“Why?” Dale’s brow furrowed.
“Because you will say something ill-advised and get the safe harbor revoked. It is better that it is just them.” Telton inclined his head toward where Rachel and I stood.
“So you want me to stay on a ship that’s going to get attacked? Is that correct?” Dale laughed dryly. “While Noah and Rachel prance around some fairy world of safety?”
“It’s not a fairy world,” Telton scolded. “And does Noah prance?” Telton asked as if legitimately curious.
“No,” I quickly replied. “I don’t prance. And I never said I was going.”
“Don’t you want Rachel safe?” Caspian set his intense gaze on me. “Doesn’t she matter to you?”
“Of course she does.” I refused to let his pointed words get to me. “But so does my sister. If you think you can defend this ship…”
“They want Rachel. They don’t even know I’m here.” He was challenging me, trying to get me boxed into a corner. I wouldn’t be.
“How do you know?” I threw back. “Your father left a tracker, remember?” He could pretend all he wanted, but he wasn’t as untouchable as he liked people to think.
“And Kelby sent it off to buy us time.” Caspian rocked back on his heels.
“Sent it off?” I was pretty sure I didn’t even want to know what that meant.
Caspian confirmed my suspicion. “You don’t want to know.”
“Yes, I do.” Ready to hear it or not, I needed to. The time to keep my head in the sand was over.
“He sent it to earth.” Telton walked back into the Command Pod. “Siberia to be exact. Smart plan.”
“What? So now they will be more likely to attack Earth?” How was that in any way a good plan?
“My father won’t attack. They want me found. Just like they want Rachel found. The medallions have value. As long as they think one of us is on Earth they won’t destroy the planet.”
“So why don’t I go back?” Rachel put a hand on her chest. “We can protect Earth, and I can find my brother.”
“Because by now it is crawling with enemies. If they get their hands on you, all of this was for nothing.” Telton sat in one of the captain’s chairs. “Caspian has a good plan. I vote we go with it.”
“Oh. Are we voting?” Dale strode into the room before I could. “Because my vote is I stay wherever you send Rachel. I’m not dying today.
“I was speaking rhetorically.” Telton turned his back to Dale and looked at a screen. “The only vote that matters is mine.”
“What about mine?” Rachel groaned. “Oh wait. No one cares about what I want.”
“You want Earth saved. You want your friends safe.” Telton turned to Rachel. “I do understand what you want, and you can have all of that only if we are successful in defeating the Emperor.”
“So you expect me to hide out on North Star while you battle?”
“I expect you to extract information on North Star.” Telton tapped the side of his head. “The value for information is just as important as battle.”
“What information?” I wasn’t hiding out while my sister was somewhere in danger, but if I could be useful, that was a whole different situation.
“The Emperor is not working alone.” Telton zoomed into the screen. “He has other help.”
“And I don’t understand how he hid it from me.” Caspian’s hands balled into fists.
“Your father is an expert in deception.” Telton’s eyes darkened. “We have no time to waste. Rachel and Noah you take Amsi and go to North Star. The rest of us will prepare for battle. Oh, and be prepared to meet the rulers of North Star. You never really know what you are going to get with them.”
“I can’t do this.” I wanted to protect Rachel, but how did I really know North Star was safe? Didn’t Telton just say you never knew what to expect with the rulers? Not to mention that leaving when I had no idea where Angie was wasn’t an option either.
“You have to. If our enemies breach the ship and take Rachel… you don’t want to know what they will do.” Caspian’s face contorted in pain. “If you care for her at all you’ll do this.”
Rachel cringed. “They’d cut off my head wouldn’t they?”
“What?” My chest clenched. “What are you talking about?”
“To get the medallion.” Caspian looked down at his feet. “There is another way, but knowing my father he wouldn’t take it.” He grimaced. “We can’t let that happen. I swear to you on all that is enteral and true I will find a way to get your sister to North Star.”
“More of these oaths?” I didn’t get it. “Why are you so willing to make an oath to protect someone you don’t know?”
“Because then you will protect Rachel. There is nothing worth more in the world to me.”
“We can stay on the ship, Noah. We can stay safe here.” Rachel put her hand on my forearm.
“Then who will get the intel?” Telton scowled. “Do not forget your diversion to North Star serves two purposes.”
“Do we have a way of returning to the ship?” That was the only way I was doing this. I wasn’t getting trapped forever without knowing what was going on with Angie.
“Yes. You can return at any time.” Telton seemed to be truthful. “That’s why you must keep Amsi with you. Rachel has built another powerful robot.”
“Wait.” Dale blinked several times. “You can’t seriously be considering this. Leaving me here?”
“I’ll be here as well.” Carl spoke calmly. “Don’t you want to participate in cosmic battle?”
“When you put it that way…” Dale trailed off.
“Perfect.” Caspian nodded. “It has been decided. Noah, a word please.”
“You want to talk to me?” I put a hand on my chest.
“Yes. If you would.”
I agreed. Not because I wanted to listen to him but because I had my own message for him. We walked off back into the main sitting room. He stopped and put his hands on my shoulders. “If you so much as leave her side I will kill you.”
Two could play at the threat game. “If you so much as let Angie get a scratch I will kill you.”
“Then we have an agreement.” He removed a hand from my shoulder and shook my hand.
“I want to protect Rachel. I’ll do everything in my power.”
“I know. That’s the only reason I’m agreeing.” He turned and walked back toward the others.
14 Noah
I was tired of the lack of options. No matter what I did I was making a mistake. Stay on the ship? Rachel might be killed. Leave the ship? I was moving even further from Angie. I was torn in so many directions. How hard did it have to be to keep everyone I cared about safe? Considering I could count the people I loved on one hand it shouldn’t have been difficult. But it was. I even felt guilty leaving Dale, but I knew he’d be okay. Besides, he’d regret missing out on an adventure, and we had no promises North Star was truly safe. Once again I was relying on the word of others. I was tired of it, but at the moment I had no other choice.
As I sat strapped into my chair in the pod, I thought about my parents. They were used to me going days without calling, but what about Angie? If they tried to call both of us and neither answered they were going to flip. I hated putting them through this, but if we didn’t protect Earth we’d be putting them through much more. Life was becoming a series of bad or worse choices. The only positive side was that I had Rachel in my life. That was a very positive side, but it didn’t mean that all the other stuff was easy.
We were relatively close to Earth. At least that’s what I’d been told. I still didn’t get how there were black holes right there yet no one knew about them. But then again, there was so much about space I didn’t understand, and I didn’t really think the majority of the world knew much more.
Rachel and I were silent as Amsi locked into the system to start the landing phase of our journey. There were no windows on the pod, which was seriously frustrating. This might be a once
in a lifetime experience, yet all I could go off of was a screen in front of us and the words of a robot.
“I’m sorry you had to make that decision.” Rachel broke the silence as we waited for the pod to land. “It wasn’t fair, and I apologize that I keep putting you in that position.”
“None of this is your fault. I’m not letting anyone hurt you.” I couldn’t. Maybe I’d only known her a few days, but the thought of anything happening to Rachel—I couldn’t stomach it. It made my heart feel like it was being ripped to shreds. She’d been through so much, and I was determined to make sure nothing worse happened to her.
“I can take care of myself; you don’t have to make your decisions based on worry or fear.”
“I know you can take care of yourself. I’m not doubting that at all, but that doesn’t mean you should be facing anything alone.” No one should ever have to be alone—and definitely not Rachel. Not the girl who could see beauty in anything and could create robots out of recycled robot parts. Not the girl who’d reminded me what it meant to feel.
“I’m glad you came. And we aren’t hiding out. We’re using this as a means to get intel. Telton was right about that. Finding out what allies the Emperor is working with is essential. We have to know what we are up against.”
“And you think we’ll find these answers here?” I didn’t want to question everything, but we needed to. Following along blindly was dangerous. Incredibly dangerous.
“I think we’ll find something.” She nodded several times and seemed to be trying to convince herself.
“So what’s our story exactly? What are we saying when we get off this ship?”
Amsi beeped. “Landing successful. Fully latched onto landing pad.”
Rachel touched something on the side of Amsi’s head. “Our story is the truth. We are on the run from the Emperor. We are of Earth. We need safety, and we need information.”
“And we are sure we are going to get a warm welcome?” I wanted to be prepared.
“No one ever said anything about warm, but we’ll be received and given safety. I’ve never been here, but I’ve heard that North Star will never turn away someone in need.”
“Do you know why it’s called North Star?” I wondered if it had some relation to the North Star—meaning the one we looked to find our way on Earth.
“I don’t. There was a lot that I was taught that came with no explanations.”
“Sounds like your education on Andrelexa wasn’t that completely different from my education on Earth.”
“Yours had to be better.”
“I had some amazing teachers over the years, but there was so much we were taught never to question.”
“I know that feeling.” Rachel unbuckled her seat belt.
Amsi beeped again. “Oxygen level in tunnel at safe level.”
“Are you ready?” Rachel stood up.
“I’m starting to realize I’m never really ready, but sure.” I unstrapped and stretched after getting out of the seat. I wasn’t exactly sure how long we’d been sitting, but it sure felt like awhile.
Amsi had the door open before we reached it. It was strange relying on a robot, but she sure came in handy. We started down a long black tunnel with only small overhead lights for illumination. It didn’t feel all that different from the jet bridge at the airport, except that it was darker, and I knew we weren’t getting off at any airport that I’d ever seen.
Rachel linked her arm with mine. “I have no idea what’s going to happen when we get there. If something goes wrong, blame it all on me.”
I stopped. “Oh yes, like I am going to blame things on you and let you get hurt.”
“No one is going to get hurt.” She turned to me in the small enclosed tunnel.
“You are the one who said if things go wrong.”
“I am just covering all of our bases.”
I leaned in and brushed my lips against hers. “And covering our bases is good, but there is no way I’d ever let you take the blame. We are in this together. I’ll protect you with all I have.”
“You know I’ll do the same for you.” She pressed her lips against mine.
It was a bad idea. Despite our insane situation I responded, wrapping her up in my arms and deepening the kiss. Things probably would have gotten even more intense if Amsi hadn’t started beeping at us.
We broke apart. “Let’s finish that later.” I’d make sure of it.
“I’m holding you to that.” Rachel slipped her hand into mine as we continued down the tunnel.
All at once the floor beneath started to move. Rachel started to stumble, and I steadied her. It took me a minute to realize what was happening, but it was like an automatic sidewalk thing. Once again I was reminded of the airport.
We let the sidewalk move us forward until it abruptly stopped. We were standing in front of a huge metal speaker. “Welcome to North Star. Please state your business,” a robotic voice piped from the speaker.
Rachel and I exchanged looks. I spoke first. “We are here for safe harbor.” I really hoped it was as easy as the others made it sound.
“How long do you seek the protection?” the robotic voice replied.
“Hopefully only a few hours. We are waiting out an attack.” Maybe that was too much information, but it sounded like a good response in my head. Not so much once I said it.
“An attack by what entity?” The robotic voice asked.
“The Emperor of Andrelexa,” Rachel replied.
“Please wait here.” Low whistling emulated from the speaker. I assumed this was North Star’s version of hold music.
Rachel squeezed my hand. “Is this really weird for you?”
“Yes,” I answered honestly.
“Yeah, for me too. I didn’t know what to expect, but not this.”
“That makes two of us. It isn’t the weirdest thing though.” That was still the Fleshard. That thing was messed up.
There was a loud creak and the large speaker split into two, each moving off to the side as if sliding doors on a track.
“Please step through.” A new, notably not robotic voice called.
We listened, and stepped through the space now vacated by the speakers. As soon as we stepped through there was a bang. I glanced over my shoulder to see the speaker replaced behind us. I hoped it had a sensor or something. Otherwise being slow could have rather dire consequences.
“Please follow me.” The non-robotic voice advised. I saw no one. But there was what looked like a spotlight on the ground in front of us. It kept moving. After exchanging glances we followed. The light continued into a tunnel. This one was noticeably much smaller than the first. Then it stopped abruptly. There was a bang. A wall appeared right in front of us. We turned to find there was a wall directly behind us too. We were stuck in a tiny little section of the tunnel. We were boxed in.
Amsi beeped. “Oxygen level acceptable but low.”
“We should try to save our oxygen then.” I tried to sound like I knew what I was talking about, but I was pretty sure Rachel knew more. She was the one who always appreciated air.
The light went out. We were left in darkness.
“This doesn’t feel much like safe harbor,” Rachel whispered.
“No. No, it doesn’t.”
15 Noah
We waited in the darkness. The only noise was the occasional beeping by Amsi. I was glad she was there. I figured she’d tell us if we were about to run out of oxygen. Not that there was much she’d have been able to do aside from an emergency beaming back to the ship. Telton had assured me it was possible, and Caspian had agreed. Considering how obsessed Caspian was with Rachel, I assumed he wouldn’t have sent us down if there was a chance of really getting stuck. Once again I was relying on the word of others. That level of trust felt foreign.
There wasn’t much room in our little boxed in area of the tunnel, but we were able to sit down on opposite sides with our legs crisscrossed over each other’s. Amsi sat directly beside Rachel. Th
ere were so many things I wanted to say, but I had been the one warning Rachel about saving oxygen. Instead I thought over every horrible possibility in my head. Plus I worried about Angie.
I had no idea how much time had passed, but it felt like over an hour when there was a squeaking noise and a light turned on above us.
“I am very sorry.” A male voice called from somewhere nearby. “I am terribly sorry.”
I stood up and helped Rachel to her feet. We both stretched and looked around for the voice.
“Just this way.” The wall where we’d hit the dead end opened.
I didn’t particularly want to continue down that path, but there were no other options available at the moment, and I was in a hurry to get out of the tunnel.
We started to walk and the tunnel opened up, eventually depositing us into a bright and airy room surrounded on all sides by glass.
“Once again I extend my most sincere apologies for the wait.” A man dressed in an old-fashioned looking outfit consisting of a vest over a white shirt and pants stepped into the fishbowl room. “I am very sorry for the delay and the subpar waiting room. We are taking extra precautions at the moment due to the influx of refuge seekers.”
“Will we be receiving a temporary safe harbor?” That was the first question to get out of the way.
He nodded. “You may expect safe harbor for as long as you need.”
“Thank you.” Rachel let out a sigh of relief. I assumed it was more that she was afraid we were going to end up back in that tunnel then that we’d be sent back.
He held out his hands. “The Princess would like to invite you to stay in the castle.”
“The castle?” Now that wasn’t something I was expecting.
“Yes. I assure you we can transport you there without any potential exposure to unfriendly air. We are equipped to protect all species, including Earthlings.”
“Especially Earthlings.” A red-headed woman dressed in a flowing gown walked in. “It is a pleasure to have you here.”
“I told you I would transport them.” The man turned to the newcomer.
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