tarragon look for us there?"
"I don't think he will catch us if we leave now," Araminty explained getting the newly printed ID cards. "Let's go before they tighten security."
They took an exit on the opposite end of the lair. They got into the small vehicle with their bags. Araminty produced a marriage certificate that was issued that very day and handed it to Violetta in front of Heath. The official seal was actually on it. It had their fake names on it. She had printed it while Heath was watching Violetta redo her makeup.
She saw their eyes widen. "If you aren't going as siblings, then you need to go as husband and wife. If you were just married today, then you couldn't have anything to do with the mysterious rocket now could you?" Araminty said robotically.
Violetta handed the certificate to Heath and started the vehicle.
"Minty are you ok?" Heath asked.
"I'm practicing my robot voice," Araminty explained. She didn't want to admit that if she spoke normally a lot of emotion would be pouring out of her voice right now. If Violetta wasn't crying yet, then she wouldn't either.
Speeding under the city was so much faster than traveling through it. They had put on disguises, printed whole new identities, and a marriage certificate, and still managed to beat the security force to this area.
Heath walked up to the ticket agent with a slight gait in his step, he was emulating one of Violetta's classmates. The kid has a slight bounce to his steps. Heath really liked it because it made the guy look so cheerful.
Violetta adopted the walking pattern of a different person. She emulated a woman who worked near the technician square. Violetta didn't have a full understanding of what this woman did for a living, but she had always thought there was something sultry about the way the woman walked. Even when she was in a hurry or standing still the woman gave off an air of ambiguity.
"Hey uh," Heath said with a slight accent showing he was from the southern part of Amrica City. "We gats to gao to the E-no-anna Islands. You gats tickets. The missus and I got merged taday."
"Yeah, man," The ticket agent said. "Newlyweds huh?"
Heath smiled brightly, "Yeah, you see that robot. Ma Uncle gave it to us. Think we could keep it in the room with us. I can't afford to gat a new un."
"No problem man," The ticket agent looked at Violetta and wished he could get so lucky. Even if they were going to a fishing community for apprenticeship. He had a feeling this city couple definitely wouldn't last on a small Island village. 'It's a good thing you caught this one. Next boat doesn't leave until the morning." He handed Heath the tickets. "
"Is that right?" Heath said unhurried. "I was wanderin' why ma uncle was rushin' us." He waved the tickets at the agent and said, "Thanks." Then the three boarded peacefully.
Violetta noticed the name of the boat immediately and wondered if it was some sort of cosmic joke that they had to board this boat out of all the other boats. The name on the side said [Violet Nirvana].
They kept their newly adopted walking patterns until they got to their room. They all three breathed a sigh of relief.
Once they put the luggage away Violetta sat on the bed. "Minty," she called.
Araminty approached her.
"Please sit down sweetie," Violetta said to her.
Araminty sat next to Violetta. Violetta grabbed Araminty's hands in her own. "Sweetie, Violetta's voice choked a bit. "Are you ok?" Araminty thought Violetta hadn't noticed, but she noticed right away. She saw the way Araminty froze when she came out of the rocket to see Amistad dead.
There was no time to talk about it. No time to think about it. Now, all three of them were busy blaming themselves.
When Araminty heard the explosion she ran to the workshop right away. She regretted it. If she had tried to protect Amistad and Violetta, they could have repaired her body. They couldn't repair Amistad. It was her fault that Amistad had died.
Violetta of course blamed herself because if she had never copied the Eitri writing from the book, none of this would have happened. It was her fault that her father had died and her mother was missing.
Heath blamed himself because of the assessment. If he had allowed the blood test he would have given them away that much sooner. He should have faked and illness instead of leaving as suspiciously as he had. But he decided not to lay the full blame at his own feet. Amistad was indeed dead because of Tarragon. Heath laid the full blame at his fathers feet.
"It's my fault," Araminty's voice was full of anguish. "I left you guys there and ran to the workshop on my own!"
"No!" Violetta looked at her seriously with tears that refused to fall. "This was not your fault. You went to the workshop, yes. But you were able to use that time to prime the rocket. You knew we couldn't escape on it. It wasn't finished yet. You provided the best distraction to let Heath and I escape with our lives. Without you they would have likely caught us in the tunnels. This was not your fault." Violetta blinked back her tears as she said in a tough voice. "It's mine."
Araminty shuddered and held onto Violetta like a child. Violetta comforted Araminty in her arms and held her until she heard Araminty's sleep cycle start up. She laid Araminty down on the bed with Heath's help.
Araminty needed sleep. Sleep was good for grief. Especially if you couldn't cry. Heath looked at Violetta and saw the problem. Violetta wasn't willing to cry. Not yet.
"V," he called.
"I'm okay for now," Violetta said.
"V, It's not your fault," Heath began to explain. "Its-
"I can't do this yet." Violetta interrupted. "Not right now. I just need some time." She looked at Heath unwilling to accept anything yet.
"I just need some time," she said.
The ferry took off at some point while Violetta was comforting Araminty. She was grateful this was an overnight trip. If it was a day trip they would have to be out among other people keeping up their ridiculous persona's.
Violetta sat down and began to look at her father's book. Her left hand glimmered in her own eyes as she opened the first page. She halted in her actions for a brief moment and then continued to look at the book.