What if Franky has a few working hovers? Is he going to send them after me? My stomach roils at the thought. This entire thing was a huge mistake! I can’t seem to port out of here, and I can’t open the portal with the device in midair. Panic shudders up my spine and settles in my chest. I don’t know what to do other than accept my fate.
The very next second, warmth from the Starfire overtakes me again.
Relax, Cassi. Everything is going to be okay. A chorus of voices soothe, and in that moment I know it’s the Protectors. A cyan glow enters my mind, calming my entire body. So much so that my eyelids flutter shut, and I’m sent into a place of cyan dreams.
***
With a startled gasp, I awaken, still inside the hover. I stretch my sore neck before pushing myself up to peer out the window. I’m relatively high in the sky, at least a hundred feet up, and probably at the maximum height these hovers go. Below me is scraggly brown desert terrain.
I have no idea where I am.
All I do know is that LA must be far behind and that nobody has followed me, if the console is correct.
Outside the vehicle's hull, I notice a light cyan glow. I’m cloaked—the hover is cloaked. That’s probably why no one followed. They don’t know I’m here.
Ahead, on the ground, there’s some sort of civilization—ten small buildings, but no sign of life outside of them. I glance at the console and notice we are slowly descending. This must be our destination. My heart starts to pound again, but my body floods with calm and the drumming subsides.
The hover continues its descent until it lands just before the largest building.
The outside of the one-story compound is shabby, as if the buildings were built a very long time ago and haven’t been maintained much since. The metal roofs are rusted, and the paint on the outside is peeling. The entire place looks deserted. Scrubby plants and a few withered cacti are scattered across the landscape. Several small mountains pepper the distance, the fading sun falling behind their peaks. I guess the trip lasted several hours.
Unexpectedly, the door to the hover pops open, and I’m met with a wave of sweltering heat. Gasping, I try to inhale, but the air scorches my lungs. Sweat immediately beads on my skin.
Finally climbing down from the seat, I step unto the cracked soil. I would guess not much grows here, and maybe that’s why everyone left.
So why am I here?
A creaking sound comes from the building ahead of me. A large roll-up door raises, and two boot-covered feet can be seen in the opening. I stay put at the hover, keeping my hand on my bag containing the portal. The logical side of my brain tells me to take it out, activate it, and get back to Arcadia. But my heart says no. And for whatever reason, right now my hands are listening to my heart, so they don’t move.
The squeaking sound of the door continues as it moves upward, until a woman ducks out from underneath it and walks toward me. She’s dressed in white with a green scarf covering her head and partially obscuring her face. The last of the day's sunlight shines over the mountain and casts her figure in a partial silhouette as she draws closer. My eyes lock onto every nuance of movement, every line and shadow. I can feel my heart quiver; something about her gait tells me I’ve met her before.
I straighten, prepared for anything. The woman stops several feet in front of me.
Steady hands pull the scarf back until a cascade of strawberry-blonde hair falls from the fabric. “I’ve been waiting so long for this.”
Disbelief rushes through me in one shock wave after another. I blink against the heat that surrounds me.
“Mom?”
CHAPTER 13
There’s no way this is Mom.
Surely I’m having a vision or hallucination.
The woman who looks like my mother inhales deeply as her eyes moisten with tears. Grinning from ear to ear, she takes several steps forward and then wraps her arms around me tightly.
I flinch from the touch. The lavender aroma of her hair fills my nose, and I’m thrown back in time to my younger years. My body relaxes completely. If this is a vision, it’s a good one. That scent was part of my daily life for sixteen years. I smelled it every morning after Mom got ready for the day and every evening when she hugged and kissed me goodnight.
A memory surfaces from when I was twelve, the moment I told her how I was too old for goodnight kisses. But she only smiled. “Too bad,” she replied and then promptly planted one on my cheek. Her lavender scent filled my senses and I bit back a smile. “Because I’m not,” she finished. I laughed when she did it, secretly glad she didn’t listen to me. I never told her so, but I’m pretty sure she knew.
My lips curl into a smile at the memory. I’m pulled back to the present, still in Mom’s arms.
“Mom!” Tears spill over my cheeks as I melt into her embrace, hugging her back.
Footsteps come from behind and another woman with medium-colored skin and dark hair approaches us. “I’ll get this ship inside, Isabel.”
Mom mumbles an “okay.”
Still engulfed in my mother’s presence, I vaguely notice the woman slide into the still-open hover, securing the door a moment before the vehicle raises from the ground and propels toward the buildings.
Mom loosens her grip but keeps her arm around me. “We need to get inside.” She tips her head to the sky. “Too many possible spies.”
Innumerable questions carousel around my mind, but there are so many that all I do is nod and wipe the tears off my face. Mom’s arm settles around my shoulder and she guides me to the same roll-up door she came from a moment ago. Before we make it in, the wind kicks up and sand from the ground blows into the air.
“Could be a little sandstorm,” she informs me. “They come in the evening sometimes.” Once we’re inside, she lets me go to tap the face of her Connect. The wind wheezes as it picks up speed and whirls more sand into the air, but the door closes fast enough that not much slips into the space.
“You arrived just in time,” Mom says. “Flying can get a little dicey during a storm.”
My heart clenches while I stare blankly at her. She’s just as beautiful as the day Dad and I lost her. Long strawberry-blonde hair flows over her shoulders, her emerald eyes sparkling with tears. She gives me a soft smile, and questions fill my mind again.
“Why—” I start to ask, but Mom lays her hand on my shoulder.
“Please, before you ask anything. I want a chance to explain, and then I will answer whatever questions you have.”
My stomach tightens at her words, but part of me has no idea where to start. I want to be furious at her for making Dad and me believe she was dead. Yet how can I be furious when finding out someone I thought I had lost forever is here again?
I bob my head several times and let her pull me away from the metal door. On the other side, the wind howls like a wolf. A shiver runs up my spine.
We enter an area reminiscent of a small hanger lit by overhead lights. Mom clings to the crook of my arm and silently leads me down a corridor. We pass several rooms with windows built into the door’s top half. Inside, multiple people in lab coats bustle around the spaces. The rooms are lined with holocomputer screens, and I do a double take when I recognize a split screen of Earth and Arcadia.
I must drag my feet at the sight, because Mom pulls on my arm. “We’ll get to that. Soon, I’ll show you all around, and you can see what we’re doing here.”
Her voice pulls my attention back to her face, and I smile in disbelief. “Are you real?” The words come tumbling out uncertainly.
Swallowing hard, Mom stops us. Her hand cradles my face, and then adoring fingers run over my cheek. “Yes.”
Her hand drops to her side. She urges us toward an office a few doors down from the busy lab. When she touches the handle, the small screen beeps and a green light appears above it, and then she opens the door wide.
Inside is a typical office with a desk and chair and a simpler guest seat. A small loveseat is on the right. Shelving lines t
he wall above the couch. Resting on top of the shelves are items from my past. Our past.
There’s a scattering of framed images depicting Dad, Mom, and me, along with a few things from home—like a large conch shell we bought on vacation at the beach when I was five. One of the images on the top shelf is of Mom when she was a teenager, probably no older than me. Next to her are my grandparents. Reaching for the frame, I bring the picture closer and then run the tip of my index finger over the image of my grandfather. He looks much the same as he did in my vision, when the Starfire used his image to humanize itself for me.
“You met him?” Mom steps beside me, peering at the photo.
I want to ask her how she knows this information, but I don’t. “Some version of him.”
Inhaling deeply, I release the air through my nose as I place the photo back on the shelf. I turn toward Mom and study the simple necklace around her neck. It holds three green beads in the middle, flanked by silver ones.
“I thought it matched your eyes.” Mom’s fingertips graze the beads. “I always loved this necklace—it was the first one we made together. I wear it often to feel close to you.” She glances to the loveseat. “Have a seat.”
Once I do, she continues. “I’m sorry I don’t have a better place for us to meet.” She settles next to me. “The sleeping quarters are shared, and this office is the most private.”
“It’s fine.”
“Cassi.” Mom lowers her chin to avoid my eyes. “I know you are probably very confused.”
“You can say that.” The words slip from my mouth in a huff. “How did I even get here?”
Her gaze moves to my ring—her ring. “Two things. I can sometimes sense you with the Starfire.” Reaching into the neck of her shirt, she pulls out a long necklace with a cyan crystal attached to a gold chain. “Also, there’s a beacon built into the ring.”
My eyes widen, and I touch the band on my finger. “Dad was here with the ring. Did you think it was me?”
“I did see the beacon activate several days ago, but because of my Starfire connection to you, I knew you weren't here. At first, I wasn’t entirely sure who had it. We monitored where the beacon traveled. Kole Harris. I suspected it was your father because we had spoken about Harris and Galaxis many times.”
“And you couldn’t go to him?”
Lines form between Mom’s eyebrows. “Believe me. It was tough not to, but I had to let fate take its course.” Her eyes brighten slightly. “Then, I saw the beacon ignite again. I focused on the Starfire energy, and I knew it was time to bring you in. We locked onto your position, and I summoned you.”
That was the pull I felt in LA. It wasn't about staying to find Max. It was my mom calling to me. “So how much do you know about what’s happened to me?”
“A lot,” she admits with a resigned sigh. “I know you found my journal with my last message to you, that the Starfire has contacted you, and that you are the Protector.”
I glance to her, confused. “How?”
“For the same reason I knew I had to fake my death and allow you and your dad to go to Arcadia alone. You understand the call of the Starfire.”
“Did you know I thought Dad had died, too? And that I was stuck on a planet I didn’t want to go to, all by myself?”
My stomach spins with nausea as the words exit my mouth. I don’t want to be mad at her, but the sudden emotions and memories overwhelm any logic I pretend to have at this moment.
“And you know I’m supposed to save the world or something ridiculous? I mean, how is one girl supposed to save the world?”
Mom doesn’t reply right away. Instead, she stares quizzically at me for a moment. “You are one part of the plan, Cassi,” she finally answers. “An integral part, essential. And you will have a lot of help.”
“Why couldn’t you come with us?” Tears tumble from my eyes, and I don’t bother wiping them away.
Mom leans into me and places her arm around my shoulders. “It doesn’t even fully make sense to me yet, but I had to stay on Earth to begin the Renewal process in secret.”
“Dad can keep secrets! I can, too.”
The corners of her lips tip up into a sad smile. “I know. I’m so, so sorry. I never wanted to for it to be this way!” She embraces me tightly and we stay this way for several minutes before she releases me. Mom wipes tears from her eyes. “The Starfire ran all the scenarios. The one most likely to succeed was to have me stay behind. To begin working on Renewal so it would be ready when we needed it, should Hammond and the World Senate not work peacefully with the Alku. It was a backup plan no one could know about. No one that was connected to your father or me. And if either you or your dad knew I was alive, it put the mission and you in danger.”
“But Dad did nearly die! Hammond tried to kill him.” Tears pour over my cheeks.
“But he didn’t,” she soothes, squeezing my hand. “The Alku and the Starfire took care of him. The Starfire knew he was necessary to the plan as well and brought him into the Intersection so you would be led there. I didn’t know how everything would happen, but the Starfire is constantly calculating for best results. I had to believe we would come back together eventually.”
“The Starfire isn’t always right, you know. It makes mistakes.”
Leaning back on the chair, she sighs. “I do know this, and just like you, I’ve learned that I have to trust it. And although I hated the idea of leaving you more than you can know, I saw that it was necessary that you to go Arcadia to prepare, to become the Protector. Once that happened, you would learn what you need to trigger Renewal.”
Trying to think of what to say, I squeeze my hands together. But the words don’t come.
“Of course, triggering Renewal could have happened sooner—and more easily—had all of Earth’s leaders remained on the same page. But that was apparently impossible. Me staying here while you and Dad went to Arcadia was the only viable solution.”
“But we could have known you weren't dead!”
Mom shakes her head. “If you had known, there was a small possibility that what I had to do would be exposed. Either of you could have been taken and forced to give up the information you knew. We couldn’t let that happen and put you in danger like that. The only way for me to continue to work on Renewal in secret was for you to think I was dead. Your dad’s thoughts would have been on me. Was I safe? How was the project going? Did I need him? I couldn’t have that. There was so much more at stake than just our family. Two civilizations are at great risk. I had to be willing to sacrifice.” Her intense gaze trains on me, holding mine for a moment. “Just as you may be asked to. When the time comes, you will understand better.”
My heart picks up at her words. “What do you mean?”
“Honestly, I don’t know exactly yet. The Starfire has asked great things of me, and it chose you as a Pure Soul for a reason. We are part Alku, Cassi. The Starfire is mingled with our DNA, so our connections to both planets are strong. The Starfire needs this bond to save them both.”
I sigh when really I want to scream and tell her how horrible the last year has been. Yet, in my heart, I know she did what she had to—just as I’ve done. I’ve let the Starfire lead me too, despite the risks.
Standing, I push aside any anger I have toward her choices, even the crystal’s choices. “You said you got a head start on Renewal.”
Her lips curve into a smile, and she holds her hand out to me. “Let me show you.”
CHAPTER 14
We walk silently as anticipation courses through me. Mom leads me somewhere in the center of the building, to a set of heavy metal double doors flecked with tiny bits of crystals—just like the portal created by the Starfire inside the Intersection. Did the crystals create this, too?
“What’s behind there?” I half know, but I want to be sure.
Mom smiles. “Earth’s salvation.”
My mind immediately goes back to Dad, who said the same thing upon our arrival to Arcadia. How much did he know t
hen? While we all viewed the planet from the window and thought Arcadia was the salvation . . . was he referring to the Starfire the entire time?
After a few taps on her Connect, the heavy doors slide back to reveal a landing and a series of stairs that lead underground. The overhead lighting is a soft cyan—Starfire crystals definitely power this area.
A wave of warmth travels over my entire body, and a familiar sound meets my ears, almost like music, similar to the sound the Starfire gives off on Arcadia. The sensation and notes compel me to move forward.
“Why didn’t I hear or feel all this Starfire when it was right here below us?” I ask, walking to the landing’s edge.
Mom taps on her Connect again, and the doors shut behind us. “The Starfire has protected itself with a special underground facility to house this part of the Network. Everything is completely contained—and invisible, unless you know it’s here.”
Confused I turn back to her. “Network?”
“The Renewal Network.” She places her hand on my shoulder blade. “Come see. It will help you understand better.”
My heart flutters with excitement, and I pound down several flights of stairs. The walls are made of a stone material, again flecked with cyan crystals. When we arrive at the bottom landing, another massive metal door awaits us.
“We had to protect any Starfire knowledge here on Earth, as well as allow the crystals to grow.”
The door slides open as she taps on her Connect again, and a massive underground cavern I would never have been able to guess was here greets us. The unexpected natural space is complete with several small waterfalls that spill clean, sparkling water into pools. Healthy green plants grow beside them, and a few boast white flowers—very similar to the ones on Arcadia. Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of cyan crystals have pushed their way through the gray stone walls. As I enter, their energy pulses and travels through my body.
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