“Yes. I can talk.” Leo straightened, rising a full head above her. Nova wasn’t short, either.
“Okay. Just asking.” Nova positioned herself over the panel, but instead of inserting the tag, she turned to me. “Are you sure we can trust him?”
Did she mean Leo? Really? I furrowed my eyebrows. Of course I could trust my own brother.
Nova’s gaze was unyielding as she waited for my response. My face grew hot. She didn’t mean Leo; she meant Asteran.
“When we first touched, I saw a vision of his home world. I can’t explain how I saw it, or what he did to make me see it, but the world was so beautiful, so pure. Seeing him in it made me realize what he’s lost, what he dreams about.” I nodded. “If I were him, I’d want to wipe out whatever took me away from true happiness. I couldn’t stand seeing total annihilation happen to another world all over again. It’s just like Andromeda and the alien ghosts. Didn’t they help her for the same reasons?”
Nova held up the ID tag. “That’s enough of an answer for me. Let’s hope this works.”
The name from the stolen ID badge came up on the door panel.
“Yaric Fuller?” His suspicious eyes framed by his ratty red hair stared at me from the picture. He was going to kill me. “Why did it have to be him?”
The panel beeped, and the portal dematerialized. Nova stepped in, checking to see if anyone had stayed late. “Because he’s the only senior biologist close to our age willing to go on a night scout flight for fun.” She gestured for us to join her.
Scout flight? That would mean her lifemate was helping us. “Sirius is in on this as well?”
“Yup. He promised to show Yaric an area of unprecedented vine growth over an hour away. Sirius swiped the badge once he was asleep.”
“Pretty sly.” Leo picked up a DNA module from the main biologist’s desk.
“Don’t touch anything.” I slapped his hand. “Stay here and keep watch. Nova and I will be right back.”
He saluted me with a goofy smile. “Yes, ma’am, oh great and mighty mission leader.”
I rolled my eyes and followed Nova down the hall to Asteran’s cell. “Sirius doesn’t mind you going?”
Nova peered in each window as we walked to Asteran’s cell. “At first he didn’t like it. After I explained how flying to Cavernia may save the colony from another attack, he agreed to help. He wanted to come with us, but he’s scheduled for an important scouting mission in a few hours. If he fails to report, his absence would alert Crophaven before we could get the arachnid ship off the field. It’s too much of a risk.”
Here I was tearing two young lovers apart. “I’m sorry to burden you with this.”
Nova stopped before Asteran’s room and turned to face me. “Lyra, you’re doing the right thing.” She ran a hand through her long, auburn hair, as if deciding whether or not to speak further.
Nova sighed and dropped her arms by her sides. “Ever since the computer chose you for my team, I thought you were more interested in perfume and makeup than colonizing Paradise 21. Now look at you. A hero risking everything to save the colony before it’s too late. There’s more to you than I thought, and I’m sorry I ever underestimated you.”
Nova’s words hit me hard in the gut. She was right. I had been more interested in looking nice than categorizing the natural plant life.
“The whole reason I’m here is because of Asteran. I wanted to save him, because that’s what I’m good at, that’s what I do. I save people that are sad or lost. I’m not adventurous or brave like you.”
Nova laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. “This is as good a start as any. Come on, we have a colony to save. Hopefully, they’ve kept Yaric in the loop. Someone has to go in and bring him food and water, right?” She inserted his ID badge, and the portal clicked open. They both breathed with relief as Nova touched the handle. “You should go first. He knows you.”
I took pulled the heavy door open. Why did getting what I wanted make me so nervous?
I stepped in, ready to dodge another attack. “Asteran, it’s me, Lyra.”
My heart sank. The room was empty. I walked toward the bed and smoothed over the sheets. Still warm. Had they taken him away? Or worse yet, terminated him?
“Lyra.”
I whirled around. He’d hidden himself against the far wall. His hands held the metal pole the IV bags were usually hooked up to.
I winced and shielded my face. He put the pole down and gave me an apologetic smile. “I thought you were another guard, come to take me away. I was prepared to fight for my life.”
At least he hadn’t given up on helping us. I gestured for Nova to come in. It was safe. “No. It’s just me and a few friends.”
Asteran approached me, oblivious to Nova entering the room. His hands slipped into mine, as if we were star-crossed lovers reunited after a long journey apart. “It’s nice to see you again.”
My body threatened to melt into a puddle of buttery sweetness as my heart palpitated. Why did he have to be so irresistible? Stick to business. I cleared my throat. “We’ve come to break you out. We have another ship.”
His eyes flicked from cerulean to sapphire. Long, thick, golden eyelashes batted at me. “Another ship?”
Nova checked the room’s security cameras. “Lyra thought of using the arachnids’ ship—the one they came in. It’s crashed two kilometers away in a field.”
It took all of my self-control to release Asteran’s hands. I dug into my backpack and pulled out a thin screen with Alcor’s diagnostics. “The ship runs on electromagnetic energy conducted by the metal frame. You said you’d studied how to fly the one your people captured. Can you fly this one?”
His gaze flicked over the screen as if Alcor’s algorithms were simple math. “Yes, the systems are the same.”
Both Nova and I sighed with relief. Nova typed something into the panel. “I saw this on a movie about a prison break. I’ve set the security cameras to loop the last three hours over and over.” She walked toward Asteran. “We’re already packed with food, supplies and weapons. We should leave immediately.”
“Wait.” Asteran held up his hand. “I need to find my original set of clothes.”
Nova pursed her lips and looked him up and down. He wore a simple civilian white cotton shirt and beige pants from the New Dawn’s stockpiles, along with functional work boots. “What you’re wearing is fine. You’ll blend in better with our clothes.”
Asteran didn’t budge. “I don’t have time to explain, and I’m not leaving here without them.”
I studied his impassive face, intrigued. Was he concerned about fashion? Or sentimentally tied to the clothes? If I’d just lost my whole planet, would I care about my New Dawn uniform? I had no idea.
“Fine.” Nova scanned her locator over the portal panel and several drawers detached from the wall. “Lyra, help me. We don’t have time for this.”
The first drawer had extra sheets and towels. I dug through the piles but found nothing out of the ordinary. Where would they put them? “Nothing here.”
“This one either.” Nova scanned her locator again, and drawers popped out from the opposite wall.
A current of panic rose. What if the senior biologists had incinerated them? Could Asteran get over it, or would we be standing here when Crophaven caught us, still digging through the supplies?
“I have them.” Asteran picked up a lightweight mesh fabric the color of the pine forests back on Old Earth and a pair of thin leggings with small tubes of golden metal running up the sides. It reminded me of the temperature regulator outfits worn by the deep space teams when they had to climb between the livable levels of New Dawn and the thick hull that used to separate us from deep space. The look of Asteran’s fabric was more organic.
He dropped the pants and dug through a front pocket sewed into the underside of the shirt.
Nova crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “We’re running out of time.”
“Just one more moment.” Astera
n pulled out a thin, black cord. Attached to the bottom was a jade crystal in an isometric shape. The glassy surface gleamed as the light refracted through it. Asteran sighed and tied the cord around his neck, slipping the crystal down the front of his shirt.
Why was the necklace so important? It wasn’t like any of the black or purple ones on Paradise 21. Was it rare, or sentimental? Had someone, a girl perhaps, given it to him? A pang of ridiculous jealousy shot through me. I had to know. Trying to sneak away from the New Dawn and pilot an enemy ship right under Crophaven’s nose made this the wrong time to ask.
A shuffling sound down the hall made all three of us freeze. Asteran moved toward his pole with silent elegance.
Leo ducked his head in and his eyes widened as he took in Asteran’s tattooed face and cobalt hair. “Whoa, Lyra, you never told me you were friends with an alien.”
Somehow my brother never failed to embarrass me at all the most important times. “Leo, honestly, you’re supposed to be keeping watch. What have you been doing this whole time?”
He held up a key tag specifically marked “LANDROVER USAGE ONLY”. “You know, the usual. Digging in drawers, poking around where I shouldn’t be. Getting us a way out of here.”
Nova’s eyes brightened. “You’re a genius.”
“You can thank me when we’re on that ship.” He offered his hand to Asteran. “Nice to meet you, bro. My name’s Leo. I’m Lyra’s awesome little brother.”
Asteran took his hand as though he didn’t know what to do with it. Leo shook their hands, and Asteran blinked in confusion. “My name is Asteran Dulith Val Kilaminju, waverunner of the Tulisian people of Priavenus.”
Leo let go of his hand and shook his head. “That’s a mouthful. Hmmm...Aster? Teran? Or maybe just Tanny. Yes, that’s it!”
Asteran’s head tilted. “Tanny?” The word sounded like a rock on his usually lilting tongue.
This had gone from the most romantic moment of my life to a sideshow comedy.
Nova pushed by them. “We can think of cool nicknames for each other later. Right now we have to move.”
Tanny? Honestly, I could have died of embarrassment. I followed Nova, for the hundredth time reconsidering my decision to take Leo with us.
Chapter Twelve
Sprint into Darkness
Nova led us through the remote corridors of the New Dawn toward the portal to Paradise 21. I hadn’t been off the ship in a week, and I craved the humid, blossom-scented air, the infinite ceiling of stars above my head and the lush tangle of jungle on all sides.
The entire ship slept around us, and every small scuffle made my heart leap to my throat. If Crophaven found us, we’d all be in big trouble. There was no way he’d allow us to fly the arachnid ship to Cavernia based on Asteran’s word. Crophaven would lock us all up and keep the ship under heavy surveillance, waiting out the attack from a position he could understand. He wasn’t a risk taker by nature. I was.
Asteran stayed by my side, which pleased me overwhelmingly. I was hyper-aware of his shirt sleeve brushing against mine and his exotic, calming scent, like mountain mist after a midnight rain. He’d taken one of my backpacks for me, lightening my load. The fluorescent blue straps looked funny on his sleek shoulders. I would have never imagined such a gorgeous hunk carrying my school bag with musical notes and pink hearts embroidered on the back.
None of us spoke a word. Nova communicated by jabbing her finger in each direction, and we followed, staying close. She chose corridors long abandoned since the landing, and dust tickled my nostrils. I must have sniffed up a dozen sneezes.
The forgotten passageways flickered with dim light. There was no use repairing the New Dawn since we’d soon all move into newly constructed buildings on Paradise 21. Still, the emptiness and neglect gave me the creeps. I imagined the New Dawn sinking into the ocean in which we floated, and these corridors filled with the silver ribbons of fish that shimmered in the shallow pools by the shore.
We rounded a bend into a shadowy hall with only a few flickering lights. Old workout equipment sat in rows along the wall. Sleek, nanofiber coffins rested in the center of the room. Storage. I’d never been here. Had Nova gotten us lost?
“Stay close to the wall.” Nova gestured for us to follow her.
A shudder crept across my shoulders. Generations of lifers had been sent into space in coffins much like those. Now we didn’t need them. Ceremonial Guide Observers sprinkled the deceased’s ashes in the waters of Paradise 21. When the only soil we’d brought was from Old Earth, we couldn’t waste it on burials, and we couldn’t continue to shoot our dead into space.
Asteran must have sensed my unease. He placed a steady hand on my back. “Are you well, Lyra?”
Great galloping comets! Could he be any more perfect? “As well as I can be.” I smiled, wanting to lean against him as my cheeks burned so hot I thought my face would light up the darkness.
“Up these stairs.”
Nova’s voice hissed, drawing me from my moment of bliss. A creaky metal staircase led from the storage deck to the main deck above. She’d been right all along. Like Leo said, she was an impeccable student, rising far above her parents’ stations to claim the next lieutenant position out of sheer will. I had to have more faith in her abilities.
Cobwebs draped over the corner of each stair. I kicked them away, wishing the alien arachnids were just as easy to dispense. I’d never been fond of the spiders that had snuck their way on to the New Dawn before we left Old Earth. Now they seemed like innocent little angels compared to their horrific interstellar cousins.
The staircase opened to an antechamber where I used to hide as a kid during public ceremonies on the main viewing deck. I smoothed my fingers over the initials I’d carved into one of the plastic benches along the wall as Nova checked to see if our path was clear.
“Are you concerned to leave your ship?” Asteran whispered beside me.
I shrugged. “Guess I’m a little sentimental, that’s all.”
“I understand.” Asteran settled on the bench beside me. “When I close my eyes, I can still see Priavenus’ oceans.”
His world came back to me in a rush of sparkly, iridescent waves. It was so real, I could still feel the spray of the water on my cheeks. “When I first met you, when you...almost kissed me.” I blushed, hoping Leo was too busy covering for Nova so he couldn’t overhear. “I saw you riding a board on top of the waves. These...serpents followed at your feet like dogs.”
Asteran smiled fondly. “Harpons. They help me hunt by driving the fish forward. I give them part of my catch.” His eyes grew intense. “We were memory-sharing, Lyra. It only happens when...” his voice trailed off as Leo approached, with Nova behind him.
Leo gave me a strange look, like he’d caught me licking the lid to the salt shaker. “Coast is clear, but only after every ten-minute interval when the guard completes his patrol.”
Nova clutched her fingers around her backpack straps as if a violent gust of wind threatened to tear it off. She checked her wrist locator. “Two minutes and we’re off.”
The guard must have circled around, because boots clicked on the chrome floor as we shuffled toward the large expanse in front of the portal to Paradise 21.
“There he is,” Nova whispered.
I peered around the corner just as the guard checked the panel. He whistled a broken tune and scratched his balding head. The panel beeped a cheery response, and he turned on his heels. His footsteps receded as he walked down the far corridor.
Nova tapped my arm. “Now’s our chance!”
We scurried to the main portal. A guard used to stand watch all night. Since Andromeda caught one sleeping on duty, and sneaked by unseen, Crophaven changed the guards’ routines to patrols instead.
Guess I should thank Andromeda next time I see her.
“If we’re lucky, the guard won’t check to see the last user. If not, we’ve got ten minutes to make it to the landrover. It’ll take them some time to figure out where we�
��ve gone from there.” Nova flashed her locator. Since she had lieutenant-in-training clearance, the portal dematerialized. She shot us a nervous look then took the lead down the ramp.
The humid air of Paradise 21 flooded around me in a warm bath. Waves lapped against the incline to the shore in a lopsided rhythm. The thick scent of blossoms tickled my nose.
Asteran smiled as he gazed at the star-filled sky. Dawn hadn’t crested the far ridge, and the moons lit our path. “Reminds me of Priavenus.”
“Of what?” Leo pushed by us and followed Nova.
“Never mind.” My brother wouldn’t understand. No one would unless they’d witnessed Asteran’s world for themselves.
Dew and sea spray slickened the metal. I was thankful for the grooves in the platform, which kept me from slipping as I followed Asteran’s shadow down the ramp. What was he going to say about the memory-sharing? Damn Leo for interrupting.
I reached the bottom of the ramp, and my boots sank into the small, black crystals. My steps crunched as we sprinted across the shore. It was like walking on broken glass.
Sharing implied I’d given him an image in return. Which memory had Asteran seen? A thousand embarrassing moments came to mind.
Husks of buildings cast shadows on the horizon. Cranes drooped from partially constructed walls, and metal beams lay in piles like my brother’s antique Lincoln Logs. The construction crews had stripped parts of the New Dawn, recycling the precious Old Earth metals. The framework promised high skyscrapers, much like the ones I’d seen in pictures. Seeing them stirred my excitement. As much as the ship had been the only home I’d ever known, I was eager to shed the sad history following us and start a new chapter.
Asteran’s head tilted as he studied an archway to a platform that would become our main auditorium. Benches rose in levels to a view of Paradise 21’s brilliant sea. The moons stared back at us, as if we were the ones on display.
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