Inalienable: Book 7 of the Starstruck saga

by S E Anderson

  “I do. I give a crap,” I said. “I’ve had it up to here with the Alliance. I know you said they’re necessary but come on. I’m not just talking about the way they manhandle my planet. I’m talking about Da-Duhui, the mess with the Traveler, the hidden histories, and, oh yeah, the freaking abandoned Youpaf who were left spiraling around my solar system for, like, a million years.”

  Blayde stopped running, but I wasn’t convinced. At least she wouldn’t try to jump us anywhere without Zander on board. I stood still at the end of the hallway, my back to the stairs.

  “In the very least, it’s terrible mismanagement,” said Zander. “Sally, the Alliance spans hundreds of star systems. Thousands of planets. You can’t possibly expect us to do anything about that. Even when we try to help them, we’re labeled terrorists. What do you think they’ll do when we really do come after them?”

  “No, not us,” I spat. “If you won’t want anything to do with this, fine. I’ll do it myself. Just me.”

  Blayde took a step toward me, and I retreated. “You know, I thought I liked this new Sally snark, but it sounds like you need to go right back upstairs and lock yourself in with those patients.”

  “I’m not crazy.”

  “Going up against the entire Alliance just because you’re pissed at them sure sounds crazy.”

  “You don’t sound like yourself,” said Zander. “Why don’t you sit down?”

  “I don’t sound like myself?” I laughed. “What about you? You’re supposed to be the thorn in the Alliance’s side, and right now you seem to have forgotten how to stab.”

  “Sally, listen to me.” Blayde frowned. “We don’t care what the Alliance thinks of us. If we happen to help someone in trouble, cool. We’ve been doing that for as long as we can remember, and we’re not stopping now. But we’re not bona fide revolutionaries. You do understand that, right? We’re not the terrorists they have been warning their people we are.”

  “You can’t possibly not care about that.”

  “That’s not the point. We help. We don’t destroy institutions that do more good than harm.”

  “But you admit they do harm,” I said. “Please. Maybe you don’t have a homeworld to call your own, but look at it from my point of view. My people—it feels weird calling them that, but that’s what they are—are being abused by the very people the Alliance is supposed to be protecting us from. Again and again and again, they let the wrong people through their nets, and they do nothing about it while remaining fixated on catching you two. Zander said it himself, at the very least, it’s terrible mismanagement, but there are real deaths linked to their mistakes. And that’s just on my planet.”

  Zander put a gentle hand on my shoulder. I forced myself not to give in, not to lean into his warmth.

  “We have to be able to do something about it,” I said, slipping away. “I’m not suggesting we blow up the Agency or anything. But we have to do something to the upper leadership. I meant what I said. If you won’t help me, I’ll do it myself.”

  “Sally, you can’t,” said Zander. “You’re just one person.”

  “I saved my planet before. Twice now.”

  “Both times by dying.”

  “I have unlimited deaths stocked up, so why not use them to mean something?” I spun to face him. “Zander, you of all people should care. It’s one of the things I love the most about you: just how much you’re willing to do for perfect strangers. I’m just one person, but the two of you have done the impossible time and time again. Hell, you used to brag about toppling civilizations with chocolate bars or dance-offs. Are you afraid you’re rusty?”

  “Well, what do you want us to say?” Blayde flung her hands up in the air. “Sure, Sally, we’re going to take on the Alliance all by our lonesome and save your planet and so many others from their corrupted clutches?”

  “That would be great, actually,” I said. “Can you please say that?”

  “What’s gotten into you, Sally?” Zander’s hand slid down my arm, taking my hand. “Where did all this fire come from? Should we be worried?”

  “Maybe?” I shrugged. “I guess when the rest of my brain screams louder than my anxiety, I have a lot more to say.”

  “A coup is hard to plan,” he said. “Especially in a system that sprawls over hundreds of planets in dozens of solar systems where the populace is brainwashed into believing they have free will. We can’t issue a takedown of the Alliance; it’s impossible.”

  “Impossible?” I snorted. “You know, I think that the first time I ever heard you say that.”

  “We’re not all-powerful, Sally,” said Blayde. “We can’t just snap our fingers and change the universe.”

  “Plus, we’ve probably tried at least five times before,” said Zander. “Every time we tear down the emperor, king, vapor entity … they always pop back up with the same stuff they’ve always had.”

  “Well, it does give us something to do,” said Blayde. “I haven’t toppled a civilization in a long time.”

  “Great! Blayde’s on board! Zander?”

  “I’m only doing this to keep the two of you safe,” he muttered, but his hand squeezed mine tighter, and I knew I had his full support. “I can’t have you both running off saving Earth without me.”

  My arms flew around his neck before I could stop them. He hugged me back just as tight.

  “Great,” said Blayde. “Foollegg will be back any minute, and we can’t jump anywhere without a plan. How do we get out of this place, then?”

  “I have an idea,” I said, letting go of Zander but taking his hand instead. “I’ll give IHOP something to protect.”

  ***

  Terrans are friends, not food! That was the first sign I saw as I broke through the chimney and out into the light. Your trash is a human’s downfall, said the second. Earth is for Earthlings was the third and arguably the catchiest despite being oddly offensive at the same time. I wasn’t sure if they were protesting the Agency or the Pachooleeans, but either way, I was all for their cause.

  I slid down the tiles and jumped to a tree, hiding behind the safety of its widest branches, Zander close behind, his face smudged with dust. The chimney had been boarded up for years, but it was a large enough conduit to get us to the outside without running into the Agency men in FBI uniforms leading patients out of the now-smashed front door, a firetruck waiting for them there. The same agents were also trying to corral the news reporters away from the off-world protestors, and the latter were trying to vie for as much screen time as possible. By the way the agents moved, it was obvious this wasn’t the first time they’d played this song and dance.

  “Do you think they’ll be okay?” I asked, waiting for Blayde to appear. Zander pulled me into his arms, kissing me lightly on the forehead, his touch drawing the anxiety from my body.

  “The Agency might suck at tracking off-worlders, but they’re the masters of bureaucracy. The patients will be rehomed right away.”

  “You make that sound like they’re pets being removed from an abusive owner.”

  “Do you expect the Agency to treat them any better than that?”

  “Cuddle on your own time,” said Blayde. “We have to hurry.”

  We dropped out of the tree and rushed toward the protestors. Willowcrest was leading the pack, shouting slogans that only rhymed in her own head. The second she saw me, her eyes went wide.

  “You!” she stammered, dropping the megaphone.

  “I’m Terran,” I said. I didn’t need more of an introduction. I had this whole speech prepared about how much the Agency sucked and how much I supported IHOP’s cause, but they didn’t need to hear it. We were whisked away to the back of a van, hidden from Agency sight and ferried to safety by a sweet teenager in a wooly cap and fingerless gloves who introduced themselves as Willowcrest’s child, Evanuel. Ev to their friends, which we immediately were.

  “My mother married a genderless being from another dimension,” they explained as they drove us down the institute d
riveway to sweet, sweet freedom. In the back of the van, under some thick fleece blankets for good measure, we made friendly conversation. “Literally just a ball of floating thought and a little thistle. I call it Om. They couldn’t conceive naturally, naturally. So, they adopted me. You wouldn’t believe how common it is for Terrans to be raised by extraterrestrials. At least in my circles. Most of my friends have at least one off-world parent.”

  I would have been much more interested if I were fully awake. One thing my brain didn’t seem to have found the solution to just yet was the whole issue of burn-out. In less than two weeks, I’d been arrested and brought to the institute. In less than two days, I’d found and fought three alien threats. I needed a stiff drink and a good night’s sleep.

  “Do you think Foollegg will keep her word?” I asked Zander tentatively as I nodded off, rocked by the gentle sway of the van on the flat Florida roads.

  “She let us go, didn’t she?” he replied. “She’ll probably still be chasing us, but it sounds like your family will be safe for the time being.”

  “We need a plan,” I said. The van swerved off the highway; it had been a short drive.

  “So, this new Sally has all the snark, none of the spark, huh?” asked Blayde. “Too bad you didn’t somehow acquire brilliant planning skills along with the rest of the bloody side effects.”

  “Well, it’s not like I know the inner workings of the Alliance. Just the end result.”

  “You can get up now,” said Ev. “We’re here!”

  Here turned out to be a motel off the highway, and Ev lead us into their room, which was stocked full of markers and posterboard. Some abandoned slogans sat propped up against the wall, proclaiming that Earth = not mine, not yours, too many chores; and if you really belonged here, why are you water intolerant?

  “Too much of a mouthful,” said Ev as they motioned toward the signs, tossing their car keys on the table. The keychain was promptly swallowed up by markers and a pile of spilled glitter. “I keep telling them half their slogans don’t work in English, but do they trust the actual American? Nope.”

  I said nothing, collapsing on their bed, staring up at the ceiling. I was out. My parents were off the hook, for the time being. Why couldn’t I feel good about any of it?

  “Thank you for helping us, Ev,” said Zander. “We owe you and your mother big time.”

  “You need a shirt,” they said suddenly. “You can’t go very far without a shirt.”

  I propped myself up on the bed as Ev tossed Zander a shirt from their suitcase. “How did you get here so fast?”

  “Mother listens in to all Agency wavelengths,” they said, shrugging. “We’ve got a decrypter. Anyway, we got word yesterday that something was going on here and drove down. A good thing, too, because we were right here when the emergency signal went out. Can you believe that shit? The Agency, sitting idly by, while off-worlders take advantage of—well, of course you can; you were there.”

  “We’re taking them down,” I said, falling back onto the bed. “Some way or another, we’re taking them down.”

  ***

  I had apparently fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes again there was a Chinese takeout on the table. Willowcrest was occupying one of the seats at the table, practically glowing, her child at her side and Zander and Blayde shoveling food down their gullets across from them.

  “You didn’t wake me for food?” I muttered, rolling up to a seat.

  “You needed to catch up on your sleep,” Zander said, waving me over. I lazily plopped myself on his lap, treating myself to a massive heap of fried rice. It tasted like heaven in a little takeout box.

  “We were just filling them in on the details,” said Blayde. “Brainstorming some plans for getting the Alliance to intervene, which is your job, need I remind you.”

  “I’m trying,” I said. “How much have you told them?”

  “They’re the Iron and the Sand, bane of the Alliance’s existence, and you’re trying to get the Agency to leave your planet alone,” said Willowcrest. “That about covers it, right?”

  “Sounds about right,” I replied. “Did I miss anything else?”

  “Director Foollegg has released a press junket detailing your escape,” she announced. “Conveniently leaving out your involvement saving their asses.”

  “Their engagement was based on your attempt to escape,” added Ev, “which has apparently traumatized the patients.”

  “So, we’re still wanted ‘criminals,’” I said. “Any results from the brainstorming?”

  “Ev suggests we go for the top,” said Blayde. “Good kid. Doesn’t know much about the Alliance. Never left their planet, but has the right idea.”

  Ev looked up from their wontons. “Thanks? I guess?”

  “So, kill their president-emperor person?” I asked. “I’m still not clear on what he is.”

  “No one is,” Willowcrest muttered.

  “Barge into the heart of the Alliance and murder their leader? You think that’s going to solve anything? Come on, be realistic, Sally!” Blayde snapped.

  “Realistic?” I laughed. “I’m on the run with the two most wanted, misunderstood criminals in the universe! You can’t tell me to be realistic. Look at where I’m standing!”

  Zander chortled, either at my retort or at his sister’s stern face.

  “You can’t tear one man down and expect change to follow,” she said. “You either get chaos or a new leader worse than the first.”

  “We need to somehow be redeemed in their eyes,” said Zander. “I mean, maybe then we can have some say on how they deal with things.”

  Blayde scoffed. “I seriously doubt there’s a way to go from terrorists to heroes overnight. It’s not like they’ve given us credit for the amazing shit we’ve already done for them. I mean Da-Duhui alone should have given us some brownie points. Or our brave rescue of the Traveler. Instead, they had to wipe that footage, lest their people see how much they’ve been lied to. And that was on camera.”

  “Then we have to settle for something more symbolic,” said Zander. “Something heroic and public. That’s it.”

  “That’s it?” I asked. “Like, save a famous baby or an ambassador’s daughter?”

  “No, someone far more important. The president himself.”

  “Ah, so he is a president.”

  “Officially, yes. But that’s just a fancy way of saying ‘you elected my n-teenth great-grandfather to office, and my family’s been here ever since.’”

  “Right,” said Blayde. “So, we stalk the most influential guy this side of the galaxy and then save his life as publicly as possible so they can’t doubt that the Iron and Sand are on their side. Boom, pardoned, and they’ll just forget about the other thousand things we supposedly did?”

  “Should work,” said Zander. “It’s a start, at least.”

  “Perfect,” I replied. “Instead of killing the president, we save his life. By … pretending to kill him.”

  “You’re absolutely sure they weren’t just patients?” Ev whispered to their mom under their breath.

  “Even if they are,” said Willowcrest, “they’ll look great on our posters.”

  “I was being sarcastic,” said Blayde, most likely pretending to ignore them, “but it’s a start. At the very least, they’ll have to stop chasing us. Then we can start working on details, like having them live up to their responsibilities here on earth. Now for logistics: reaching the president of the Alliance. Or getting off-planet and inside their seat of government without being caught.”

  “We could ask Meedian for help,” I said. “He probably has a ship or knows someone with access to a ship.”

  “We can’t bring the Agency to his doorstep,” said Blayde. “It’s too risky. He’s meant to be our friend. I know we only just met him, but how many decades of friendship would we ruin if we did that?”

  “Random jumping is out of the question,” Zander agreed. “Or we might lose Earth, and that’s a big no-no sin
ce coming back is the whole point.”

  “I could do it.”

  Their eyes landed on me, though I was used to their shock by now. It wasn’t like I was saying anything more ridiculous than I already had been. Willowcrest and Ev looked much more confused than shocked, but that was understandable.

  “I seem to always be able to find you, Zander,” I said. “It’s the only way I seem to know to jump at all: finding you. But I’ve never tried looking for … another you. I mean, if you’re my beacon to the now, couldn’t every Zander at any point in time and space act as a beacon too?”

  They said nothing, awestruck. I wanted to blush, shy away. But, hey, for once I was the one who could do something they couldn’t.

  “All I have to do is find my way to the Zander you were on the Traveler,” I said. “If I can jump to him, we can ride the ship back into Alliance territory.”

  “All the way back to Pyrina,” Blayde breathed. “Sally, if you can pull it off, then …”

  “I didn’t want to believe—I just … is this happening?” said Zander. “Are we going to plunge into Alliance territory and get our freedom back?”

  “If we play our cards right,” I said, “we can even save my world in the process.”

  “Well, then, I’m not waiting a minute longer,” said Blayde. “Let’s go stalk the president.”

  “This,” said Ev, turning to their mother, “is by far the best birthday present you’ve ever gotten me.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Remember those broom closets I liked so much? Well, they’re back!

  There’s only so many things you need to bring along with you on an interstellar mission to ‘save’ the president of the galaxy, and, thankfully, for the broke space traveler, you can gather most of them last minute at the local dollar store.

  First of all, a solar-powered phone charger because an interstellar plug adaptor is useless to anyone who doesn’t have over a hundred pairs of hands and room for an extra three suitcases.