Black Moon

by Romina Russell

  My happiness fades as quickly as the thought tunnel’s fog. “What’s wrong with Neith? Is he okay? Where is he?”

  “He’ll be fine,” says Hysan, pressing his thumb to the sensor on the wall; the thick fabric flaps out and then ripples into steps. “It’s not what happened last time. He just has some leftover glitches I haven’t worked out yet, but it’s nothing for you to worry about. Focus on learning what you can about the Party, and I’ll be in touch later.”

  “Hysan—”

  He presses his mouth to mine but pulls away too quickly. “I’m sorry, Rho—I have to go.”

  I watch him until he disappears, and then I make my way to the ninth tower, my worry over Neith rising with every step. The common room is crowded with sleeping partygoers in formalwear who didn’t make it back to their beds last night; this must have been the after after party. I tiptoe through the bodies on my way to the spiral staircase, and then I climb to the top of the tower and slip into my room.

  Nishi is facedown on the bed, still wearing her pink taffeta dress. I shake off my black coat and reach back to undo the handful of dress buttons Hysan hooked; I asked him to only do a few so I could slip it off easily.

  I take a long bath, using the foamy, floral beauty products, and then I smooth my curls with the glossing spray. Rather than wear my Lodestar suit today, I play around with the closet archiver to put together an outfit that looks like Cancrian formal attire. I settle on a long, flowing, cream-colored skirt with a fitted sapphire blazer, and the program rates my fashion sense a six out of ten.

  I grab the black glove for my left hand but before pulling it on, I stare at the Scarab clamped on my wrist. I caught Hysan’s gaze straying toward it a few times last night, but as much as I wanted to confide in him, I couldn’t bring myself to ruin our reunion. I decided I’d just tell him today, since I thought we’d be spending it together.

  I didn’t realize he’d be off before the sun came up.

  When I slip out of the Lady’s Lounge through the gold-tasseled curtains, the air in the main room is tinged with rays of brilliant blue. Dawn is breaking over Primitus.

  For the first time since I arrived, Helios has managed to cut through the constant cloud covering, revealing a skyline like none I’ve ever seen before. Since all three Aquarian planets orbit closely together and maintain equidistance, the massive round silhouettes of Secundus and Tertius press into the atmosphere on either side of Helios, and below, the picture is reflected in the deep blue ocean.

  “Stunning, no?”

  I turn to see Nishi lifting her head off the mattress, her black locks mussed over her face. I go sit beside her and start unhooking the back of her dress’s corset-tight bodice. She folds her arms under her head and rests her cheek on her hand, looking up at me through her tangle of tresses. “Did you sleep?”

  “Nope.”

  “Skarlet?”

  “Over.”

  “Happy?”

  “Very.”

  “Prepare to relive every detail . . . after I’ve caffeinated.” She sits up and shuffles into the Lady’s Lounge, clutching her dress’s neckline as the loose fabric falls off her lean frame.

  While she showers and gets dressed, I send Sirna an encrypted message to thank her for the gold dress. I also confide what I’ve learned of the Tomorrow Party and ask her to consult her sources about Black Moon, but to make sure the information stays confidential. Sirna is better positioned to navigate the political sphere in which the Party operates; and while we may disagree philosophically, I do trust her instincts.

  “Blaze just sent a message; we’re expected at a Party meeting for senior officers,” says Nishi hurriedly, rushing in from the Lady’s Lounge with wet hair and wearing the same lavender shirt and charcoal pants she wore yesterday. “Stan, Mathias, and Pandora are also invited; Imogen will tell them.”

  “Perfect.” I pocket my Wave, and we dart downstairs to meet my brother and the others in the common room. They all look far better rested than Nishi and me.

  Despite my sleeplessness, I have more energy this morning than I’ve felt in a long time. Memories of Hysan hum through my mind, turning the sandstone beneath my feet into cottony clouds, and I find myself imagining what it’d be like to stroll with him through the grounds right now, feeling the sun on my face and his hands on my skin—

  “Why are you smiling like that?” asks Stan, frowning at me.

  My gaze darts to Mathias, who’s also studying me, and I shrug. Then I hurry to catch up to Nishi and Imogen. Even though there’s a quiet tension between Mathias and Pandora, they’re walking together, so some kind of understanding must have passed between them.

  The meeting is in Blaze’s office, and a few dozen people are already gathered around the conference table—some in chairs, some standing, and the rest sitting on the floor. Blaze stands at the head of the table next to an empty seat. He waves Nishi over, and while she weaves her way to her appointed position, we hang back among the outermost ring of people.

  “Welcome, everyone,” says Blaze, the bags beneath his eyes matching the blue of his hair. He’s wearing a red shirt, and I watch as a small holographic lion prowls across his chest. “Sorry for cutting into your recovery sleep,” he says as the lion disappears around his ribcage, “but I’ve just been informed that now that the party’s over, so is our stay on Aquarius.”

  He sounds more than a little bitter, and I’m reminded of our abrupt dismissal from Scorpio. “We’ll need to immediately identify our next base of operations, and then we’ll have to be ready to move over the next couple of days. I’ll be meeting with the Locations Committee right after this meeting to review our options, and we’ll have some updates on that front tonight.”

  Was Untara upset enough about Crompton’s speech that she revoked the Party’s welcome? And if so, what kind of punishment awaits Crompton?

  “I will now shift the spotlight to the fierce Nishiko Sai, your new co-captain, to update you on the Black Moon front.”

  Blaze sits as Nishi stands, and everyone breaks into applause. A smile overtakes Nishi’s sleepy features at the warm welcome, and she grows more alert.

  “Thanks, guys. I’m amazed by how much we’ve been able to accomplish on Aquarius in just a few weeks, and I can’t wait to keep working with you wherever we land next! Like Crompton said so eloquently last night, we’re going to face opposition, so we have to be ready to put in hard work. And the first issue we have to tackle is that our permit for planet XDZ5709—or, as we know it here, Black Moon—only provides us with a scientific right of exploration.

  “The hard part comes next, when we have to convince the Plenum to allow us to form our own experimental society, free from a single House’s rule. The only precedence for something like this involves medical trials and psychiatric studies, but what we’re doing goes further than any experiment preceding it. So we’ll want to explore a wide array of potential legal arguments to pursue. And on that note, June, how’s the Legal Committee doing?”

  “We’ve drafted a dozen dockets,” announces a blond Libran in a medical hover-chair with a yellow blanket covering her legs. Most healers can regrow a person’s limbs, but there are some congenital conditions technology can’t cure yet.

  “Right now our favorite approach would be to argue that the Plenum has no jurisdiction over the unaffiliated planets of our solar system, so we shouldn’t have to get their permission to do any of this. It’s a broad argument, and it’s failed before in other cases, but we have a far more progressive Plenum now than we did then, and we also have the benefit of studying where previous cases went wrong to make ours stronger.” June sucks in a quick breath and keeps going. “Technically, if we win, we would be establishing that it’s a person’s right to defect from their home world and colonize any unaffiliated planet. In fact, we would probably be opening up a land grab in our solar system—”

  “O
kay, thank you, June,” says Nishi, cutting her off. “That’s great, but if we want the Plenum to hear our petition next session, we can’t miss this deadline. Start circulating the twelve drafts you’ve already got, so we can ask for feedback from our more politically minded members. After the amazing time we showed them last night, the least they can do is lend us their expertise. Besides, it gives them a chance to take on a more important role in our movement.”

  Even though she isn’t saying anything wrong, something is definitely off about Nishi’s behavior. It isn’t like her to be so abrupt with someone, nor have I ever heard her sound so self-important.

  “Which brings us to my next point: We’ve spoken with our team of scientists on Black Moon and confirmed that optimal population numbers for this first wave of settlers will be one thousand people from each House. So, House Captains, please begin the application process. And, finally—yes, Rho?”

  I lower my hand. “I was just wondering, how are you finding these twelve thousand applicants?”

  “Each House Captain is in charge of promoting our vision through our existing networks of members on each House. For those who are interested in joining, there’s an application and evaluation process.” She waves her hand in the air like it’s all too complicated to get into right now. “Essentially we’re looking for people with pioneer personalities, those who would thrive at building a new civilization.” Her answer is so perfectly political—a bunch of loaded words strung together into vague enough sentences to offer nothing real—that it makes her seem like a stranger to me.

  I’ve heard plenty of talk like this over the past few months, but I never thought I’d hear it from Nishi.

  I raise my hand again.

  “Rho, maybe you can save your questions for later—like, when they’re not interrupting our meeting.”

  I can’t move or even blink. Since when does Nishi disapprove of questions?

  Ignoring my stare she looks around at the others, picking up her old thread again. “And, finally, we have a decision on the Pisces problem.” The way she says the phrase makes the hairs of my arm stand on end. “We’ve spoken with our sponsors, and the final decision—for now, until the situation there is resolved—is to hold off on inviting House Pisces to participate in Black Moon.”

  I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

  I pan my gaze around the room, expecting people to protest, and for the first time it occurs to me that there isn’t a single Piscene here, which is strange, given that the Party has been in the works for a few months, and the Piscene plague only broke out a week ago.

  “Okay,” says Nishi, clapping her hands together. “Let’s spread out in the common room or wherever else you can find space and break into committees. Please check in with Blaze or myself with your updates before tonight’s meeting; we’ll message you with a time once it’s set. That’s all.”

  As everyone disbands, I pull Nishi aside. “Can we talk in private?”

  “Right now, in the middle of all this?” she asks, sounding put out.

  “Let’s go to our room.”

  She grunts her acceptance and strides out of the office, and I follow her up the tower. “I’m sorry if I was curt with you at the meeting,” she says once I’ve shut the door behind us. “I really needed caffeine before going in there.”

  Rather than sitting on the bed, she stands near the room’s entrance, as if to emphasize that she doesn’t have long to chat.

  “Nish, what’s up?”

  “What do you mean?” she asks, crossing her arms defensively.

  “Since when does unity mean most instead of all?”

  “It’s only for now, until the situation on Pisces is resolved.”

  “You said the Party has been on Aquarius for weeks. So how come there’s no one here from Pisces?”

  “There were a few people, but they took off as soon as news broke about the plague on their House. Just as they had to understandably prioritize their world, right now we need to prioritize this project. We really can’t risk putting off the other Houses; Black Moon is in too early stages to be making divisive decisions that could weaken our members’ commitment to our cause. We’ll just agree on this point for now, and once the Zodai have sorted out what’s wrong and developed an antidote, no one is going to oppose bringing Pisces back in.”

  I press my hands on her crossed arms so she’ll meet my gaze. “But don’t the politics here seem flawed? Favoring one group of people over another? Isn’t that what the Tomorrow Party is trying to fight against? Maybe it’d be better to lose those sponsors from the cause altogether than embrace these kinds of politics.”

  She shrugs her arms loose to shake me off. “That’s not how this works—”

  “Then change the way it works!” I hear myself say, quoting word-for-word what Candela said to me on Centaurion. “Nish, I think you’re compromising your values to make this the right cause for you. And I’m worried you won’t like yourself when it’s over.”

  “Look, you did things your own way a few months ago. You stuck to your beliefs and insisted on Ophiuchus’s existence, even when it became clear that honesty would only hurt your cause. And that was your choice. But I’m not interested in wasting time fighting. I want to make progress now, and if that means tabling a discussion or two until later, I don’t think it’s worth arguing about.”

  I shake my head in frustration. “Are you listening to yourself? Aren’t we supposed to be changing the norm by breaking it?”

  Nishi glowers at me, her eyes burning like embers, but I blow right past her warning and say, “What would Deke think?”

  At the sound of his name, her features harden into a mask. The fire in her eyes goes out, and she stares at me impassively, like a wall has just been erected between us.

  But this time, I can’t cave to her. Nishi’s wellbeing—and our friendship—depends on my being brave enough to speak my mind right now. So I grab the heaviest hammer in my arsenal, and I swing.

  “When was the last time you listened to Deke’s final words?” I demand. Her mouth falls open, and her eyes flash with shocked fury, but I don’t stop there. “He said Don’t forget me, and that’s exactly what you’re doing!”

  I’ve only seen Nishi’s face look this horrified once before.

  “I can’t believe you.”

  “Nish, you’re not your full self without your memories. Denying them will only twist you into someone you’re not—”

  “What gives you the right to be morally superior when, until last night, we weren’t allowed to discuss Hysan?” she asks in a cutting tone. “Or should I just deal with my grief the way you dealt with yours for Mathias, by giving up on everything I claim to stand for and retreating into my shell?”

  Her words hurt, but this argument isn’t about me. “You’re right. I did do that. But then I remembered who I was, and you know who reminded me?” I move closer to her and soften my tone. “I just want to help you get through this the way you and Deke helped me.”

  “And look where that got us,” she says in a low, lethal voice.

  I go deathly silent, and I feel like I did that awful night on Elara’s surface, when my helmet warned me I was running out of oxygen. “I begged you both not to board that ship with me,” I say in a controlled voice, like I’m rationing my air. “You knew the odds, and you wouldn’t listen.”

  “Deke wanted to fight when the Marad boarded our ship.” Her features pull together in a repressed sob, and a vein bulges in her forehead from how hard she’s resisting it. “And you didn’t let him.”

  The same sob seems to be strangling my throat, and I grow lightheaded from my lack of oxygen. “You knew the plan, Nishi. I was supposed to get captured,” I say, my breathing strained. “I was supposed to be bait. And neither of you were supposed to be there.”

  Anger burns my belly, and it’s not just over Nishi’s accus
ation. Deep down, somewhere so far within me that she’ll never know about it, I blame her and Deke for not heeding my warnings. I’m mad at them for insisting on going with me and not considering the consequences.

  I’m angry at Deke for dying.

  “You’re right, Rho,” says Nishi, as tears finally break through, and her mask comes crashing down. “I wish we’d never followed you.”

  21

  SOMETIME AFTER NISHI STORMS OFF, there’s a knock on my door. I have no idea how long I’ve been staring at the reflection of the Aquarian planets’ silhouettes in the ocean, trying not to think about the things Nishi and I said to each other.

  But it’s not just my best friend I feel like I’m losing.

  I’d been so happy at the idea of Black Moon—the thought that in a few years I might live in a world where Nishi and I could be roommates, where Hysan and I could be together openly, where people could unite by choice instead of chance. A world where the Zeniths and Palomas of the Zodiac wouldn’t need a hideout.

  But instead of being the change we’ve been fighting for, this Party is turning out to be an upgrade on the same old politics of prejudice and privilege and popularity. Gyzer was right: Real freedom doesn’t move in one direction, but in all of them. It isn’t enough just to change things: First we have to change the way we change things.

  The door cracks open. “Rho?” says Stan. “We’re going for a walk. Can you come?”

  I wipe the tears off my cheeks before turning around. “Yeah . . . sure.” I grab the black coat Hysan gave me and follow him out.

  We stop by my brother’s room to pick up Mathias and Pandora, who are sitting on a bed talking in hushed tones. The moment he sees me in the doorway, Mathias stands.

  “Coming?” I say, looking from him to Pandora, so she’ll feel included.

  The common room is packed with Party members; they’re divided into committees, working, and I’m reminded of the bustling scene we walked in on when we first landed here a couple of days ago. I avoid making eye contact with anyone because I don’t want to lock gazes with Nishi, and right as I hit the wall switch for the carpet staircase, I hear my name.