The Star Dwellers

by David Estes

  I don’t wait for his chin to dip; rather, I lift up on my tiptoes and tilt my head back, jamming my lips to his. I don’t know what the heck I’m doing, but I’m not thinking, not anymore. I’m not worried about whether this will be our first and last kiss, or one of many. I’m just acting, listening to my heart.

  I must be doing something right, because his hand moves behind my head, sifts through my hair, pulls me in even closer, if that’s possible. His lips are soft and tender and urgent as he moves them over mine. My mind is exploding and my heart is about to, but I keep kissing him.

  Luckily, he has enough presence of mind to pull away from me, because I don’t know if I can. It’s a good thing for two reasons: One—I’m completely out of breath and I may have suffocated myself before I released us from the kiss; and two—my whole family is watching us, which is embarrassing regardless of the gravity of the situation. Elsey’s beaming, my mother’s smiling sheepishly, and my father’s wearing something between a grin and a grimace. The only ones not watching: Roc and Tawni, who are sitting side by side on one of the beds, talking quietly and smiling at each other.

  I turn back to Tristan, and, realizing my arms are still around his back and his around mine, I twist to the side and grudgingly release him, sliding my hand down his arm until it intertwines in his fingers. “Tristan, I’d like you to meet my mom, Anna,” I say.

  Mom steps forward and shakes his hand. “I’m so happy to finally meet you,” Tristan says, and I know I’m beaming ridiculously, more like Elsey than myself, but I can’t seem to stop.

  “And you, Tristan,” Mom says. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for my family, and what you’re doing for the Tri-Realms.”

  Her words stir the last remaining bits of emotion out of me and I put my arm around her, pull her in close.

  Dad says, “I’ve got to go meet with the VPs. Enjoy yourselves until I get back.”

  When the door closes I turn around to find Roc and Tawni back on the edge of one of the beds, whispering and laughing. It makes me smile.

  Mom and Elsey are side by side on one of the other beds and Elsey’s telling her some funny story, using her hands as much as her voice.

  At the foot of the third bed, Tristan’s watching me. The breath rushes from my lungs. I’d forgotten how handsome he is—seeing him through a video screen just doesn’t do him justice. His blond waves seem to fall perfectly atop his head, framing a face so stoic and strong that it’s almost as if he is a prince.

  I go to him, sit down next to him on the bed. He takes my hand and I feel my heart rate increase as warm blood flows to my extremities. As usual, bats flutter ceaselessly in my stomach.

  “I’m so happy,” Tristan says. It seems like such a funny thing to say considering we’re still in the middle of a potential war of epic proportions, but when he says it I know I feel the same way. In fact, I feel like I’ve never been happier.

  “I am, too,” I admit.

  He raises an eyebrow in a way that only looks cute on him. “What happened with Brody?” he asks, and my breath catches when I think he’s talking about the almost-kiss. “I mean, why do you think he wanted to hurt you?”

  I realize he’s talking about the other K-word and I let out my breath slowly, trying to hide the fact that I was holding it. “I don’t know for sure, but I’m pretty sure it was because we were going to come here, try to convince the moon dwellers to join the cause. Your father didn’t want that, and since he was working for him, he acted to stop us.”

  “Oh,” is all Tristan says, but I know there are deep thoughts behind the one-syllable word.

  “Why do you ask?”

  His shoulders slump forward and his expression darkens. “I think he’s trying to get to me—trying to get me to give up.”

  “He’s a fool for trying,” I say.

  Tristan shrugs. “I guess, but if anything ever happened to you, I don’t know…”

  “Promise me you’ll keep fighting no matter what,” I say.

  Tristan looks into my eyes. I recognize the look because it’s the same one he gave me just before we parted ways in subchapter 26. The same look I probably gave him right before I rushed into his arms only a few minutes ago. My lips part slightly.

  He leans in and kisses me, sending electricity through my lips and shivers down my spine. This time he doesn’t pull my head in, he simply holds both of my hands, runs his fingertips along my skin, like he did when we fell asleep together on a night that now seems so long ago. Now that I know how good kissing can be, I wonder why I never tried it earlier. Because I didn’t know Tristan, I think.

  A thought pops into my mind that almost makes me laugh. I guess it’s official: we’re girlfriend/boyfriend. My mouth breaks into a smile while he’s still kissing me, and he slides back to look at me. “I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?” His face is pale and worried, like he really thinks he’s the problem.

  “No…it’s just—you’re doing everything right.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Tristan

  I’m crazy-over-the-moon-ecstatic right now. I’m hoping all the emotion of the last hour will help me give the speech of my life in just a few minutes. I mean, everything is going perfectly. After we kissed for the second time, we scooted back and sprawled out on the bed, my back against the wall and her head on my chest. We could see Adele’s mom, but she pretty much ignored us, focusing her attention on her other daughter, whom she hasn’t seen in months. And Roc seemed more than happy to be left alone with Tawni.

  I told Adele about how Roc is my half-brother, and about what my father did. She asked if I was okay. I told her I am now. It was nice, just chatting with her and getting to know her. It almost seemed normal, like we were on a date, and not at some peace summit. But now Ben is back, which means the date’s over.

  “It’s time,” he says when he walks in. “Anna, can you take them to the platform?”

  She nods and motions to us to follow her out the door. “Where will you be?” she asks.

  “I’ll be right behind you. There’s just one more VP I want to speak to. Elsey can come with me.”

  Elsey beams with pride. She’ll always be daddy’s little girl.

  Adele and I hold hands and follow her mom out the door. I flash Roc a grin when I see him take Tawni’s hand and pull her along behind us. He gives me a sheepish grin in return, but behind it I can see how happy he is too. It feels weird that we’re all so happy. Somehow it seems impossible. It’s like the crumbling crest of a stone wave during a cave-in, and I’m just riding it down, hoping not to fall off.

  My hands are sweaty with fear and expectation, but Adele doesn’t seem to mind. She’s filthy from her trip through the Star Realm, and yet I’ve never seen her more beautiful. She told me about how she almost fell while climbing the wall near the lava flow. I’m hoping it will be her last run of bad luck.

  She also told me all about the treachery of this Brody guy, as well as the stranglehold my father has on the other star dweller generals. It only makes me hate him more.

  Anna shows us the way out from the tunnel and down the inner Dome stairs, to the platform in the center. The bustle of activity has calmed significantly. The Resistance members are spread around the seating area, creating a thin barrier of protection. The VPs are seated in one quadrant, but in front of their protectors, in the first few rows. I’m glad they’re not spread out because it means I won’t have to turn in a circle to make eye contact with them.

  Everyone stops talking when we enter. There’s a pocket of folding chairs on the platform, at the end furthest from where the VPs are seated. We follow Anna to them and sit down, Anna, Adele, and I in the front, with Roc and Tawni behind us.

  There’s a guy with brown, curly hair to our right, next to Adele’s mom. He’s literally her right-hand man, I chuckle to myself. Adele gives me a funny look, but I wave off her question and stand up, move toward the guy. “Trevor, right?” I say, extending my hand.

  “That’
s what my mother named me when the doctor slapped my pale butt,” he says. He grips my hand tightly. “Are you for real?” he asks.

  The question stumps me, but I answer any way. “I’m not a specter, if that’s what you mean.”

  He laughs and releases my hand. “I just mean, are you really going to help us?”

  Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Yeah, I guess so. Is it that hard to believe?”

  “Kind of,” Trevor says. “I might have given Adele a hard time because of you. I didn’t really trust you or her when we first met. Did she tell you about that?”

  “No, but she told me you saved her life. And for that I must thank you.” My hand is out again, and Trevor takes it.

  “You’re welcome. I’m glad I did.”

  When I turn and sit down next to Adele, she’s smiling, having watched the entire thing with interest. “He gave you a hard time?” I whisper.

  “I hated him,” she says with a shrug. “But now I don’t.”

  I don’t have time to respond because Vice President Morgan is standing in the center, preparing to address the audience. “I know you have all been forced to thrust aside your plethora of other responsibilities to make time for this peace summit, but I can assure you, it is well worth your time. We have a grave responsibility to the people of the Moon and Star Realms, which, as you all know, are sometimes referred to as the Lower Realms.

  “I know many of you are angry at what the Star Realm has done to your subchapter, wreaking havoc on your infrastructure and even causing the death of many of your citizens, and for that they should be sorry. However, there is a reason for all of that. I know many of you don’t want to listen, want to say ‘There’s no excuse for their behavior!’ but there is!” Morgan’s voice has risen, echoing throughout the entire Dome. She’s a mesmerizing figure even though we can only see the back of head. She’s going to be a hard act to follow.

  “But it’s not me that should tell you. It’s Tristan, the son of the President, the one person who should be against the rebellion. Please give him a warm welcome.”

  Morgan swivels and sits down next to Trevor, leaving the round platform looking large and empty. I should be nervous, but I’m not. Adele gives my hand a final squeeze before I stand, and I take strength from it. If for no one else in the entire world, I’ll do this for her, right now.

  The applause is heavy from the upper rows, where the Resistance soldiers are seated, but more scattered from the VPs. It neither encourages nor bothers me though.

  Then I’m in the center of the platform, although I can’t remember my feet carrying me there. I scan the audience, making eye contact with as many people as possible before I begin. I’ve planned it out in my head: All do the right thing and unite the people and rebellion, ra ra ra! but that’s not what comes out when I begin speaking.

  “My father raped and murdered my best friend’s mother,” I say. A few gasps and loads of murmurs fall over the crowd. Ignore them and continue. “I just found that out. He told me and my friend himself. That’s the kind of man who’s leading the Tri-Realms. He also gave the star dwellers the money to buy the bombs that destroyed your cities. Oh, and he’s holding the star dweller generals’ families under a knife so they’ll do what he wants. That’s the kind of man you’re protecting by not supporting this rebellion. That’s all I have to say.”

  Although my brain is telling me it’s too soon to end my big speech-to-end-all-speeches, my heart moves me across the stand, where I sit down next to Adele, who immediately takes my hand. I look at my feet for a few seconds, and then twist to glance at Roc. I hope he’ll forgive me for what I’ve done.

  He’s smiling.

  Of all the expressions I imagined his face might have, a smile was not one of them. He reaches over and slaps my shoulder. “Well done,” he says.

  Adele kisses me on the cheek, leaving a spot of warmth that lingers well after her lips leave my skin.

  Morgan seems so surprised at the brevity of my remarks that she’s unsure of what to do. The audience is restless, whispering to each other and coughing and shuffling their feet. Oops, I think. Perhaps I should have stuck with the planned speech.

  But Morgan has experience with unexpected situations and she’s quickly back on her feet, raising and lowering her hands to quiet the crowd. “We have much to discuss, questions to ask and answer, and details to work out, but first, I’d like to take an initial vote to see where we stand.”

  I look around for Ben, but he and Elsey are still not back, which is strange because all the VPs are now in attendance.

  I watch as each of the VPs writes something on a piece of paper and then passes it across the row, to where someone collects them before bringing them forward to Morgan in a basket. It seems old-fashioned, but effective. Morgan extracts the first ballot. “Yes, in support of the rebellion,” she reads, and my heart lifts an inch in my chest. The ballot drops from her hand and flutters to her feet, discarded. “One in favor, zero against.”

  She reads the next one. “Yes. Two in favor, zero against.” My heart is in my throat. I want to rush the stage and grab the basket and frantically read the rest of them. Morgan’s slow and methodical pace is killing me. I think Adele’s thinking the same thing, because she’s squeezing my hand so hard it’s getting sore.

  “No,” she reads, and my heart sinks a little. “Two for, one against.” There are still thirty-nine ballots and I’m living and dying by each individual one she reads. I try to relax.

  “No,” she says. “Two for, two against.”

  The next six are all against the rebellion. I’m no longer holding Adele’s hand, and my head is resting in my hands as I balance my elbows on my knees. “Two for, eight against,” Morgan says. Despite Ben’s efforts with the VPs and my pitiful speech, we’re still way behind, not even close to garnering a majority. These men and women are still too scared of my father to stand up to him.

  But then it happens. The tide turns, almost as if by magic. First Morgan says yes once, then twice, and then it’s like that’s the only word she can say. By the time she’s done, it’s thirty-two for and ten against. I hug Adele and she hugs back. Anna is looking at us both and shaking her head in disbelief, like she’s seen everything in her lifetime but not something like this.

  For the first time since this all started, I actually truly believe the Lower Realms can be united in a joint cause. With a little bit of pressure, we could possibly get the other ten VPs to change their mind, to support the rebellion. If we could just explain—

  A screen emerges from the platform floor, rising up next to Vice President Morgan like a phantom in the night.

  From the look on her face, I know she’s not expecting it.

  “What is the meaning of—” she starts to say, but then the screen flashes and she gasps, along with nearly everyone else in the audience, myself included.

  “No!” I hear Adele croak, the word rough and jagged in her throat.

  The whole world spins upside down as I stare at that screen. Ben and Elsey are each tied to a chair, their hands behind their backs, their mouths gagged with thick black cloth.

  A man, dressed in sun dweller red, holds a gun to Ben’s head.

  I know he’s going to kill them, and all I want to do is scream I’m here, Father, I’m here! Please, take me, not them. But when I try to speak all that comes out are ragged breaths.

  Adele is already on her feet when the voice booms through the speaker.

  * * *

  Adele

  I’m scared but it’s nothing compared to the determination I feel coursing through my blood. I will not let them kill my family, not after I’ve worked so hard to bring them all back together. I’m on my feet, prepared to charge through the Dome, rip the place apart stone by stone until I find them, when a voice thunders through the arena.

  “Your traitorous ways are punishable by death and death alone!” the President threatens. I’d know his voice anywhere.

  I hear the slam of doors and then
a cacophony of marching boots fills the Dome, cutting through the air like bullets. Above us, dozens of sun dweller soldiers, decked in polished red uniforms—they look like the same ones we saw in the tunnels on the way to the Star Realm—point gleaming rifles and pistols over the edge of the topmost seats.

  The Resistance soldiers are on their feet, aiming their own weapons upwards, but everyone in the room knows they don’t stand a chance. The sun dwellers have the upper ground, the better weapons, the element of surprise. We’re sitting ducks.

  “Don’t move!” the voice booms. “We have you surrounded. There is no chance of escape. You have all been found guilty of high treason and should be executed in accordance with the laws of the Tri-Realm.”

  I close my eyes. We’re all going to die.

  “However…” Nailin says, and my eyes flutter open. “…I am offering you one chance to avoid death. Lay down your weapons, allow yourselves to be taken prisoner, and watch the execution of the real traitor, Ben Rose, and his daughter…and I will consider a lesser sentence.”

  What? No! “No!” I scream. “You can’t do that!”

  All eyes are on me but I don’t care. Tristan tries to put a hand on my arm, but I rip it away from him, charge from the platform. The bullets start flying, but not at me. The Resistance soldiers are firing at the sun dwellers! They’re not going to give up either. They’re fighting!

  I see my mom pull a pistol from beneath her tunic and start shooting at the sun dwellers. One drops, and then another. She reminds me now of the day the Enforcers took her away. A fighter—a force to be reckoned with. My mother.

  The sun dwellers fire back and I see soldiers dropping amidst bursts of red. In my heart I’m sorry for them and scared for my mom, who’s still on her feet, but there’s only one thing on my mind: Save my dad, my sister.