“Can you identify the person?” I ask.
“Person unknown,” she says. “Identity encrypted.”
“Ninety-five percent,” Irene says. “We're almost done.”
“Is there another way out of the lab?” I ask the AI.
“Yes, but the rear exit is currently under repair and inaccessible.”
My muscles go rigid as I try to think of what we’re supposed to do. I pull the pistol out from under my shirt and stare at the shape of the gun. I don't really want to shoot anybody, especially when I have no idea if they are friend or foe. Can we hide? I scan the space, and it's possible. Several rooms comprise the lab. But I don’t want to risk getting caught.
“Got the data. Let's go,” Irene says.
I have no idea if what I'm going to do next will work, but it's my best chance. I look to the AI, my mother. “Power everything in the lab down including the lights. Do not inform anyone we were here.”
“Immediately?” she asks.
“Immediately.” I grab Irene by the arm and yank her next to me as everything inside goes dark.
“What are you doing?” Irene demands.
I don’t answer her question but stick my gun back into my pants and grab for the Starfire hanging around my neck. I envision the space next to where we parked the quad and close my eyes. Work! This has to work! Electricity shoots through me, and a bright, cyan light bursts behind my eyelids.
I open my eyes outside of the lab. Right next to the quad. I push Irene and myself into a squat to hide behind our vehicle.
“How did you do that?” Irene whispers.
“I wish I knew.” A sound pricks my ears. I lift a finger to my lips at Irene and then peer across the way. At the entrance to the lab is a man lit up by the hand scanner. I can’t make out much other than how the light of the moon reflects off his bald head. He's short and has a bit of a belly.
“You know him?” Irene asks.
I stare for a moment, but I can't get a good look at his face from this far. “I don't think he knew anyone was in the lab,” I say. “It's not as if he's in a rush to get in.”
We both watch the man walk through the entrance, and the door shuts behind him.
Irene taps my shoulder. “We should get back before anyone misses us.”
Reasonably sure the man isn't coming out, I stand and climb onto the quad behind Irene. We reverse the directions to Primaro and head back.
Questions swirl through my head about my parents and what the data is going to tell us. I hope we picked the right file and the AI version of my mom doesn't tattle on us.
♦ ♦ ♦
We arrive back at the secured building before our time is up. Irene purges the lab’s coordinate information from the quad, and then we return to our room. Irene heads in first and kneels on the ground in front of her cot. Reaching underneath, she pulls out a DataPort.
“Howard and I completely upgraded this thing. Looks like junk but it's pretty powerful.” She taps her Connect to activate the device. “Give me a few minutes to get everything synced and uploaded.”
I flop on my bouncy cot and wait. And wait. While Irene is totally engrossed in decrypting the data, I bring out my Starfire and study the cyan gem. What secrets do you hold? I graze my finger over the crystal. Do you hold the key to Earth's salvation? Or are we opening a Pandora's box we'll never be able to close? Of course, my hope is for the former. But only time will tell.
I tuck the gem into my shirt and a light shiver ripples over my body. I haven't experienced the sensation for a while, but I've decided my shifts in temperature occasionally have to do with my connection to Arcadia . . . or the Alku. I'm not entirely sure. At this point, I just accept the sensation as a part of whatever process is going on. I close my eyes, and a cyan mist settles over my thoughts.
And then suddenly, I’m not in the room anymore. Instead, I'm running through an open field, the wind blowing over my face, and I peer over my shoulder. A young girl is chasing me; she's maybe thirteen or fourteen. Her wild hair streams behind her. And she has the most beautiful face I've ever seen—Yaletha. I twist forward again, confused, and glance down. Mist covers the ground and dissipates momentarily as my feet pound the dirt. But they’re not my feet I see. They’re larger, a boy’s. The moment I notice, my consciousness separates from his and floats away to hover over the pair. The boy is Javen. This must be Yaletha and Javen a few years ago. As I watch them run and laugh, an ache fills my stomach. Yaletha powers forward, catches up, and tackles him, and the two fall to the ground laughing. They sit up, and Javen brushes the side of her cheek, staring into her eyes.
Through my connection to him, I feel his longing for her. His excitement to spend his life with Yaletha as his partner.
Burning embers of jealousy flare in my core.
Javen leans in and kisses her lightly. Yaletha accepts the kiss and then pulls away, smiling.
“I can't believe we are intended,” she whispers.
Javen takes her hand and raises it to his lips, kissing her fingers. Even as a younger teen, Javen was gentle and kind. He helps Yaletha to her feet and interlocks his fingers with the ones he had just kissed.
Tears slip down my cheek as the vision dissipates. The dull room comes back into view as intense sadness, jealousy, and a longing to be with Javen shudders through me. I inhale deeply and push the breath out. How can he not love Yaletha anymore when his feelings for her were so intense?
“Are you okay?” Irene asks.
“Uh . . . ” I force my emotions back together. “Yeah, I'm fine.” But I know I'm not. My mind is stuck in a place I don't understand when I should be focused on my Dad and how the Starfire can help Earth. Javen has his own issues to take care of that are more important than our relationship.
“You were out for a few hours, and I've almost got this data decrypted. I'm running one last program, and I think it'll clear everything up.”
I was asleep for several hours? With a shake of my head, I stand and walk to her cot, now littered with an eaten prepackaged meal and its wrapper, as well as an empty box of water. She picks the trash up and moves it aside to make room for me.
“I think it’s done.” Irene scans the old-fashioned screen. “There. Now I'm syncing the file to our Connects so we’ll both have the data. It'll be easier to scan through together this way.”
A few seconds later, my Connect vibrates and “Upload Complete” flashes on the screen. I tap the device’s face, and the hologram pops up above my wrist with the data. Irene does the same on hers.
The file is titled “Project Renewal,” followed by Dad's name as well as a few others I vaguely recognize from his team. I had seen these individuals a few times, but honestly, they were always so busy with the Arcadia terraforming project that I never got to know any of them.
Dr. Matthew Owens
Dr. Ann Jonas
Dr. Grant Abbot
An image appears beside each name. The one by Dr. Owens shows a bald man around sixty, and I'm almost sure it's the same guy from the lab. I tap the image.
“That's him,” I say, pointing Irene toward the man.
She glances over and raises an eyebrow. “I think you're right.” She stares at the image a little longer. “It was dark at the lab and I didn’t recognize him. But now that I see his face, he’s the same guy in the video feed your dad spoke to before the explosion.”
The memory of the video feed floods my mind. He is Dr. Owens, the man who got Dad the device he still has in the Intersection.
Excited, I start reading, but most of the information is way beyond my understanding and full of terms I don't know.
“You getting much of this?” Irene asks.
I ignore her and do a search on the term Starfire and flip through the references. After what seems like ages, I finally get to a note that catches my interest.
Our team theory is that the anomaly the Alku call “the Intersection” is more than it appears.
Yes, yes . . . I already know th
is.
We've done tests on a Starfire sample from each dimension, on both the Arcadia and Paxon (Alku) sides. The makeup is identical, but they are not the same. We believe there may be a binder inside of the Intersection, linking the two to create a much greater power source.
Once we arrive on Arcadia, I'll be testing my theory. If I'm right, the Starfire’s power inside the Intersection will be enough not only to maintain and protect Arcadia and Paxon, but also strong enough to bring a relatively small amount to Earth and regenerate the damaged atmosphere within a year. But first, we must get inside the Intersection to retrieve the crystals.
“So, Dr. Foster was trying to get inside the Intersection?” Irene asks from over my shoulder while reading my display.
I blow out a nervous breath. “That's where he is now.”
“What?” Irene asks.
“I need to find Dr. Owens. He still has access to the lab, so he might have more information. You think you or Max can get me out of here?”
I tap off my Connect and pop up from Irene’s bed to change my clothes. Just as I reach for my bag, a pounding sounds at the door. I flit my attention to Irene, and she shrugs.
Just in case, I pull my gun out from my waistband and then inch toward the door and wedge it open a crack.
In the hall stands a wild-eyed Beda.
Chapter 11
“Who is it?” Irene says from the cot behind me.
“What are you doing here?” I ask Beda.
Beda pushes past me into the room. “Helping you.” She drops a cloth bag she had slung over her shoulder to the ground.
Irene still stares at the warrior-like girl, uncharacteristically silent.
I shut the door behind us. “What do you mean ‘helping us?’”
Beda whips her head my way. “Is there something about those words you don't comprehend, human? I'm speaking English, as I was told to do. Heeeellllping.” She draws out the word and emphasizes the “p” with a pop of her lips.
For the first time today, I'm glad I still have the gun Irene gave me. Who knows if Beda might attack me at any moment?
Beda finally breaks our glare and scans the room, nose wrinkled. “Is there anything you can do about the smell in here? It's everywhere.”
I plant myself, less afraid of her and more tired of her attitude. Mostly.
“Why are you here ‘helping?’ Shouldn’t you be on the Paxon side doing something—important?”
“Right,” she grumbles.
“Knock off all this”—I wave my hand up and down in front of her— “attitude. Or you can go home.”
Beda crosses her arms over her chest and narrows her eyes at me. “One problem.”
“What?” Irene finally speaks.
Beda shoots a glare at her, too. Welcome to the club.
“Yeah,” I say to pull Beda's attention back to me. “What problem?”
“I can't go home. The Council sent me here.”
“To stay with me?” I demand.
Beda nods.
“Tell them I don't want you here.”
Her jaw tenses. “Already tried. Believe me. I gave the Council every excuse I could think of. But tensions between my father and Vihann are growing, and there's distrust for the Alku among the World Senate. The other members of the Council recommended that one of us have a presence on this side.”
“Because of your amazing personality? They thought you might sway people and help them understand the Alku?”
She bares her teeth at me and I shrink back.
Point proven.
“Why didn't they just send Javen?” I ask.
“Really?” she says. “Javen's Starfire connection to you is too strong for him not to be influenced. But they refuse to break the bond. Javen is distracted and may put you above the needs of our people.”
“But why you? Your opinion of humans, or me for that matter, isn’t positive or even neutral.”
“No,” she says flatly. “It's not.”
But I know what she says is true. Even I worried that Javen would put me above his duty to the Alku. I pinch the bridge of my nose and turn from her just as the door to our room opens, allowing light from the hall to spill in. Max stands in the opening.
“Why are you here?” I ask.
“I messaged him,” Irene says. “Told him to come right in. I figured you would want to share what we found with him.”
Beda angles away from the door.
“Do you know about this?” I ask him and gesture to Beda.
Max nods. “But the instructions from Hirata just arrived. Beda is on your team now, apparently.”
I let out a sigh. Great. Team Chaos.
“Then you are too, Max. And Irene,” I demand.
“Done,” Max says. “I already arranged it.”
Irene packs up her DataPort. “I'll show Beda around the building and find something for her to do.” She studies Beda, looking her up and down. “How about we start by eating breakfast?”
Beda rolls her eyes but agrees, and she and Irene leave Max and me alone.
I study Max and his ruffled hair. Apparently, his grooming hasn't had much attention yet.
“Did Irene wake you?”
“No, I've been up for a couple of hours, working.”
I sit on my cot and lean on my knees, unsure if I'm able to handle this anymore—or life, for that matter. I want to go back to the time when I was sort of a normal kid. Not someone carrying a laser pistol in her pants.
“Max, I still don't really get why you are here . . . with me.”
He looks around at the small space. “In your room?”
I roll my eyes. “No. Since the explosion, you’ve done nothing but stick by my side whenever you could.”
Max lowers himself next to me and I instantly catch his clean scent. Like the soap he must have used this morning.
“I told you before on the Pathfinder. I've followed Dr. Foster's work for a long time. Every time an update was sent out about the progress of Arcadia, I was on it right away. And in the process, I got a little caught up in the stories released about your family. You see, my family was never close. It's why I immersed myself in work once I was old enough. And I told my father I wanted to travel on the first ship here. He agreed because my parents knew coming to Arcadia was prestigious and would look good for us.
“Are they still on Earth?”
“They had planned to come out in six months. But right now, the passenger ships are delayed . . . for obvious reasons.”
“But why are you helping me so much?”
Max looks down. “Cassi . . . I've had a crush on you since the first time I saw you on TV.”
His admission takes me aback, and I sit up. Heat spreads up my neck.
Max wrings his hands together on his lap and stares at a spot on the ground. “But I know you don't feel that way about me, and that’s okay. I still feel like you’re an old friend.” He returns his attention to me, his eyes full of sincerity. “That’s why I want to be here for you. I've been living the political game my entire life because of my parents. Might as well put it to good use. When I had the opportunity to work the Gala before we arrived on Arcadia, I jumped at the chance. Never thought the shift would mean more than seeing you there— maybe meeting you. And when we did meet? It was like I had always known you. Sounds stupid, I know.” He rakes his hands through his hair and blows out a quick breath.
My vision of Javen kissing Yaletha swirls through my mind. The memory tightens my chest. Max has been there for me at every turn. He didn't have to, but he was, and he's willing to keep helping me with unrequited feelings. I like Max so much. I have since the moment I met him at the Gala. I chance a look his direction and take in the rumpled blond hair, gray eyes, and the frown lining his mouth. A mouth that is normally always ready with a smile my way. Warmth loosens the knots in my chest and I relax a notch. I, too, feel as if I’ve known him forever, and I trust him completely.
Moved by his confession, I snake my ar
ms around his neck and find his mouth. He gasps and tenses at my unexpected actions. Until now, even I didn't know that I would be kissing him. But in a snap, he relaxes and pulls my body close to his, as if he never wants to let go. I drink in the spicy scent of his skin and allow his kisses to engulf me. All I want is his strong arms and soft mouth right now. And my stomach flutters with excitement.
A clopping sound echoes down the hall and I flinch from Max's arms. The footsteps grow louder, and I know they belong to Irene and Beda—as if Beda needs one more reason to dislike me. But the steps continue away from my door. I let out a held-in breath and muster the courage to face Max.
A tense smile plays on his lips, the ones I just kissed. I open my mouth to speak, but he cuts me off.
“I know what you're going to say.” He folds his hands and leans his forearms on his knees. “That was a mistake—” He glances at me and then away again. “Please don't tell me the kiss was a mistake.”
I take in a long breath and gather my thoughts. “Max, I don't understand my feelings these days. Everything going on is so confusing. I was supposed to come to Arcadia and finish up school . . . make a life here with my dad. Nothing about Arcadia is what I thought. Nothing.”
Max tries to talk, but I hold my hand up.
“I liked you from the second I met you. Because you seemed kind . . . and thoughtful . . . and clever . . . and cute.” My cheeks flush as I say these words. My mind is still torn. Since the Starfire revealed parts of his life through the visions, my ache for Javen has grown stronger through our connection. I’ve seen his past and present, caught a glimpse of the person he is—in his soul. And there’s no doubt I need him. But how much of these feelings are real is the question. My feelings for Max seem so much more organic . . . like I expect falling in love to be. Slower.
“A good personality isn’t something you can fake for very long,” I continue, “even if you did want to meet me because you idolized my dad or had a childhood crush on me. You didn't bail when life got hard, and it wasn't because of some crystal. I think it's because of who you are.”
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