Zero Magnitude (Galaxy Mavericks Book 3)

by Michael La Ronn

  “You've been gone a year,” Mary had told her. “A year with an alien race.”

  Devi looked over her shoulder. A row of sad-looking children streamed out of the ship behind her.

  Underneath the ship, soldiers secretly unloaded mahogany coffins and carried them in the opposite direction, away from the crowd.

  Devi scanned the children, looking for Wilmer.

  He wasn't there.

  And then she realized that he must be gone. Like so many of the others she'd gotten to know on the asteroid.

  “Why don't you try a smile,” Mary suggested.

  Devi faked her best smile as she took a picture with Mary. They walked down the platform and a soldier handed Devi a bouquet of sweet peas and violets.

  She accepted the bouquet without thanks and smelled the flowers, brightening a little at the sweet scent.

  Then Mary led her to a limousine stationed on the tarmac. The crowd clapped and raised signs.

  We love you

  You are our heroes

  We stand with you always

  She didn't know what the signs meant. Why did people stand with her? Why was she a hero?

  She hadn't done anything heroic!

  She tossed the flowers to the ground.

  “You don't want them?” Mary asked.

  “I'm not a hero!” Devi said, climbing into the limo.

  There was a rustling sound behind them.

  The other kids had thrown their flowers on the ground, too.

  “Well,” Mary said, flushing, “I knew the flowers were a bad idea.”

  ***

  Devi spent the next day in another orphanage.

  She hated orphanages.

  This one was especially worthy of her hate, with its bean-shaped, green and yellow metal exterior and colorful walls inside, with tablets for every kid and spaces for daily activities like school and dining.

  Mary introduced her to the headmaster, a tall Asian man who seemed nice enough. But Devi ignored him and asked where the beds were.

  She didn't leave the bedroom.

  She lay on her bunk bed, staring at the wall. She did not talk to anyone. She only got up to eat and go to the bathroom. And when she ate, she didn't eat much—just a few bites before losing her appetite.

  Several times, Mary entered to check on her.

  She was starting to get tired of the woman, with her smiling face and her always asking if Devi was okay.

  Of course she was okay!

  Of course she was not okay!

  Yet the woman kept asking her questions. What she thought of the orphanage, what she liked to do, what her friends’ names were.

  She just couldn't understand why Mary even cared. She had no friends anymore and she didn't want to make any.

  “I'm worried about you,” Mary said one day, bringing her a lunch tray. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a side of celery and carrots and a tall glass of mineral water.

  Devi took the food and began eating.

  “I just want to go home,” she said.

  Mary sighed. She sat down on the bed and watched Devi eat.

  “What?” Devi asked in a sharp tone. “Are you going to ask me how I like the food now?”

  “No,” Mary said. “I know you don't like the food. I wouldn't like it.”

  “Then what do you want?” Devi asked.

  “I've been asking you so many questions, Devi, because your parents are dead.”

  Devi dropped the lunch tray. She swallowed the last bite of her peanut butter sandwich.

  “I'm sorry,” Mary said. “I was waiting for the right time to tell you. I have been doing whatever I can to help—”

  “I don't want your help!” Devi screamed. “I never asked you for anything!”

  Mary stood and approached slowly with her palms outstretched.

  “Devi, sweetie, I'm so sorry.”

  “You're not sorry, you… you BITCH!”

  Mary tried to respond, but Devi picked up the lunch tray and hurled it. The tray hit her in the eye, and Mary cried out and staggered back. But then she approached again, clutching her eye. She spoke slowly, in a soft voice.

  “Devi—”

  “Stay away!” Devi shouted. “I demand to go back to Bartholomew Four, NOW!”

  “You can't go back,” Mary said. She cupped her eye. “The planet has been destroyed.”

  “You're lying!”

  “You can't go home,” Mary said. “There is no home for you to return to.”

  Devi rolled the sheets off her bed. With a strength she didn't know she had, she overturned the mattress and slammed it into Mary.

  Devi kicked the bedframe and screamed wildly. She imagined she was back on the Argus ship, in the sandpit, with the wooden stake in her hand.

  She squealed at the top of her lungs, like an Argus. The act scared Mary.

  Devi stalked toward her. “Stop lying to me,” she growled.

  “I told you,” Mary said. “I'm not lying.”

  Devi roared and ripped a photo frame off the wall, breaking it on her head.

  “Pa bok bok!” she said. “Bok. Bok…”

  Mary’s eyes widened.

  “Take me home,” Devi said, balling her fists. “Or, or… Pa-Bok ONG!”

  Mary held up her hands.

  “It's going to be okay,” Mary said.

  Devi ran toward Mary screaming in Argosian.

  Chapter 10

  Devika reached the flower fields. She squinted up at the gray clouds billowing across the sun.

  It was already cooler and she was grateful for it. She wiped her forehead and sipped water. She crouched near a field of yellow and black flowers that wavered in the strong wind.

  She touched one of the rain-kissed flowers with the underside of her finger. A droplet of water burst onto her knuckle. She brought her knuckle up to her mouth and licked the water.

  So fresh.

  She stood. Surveyed the area.

  A footpath began near the flowers, winding through them and then snaking off into two paths: one that led back toward the rainforest and another that curved through the flower fields.

  She walked, happy to be back on a civilized road. The constant trekking through the forest over uneven ground had hurt her feet. Flat ground felt so easy to walk on now.

  She reached a wooden sign staked in the grass. It pointed in two directions. The arrow pointing to the left, toward the rainforest, said Employees Only. The one to the right, toward the fields, read Tours and Rafting.

  Tours.

  Rainforest tours. She remembered her backpack and its heft on her shoulders.

  She started down the path through the fields.

  The flat wetland expanded for miles, but there was a wooden lodge in the distance. A sonic boom ripped through the air, and she saw a silver spaceship descending through the blue sky. She ducked and rolled into the flowers as she saw it.

  It looked like a transport ship of some kind—its wide hull and box-like shape was only found on ships that transported people or goods for a fee. That she was sure of.

  She stayed in the flower fields, just to be safe. It was too hard to know if someone was watching her.

  When the ship landed, she stood up and brushed dirt off her knees.

  She watched the box ship. It rumbled toward the ground, throwing up massive columns of smoke. The smoke blew over the valley. Soon it reached her, and she coughed as it enveloped her.

  A strong gust of wind blew, dissipating the smoke. When it cleared, she noticed that the bay doors were open. A group of people were walking down the doors. She couldn’t tell what they were doing.

  She picked up her pace and walked briskly down the path.

  ***

  The Coppice Woods Adventure Lodge was larger than it looked from afar. Standing three stories tall with a slanted wooden roof and asymmetrical windows as tall as the building, it was both a hotel and a lodge for travelers. Devika stopped under a pergola with the lodge’s name printed on it in an extra
vagant, safari-style font.

  Should she keep going?

  She scanned the grounds of the lodge. A stone-paved path traced through the immaculate lawn toward the front door. All around were benches and tables for guests, and a gazebo for weddings.

  This place felt a little above her pay grade.

  But if she was lucky, she might be able to hitch a ride home on the box ship.

  She decided to go to the front desk, but she didn’t take more than a few steps before she heard a voice.

  “Excuse me, Miss?”

  She turned. A woman in khaki shorts, a tan safari hat and a white safari shirt stood in a nearby garden with a clipboard. She looked like a mix between Asian and Latin ethnicities, with slanted eyes but dark, olive skin. Short, too. She oozed positivity, something Devika didn’t feel like dealing with right now.

  “Can I help you?” the woman asked.

  Devika put on her biggest smile.

  “Oh, hi. I was looking for the front desk.”

  “Are you a guest here at the hotel?” the woman asked.

  “I came to ask if they had any openings for the night.”

  The woman smiled back. “Ah, so you’re here for a tour.”

  “Absolutely,” Devika said. “I hope you don’t mind. I decided to go on a little… unguided tour myself earlier this morning.”

  The guide looked her up and down. Then she laughed.

  “Happens more than we like.”

  Devika reciprocated with a small laugh.

  “The front desk is over there, right?” Devika asked.

  The woman nodded. “The next tour leaves in an hour. We’re going to the flower fields today, followed by a river raft.”

  “That sounds great,” Devika said. Already she was tired of faking excitement. “I suppose I’ll see you soon, then.”

  “See you!”

  The guide started down the paved path. Devika sighed with relief.

  She quickened her pace.

  “Excuse me, Miss!”

  Devika turned and smiled again.

  “Can you give me your name so I can add you to my roster?”

  Devika hesitated.

  “My name?” she asked.

  “Yes, please.”

  A gust blew.

  “It’s, uh, Laura,” Devika said.

  “I’m sorry. Couldn’t hear you. Did you say Lara?”

  “Yes,” Devika said quickly.

  “What is your last name?”

  “Stella,” Devika said without thinking.

  “Is that Lara Stella?”

  “Lara Stella.”

  “Okay, Miss Lara Stella. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Devika waved. “See you soon.”

  The guide hurried away, and when she was out of sight, Devika jogged toward the front desk and didn’t look back.

  Chapter 11

  “Welcome to the Coppice Woods Adventure Lodge,” the front desk attendant said as Devika walked in.

  The front office was cozy, with tapestries hanging from the ceiling. The windows let in the milky afternoon light. A fireplace crackled, and smooth jazz played from a speaker overhead.

  The front desk attendant smiled at Devika. Devika smiled back as she approached the desk, looking back momentarily to make sure the guide was gone.

  “I’m just passing through and I need help getting a taxi ship. Can you help me?”

  “Unfortunately, taxi ships don’t have clearance to land here because this is a biological preserve,” the attendant said.

  “Ah,” Devika said.

  “Are you on a tour?” the attendant asked.

  “Well, yes, and I got separated from my group.”

  “You must be staying at the Green Lodge, I take it?”

  “Yes,” Devika said. “That’s it.”

  “Explains why you were asking for a taxi. They’re close to the spaceport, so they have more latitude than we do.”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

  “It’s okay. I would be happy to call them, and they can send over a shuttle.”

  “I would hate to inconvenience them any more,” Devika said. “I was a pretty big pest, wandering off the trail. I’m sure they’re worried about me, but right now I’d just like to get back to the hotel and rest. I will gladly pay my own money.”

  “Totally unnecessary,” the attendant said. “We’re sister properties. We reciprocate everything. The shuttle is free. It was in the brochure they gave you.”

  “I must have… forgotten that.”

  “Let me check the shuttle arrivals,” the attendant said, glancing down at her computer. “The next shuttle is actually already scheduled for arrival in about two hours.”

  “That long?” Devika asked, frowning.

  The attendant clucked her tongue, crossed her legs and swayed back and forth as she decided what to do.

  “Tell you what,” she said. “We have a rainforest tour leaving in fifteen minutes. The first part of the tour is by vehicle, through the flower fields. It goes through the southern part of the Rainwater Reserve where they take rafts downstream for a river float. The river goes past the Green Hotel, and I’m sure the tour guide would have no problem making a quick stop. Should only take about an hour. And we have an opening.”

  “How much do I owe you?” Devika asked.

  “Nothing,” the attendant said. “We reciprocate everything, remember?”

  ***

  Devi sat in the cockpit of Mary’s corsair, watching the stars go by in hyperspace.

  “We’re almost there,” Mary said. She monitored her instrument panel. She wore makeup to conceal her black eye, but the skin around it was swollen, making her glasses sit crookedly on her face.

  Devi sighed.

  They had ridden the entire way in silence.

  The headmaster had been forced to restrain Devi from killing Mary.

  Devi was numb; she had completely lost control. The headmaster had thrown her in a closet, and she’d spent an hour raging against the door, beating it with her fists, kicking it and head-butting it, cursing in Argosian.

  “Bok! Bok! Bok!”

  The words rang in her head as if she were still screaming them.

  It was only after a half-hour of fighting that she lost all of her energy and sank to the floor. In the darkness, she wept.

  Mary had opened the closet door, her eye squinted closed. She took Devi into a strong hug and didn’t let her go. Devi, finally worn out, collapsed. Mary carried her to the bed and tucked her in. Devi fell asleep, and when she woke up the next morning, Mary was dressed in a jacket with keys in her hand.

  “Let’s go to Bartholomew Four,” she said.

  And now they were almost here.

  Devi didn’t know what to expect.

  Was Mary lying?

  Maybe Devi’s parents were alive, and the “your parents are dead” thing was just a trick.

  More than anything, she wanted to be back home. She was tired of living in the streets, tired of having no one. She was tired of being alone.

  And Mary.

  The woman just wouldn’t let up. She kept smiling and doing nice things even though Devi didn’t deserve it.

  Devi studied Mary’s black eye. Should she have felt remorse for what she had done? She tried to reach deep down, to feel something, but she couldn’t. She hated herself for not feeling any emotion.

  Scowling, she folded her arms and stared out into space.

  “I want you to know that you’re going to see something scary,” Mary said. “And I shouldn’t have brought you here.”

  Devi ignored her.

  Mary brought the ship out of hyperspace. The ship slowed, the seat belt around Devi’s shoulders tightened, and she leaned forward to see her old home.

  Bartholomew IV.

  A red, rocky planet.

  It was swathed in thick gray and black clouds, and between them, the continents were smoldering.

  The entire planet was on fire. Military
warships circled the atmosphere.

  It was not how she remembered.

  “W-What happened?” Devi asked.

  “The planet was bombed.”

  “By who?” Devi asked, her tone rising.

  “The Zachary Empire.”

  “But why?”

  “It’s complicated,” Mary said, “but it has to do with politics. And power.”

  “But I don’t understand.”

  “The Empire wanted to show our galaxy that they are powerful. They bombed Bartholomew to show their strength.”

  “So does the galaxy belong to them?”

  “No,” Mary said. “The navy drove them away. Trust me, sweetie, even though they’re quite scary, the galaxy will never belong to them. Not as long as we fight.”

  Devi sank in her chair. “So there’s no one left?”

  “There is no one,” Mary said.

  “I want to go down there,” Devi said.

  “We can’t,” Mary said. “The entire planet was hit with nuclear bombs. The radiation will kill you.”

  “No,” Devi said. “No!”

  Mary steered the ship around the planet. Her radio crackled.

  “Hi, Mary,” a voice said.

  “Hey, Abdullah,” she said. “We won’t be long. I’m just taking a lap around so Devi can see.”

  “Take all the time you need,” the man said. “And tell her we’re really sorry about this.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Devi asked. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

  Mary increased the corsair’s speed as she flew closer to the planet.

  “We don’t get to choose our life’s circumstances,” Mary said. “But we can decide how we want to deal with those circumstances.”

  Silence.

  “But some people don’t get that far,” Mary said. “Some people never understand that they even have a choice. So they make bad decisions, and then it’s too late.”

  She turned and looked at Devi. “That’s where you are, Devi.”

  Devi gasped.

  “You didn’t wake up one morning and decide that you wanted to get abducted from your home. You didn’t decide to live on the streets in Coppice—you had to. You didn’t wake up deciding to be kidnapped by Arguses. I admire you so much for your tenacity. You’re such a strong girl. You really are, Devi. And I want to help you. Because every time I see you, I see a little girl who was probably so full of laughter and warmth, but she’s hiding. And scared. I want to meet that little girl.”