All the Stars Left Behind

by Ashley Graham

  “Uh, I’m not sure.” She glanced over her shoulder at the mirror and saw the gown had no opening at the back. “Rika? When you said I’d see what you meant about the gown, did you mean because it’s some crazy alien technology that sews itself shut when you put it on?”

  Rika laughed. “Yeah, that’s what I meant. You all covered?”

  Leda opened the door in answer. “That was freaky.”

  “Your uncle had a good laugh at me when I watched it happen.” Rika motioned to a chair nearby.

  When she sat down, Leda watched Rika going over her list. “So you and Uncle Arne are close?”

  Rika stilled. “We’re friends.”

  “How did you two meet?” Talking about other people gave her something to think about aside from Roar.

  Rika turned, a shy smile lighting up her face. “I was on holiday from Amsterdam with a friend, and Arne—he sort of saved me. It was a bit rowdy on the boat and I fell into the harbor. Arne saw from his shop window. He swam across the harbor and got me back onto the boat before any of the tour guides had even removed their coats and boots.”

  “Wow. My uncle the hero.”

  Rika laughed. “Now I know how he got to me so quickly.”

  “Right. Alien speed.” Leda smoothed a finger over the gown on her thigh. “Were you still on holiday when I was shot?”

  “No.” Rika paused. “My work allows me a certain amount of leeway when it comes to location.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Arne’s right. You’re very curious.”

  Embarrassment prickled Leda’s cheeks. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

  “It’s human nature. Or, I guess I should say ‘intelligent’ nature.” She winked and turned back to the table. “I was a surgeon but became interested in research as well, which took up all my spare time. Things were getting stressful at work. There was an…accident. My boss and I decided I should take a sabbatical and spend some time focusing on research for a while. I decided to rent a place somewhere up north, and that’s when Arne suggested Vardøya.”

  Ooh, it was more serious than Rika wanted to admit.

  “And did you always have some insight into…disease?”

  Rika raised an eyebrow. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not talking about spina bifida?”

  Leda shrugged. “There’s just…so much about me that I never got a say in. And now you’re telling me there’s something inside me that means I can’t …”

  Rika touched Leda’s shoulder. “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “Do you think this thing between me and Roar has something to do with this thing someone put inside me?”

  “I can’t say for certain. We’ll know more when the surgery’s done.”

  Leda heard footsteps down the hall outside sick bay. She hoped it wasn’t Roar, but part of her hoped it was Roar. A small part. She could almost picture him with that sunshine hair flopped down across his brow, a pleading question in his eyes as he watched her, begging her to explain why she’d pulled away—

  Grams and Arne, both wearing scrubs like Rika, entered sick bay. Nils and Petrus followed close behind. No Roar.

  Grams frowned. “You all right, Leda?”

  Leda waved her off. “I’m fine. I just want to be done already.”

  Petrus signed something. Nils spoke for him: “Thanks for doing this.”

  “The choice was simple, really. Live with the creepy thing or get rid of it. Honestly, the whole weapon thing was like an afterthought in my decision process.” If I even work as a weapon. She glanced down at her useless legs and tried not to think of all the ways she could fail. Disappoint not just her family, but an entire planet. She took a breath, but the air felt thin.

  Rika set down her checklist and instructed the others on hand-washing techniques. Turning to Leda, she said, “If you’re ready, hop up on the bed and lie on your stomach. We’re going to have to remove the gown to do this.”

  “What? I’m going to be naked in front of them?” Leda stared at Petrus and Nils, who both had embarrassed faces and were looking at their shoes like their covered toes had the answers to the most sought after questions in the universe.

  “Not completely. You’ll be on your stomach, so your front will be covered. And I’ll use a separate gown to cover your backside.”

  Leda swore Nils’s cheeks darkened a couple shades when Rika mentioned her butt.

  Rika motioned to the bed. “Don’t worry, Leda. We’ll take care of you.”

  With help from Uncle Arne, Leda climbed up onto the bed. So cold. Goosebumps erupted over her skin from her head to her toes. Leda shivered as she pressed her face into the oval-shaped hole. She’d gone for a massage a couple of times, and this reminded her of the tables they used.

  “I’m removing your gown now,” Rika said. “No one’s looking but me.”

  Leda felt the fabric slide away from her with a whisper. The cold intensified on her bare chest and belly. She felt the silky material being wrapped around her hips. I hope I don’t have side boob peeking out.

  A second later someone tucked her arms tight to her sides and strapped them down. An icy trickle of fear slid down her spine.

  “The reason we’re doing this,” Rika said, “is so your arms won’t fall off the bed. I’m sure they did this when you had your tethered cord surgery, but you might have been drowsy or out by then.”

  “Oh, okay.” Leda shut her eyes and concentrated on the sound of her breaths.

  Soon, she would be dead.

  Hopefully not for long.

  Outside the operating room, Roar watched the procedure. He battled his own thoughts all night for the best way to get whatever secret Leda hid from him and came up empty. Without actually saying the words, Leda had indicated that she needed a little space from him, and as much as it infuriated and confused him, nothing in the universe could keep him from being there to watch over her during the surgery.

  Something had spooked her. He should have known this would happen. But he’d been stupid. Blinded by his feelings. He couldn’t just forget how he felt about her, couldn’t erase those feelings—and that was part of the problem. Every second of his life until now had prepared him to fulfill one purpose, and instead of focusing on that, he was obsessing over her.

  But damn it, he wanted—needed—to be more than whatever they were right now. He wanted her.

  Equinox bucked, and Roar lost his balance and fell against the wall. Sharp pain needled through his face.

  What the hell?

  The ship rolled and shuddered, almost knocking him over again.

  Sensors blared throughout the ship and Stein’s panicked voice crackled through the internal comm system. “Another ship’s locked onto us. I can’t get loose.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Damn it.

  Of all the times to be attacked, it had to happen when Leda’s life was hanging in the balance.

  Who else was this far out? If it was the Woede, he assumed they’d shoot first and move on, not bothering to ask any questions.

  Firming his resolve, Roar went to the bridge, where he saw Stein and Oline gathered around the main systems panel. He rushed to tactical and pulled up a status report. Stein was right. They were trapped. Whoever these guys were, they’d used unknown technology to lock Equinox in place, rendering them pretty much dead, aside from life support and power.

  Roar initiated a scan of the other ship. “Have they tried making contact yet?”

  “Nothing yet,” Stein said. “And I checked in with sick bay—everything’s fine. For now.”

  The urge to punch something bubbled up lava-hot under his skin, ready to explode. He breathed in deep and sent the other vessel a pre-recorded greeting that stated, in several languages, their friendly purpose—a canned message the Elders came up with for Equinox and its crew.

  I should have been up here myself.

  Instead, he’d been down in surgery because he couldn’t shake his feelings for Leda. If he’d been doing his job, maybe
he could have seen the ship before it was this close, before it latched on to them and put everything and everyone at stake.

  A beep announced the results of his scan and Roar examined the readout. Halfway through, he jerked up, shock stiffening his muscles. “What the hell?”

  Oline was at his side in a blink. “What is it?”

  “See for yourself.” He pointed to the screen.

  She sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s impossible.”

  My thoughts exactly. Roar ran the scan again; the same results came back. The ship that had disabled their drives was an exact replica of the Equinox.

  The Elders had told Roar and the rest of the original crew that Equinox, a sleek, RomTek-made Avenger Class Cruiser, was the only one of its kind. Building a starship from start to finish took eight months, at least. Which meant only one thing: either RomTek had lied to the Elders and built two, or the Elders had lied to Roar.

  And if they’d lied about that, what else had they lied about?

  The screen flicked on and a woman came into view, perched at the helm, her legs crossed and miles of black leather fitted to her slender body. She had dark skin, like Leda’s, but her eyes were soulless, her smile cruel. She seemed no more than a few years older than Oline.

  “Well, hey there,” she said in Earth English, twisting a lock of blue-black hair. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you’re Oline, and you’re Roar.” She aimed a black painted nail at him. “Now you.” She paused, and by process of elimination, Roar knew she meant Stein. “You can’t be Petrus. Too short and stocky.”

  Roar had had enough. He never did like when people toyed with him. “Who are you and what do you want?”

  She clicked her tongue. “Now, now. Give me a chance to figure this out. It’s right on the tip of my tongue.”

  Oline crossed her arms. “While you play your mind games, we’re at serious risk.”

  “At risk?” She tossed her head back and laughed. “The only risk you face is if my finger slips and I ‘accidentally’ turn you all into the stuff the stars are made of.”

  “How poetic of you.” Oline put her hands on her hips.

  “About as poetic as an Earth donkey,” Stein muttered.

  “Oh!” The woman onscreen snapped her fingers. “Now I know who you are! You’re Brage Enersen’s daughter!”

  Roar stared at the woman. “Oline doesn’t look anything like Enersen. And his daughter’s name isn’t Oline.”

  “Not her, you idiot. That one, with the red hair.”

  Roar turned to Stein, prepared to see him shaking his head, maybe even smirking. Instead he had turned to stone, his eyes wide in fear.

  “You’re not going to admit it? Or deny it?” The woman pouted. “I’m so disappointed, Sofia.”

  “Shut. Up.” Stein’s teeth were clenched so tight Roar thought his jaw might shatter.

  The woman cackled, kicking her legs up, and Roar realized Stein hadn’t denied it. Roar took a long, hard look at Stein, trying to see through the gruff exterior. As he stared, he noticed Stein’s lips were actually kind of…well, pretty. He swallowed past a lump in his throat.

  “Stein,” Roar whispered, “what’s going on?”

  Oline stepped between them, glaring at the woman onscreen. “A member of our crew is currently undergoing major surgery. One slip, and she dies.”

  “She?” The woman sat forward, a flash of wariness in her gaze. “Which one?”

  “You seem to know a lot about our crew,” Oline said. “Why don’t you guess?”

  “You mean the weapon.”

  Roar’s fists clenched, an automatic reaction. “Her name is Leda. And how do you know about her, anyway?”

  “I am perfectly aware of her Earth designation,” the woman snapped. “It doesn’t matter how I know. I have my ways, and I don’t need to explain myself to you. Tell me, what kind of surgery?”

  Roar shook his head at the others. They might be stuck here with this psychopath but he wasn’t about to fill her in on the minutiae of Leda’s condition. “First, let’s negotiate the terms of our release. There has to be something you want.”

  The woman motioned to someone off-screen. She hid her mouth as she spoke, though it didn’t hide the fact that she was using Aurelis Universal now. Roar couldn’t hear what she was saying, exactly, but he made out a few words. Nothing that made any sense.

  Turning back to the screen, she straightened, making her seem older. “I’ll be at your portside prow shuttle bay in fifteen minutes. If you don’t open up, I’ll blow a hole in your ship.”

  The screen flashed black.

  Oline glanced back and forth between Roar and Stein. “What was that about?”

  “I’m not sure,” Roar said. “But you’d better go let Petrus and the others know what’s happening.”

  “Fine.” She mumbled under her breath the entire way off the bridge.

  When they were alone, Roar moved in front of Stein, narrowing his gaze, trying to picture Stein as the heiress of RomTek. Part of his brain refused to see it clearly. But there were some notable similarities. Shiny red hair, even cut short, the same hue as Sofia’s. An impish upturned nose. And those lips. Roar had seen Sofia during his combat test of the RomTek suit, and he couldn’t help but remember how nice her lips were.

  “Stein?” Roar wanted him to admit it.

  “Leave me alone, Roar. I’m warning you.”

  “Talk to me, Stein. Explain it. I’m not mad or ashamed or anything.”

  “Just let it go.” Stein slammed into Roar’s shoulder on his way to the door at the far end of the bridge.

  But Roar couldn’t let it go. Stein was Sofia. Sofia was Stein. What did that mean? Had he gone the full surgical route? Was that why Brage Enersen didn’t put up too much of a media fuss when Sofia went missing? Had he known Stein was headed for a bigger mission—like flying Equinox to Earth?

  A better question: did Stein think the crew would turn on him if they knew the truth?

  In many ways Aurelis was still like Earth when it came to certain issues. The younger generations were more tolerant, but not enough to make enough of an impact on votes to change the laws. The main goal of every Aurelite was continuation of the race. There were lotteries where men paid through the nose to couple with the most fertile females, and those women were well rewarded for their service.

  Roar let his chin drop to his chest, a heavy breath leaving him in a burst. Right now, he had more important issues to deal with. Concerned for Equinox’s crew, he closed his eyes, trying to think of a way out of this. If he managed to get this woman alone and locked her up somewhere, maybe her crew would take her back in exchange for letting Equinox and her crew go. He wracked his brain for anything else he could barter with. There were some spare strathdrives, but he doubted they were in need.

  He’d never know if he spent all his time brooding on the bridge, and he had to deal with the unnamed woman arriving in his shuttle bay. And, he still hadn’t seen Leda.

  Roar ran a hand over his throbbing cheek, fighting back a hot wave of anger. Since he’d left Earth, nothing had gone according to plan. This was just another hiccup on the path to peace.

  The woman was late. Roar and Oline stood at the appointed shuttle bay, behind a clear panel, waiting for a shuttle from the Avenger Class ship to arrive. He glanced down at the screen on his comm. No air traffic between the two ships. What was she playing at?

  He shot Oline a look, and she nodded. A second later her fingers danced over the screen in front of her, running a deeper scan than the comm device was capable of. In the time it took Roar to let out a sigh, Oline finished her scan and tapped a dim dot on the screen.

  “There. They must be using some kind of cloaking system.”

  He watched the dot travel farther away from the prow portside shuttle bay, toward the rear of the ship. A chill shot down Roar’s neck. “They’re not coming in.”

  Oline spun to look at him. “Why do you say that?”

  He pul
led up a schematic of Equinox and pointed to the section the shuttle was heading for. “That’s life support. There’s nothing else back there except for auxiliary weapons.”

  “What the…?” Oline’s eyes moved over the screen and her mouth fell open in a grimace of fear.

  The shuttle paused near the panel for life support, and two figures in RomTek suits floated toward the panel. One removed it while the other carried a tank of something.

  Roar was frozen, filled with panic. There’s nothing I can do. He couldn’t get there in time to stop them, or do anything but watch it happen. A bitter taste filled his mouth and burned his nostrils. He should have seen this coming. Yes, he’d found the weapon, but that was worthless if he couldn’t keep her safe.

  A wave of dizziness went through his mind and an irresistible sense of relaxation came over him. “Do you feel—”

  “Oh, hell.” Oline’s body crumpled to the floor.

  Roar swayed on his feet, thinking of all the ways he’d make that woman pay.

  Then he thought no more as black shadows filled his vision and plunged him into a deep sleep.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Leda floated in a sea of ice and darkness. A faint buzzing filled her head, not quite a sound or a feeling. In those first few seconds of awareness as she drifted between stages of sleep and consciousness, there was only buzzing and dark and cold.

  Then slowly the dark fog lifted, and sensations returned in dull focus. Something hard beneath her. The sharp scent of disinfectant. Leda wriggled her fingers and found she could feel them again. So cold. Why hadn’t the heat come on? In the winter Dad always set the thermostat so the heat would come on automatically if the temperature dropped past sixty-nine.

  The buzzing in her head began subsiding and Leda forced her eyes open. She was lying on her stomach on a bright, silvery surface she recognized as the operating table in Equinox’s sick bay. Memories rushed back to her in flashes. The growth on her spine. Surgery. Roar.

  I was dead, but now…

  She felt so groggy, worse than after the procedure that corrected the tethered cord in her spinal column. Awareness set in. She’d made it through surgery. Rika got rid of that…that alien thing!