Starfall: A Starstruck Novel

by Hiatt, Brenda

  After all her nasty looks, I was positive she’d do something to get back at me for taking “her” spot on the Court.

  “It will look odd if you don’t at least put in an appearance,” Mrs. O said. “Or so Sean and Molly tell me. You needn’t stay long.”

  Rigel came jogging up then, looking gorgeous—and slightly anxious. “Sorry. Had a hard time getting away from everybody.”

  “Here’s the man of the hour.” Mr. O’s heartiness was only slightly forced. “Let’s go, then, shall we?”

  37

  Field current

  “No, Gary, I don’t want to do a shot,” I insisted for the third time, looking around for Rigel. There he was, on the far side of Trina’s big, opulent living room, surrounded by cheerleaders—as usual.

  Do you need me to punch him? he thought to me.

  No, it’s fine. I turned my back on Gary. Thankfully, he didn’t persist.

  This was the first time I’d ever been inside Trina’s house, and it was even more ritzy than I’d expected. Her parents obviously loved to flaunt their money. When envy momentarily threatened, I reminded myself that my Royal apartments in Nuath made this place look like a hovel by comparison.

  Glancing again at the clock above the seventy-inch flat-screen TV, I was disappointed to see only five minutes had passed since I’d last checked. Mr. Stuart wouldn’t be here to pick us up for at least another fifteen minutes. The noise was starting to get to me, and seeing so many kids from school drinking made me feel a little squicky. I wondered where Trina’s parents were.

  I needed to escape…and maybe center myself a little. I’m going out front for a minute, I sent to Rigel.

  You okay?

  Yeah. Just need some fresh air.

  This was his first time at one of the after-parties and he was clearly enjoying himself. I didn’t want to be a wet blanket—especially considering what we’d be attempting less than an hour from now. Grabbing my wrap, I let myself out the front door and went to the edge of the porch. Maybe I’d just wait out here till Rigel’s dad arrived.

  Looking up at the stars, breathing in the cool night air, I started to feel better. Calmer. Everything would be fine. Rigel was right. Together, we could handle anything.

  Taking slow, measured breaths, I’d nearly managed to empty worry from my mind when I heard the front door open behind me. I turned with a smile, expecting Rigel, but it was Trina.

  “You know, Marsha, you’ve got some nerve coming here, to my house, after everything you’ve done to me. Breaking my nose last spring wasn’t enough, huh? You had to ruin Homecoming for me, too?”

  I let out a disgusted breath, my hard-won calm evaporating. “Seriously, Trina? If we totaled up all the mean stuff you’ve done to me over the years compared to those two things—neither of which were my fault—you’d come out way, way ahead. Why can’t you just let it go?”

  “Obviously you haven’t, or you wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble to keep me off the Court.”

  “What, like it’s your birthright to be one of the princesses?” I couldn’t help laughing, since I was the one with the birthright…and it had been nothing but trouble. “Trust me, being a princess isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be.”

  “Then step down and let me be Junior Princess.”

  I laughed again, even though it was obvious she wasn’t kidding. “If I was going to step aside, it would be for Rosa, not you. At least she’s nice to me. I can’t remember you ever doing anything nice for anybody without expecting something in return. You know, I almost feel sorry for you.”

  “Sorry? For me? Are you kidding? When I live in this—” she gestured at the house behind her— “and have all these friends? You—what do you live in? And if it weren’t for Rigel, you wouldn’t have any friends at all except those two losers you always hung with.”

  “And yet here you are, out here with me instead of inside with all your so-called friends. Maybe you—” I broke off as Mr. Stuart’s SUV pulled up in front of the house. A spike of adrenaline went through me. It was time.

  Your dad’s here, I thought to Rigel.

  “Never mind.” I’d lost track of whatever I’d been about to say to Trina. Nothing important. “My ride’s here.” I turned toward the porch steps, knowing Rigel would catch up in a minute.

  “No. What were you about to say?” she demanded, grabbing my arm and yanking me backward so hard I almost fell. “You weren’t actually trying to imply I consider you important, were you?”

  I pushed her away from me and this time she was the one who stumbled. “I couldn’t care less what you think of me, Trina.” Which was absolutely true. Right now, her pettiness was the least of my worries.

  “Yeah? Well maybe you should. Where’d you get that dress, anyway? Shoplift it? Maybe I’ll just—” She made a grab for the fabric at my shoulder but I sidestepped her.

  “Stop it, Trina. I’d have thought you’d learned your lesson by now.”

  “My lesson? You’re the one who needs to be taught a lesson, Marsha. This is for what you did to my nose!” Her eyes were mean little slits as she launched herself at me with the obvious intent of pushing me over the porch railing.

  Before I could react, Rigel was suddenly right there on the porch with us, pinning Trina’s arms behind her. “Leave M alone, Trina.” I’d never heard his voice sound so…hard. “We’re leaving anyway.”

  “What—? How—?” He released her, and she swung around to glare at him. “You’re not going anywhere after assaulting me like that,” she spat.

  “Assaulting you?” Rigel let out a laugh. “Stopping you from shoving M counts as an assault?”

  Mr. Stuart stepped onto the porch just then. “Is there a problem?”

  Completely ignoring Trina, Rigel said, “Hey, Dad. Ready to go?” I could feel his tension spiking now, too.

  “Oh, no you don’t!” Trina declared hotly. “You’re not going anywhere. Your son just attacked me, Mr. Stuart, and I intend to press charges. You all wait right here while I go call the cops.” She turned back toward the house.

  “Charges?” Mr. Stuart was clearly startled—and alarmed. “I’m afraid we don’t have time—”

  Trina had her hand on the doorknob when I said, “You really want the cops here, with all the underage drinking going on in your house?”

  She froze, then whirled to glance nervously from me to Mr. Stuart. “You can’t prove that! Besides—”

  Just then, Cormac appeared behind Mr. Stuart. “Is there a problem, Miss Squires? Perhaps we should go inside so you can tell me what happened.”

  Trina’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times, as her brain finally re-engaged. “Um, no, Mr. Cormac, no problem,” she said sweetly. “There’s no need for you to come in at all. But thank you.”

  Without another word, she scuttled back into the house and shut the door.

  “Let’s go.” Mr. Stuart was giving off high levels of stress, too. “We’re cutting things a little bit closer now than I’d hoped.”

  * * *

  Arthur and Kyna were waiting for us in the school parking lot when we arrived.

  “I’d rather hoped to go over everything with you one last time,” Arthur said anxiously, “but I’m not sure… I thought you’d be here a bit sooner.”

  “We had a slight delay.” Mr. Stuart was doing a much better job than Arthur of hiding his nervousness. “Is everything in place?”

  Kyna nodded. “We’ve anchored the positron emitter’s base to the rock in the clearing, as it needs to be perfectly stationary while emitting. It has already been activated, though of course its range is too limited to affect the satellites on its own. This chronometer is calibrated for the exact moment you two need to release the burst of energy that will amplify the emitter. It will beep ten seconds beforehand, then count down. Try to sustain your burst for a full second, if possible. Longer would be even better.”

  She handed the tiny chronometer to Rigel, who pocketed it.

  “
The rest of us should move as far away as possible before that happens,” Arthur cautioned. “Even if all goes well, there will almost certainly be an explosion when the feedback hits the emitter. And if the burst is mistimed, or if my calculations were off by the merest fraction—”

  “They were checked multiple times by multiple people,” Kyna reminded him, her voice impressively calm. “And I have every confidence you will do exactly as you were coached,” she said to us. “Good luck.”

  She shook Rigel’s hand, then bowed to me, but I extended my hand as well. “Thank you, Kyna. For…for everything.”

  Clearly startled by the gesture, she gingerly took my hand, then gripped it firmly. “In your short time as Sovereign, you have proven yourself an exceptional leader, Excellency. I wish I could adequately express the respect and admiration I have for you.”

  I was too touched for words. From Kyna, that was high praise indeed.

  Mr. Stuart wrapped Rigel in a fierce hug. “Good luck, son.”

  “Thanks, Dad. Tell mom…tell her I love her, okay?”

  His father nodded, blinking rapidly. “All right, everyone, let’s go.”

  Kyna and Arthur got into their car but when Mr. Stuart headed to his, Cormac didn’t follow. “I prefer to remain here, sir.”

  “But the risk—”

  “Is irrelevant, except as it pertains to the Sovereign.” There was no compromise in Cormac’s tone. “My place is here, as near her as I can be without interfering. Once the moment is past, if I am able, I will find her and notify you of her status.”

  Since there was clearly no time to argue, Mr. Stuart gave a quick nod and shook Cormac’s hand. “Very well. I hope to hear from you shortly.” With that, he got into his car and followed Kyna and Arthur out of the parking lot.

  “Cormac, are you sure…?”

  “Yes, Sovereign. Go. You have barely fifteen minutes now.”

  He was right. Hands linked, Rigel and I plunged into the cornfield.

  We’d never been in here at night before, and once we were out of range of the parking lot lights, it was incredibly dark. “What if we can’t find it?” I asked in a worried whisper—not that there was anyone to hear.

  “We will. Look. They left us a trail.”

  Sure enough, a phosphorescent glimmer wove through the corn stalks ahead of us. My confidence restored, I didn’t protest when Rigel picked up the pace. My eyes quickly adjusted and I realized that between the myriad stars and the setting crescent moon, there was easily enough light to keep us from stumbling over fallen stalks or ruts in the ground. Sooner than I expected, we burst into the clearing.

  There, perched on “our” rock and humming faintly, was the positron emitter—a metal tube about a foot and a half long, its cone-shaped end pointing at the sky. Just as Arthur had instructed us this afternoon, we moved to within four feet of it, positioning ourselves so that any bolt of electricity we produced would intersect the invisible stream of positrons on their way into space.

  Rigel checked his cellphone. “12:41. Just over five minutes to go.”

  We stared at each other, the enormity of what we were about to attempt—and the likelihood that it would be the last thing we ever did—hitting both of us at once. I swallowed.

  “Rigel, I…I’m so glad you’re with me. If we don’t—”

  “Shh.” He touched a finger on my lips. “We’ll do this, and we’ll be fine. And if I’m wrong, well, there’s no one in the whole universe I’d rather spend my last moments with. I love you, M.”

  My heart was so full, I thought it might burst. “Oh, Rigel!” I flung myself into his arms and then we were kissing like there was no tomorrow. Which there might not be. For us, anyway.

  For several moments we clung to each other, our emotions too intense for even mental words as we both mourned a future we might not get to spend together.

  “I love you so much,” I finally murmured against his lips, determined to tell him one more time before it was too late. “More than I—”

  I was interrupted by the beeping of the chronometer in his pocket.

  My heart leapt into my throat. Instinctively, we tightened our embrace for an instant, then turned to face the emitter, hands still linked. We both swept our free arms upward until they were nearly touching above us, aiming at a point a few feet over the emitter.

  This is it! Let’s save the world, Rigel thought to me with all the confidence he could project.

  Right. I tried to match his certainty. It’s us against the Grentl. Biggest bolt ever.

  He nodded. The chronometer counted down, beep by beep. “Okay. Two, one, NOW!”

  A sizzling blue-white bolt erupted from our outstretched hands to race toward the night sky. Fueled by pure adrenalin, we held the burst for nearly two full seconds—much longer than we ever had before. From the point where it intercepted the positron beam, a glittering trail arced up, up, to an unseen destination more than two thousand miles away. Hearts pounding in unison, we stared breathlessly after that sparkling path.

  “Do you think—” I started to say, when, at the edge of sight, there was a flash, like a distant supernova. As we watched, it expanded from a brilliant point into a breathtaking rainbow of liquid light pouring out and down, filling the sky from horizon to horizon. It was beautiful…and terrifying.

  Rigel tightened his grip on my hand with a surge of triumph just as the cascade of colors reached us. Abruptly, the positron emitter stopped humming…then exploded, the blast of energy knocking us off our feet.

  Rigel’s hand was torn from mine. Terror that he’d been injured, or worse, was my very last sensation as everything went black.

  * * *

  I opened my eyes to see the night sky still above me, the spectacular wash of color fading. Then I became aware of the comforting sensation of being carried in a strong pair of arms. Turning my head slightly, relief abruptly became terror again when I realized it was Cormac, not Rigel, who held me.

  “Rigel! Cormac, where’s Rigel? Is he—?”

  “Likely he was merely stunned, as you were, Excellency,” came Cormac’s steady reply. “Once I have you safely away, I will return for him to make certain.”

  “No!” I struggled against Cormac’s encircling arms. “Put me down. Go back now! I need to know if he’s okay!”

  For the first time I could remember, Cormac failed to instantly obey my order. Instead, he continued on for several more seconds, until we were out of the cornfield. There, he laid me gently on the grass at the edge of the parking lot.

  “I promised to notify the Council members as to your status as soon as possible, Excellency, if you will recall?”

  “Fine. Call them on your way back to get Rigel.”

  He frowned, clearly reluctant to leave me. “If that is truly your wish, my Sovereign.”

  “It is.” I was nearly crying in my agony of suspense to know whether Rigel had survived that blast. “Please, Cormac!”

  Pulling out his omni, he strode back into the cornfield. I could hear him speaking rapidly as he went, talking to Kyna, it sounded like. Only when I heard him say, “appears to have been successful,” did I realize I hadn’t even thought to ask if we’d saved the world.

  Though I knew I should be glad, if I’d lost Rigel in the process I doubted I could ever be happy again. Luckily, before I had time to work myself into complete hysteria over that prospect, I distinctly heard two sets of footsteps approaching. Sure enough, a moment later they both emerged from the crackling corn stalks, Rigel walking shakily and with Cormac’s support, but under his own power.

  The sight of him, apparently unhurt, gave sudden strength to my legs. I propelled myself up and into his arms—only to land us both on the ground in a heap. Not that I cared. I wrapped my arms tightly around Rigel, tears of happy relief pouring down my cheeks.

  “You’re okay! You’re okay!”

  “So are you!” He hugged me back just as tightly. “I was never so scared as when I woke up and you were gone. I was afra
id you’d been vaporized.”

  We were still kissing—Cormac standing stoically by and looking off into the distance—when two cars came screeching into the parking lot. Rigel and I reluctantly broke apart to see Kyna, Arthur and Rigel’s dad racing toward us.

  “Success!” Mr. Stuart shouted exultantly. “Thank God you’re both all right!”

  “The EMP never reached Earth,” Arthur confirmed, “though that light show your intervention produced did cause a few scattered power outages. Nothing that can’t be restored within a day or so, however.”

  Kyna positively beamed at us. “Sovereign, Rigel, the people of this planet, Echtran and Duchas, can never repay the debt they owe you for what you have done this night. It is no exaggeration to say that you have quite literally saved billions of lives.”

  Still clinging to each other, Rigel and I scrambled to our feet. “Are the Grentl leaving, then?”

  “It is too soon to know, but from what you told us earlier, it’s unlikely they have the resources here to make another attempt at this time. Let us hope they will not wish to.”

  The triumph I’d felt a moment ago faded slightly. “I, um, guess I should find out. Use the device again, I mean.” A wave of exhaustion swept through me, amplified by the weariness I felt from Rigel.

  “Not tonight, though, right?” he asked.

  Kyna shook her head. “No. Not tonight. You two both need rest—extremely well-deserved rest.”

  “I’ll take the Sovereign to the O’Garas’ house on our way home,” Mr. Stuart said. “I’ve already notified them. Needless to say, Rigel’s mother is anxious to see him, as well.”

  After another effusion of gratitude from Kyna and Arthur, Rigel, Cormac and I got into Mr. Stuart’s SUV. I was asleep, leaning against Rigel in the back seat, before we were out of the parking lot.

  * * *