The Sound of Stars

by Alechia Dow

  And then I’m gone again.

  CHAPTER 14

  “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”

  —Elton John

  M0Rr1S

  The full charge is tingling under his skin. Even using his abilities back there wasn’t enough to take the edge off. He’s jumpy now. Restless. He keeps looking back through the side-view mirror at Ellie while she sleeps. She hates him. The anger in her eyes was like nothing he’s ever seen from her before. Janelle Baker—Ellie—hates him, yet still he feels this fluttery sensation in the pit of his stomach when she’s near.

  H1lbe pulls into a lot at the center, and security runs up to investigate.

  “Identification and quadrant?”

  “Commander M0Rr1S 1lv, I am male from quadrant 4H-R12-B800L1,” M0Rr1S answers in his mother tongue. His thoughts flicker back to New York, his section of Earth, his responsibility. All gone now.

  “Commander H1lbe A1lln, I am female from quadrant 5I-G763-Bl1R6,” H1lbe replies. That’s a location north of here, Nebraska, M0Rr1S believes.

  “You are far from your quadrants.” It is not an accusation, merely a statement of fact.

  “My quadrant is complete. I am relieved of service. However, I have decided to aid in the current situation in this area. A decision that was implied before my abrupt, unorthodox departure.” M0Rr1S tilts his head to Ellie in the back. “You may have been alerted.”

  “I have.” Security nods before focusing on H1lbe.

  H1lbe turns off the car. “I am here to check progress and to further assist.”

  Security remains inscrutable. “My name is Khun1, I am nonbinary. Please let me show you inside, commanders.”

  M0Rr1S nods and steps out of the car, eyeing Ellie. “I wish for this one to be delivered to my domicile. I believe it will aid me in streamlining the formula for larger distribution.” He pockets a small rock on the bottom of the car floor while H1lbe sets off toward the building.

  “Are you sure, sir? We can have it sent to live with other humans. Surely you do not wish for the human to cohabitate with you and contaminate your residence with its incessant shrillness?”

  M0Rr1S exhales through his teeth. Contaminate his residence? This is the humans’ world, everything has been touched by them. “You are in need of the formula, correct?”

  “Yes, sir, but—”

  “But I know this human. I have experimented with its blood. It will do. Thank you for your understanding, Khun1.” M0Rr1S dismisses them.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Two more guards arrive to pick up Ellie and deliver her to his room, most likely on the highest floor. Ilori, especially those with titles, are always given rooms at the top of buildings. He pictures home, the mansion atop the clouds, with glass floors and open ceilings. The air is pure, and the skies are variations of blue, even as the sun sets and the two moons shine down through the branches and leaves.

  He reminds himself again, for the hundredth time, he will never go back.

  They walk into the tall center. There is a wide area undoubtedly used for emergency vehicles, and the walls inside are sterile, emitting a citrusy odor. Whichever commander operates this location is particular. There’s an organization to the white walls and individual rooms that suggests this was once a medical center; a hospital, humans called it.

  The bright lights comfort him as they bounce off the gleaming white surfaces. White, everything is white and clean.

  M0Rr1S stops, gaze caught on glass windows with small rooms behind them. Humans languish there, the rooms furnished only with toilets and cots. They avert their eyes as he and the other Ilori pass by. Fear. He can smell it even behind their walls and windows. This center is run much differently than he ran his. With no sense of humanity, no kindness or compassion. His lip curls, fiery anger blurring his vision. There is nothing he can do to stop this.

  At the end of the hall, there’s a face he’d hoped never to see again. Instead of fire, M0Rr1S suddenly feels frozen. He sets his jaw and resists the urge to bite the inside of his cheek.

  0rsa tilts her head back and forth. She is a vision of ice. Black hair falls straight down past her shoulders, covering her blue panel. Her pale skin seems almost a shade lighter than the walls, and her radiant blue eyes sparkle in the fluorescents. Why is she here? If he had known this center was within her quadrant...

  “Commander M0Rr1S.” It is stated with an inflection of surprise. “I am pleased you were so easily forgiven for your transgressions.”

  “Commander 0rsa.” His voice is cold, distant, just the way she likes it. “I was able to justify my actions within Il-0CoM. I believe they were deemed satisfactory.”

  “You saved a human from execution.” She says it matter-of-factly, but there’s a snide edge to her words.

  He instinctively stands straighter. “I saved a human to use it as a remedy for our current situation in the middle of the country.”

  “And yet, there have been zero reports of you making contact while traveling.” She leans forward as if she’ll catch him in a falsehood with her bare hands.

  “I daresay you are behind on reports, 0rsa. I met with a group on the road during a confrontation. My guidance led to the capture of several humans, and an opening of human defense in the midquadrant.” M0Rr1S tilts his head to the side. Lying to 0rsa, especially when he suspects she has Il-0CoM recording, would be dangerous. Thus, he tells the truth, though not completely. When he and Ellie interrupted the standoff on the road, the Ilori were able to track and capture the humans that killed their comrade. But it was merely out of safety for future labmades, not a coordinated plan. “Although they were confounded by my initial actions, true Ilori leadership praised my efforts as innovative. I do hope that is acceptable to you.”

  0rsa adjusts her posture, lips quirking as if she could smile. “Nevertheless, it is a pleasure to have you in my quadrant. It was a sudden decision for me to come down here to Earth, and I had not expected to see you. But I am...satisfied to have you share your expertise about the vaccine. As you know, we’ve had...difficulties with humans bombing distribution centers. Not in your quadrant, of course, but out here.” She doesn’t wait for him to respond. “It is good you can resume your duties.”

  Her black garb stretches across her form, fitted and tailored for her. She is beautiful, but she makes him nervous in a way Ellie does not. When he sees her, there is no fluttering inside him, only a physical need to sweat and avoid her gaze. He cannot bear to stand close to her. It isn’t just that she is a reminder of his failing, but that she is difficult to please in all things. Her family is only one step below his, but she is more respected in the empire than he.

  “I did not expect to see you on Earth either, 0rsa.” Careful, he tells himself, there may be priers near. “I would have thought you would come over with the emperor for the demonstration ceremony.”

  “A fortunate development arose.” That is the only answer she provides.

  The guards carrying Ellie glide past them, and 0rsa merely glances at her.

  “You care for this human?”

  “How could any Ilori care for a human?” M0Rr1S answers, afraid the walls will close in on him and leave him trapped with 0rsa. He has to believe his own lie. 0rsa was not trained to read or pry into minds, but she is observant. She could be his undoing.

  0rsa doesn’t answer. “Please, let me give you a tour of our facilities.” Her body is rigid, even as it moves aside to make space for him to join her. They ascend the first set of stairs together and emerge in another hall of glass and white.

  M0Rr1S finds himself pausing in front of a pair of rooms. A woman in a white gown rocks back and forth on a small blue mattress attached to the wall. In the second room, a short man scratches at the sides of his head, mumbling under his breath. They wear flawless white gowns.

  Suffering. The humans here are suffering, cowering from the
Ilori that experiment on them. 0rsa doesn’t look at them as if they are alive, but dirty and in need of organization and refinement.

  “Why,” he can’t keep himself from asking, “do you keep the humans like...this, behind glass walls?”

  0rsa stares at him oddly. “While I don’t mind executions, it is easier to operate with fewer guards when the humans are locked up and surveilled. Their bodies are useful to us, nothing else.”

  “They are living beings.” M0Rr1S keeps the anger from his tone. “They deserve their dignity and fair treatment. We have taken everything from them. We have—”

  “Careful, Commander M0Rr1S 1lv.” She taps the side of her panel. “That could sound like treason. I would find it disconcerting for you to face severe punishment for needless sentiments,” she threatens.

  M0Rr1S nods, tamping down the desire to argue further. His fist curls at his side. 0rsa turns as if she has won, knowing that Command would believe her before him. That she holds power over him.

  As they continue down the hall, M0Rr1S’s gaze only registers the occupants behind the windows. Up and over, up and over they walk the halls. 0rsa is silent and M0Rr1S doesn’t intend to change that.

  “Will you join me in my chambers tonight? I admit, it is unconventional, but I do esteem you in your uniform and rank. And as you said, true Ilori leadership found your actions innovative. Perhaps you will be more innovative in other areas.” It is amazing that, even in Ilori, a dispassionate language, her voice causes dread deep in his gut.

  “I will be quite busy with replicating the formula for mass usage. Perhaps another night.” It is a confident decline she can admire.

  “Yes. Another night.” She leans in close. “I am...pleased that you will join me.”

  He steps back. “Thank you, 0rsa. It pleases me, as well.”

  “We appreciate your aid.” She spins on her heels and ascends one floor higher to her own chambers. She has deliberately disrespected his name and rank, and yet he will do nothing but take his room on the lower floor.

  M0Rr1S exhales and opens the door to his assigned lodgings. It’s sparsely furnished with basic but functional items designed for Ilori. Ellie is lying on the floor in the corner, like a discarded suitcase.

  He stops himself from adjusting her. There are two cameras that hum in little pockets of his room. He must be careful; someone is watching. Darkness continues to fall outside his windows as he crosses the room and places a cushion in front of a camera on the desk. He takes off his jacket and throws it over the closet door in front of the second camera attached to the white metal. And then he allows himself to pick Ellie up and set her down on the bed. She doesn’t wake.

  He takes the smooth, black rock from his pocket and sets it on the kitchen counter. A slow, deep breath steadies his energy while he focuses. It took 30 percent of his full charge to condense the atoms together, it’ll take the same amount to expand them. He pulls at the edges of the molecules with meticulous care until the backpack sits in front of him, every item inside just as he and Ellie left them.

  M0Rr1S sighs as the tip of his finger pushes down on his charge status. He was at 100 percent before the drive. Creating an illusion, burning that illusion, shutting Ellie down and then shifting energy again has cost him 70 percent of his charge. He leans the bag against the leg of the couch, out of sight, and takes a fresh, standard uniform that should fit from the closet.

  He attends to his hygiene in the bathroom with a long and hot shower equipped with a power hub built into the wall that he can use to wirelessly charge. He scrubs away the dirt of the past few days. By the time he finishes, his energy is replenished, and he feels stronger.

  When he steps back into the bedroom, Ellie is awake and sitting up in the bed. He wears nothing but underclothing but feels no desire to dress himself in his stiff uniform just yet.

  “Where are we?” Her voice sounds dry, and she refuses to look at him. “Why am I here with you? Why haven’t you vaccinated me?”

  He runs a second towel through his hair and sets it down on a chair before crossing the room and pouring a glass of calef juice. The glass shakes a little in his grasp as he extends it toward Ellie.

  “Drink.”

  She takes it but eyes it with suspicion.

  “It’s highly concentrated vitamin juice.”

  “How do I know it’s not a new form of the vaccine or something to put me back to sleep?”

  “If I wanted to put you to sleep again, I would not need juice, only a charge.” He keeps his voice cold and distant.

  Ellie places it on the side table next to her. “I don’t trust you.”

  M0Rr1S huffs and goes back to the kitchen, grabs the bottle of juice and returns to the room. He captures her attention and drinks from the bottle until it’s all gone. Her expression changes from dislike to something softer as she regards his bare chest and legs, but still she frowns.

  “That proves nothing except that you can drink it without a shirt on.”

  M0Rr1S fights the urge to smile. “Drink, Ellie.”

  “Don’t call me that,” she spits out in anger. “Call me whatever my human number is. We aren’t friends.” But she takes a small sip from the drink anyway. Her eyes widen as energy streams into her before she quickly chugs the rest.

  The glow comes back to her skin, hair and eyes. For the first time since they left the house, he takes in her ripped pants, which are rolled up at the ends and a bit tight across her broad hips, her coat with a bulging button over her breasts and the sorry state of her shoes. He must find her something else to wear.

  “What are you looking at?” she snaps, and he is brought back to the moment.

  His fingers long to run across the skin of her jaw, and his lips long to feel hers. She is so alluring and warm, but angry. Justifiably. “Clothes, you need clothes and shoes.”

  “What does it matter anymore? You’re going to vaccinate me, right?”

  M0Rr1S doesn’t answer. He opens a new bottle of juice, refills her glass and hands her a protein bar imported from his home.

  Ellie takes them both and finishes in big gulps. “Where am I?”

  “A center in Oklahoma.” He doesn’t dwell on further details. Someone could be listening.

  “How long do I have until you give me the vaccine?”

  Again, he doesn’t answer. There is no answer.

  “Why? I want to know why you befriended me. Why you saved my life. Took me with you and offered me your protection. Why you talked to me. Pretended to want to—”

  M0Rr1S holds a finger to his lips, eyes rounding for Ellie’s benefit. She must know the danger they’re in. “Shhh.”

  She shakes her head angrily. “Just tell me why.”

  “There is no answer that will seem adequate to you.” It hurts him to say this, because he wants to answer her questions and tell her a million other things until she trusts and believes him again.

  “I don’t understand.” This time it is less angry, more disappointed, which is worse for him to bear.

  He takes a seat next to her on the bed. She flinches away from him.

  “You will.”

  “I’ll never forgive you,” her voice cracks.

  You will, he wishes to say, but doesn’t. He can only hope she will.

  * * *

  Ellie is silent for the next hour until she falls asleep. During that time, M0Rr1S re-creates the formula exactly as before on a program set up within his mind. He recalculates the atoms used and their placement, so that he can upload it to Distribution Services—labmade Ilori trained specifically to use their charges, their abilities, to form physical copies of the vaccine expediently. They wait with the same ingredient list M0Rr1S gave them the first time, in centers across the world, ready to create. M0Rr1S shifts on the kitchen stool to steal a quick glance at Ellie while she rests.

  He serves a pur
pose, as all Ilori do. To create the vaccine. But he serves another purpose, too; to implant the chips and write a code, his masterpiece, that will trigger a shift in the consciousness when it’s broadcast across Earth through the Il-0CoM frequency. Plans upon plans that required an incredible level of evasiveness, especially inside Il-0CoM.

  Glind, M0Rr1S’s mother, not only trained and prepared him to read his fellow Ilori minds, but to avoid detection. It takes focus and a level of energy that, if used for too long, can drain his entire charge. Until recently, he played his role without arousing suspicion, never needing to mask his actions. He created the vaccines under surveillance. He did everything required of him. He was the picture of loyalty and compliance...until he landed in New York and then saved Ellie. Now he has a chance to rectify a problem that occurred the moment he left his quadrant.

  The vaccines he created were not the ones being distributed to centers across the world. He was not aware that the doctor in New York had changed his formula until they took him to the police station two days ago.

  There, M0Rr1S learned that, after he’d left, the Ilori doctor had fixed one minor glitch for all outgoing distributions of the vaccine from the center. He had asked whether the consciousness of the human was still in there. His slip had made things difficult. He’d known it was a mistake as soon as he’d asked, but he’d hoped it had been overlooked. It was naive of him to believe it could have been. Optimism had no place in his plans.

  The humans already vaccinated still carried the glitch, but the new vaccines were...a problem. So, M0Rr1S had to lie about why he saved Ellie. Why he did not take his pod to the carriership above as planned. He had to guard himself through surface prying, through four separate interrogations, through fatigue and cold. He made himself believe his own lies. And when they cleared him, he connected on a private channel with AvR0la, one Glind had helped him create to avoid detection from true Ilori and Il-0CoM.