by Ryan Tang
"Can we read? You said we could read the other day."
The girl's smile was so shy yet so bright, that Alex instinctively reached into her backpack and removed the worn-out pamphlet inside. Alex showed the girl the cover.
"How about my favorite story?"
"Your favorite?!"
The girl's excitement briefly pushed away Alex's concerns. The librarian's smile flickered back on her face. She didn't know how to be a parent or a big sister yet, but she knew how to teach and read.
"Yeah. This is the story that got me interested in the Paragons."
"Will I turn into an ace if I read it?"
Alex laughed. Her path had been long and complicated, but in a way, that was kind of what happened to her. The Familiars was certainly why she'd become a librarian.
"To be an ace, you need to learn how to forge Eternium and protect people. But this story taught me to protect people, so maybe."
It'd kept her safe from the goddess too.
And it'd served as her weapon in that final duel.
"My parents made this for me. They drew the art and wrote the words."
She showed the girl the cartoon shellfish on the cover. Stock's goddess had technically been a Familiar. It'd even been a sort of shellfish, which was what Alex always imagined her familiar would be when she was a kid. If this book was right, there were good familiars too, creatures that were partners and not monsters.
Alex could tell the girl wasn't particularly impressed by the cover. The shellfish wouldn't mean much to anyone else. Her mom was a fair but uninspiring artist. She handed the girl the pamphlet and kept the tablet for herself.
"Follow along here!"
The girl didn't take the pamphlet.
"I have one of those already!"
"Hm?"
"Look, let me show you! It was in my room!"
The Spire was strewn with copies of The Familiars.
"I want to use my own!"
The girl excitedly sprinted downstairs before running back up again. Her book was a hardcover and slightly thicker than Alex was used to.
"See?"
The girl flipped open the pages with the edge of her laptop hand. She was getting good at reading with them. Alex felt a flood of emotions she couldn't quite place. Leanne said that killing Stock was the safest thing they could do. Right now, Alex thought it would simply be justice.
She swallowed her hate. She didn't want to scare the girl.
"Let me check if it has everything."
The librarian leafed through the pages. The book was largely undamaged. There were only a few splotches of the goddess's ink in the margins.
"Alright. Use this one then."
She stashed her parents' pamphlet back in her bag and smiled. Now the girl had her own books. Alex would have to find others for her.
She cleared her throat and began to read.
"The Familiars."
There was no author. The Familiars was an old myth, enjoyed by both the Mad Nobles and their subjects alike.
"Once there was a boy who fell overboard."
The girl interrupted her at once.
"He fell overboard? How did he live!"
Alex laughed a little. That had to be the fastest interruption ever.
The girl instinctively flinched.
"Sorry for interrupting."
"No, no, not at all!"
Alex wanted to groan, but she kept it inside this time. She was always accidentally scaring the girl. Alex needed to show her that she was safe now.
The librarian just wished she knew how.
"No, no, it's fine. Don't be afraid to interrupt. You should interrupt a lot. That's how you learn. And you're right! Normally, if you fall overboard, you die. That's what happens when you go into space. The other people in this story died too."
"How did he live then?"
Alex smiled.
"You'll see!"
She turned back and began to read. Her mouth warmed a little with each word she spoke. It got easier to breathe. Her mind stopped its ceaseless whirling. It just took getting to the third or fourth word, and then Alex felt like herself again, felt normal for the first time since she saw the girl's hands and heard what Stock had done to her.
She was back in her element. She was reading to a student who loved stories.
"Once there was a boy who fell overboard. He wasn't the first boy to fall overboard, but he was the first to survive."
Alex grinned at the well-loved opening sentence. Then she dove entirely into the world of The Familiars.
____
Once there was a boy who fell overboard.
He wasn't the first boy to fall overboard and tragically, he almost certainly won't be the last.
Countless starships fly through the dark sea of space, and countless boys (and girls) are too curious for their own good.
But this boy was different.
There were two very strange things about him.
The first was the ship he fell from. Passengers fall overboard every so often, it's a tragedy that can't be avoided. But passengers on the Distant Star fell overboard all the time.
The Distant Star was just one member of the fleet that'd fled Old Earth when the planet's masters said there wasn't enough space for everyone. She was an ugly ship with a vaguely pretty name. Out of all the broken down ships that'd fled humanity's cradle, the Distant Star was the most broken down of them all. The quarters were tight and cramped. Family members had to sleep on top of each other and cuddle tight for warmth.
The Captain and his Officers were always stopping the ship for repairs.
The Distant Star had been in space for over thirty years, and it seemed like something broke at least once a month. There were shattered windows and faulty doors that wouldn't seal anymore. The gravity turned itself off about twice a year, sending the passengers spinning in every which direction.
On the broken down Distant Star, it was only natural that people fell overboard all the time. After all, it was hard to live in space, and harder still when your home was broken. The passengers of the Distant Star thought it was like this on every ship. They had no way to know what was happening, no way to communicate with their friends that had boarded safer voyages.
Only the Captain and his Officers knew better.
According to their dispatches, only thirty-two people had fallen overboard since the fleet was forced off Old Earth. On the Distant Star, people fell overboard at least twice a month.
So it was very strange how often people fell off the Distant Star, and that should have been strange enough in and of itself.
But this time, something even stranger happened.
The boy who fell overboard survived.
There are places where no man is meant to go alone, the depths of the sea and the heights of space.
It's not their home.
It's always been the domain of Other Creatures.
____
"What? Not enough? Again?"
Denn sighed and smiled apologetically. The poor man was the ship's cook, and he was always smiling apologetically. He had to feed just under five thousand people. Typically, almost all five thousand people were starving.
"I'm sorry, Lews."
Denn was a very skilled cook. The food on The Distant Star was better than the food Lews had on Earth. There just wasn't enough of it.
"Maybe you can try to come earlier next time?"
"I did come earlier! I did!"
Lews stormed off and tried not to cry. He had a giant bruise on his left side, and his leg had a dent in it. That was what he got for coming early. But the Lews was a kind boy, and he didn't want to show Denn his injuries. They would only make the older man cry again.
It wasn't Denn's fault that Lews didn't have enough food.
He was just weak.
Lews lined up first every night, and every night, other people took his spot. He fought as hard as he could, but he lost every time. The poor boy didn't know why he was so weak. His pare
nts had fallen overboard a long time ago, but they didn't seem particularly small. And his sister was really strong. She was four years younger, but already taller than he was.
He took Amno to the front of the line once, and they'd gotten rid of the bullies together. They got to eat the first and second bowls that night. They'd gone right after the Captain's Share.
They did it the next day too, and the one after that.
But then Lews stopped asking her to go.
People picked on you if you were weak, but they picked on you more if you were weak and hid behind your sister. Lews was a proud little boy, and sometimes proud little boys are foolish enough to listen to what bullies have to say.
Lews had given up on bringing his sister to the line, but he had a different idea now, an idea that he still hadn't worked out yet.
But it was fun to think about, and it helped get his mind off his aching stomach. He thought he should leave on a life raft, one of the big ones with an emergency greenhouse. He could try and grow some food of his own. There were too many people on the Distant Star.
At least, that's what the Captain told them.
It made sense too. The ships had to leave Old Earth because there were too many people. And now on the ships, the passengers were having kids of their own. Kids meant more people. More people meant not enough room and not enough food.
Some people complained about the Captain's Share. The Captain and his Officers got to eat half the food before it came out for everybody else. When Lews was younger, he'd wondered about the Captain's Share himself. But he soon learned at school why it was so important. The classes on the Distant Star weren't very long, but they went over the Captain's Share every day.
The Captain and his Officers couldn't miss their Share. They were the only people who knew how to run the shuttle. The Distant Star ran on auto-pilot, but one day the auto-pilot might break just like everything else did, and then the Captain and his Officers would save them all. When that scary day arrived, the Captain and his Officers needed to think straight. They needed their Share, and everyone on the ship needed them to get their Share.
So Lews stopped worrying about the Captain's Share and continued worrying about Lews's Share, which didn't exist on most days and wasn't big enough even on the best of them.
When the boy returned to the cramped and tiny room he shared with his sister, he saw that she hadn't eaten even a single drop of stew.
The delicious scent made the boy's stomach growl even louder. He started drooling without meaning to.
"Hey, can I have some stew?"
Amno was always willing to share. She always offered half, but Lews only felt good taking a quarter. He thought it was his fault he didn't get food. He was just a boy, and he didn't know about nutrition. In truth, it was to Lews's credit that Amno was so strong. Their mom had fallen overboard shortly after giving birth, so it'd been up to him to raise his sister. He'd given her the bigger share every night until she was old enough to line up herself. Amno ate and grew strong. Lews didn't and grew weak.
"Sure. Take all of it."
Lews recognized that listless tone. The young boy's heart sank. He turned around, almost bumping his head against the top of the very short roof. His baby sister was lying in bed with her hands over her face.
Lews forgot how hungry he was, and climbed up to the bed to sit next to her.
Their bed took up almost half of their room, but it was still pitifully small. The two of them had grown up sleeping side by side, but they didn't have space for that anymore. Now they took turns splitting the bed and the floor.
"Why don't I have a Paragon?"
Lews didn't know what to say to that. That was always the wedge that came between them. Everyone on The Distant Star, from the Captain and his Officers to the lowest boy on the ship (who was probably Lews himself) had a model Paragon.
Everyone but Amno.
The models were carved from Eternium and placed inside the passenger's cribs when they were just babies, but Lews and Amno's parents had died before they could do it. Their dad had fallen overboard when their mom was pregnant. And right after giving birth, their mom had fallen overboard too. Lews still heard distant whispers of her voice, whispers that promised she'd find some Eternium and carve Amno a Paragon as soon as she was born.
Sometimes, when Lews squeezed his eyes shut as hard as she could, he could almost imagine her standing next to him. Almost imagine her carving the block of cold black metal. But she'd fallen overboard before it could happen.
"I'll give you all my food. Forever, if you give me your Paragon."
"No!"
Lews's spat the word out like it was a mouthful of poison.
The boy blinked.
He didn't mean to sound so angry. It was an involuntary response, like dipping your hand into boiling water.
He couldn't give away his Paragon. It was his greatest and only treasure. It was all he had left of his parents.
And a dark part of him whispered that it'd been made just for him and not for her. It was only a small part of his rejection, but it was a part of it. Amno got to be big and strong. Shouldn't Lews at least get a Paragon?
Amno pushed herself off the bed. Her eyes narrowed with anger.
She didn't really want Lews's Paragon.
She didn't even really want her own Paragon.
She just wanted to have met her parents.
She just wanted someone to love her and her brother.
But Lews's quick and disgusted response made her angry, as quick and disgusted responses often do.
"It's not fair you got it. I didn't get anything."
Lews scoffed. Now he was angry too. He'd walked back to their room on an empty stomach and bruised legs, just as he'd done the night before today and the night before that.
"Anything? You didn't get anything?"
She'd grown big and strong. He'd withered. She had stew, and he had nothing.
Amno blinked.
"What did I get?"
She didn't even know.
Lews pushed himself off the bed.
"Well, that's just too bad. I got the Paragon, and you didn't."
He didn't want his sister's stew anymore.
He wanted to wander the tunnels and stare at the stars.
He wanted to dream of his life raft with its little greenhouse and all the food he could eat. Normally, he imagined his sister being there with him, but tonight he wouldn't.
The fist whirled at the side of his head.
Lews's eyes were quick enough to see and track it, but his body was too weak to block.
There was a loud thunk, and then he saw stars.
His feeble and stumbling retort bounced off her shoulder.
His sister kicked him in the chest and sent him sprawling to the floor.
The Paragon in its golden case went tumbling out of his pocket.
She snatched it up and glowered at him.
"See? I could have just taken it. I didn't even want it, but I could have taken it whenever I wanted!"
She threw the case on the ground.
It bounced off the ground and rattled open.
His model skidded across the floor. The model glowed as only Eternium could. The blue and gold Paragon flared like a sun in their dimly lit room.
Neither of them made any move to grab it.
The two siblings stared awkwardly at each other.
Then Amno left the room without another word. Her anger had disappeared as soon as she'd the Paragon that'd been crafted in her parent's colors. She was back to crying now.
Lews stood there and hated himself.
He was so weak. He was so weak his little sister could beat him up. That was even more embarrassing than hiding behind her. He should have ignored them, but he couldn't get the bullies' words out of his mind.
The stew was still on the table. It'd cooled by now, but it still smelled delicious.
Lews didn't want it.
He thought about picking up his Paragon
, but he didn't want it either.
If their parents were still here, they would have told Lews and Amno that it was just a stupid fight. Neither of them was mad at each other.
But they didn't have parents, and fights can cut deep. They can turn into something they were never meant to be.
Lews shook his head and left the room. He didn't want to sleep there tonight.
He was thinking about sleeping in the vent.
It was like camping out on Old Earth. You could go to sleep with the stars shining bright above you.
Usually, Lews only liked going to the vent when it was the middle of the day, and lots of people were around. After all, both his parents had fallen overboard. Lews and Amno didn't like windows.
But then a very common thought crossed Lews's angry little boy mind. It was a thought that has crossed the minds of countless angry boys and girls.
"Maybe I will fall overboard. Then it'll be her fault for hitting me! Then she'll be sorry!"
____
Lews was the first person to arrive at the vent. Most people were still eating, and it was always a danger to bring your food out in public on the Distant Star. The smartest thing to do was eat from the comfort of your room.
The little boy poked carefully at the window to check if it was safe, which, of course, was useless at best and actively harmful at worst. If it had shifted, Lews would have been sucked right off the Distant Star. But people like to pretend things are under their control.
Then he climbed up to the window and pressed his face against the glass.
It was so beautiful.
The door behind him opened with a mechanical whirl.
Then it locked with a sudden snick.
The sound echoed across the room, loud enough for Lews to turn.
He gaped at the big man who'd walked up behind him.
"Captain?"
The Captain and his Officers were the only big men aboard the Distant Star, and it was all thanks to their Share. The Captain was the biggest of all. Even under the standards of Old Earth, where all the remaining people ate like kings, the Captain still would have been considered monstrously strong. His shoulders seemed to as broad as the horizon, and his muscles strained against his tight blue uniform.