Understanding the Stars

by Xela Culletto

  “What?” I shrieked. “No! You can’t run tests on me—I’m supposed to be going home! Do you have any idea how worried my parents must be right now?”

  “Alex—“

  I ranted on. “And Ronan is supposed to be leaving the planet. I doubt he has time to come gallivanting down here. I don’t know much about intergalactic travel, but I’m pretty sure they don’t make daily commutes. He—“

  “Alex,” Nash interrupted icily. “You do remember what I told you about cooperating, don’t you?”

  I nodded, glaring at him.

  He continued on, his voice steely. “We have… certain measures available to us that help us extract information and utilize resources. But it will be better for all concerned if it doesn’t come to that.”

  “Are you threatening me?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “… What sort of measures?” my voice wavered.

  He gestured to the man standing next to him. “Well, let’s just say Mitch here wasn’t hired because of his pleasant personality.” He leaned forward. “In fact, I’m quite certain you don’t want to know why Mitch was hired.”

  I glanced at the beast of a man next to Nash. He was looking at me with a glint in his eye, and his lips were slightly parted. I was completely unnerved.

  “Can you...um…give me some time? To consider?”

  “There is no time.”

  I thought hard. “If you want Ronan here, why don’t you call him?”

  “Ah, well… The Tarke appears to be quite sophisticated. It seems to understand who’s trying to operate it, and will block anyone who doesn’t have the proper access. Sooo,” Nash said handing the device to me, “you need to do it. Now.”

  I considered. What was Ronan to me? Just a guy I barely met? Why should I be tortured—for trying to protect him from these sleezeballs? Then again, why did he deserve to be handed over to them?

  I’d always tried to do the things that would help me have a clear conscience. The feeling of guilt was, for me, worse than pretty much anything.

  Worse than torture?

  I guess I was about to find out.

  “No,” I said. “I won’t do it.”

  Nash let out a breath. “That’s… unfortunate.”

  The next thing I saw was Mitch’s fist swinging toward my head.

  Chapter 5

  You are determined then?

  “Yes. For me, there is no choice.”

  You wouldn’t be the first human to choose to stay of course, but you realize the decision is permanent.

  “I realize.”

  We will be lesser without you. May your stars shine long.

  “May your stars shine long.”

  Blackness.

  Then gradually I was pulled unwillingly from the quiet black into semi-consciousness. I recognized that I was laying flat on my back on some hard surface.

  A voice spilled over into my thoughts.

  “I understand your eagerness, but we must prioritize. She’s yours after we meet our primary objective. Not until then.”

  Another voice. “Conducting the surgery may aid the primary objective.”

  “Not now,” the first voice said firmly. “Time is too short.”

  “That’s exactly why we should—“ The voice stopped short. “Look at her vitals. She’s waking up.”

  “We’re not ready for her yet. Put her back under for 30 minutes.”

  A few clinking sounds and then, blackness again.

  “Wake up. Alex, wake up.”

  Some rude noise was pulling me from my slumber.

  “Mmmph,” I argued.

  “Come on, Alex. Open your eyes.”

  “Wha-at?” I said, irritated. Grumpily, I forced my eyelids open and peered through them. Ronan was looking down at me with his striking green eyes. It took me a moment to figure out where I was and what was going on, and then—

  “What are you doing here? I thought you were leaving.” My voice sounded so… whiny.

  “Alex, we have to go,” he said furtively. “I took care of the surgeons and the guards, but there’ll be more soon.”

  “What?” I said eloquently.

  “I know you’ve been drugged, but please—just come with me.”

  “All right.” I yawned, sat up, and admired the simple white gown I was wearing while I slowly stretched my arms.

  He grabbed my wrist abruptly and pulled me off the table I’d been sitting on. It was all I could do to not fall on my face.

  He pulled me up next to him and looked out the little window that was in the steel door.

  “Looks like it’s clear. Let’s go.” Then suddenly he was quietly running through the halls, dragging me behind him.

  My feet pounded on the linoleum. He gave me a slightly exasperated look, then scooped me up in his arms and suddenly I was being carried swiftly around a corner.

  “What’s the big deal,” I grumped as I was being bounced around.

  Ronan spoke quietly. “Your government took you. They’re planning an operation to remove the Watcher from you—they want it badly.”

  “But I told them that would kill me,” I said groggily.

  “That doesn’t matter to them.” He paused at the end of a hall. Suddenly a loud wailing alarm sounded throughout the building.

  “Great,” Ronan muttered, then glanced behind us. Two men were just emerging from one of the doors only yards away.

  “Stop!” a voice shouted.

  Ronan took off—sprinting at full speed (well, full speed while carrying an extra adult-size human being). He seemed to know exactly where he wanted to go. I bounced up and down like a rubber ball, feeling extremely discomposed. If I hadn’t felt so dopey I would have made strong objections.

  The group of men pursuing us grew from two to four, then five. The last one to join up was armed, I could see.

  He pulled out the gun and started to raise it.

  “Don’t shoot!” a sixth man yelled as he joined up with the throng. It was Nash. “We need them alive!”

  Ronan whipped around one last corner and dashed for the doors labeled EXIT in bright green letters. We burst through them like a racehorse from the gate, but abruptly came to a jarring stop.

  Surrounding the door in a neat little semi-circle was a bunch of guards. (How many guards did a place need anyway?) They were all pointing their guns at us.

  “Freeze! Put your hands in the air!” a voice shouted.

  I whimpered a little, involuntarily. For someone like me, whose biggest consequence was being grounded, having seven guns pointed at me was absolutely petrifying. I grasped Ronan and he tightened his hold on me.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered in my ear. “Hold your breath. And don’t breathe again until I tell you to. Do you understand?”

  Head nestled on his shoulder, I nodded and took a deep breath.

  Abruptly he pulled a small round ball from his pocket and tossed it onto the ground. Without warning the air was filled with a sickly yellow smoke. The guards fell instantly to the ground, each making a soft thud as they hit the ground. It was shocking to watch. And disturbing. They looked completely lifeless.

  Ronan sprinted toward a two-person black car on the far end of the parking lot. He opened the passenger door and set me down then got into the driver’s seat, buckling me in.

  As soon as the door was closed he said, “Okay, you can breathe now.”

  I inhaled and then exclaimed, “What was that?”

  “The bio-vapor? It’s just a gas—a fast acting inhalant—that knocks you out.”

  I stared at him as we accelerated across the parking lot.

  “They’ll be fine,” he reassured me. “It was necessary. As is this.” Suddenly the car jolted forward and we sped toward the security gate. We were going to crash right through it!

  Reflexively I covered my face with my hands. There was a loud bang and the car shuddered, but I didn’t hear any breaking glass. Tentatively I lowered my arms. We were cruising at top speed down t
he road leading away from the building. Glancing backward through the rear window I didn’t see a pursuit. Yet.

  “Are they going to come after us?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he answered. “But we’ll be hiding.”

  I noticed the sun was setting behind the tall pine trees. The daylight was already mostly gone.

  “Oh no—Ronan! We’ve got to get to the—whatever it is—spacepad or something—before they launch!”

  He kept his eyes on the road when he answered, “It’s too late. There’s not enough time now.” His voice was steady, but I caught the hint of anguish there.

  “They’re leaving without us?”

  He nodded, lips pursed.

  “You left them? To come get me?” I asked quietly.

  He nodded again.

  “But… they’ll be back, right?”

  “No. They won’t be back.”

  “Ever?”

  “Not in my lifetime.” He tried to make it sound like a joke, but it landed flat.

  I didn’t know what this meant. Were the bad aliens going to catch me now? I didn’t think Ronan would want to have a full strategic conversation while fleeing at top speed, and my brain was still sluggish from whatever they’d pumped into my system, so instead I stared out the window as the darkness began to settle in.

  Had the CIA contacted my parents at all today? They must be sick with worry. Impulsively, I reached toward my pocket for my phone, then realized those thieves must have it back wherever they stashed the rest of my belongings.

  A few moments later Ronan abruptly slowed the car and pulled off into the pine trees alongside the road.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  He drove down a small, nearly-imaginary dirt road through thick trees, and parked. Once the headlights went out it was practically pitch black.

  “Follow me,” he said, and got out of the car.

  I quickly opened the door and followed him. He walked a few yards away, deeper into the trees and then I saw a pickup truck. A really old pickup truck by the look of the boxy silhouette.

  He opened the passenger door and smiled. “Your carriage, m’lady.”

  The inside smelled like leather and gasoline. He climbed in the driver’s seat and started the engine. It roared so loudly I was sure the muffler was missing.

  We followed the same inconspicuous trail back out to the main road and only once we were on it, traveling at below highway speed, did Ronan flip on the headlights.

  “Will this fool them?”

  “For a while. They won’t be looking for a rusty old pickup going 45 miles-per-hour. With any luck, they’ll speed right by us.”

  I nodded, hoping he was right.

  “It wouldn’t hurt, though, if you’d duck down a little so it looks like I’m driving solo.”

  Instead of hunching down, I decided to just lie down. I curled my legs up on the passenger seat and rested my head next to his leg.

  “Where are we going?” I murmured.

  “Somewhere safe,” he said.

  As much as there was to worry about, a strange peacefulness fell over the pickup as we drove long hours into the night. I listened to the deep bellow of the engine as it bore us mile after mile. Occasionally the flash of another car’s headlights would shine in on the cabin and then sink down, leaving the darkness.

  “Thank you for coming,” I said softly.

  “You’re welcome.”

  Chapter 6

  The Kema’dor will be arriving on earth soon. They’ll begin their search.

  We’ve left them well protected.

  But will it be enough?

  Consciousness slowly overtook unconsciousness until I eventually became aware of a pleasant scent beckoning to me. Bread? I thought. No, pancakes. Suddenly starved, I opened my eyes and sat up. For a moment I was taken aback, completely bewildered by my surroundings. I raced through my memories until I could recollect what circumstances would have planted me in this completely foreign room.

  And what a room. The bed was positioned in a loft, with an ornate spiral staircase descending into the main area. The walls were made of log, but there was a large mural painted on them—faint and muted, but it was there: jumbo-size amaryllis flowers were stretching up into a sky that gradually faded into a starlit night as it reached the vaulted ceiling. Down in the main area, comfortable-looking furniture was arranged, and there was a handsome fireplace, centered between floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

  As beautiful as the room was, the view surpassed it. White-tipped mountaintops proudly spread across the range of the glass. Morning sunlight was only just reaching the valleys, which I could see were filled with greenery, wildflowers, and rivers. I was overlooking the whole world, so it seemed.

  I wanted to gaze out forever, but my stomach reminded me that I hadn’t eaten in a while—a long while. I always woke up hungry, but if I haven’t eaten the night before, I’m downright ravenous. I was still wearing the white gown someone at the CIA had put me into. Figuring that was as presentable as I was going to get, I quietly slipped out the door. I followed my nose down a wide but short hallway into a large kitchen area.

  And there Ronan was, gazing thoughtfully down onto a griddle spotted with beautifully bronzed pancakes.

  Unexpectedly, a wave of angst washed over me. Who did this guy think he was, whisking me away to a reclusive cabin? What business was it of his to make me pancakes in the morning? That’s a job that definitely falls under a Mom’s jurisdiction.

  Warily, I stepped into the kitchen. I cleared my throat. He looked up.

  “You’re awake,” he said, his eyes lighting up.

  I nodded.

  He glanced nervously down at his handiwork on the griddle. “I thought you might be hungry. I know you like pancakes,” he said hesitantly. He looked so apprehensive that my guard dropped. He wasn’t the bad guy—he was my rescuer.

  “Pancakes sound great,” I said. “Thanks.” I strolled over to the counter and perched on one of the bar stools.

  He gave me a half smile that made my stomach flip once, and piled some pancakes onto a heavy white plate. As he passed me a flask of syrup, he said, “I’m sorry if it was disconcerting to wake up this morning, being in a strange place, but I didn’t want to wake you last night. I knew you would need to sleep off the rest of the drugs that were in your system.” He watched me closely—an act that made me very self-consciously chew more slowly. “Are you feeling better now?”

  I swallowed and nodded. “Aren’t you going to eat too?” I asked.

  “That depends,” he said lightly and gestured to my plate. “Are those any good?”

  “Yeah, they’re great.”

  “It’s my first time. Making pancakes, I mean. I didn’t think I could mess up a box mix, but the Solamure never offered a cooking class.” He turned to prepare a plate for himself, and continued. “I know your mom is something of an expert. As many times as I’ve watched her in the kitchen, I’m sure I’d never be able to replicate her recipes.”

  He said it casually, but it stopped me short. He’s watched my mom cook—many times. In our kitchen. Was I ever going to get used to that? The idea that Ronan not only knew who I was—on a deeply personal level—but that he was so nonchalant about it?

  As he sat down he must’ve seen my troubled expression because he said, “Oh. I’m sorry, Alex. I know it must be—perplexing—for you. To have someone you barely know be so familiar with you, and your family.”

  I nodded. “Incredibly creepy.”

  He dropped his gaze, then after a moment’s pause, said, “You weren’t meant to know. None of the subjects are ever meant to know. If things hadn’t—if things had gone according to plan, we’d have finished the study, and you would have gone on with your life, never knowing.” His tone dropped. “I am sorry.”

  A juncture of silence lay heavily between us. Sunlight began streaming in through the tall windows, creating splashes of yellow throughout the large room. Outside, birds were cheerf
ully chirping up a symphony.

  “Why do I know?” I asked. “Why did you come? Why didn’t you let the Kema’dor just take me?”

  I set my fork down. Many of the things that had been simmering in my head came spilling out. “And for that matter, why would you abandon your native culture—your way of life—forever—to rescue me? You could have left me and escaped with the Solamure and never given me or this planet another thought!”

  I didn’t realize how loud my voice had become until I heard the ringing silence following my little outburst.

  I thought maybe he would be upset at me for my hostile accusations (accusations of what? —saving your life?), but he just steadily replied, “Fair questions. Questions I knew you’d be asking.”

  He rose, went to the sink, and washed off his plate, avoiding my gaze. Then he removed my now-empty plate and rinsed that off as well. Finally he spoke. “I know you have many questions—and I plan on answering. But right now wouldn’t you rather get cleaned up? Then we can sit down and discuss the situation.”

  A shower was awfully tempting—I felt grungy all over. But I could tell he was trying to distract me, and like a cat after a string I refused to be diverted. “I do have a lot of questions. But I want this one answered first.”

  He licked his lips. “Which question is that?”

  I gave him a flat look; I could tell he was trying to stall. “I want to know why you gave up your life to save me.”

  He glanced around the room and took a deep breath before meeting my eyes. “I would think it was obvious,” he said. “I’ve fallen in love with you.”

  Chapter 7

  Touchdown on earth successful.

  Begin the search.

  White steam swelled around me as I tilted my chin upward. I slowly rocked my head back and forth underneath the showerhead to completely drench my grease-laden hair. Eyes closed, I concentrated on the moment: the tapping of the water droplets against the tile; the warm, humid air filling my lungs; the liquid beads snaking down my legs.