by Ahmet Zappa
Clover raced through dark streets. She was rushing to catch the circus swift train, not sure where she needed to go but fully aware she was awfully late. And if she missed the train? Clover’s heart thudded in her chest. She’d never ever find it. Her family would be lost to her forever. She couldn’t miss it. She just couldn’t!
At the opposite end of the street, Clover glimpsed someone—she couldn’t tell who—searching for her. “Clover?” called the figure. “Where are you?”
“I’m here!” she shouted. “I’m here!”
“I’m here!” Clover was still crying when she woke with a start. It had all been a dream!
She glanced anxiously at Astra. Luckily, her roommate, exhausted from the game, was still fast asleep. Clover reached for her Star-Zap, now working properly, and checked the time. She’d barely been asleep at all!
What an odd dream, she thought, sitting back in her hammock. She should definitely talk to Piper about it. Maybe it meant she was missing something. That she had to get to a certain destination before it was too late? And who was that Starling who’d been searching for her? Her voice was very familiar.…
“Clover?” called the same voice, coming from the other side of the door.
It was Piper, just outside her room!
Clover padded to the door and opened it quietly. “Piper,” she whispered. “What in Starland are you doing here?”
Piper, her eyes closed, half nodded, then waved one arm languidly. She’s sleepwalking! Clover realized. And she wants me to follow her.
Clover tentatively touched Piper’s arm, but Piper slept on. Clover had read somewhere that you shouldn’t wake a sleepwalker. So as Piper turned to go, Clover had no choice but to follow. She couldn’t just let her wander around by herself.
Piper led Clover to the Big Dipper Dorm and opened the door to a supply closet. It had to be the closet Scarlet used to go down to the caves. Clover hesitated. She really didn’t like the idea of going underground with a sleepwalking Piper in the middle of the night—especially after getting trapped in a secret chamber just the other starweek.
But Piper was already inside, reaching for a trapdoor as if she knew exactly where it was. Soundlessly, she started down the steps.
Glad she was still clutching her Star-Zap, Clover set it to flashlight mode and followed. Moving quietly and quickly, the two went down the metal stairs—cool beneath Clover’s bare feet—and into the underground tunnels.
The tunnels were a mazelike jumble. After a few starmins, Clover had no idea where they were. But Piper floated down the halls, sure-footed and confident, seemingly with a destination in mind. Then they turned left, and even in the gloom, Piper recognized the tunnel. It led to the Wish Cavern.
With a knowing nod, Piper stopped at a random spot and flicked a wrist at the wall. The hidden door whooshed open, and they stepped inside.
The Wish Cavern! Each time Clover saw it, she felt starmazed. They were deep underground, but starlight flooded the space as if they were standing in an open field. Golden waterfalls of wish energy still flowed down the cavern walls. But Clover noted the streams had narrowed and the current was sluggish. Then she turned to the center of the room, where a grassy platform stood, and she froze.
A Wish Orb was waiting.
“Piper?” she said questioningly. But before Clover could say another word, the orb floated through the air. It stopped, hovering star inches from Clover’s nose. Without thinking, Clover reached for it and held it gently in her palm.
Now what? she wondered. Piper’s eyes were still closed, and she was swaying on her feet as if in a trance. She’d be no help. But without Lady Stella—or Lady Cordial—to mark the occasion, there was no ceremony, no pomp, no starcumstance. Clover felt slightly disappointed. She was a circus performer, after all. She liked a bit of fanfare.
Then Piper spoke in a strange, sleepy, drawn-out voice. “The orb has been waiting for you to come, Clover. Time is running out for your Wish Mission.”
Piper’s voice grew more forceful. “You must leave right now!”
Clover gasped. Leave right then? In the middle of the night? In her bare feet? Without a word to Lady Cordial?
Besides, did Piper even know what she was talking about? The Starling wasn’t even awake!
It was all so unusual, and Clover didn’t like it one bit. She should just go back to her hammock, pull up her blanket, and go back to sleep. Then she’d wake up, and maybe there’d be a group holo-text telling the Star Darlings a Wish Orb had been identified. There’d be the usual routine of the platform opening, the orb floating into the cavern, and the girls waiting for the orb to choose its Starling.
But right there, right then, she was already holding the Wish Orb—without the Star Darlings. Without Lady Stella. And she didn’t know what to do.
Clover’s Wish Orb trembled. Its sparkle dimmed. Starf! she thought. The orbs had notoriously short life cycles. Clover had to help grant her Wisher’s wish before it faded away. And if she didn’t do it in time? The energy would be lost forever. Not to mention her poor Wisher’s dream would never come true.
Clover groaned in frustration. She was the eleventh Star Darling to be chosen. She’d waited so long for this to happen. (Not as long as Gemma, of course.) And now here was her opportunity, her chance to excel.
A flutterfocus darted by, and Clover gazed at it in wonder. It fluttered here and there, swooping around the platform as if searching for sweet-smelling nectar. It hovered for a moment, made up its mind, and landed lightly on Piper’s nose.
Piper’s eyes snapped open. She stared at the creature for a long moment, then held out her finger. The flutterfocus settled on the tip. “Hello, little one,” Piper said softly. A moment later, the creature took off, disappearing behind a golden waterfall.
“Star greetings, Clover,” Piper said with a calm smile. She gazed around the Wish Cavern as if it was exactly where she’d expected to be. All along, Clover had resisted the urge to shake Piper awake. Now she resisted the urge just to shake her. How could any Starling be so…so…unruffled?
“Aren’t you starprised?” Clover asked a bit shrilly. “You’re underground, in the Wish Cavern!”
“Of course I’m starprised,” Piper replied. “But there must be a reason why I’m here—with you.” She eyed the Wish Orb. Clover relaxed her grip. She’d been holding it a little too firmly.
“So tell me,” Piper continued.
With a sigh, Clover explained how Piper had come to her room and led her underground. Piper nodded as if that kind of thing happened every starday.
“So what do you think I should do?” Clover’s mind was racing like a runaway galliope, and at least Piper was composed and capable of clear thought.
“I already told you.” Piper spoke with exaggerated patience, as if Clover was a wee Starling. “You need to go right now.”
Oh! So she remembered that part! Clover thought. How helpful!
Clover knew Piper was right. Still, she hated to just leave! “Shouldn’t we wake up Lady Cordial?”
“I don’t think so,” Piper said thoughtfully. “There’s no time. And I don’t want to bother her. The poor Starling really needs her rest.”
Clover definitely agreed with that. But there were other issues. “I don’t have my hat! I’m in my pajamas!” she said.
“Your Star-Zap has a Wishworld Outfit Selector,” Piper said reasonably. “And you’d have to change anyway.”
“What about the Wishworld backpack? I need a place to store my shooting star!”
Piper thought for a moment. “I’ll run back to the room and grab mine. We’ll also need some safety starglasses. Then we can go straight to the Wishworld Surveillance Deck.”
Clover shrugged. “Okay,” she said. She was out of arguments. Then she thought of something.
“My Wish Pendant!” she cried. “I can’t go without that.”
“It’s right there, in your hair.”
Clover reached for the purple barrette, decorat
ed with three silvery stars. It was still there! Luckily, she hadn’t taken it off before bed.
It was all happening so quickly. But that was the way it had to be, she supposed. The two girls left the Wish Cavern and made their way back to the dorm. Clover waited outside as Piper slipped into her room. She reappeared holding a blue backpack, the door sliding shut behind her. “Couldn’t find mine,” she said. “So I grabbed Vega’s. I’m sure she won’t mind.” With a shrug, Clover grabbed the backpack and slung it over her shoulder. The two Starlings then headed to the Wishworld Surveillance Deck.
The girls kept to the shadows as they crept across campus. The Bot-Bot guards were on high alert that time of night, and the Starlings didn’t want to be questioned.
They were just nearing the band shell when Clover spied a guard circling the Star Quad. She pulled Piper behind a statue of the mythical Atlight, holding up Starland. She’d always loved those stories. Her uncle Fabrizzio, the strongman at the circus, knew glowzens by heart.
Clover and Piper waited for the guard to pass. Then, breathing a sigh of relief, Clover stepped out from the safety of the statue—and bumped right into another Bot-Bot.
“Star greetings, Miss Clover and Miss Piper,” said the Bot-Bot. Then he winked.
“Is that you, Mojo?” Clover asked. Mojo—MO-J4—was not your typical Bot-Bot. Sage had met him her first day at Starling Academy when he gave her family a tour. From then on, he had checked in on her now and again, and the two had developed a friendship. Sage swore the Bot-Bot had his own sweet personality. But Clover had never really talked to him—until now. And now wasn’t a very good time. After all, she and Piper were roaming around campus at night, an activity that was strictly against the rules.
“Yes, it is I,” Mojo answered. “I am on security detail tonight. It is a change of pace for me, and a little boring, I might add. But now I meet you two! How nice.”
It was true that Mojo didn’t talk like a typical Bot-Bot. But did that mean he wouldn’t turn them in?
“Well, Mojo, we couldn’t sleep,” Clover explained, “so Piper and I are taking a walk.”
“Yes,” Piper added. “We’re heading to the observation deck.”
Clover nudged Piper warningly, trying to convey the message Too much information! Not a good thing!
“It is a lovely night for stargazing,” Mojo said with another wink. “Please allow me to accompany you.”
Clover smiled. With a Bot-Bot by their side, she and Piper wouldn’t be stopped. “Star salutations, Mojo. Can we hurry? If we don’t move quickly, we’ll miss the…the meteor shower.”
Mojo led the way past the band shell and Halo Hall, talking at full volume, as if it was the middle of the afternoon and the girls were going to class. When they reached the Flash Vertical Mover that would zip them up to the deck, he gave a little bow.
He turned to leave but stopped when Clover exclaimed, “Oh! The mover is turned off. Lady Cordial’s orders to conserve energy, I guess.”
“Please allow me to be of assistance,” Mojo said. Using one of his tool-like fingers, he lifted a plate by the mover door and connected two wires. The lights flashed. The mover hummed. “There you go. I’ll just wait here so I can turn it off when you’re done.”
What would Mojo think when Piper came down alone? “Don’t worry about it, Mojo,” said Clover. “Just turn it off after we reach the top. We can walk down the emergency stairs when we’re ready.”
Piper raised her eyebrows but said nothing. Mojo nodded and said, “As you wish.”
“Of course you mean I’ll walk down,” Piper told Clover as they zoomed to the top. The mover doors slid open, and the girls stepped onto the deck.
“First things first,” Clover said, trying to think of all the steps involved. “We need to put on our safety starglasses and find a star.”
Piper put on her seafoam green glasses and handed Clover her pair. Clover slipped them on. It was funny to see the world through Vega’s blue-tinted starglasses. While she preferred her usual purple, she did notice that she felt cool and a bit more relaxed.
Together, Clover and Piper scanned the heavens. “There’s a bunch right there!” Clover pointed to a cluster of stars moving quickly across the sky.
The girls grabbed the wrangler ropes—strands of positive energy braided into lassos. They kept their eyes on the shooting stars. “That one is coming closer…closer…closer…” Clover shouted. “Now throw!”
They flung their ropes into space. Both fell woefully short.
“Another one is coming. Let’s try throwing them like Frisbeams,” Clover suggested.
“Okay,” said Piper, planting her feet and changing her grip.
“Now go!” Clover cried. Piper let go, and her rope whooshed through the air—and settled over Clover. “Well, you did rope a star. A circus star,” Clover joked. “But why don’t you just watch me this time?”
Clover flicked her wrist—hard—and her rope sailed into space, falling neatly around a star. “Yes!” said Clover. She tried to pull it in, but the star bucked and lurched like a wild galliope. “Help me, Piper!”
Piper reached to grab hold of the rope just above Clover’s hands. They both held on tight. But the star jerked even harder.
“We’re losing it!” said Clover breathlessly. Piper was not much help.
“I’m doing the best I can,” Piper said calmly. She was panting and her knuckles had turned lightning white. Clover knew she really was trying. But how would they ever do this? She’d never realized how strong a Star Wrangler had to be. The most she and Piper could manage was keeping the star in place.
“Greetings again!” said a familiar voice. “I thought I’d observe the meteor shower, too. But this looks like much more fun. May I join in?”
Wrangling a star was definitely against student rules! But Mojo was already over the half wall, zipping into the inky blackness and tugging at the rope. Working together, all three towed the star to the edge of the deck, Clover and Piper stepping back farther with every tug.
Finally, the star hovered by the wall. It was ready to go. But was Clover?
“Now what?” asked Mojo.
“We strap Clover in,” Piper answered.
By then Clover had stopped worrying about Mojo’s reaction. She was just happy he was there.
Piper and Mojo quickly got Clover’s legs in place, fastening the safety buckles tightly. But the waist belt wouldn’t click into place. The whole thing was like a circus, Clover thought. A comedy routine the clowns would perform.
Even worse, there was no adult in charge, no one to give advice and reassure her or make her believe in herself. She missed Lady Stella.
Finally, Piper realized the buckle was upside down, and she fumbled the latch into place. “There,” she said, satisfied. “Ready to go?”
“No!” The star was already pulling Clover over the balcony. But she hung on to the wall tightly, trying to stay a bit longer. She needed to feel this was an official mission. She needed to follow the regular routine.
“Let me practice my Mirror Mantra first.”
“Sure,” said Piper as Mojo struggled to keep hold. “What is it?”
“Keep the beat and shine like the star you are.” Once she said it out loud, Clover felt better. Still, she needed a few parting words of wisdom.
“Piper, can you wish me well? Say something wise? I need some closure before I go!”
“Of course, of course,” Piper said soothingly. She thought a moment. Meanwhile, Mojo almost lost his grip.
As she closed her eyes, Mojo’s grip loosened even more. “Clover, may you always remember to—oh, starf!” Piper finished as the lasso slipped out of Mojo’s hands.
“Gooooood-bye!” Clover called as she rocketed away. That was not the way she wanted to go!
But just as Starland slipped out of sight, she heard a voice, speaking from close by, perhaps inside her very own head.
“Sometimes the simplest solution is the most powerful one.”
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It sounded like the headmistress. Not Lady Cordial—Lady Stella. The true head of the school, Clover still believed in her heart of hearts.
“Lady Stella?” she said aloud.
She held her breath, hoping for an answer.
Finally, she sighed. Of course Lady Stella—wherever she was—had no idea Clover had just taken off on a Wish Mission. And maybe no one had said those words at all; she was just being silly and sentimental.
Sometimes the simplest solution is the most powerful one, she repeated to herself. Then she pushed those words out of her mind. She still had to choose an outfit, change, ready herself for the mission, and, of course, take in the sights. All those streaming lights and planets! It really was starmazing.
In no time at all, Clover’s Star-Zap signaled her to prepare for landing. Her journey was just about over.
“Wishworld, here I come!”
“Ouch!” Clover landed on a hard surface, jarring her bare feet. She’d already changed into Wishworld clothes—a sparkly purple miniskirt and fringed jacket. Of course she’d chosen a hat, too—a cute purple cap with a brim that covered her face. But she hadn’t been wearing shoes before, so she’d forgotten to pick a new pair.
Quickly, Clover scrolled through some choices and settled on a pair of purple flats. Instantly, they were on her feet. She took a tentative step and smiled. The landing hadn’t been so rough after all; already her feet felt fine.
Before she did anything else, Clover picked up her shooting star, folded it up, and placed it carefully in the front pocket of her backpack.
That accomplished, Clover gazed around, trying to get her bearings. She seemed to be in some sort of open-air building. Parallel yellow lines were painted on the cement floor in neat rows.
Finally, she saw a sign: G2. That was a funny name for a building. But then again, maybe all Wishling buildings were called by letters and numbers and no other Star Darling had noticed it. She wondered if she should add it to her Cyber Journal. Then she decided against it. She wasn’t sure, and anyway, right then she needed to get going. She most likely wouldn’t even have time for observations on her mission, since she had gotten such a late start.
