Cosmic Cabaret

by SFR Shooting Stars

  Matter.

  The thoughts hit him like a blaster to the face, and adrenaline raced through his veins.

  Stella was the key to his research!

  The next step. Also, possibly the way out of Menton State and out from under the unctuous Eric. It could happen soon, too, if she agreed to help him.

  “On second thought, I’d like to stop right here and talk about the next phase of my research. I wasn’t going to do this, but I feel like it’s the right time, and you’re the right people to hear about it. If I could get some help, Stella? Could you join me?”

  Murmurs echoed through the crowd and he imagined Eric was stewing because he didn’t know what was going on. It felt good to be in control for a change. Eric would hate everything about Andrew’s idea, he could feel it.

  “I’d like to introduce you to someone very special.”

  Stella, smile wide and eyes bright, joined him at the podium. He took her hand. A gasp sounded from the room then everyone went silent.

  “I met this beautiful woman here on LS Quantum, and she’s given me some new data to consider. Stella, are you okay with me telling them about your people?” He leaned toward her, trying to keep his voice low but fully aware the microphones would pick everything up.

  The air seemed to warm, though he knew the ship’s sensors kept the temperature at an even level all the time.

  Stella squeezed his hand and nodded. “Go ahead. If it helps you, I’m all for it.”

  “Thank you.” He squeezed her hand. “Stella is a Gainorian. Has anyone here heard of her race of people?”

  He didn’t wait for an answer but pushed onward, realizing what he was doing was far from the norm for presentation, but not caring. “Gainorians left their planet in a mad dash to escape a star that was about to go supernova. Far from here, but not so far that Stella didn’t find her way onboard as a cabaret performer.”

  The spotlight dimmed and the room lights went up. Eric stood at the control panel, pressing the vidscreen, making sure he was in control, as usual.

  He was trying to cut them off.

  “That’s all for Dr. McMann’s presentation. You can join us for a reception at the Antimatter Bar. Dr. McMann will take more questions.” Eric motioned people to stand.

  “That’s not all.” Andrew spoke toward the recessed microphone, but it had been turned off, as well. He raised his voice. “Stella has the ability to manipulate matter and energy. And she gets her power from stars. Surely you want to see her do what until now has been deemed impossible?”

  The crowd scrambled back to their seats, and the room glowed with excitement. A chorus of whistles and shouts woke up the quiet room. Andrew smiled. Who wouldn’t want to see Stella perform?

  When everyone was seated, he glanced up to where Eric stood, arms crossed. Angry didn’t begin to describe him. Andrew didn’t care. He’d protect Stella, and he didn’t give a damn about his job.

  “Stella’s people are said to be descended from stars. She’s starlight. We’re all made of star dust and the space between atoms.” He led Stella around the podium to stand in front of the crowd. “We’re all starlight.”

  “We are starlight. You, too.” She looked into the crowd.

  “But Stella, and maybe a few of her people, are able to draw power from stars and use that to shift matter and energy states. Can you give a brief demonstration?”

  She looked at him with sad eyes. “Sure. If that’s what you want.” She twirled once, then her body collapsed into a billion tiny silver balls that bounced over the floor, each one a different note, her dress and shoes still in place in a heap.

  Andrew waited for the gasp as the music reached everyone, then smiled as Stella reformed, dressed and all. Simple for her, and yet something impossible for anyone else at the conference. The scientists looked like children at a birthday party—their own parties.

  He didn’t bother looking at Eric. He’d be trying to figure out how to have Stella for himself. A chill settled over him. Maybe he shouldn’t have revealed Stella’s abilities yet. He didn’t have a clear plan to help her get away from Jhodalann.

  Andrew was beginning to realize how special Stella was becoming to him. He didn’t want her hurt again. By anyone. He wanted her to be at his side, safe.

  Bile crept up his throat. He’d just had Stella perform for his own advancement. His own pride. He was no better than the other men she knew.

  Stella clapped her hands then both turned to purple flames that reached almost to the ceiling. She spun, the flames forming a tornado of fire, which then turned to water as deep blue as Earth’s early morning sky. In a fraction of a cycle, she was back to her form, clutching Andrew.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  She gave him a quizzical look.

  “I’ll explain later.”

  “Thank you.” Andrew bowed toward Stella. The scientists erupted in applause and Andrew hushed them. “She’s amazing, isn’t she? I want to study this phenomenon of matter conversion, and I’ll need help from the community. Imagine what we could do if we could harness this power Stella and her people have.” Nods and smiles met him. They saw the potential. Would Stella forgive him for using her? Gods, he hoped so.

  The scientists clapped again, more loudly, some standing. Andrew hushed them. They needed to understand that the task was gargantuan.

  “We need to see if there are more Gainorians nearby and try to convince them to let us examine them.” He scanned the audience. “We also need to remember they are people. Not research objects. It’s critical we respect that. Stella said all her people have different ability levels when it comes to shifting and changing, and there must be a reason for that. It could be the key to solving the riddle of how they manipulate matter at all.”

  “I don’t know any other Gainorians,” she whispered. “I don’t know who would want to be studied, either. It’s kind of scary.”

  “It’s okay. We don’t need to worry about that now.” He spoke up to the group. “As far as her powers go, I think we can learn a lot about matter and energy with little intrusion. Who’s interested?”

  Many clapped. Faces lit up and he could tell minds were spinning at the idea. Truly, Stella and her people could be the key to the next major leap in physics.

  Stella held on to his arm tightly, and he felt her heart fluttering against him. Was she nervous? Why? He wouldn’t hurt her like the other men.

  He glanced at her and she faked a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. What was wrong? Had he put her on the spot and made her uncomfortable? They’d talk. As soon as he wrapped up the presentation, he’d make sure she was comfortable with the plan.

  He scanned the group of men and women who gawked at Stella like she was a new exhibit at a zoo. She was used to people staring at her because of what she could do. How was this situation any different? Who was he kidding? He needed to be very careful, or he’d be no different than Eric. Or Jhodalann.

  “Can you imagine what we can do to advance civilization if we can harness the power of changing states of matter and energy? The implications are civilization level. So huge we can’t even start to talk about them now, but you can be sure there will be more forthcoming in the next mega-cycle paper, I assure you. Right now, I’ll take a couple of questions about the paper I presented today on star life cycles.”

  Stella clutched him so tightly, his arm hurt. He looked at her then followed her gaze. Jhodalann was standing beside Eric. And he didn’t look happy.

  Nine

  Stella held up the small bottle of sand. The greenish tinge had faded to a pale version of its prior hue. The little bit of her world that was left was changing, and soon it would resemble the sand from many other worlds. It would lose its individuality.

  She set the bottle on the small shelf beside her desk. She was losing herself, too. Though being with Andrew was heart-stopping sometimes, his behavior at the presentation of his research had shown her a different side of him.

  Could he be her mate?<
br />
  He was motivated. That, in itself, wasn’t a terrible thing—many people were driven to succeed. It was the cost that worried her.

  He’d paraded her in front of the scientists like a new toy. A lab rat. How was that any different than what Jhodalann did?

  She lay down on the bed, her head buried in her pillow. It didn’t feel any different than performing at the cabaret. Sure, she’d love to help people, and she was okay with being studied. Could she trust him and give up her freedom to a man again?

  “I don’t know,” she whispered. Even to her mate.

  What would it even mean? Would he poke and prod her with needles and hook her up to machines and computers? Or would he video her every move and try to find out where all the energy came from that fed her power? Or ask her a billion questions like she was on trial?

  Could she take all that in the name of helping people? What if the results were used to make a weapon that wiped out a large part of a galaxy? How would she feel then?

  Sometimes knowledge led to evil things, not good. Even when intentions were pure.

  One thing was for sure. He could’ve at least asked her first. Instead, he’d pulled her up onto his stage and paraded her around. She’d agreed to do it for him, seeing how happy he was, but she’d made the mistake of thinking he cared for her as a person, not as a scientific discovery. He’d taken it too far, assuming she would let him study her. Offering to let others perform research on her was a big deal, did he realize that?

  She rolled over and looked at the ceiling, its rivets shiny with condensation. The little hope she had faded. It seemed her destiny to be someone’s sparkly toy, nothing more. Dressed up in costumes and paraded around. Andrew may not be as bad as Jhodalann, but what he was doing was basically the same. Mate or not, it was wrong.

  Wasn’t it?

  The door to her room burst open, sliding into the frame with a bang. Stella sat up, every muscle tensed.

  What the hell?

  Two men entered, shoving Effie forward, one with his hand around her mouth. The tall man shoved Effie forward, and the other man pushed the button to close the door. Neither stopped until they were in the room.

  “Get up.” The man’s dark eyes held no compassion. “Now.”

  Stella scooted to the edge of the bed, her heart in her throat. Effie struggled until her captive punched her in the side. She squeaked out a cry of pain, muffled under his grip.

  “I said, get up!”

  Stella shrugged. Tired of doing what men told her to do, she shook her head. “What if I say no?” She met the man’s dark gaze.

  He drew his lips into a thin line and stared at her a moment. Then he pulled out his weapon, faced Effie, and blasted her. “What if you do?”

  Effie crumpled in the other man’s grasp then he let her slip to the floor.

  The odor of burnt flesh and ozone hit Stella’s nostrils at the same moment the realization hit her brain.

  They killed Effie!

  Motioning with his gun, the man insisted she stand up. “I don’t think you want to argue now, do you? We didn’t need her, but you better shape up now. We don’t need your legs or even your arms. Just need your shifting.”

  Stella screamed, the whole world spinning out from under her. She stood, but her knees buckled. Sobs crushed her, and she tried to shift, to fall through the decks and out into space where she’d disintegrate.

  The men must have had scramblers because she couldn’t shift. Damn Jhodalann for ever inventing those things. Nothing chained her in place better.

  “Let’s go.” The man’s voice sounded like it filtered through water and played in slow motion.

  Stella reached for Ellie, scooting across the floor to where her best friend’s body sprawled on the floor, lifeless. Contorted where they dropped her, Effie’s head twisted to the side at an angle.

  The man stepped forward. “No. Away from her. Get up. We need to go now.”

  Stella looked up at him, his form seemingly reaching the ceiling from her vantage point on the floor.

  “No!” she screamed.

  The kick came so quickly she barely saw it coming before she felt it.

  Then the world went black.

  Stella opened her eyes, dryness stinging them as she did. The room smelled of rust and mechanical things, and she squinted to see her surroundings in the dim light. She wasn’t in her own room, that was certain. Nor was she in the bar. Tied to a chair, she couldn’t move more than her head, and she reached inward to shift but felt the pull of scramblers nearby.

  Dammit.

  Whoever had kidnapped her knew about her abilities and how to keep her from using them.

  She glanced to her right, her head throbbing from the low-frequency hum of the ship’s engines penetrating into her like a charring machine. She must be near the main thruster room. Her eyes adjusted to the faint lighting. She wasn’t in the actual engine room because there were no plasma circuits or engineers around. No one was around.

  Was she alone in the bowels of the ship?

  The area she was in looked like the garbage storage or back-up closet for waste. A few blinking lights, a lot of dust, and stale air. Even in the dim lighting, she could tell the room hadn’t been used in a long time.

  How would anyone find her? She pushed back the urge to scream until she had a better grasp on her situation. Her stomach complained, contracting in fear.

  Turning to the left, she froze at what she saw, and bile crept up the back of her throat. A man was slumped over, bound to a chair much like she was, his hair forward, his glasses askew.

  Andrew.

  What had happened while she was unconscious?

  Images of Ellie’s death popped into her mind, and she raged against the tears that fell. Nausea rolled over her. Whoever had taken her had killed Effie. They clearly meant business. Knowing she’d never hear Effie’s laugh again was unbearable, and Stella fought to gain control. She’d caused Effie’s death and she’d always have that burden to bear.

  Right now, she had to escape. She had to help Andrew before they killed him, too.

  But how? She tugged against her restraints but they were sound. Tight and effective, she wouldn’t be able to slip from them. Her powers lay beyond her reach—scrambled by Jhodalann’s invention. Wait, did that mean the bar owner was involved? Anger rose in her.

  Of course he was.

  He’d already beat Effie—no reason to think he wouldn’t kill her if he thought he had to.

  She was done with him, one way or another. She’d no longer be his slave, nor would she pay for her freedom. He’d crossed many lines but killing Effie was one he could never come back from. Stella vowed to stay away from the Antimatter bar, no matter what happened.

  After trying to activate her band to call security, she realized the room must block the signal with lead shielding or something that kept the bands from working.

  She looked at Andrew, his head in an uncomfortable position and his arms behind his back, bound to the chair like her own, likely.

  “Andrew?” She whispered.

  No answer.

  “Andrew!” A little louder, enough to echo in the small room.

  He didn’t move.

  She stared at his chest until she saw the slow rise and fall of his breathing. Thank the gods he was alive. She noticed a drip of blood trailing from his nose. They’d hit him. It was a wonder his glasses were still on his face.

  Guilt flooded her. She’d never in a billion cycles want him to get hurt. Sure, she’d been upset with him for treating her like a science project, but they could get through that if they had the chance to talk. Her bets were that he really hadn’t thought the implications through and she hadn’t either.

  It might be too late.

  It was too late for Effie.

  She tried to scoot her whole chair with one big lurch and succeeded in moving about an inch closer to him. It would take all her strength and a long time to make it to where he sat. No, she needed a better pla
n.

  He groaned and lifted his head. Moving slowly, he looked around.

  “Andrew,” she called in a normal voice. “Are you okay?”

  He nodded without looking at her. “Yeah.” The word was faint. “Hurts.”

  “I’m sorry.” She twisted in her bindings, but they seemed to tighten under her movements so she stopped. The last thing she needed was to be even more restrained.

  He looked at her, and she saw his swollen black eye. She gasped.

  He smiled. “That bad?”

  “Yeah. What happened?”

  He tried to straighten up in the chair, which was only partially successful. Another groan. She couldn’t imagine his pain.

  “T-there was a girl in your r-room…” he made out. “She’s…dead.”

  “I know. My very best friend, Effie. I was there when they killed her. It’s my fault.” Flashes of the shot popped into her mind and she shuddered. “I can’t believe she’s gone.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. You didn’t do it.” He looked at her with tired and bruised eyes. “Who did it?”

  She shook her head. “Jhodalann’s men.”

  He clenched his fists behind his back. “Jhodalann is bad news. I came looking for you so I could apologize for getting a little out of control when I was showing you off to my colleagues. I went to your room and found the girl. I called security then ran outside, and next thing I know, I’m waking up here. They must’ve been watching your room.” He squirmed in his bindings.

  “They got me too. It’s okay.”

  “It’s not. I should’ve asked you and given you more time before putting you on show and talking about using you for research.”

  “Yes, you should’ve. I want to be treated like a woman, not like a science project.”

  “I know that. I got carried away when everyone was acting bored at my presentation. And I’m deeply sorry I lost sight of what’s important. I’ve never known a woman like you, and I hope you know I would want to be with you whether you had these shifting powers or not. I was trying to impress my peers, and I did it at your expense. Can you forgive me?”