Starcrossed

by Brenda Hiatt

  “That must get old, huh?” Sean asked.

  It was cool that he understood. “Sometimes. But . . . what is it like there? I mean, the entire colony is underground, right? Isn’t it weird living your whole life in . . . in caves?” How could anyone miss that?

  They started laughing again. “It’s really not like that at all,” Molly assured me. “Actually, it looks a little like Ireland—we were surprised how much when we moved there last year.”

  “But isn’t there a . . . a ceiling?”

  “There is,” Sean admitted. “I mean, we all know it’s there, but it’s about a mile up, and disguised to look exactly like the sky on Earth, with clouds, and stars at night and everything.”

  “Disguised?”

  “Holographically,” Sean clarified.

  I’d seen the omni’s little holographic screen, so I guessed that made sense. “So . . . like being inside a really, really big domed stadium with video screens on the ceiling?”

  “Maybe, but it doesn’t feel like that,” Molly said. “It just feels like being . . . outside. Where we lived, there’s even grass and sheep and stuff.”

  “Sheep?” Okay, maybe not like a huge cavern or an underground spaceship, which is what I’d been imagining. “You have sheep?”

  “Well, not us, personally,” Molly admitted, “but people do.”

  “So Nuath isn’t just one big city?”

  She shook her head, smiling at my confusion. “There are two big towns—well, not so big by Earth standards—plus a couple dozen villages, spread out over nearly a four hundred square miles.”

  “Four hundred—!” These new images were completely shattering my preconceptions.

  “That’s only twenty miles in each direction,” Sean pointed out. “She means area, not diameter. You’re taking Geometry, right?”

  His tone was teasing and I gave him a mock glare. “Yeah, okay. But still, twenty miles . . . underground . . .” I shook my head again. “Are there, like, pillars or something, holding up the roof?”

  “Antigravity supports,” Sean said. “There are physical supports, too, but not many. They’re not necessary.”

  It sounded kind of dangerous to me. “But what if the, uh, power died or something? Wouldn’t the ceiling collapse?”

  “It’s worked for almost three thousand years,” Molly pointed out. “Plus there’s a lot of redundancy built in, just to be safe. Really, it’s not something we even think about.”

  “Besides,” Sean said, “it seems safer to me than having a sky that goes all the way out into space, where anything could just fall on you.” He gave an almost imperceptible shudder.

  I started to laugh, but stopped when I saw he looked embarrassed. “The only thing that’s ever fallen out of the sky here has been rain, sleet and snow. Okay, and sometimes hail.”

  He didn’t seem particularly reassured. “Even that . . . Guess I’m still not used to the idea. Hey, do you want to see some pictures?”

  That distracted me immediately, as he’d probably intended. “Pictures? Definitely!”

  Sean grinned at my enthusiasm. “Just a sec.” He pulled his omni out of his pocket and pulled up the screen, touched a button or two and a photo—or maybe a video—popped up. I could swear it was three-dimensional.

  “Wow,” I murmured, examining what looked like a village street with reddish stone houses on either side. There were glimpses of green countryside in the background. In the foreground, a red-haired young woman and a dark-haired girl stood waving—literally waving—next to one of the houses. I realized with a start that the girl was Molly.

  “That’s me with Elana,” she told me. “Just a few weeks before she . . . disappeared. And that’s our house. Or, well, it was.” She looked away from the picture.

  I put a hand on her arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up sad memories.”

  “It’s not your fault, M.” Sean sounded a little choked up, too. “I’m the one who pulled up that pic. Sorry, Moll. Here, I’ll—”

  “Sean?” Mrs. O’Gara came into the room, looking apologetic. “I’m sorry to pull you away, but one of your teammates is on the phone and he said it was important.”

  Sean stood, putting the omni back in his pocket, to my disappointment. “Coming, Mum, thanks. Back in a minute,” he added to Molly and me as he left the room.

  “Oh, I should have asked him to leave the omni,” Molly said the moment he was gone. “I could have shown you more pictures of Glenamuir, our village.”

  “Not if it makes you sad. I can tell you—and Sean—miss it.”

  She shrugged. “But we really do like it here. And it’s nice to know we have pictures of Elana, at least. It just caught me by surprise, is all.”

  “So, your whole family is redheads except for you, huh?” I asked, mainly to change the subject.

  “Oh! I guess you wouldn’t know. Um, I’m adopted.” She shot me an uncertain look, like she wasn’t sure how I’d react.

  “Really? I had no idea.” Then I smiled. “Something else we have in common.”

  She nodded, looking both pleased and relieved. “It seemed weird to just blurt it out earlier, like I was, I don’t know, trying to make us seem the same or anything. Besides, I get the impression your aunt and uncle aren’t as—I mean—” she broke off, looking embarrassed.

  “Not as nice as your folks, no. But it’s been fine. Mostly.” I was ready to change the subject back to Mars. Now that I’d had a taste, I was burning with curiosity to learn more about the colony there and its people—even if that was the O’Garas’ plan.

  I was about to ask about the food when, out of the blue, Molly blurted out, “So, what’s the deal with you and Rigel? How long have you two been together?”

  I blinked, caught totally off guard. “Um, since the second or third week of school, I guess.”

  “Off and on,” she amended, startling me even more.

  “What? That’s totally not true! Where did you hear that?” Even as I asked, I realized that must be the impression the whole school had.

  “Trina,” she admitted, a little sheepishly. “But the other cheerleaders backed her up. She said he’d gone back and forth between you and her since the beginning of school. That he’s a real player and I should be careful. Not that that was why I was asking!” she added hastily.

  “So, uh, why are you asking?”

  Her gaze slid away from mine. “I was just curious. I mean, it makes total sense that you two would get together, since you were the only Echtrans in the school.”

  “It’s not just—“ I began, but she rushed on.

  “And I totally should have asked you instead of Trina. But she . . . made it sound like things have been kind of rocky between you two?”

  Despite her denial, I couldn’t help wondering if she was asking because she was interested in Rigel herself. I mean, what girl wouldn’t be? Especially a Martian girl? Or—it suddenly occurred to me—if Rigel’s suspicion about Sean was right, was it possible he’d put her up to this, to test the waters? Either way, the absolute best thing I could do was to tell the truth.

  “Other than that first week we met, things have never been rocky between Rigel and me—even if it looked that way from the outside.”

  “But Trina said—”

  “I know. And it probably did look that way, but that’s not how it really was. When we found out Faxon’s people were after me and might be watching Rigel, he decided being together was putting me in danger. So we pretended to break up. And, yeah, Rigel even paid attention to Trina to throw them off the scent. It worked, too, when one of Faxon’s spies pretended to be a teacher.”

  I explained how we’d figured out Faxon’s forces were planning to invade and conquer Earth—and how when they couldn’t find me, they’d decided they could safely go ahead with it. Which made me convince Rigel to get back together, to let them know I did exist, to force them to change their plans.

  “So it was because they were watching Rigel they found you?”
she asked. “Why would he risk you like that?”

  “It was risk me or risk everybody on Earth. And it was my decision, not Rigel’s.” I spoke a little sharply, but I didn’t like her criticizing Rigel.

  She didn’t look convinced. “Wouldn’t it have been safer for you to just hide somewhere and let the Echtran Council and their people take care of Faxon’s thugs?”

  “You sound like your uncle. That’s exactly what he wanted me to do. But that would have left my aunt and uncle—who don’t know about any of this—plus Rigel and his family in danger. And . . . it would have meant me leaving Rigel.” That last reason had been the most important to me, even if it didn’t sound as noble.

  Molly waved it aside. “You’d only known him for a few weeks. What was the big deal?”

  I hesitated for a long moment. Then, tentatively, “Molly, have you heard of the graell?”

  She shocked me by laughing. “Of course! Who hasn’t? It’s the basis of, like, every romantic Nuathan fairy tale that exists.”

  That sidetracked me. “There are Nuathan fairy tales?”

  “Sure, lots of them. Let’s see . . .” She turned around to rummage through a box of books waiting to be put on an empty set of shelves. “Ah, here. Hannahan’s Fables. This copy is in Martian, not English, but it’s got stories like “The Gardener’s Daughter” and “Isobail’s Last Chance” and “The Engineer Prince”—those are the rough translations, anyway. They’re all about unlikely romances because of the graell, overcoming impossible odds to be together, stuff like that.”

  I stared at the leather-bound volume with unfamiliar lettering on the cover, fascinated. “Fairy tales,” I repeated, shaking my head. Then, “I’m surprised they still use regular books on Mars!”

  “Oh, we don’t. We got these in Bailerealta. I’d never even seen a paper-bound book before we got there. But back to you and Rigel . . . You weren’t really about to tell me you think you’re bonded with the graell, were you?”

  I felt my face reddening at her amused expression. “Well, uh, actually—”

  “It’s okay, I don’t blame you. Just about every girl I know—well, knew, back in Nuath, plus a few in Ireland—wanted to believe she had the graell with some boy she had a crush on. We all go through that. Then there are the boys who go along with it, just so they can get a girl to have sex.” She grimaced. “As smart as we’re supposed to be, you wouldn’t think any girls would be that gullible, but some are.”

  “No,” I protested, “that’s not at all what—”

  Her eyes went wide with horror. “Oh! I wasn’t implying that Rigel— That you— It’s not like you’d know any better, anyway.”

  Again she seemed to be implying that Rigel was at fault and I couldn’t let her think that.

  “Rigel did tell me it’s incredibly rare—so rare that most people don’t even believe in it. It’s not like he tried to convince me or anything. In fact, it really freaked him out when he first suspected it. He didn’t want to tell me anything about it at all, but it was the weird connection between us that first made me think something strange was going on—before I’d ever heard of the graell or Martians or anything.”

  She still looked skeptical. “So no other boy has ever given you a zing? Because it’s really not that uncommon with someone your own age. Though I guess he was the very first Echtran boy you ever met, huh?”

  I shook my head, willing myself not to blush. No way was I going to admit to that jolt I sometimes got from Sean. Not now. Besides, it wasn’t the same thing I felt with Rigel. Not at all.

  “Hey, just because I’ve never actually known anyone graell-bonded doesn’t mean it’s impossible. The stories had to come from somewhere.” I could tell she didn’t want to argue with me any more, but I could also tell she still didn’t believe it.

  “Really, Molly, I was completely—” I began, then broke off abruptly as Sean came back into the room. I wondered how much he’d overheard.

  “Sorry about that,” he said. “Pete Griffin had a bad practice yesterday and wanted some tips, so I— Oops, it’s getting late again, M. We don’t want your aunt to decide we’re a bad influence. She might not let you come back.”

  Molly and I both looked at the clock and just like my last two times here, I was surprised at how quickly the time had gone. I’d told Aunt Theresa I’d be home by nine and it was five till.

  “Thanks. I’d better head.” I stuck my history book into my backpack.

  “No prob. Walk you home?” He never said it like a come-on. In fact, last time both he and Molly had walked with me. But tonight I felt weird about it because of my conversation with Molly just now.

  “Thanks, but I brought an umbrella.” I still had Rigel’s and held it up as both evidence and talisman.

  He shrugged, his smile still casual. “I think the rain’s stopped anyway, but I don’t mind. You shouldn’t be out this late by yourself, rain or not.”

  Maybe he hadn’t meant it that way, but I bristled a little. “I can take care of myself, Sean. Besides, it’s only around the corner and this is Jewel, Indiana. Nothing ever happens here.”

  Not strictly true, since I had almost been killed here just last month, but those guys were long gone. I headed for the door, figuring that would be the end of it, but Sean’s jaw jutted out, his smile becoming stubborn.

  “C’mon, M, you don’t want me to get in trouble, do you? My folks will get on my case if I let you walk home by yourself. What’s the big deal?”

  I let out my breath with a little huff. “No big deal. Sorry. You can walk with me if you want. I just think it’s silly.”

  “Thanks for humoring me,” he said, opening the front door with a wide grin. “See you in a few, Moll,” he called over his shoulder to his sister.

  “Yeah, bye, Molly. See you tomorrow.”

  It was colder than it had been when I arrived, but, as Sean had said, no longer raining. Which reminded me. “Hey, you promised to show me more of the stuff your omni does, remember?”

  Sean chuckled—he did have a very pleasant chuckle. “So that’s why you agreed to let me walk you home, even though I insulted your warrior-woman abilities?”

  “Funny. Although I’ll have you know I am a green belt in taekwondo.”

  He grinned down at me. “I consider myself warned. Okay, let’s see.” He pulled out the tiny device Rigel had said he wasn’t even supposed to have here. Remembering that, I felt slightly guilty for asking to see more tricks. But my curiosity was stronger than my guilt, so I kept my mouth shut.

  “It does anything your basic iPhone will do—music, video, communication. But I’m guessing you’re more interested in its, ah, less mundane apps?”

  I nodded, watching intently as he handled the thing.

  “Okay, here.” He pressed it and the holgraphic screen popped up like it had before. “Are you cold?”

  “Um, maybe a little,” I admitted. The temperature had dropped at least ten degrees since I’d put on my rain coat earlier.

  He reached for my shoulder, then paused. “May I? Sorry—you act so much like a regular person, it’s easy to forget you’re the Sovereign.”

  “I am a regular person. But, um, sure.” I resolutely ignored that annoying tingle when he put his hand on my shoulder, watching as he pushed a button on a sub-menu. Suddenly it was like I had my own personal space heater. In seconds, I was even tempted to take off my rain coat.

  “Wow,” I marveled. “So you never get uncomfortable with this thing, huh?”

  Clearly enjoying my reaction, he shook his head. “Personal climate control. Oh, and that vid you saw earlier? Watch this.”

  He had to take his hand off my shoulder to bring up the new menu. I immediately felt the cold again, but I didn’t want to say anything that might sound like I wanted him to touch me. A second later I forgot the cold when a screen several sizes larger than the earlier picture of Mars appeared in mid air.

  “I can adjust the screen size pretty much as big as I want, though of c
ourse I’d only do that indoors. It’ll pick up satellite TV signals, internet video, you name it.”

  As I watched, a scene from a movie currently playing in theaters flashed across the screen.

  “That can’t be legal,” I commented.

  Sean gave a little snort. “If your authorities knew about the omni, do you think movie piracy would be what they’d worry about?”

  “Good point.” We were already approaching my house and, like that first time, I’d have liked the walk to last longer—though not for any reason Rigel needed to worry about.

  “Thanks, Sean,” I said the second we reached my driveway, so he wouldn’t walk me all the way to the door. “Guess I’ll see you at school.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.” There was an odd edge to his voice, but before I could analyze it, he gave a little nod and headed quickly back down the street toward his house.

  Rigel’s suspicions had me imagining things, I told myself as I went inside. Sean had never done anything that could be remotely construed as making a pass at me—though he probably knew I’d shut him down immediately if he did.

  Lying in bed later, I thought back over my conversation with Molly tonight. It still rattled me to learn that the graell was literally the stuff of fairy tales. I’d made up a lot of stories over the years, with my overactive imagination—to include that I was a Martian Princess. While that one turned out to be true, the others, like my invisible pet cheetah and the elaborate plots acted out by my toys, had been completely in my head.

  But my bond with Rigel wasn’t. Even Shim believed it. Because there was lots of proof, no matter how skeptical Molly was, or how confusing that tingle from Sean might be. Rigel and I both knew for a fact our graell bond was real and that was all that mattered.

  Wasn’t it?

  CHAPTER 11

  Rigel (RY-jel): an extremely hot, rapidly-burning star

  Allister is still on my folks for not making me do more around the house, so I clear the table and start doing the dinner dishes before anyone asks. Anyway, I’d rather do dishes—even by hand—than talk Echtran guidelines. Especially with Allister.