“Ultimately, a deal was struck that the most powerful of the nations would go in and share the profits three ways. But there was something they hadn’t anticipated.”
“The Layton rose up.” I could fill in a few details of the story.
“Yes. They did.” Darto gave me an unreadable expression. Maybe he was surprised I had offered up that detail.
“And they fought hard.” Gamble jumped back in. “The trio didn’t want to risk losing any troops, so they called our father in.”
“Your father?” Angie looked between the brothers.
“Yes. At the time he was thought to be the last of the true illusionists,” Darto explained.
“So you weren’t born yet?” Angie wore a confused expression “I thought you were older than Kelby?”
“We were born. We were of mature age, but our abilities were paltry compared to his.”
“Oh.” She nodded. “Continue.”
“And he went in and did what was asked.” Gamble crossed his legs at the ankles.
“What was asked?” Angie’s voice was soft as if she wished she didn’t actually have to ask the question.
“He used an illusion to lure them all the Layton to their death. Every man, woman, and child.” Darto dragged out the last admission.
Angie gasped. “Why? Why did all the children need to die?”
“They didn’t need to. But it was easier that way, I suppose.” Gamble shrugged.
“This is horrible.” Tears welled in Angie’s eyes. “The poor children.”
I put a hand on her shoulder. She made no move to shrug it off, so I left it there. If I could provide her with any comfort, I would do it.
“It is.” Darto nodded solemnly.
We sat in silence for a few moments before Angie started back with the questions. “Where do you come in? Were you there?”
“We come into the story because our father lost his mind after that.”
“Lost his mind?” She inclined her head to the side.
“The guilt…” Gamble trailed off. “And he didn’t follow the rules completely. He made an exception.”
“What kind of exception?” Angie sat forward. I followed along with my hand.
“He saved a little boy and a little girl. He thought that way the Layton people had a chance to repopulate one day.”
“What happened to those children?” Children scooted to the very edge of her chair.
“He had them settled on a hidden planet. Doing exactly what our father expected. And that’s where our argument comes in.”
“What do you mean?
“Darto has promised to help me hunt them down.” Gamble’s eyes bore into his brothers.
“Why do you want to hunt them down?” It was my turn to ask a question.
“Because I believe our father is with them. He chose those children over us.” Gamble scowled.
“And you don’t want to hunt them down, Darto?” Angie asked.
“No.” Darto shook his head. “Because finding those people may put them in danger. We can’t do that. Our father gave up life as he knew it to protect them.”
“No. He gave us up to protect them.” Gamble’s eyes were nearly black.
“You said he went crazy?” Angie asked.
Darto nodded. “With guilt. Over what he did.”
“Did he have a choice? I mean was he working for those planets because he wanted to or because they made him?” Angie asked a loaded question. She definitely wanted it to be a certain answer.
“Both,” the brothers said in unison.
“So it wasn’t necessary his fault.” Angie seemed to ponder the situation. She was good like that. Instead of snap judgments she liked to look at all sides of a situation. Even if it weren’t for my intense attraction to her, I would have wanted her around.
“He was still the one to do it. He could have resisted in theory.”
“In theory?” She raised an eyebrow.
“But it would have cost him his life and likely ours. The previous time he’d refused them, they killed our mother.” Gamble spoke as if he were discussing the mundane, not the death of his parents.
Angie gasped again. “What?”
“Caspian’s father was behind that,” I admitted before one of the brothers did it.
Angie balked. “Really, Gamble? The emperor killed your mother and you hesitated about helping us defeat him? Are you heartless? Do you have no desire for revenge?”
“There are many ways to take a man down.” Gamble smirked.
“Wait.” Understanding crossed Angie’s face. “You think your father can help. That’s why you wouldn’t help until Darto agreed.”
Gamble grinned. “This one is a smart one. There’s no way we can let you go back to Earth even if it survives this. You are too clever for that lonely planet.”
Angie looked to me.
“You will be able to go anywhere you please once we know things are safe.” Even though I also knew that I would be going wherever she went.
* * *
We moved into open waters, and the light rocking of the boat became something else entirely.
“We better strap in.” Gamble gestured to the buttons on the chair that must have activated the belts. “This is going to get worse before it gets better.”
“Great.” Angie pushed the button and strapped herself in. “Wonderful.” She put her hands around Malton to keep him secure on her lap.
The rest of us activated the straps as well. Gamble’s warning came just in time. The boat rocked back and forth insistently.
“Is this what those rides are like?” Malton asked after a large wave crashed into the side of the boat. “The ones that make you sick?”
“In some ways, but they end quickly. This is different. I wish I’d taken Dramine.” Angie was pale as a ghost.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Sea-sickness medicine.”
Gamble laughed. “You Earthlings think of everything.”
Angie closed her eyes. “Hopefully it will be over soon.”
“In a few more hours.” Gamble straitened in his seat. “If we are lucky.”
“Few more hours?” Malton’s tail jerked out. “We have to put up with this for a few more hours?”
“Your alternative is to jump in the water and swim alongside us. We can meet you at the next shore,” Gamble teased.
“No.” Malton relaxed against Angie again. “That won’t be necessary.”
Angie snuggled Malton against her chest. “It’s okay. Just try to relax.”
I couldn’t help but wish I were the one snuggled against her. Who would have thought I’d ever be jealous of a dog?
Part 6
Rachel
14 Rachel
For a moment it was like I had never left Andrelexa. I sat cross-legged on the floor working on Amsi. Thankfully Bando was able to get me everything I needed, and after plugging into the ship’s secondary system I was able to work on Amsi while the ship took us toward Andrelexa. It was a place I had no interest in returning to, but I would do what I had to do to protect the universe and all the people I cared about.
“What’s he like?” Veraka’s voice brought me back to the present and reminded me of how much had changed since I’d left the planet. Much of it had been bad, but not all of it. Not Noah. Not finding my brother.
“What’s who like?” I gently lay Amsi’s body on my lap.
“My starmate, of course. Caspian.” Versaka sat down beside me.
“Oh. I guess you don’t know him.” I hadn’t really thought of that.
“No. I don’t.” Veraka pulled her knees up to her chest. “But I will soon.”
“Then maybe we should just wait, and you should make your own opinion about him.”
“But that’s going to take so long. Tell me something.” She sounded so young even though she had to be close to my age. At least I thought she was. Age was impossible to define or understand when you were cross-comparing from different p
lanets.
I thought about what to say. I didn’t want to set Veraka off in any way. To criticize him would upset her, but then again making it seem like I was still interested in him might upset her too. In the hours I’d spent with her so far I’d already realized she was easily angered and apt to change her mood at the drop of a hat. “What specifically do you want to know?”
“Everything.” Her eyes widened. “Absolutely everything.”
Everything. Because that was specific. I got back to work on Amsi, so I could justify avoiding Versaka’s eyes as we talked. “He’s handsome. Tall. Strong.”
“Sounds dreamy.” She sighed.
“Sure.” I dug through a bin to find the part I needed.
“You don’t have to be negative just because you can’t have him.”
I tore my eyes from the robot to look at her. I wanted to make sure I made myself perfectly clear. “I have my own starmate, Veraka. He is the only one I want. Caspian and I might have a past, but I am absolutely fine that we will not have a future.”
“Why? What’s so bad about him??
I sighed. I’d called this, hadn’t I? “Nothing. But as we have a past, there are some things he’s done that really upset me.”
“Like what?” she pressed.
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
“Who are you to tell me what to worry about?” She snapped.
My annoyance at this girl was growing. Nothing about our situation was easy, but that didn’t mean she had to take it out on me. “It’s nothing that is going to impact you or your relationship.”
“So? Then why can’t you tell me about it?”
“He kept some things from me.” That was putting it mildly considering some things meant the existence of my home planet.
“You mean he lied.”
“Yes. He lied.” No reason to pretend otherwise. No matter what his reasons or when he found out, he’d kept me in the dark for years and cost me the chance to get to know my brother.
“About what? Anything important?”
“Does it matter?” I checked the screens. I was making progress with Amsi, but it was hard to focus with Versaka bringing up bad memories.
“Yes.” She moved to her feet. “It matters a lot. A whole lot.”
“Fine. Here it is.” If she wanted to hear it, I’d just put it all out there. “He led me to believe my home planet was gone when it wasn’t.”
“Led you to believe? I thought you said he lied.”
“Ugh. You were the one who wanted me to change the words I was using.”
“Still. How could he lead you to believe that?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“He showed me fake videos. He never told me the truth.”
“That’s pretty awful.” Her expression softened.
“Yes. But as I said that has nothing to do with you.”
“He must have had a good reason for it.” She sat back down.
“Sure.” I turned my attention back to Amsi.
“I am being serious. He has to be a good man. He is my starmate after all.”
“Yes. I agree.” Whatever I actually thought didn’t matter. I didn’t want to set her off or have her voluntarily put herself in a coma again. The girl was weird.
“What about your starmate?”
“What about him?” This would hopefully bring us into safer conversation territory.
“What is he like?”
I didn’t hesitate with my answer this time. “Amazing.”
She laughed. “Okay. Very descriptive.”
“He’s sweet, and strong, and handsome like no one else. And funny. Need I go on?”
“And you’re in love.” She laughed.
“I am.” I saw no reason to pretend otherwise. My feelings for Noah were intense and confusing and sometimes made no sense, but I loved him. There was no question about that.
“That must feel so nice.” She leaned back on her hands.
“It does, but it’s also scary.”
“Lots in life is scary.”
“That is true.” I started a test to see if I’d fix the major issues with my robot.
“What is your home planet like?” She sat forward.
“Earth? It’s amazing.”
“Again with amazing.” This time she didn’t laugh gleefully.
“Sorry it just is. I can breathe their air. And the food and the music is the best.”
“And that’s where your starmate is from?” She scooted over so she was seated just beside me.
“Yes. Noah is from there.”
“Which is probably part of this whole you love your planet mind set.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged.
“You will see him again. I know we have to find Caspian first, but then you will get to go back to Noah.”
“I know.” I wasn’t going to lose hope.
“But thank you for finding me.” There was a seriousness to her voice that made me look up.
“You are welcome, but I didn’t have a choice. The balance of the universe depends on both sets of us getting aligned.”
“Two sets at once is very rare. Very odd.”
“Very frightening.” I checked the screen. The test was still running.
“You didn’t use the word scary. You do know how to vary your word choice.”
“You can be condescending about a language you don’t even know?” I would never understand this girl.
“Of course I know it.”
“You do?”
“Yes. This is my native language.”
“Oh.” Earth English was her native tongue? Was that possible?
“It’s because of me.” Bando walked in. “I make you fluent in all languages. So you’ve been conversing with her in her own tongue.”
“Oh.” I processed his words. “That’s interesting. It’s strange I didn’t realize it.” Had I really been speaking in a new language without realizing it?
“I am your snow-demon. I was particularly created to help you. That means I make things easy and seamless for you.”
“Do you want something to wear?” I carefully kept my above his waist.
“No. Why do you ask?” His forehead furrowed.
Veraka giggled. “Because you are naked. Stark naked.”
“Oh.” He looked down. “I suppose I am. I never gave much thought to things like that before.”
“You might want to find something to wear before we get to our destination.” People of Alexa were proud of their bodies and showed them off whenever possible, but they did wear clothing.
“Okay. I will find something.” Bando hurried off.
“Do you think he realizes how attractive he is?” Veraka put a hand over her mouth. “Please don’t tell Caspian I said that.”
“I won’t, and no one can blame you. And to answer your question, I think the answer is no. He doesn’t realize it. I don’t think he really thinks of himself much.”
“No. He seems far more focused on serving you.”
“You seem to know quite a bit about snow-demons.” And I needed to use that to my advantage.
“I know my share.”
“I know nothing.” Sometimes it was better to admit what you lacked to get what you wanted.
“You know something now. You have one after all.”
“I know they can help translate. I know they are strangely talented and can get anything you need, but what are they exactly?”
“Well, no one knows that.” She leaned back on her elbows.
“What do you mean?”
“They are created by the universe to serve a certain purpose.”
“And?” I waited for to add more to her answer.
“And that’s what they are.”
“Tell me what else you know.” The test finished. There were still critical issues. I set Amsi aside. First, I needed to get these answers from Veraka.
“I told you most of it.”
“But why are they called snow-demons?”
“Maybe this is a translation thing, but in my language, demons doesn’t have a great connotation.”
“Oh. Not in my language either, but nothing is truly good or bad. There is always the in between. And in this instance I think demon means power rather than anything bad. They can be bad or good depending on who they serve.
“The universe would create one that is bad?”
“What defines bad?” Veraka asked. “Sometimes it’s clear. There are definite wrongs someone can commit, but other times it’s not so clear.”
“So sometimes the demons fit into that grey zone?”
“Exactly. And sometimes they are just plain bad.”
“Oh. What was the point of that whole grey zone conversation then?” And once again I was reminded of how infuriating Veraka could be.
“Because sometimes they fit in the middle. And often no one knows what they are until much reflection afterward.”
“Is that your way of saying Bando might be bad?” I shivered. I had put so much trust in him already. The possibility that my trust was misplaced ate at me.
“No.” She sat straight up. “It’s my way of saying you might be bad.”
“Yet you are working with me.”
She shrugged. “In life we have to take chances.”
“If that’s what you want to call it.” I held my tongue and didn’t throw her words right back at her. She could have been bad as well.
“That’s what life is all about. We take chances constantly.” She leaned closer. “Like right now with that robot. How do you know she won’t become sentient and kill us all?”
“Because robots don’t just do that.”
“Sometimes they do…” she trailed off.
“Have you seen it?” I picked Amsi up.
“No. But in theory.” Her eyes glimmered.
For some reason my annoyance at her melted away. I laughed. She did have a sense of humor. “I like you, Veraka.”
“I like you too, Rachel. I like you a whole lot. Even if you are too pretty.”
“I’m not trying to take Caspian from you.” It was strange even having this discussion. I’d never worried about this sort of things. My experience with girl drama was non-existent.
Starburst: Half Light Page 10
