Star People Legacy

by Smith, T. L.

  “Din’ah.”

  “Dina?” Casey let out a huff. “That’s not weird at all. I was expecting something strange or exotic. What about the last name?”

  “It’s Din-ah, not Dina, and it’s Casatchellia’da. It was Americanized to Castle.”

  “Casta-what? That doesn’t even remotely sound Navajo.”

  “Because I’m not Navajo either, but don’t ask what I am. It’s some big family secret that apparently I’m finally ready to learn. Mom told me a few things, but I need to look them up and see if I can figure any of this out before they get here.”

  Casey stiffened up again. “Before who gets here?”

  “Everyone. My parents and my brothers. She’d already told them to come here, before I called her. She says they have to be here to help me. I don’t know why, or from what, but I...” My head was starting to hurt again and I twisted around so I could lay against Casey’s chest. “…it feels as if that’s what is supposed to be happening. Them, and telling you.”

  “I’m understanding less and less of this, not more.” Casey readjusted his hold on me. “You’re not Beth, but Din…ah, and you’re not Navajo, though that part wasn’t a big surprise. No one in your family looks Navajo, no offense to the Navs. Your dad looks like one of those old pictures of Apache warriors, and I guess your brothers too. But I suppose you’re not Apache.”

  “Yeah…no. Pretty sure we’re not Apache either.”

  “Well, it’ll be interesting to find out what you are. And why you can suddenly tell me that much. Almost as much as finding out why what happened on your run has your whole family flocking out here. This is not making sense.”

  “No it doesn’t, but…” I wondered about telling him more, but mom had said to tell him. “…something else happened out there. Something Lutz didn’t see.”

  “Of course!” Casey huffed, but didn’t let go. “Let’s get it all out.”

  “Okay.” I shifted again, this time straddling his legs so I could see his face. Maybe a part of me didn’t trust he wouldn’t roll his eyes at me if I wasn’t looking.

  “I never really believed in all this Spirit stuff, but when that man was only about a meter away from me. I saw something floating around him, like a… ghost. Or, as it seems to be pointed out to me repeatedly, a Spirit. It was attached to him, maybe influencing him. I could see his eyes and he wasn’t in the least bit worried that I had my gun pointed at his head. It, that thing, scared me more than he did.”

  Casey’s hands stroked my legs, his eyes not betraying the slightest doubt or question that I might be somehow suffering some weird delusion. “I’m sure that would freak me out too, then everything else on top of that.”

  “So you’re not going to say I’m crazy or was dehydrated, or heatstroke?”

  “I know you. Nothing scares you, but I can feel how… disturbed, you are about this. If anyone else tried to tell me this, I’d be calling for an ambulance, but it’s you. I believe everything you’re telling me.”

  I let out a relieved sigh. He meant every word. I could see it in his eyes and started to understand what my mother called a pure Spirit. That I couldn’t be with anyone else. Some of that deep down tension I’d held forever, fluttered away from me. I couldn’t think of sharing this with anyone, but Casey, ever. He was part of me. He always had been. I just never let myself see it, until now.

  “Oh, my love.” He reached up and brushed my cheek. “It’s all going to be fine.” I didn’t realize I’d started to cry. He pulled me back into his arms. “We’ll figure this all out.”

  CHAPTER

  8

  As tired as I was after our hot bath, I had to look up the things my mother had said. Snuggled up in bed, we browsed for information on Star People, Maxa’xak and the Yahi. Most of the info was vague conjecture, research gathered by anthropologists, which meant it was only what the tribal people wanted to tell them and numerous fictions masquerading as facts about our many different cultures.

  Some stories were hilarious to read, but many struck home in sad ways. Stories of the trials the Native Americans struggled through after America was ‘discovered’ by the white men. The Yahi story though, that was the most curious. I read a part of it out loud to Casey.

  “They called him the last wild Indians.”

  “They haven’t met your brothers…ouch” Casey grabbed my elbow. “Was he part of your secret tribe? He couldn’t tell anyone his name either.”

  “I wouldn’t think so.” I went to the last known picture of him. “My mother said we failed them and from the reports, their people were completely erased in the early twentieth century. As the lone survivor, he lived out the rest of his life with no one ever knowing his name. Like my family, he wasn’t allowed to tell it, though his rules were slightly different.”

  “Either way, it has to be a lonely existence.”

  Cocooned in his arms and blankets, that part of me felt less painful. Though I still felt like Beth, two people outside my family knew my Spirit name. Somehow it felt like I’d been freed from some prison. “It was.”

  I turned to the next stories, scanning them for clues.

  “Din’ah.” Casey whispered it in my ear, making me shiver. “Let’s put this away for tonight. You’re barely awake.”

  The same page on Maxa’xak myths faded as my computer pad started to time out on me. “You’re right. I can’t read anymore.” I tapped off, sliding it onto the side table and rolling over to wrap my arms around him. “I have so much to ask my mother when she gets here.”

  “Well, that’s not going to be for a few days.” Casey leaned over me, brushing my hair back. “I know things are crazy right now, but I really missed you.”

  His body pressed down against me and I tightened my arms. “I missed you too and I’m sorry how I left things.”

  “We both have our careers to consider, but I never doubted your feelings. I knew you loved me, so I was willing to fight it out with you.” He kissed me. “Now that we’ve jumped one hurdle, we can figure the rest of it out, together.”

  “I can’t even begin to tell you… oh, hell.” I tightened my arms around his neck. “Come here!” I pulled his head down and kissed him, getting a rumble of something between a laugh and groan as I wrapped my leg over him.

  Four to five days apart always left a challenge to see how fast we could get home and out of our clothes. This time had been hampered by all the weird shit, but right now we both pushed it far out of our heads.

  But it wasn’t just time apart that made this reunion different. Our relationship had always run hot, but part of me held him at an arms distance. Telling him my Spirit name removed that barrier, and he felt it too. His usual slow seduction was tossed aside for a wild passion I hadn’t felt since our very first time together.

  We were partners for a good six months, going out on patrols, spending our days and nights together, but always strictly professional. It hadn’t escaped my attention that Casey was a handsome man, by all my standards. Those deep brown eyes and long lashes had a way of distracting me. But I was a Marine and he was Border Patrol, and we had a job to do.

  Then one day I slipped on a rock while checking out one of the relief stations. I had on combat boots, but the ankle twisted up anyway. I rode out the rest of the day and wrapped it up before going to sleep. Somewhere in the middle of the night I woke up screaming in pain, my whole leg cramped up.

  Casey heard me and came into my room. I tried to make him go away, but my leg was in visible spasms. He disappeared for a minute and returned with his overnight kit. I was beyond protesting as he took my leg and started to massage some ointment onto it. It was cold and hot at the same time and smelled of eucalyptus. In a few minutes my leg started to feel better.

  He removed the wrap from my ankle, poking around and proclaiming nothing seemed damaged, just bruised. Dehydration was the probable cause for the cramping. He made me drink down a bottle of fortified water, while he continued to gently rub my leg.

  I w
atched him, watching me, through those luscious lashes. Did his hand linger just a bit too long? Did I lean into his touch? Whoever made that first move, some switch got flipped and there was no stopping either of us.

  Getting through the rest of our patrol was almost impossible. We didn’t want to leave the trailer, but had a job to do before we could return to base. When we did, we skipped the club, exchanging whispers in the parking lot on what to do next. I met him at his apartment. By the end of the month I’d moved in, unofficially.

  Because we worked together, we couldn’t be discovered or we’d be broken up as patrol partners, but then by the end of the year he got promoted. Our first week apart nearly killed me. I had emotions I’d never experienced with anyone else. But I held it together and got back from my first patrol with a new partner. Casey was waiting at HQ when I rolled in. He took us public with a long, hot kiss.

  There was no doubt in anyone’s mind by the time he let go of me that the BP Regional Commander and U.S. Marine Captain were a couple.

  Now we were crossing another threshold. I could feel it. His strong arms made me feel rooted to this place, to this world. No longer an outsider simply passing through. He made me feel complete, but also filled me with a sense of dread. The stories on the internet were myths, but I had no doubt real life was going to be a lot more terrifying.

  I also had no doubt Casey would stand beside me, no matter what the truth was. I ran my fingers through his hair as he finally slept, his head on my chest, his arms wrapped around me, his legs tangled with mine. I let out a single laugh, knowing he hated his hair messed up, unless it was me doing it.

  He was mine. Such a pleasant thought to drift off to.

  A buzzing woke us both. It felt like I’d only just closed my eyes. Casey reached for his phone as I looked at the clock. It was just a little after four in the morning. His phone was in sleep mode, except for emergency calls. This ringtone said it was critical.

  Casey jabbed at the face of the phone, still blurry-eyed, hitting the call button out of habit. “Delgado here.”

  I got up, turning the lamp on and heading for the closet to get him a clean uniform. He grumbled through whatever they were telling him, dragging himself up. He closed the bathroom door, but I could hear him issuing orders to secure the area, call in backup from the State Police. I pulled on one of his t-shirts.

  He was slicking back his hair when he came out again. “What’s up?”

  “Truck load of illegals.” He sounded grim.

  “How bad?” If they were okay, they wouldn’t be making him come out to the scene.

  “All dead.” He shook his head as he sat on the edge of the bed to put his boots on. “Probably going to be out all day. I’ll let you know.” He looked over to my tablet. “It’ll give you time to do some more digging.”

  “I’ll fix you a thermos.” I left him to finish getting ready. There was no point asking any more questions. If it had been on the proving grounds he’d have asked for Marine backup and I might have gone with him, but he’d ordered in the State. Still, with what was going on in the Tinajas, I wondered.

  I was half-tempted to get dressed and go with him anyway, but he stepped into the kitchen as the last drops of coffee filled the thermos. He leaned down to kiss my cheek as I screwed the lid on. “Sorry I have go.”

  “Duty calls. I know it as well as you do.” I gave him a kiss, slipped the thermos into his backpack and tossed in a couple of my MREs. “Call me when you get a chance. Keep your eyes open.” I didn’t know why I threw that warning in, but it felt right. “Anything look strange, stranger than it should, let me know.”

  The incidents at the bar were enough for Casey to take my warning seriously. “I’ll keep one eye on my back.”

  I resisted a swipe at his hair. A regular duty day I’d have done it, but he looked so grim. Strangely it only made him more handsome. Tall, dark, brooding. A crisp uniform, starched to a razor sharpness that would make any Marine proud. He was already broad-chested, so the layer of Kevlar under his shirt only added bulk to his muscular frame. The short-sleeved summer uniform displayed just enough of his biceps to warn off anyone wanting to take him on in a tussle.

  Looking at him made my whole body tingle. He was definitely mine. “I’ll be waiting for you.” I slipped the pack up his arm and stretched to kiss him again. “Be safe.” He let me walk him out to the landing.

  I lingered after he was gone. “Be safe.”

  CHAPTER

  9

  Back inside the apartment it was quiet. I started back to bed, but the call had gotten enough adrenaline going to wake me up. I grabbed my tablet and switched the pod in the coffee machine, making a pot of my favorite brew. Casey liked it strong enough to get up and walk out on its own. I preferred it mild and flavored with vanilla, with lots of cream and sugar.

  I snuggled into the corner of our sofa with coffee and my tablet, taking up the topics of Maxa’xak and Star People again.

  Just as it was the night before, there was nothing but a lot of Native American myths. I’d heard different versions of the story growing up, but I also remembered my father warning me and my brother that myths always had a grain of truth at their core. So, what was the truth?

  After a dozen similar myths, exhaustion won out over caffeine, not that I really cared. I let myself put the tablet down and pull the fuzzy blanket over my shoulder. A few more hours of sleep wouldn’t hurt.

  My whole body burned, but there was no pain. The fire came from inside me. It had been there forever and was finally releasing itself, rising up through me and spreading. It was a light as blinding as the sun. I felt like the sun. I’d always enjoyed laying in the sun, absorbing the energy, becoming that energy, but now it came from inside me.

  I could flow away with the light, except for a weight clinging to me. If I could only shake it loose. Opening my eyes I could see the restraint attached to me. It was the man from the mountains and our arms clung to each other in the last throws of hand-to-hand battle. He screamed as my light burned where he touched me, where I gripped his neck.

  With a sweep of my leg, I tossed him to the ground, not releasing his neck as I knelt on his chest. Words flowed out of me, the secret language taught to us by my mother. It’s a prayer to release the evil Spirit from its host body. The man screamed louder as the ghostly shape I’d seen possessing him writhe through him.

  This was killing him, but looking down into the man’s eyes, I could see he was already dead. For all the fear and pain, there was no light in those eyes, just the same deadly dark beady eyes that had stared at me in our first meeting. Once this Spirit left him, he would truly be dead. I had no choice. I pressed my knee harder into his chest, repeating the prayer slowly, firmly.

  As if my words were poison, the Spirit released the man. His hands stopped prying at my arms and dropped to the sand beneath us. His neck split open and the dark Spirit flowed out onto the ground like a snake, trying to reach the safety of the rocks we fought among. I gave it no quarter, drawing my knife and driving the blade down through the Spirit. It let out a sick scream of its own, then curled into a ball around the knife, and died.

  Looking down, the man stared at me still, but there was no breath, no Spirit, not even the one he’d once possessed. He had been nothing but a vessel for the evil. Now he was nothing.

  Standing up, I heard more screams from somewhere higher in the mountains. Looking to the sun I felt the desire to let myself go to it, but I must find the Maxa’xak. I must end it, once and for all. I prepared myself to follow, but I am not alone. My family stood behind me, shining. Possessed by the same light of the sun. Behind them stand others. Star People. We are Star People, here to save the Earth People from this demon.

  I step over the one I crushed. There is true killing that must be done.

  I hit my leg on the table as I jump up from the sofa. My body felt hot, but not from the blanket. I felt a fever and saw a glow in my skin that didn’t belong there. “What the hell?” I ru
bbed at my arms, but the iridescence remained.

  “You okay?” Lutz called out from his bedroom and I heard him open the door.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” I grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around me, heading for the bedroom. “Just bumped into the table. Sorry I woke you.”

  “You didn’t.” He was in the hallway as I slipped into my bedroom, closing the door. “You sure you okay? You don’t have to run off. I’ve seen you in your jammies.”

  I try to laugh, dropping the blanket. The glow was gone. “Ahmmm... I need to take a shower. Help yourself to whatever you want.”

  “Okay. I need coffee. Mind if I change the pod? I can smell that fru-fru stuff you drink.”

  “Yeah, whatever you want.” I checked everywhere on my arms. The fever was gone too. Going to the bathroom, I checked the mirror and pressed my hands to my face. Nothing. No heat, no glow. Just the short-breathed panic. Did I imagine all that?

  I wanted to tell myself it was a dream, but deep down there was still that warm feeling. I yearned for it, as if it was something taken from me a long time ago and finally found again. A shower might resolve that feeling. A cold shower and then a phone call.

  By the time I finished the shower, my body felt normal again, while my imagination was more convinced it was all part of the dream. I dressed and tucked my burner phone into my pocket, heading out to join Lutz.

  The smell of bacon permeated the apartment and he was at the table, reading his own tablet as he crunched away on a thick crispy slice. “Made enough for two.”

  “Thanks.” I headed into the kitchen, fixing myself a fresh cup of coffee, but skipping the cream and sugar. “Find everything you wanted?”

  “And then some. Thanks for the hospitality.” Lutz turned his tablet to me. “You see the news yet? Is Delgado out on this job?”