“I know. I mean Noah is so amazing.” She sighed dramatically.
I laughed again. “Okay. Maybe I do sound a bit obsessed.”
“Not obsessed. In love. That’s something entirely different.” Her eyes glazed over.
“It is.” And focusing on it wasn’t going to help us. I tried another type of patch. Fixing Amsi permanently was going to take time, and I wasn’t sure how much of that I had.
“I am sorry to interrupt.” Bando returned with a cloth wrapped around his waist. Not exactly clothing, but it did cover the most important parts. “But we have company.”
I was brought back to the last time I’d heard that news. To when the Reclos boarded. I froze. “We have to get away from them.”
“No. Wait. Slow down.” Veraka shook her head. “We don’t know for sure they are foes.”
“That’s what I thought last time.” I’d been so naive. So much had changed since then.
“Last time?” Veraka raised an eyebrow.
“We were boarded by Reclos. It’s how Noah and I got separated. Last time we had no real choice, but Bando I’m sure you can get us away if I need you to.”
“Yes. I can.” Bando’s features appeared strained. “But you must be sure. Sometimes what seems like an enemy is a friend.”
“Are you two working together?” I looked between them.
“What?” Veraka asked.
“You both keep saying the same things. You are trying to get me to question what I believe and everything.
Bando filched as if I’d hurt him. “I’m only trying to make sure I am helping you and not hurting you.”
“Is there a way to find out who the ship is without letting them board?” That’s what went wrong last time, and I wasn’t letting that happen again.
“I will try.” Bando disappeared through the door.
“Let’s follow him.” I unplugged Amsi and followed Bando. I assumed Veraka would follow.
“I’ll let you make this call.” Veraka caught up with me as we moved through the narrow corridors of the ship. “I trust you.”
“I don’t know if you should trust me. But I want us to survive.”
“Which is why I trust you. You’re so in love with Noah that you’ll do the right thing in order to reunite with him.”
“It’s more than just Noah.” It was. I refused to fail. I wasn’t going to let any more innocents get hurt.
“I cannot get a clear signal from the universe right now, but it seems to be telling us to feel.”
“To feel?” I stopped and looked at her.
“Yes. To feel.” She put a hand on my shoulder. “We are both feelers. It must be either Caspian or Noah.”
“Noah wouldn’t be telling me to feel.” He didn’t understand this stuff anymore than I did.
“Then it’s Caspian.” Veraka flushed. “But I’m not feeling anything.”
“Maybe you aren’t doing it right? I don’t really get it either.”
“I am doing right. It must be Noah. Try.” She put her other hand on my shoulder.
“Or it’s just a trick getting us to waste time.”
“Just try.” Her eyes bored into mine.
I had no idea what I was doing, but I closed my eyes and cleared all thoughts. Immediately an image of Noah flashed through my mind. I could almost feel the warmth of his skin. “It’s Noah.” I opened my eyes.
“See!” Veraka jumped back. “Aren’t you glad you tried?”
“Yes. How do I send something back?” I wanted him to know it worked. I felt him.
“Why are you asking me?” Veraka held up her hands palm up.
“Because you seemed to know what to do right away.”
“Yeah, but so do you. You connected with your starmate. I haven’t done that yet.” Something akin to disappointment flashed across her face.
“You will soon enough.”
“Please communicate, Rachel. They won’t be able to keep pace with us much longer.” Took my hand in hers. “You need to do this.
I sent out the best message I could, and I hoped it was clear enough.
15 Rachel
I waited impatiently. Maybe it hadn’t been that long since I’d last seen Noah, but it sure felt that way. I didn’t understand why it was taking so long for our ship to anchor with theirs.
I was confused and nervous. I truly hoped I hadn’t been hoodwinked by someone making me think it was an actual connection when it wasn’t. Not only would that leave us in danger, but the level of violation would be hard to recover from. I’d felt Noah. I’d known it was him.
“Stop pacing,” Veraka ordered. “It’s making me nervous.”
“I can’t stop.” Pacing was something. I couldn’t just sit there doing nothing.
“Why are you nervous? You know your starmate.” Veraka took both of my hands in hers, forcing me to stand still. “There should be none of the usual nerves or anything.”
“Well, there are nerves. Nothing I can do about it. Not about seeing him, but what if I’m wrong? What if this is a trick?” It felt good to speak my concerns out loud. I was tired of holding things in.
“You would know.” Veraka squeezed my hands. “I assure you.”
“How can you assure me when you’ve never experienced it?”
“Don’t doubt it. Besides, Bando is here. No one is going to hurt us.” She was fishing for excuses.
“You are putting a lot of faith in someone we barely know.” Especially after she planted the seed of doubt earlier about what is truly good or bad. But maybe she was right. Maybe life was all about having faith without knowing if we should.
“We’ve already gone over the whole snow-demon thing. Haven’t we?” She sighed.
“But there have to be some opponents that are stronger.”
“It’s going to be Noah. And then you will feel foolish for even worrying about any of this.”
“I really hope you are right.”
“I am right. Trust me.”
“I feel like all I ever do now is trust blindly.”
“Join the club.” She smiled.
“Fine, I will try to relax.”
And I did for a while until the stress got to me again. “What’s taking so long?”
“I take back all those good things I said about you.” Veraka rolled her eyes.
“Hey.”
“Just saying… you have no patience.”
“Fine. I’ll give it more time.” I tapped my foot.
“Okay. Start pacing again.”
“What?” I looked at her with surprise.
“You look way too uncomfortable. I’m afraid you will hurt yourself. Pace. It’s the healthier option.”
“Okay.” She didn’t need to tell me twice. I returned to my pacing around the small room.
“Anchoring complete.” Bando hurried in and stood in front of the doors.
I readied myself. Either I’d be reunited with Noah, or we were in for a not so great surprise.
The doors hissed and steam permeated.
Veraka linked her arm with mine. “This is so exciting!”
It was. If this was actually Noah.
I waited. Nothing happened for a few moments before the doors slid open. My heart leapt out of my chest as Noah stepped into the vestibule. “Noah!”
“Rachel!” He ran over and pulled me into his arms. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“How did you find me?” I had so many questions, but somehow I wanted to ask that one first.
He got a funny twinkle in his eye. “Looks like I can feel you when I need to.”
“He was in a sensory deprivation chamber.” Dale gave me a small wave. Dale wearing a tight, sparkly outfit. I was positive there was a story there, but I was almost afraid to ask.
“Not a chamber. A system.” A woman made up entirely of sparkly gems spoke.
“Is that Caspian?” Veraka nudged me as she looked in Dale’s direction. Panic was clear on her face.
“No. That’s Dale.”
Caspian? Was she crazy?
Dale held out his hand to Veraka. “I’m Dale. And you are?”
“Veraka.” Eyes went up and down his body. “Uh, interesting outfit.”
“This isn’t what I normally wear. I assure you,” Dale immediately started in.
“She’s Caspian’s starmate,” I explained before he could hit on her and causing some huge problem for all of us.
“You found her.” Noah intertwined his hand with mine. “Not that I’m surprised.”
“It’s not that I’m surprised you found me. I hope it didn’t come across that way. I just can’t really believe you are here.”
“I know. I have no doubt that you believe in me. And it wasn’t as straightforward as I originally made it sound. It involved my brother.”
“The one that passed away?” I asked as carefully as I could. I knew discussing his brother was difficult.
“Yes… I know it’s weird. I have had to face him—the memory of him at least—a lot since I last saw you.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there with you. I’m truly sorry.” I squeezed his hand.
“We both had our own missions.”
“We did. But I hope we can stick together from now on.”
“Me too.” He pulled me into another hug. “I will do everything in my power to be sure of that.”
“This is your starmate?” The sparkle woman looked me over. “Cute.”
Cute? Was that really what she was going to call me? “I’m Rachel, and you are?”
“Bessy.”
“Hi.” I tried to keep my annoyance hidden, but I didn’t like the way she was addressing me.
“Bessy helped us break out of prison on Sodrum,” Noah explained.
“Prison?” Veraka gasped. “Did my brother have you locked up?”
“Yes, first because I wasn’t supposed to be there and had to wait trial, and then because he knew what I was but wanted to wait for a sign from the universe.” Noah wove his finger by his ear but then dropped it down. I was pretty sure that was his way of saying the gatekeeper was crazy.
“And I pretended to be that sign, but he figured me out,” Dale added. “It was a great rescue attempt you have to admit.”
Noah shrugged. “Sure. Until you ended up in a cell as well.”
“True. Nothing in life is perfect.” Dale’s smile didn’t fade. I wished I had his ability to feel so comfortable in my own skin. He didn’t apologize for his shortcomings. He owned up to them and kept pushing forward.
“And how did you get wrapped up in this?” Veraka turned to Bessy.
Bessy put her hand on her head while sticking her elbow out in what looked like some sort of pose. “I was also locked up. I helped them break free.”
“Why?” Veraka pressed. I wanted to ask the same questions. I appreciated that Veraka had jumped right in with them.
Bessy repeated the hand movement on the other side. “Because I knew they could help me.”
“Help you with what?” I asked.
“To find her daughter,” Noah supplied.
“Oh.” I looked at her differently. I understood the quest to find your family. And her daughter? I couldn’t even imagine. Having your child taken from you would be unbelievably traumatic. “I am sorry you are in need of searching for her.”
Bessy dropped her hands to her side. “I would rather your help than your sympathy.”
“I will help if I am able.”
“Good.” Bessy nodded. “Good.”
“Who is that?” Noah asked.
I looked over my shoulder to where Bando watched our conversations. “Oh. I’m so sorry I didn’t introduce you sooner. Everyone this is Bando.”
“Bando?” Noah held out his hand to my snow-demon. “I’m Noah. Nice to meet you.”
Bando made no move to accept his handshake. “I am her personal snow-demon.”
Noah let his hand fall to his side.
“Personal snow-demon?” Dale took a step toward him. “What is that? Like a bodyguard or something?”
“Something like that.” Considering I barely understood what he was, explaining it to Noah and Dale might be easier said than done. “But even more. He can do pretty much everything.” And it sounded even cooler saying that out loud.
“You have your own snow-demon?” Bessy’s eyes widened. “You really are starmates.”
“Did you doubt me?” Noah turned to her.
“No. Not once you found this ship, but the timing of all of this is a bit hard to swallow.”
“Timing?” I asked.
“Yes. It is exactly as was predicted.” She walked further into the cramped room.
“Predicted by who?” Veraka put a hand on her hip. “Sorry. I mean whom.”
“You haven’t heard of the Talday predictions?” Bessy did another pose.
“No…” Veraka shook her head. “Should I have?”
“I suppose not.” Bessy sighed. “Not everyone can be bothered to stay abreast of the most important things.”
Veraka scowled. “Oh really? Tell us then. What are these predications?”
“You aren’t about to lie to us, are you?” Dale tugged down on the tight material of his outfit. Once she finished her story, I’d have Bando find something else for Dale to wear. He obviously was uncomfortable.
“Have I lied to you before to make you doubt my words?” Bessy walked over to the wall and leaned back.
“Why don’t we find somewhere to sit.” I was tired, and I was pretty sure everyone else was too.
“Right through here.” Bando typed a code onto a screen by the door and led the way into a room with a long table surrounded by chairs.
I took a seat, and Noah sat down right next to me. I set Amsi down beside me.
“She’s being awfully quiet.” Noah pointed to Amsi.
“She’s broken,” I admitted. “I’ve got a patch in there, but I will need more time to get her fully back online.”
“I can help you with that,” Bando offered. “But perhaps first we should let our visitor tell us her story.”
“It isn’t a story. It is a prediction.” Bessy snapped. “As I was saying. It is of real importance.”
No one spoke. We waited for her to continue.
“The prediction is that when the universe is at the crossroads an unlikely set of starmates will appear. Either they will save the universe or destroy it.”
“What else does it say?” I asked.
“That is it.” Bessy leaned her elbows on the table in her spot across from us.
“That is the whole prediction? Crossroads? Unlikely set of starmates that either destroy the universe or save it?” Dale summarized.
“But it didn’t predict two pairs. There are two pairs of us now.” I thought over her words. “There is no reason to believe the prediction is for us.”
“The double set of you is likely because of a mess up.” Bessy leaned back. “And I assure you we are at the crossroads. The time is now.”
“The universe doesn’t have mess ups. Everything happens for a reason.” Veraka straightened in her seat.
“They brainwashed you, kid.” Bessy shook her head.
“Excuse me?” Veraka’s expression darkened.
“Even the snow-demon will agree with me.” Veraka nodded toward where Bando hovered in the doorway. He hadn’t taken a seat with us.
“Agree with you on what?” Bando asked.
“That not everything is predetermined and chosen by the universe.”
Bando’s expression remained unchanged. “Undoubtedly it is.”
“No, it isn’t. Tell me, snow-demon, when were you created?” Bessy sounded bored. She had helped Noah escape and get to me, which was the only reason I was giving her the benefit of the doubt.
It was so weird hearing someone say created. As though Bando wasn’t born. He’d used the word himself, but it still sounded so impersonal.
“A long time ago.” Bando approached the table.
Bessy pushed back her
chair. “Yet Rachel only came upon you recently.”
“Yes.” Bando nodded.
“So if the universe knew everything, why didn’t it wait to create you right before she’d need you? It’s not like you needed time to acclimate. You were created ready to work.”
“Just because it didn’t know the exact timing doesn’t change anything.” Veraka’s face was red. I wasn’t surprised Veraka was arguing about this so much. She was the one who’d put herself into a coma in order to wait for the universe. Yet in the end she’d come with me. So maybe her faith wasn’t completely unshakeable.
For some strange reason that made me sad. Like I’d destroyed something in her.
Noah seemed to notice. He leaned over. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Just thinking about things.”
“I’m sorry you had to do that alone.” He wrapped his hand around mine.
“I’m sorry you had to face memories of your brother alone.” I felt horrible about that. Something else dawned on me. “Oh. Have you heard from Angie?”
“I was thinking about her… and no. No word from Kelby yet.”
“I’m sure she’s fine.”
“I am sure too… but it would be nice to hear from her.” His forehead wrinkled.
“I’m sure she’s thinking the same thing about you.”
“And I want to find Caspian.” Veraka leaned over my other side. “Forget this prediction talk; we need to stay on course.”
“Yes, that’s the plan, isn’t it?” Noah asked. “You had to find Veraka to bring her to Caspian.”
“Wait. We haven’t finished our conversation. I haven’t fully destroyed your faith in the universe yet.” Bessy laughed.
“Give us a moment, Bessy.” Noah looked over me to Veraka. “Do you know where Caspian is? Is he back on Andrelexa?”
“That’s what we figured, but we don’t know for sure.”
“Can’t his starmate locate him?” Bessy yawned. “I am growing tired of all of these incapable children.”
“You are free to leave.” Veraka glared at her. “Thank you for delivering Noah and Dale to us.”
“I’m not leaving. They promised to help me find my daughter, and they will be keeping their promise.”
“Not until we find Caspian.” Noah ran a hand through his brown hair. “I know I said I needed to find Rachel first, but we need to do this too.”
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