“Senior Councilwoman, they came to attack our village. It was President Coleson and two thousand soldiers enhanced with nanotechnology, and the president swore he was going to kill every colonist on the planet. He even executed Tate Philips on the way from Earth after I told him I wouldn’t help him take over Vista.”
Evelyn glanced quickly at Joseph, worried how the news of Tate’s death might affect him. Tate had been the only real father figure Joseph had ever known. In the quick look she gave, she didn’t catch Joseph’s eye. He seemed to be busy staring at the council, a concerned look on his face, but if he was distraught, he didn’t seem to be showing it.
“Mm-hmm,” the councilwoman said as she reached into the breast pocket of her jacket. She pulled out a small sheet of paper. “After you connected to Vista, this is a transcript of what was heard over the intercom system,” she added, clearing her throat.
“‘Sir, the autopilot isn’t responding.’
“‘Sir, we’re losing power to the engines.’
“‘Do something, Major.’
“‘I can’t. Nothing’s working.’
“‘We’re losing power.’
“‘Sir, we’re in free fall.’
“‘Evelyn. Stop what you’re doing.’
“‘Stop.’”
And then looking up from the page with enough disdain to burn a hole through granite, the councilwoman stared at Evelyn. “And what was your response to these men’s cries for mercy?” She didn’t even look back at the page to say the last line.
“‘It’s time for you to die.’”
It was hardly perceptible, but Evelyn heard the crowd gasp around her. They hadn’t been there to see any of what had happened, and the fact that the councilwoman was questioning her integrity pissed her off.
“Are you sure you want to stick with your story, Evelyn?” the councilwoman asked, crossing her hands in her lap.
“It’s not a story. It’s the truth. They were coming to attack the settlement!”
“Well then,” the councilwoman continued after a thoughtful pause. “I suppose we have you to thank for saving us. But before we record today in the annals of our fledgling country’s history as the day that Evelyn saved our civilization from annihilation, let me ask you this … Exactly how did President Coleson know we were here?”
Evelyn froze, realizing then where the councilwoman was going with her questions.
“Is it because you went back to Earth, against the orders of the council? Is it because you went back and told them where we were?”
“Of course not!” Evelyn blurted, feeling her cheeks flush. She glanced again at Joseph, hoping for some sign of support, but she found nothing other than a concerned look and raised eyebrows.
“Well, they must have found out from you somehow,” the councilwoman said with a dramatic flourish of sarcasm. “Otherwise, they never would have been able to find us. They could have searched the entire galaxy, and it would have taken them an eternity to find us.”
“They would have found out where we were eventually … when we went back to Earth, Councilwoman,” Evelyn retorted.
“We weren’t going back, Evelyn.”
Evelyn felt a stutter in her thoughts, and she stood in silence. A few seconds passed, and she found her voice again, fueled by the frustration within her. “So, in spite of the fact that Mr. Philips made it possible for you to escape Earth and make a life for yourself here, you had no intentions of honoring his wishes to go back and to bring more people here?”
“Things change, Evelyn. You have to adjust to changing circumstances when you are a leader. You have to make sacrifices when you are responsible for people’s lives.”
“Don’t tell me about sacrifice and responsibility.”
“What could you possibly know about the sacrifices we make?”
“I just saved you from total annihilation!”
“You led troops from Earth to us, and then you executed thousands of people!”
“Yeah, and I should have let them execute you too,” Evelyn said, and as soon as she did, she wished she could suck the words back into her mouth. A gasp let out of the crowd around her, and as she glanced quickly at Joseph, she saw him turn and leave.
Evelyn felt like her ribs were caving in, like her heart was going to stop beating. She hoped it would, and she stood motionless for a moment.
Evelyn cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, Councilwoman, I didn’t mean what I said.”
The councilwoman glared, and after a moment, she sat back in her seat, tapping her fingertips on the arms of her chair. “Evelyn, I told you before that your services were no longer necessary, but given your flagrant disregard for the laws of our society, not to mention your complete disregard for human life, I am left with no alternative but to recommend to the council that you be banished from our community, forever.”
Evelyn’s mind stopped.
“Do I hear a motion?”
“Aye,” a councilman at one end of the row said quickly.
“And a second?” the councilwoman continued.
“Aye,” another councilwoman added.
“All those in favor?”
A chorus of ayes followed from the council members.
“All those opposed?”
There was silence, the absence of sound so profound it felt like the weight of the planet was resting on her shoulders. And even though Evelyn felt nothing but revulsion for the people in the room, she felt a lump in her throat form and a sadness sweep through her that not even one person would stand up and defend her, or would appreciate anything she had done to bring them here, or to save them from extinction.
“The motion carries,” the councilwoman said, looking around the room with an understated smugness. “Evelyn, you are exiled from our community, forever. You are never welcome within the boundaries of any community we establish, and you are never to contact any citizens of our community. If you return for any reason, the penalty will be imprisonment or death. Your sentence is effective immediately.
“Guard,” she added, speaking over her shoulder but not taking her eyes off her. “Please escort Evelyn to the edge of the property, and make sure she finds a path leading her as far away from us as possible.”
Evelyn reeled in her spot. She quickly glanced at the door in the hopes that Joseph might return to say something. Instead, she saw the hulking figure of Titus coming toward her, an electric prod in his hands.
As he got closer, he seemed to waver in his stiffness. “Come on, Evie,” he said, nodding at the door behind her, “let’s go.”
Evelyn turned, and with as much dignity as she could muster, she walked through the door into the cool evening air. She looked around. There was still no sign of Joseph.
They walked quietly down the dirt road, and then as they approached the edge of town, Titus broke the silence.
“Where are you going to go?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said quietly, and she realized as she said it that she really had nowhere to go, no family left, and nobody to be with. Even Joseph was gone forever, and as she thought about how isolated she felt, her chin started to quiver, and the tears started to fill her eyes.
“You don’t have to walk me out of town, Titus,” she said, not wanting to start crying in front of the bully who had stolen her locket so long ago. “I know the way.”
Evelyn heard his footsteps stop. She carried on, salty tears stinging her eyes, but her blurry vision not enough to hamper her way.
“Hey, Evie.”
Evelyn stopped to look back. Her heart sank even deeper to realize that it was just Titus. Joseph really wasn’t coming for her.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. People can be pretty mean, you know. Maybe one day they’ll change their minds.”
“Thanks, Titus,” Evelyn said, wiping away a tear. A single act of kindness from the most unexpected source warmed inside her. She knew that was all she was going to get. It would have to do.
Evelyn t
urned. She walked past the campsites, where the people she had sacrificed so much for found peace. She walked past the power generators, which had taken so much from her. She walked past Potter’s Field, where most of her family had found rest. She walked down the dirt road through the fields, leaving behind the green-eyed boy with the messy hair and the crooked smile, her first friend and her first love, and the only person she knew she would ever love with the purity of a child and the recklessness of a young woman.
As Evelyn climbed the ramp to her shuttle, she knew she was leaving it all behind, and as she flew off toward her mountain, tears streaming down her face, she wondered if the ache she felt in her chest would ever go away—secretly hoping it never would.
STARGAZER
The lake was small. Not small like a pond, but small enough to see the other side. The stars sparked in the blackness of the cloudless sky, reflecting in the stillness of the water, the two moons casting a warm light on the evergreens and the mountain ridges around her. In the distance, her mountain, still strong and bold and undaunted, still there, all but its mighty silhouette hidden by the darkness and the distance.
She sat on her rock, looking at the stars in the water, wondering where she might go, unready, unwilling, unable to decide. She breathed in the cool night air, the clean scent of evergreen, the subtle hints of peat and chocolate in the root tickling her nose. She shuddered, the chill of the high mountain air seeping through her shirt and into her skin. She could walk back up to the shuttle, but she didn’t want to move, feeling like it might force a decision from her faster about where she should go.
She looked up at the stars.
“Hey, Stargazer.”
Evelyn whipped her head around.
It was Joseph. Her heart stopped beating. She stopped breathing. She stood. He walked closer, a golden twinkle in his mossy-green eyes, his crooked smile warming her heart.
He stepped close. She could smell the sweetness of his breath.
“Any room for me on your rock?” he asked, cocking his eyebrow.
Evelyn felt the electricity building in her belly, her arms, her legs, her chest, coursing through her and between them.
“You’re here,” she said in a whisper.
“I could see where things were heading back there, so I ran ahead and stowed away on your shuttle.”
Evelyn felt herself start to sway.
“You left me behind once, Evie. I wasn’t going to let you do it again.”
Evelyn heard the words light from his lips, and she knew what they meant. She grabbed him. He grabbed her, and their lips met, the world exploding around her in a whirl of tears and laughter, her whole body humming at the symphony of joy within her. She didn’t care what happened next. She didn’t want anything more. She just wanted to stand there in the chill of the evening, forever warmed by Joseph’s embrace, and she knew she would be.
Eternity passed, and then they pulled their lips apart, just far enough that she could see him.
Not caring that her face was wet with tears, Evelyn gently brushed Joseph’s hair from his eyes, and then she let out an easy laugh.
“What?” he asked with a little grin in the corners of his mouth and eyes.
“Oh, I was just thinking … What was it that you called me?”
Joseph smiled. “Stargazer.”
“Stargazer,” she said, smiling at the thought that maybe Doppelgänger Girl was gone—perhaps she had never existed. She looked into the golden flecks in Joseph’s eyes and saw herself. “Yes … I like the sound of that much better.”
The End
Table of Contents
Beautiful
Exposed
Awestruck
Princess
Wanted
Unwanted
Mechanic
Forgiven
Worm
Abandoned
Wrenched
Foolish
Devastated
Remorseful
Torn
Together
Exiled
Stormy
Contrite
Journeyer
Seeker
Empty
Fortunate
Martian
Annoyed
Visitor
Doppelgänger
Delivered
Deceived
Defender
Witness
Caretaker
Helpless
Wise
Defended
Split
Aimless
Taken
Guest
Enabler
Dreamer
Passenger
Judge
Everlasting
Judged
Stargazer
Doppelganger Girl Page 28