“Don’t talk to me right now, acting like everything should be okay,” Connor says.
Aaron shakes his head.
“You didn’t tell me you had a Starborn power until you were forced to use it in front of me,” Connor says. “You kept it a secret for years. I bring Mora to the safety of Salem and you use her to start a revolution. I try to save your life from a bunch of greyskins and you barely even speak to me.”
I can see the anger building in Connor’s face. From the bottom of his neck to the top of his cheeks, he’s turning bright red.
“I know what this is about,” Aaron says.
“I’m glad you do,” Connor says, turning away from him to face the truck.
“This is because I killed Mom and Dad, isn’t it?”
No one, least of all Aaron, is ready for the punch that Connor lands on the side of Aaron’s face, knocking him off his feet and to the ground.
“Stop it!” I yell, but it is unnecessary. Connor is already getting into the truck.
“Guess I’m leaving now instead of tonight,” Connor says.
“Where are you going?” Evelyn asks.
Connor turns on the truck, looks at me, then at Evelyn through the open window. “To find a different colony. You don’t need me here.”
Before anyone can respond, he puts the truck in gear but I run forward and put a hand on his shoulder. I lower my voice so only he can hear me. “For the record I think this is a terrible idea, but whatever you do, you can’t tell Jeremiah that we’ve found a healer.”
“I wasn’t planning on it, but why?”
“Just promise me.”
“Okay, I promise.”
I step back from the truck and Connor drives away quickly. I can’t believe he’s been planning to do this. If only I could read his thoughts like Sadie. Then I would be able to watch him while he was gone and hear his thoughts at the same time.
Aaron is back on his feet and silent. He’s got a big, red mark on his face from where Connor hit him hard.
“You okay?” I ask.
He nods. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
But that’s all that is said between us. The others disperse and Aaron walks back toward the Tower, no doubt to keep an eye on the satellite feed. I can’t help but feel helpless in all this. Connor is on his way to see Jeremiah, and for what? What does he expect to accomplish? Jeremiah will want to use him to get information and will see right through Connor in an instant. That is, unless Connor can really pull it off. I suppose he could buy us more time. Maybe he can keep Jeremiah from messing with Springhill until we can get the walls up. No doubt we will face retaliation for killing his guards here. Maybe Connor really can help. Or maybe Jeremiah will just kill him.
I spend the rest of the day with Grandma and Jake. They gladly take time aw take tiay from helping at the wall for a lunch break. We cook and play a couple of games that we’ve made up over the years. This is good for me. For the first time in what feels like forever, it seems like we are all happy. And I don’t think it’s an illusion. We all know that outside our home there is a cruel world. Outside our home is a man ready to wipe us off the map. We know. But right now, in this moment, we don’t care.
Jake is a wonderful eleven-year-old. He has such bright spirits. I don’t think I was this happy when I was his age. Even with my parents around, I never had as good of an attitude about life, and Jake has seen just about as much evil as I have.
Grandma is a saint. She took care of us in the best and worst times of our lives. I often wonder what her life was like when she was my age. She has told me so many stories about it, but I never could picture the old world in my mind until Evelyn started showing me the past in my dreams. Now I can at least get a feel for how people were back then. I can also get a feel for the terror of something like the beginning of the greyskins.
I can’t imagine being in the world when all of this originated. Being born into this life, I’ve known nothing else. I know that we strive to live in a world where there are no more greyskins, or at least a world where we never come in contact with them. But to me, that’s like heaven. It makes a lot more sense for someone like my grandma to want things to be how they used to be, but not me. All I want is to make it where we aren’t constantly afraid to die. I just want to make sure that, when our time comes to die, it will be peaceful. I don’t want any more loved ones to end up infected.
The clouds roll in as the day turns to dusk. Thunder in the distance lets us know that we will be getting more rain soon enough.
I pull out the tie from my hair to let it fall freely around my face. I love my long hair when the winds pick up. It almost feels like I’m flying. I would love to fly. If I could do such a thing, I don’t know where I would go. Maybe I would look for that place that Christopher and his friend had found. New Haven? He had said it was nearly impossible to get there by foot, but I could get there if I could fly. I wouldn’t be able to take anyone with me, but I would be okay with that for a time.
Walking through the middle of the main road, I look up at the Tower and wonder if Aaron is still there. I wish he hadn’t kissed me today. It just didn’t make any sense. It seems that every time I start to figure things out a little more, something weird happens. Aaron kisses me. Connor tells me he loves me. Don’t these people realize there isn’t time for any of this?
I won’t forget what Evelyn told me about how people who aren’t looking for romance are often blindsided by it. Well, I’m not looking and I wish people would stop blindsiding me.
I walk toward the Tower. I walk away from the Tower. I want to tell Aaron how I feel. I know I was the one that initiated the first two kisses, but he needs to know that I’m just not interested. At least, I think I’m not. I shake my head. This is crazy. Stupid. This broken world is falling into more pieces and all I can think about is kissing a boy.
“Is everything okay?”
I’m startled by the sound of the voice only a few feet away from me. I’ve been so distracted by my own thoughts that I didn’t even notice Christopher standing in the road.
It takes me a moment to respond. “Yes,” I say. “I suppose.”
“You’re pacing,” he says. “That’s why I ask.”
“Am I? I didn’t notice.”
“Worried about your friend? What’s his name? Connor?”
“Partly that,” I say. “Other stuff too I guess.”
“I know he’s not just going to find a new place,” Christopher says. “Sadie took the liberty to…you know.”
“You can’t tell anyone,” I say to him. “He asked me not to say anything.”
“I know.”
He stands there awkwardly for a few moments, looking as though he’s wanting to say something but feels like he shouldn’t.
“Just say it,” I tell him.
“I’m just a little confused,” he says. “I know this is a bit forward, but I saw that you and Aaron kissed.”
I sigh, not wanting to discuss this. But with Christopher, I feel more open. Maybe it’s his demeanor. Maybe it’s because I don’t know him.
He continues. “But…your thoughts portrayed that you have feelings for Connor. Deep feelings.”
“I thought Sadie made it a habit not to look into people’s minds,” I say.
“She found your situation rather intriguing. She also saw that you have deep feelings for Aaron, but not in the same way.”
“How could she see that? I don’t even know that,” I tell him. “Why do you care anyway? I mean, I’m not being hostile or anything, I just don’t understand why you are taking such an interest.”
“You saved my life,” he says. “I figure I’m going to be around you and the others for a while now that we are all in this Starborn group. I guess I’m just getting to know you.”
“You never really had too many friends did you?” I ask. I know it’s rude, but I didn’t ask him to come here and pry into my personal life.
“Not really,” he answers. “But in answer to your
other question, it’s that Sadie has insight into a person’s mind. It’s not just about their thoughts. It’s about their intentions. Their state of mind. Right now she would be able to tell us what you are so anxious about and what is causing it.”
“Would she be able to tell me what I’m supposed to do?” I ask.
“She wouldn’t presume to tell you what you should do with your life,” he answers. “I really didn’t mean to make you more angry.”
“You didn’t,” I say. I close my eyes, trying to let the stress fall off of me. When I open them, I’m ready for the next order of business. “Christopher, you need to know something. You’re about to be one of the few that knows this. You are in danger.”
“Aren’t we all?” he asks.
“You more than the rest of us.”
He looks at me with a curious look on his face. “I don’t follow.”
“Jeremiah is sick,” I tell him. “Very sick. He has been searching for a Starborn healer for a long time now.”
“What’s wrong with him?” he asks.
I tell Christopher about the dreams that I’ve had from Evelyn. I tell him everything. I tell him about how Jeremiah created the greyskins, how he can have long life, and how he has needed a healer for the past sixty years. He takes it all in with a few nods, but barely a hint of surprise.
“After seeing the abilities of others and even what I can do, nothing catches me off guard anymore,” he says when I’m finished talking. “In fact, it all makes perfect sense. That is, except for the question of how is he still around?”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“I mean, how did he become this all-powerful person with a grip on all of these colonies? He was a scientist that created this mess. He’s no leader.”
“I haven’t gotten to that part yet,” I tell him. “Evelyn told me then told mre are more dreams to come. I suppose I will learn of his rise to power. If I had to guess, I would say he was able to plan it because he saw it coming before anyone else did.”
Christopher nods. “Perhaps.”
“Anyway, you have to be careful.”
“I suppose this means Evelyn wants me gone,” he says.
I nod. “But I disagree with her and she’s on my turf now. She can’t just make you and Sadie leave.”
Christopher shrugs. “Nor do I take orders from either of you,” he says with a smile. “I would leave with my sister only if your elders asked it of me, or if I thought there was a real chance that my existence was a threat. Jeremiah doesn’t know anything about me.”
“What about Commander Green?” I ask. “He was interrogating your sister looking for you. How did she get caught in the first place?”
“My sister is still very young,” he tells me. “Sometimes she has trouble controlling impulses.”
“What do you mean?”
“When you and the others left Salem with bullets flying after you, Jeremiah sent more Screven guards in the next day. Commander Green led them. He made a speech to the colony about how if there were any Starborns still there, they needed to step forward so they could help in the fight. She stepped forward, but not to help in the fight. She read the thoughts of Commander Green. He knew you were innocent, but he wanted to bring you to Jeremiah anyway. She called him out on it. He locked her up in the Vault. Apparently, Green asked around and learned that Sadie had a brother. Me. Eventually, I got into the Vault. I crawled around in closets and air ducts for days, looking for a good place to sneak in. There were so many guards, but I finally decided that I would just have to take my chances.”
It all made sense.
“But that brings a question to my mind,” he says. “How did you know we were in the Vault?”
“I figured if any Starborns were captured, that’s where they would be,” I lie, but he accepts it without question.
“Believe me,” he says, “at the first notion that Jeremiah is sniffing around here because he has discovered me, I will leave. The last thing I want is to put Springhill in more danger.”
“I appreciate that, but I don’t think it will be necessary. As far as I’m concerned, you are one of us now. If Jeremiah wants to come here and get to you, he’s going to have to fight through all of us.”
Christopher smiles at this. “Truly a leader,” he says. “You are going to do great things, Mora. I hope I’m around to see it.”
With the words of encouragement, he walks away. I really mean what I say. I don’t hold the same view as Evelyn. She doesn’t get to decide who should leave or stay. Jeremiah’s fight is with all of us, not just one.
I look back at the Tower and decide that it’s finally time I go talk to Aaron. I don’t know why I think it’s important, but I do. I take the stairs slowly, not sure of exactly what I want to say. I don’t truly know how he feels. I mean, I do. But I don’t. When I finally reach the door to the top room of the Tower, I take a deep breath. When I open the door, I find Aaron sitting next to the screen, but he’s not staring at it. Instead, he’s listening intently to the radio as static and voices fade in and out.
He looks up at me and waves me in to him. “I was just scanning the airways with the radio and I picked up this signal,” he said.
“-eyskins everywhere… most colonists are dead… supplies… for anyone to offer help… Screven guards have aband-…”
“Where is this coming from?” I ask.
go th="2em">The man keeps repeating the same things over and over,” Aaron says. “There are some variations, so I know it’s live and not a recording. I’m pretty sure I heard him say he was at the Sudyka Colony.”
I’ve heard of the place. It’s a modest sized colony about a hundred and twenty miles south of Springhill. It has been said that they are one of Jeremiah’s most prized colonies because of their supply of helicopters. I’ve actually only ever seen one when I was very little, and I’m sure it was from Sudyka.
“Have you tried contacting them?”
He shakes his head. “There’s no secure channel. Anyone could be listening. In fact, I guarantee you that Jeremiah is listening if he’s behind this attack.”
“Why would Jeremiah attack Sudyka?” I ask.
“I don’t know. Sounded like he just said the Screven guards are gone. And from past experience, I would say when greyskins are attacking and the Screven guards are either missing or dead, Jeremiah is behind it.”
“Think we could get there in enough time?” I ask.
“It’s a cry of desperation,” Aaron says, shaking his head. “Greyskins act fast too. They’re going to have to get as many people stuffed into their helicopters as they can and fly out of there.”
“And they could come here,” I say.
Aaron shrugs. “Take that up with your elders. Sounds good to me, but I bet they won’t like the idea too much.”
“Let me sit there,” I say, and Aaron moves over a seat. I sit in front of the microphone connected to the radio. Having never used one before, I have to ask Aaron to show me what to do. He points at the button on the front and tells me to push to talk. Release to listen.
My finger goes to the button, but I don’t really know what to say. I have no fear of Jeremiah listening over the airways because he’s probably on his way here to attack us anyway. What difference would it make?
“Sudyka, this is Springhill, can you hear me?” I say into the microphone.
There is a long pause of static as I let go of the button. Then finally a voice.
“Say again.”
“This is Springhill responding to your distress call.”
“Finally! Do you… that can come here to help?”
“We are far out,” I say. “This is Springhill Tower. If you need to seek refuge, our doors are open to you. How many can you get out?”
Static.
We wait a minute or two, but no words come back. The speaker is either dead, or their radio is.
“I hope they got the message,” I say.
“It’s all we can do,” Aaron says
, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I pull away coldly and stand from the chair. “We need to talk,” I tell him.
He sighs and looks down at his now interlocked fingers. “Yeah, I figured as much. Listen, I’m sorry about kissing you and everything, I just…I guess I’ve just been getting the wrong signals from you. I mean, you did kiss me first…twice actually. So, I think you can see where I’d be a little confused.”
“And I’m sorry about that,” I say. “It’s just that the more I think about it, the more I can’t imagine trying to have a relationship in this world.”
Aaron stands, his eyebrows furrowed. “What are you talking about, this world? Relationships are what keep us alive as humans! Literally and figuratively. Just because the whole world is going to hell all around us doesn’t mean we should lose sight of each other. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pursue what makes us happy. In fact, it’s an encouragement for ragementme to pursue something.”
“I understand where you are coming from, but I just disagree. At least, right now I do.”
“This is just about Connor,” he says. “I get it.” He shrugs and looks out the window. “I don’t know where my brother is headed, but I know it’s not going to be good. He has a knack for getting himself into trouble.” He turns his head and looks at me. “I’m not going to pursue anything with you if that’s what you want.”
I don’t know why, but the way he says it just crushes me on the inside. In actuality, it makes me angry, though I don’t understand the reason I feel so entitled to his devotion.
“You’re right anyway,” he says. “With all this stuff with Jeremiah, pursuing something between us would just get in the way of what we’re trying to accomplish.”
I stand and listen to his words, but I don’t know how to take them. The more he talks, the more I feel like I don’t know what we are trying to accomplish.
“What’s next?” I ask.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, after Jeremiah. We have this goal of taking him down and getting back our own power without fear of him, but what is after that? When he’s gone, what do we have to offer?”
He smiles at me this time. It’s not flirtatious, and he doesn’t think I’m being funny. It’s a genuine smile that tells me that he’s happy I asked him that.
The Starborn Saga (Books 1, 2, & 3) Page 37