The Sound of Stars

by Alechia Dow

  But this new me thinks about the woman in the mall with her small son who helped me escape. She didn’t know me, but still she trusted me to do something that wouldn’t harm her or others. She believed in us and hoped we would succeed. Same with that Ilori in the subway.

  I remember the woman with her child trying to break through the door of our building in New York. I was too late to save her. Never again. The world still has a chance. What would it do with a second chance? What would I do? The answer surprises me. I’d fight for my own happiness, while fighting for change, too.

  The sound of waves grows louder and louder, and I resist the urge to run to them. I love the water. I’ve missed it. I remember standing in Brooklyn Bridge Park, gazing out at the East River as I waited for my turn on Jane’s Carousel. And sitting on the crowded beach during our day trips to Coney Island. But this will be different. I’ve never been on a beach at night, nor have I seen the Pacific. There’s a whole lot of firsts happening for me.

  And lasts, too.

  “The ship.” Morris’s eyes are wide as they focus on something in the distance. “It’s this way. The map tells me we need to tread carefully to avoid Andarran land. We’re not alone.”

  “Your brother?”

  His exhale whistles through his teeth. “I think so.”

  “What will happen?”

  He squeezes my hand tighter. “I don’t know. I have to get aboard, and you have to stay safe. Maybe you should—”

  I squeeze back. “There’s only one way to do this.”

  Morris turns to me and holds my face in his hands. “I will protect you. But if I can’t—”

  I don’t let him finish. “If you can’t, I might die. But I might have died a few times already. I want to be here. I want to save Earth. I want to be with you.”

  Morris gives me a quick kiss, but there’s fear in his expression. I moan a little, as his body wraps around mine. “Honey, do you trust me?” he sings, and I let out a small, nervous laugh. He pulls away. “I love your laugh, Ellie.”

  I can feel the heat rising to my cheeks, but I don’t break the contact. “I know, Morris.”

  “If we’re lost, my dear, I don’t care... I found you. If we’re together, it doesn’t matter where... I want you.” Even at the end or the beginning, Morris sings to me, and my heart dips with a familiar happiness only he can inspire.

  “We either lose, or we win. But we can’t do either if we stand here.” I look up at him through my eyelashes. “I hope we win.”

  “Me, too.”

  Together we take the long walk to the beach. I don’t need him as a guide anymore; the moon lights up the sky and reflects off the ocean. Water splashes over the chrome spaceship embedded in the sand, shimmering in the moonbeams. My eyes widen as I pause to glare at the ship, gulping air into my suddenly empty lungs. It’s far bigger than I expected, stretching more than a mile along the coast as far as I can see. I have no idea where it ends as it dips beneath the Pacific.

  Then there are the other, smaller ships to the right, inland from the gargantuan one the military shot down. They remind me of smart cars only way smarter.

  “Pods,” Morris says as if reading my mind. “For leadership to come and go as necessary.”

  There has to be forty or fifty of them studded along the beach in neat, tight rows.

  And, yet, what surprises me most of all is how deserted it is; how, once we enter this beach, it’s just us on the edge of this continent. I want to run my fingers over the chrome ships to feel the foreign, smooth metal. I want to hit the pause button to grasp the enormity of spaceships, but I hold Morris, following him, until he stops suddenly. My stomach twists into knots as he whirls, narrowing his gaze into the distance. I whip my head around, but it’s too dark to see much beyond a shape in the shadows.

  It moves into the starlight, and my heart races. A blue form, not quite solid in structure, with a layer of purple hovering around their skin, stands beside a pod. Their outfit, more like a uniform, is black like Morris’s, but decorated with brightly lit buttons. Morris pulls me closer.

  “Brixton,” Morris says aloud in English before entering my mind. I am sorry to invade your mind without permission again, Ellie, but it is important you understand what is being said. I will do this as long as I can.

  “M0Rr1S.” The words sound like robotic clicks. Brixton, the first alien I’ve seen that truly looks like an alien from a Marvel movie, glances my way with curt interest. His expression, mouth, nose and eyes, are similar to mine. I squint a bit, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing. He’s like a human, only instead of being comprised mostly of water like us, he’s made of pure, vibrant energy, and it streams through his veins, alighting beneath his skin.

  He looks away, returning his attention to Morris. They don’t resemble each other. He’s far taller than Morris. Yet he walks slowly and takes shallow, short breaths, like he’s not quite comfortable breathing this air. There’s no panel marking him as labmade, but his rigid posture and the way he takes in Morris, unblinking, is alien.

  “The atmosphere is clean but still I taste the pollution on my tongue,” he says more to himself than to us. “I traveled all this way, to this—” he looks beyond the pods at the nothingness that probably used to be million-dollar beach houses “—wasteland, because Father wants me to kill you. Call it an accident. You’ve made it easy with your insubordination.”

  “What do you wish to do?” Morris’s voice is soft, calm.

  “I have not yet decided. Give you time. Do what you came to do.”

  Anxiety churns in the pit of my stomach, and my numbers escape me right now. Morris’s mouth draws into a scowl as he turns away, clutching my arm tighter. We walk slowly toward the massive ship, and as if it senses our presence, a solid metal ramp emerges from within and soundlessly plops into the sand before our feet. I gasp, and Morris squeezes my hand. The metal glimmers bright, and I have to wait for my sight to adjust.

  “Are you sure?” he asks softly.

  I nod once. I’m going to be a part of saving my world with him. We tread up the ramp, my breaths coming faster with each step. I toss glances at Brixton, who makes no move to thwart us but instead kicks sand with the toe of his boot.

  The ship. All we need—Morris’s voice cuts off as he punches some keys with strange symbols on a holographic panel that slides out from the wall. The dark metal door whooshes open, and we rush forward only to stop dead in our tracks.

  Orsa saunters toward us into the light of the moon, followed by four blank-stared guards. We stumble back down the ramp toward the sand and, for a moment, Morris is quiet. His head oscillates between Orsa and Brixton, but his wild look softens as he meets my gaze. This is it. We’ve come this far for nothing. Desperation tugs at my heart just as it pales on his face. If we don’t get aboard, there’s no saving this world. My parents. My life. And what will happen to Morris? The possibilities stream through my mind, each worse than the last. We can’t fight four guards, Orsa and Brixton.

  We retreat until we’re stuck between two enemies.

  Orsa’s face is impassive, but her words are cut like ice. “You’ve kept the human alive. I’d hoped you might.” She takes small steps toward us until she’s facing me and Morris. “Do you know why I’m here?”

  “I don’t possess that knowledge, 0rsa.” Morris’s tone comes off as civil, but I catch the anger simmering beneath. His gaze sweeps past her to the guards, as does mine. There are more behind her, ready to end us both.

  “I know it came to you as a...surprise to see me here on this world. You were not happy.”

  I shift from foot to foot, my head swiveling to focus on something, anything that will give me control. That I can count till my breaths become easy, till my heart stops thundering in my ears. Orsa glares at me.

  Morris lifts his chin, authority seeping into his voice. “0rsa. You will not
harm Ellie.”

  Orsa drops her head to examine her nails in detached interest. “You are one of the newer generations of labmade, so you wouldn’t understand my motivations. They taught your generation that you are subpar from the beginning, built to resemble the creatures of another, inferior world. But the earlier models like me, we were raised to be like true Ilori. We were not created as a disposable army. We were created to broaden our Ilori Empire. My parents always treated me as if I were one of them. Our empire regards me as true.” Orsa takes a deep, steady breath. “But when it came time to choose my suitor, they picked you. See? I’m only fit to wed another labmade. You.” She balls her fists. “I desire so much more.”

  “0rsa—”

  “I will make a deal with the human and see what it decides.” Orsa regards me with distaste before her expression dulls once more. She speaks English, causing Morris’s translation to retreat from my mind. “Human JQB-305-7-21. I have something for you.”

  Orsa juts her chin toward the ship, and her eyes glaze over. Communicating in Il-0CoM. The ground shakes, thunder rippling over metal as three more guards march down the ramp, dragging something behind them.

  Unease seeps into the pit of my stomach just as the scent of rot wafts from the ship, filling my nose. I gag, but I can’t look away. The dread deepens as I realize it’s not something, but someone. More than one.

  Morris grits his teeth. “Hostages outside of regulated centers, 0rsa? This is illegal. Inhumane.”

  “Breaking the law was never my plan, but you gave me the idea. I suppose it’s funny how the implanted memories of our intercourse were better than reality. I could have you shut down for that.” Orsa sneers.

  I squint, trying to see the prisoners behind the guards. I gasp, my heart pounding, as light lands upon them. My mom and dad. An Ilori I don’t know—Avrola? And Alice. I sink my feet into the sand to keep myself from running to them.

  Alice wipes at tears spilling onto her pale cheeks and my mom—despite the rings beneath her eyes and disheveled hair—smiles. She smiles. “Mom?”

  “Honey.” My mom tries to step toward me but she’s quickly yanked back, letting out a yelp. My dad stands beside her but remains rigid; the same version of him I left behind.

  I’ll do anything to set them free. My parents begged me to live for them, but how can I live for them if I’m not able to die for them? How can I live with myself?

  Smoke begins to billow from the ship, flooding into the night sky. For a second, I don’t understand what’s happening.

  “What have you done, 0rsa?” M0Rr1S’s voice cracks as he cranes his head back to gape at the rubble.

  “This ship. I glimpsed it in your mind. Well no...not me. I was not trained to be a soldier, but I employ personal priers. I never leave home without one.” Her lips tighten and curve at the corners before her face goes slack. “You should have been more careful, M0Rr1S. While you were implanting images of us together in my mind, you left yourself open. I admit, I almost respected you when my strongest prier struggled to invade your mind, but eventually, you gave her an image of this ship. I knew it must mean something to you. Perhaps you needed it. I do not suffer curiosity for long, and so, I decided to burn it down from the inside out. Careful not to scar the Andarran land. We wouldn’t want a war, now would we?”

  My gaze locks on my family. My mom mumbles under her breath while Alice stares back. They’ve been through so much, and now I’ve dragged them into this. If they die here, it’ll be because of me.

  Orsa clears her throat to get my attention. “Now that you’ve seen your family, you understand what’s at stake. I’ve taken the courtesy of bringing AvR0la for you, M0Rr1S. They are most reluctant to speak against their commander. But I do believe with the current situation, we may all come to a solution. So, I offer you this, human. Die, and they all can live. I can make our home, our emperor, believe that you corrupted M0Rr1S. And I’ve saved my inferior betrothed dutifully.”

  Morris can’t hide the hurt and anger in his voice as he asks what I can’t. “All of this. Why, 0rsa?”

  “You think this is jealousy? I’m Ilori, regardless of the matter of my birth. I feel no jealousy. Only desire. A marriage into your family is all I ask. But not to you, M0Rr1S. To Brixton. Our alliances were more recon than actual fun. I’m sure you noticed.” She raises her eyebrows at Morris, waiting for an argument that will not come, before settling on his brother. “I will not kill M0Rr1S. I will cover up his misdoings and your name will remain untarnished.” An ugly smile graces her pallid face.

  “You think I care if you kill my brother, 0rsa? That’s why I’m here.” Brixton glances at me as he speaks, giving me the impression he knows Morris is translating his words.

  “No, perhaps not. But I do believe your mother will. I’ve heard she cares a great deal about her labmade son. And I am certain your father does not wish to call attention, especially negative attention, to your family before he—someday soon, I think—becomes emperor.”

  Brixton considers her words. “You told me to meet you here. That you had a plan. This is not what I expected.”

  The smell of chemical smoke replaces the rot. It travels down my throat, sticks to my lips and nostrils. My mom coughs at the same time as me, and for a second, we lock eyes. I mouth I’m sorry through the wheezes that seize my chest. We failed. The one thing getting me through this was the idea that I could save my family. But here they are. Brought all the way to California and dropped into the center of the mess that started as a journey of freedom for all.

  Suddenly, the guilt is too much; my parents are going to watch their only child die. The child they asked to live for them.

  For the first time, I’m grateful they’ll be vaccinated. My mom is still in there behind the trauma, but this will break her completely. At least the vaccine will take it all away. She won’t be in pain anymore. And my father will never come back, never know that he watched me die and did nothing.

  It feels different. Knowing I’m about to die. I wasn’t prepared before, but I am now.

  “Your lack of a decision leads me to believe you find it amenable.” Orsa stands taller as she whirls toward me. “What do you say, human? Do we have a deal? Your life for the ones you love.”

  “Janelle, don’t,” my mom calls, before her eyes flick back and forth, and she’s lost inside her illness once more. “A sip, a sip...”

  “Ellie.” Alice shakes her head wearily. “I’m ready to die. I’ve always been ready. Don’t die for me.”

  “Put them to sleep,” Orsa orders. A guard steps forward, their eyes trained on my mom and Alice. They slump to the ground, and a gasp escapes through my teeth before I clamp my mouth shut.

  My father stands there still as a statue, unseeing, uncaring. I wish, more than anything, that what I’m about to agree to will bring him back.

  Don’t do this. Don’t forfeit your life. We can still walk away. We can still save them. We came so far.

  Morris’s voice lingers in my head, but I ignore it. “We have a deal,” I say through shaky breaths. The universe gave me a gift, just like Morris said. It showed me love and music in my last few days of life. But it also allowed me to save my family. And Morris. I can’t watch Morris suffer either. I want to remember him. His eyes. His beauty.

  It will be the last thing I see.

  I let his hand drop from mine. “I’m sorry, Morris.”

  His eyes glisten as he reaches for me once more. “Ellie, please...there’s another way.”

  “I’m doing the right thing. I believe that.” I walk away from him for the last time since we’ve met. My heart breaks, knowing how much this will hurt him, but he understands. I know if he were in my place, he’d do the same. We share a connection, a bond. We are music and stories come alive with love.

  The walk toward Orsa is long. My heart beats in my ears and my mind feels blurry. I will die here t
onight. My new shoes dampen from the wet sand, and salt lingers on my lips from the ocean air.

  “You will make your family proud. And I promise you, your death will be quick and clean.” She sighs like this is a necessary task she must perform. “All I ask is that you bend before me.”

  I drop to my knees.

  I could have died on our rooftop in New York. I could have died or been captured like that family who kept hope alive by resisting and leaving a note in a book for someone like me to find. I could have screamed myself hoarse behind glass walls in the hospital in Oklahoma, or wandered aimlessly till the end with the humans in Texas. But none of those fates would have given me a final glimpse of my family.

  My books and Morris have kept me company till this moment. And this moment was always going to come. I believe that.

  Orsa shows me a countenance full of false comfort as she slowly lifts her arms and extends them toward the sides of my face.

  “I’m going to record this for—” she begins.

  “0rsa, I’ve changed my mind.” Brixton’s back straightens and he narrows his eyes at her. “I’d rather tarnish my family name than marry you.”

  “What?” Orsa’s head whips toward him. I take that moment to swipe the buzzkiller from my back pocket. “What do you want?”

  I’m pretty sure she’s asking Brixton, but I respond anyway, trying to sound confident, strong and powerful. None of which I feel at the moment. “Free my family, my friends and his, and I won’t hurt you. We can all walk away.” It’s a ridiculous request; she can kill me just with her mind, and she probably has no idea what the buzzkiller is, yet a few extra seconds of distraction is all we need.

  From the corner of my eye, Morris blurs as he captures one guard with his hand and lifts him. The guard falls over in a pile by his feet. Another guard charges at Morris, but my attention sweeps back to Orsa and Brixton. Morris still manages to translate what Brixton says.