I blinked. I’d all but forgotten about my omni this past week, I’d been so busy. Of course, with Eric Eagan dead and Rigel gone, no one could have called me on it anyway. They were the only ones I’d ever given my secret code to.
“You did set up a security code, didn’t you?” Mr. O prompted.
“Yes. It’s…cornfield.” Just saying it made my heart hurt, remembering the special times Rigel and I had spent in our hidden clearing there. Special times that were also gone forever.
Mr. O tapped the code into his omni. “If you’ll synch your omni with mine, any updates I make to your schedule will instantly be available to you.”
“Um…”
“I can show you how,” Sean volunteered with another disgruntled look at his father. “I’ll be there in a few, okay, Dad?”
Mr. O sent a searching look at Sean and then at me before nodding. “Very well, but don’t be too long. Even with her lighter schedule, the Sovereign should get an early start on that, ah, matter we discussed earlier.”
Sean, Molly, Cormac and I continued to my apartments without a word. I was still trying to get my hurt and anger under control so I wouldn’t lash out at any of them, since they hadn’t done anything to deserve that.
As soon as we were inside with the door shut, Sean turned to me apologetically. “M, I’m really sorry. I didn’t know about the Luminosity not leaving till today, but I—”
I cut him off. “Come on. I’ll get my omni so you can show me how to synch it.” Tears were threatening again and I didn’t think I could hold them back much longer. I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, so I could be alone.
Leaving the others to follow me or not, I went into my bedroom and yanked open the drawer of my nightstand. The omni was near the back, behind my lip moisturizer and a packet of tissues, where it had been since the morning after I was Installed. The morning I’d received Rigel’s final message.
I’d change that stupid password tomorrow, I decided. It was time to face up to the fact that the past was the past and couldn’t be changed. Time to move forward. Maybe I’d use a Nuathan word this time, something with no connection to my old life on Earth at all…
Glancing down at the omni in my hand, I noticed the message indicator blinking.
“That’s weird. I have a message, and it’s from some name I don’t even recognize. How did they get my code?”
“Play it,” Molly suggested. “See what it is.”
Shrugging, I punched up the message. And nearly dropped the omni when Rigel—Rigel—started talking.
“M, I really hope this gets to you.” His voice was low, urgent. “I’ve been hoping for a chance to contact you, because I don’t know what they’ve told you or are planning to tell you. Whatever it is, don’t believe them. I’m sending this from an omni I swiped off a desk at this hospital place. I’ve been here for days now, ever since they brought me here for that memory extraction they made you agree to.
“They’ve apparently decided I’m some huge security risk because I know about the Grentl but they won’t tell me what they plan to do about it. Maybe wipe my memory or even kill me, like they nearly did in Montana, I don’t know.
“Since they won’t want to piss you off, especially now that you’re Sovereign, they might try to tell you this was all my idea or something like that, but it’s not true! I love you, M, and would never, ever let them erase that from my life! I’m just worried they’ll— Oh, crap, someone’s coming. Gotta go. I’ll try to—”
His voice cut off like he’d been interrupted—or caught.
Mouth open, I stared at the omni, my mind seething with questions…and sudden hope.
6
Total harmonic distortion
I whirled to face the others. “Did you hear that? How—? They must have forced him to record that horrible video message, must have drugged him or something.”
“Then maybe he didn’t really—” Molly began excitedly, when Sean interrupted her.
“Oh, crap. M, I’m really, really sorry. I’ve been thinking all along I should tell you, and I was just about to, I swear. You have to believe me!”
“Tell me what? That you really did know Rigel was still in Nuath, and that they were still doing awful things to him?”
“No! I wasn’t lying about that. I had no idea he was still on Mars. But I did suspect something might be…off. I didn’t say anything sooner because I wasn’t sure, but now…”
“What, Sean? What did you suspect?”
He swallowed visibly. “That video message Rigel sent. Did you…I mean, do you still have it? It might be easier to show you than explain.”
Though I’d kept meaning to erase it so I wouldn’t be tempted to watch it again, I hadn’t yet been able to bring myself to do it. “I still have it. But what—?”
“Play it.” His voice was gruff, almost harsh.
Torn between hope and fear, remembering what that video had done to me the two times I’d already seen it, I called it up and hit play.
Rigel’s face appeared and I sucked in another quick breath. No, even with the hope that unexpected omni message had given me, I really hadn’t been ready for this.
“Hey, M.” Rigel’s face, his voice, were almost expressionless, just like I remembered. “You might want to sit down to listen to this.”
I quickly looked up at Sean, to ask why he was making me do this, but his eyes were intent on the screen.
“I’ve had time to do a lot of thinking,” Rigel continued woodenly, “and I’ve come to a decision. You’re not going to like it, but I think it’s the right thing to do. What we had together was wonderful, but I think we both knew it couldn’t be forever. You hold a position now that requires you to make sacrifices and I need to be one of those sacrifices.”
“There!” Sean exclaimed, pointing. “Did you notice that?”
Confused, I paused the video. “See what?”
“Back it up a little and play that last bit again.” I did, and now Sean leaned in until he was nearly touching the screen. “There. Look when he says the word ‘sacrifices’ here, and here. It’s exactly the same—inflection, expression, everything. And his mouth was just slightly out of synch with the words right before that, where he says ‘position now that requires,’ and then it’s fixed again. Now keep watching.
I did, wincing to again hear Rigel tell me goodbye, that he was intentionally having all memory of me erased from his life. But a moment later, Sean told me to pause it again.
“This bit, too. Look, you can see a tiny jump in the image, from here—yeah—to there. I had to watch it three times that first day and I’m still not a hundred percent positive. Transmission glitches could have caused some of this stuff. But…I think this whole thing might be fake.”
“Fake?” I swung around to stare at Rigel’s paused image, my heart now pounding in hard, slow strokes. “How could—” I stopped, flashing back to my last day of school before leaving for Ireland, the answer suddenly, blindingly, obvious.
Trina had faked a picture on her phone that looked so much like I was having sex with some faceless guy, Rigel had been convinced it was Sean and Sean convinced it was Rigel. They’d been ready to kill each other and I’d nearly gotten expelled when I confronted Trina and she ended up with a broken nose. If Trina could do that with Photoshop, how much more convincing a fake could somebody like Gordon create using Nuathan technology? How could I have been so blind??
Looking at the omni I still held, I suddenly noticed the time stamp on the new message and gasped. “Rigel just sent this the day before yesterday—after that video was sent, so it had to be fake! No wonder Rigel didn’t sound anything like himself in it. I figured it was because he felt so awful about what he was about to do, but if they cobbled it together from a bunch of clips, that would totally explain it. And you suspected from the very start?”
Glumly, Sean nodded.
Abruptly, I was furious again. “Why didn’t you say something right away?” I pra
ctically shouted. “I would have had time to stop them! I was the freaking Sovereign. I could have made them do what I said!”
Sean stared at the floor, his face scarlet with well-deserved shame. “I almost did tell you, but time was so tight—you only had twenty-four hours to find the Grentl device and stop them from imploding all of Nuath. I was afraid if I said anything, you’d forget all about saving Nuath, you’d be so frantic to get to Rigel. I couldn’t risk the whole colony on a hunch. And if I was wrong, well, it would have been awful to give you false hope when you were already so destroyed.” He looked up, his blue eyes pleading for forgiveness.
Sean obviously thought those were good excuses, but to me they sounded lame. “You knew you weren’t wrong. And now…it’s too late. Rigel’s really, truly gone. As of this morning. Why didn’t you at least tell me once I’d stopped the power failure?”
At Sean’s suddenly closed-off expression, I leaped to a guess. “Your dad? Did he have something to do with this? Would he really do that to Rigel? To me?”
“No way!” Molly protested, looking wildly from me to Sean. “I can totally believe that Gordon guy would do it. Maybe even Rigel’s grandmother. But not Dad!”
Sean shrugged, still looking totally miserable. “I don’t know. He definitely hasn’t said anything to me about it. Maybe…maybe everything in that video was a lie? The memory wipe, the leaving, all of it? We can’t know—”
“Not yet.” Ruthlessly stifling the temptation to hope for that much, I channeled my fury at Sean into cold purpose. “But we will. Tomorrow I’m going to find out exactly what happened. And when. And who was involved. Bet on it.”
* * *
When Mr. O and Sean showed up at my apartment for breakfast the next morning, I implemented the part of my plan I’d shared with Sean and Molly last night, and which they’d more or less agreed to.
As soon as we sat down, before Mr. O could say anything that might piss me off all over again, I said, “Since I have a few hours free, why don’t we all go visit your daughter Elana? Sean and Molly were saying last night how much they want to see her and have me meet her.”
Though he seemed startled by my suggestion, I didn’t detect any suspicion. “Ah, I’d rather assumed… But I don’t imagine an hour’s delay will make much difference. I’d very much like to see her myself, and you’d no doubt appreciate a break from your duties.”
“Thanks. And you’re right, I would.” Not that I intended this to be a break, since my main duty right now was to ferret out the truth about Rigel. The Grentl could wait.
As soon as we finished breakfast, we headed for Pryderi and the Mind Healing facility there. Even more than my recent meeting with Healer Adara, the squarish crystalline building with its deceptively soothing blue corridors reminded me forcefully of the last time I’d been here, the last time I’d seen Rigel, though he hadn’t seen me…
Which also reminded me of the guilt and anxiety I’d sensed from Adara when I’d mentioned Rigel. If anyone knew the truth it was likely to be her—and I fully intended to get it out of her.
“Will Elana recognize us?” Molly asked worriedly as we approached her sister’s room.
“I believe so,” replied the Healer who’d been overseeing Elana’s treatment, and who’d met us in the spacious lobby. “She’s made excellent progress these past two weeks and is remembering more and more of her past life. It’s her short-term memory that is the main issue now, as with so many of our patients who underwent similar abuses at Faxon’s command.”
A moment later he showed us into a nicely furnished and decorated room—the living room of what seemed to be a small apartment. A young redheaded woman I recognized from the O’Garas’ pictures fairly flew out of a chair near a window to greet us, arms outstretched.
“Dad!” she exclaimed, wrapping Mr. O in a fierce hug that nearly brought tears to my eyes. “Nobody told me you were coming today. And Sean? Molly? How…? I never quite believed them when they said it’s been over two years, but just look at you!” She released her father to hug each of them in turn.
“Oh, Elana, it’s so wonderful to see you,” Molly cried, hugging her sister back just as tightly. “I missed you so much! We just heard yesterday you were finally well enough for us to visit and we came as soon as we could.”
“You’re so grown up,” Elana marveled, holding Molly at arm’s length to take a good look at her. “And Sean, you’ve grown at least a foot! You’re practically a giant! But where’s Mum?”
Healer Bowyn spoke from the doorway. “Still on Earth, Elana, remember? She’s on the Echtran Council there now, a very important job.”
“She is? Oh, yes, you did tell me that, didn’t you? Or did I see it on the feeds? I’m never quite—” Just then, Elana spotted me hovering in the hallway behind the Healer. “And who— Oh! Apologies, Excellency! I recognize you from the feeds, of course. Forgive me, do. I was so excited—”
“No, no, it’s fine,” I quickly assured her, feeling like an awkward intruder at such an emotional family reunion—which I now realized played right into my plan. “Um, why don’t I let you all catch up privately? You must have tons you want to say to each other. Healer Bowyn can show me to the waiting area and I can watch the news or read or something.”
All four O’Garas protested—Sean and Molly halfheartedly, since they knew this was part of my plan—but I insisted. Mr. O was so eager to spend time with his long-lost daughter, he finally agreed, too. I stepped back into the hallway where Cormac waited impassively and Healer Bowyn quietly closed Elana’s door behind us.
“That was very thoughtful, Excellency. If you’ll come this way?”
“Actually, I’d like you to take me to Head Mind Healer Adara. I need to speak with her about a matter of great urgency.”
The Healer raised his eyebrows. “But you indicated—”
“I know. It was necessary. If we can please hurry?”
Though clearly confused, he didn’t dare disobey what amounted to an order from his Sovereign. “Of course, Excellency. This way.”
A few moments later, he rang the chime outside Healer Adara’s office, though the door stood open. She looked up from her desk on the opposite side of the room, saw me…and blanched.
“Excellency!” She scrambled to her feet and bowed deeply. “This…this is a surprise. How may I help you?”
I turned to Healer Bowyn. “Thank you. I’ll find my way back to Elana’s room when I’m through. Cormac, please wait for me out here.” Figuring I’d get more out of Adara if we were alone, I stepped into her office and closed the door.
“I have some questions I believe you may be able to answer.”
Her anxiety was palpable even from across the room. “Questions, Excellency?”
“About Rigel Stuart. You already admitted having a hand in his memory erasure. I’d like to know every detail you can give me about what led up to that erasure—and exactly who was involved.”
“I was…ah…”
“Sworn to secrecy?” I guessed. She nodded unhappily. “By whom? Maybe whoever forced you to be part of this plot had that authority then, but I’m pretty sure I outrank them now.”
After hesitating for another long, tense moment, she let out a gusty sigh. “You’re right, Excellency, of course. I have been exceedingly uncomfortable with the entire proceeding from the start, and it will be a relief to finally unburden myself about it.”
“Please proceed.” I seated myself regally across from her, more than a little amazed at my outward command given how my stomach was roiling with worry. Would the truth be even worse than what they’d made me believe?
Adara gave a decisive nod, though I noticed she didn’t quite meet my gaze. “It began the day we all witnessed the memory extracted from Rigel Stuart revealing the existence of aliens with the potential to destroy us. When you left, the others remained—Nels Murdoch, Quinn O’Gara, Devyn Kane, Gordon Nolan and Morag Teague. For over an hour they debated what should be done and finally agreed upo
n the course we followed from that point until the present. I did argue against it, Excellency, on both medical and ethical grounds, but Quinn insisted he was empowered to act on your behalf. Eventually he and the others persuaded me that the possible risks to Nuath—and to your eventual rule—were great enough to outweigh my concerns.”
“And exactly what was the course they agreed on?” I felt like leaping over the desk to shake the rest of the story out of her, though I was also terrified of what her next words might be.
“They…we…decided the safest thing would be to erase all knowledge of the aliens—and all memory of his association with you—from Rigel Stuart’s mind. His grandmother was particularly emphatic about the latter.” Now she did glance at me, her expression sympathetic.
“So his memory really was wiped.” I twisted my hands together in my lap. “Just the last year, or…all of it?”
“Oh, just the last year, of course. Certainly he’d done nothing to justify the tabula rasa. But even a year, especially at his age…” She shook her head regretfully. “Before that was done, Quinn, Devyn and Gordon had us extract additional memories from him, in order to learn as much as possible and so that a few memories might be given…special treatment. Nels Murdoch and Rigel’s grandmother had left by then, so were not part of that discussion, though it’s possible they were later told.”
No worse than I’d thought, but no better either. “And he left aboard the Luminosity yesterday? With Gordon?”
Adara nodded sadly. “Yes. Gordon was to oversee things at the other end. Though he may well have left for other reasons of his own, as well.”
Like escaping my wrath once I learned the truth? At least the other traitors were still here in Nuath, where I could deal with them.
“So how was all this explained to Rigel? What was he told, once his memory was erased?”
“Nothing, at least at this end. It was thought best that he be unconscious for the journey to Earth, so he was put into a medically-induced coma immediately after the erasure. His overall health should not be at risk,” she added quickly, at my horrified gasp.
Starfall: A Starstruck Novel Page 6