Starless: Half Light

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

“Do you think I’m from Earth?” Malton looked up at me through his big brown eyes.

  “Oh. What Darto said. I don’t know.” I had no more answers for him than he had for me.

  “Are there dogs like me there? On Earth?”

  “I’ve never met a dog like you.” I give him a pet on his head. “You are completely unique.”

  “But that look like me?”

  “Yes. You look like a Shih Tzu. Those are really common dogs on Earth.”

  He tilted his head to the side. “I’ve never met a dog that looked like me. The only ones I’ve seen are triple my size or more.”

  “Then maybe you are from Earth. Does it bother you if you are?”

  “You are from Earth, so it can’t be that bad. But what did Darto mean when he said King altered me somehow?”

  I’d never seen the little dog look so afraid. On Earth the term altered when referring to a dog had one meaning, but I’d gotten the sense that Darto was implying something else entirely. “I think it’s the whole talking thing.”

  “You’ve really never met a talking Shih Tzu?” He turned his head to the other side.

  “I’ve never met a talking dog. Period.” It was strange how quickly I was getting used to having one around. Even the low register that was at odds with his size was quickly becoming normal.

  “You are right. I am unique.”

  “You are very unique.”

  He put his head down on my arm again. “I like you.”

  “I like you too.”

  “So let’s not die in there.” He rolled his head in the direction of the door.

  “Deal.” I smiled.

  “And I kind of like Kelby. So if he lives that would be nice too.”

  “He’s going to live.” That was also non-negotiable.

  “You like him too?”

  “I do.” Although I wasn’t ready to admit those feelings went anywhere beyond friendship.

  “But you didn’t at first?”

  “Why are you asking that?” Was there an ulterior motive to his question?

  “Just wondering. I didn’t like him at first.”

  “I didn’t know him at first. Okay, that sounds weird. I guess I mean the longer I know him the more I like him.”

  He lifted his head. “Kind of like me?”

  “Yes. Kind of like you.” I patted his head before putting him back in the bag. He was right. There were small black straps inside that attached to a harness. I tightened the straps and got him set up. “Are those too tight?”

  “No. Perfect. If it’s not zero gravity you can unhook me.”

  “Okay. I don’t know what we’re about to face. If it’s awful I will unhook you and you can run away. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself just because I’m doing it.”

  “Where you go, I go.” His voice was stoic.

  “You’re a good dog.” I put the backpack on and took a few steps toward the door.

  I could do this. There was no way I was going to back down. I put my hand on the knob, expecting to find it locked. Instead it turned easily under my hand. I slowly pushed open the door, holding my breath and preparing to be either attacked or sent flying into the air.

  Neither happened. Instead I only faced another grey door. It was like a little hallway. This one wouldn’t budge when I turned the knob. I surmised that I was going to have to close the outer door before I could get through this one. I closed the first door. Once it clicked closed I tried the second knob again. It didn’t turn. Fearful, I tried the first door again. Locked.

  I closed my eyes as reality hit me like a wave. I’d just gotten us locked into a small space. I tried both doors again. We were definitely stuck. “Malton, I messed up.”

  “If you messed up, so did I.” Malton was being surprisingly supportive. I’d expected him to have fallen asleep again already.

  “Not really. This was all on me.”

  “Maybe the others will come look for us?”

  “I don’t think so.” I buried my face in my hands. I’d really screwed this up with my determination to do it without help. Darto had gotten into my head, and I was worried I couldn’t trust anyone.

  “But they might.”

  “Maybe.” I slid down to the floor, careful not to hurt Malton in the process. I messed with my watch again, hoping it would maybe do something for once. There was a little light in the bottom most corner that hadn’t been there before. I really hoped it wasn’t a low battery warning or something. That would be just my luck. Although the watch wasn’t much use to me right now.

  “Malton?”

  “Yes.”

  I pulled off the pack. “Do you know anything about these watches?”

  “Some. Let me see.” I showed him the watch.

  He stared at it. “That’s not good.”

  “What isn’t?”

  “That light.”

  “I assumed as much. What does it mean?” I braced myself in case was something even worse than I’d expected.

  “It means the air in here isn’t good.”

  “Really?” I stared him straight in the eyes. “You are being serious? You know what it means?”

  “Yes. Look closely. See that circle in the middle?”

  I looked. Sure enough there was a circle under the light. I nodded.

  “That’s an empty can or something. King has that warning on his gear too.”

  “Great.” Low battery would have been far superior to this. This warning meant we didn’t have the luxury of time.

  “Not great. We’ll eventually die if we can’t find a way out of here.”

  “I was being—forget it.” I had a headache. I knew it might not be because of the air, but now that I knew that was an actual possibility, it’s where my mind went. “We have to get out of here.”

  “Find my grooming kit.”

  “Your grooming kit? You’re worried about that now?”

  “There are all sorts of tools in there, and one King doesn’t use to groom me.”

  “Oh.” Understanding hit me. “Got it.”

  I unhooked Malton so I could pull him out before digging out the blue case. I opened it up. “Yeah, I don’t think you need a wireless drill to groom a dog. But how is this so light? Is it real?”

  “Try it.” Malton stepped off of my lap so I could stand up.

  I pushed the trigger and the drill bit moved.

  “Okay. We could turn back and return to the hallway where we know there’s air, and we are relatively safe. Or we could use this to get through the interior door where we don’t know what’s going to happen.”

  “If we go backward, we’ll be right back where we started.” When your dog starts sounding wiser than you, you know you’ve got a problem.

  “Okay. Let me strap you back in.” I set the drill aside and got Malton set up again. I put the pack on.

  I went to work drilling through the locking mechanism. The metal was hard, and it took twice as long as I would have expected. Eventually I managed, and I turned the knob to the left. It made a satisfying popping sound. I turned off the drill but kept it in my hand. In addition to a helpful tool, it might also be a weapon.

  I waited for the door to swing open. If there was anyone inside they likely would have heard the racket of the drill. But no one came. It was quite possible there was no one inside. It was also possible the door was thick enough they couldn’t hear. Either way. I pushed open the door and came face to face with yet another grey door. “You have to be kidding me.” Frustration overwhelmed me. When was this going to end?

  “What?” Malton called from in the bag. Being strapped in, he couldn’t see around me.

  “Another door.”

  “At least you have a drill. We won’t die without air. Or we won’t unless we are heading somewhere with even less air. Is the light still on?’

  I glanced down at my watch. “No. It’s not.” I let out a deep sigh of relief.

  “That’s good.”

  “Yes. It’s something.” Someti
mes you need a reminder to look at the positive. This was the first time the reminder was coming to me from a dog.

  “Have you tried the new door yet?” he asked.

  “No. I haven’t.”

  “Then get to it.”

  “I’m about to.” I put my hand over the knob, and it turned. Before I could chicken out I pulled it back toward us.

  We stepped into a room that felt a whole lot like a basketball gym with wooden floors and large rafters that crisscrossed the ceiling.

  “Well, this isn’t a zero gravity room.” I walked around the brightly lit room looking for a clue. “You’re sure Kelby was here, Malton?”

  “I smell him. He’s been here.”

  “Great.”

  A buzzer went off. Yes, this place was just like a basketball court. All of a sudden my feet left the ground. I hovered just above the floor. “Okay, so this is zero gravity.”

  “This isn’t so bad,” Malton called from the bag.

  A buzzer went off again. This one was followed by a deep rumble. The floor began to shake and sink. “Malton, hold on tight.” I knew he couldn’t actually hold on, but I wanted to warn him. I pushed off the floor with my feet as hard as I could and floated up toward the ceiling.

  I grabbed hold of one of the metal rafters. I looked down. The floor was continuing to sink lower and nearly disappeared below. I was now hanging over a deep pit. “Malton, you okay?”

  “Yes,” Malton replied quietly.

  All of that and Kelby wasn’t even here?

  I scanned the room, looking for a way out that didn’t involve the pit below. It was completely dark down there. On top of that, I had no clue what could happen next. I really didn’t want to hear another buzzer. On the far side of the room was another grey door. I hadn’t noticed it when we first entered because of the angle. That was where we needed to move. Under normal circumstances I’d have run right over, but these certainly weren’t normal circumstances. Getting there wouldn’t be easy. Besides, what if I made it over there and the door was locked? I also had no idea how was I going to get through the door without getting close to the pit. Still, heading that way was the best option. The next beam was about five feet away. I could get over there. I pushed off of the beam and carefully grabbed the next one. The drill was getting heavy in my hand. I wished I had put it back in the bag before we came into the room.

  “What is happening? I can’t see anything.” Malton asked from the bag. He was a whole lot calmer than I was. Probably because he didn’t realize there was a pit below us.

  “I found another door. I’m trying to maneuver us over there.” I hoped I would figure out a real plan once we got there.

  “Keep doing what you’re doing.”

  “I’m planning on it.” I let go and pushed off for the next beam. I’d just reached it when another buzzer went off. There was a motorized sound and a metal walkway appeared from right inside the door I’d noticed. The walkway stopped mid-way into the room. The interior door opened, and Evata walked in.

  She followed the walkway into the room. “What are you doing here?”

  I felt the sudden return of gravity. I realized I couldn’t do this one-handed, and released the drill and grabbed on to the rafter with both hands. The drill fell, and disappeared into the dark below. The pit was as deep as I’d feared.

  “Where’s Kelby?” I couldn’t see anything in the doorway through which Evata had walked. It was all dark.

  “He’s not available. Forget about him.”

  “I can’t forget about him.” What I did want to forget about was how deep and dark that pit was. “We have a mission to accomplish. That can’t happen if you hold him prisoner.”

  “He is not a prisoner. He came here on his own free will.”

  “No, he didn’t.” I’d seen the zombie trance he was in. “You are, or someone is, controlling him.”

  “It was with his own free will that he slept with me. Then left me. That means he’s mine.” Her eyes turned red.

  Oh boy. “He’s yours because he slept with you once and left you? That sucks and all, but you’re not the first woman that’s happened to.”

  “You are too young to understand. I am doing you a favor.”

  “I’m not looking to sleep with him. He just happens to be my partner, and we have a universe to save.” Maybe the whole universe saving thing was dramatic, but our mission was important.

  “The universe will be just fine without him. You can find another partner.”

  “No.” I eyed the next beam. Kelby was likely behind the door. Dark or not, that’s where I needed to be. If I could follow the beams to the edge of the walkway I could make it.

  “You are powerless to stop me.”

  “I’m not powerless.” I went for it. I released the beam and swung out. I just barely grabbed the next beam. This was much harder to do with gravity. At least my years as the monkey bar queen were paying off. But my arms were tired. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold on.

  I looked down at Evata. Why was I afraid of this woman? So far all I knew about her is she could control a guy if she slept with them. She couldn’t control me.

  “Yes, you are. Kelby will never leave with you if I am here.”

  “Then I’ll make sure you aren’t here.” I had no real idea how to pull that off, but I would try. I made it to the beam directly above her. If I dropped down I’d be on the walkway. That is if I aimed well enough that I didn’t end up falling into the pit, or squashed to pieces. And if I did land on the walkway and didn’t break every bone, I’d also have to face her. I didn’t know the extent of her powers, or whether she had weapons hidden somewhere. Although that would have been difficult for her to do since she was naked.

  She sniffed. “Where is the beast?”

  “What?” My fingers cramped. It was hard to focus on what she was saying, but I could have sworn she’d asked about a beast.

  “The beast. I can’t see him, but I know he’s here. Is it inside of you? Are you a changer?”

  A changer? I thought over her words about the beast. Did she think I could shift into an animal or something? Right now being able to change into a monkey or something that was good at swinging would have been convenient. Or a bird. A bird could be good too. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t change into anything.

  “I smell your beast. You had better keep it away.”

  I didn’t know what she was smelling, but it had nothing to do with me. Unless… I remembered Darto’s instructions. Keep Malton close. Maybe that’s what she smelled.

  “I will keep the beast away if you release Kelby to me. Release him forever.”

  “No. You leave.”

  “Should I release my beast on you now?” I let go with one hand as if I was about to jump down on her.

  “You wouldn’t. You are defenseless compared to me.”

  “But my beast can destroy you.” I reached around for my backpack hoping my arm could hold for just a few moments longer.

  “Fine. Take him. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She took a step further and the metal platform continued across the room. She reached the door I’d entered through, opened it, and disappeared.

  And I was still stuck in the same precarious position.

  This was my chance. I needed to jump down. But I didn’t want to die doing it.

  I grabbed hold of the beam with my other hand. I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to hold on.

  “Hey, friend.” Darto walked into the room right after she exited. “Nice to see you again.”

  “What are you doing here now? And what was that? Why did she just leave?”

  He grinned. “You can let go. I’ll catch you.”

  I eyed the pit. Could I really trust him? Why was he smiling like that? “How do I know you’ll really catch me? This might be your way of getting rid of me.”

  “You know I’ll catch you.” Kelby walked in through the interior door. “I promise.”

  “Kelby?” Relief fl
ooded me when I saw him. Evidently too much relief, without realizing what I was doing, I let go.

  I closed my eyes as I plummeted down. As promised he caught me.

  I opened my eyes to find him cradling me against him.

  I enjoyed the comfort of his embrace for a moment before realizing what I was doing. I slipped out of his arms, careful not to get anywhere near the edge of the walkway. “Are you okay? What the hell was that? Why did she leave so easily?”

  “The important thing is we are ready to start now.” Darto put the small black disc into his pocket.

  “What do you mean?” I glanced between Darto and Kelby. Something strange was going on, and I didn’t like it.

  “We’re ready to start.”

  “Start what?” My head was spinning. “What are you talking about?”

  “To take on the Emperor. We’re ready to go.”

  “No… we need to train. That’s why we’re here.”

  “You were the only one who needed training, and now you’ve had it.” Darto grinned.

  “What?” I pulled off my backpack and looked at Malton. “Do you understand him?”

  Malton licked my hand. “No. But thanks for valuing my opinion enough to ask.”

  “You learned what you needed to learn. Trust no one but yourself. Think on your feet. Be fearless.”

  “This was training? That makes no sense. Plus, I had to trust Malton.”

  “That’s different. He’s your dog.”

  “Yes, I am.” Malton licked my hand again. “I think we should talk about adoption when we see King. I think we’re better suited for one another. You treat me as an equal.”

  I spun around to face Kelby. “Were you really under her spell or was that an act? Was it part of the training? Was this all an act? Even when you pulled me aside to tell me not to trust Darto?” My chest clenched. Anger surged through me. “You were lying to me? You were playing a game?”

  “It was training.” Darto reached out for me.

  I stepped back.

  “Calm down, Delthea. You passed with flying colors. You should be proud.”

  “Proud? No. Angry? Yes.” I put the pack back on. “Malton, we’re leaving.”

  “You’re the driver,” he murmured. He was probably about to fall asleep. He’d more than earned that nap.