A Falling Starr: The Complete Trilogy

by Dani Hoots

  “That’s strange,” he whispered.

  My eyes widened. One of the worse things to hear was when a doctor said something was strange. “What is it?”

  “I’m not sure yet. I will have to cross-analyze,” he smiled cheerfully. “But don’t worry about it, it’s probably nothing serious. I will figure it out, I am the best doctor on Cartref after all.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Are you the cockiest too?”

  He laughed. “Well, I will tell you that your humor hasn’t changed. Something I dearly missed this past year.”

  How well did he know me? He did say he was my cousin, I wondered if we grow up together. Or were we the type of cousins that didn’t get to see much of each other until after we moved out of our parent’s home?

  “How close were we?” I asked. “I mean, before all this happened.”

  “We were like brother and sister growing up, since neither of us had siblings. I’ve always been at your side, Angela, and I would never regret that.”

  His answer brought up more questions in my mind. What did he mean at my side? And why would anyone think he would regret it?

  “But back to my question,” he took the spatula thing away from my hand. “Do you still recall the memories after the headache?”

  “Yes. I can remember pieces, but not much. Some things with Emmerich, your name, when we were walking through the city, I knew the wall hadn’t been there before. But other than that, there isn’t much.”

  He rubbed his chin. “Hmm, interesting.”

  That word. I had heard it so many times that I just wanted to scream. “Please don’t say interesting, I hate it when people use it when referring to me.”

  “Sorry. How about intriguing?”

  I gave him a look and he laughed. “I’m just joking with you.” He pulled out another scanner-looking thing. “I’m going to test your blood to make sure your loss of memory isn’t drug induced.”

  “But they already did that—” I started, then remembered what Emmerich had said. No one knew about Earth and he didn’t want them to know. Why that was, I still didn’t quite understand. Not letting the enemies know about Earth made sense, but they already knew. These people were our friends, at least I thought. Did Emmerich not trust them? Or was he afraid that they wouldn’t trust him if they knew the truth. That he was an alien from a different world after all and if this place was anything like Earth, he would be dissected and never see the outside world again.

  Elwood noticed as I tried to backtrack. “Who did?”

  I stared at the contraption, wondering how it worked. Everything here made me so curious, I wanted to learn it all over again. “I ... Doctors where I was.”

  He let out a sigh. “Emmerich wouldn’t tell me either. I had hope that you would trust me enough to tell me the truth.”

  Apparently neither Emmerich nor I had trusted Elwood enough to tell him the secret before I was kidnapped, but one of us had to of told someone because there were other people from this world on Earth. Who did I tell? And what would they do with that information?

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  He smiled gently. “It’s alright, I’m just happy to see you.”

  He moved the scanner back and forth in front of me. I looked at it quizzically. “I wish I could say the same.”

  “You will,” he stopped and put the instrument into some sort of machine. “Going through this again, you recall my name, but not anything about me. You apparently remember some things of Emmerich otherwise I don’t think you would come here with him willingly. Or you are way too trusting, which is a possibility, knowing you like I do.”

  I wished I understood what he meant by that. Was I too trusting in my former life? Had that gotten me into the trouble that I currently was in? “I... I remember feeling comfortable around him, that we were close somehow. That’s about it.”

  “You called him Rick just now. You’re the only one who ever called him that, you know.”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t even realize I had. But when I first ran into him the name did appear in my mind, just like it did yours.”

  “What about Isaac?”

  I shook my head. “No, I didn’t recognize him. Still don’t.”

  “You didn’t know him as well I guess. He was one of your guards, but you didn’t know him informally. As for the people closest to you, that was mainly me, Emmerich and...” he paused. “What do you remember about Michael? Does the name ring any bells?”

  “Michael?” I asked. A face flashed in my mind. Serious and stern with dark hair and green eyes. He wore some type of uniform, dark blue. I winced. It felt like someone stabbed a needle in my brain. “Ow.”

  Elwood placed his hand on my arm. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine, but Michael... A dark haired man, am I right? He looked angry in my mind, mad about something or someone. Who is he?”

  Elwood stared at me, as if he was about to say something but just shook his head. “I think that’s enough, I was afraid this would happen. We have to take it slow, okay? Baby steps.”

  I nodded, the pain still there, though dulled. I hated this, I hated having to either suffer for my memories or not remember anything at all. I didn’t know which was worse.

  Opening a drawer, Elwood grabbed a small bottle of a liquid. “Take about 30-60 drops of this once every four hours, it should make the pain go away.”

  I opened it and recognized it as one of the herbal medicines I took. I sipped it and the headache started to go away. “Thank you.”

  Elwood stood up. “Come on, we’ll get you some new clothes and some water.” He took me back into the main room. Emmerich and Isaac sat on the couch. The music was off now, but the screen was on, displaying a map. They stopped talking when we entered and Isaac clicked the screen off.

  “How did it go?” Emmerich asked.

  Elwood patted my back. “Running some tests to figure if there was cause for it, other than that she seems normal. I tried to have her recall some things but when she did her head started hurting.”

  Emmerich hurried to my side and grabbed my hand. “Are you all right, though?”

  Before I could respond, Elwood gave him a look. “She’s fine, Romeo. I wouldn’t hurt my cousin, now would I? When I have the test results back, we’ll have a better idea of what happened.”

  “What did she remember?” Isaac asked as he joined the line of people. I fidgeted with my sleeves.

  “She remembered what Michael looked like when I mentioned his name. That is as far as we got,” he turned to the hallway. “I’m going to get her some new clothes. Something a little more practical.”

  He must have read my mind. “Thank you,” I called after.

  Emmerich stepped closer. “Did you remember anything else about Michael other than what he looked like?”

  “I don’t...” More pain. I grabbed my head.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you to get another headache, I thought since you had already remembered...” he began.

  I shook my head. “It’s fine, I want to remember,” I rubbed my forehead.

  “What did I just say about asking her questions?” Elwood said as he came back out into the hallway. He handed me a jumpsuit similar to his but this one was white and orange.

  It looked like the perfect size. Was it mine from before?

  “No, wait,” I said. A dull pain was still there, but it was lessening and images began to appear. “He and I were close, weren’t we? I remember you, Rick, and him, standing together. We were discussing something,” I paused and looked at him confused as to what else I had seen. “Why do I see mermaids?”

  “You remember the water colony?” Emmerich asked, hopeful. “What do you remember about them?”

  I shook my head. “Not much, I just I remember an argument about leaving them out of something. Michael wanted to fight but I said no,” I stopped. “What was my job here?”

  Emmerich and Elwood exchanged a look. Isaac just stared at me, wo
rried. There was something going on and I had a feeling it was bigger than I could have ever imagined.

  Elwood finally spoke. “How about you rest? We don’t want you to overwhelm yourself on your first day back, okay?”

  “No, I can handle it. Tell me.”

  “You were an advocator for peace,” Emmerich answered before anyone else could. “You stood up for what you believed was right and had a lot of supporters. A born leader.”

  I nodded. “Okay. Was that so hard?” Although nothing rang a bell, I was happy to get some sort of answer. I couldn’t see myself as a leader, though. It didn’t sound right.

  Elwood snapped his fingers. “I promised you some water,” he hurried to the equipment on the wall.

  “Way to change the subject,” I whispered to Emmerich.

  He laughed. “It’s amazing how Elwood can alleviate a tense situation. He is more like a jester than a doctor sometimes, but I think that’s what makes him a great doctor. He always knows what to say to cheer you up.”

  “You think he can fix me?”

  Emmerich looked at me and smiled gently. “If I had to bet on it, I would put all my money on him.”

  I sighed. “I just hope you’re right.”

  Elwood brought over the glass. “Here.”

  “Thanks.” It helped get rid of the herbal taste that was still in my mouth.

  “You should probably get some sleep, Angel,” Emmerich said. “You did a lot of running and deserve it. There isn’t much for you to do anyway as Elwood goes over the results. If you need anything, we will be in here. Elwood, will you show her to her room?”

  Elwood nodded and gestured towards the furthest door down the hallway. I entered it.

  It was plain, the only furnishings being a bunk bed and a dresser. There was a door that appeared to lead to a bathroom.

  “Sorry it’s not that fancy,” Elwood teased.

  “It’s fine, I like it better this way,” I smiled, remembering my sparse Portland apartment. “Wake me up when you find out the results, please?”

  He nodded. “I will. Just get some rest.” With that, he left me in this room. My headache still lingered, though not nearly as strong. Usually it would have gone away by now. Maybe the herbs weren’t as strong as the ones on Earth, though they sure didn’t taste that way.

  I took a quick shower and changed into the jumpsuit. I was going to go to sleep but I didn’t particularly want to wake up and not have time to change again. I wanted to be ready.

  The strange thing was, it fit me perfectly. I never found clothes that fit me this perfect, at least not ones that I could afford. I looked in the mirror. I never thought I could look so good in a jumpsuit.

  Letting my tiredness overcome me, I slipped under the covers. I couldn’t sleep though my body was tired. I tossed and turned, my mind racing. When I did finally manage to sleep, I fell into a nightmare.

  I stood, staring down at this strange city Emmerich had brought me to. I was completely alone. I could see everything, from the buildings that no longer looked high, to the wall surrounding the city. Fires raged below, people ran around screaming, completely out of control. I didn’t know what to do. I felt helpless as the people panicked.

  Beings were coming out of the ocean just beyond the wall. I watched in horror as soldiers on both sides of the wall started firing their weapons, destroying the wall between them. I screamed for them to stop but there was no one to hear me. They attacked it again and again until finally it collapsed into rubble and the two now faced each other.

  They charged at one another, weapons aimed and ready. One fired and all hell broke loose.

  War was happening below, people came out of the sea and attacked those on the land, those on the land ready for them to come. Blood stained the streets as both beings laid dead. A mountain of bodies began to pile up. No one could stop this madness.

  I screamed again and again. But no one heard me. No one listened but went on with their madness. The only way I could stop them was if I got down from the tower.

  So I jumped down towards the city. I fell and fell and braced myself as the ground came closer and closer...

  As my eyes opened to the real world, my heart felt as if it would leap out of my chest. My head still hurt, pain shooting through it. I moaned and realized that it was all a dream and for that I was glad. I had jumped from hundreds of feet in the air and probably wouldn’t have survived. What was I thinking? Why would I do that to stop a war that had nothing to do with me?

  A quick glance around reminded me that I was no longer in my apartment. I was on Cartref, a planet in a whole different galaxy than that of Earth. I took a few more deep breaths. I had come here with Emmerich, this was my home. This was where I belonged

  Or so I hoped.

  Rubbing my eyes, I decided to get up. I didn’t want to go back to sleep after that awful dream. I hated dreams where I was falling, my heart always raced when I woke up and I had to find a way to calm myself down. I stood up and started to pace around the room.

  I had dreamt of this world and of a war. Was it real? What did it have to do with me? I felt like somehow it did. I stopped and bit my lip. Those beings had come out of the ocean on the other side of the wall. Was that why it was there, to stop whatever was on the other side from coming in?

  I could hear Emmerich and the others arguing about something, the sound of their voices coming from the crack under the door. I could only make out a few words, but I did hear my name more than once. They were arguing about something, something having to do with me.

  Maybe I could figure out more of what was going on if I could hear the entire conversation .

  Was I really going to stoop to that level to figure out what was going on? Listening in on other people’s conversation. I didn’t want to be that person, but I needed answers. It wasn’t my fault they were being so loud. I crept out of the bed and knelt down next the door. Slowly, I opened it a crack.

  “She needs to know the truth now, before it is too late,” I heard Emmerich say. “This war could erupt any moment now.”

  So there was a war. I was right.

  “I already told you, giving her information could affect her mind. The results from the tests aren’t quite clear, whatever it is in her system I haven’t seen before. As a medic I can’t allow you to tell her anything,” Elwood answered.

  I gulped. That wasn’t something I wanted to hear. Not when Emmerich said Elwood was one of the best doctors around. Who else would be able to help me?

  “But what about as her family? What do you say then? We can’t just keep her in the dark, we need her.” Emmerich went on.

  There was a long pause.

  “I have to go with Elwood on this one,” Isaac said. “We can’t risk hurting her.”

  Isaac... he still wasn’t triggering any memories. It was unnerving that I couldn’t remember who he was. At least with the others I remembered something, even if it was just a feeling. With Isaac I felt... nothing.

  “She has some sort of poison in her blood,” Elwood went on, “It’s what is causing her mind to block out memories and cause her pain. We have to figure out how to get it out of her system before we do anything. I’m not going to risk her life without knowing more.”

  Poison ? I wondered how long it had been in my body and whether or not he could get rid of it in the end. I bit my thumb. Why did this happen to me? Who poisoned me to wipe clean my memories?

  “But we can’t just keep everything from her,” Emmerich yelled, frustrated as I was. “She needs to know who she really is, the war, and everything that Michael has done. Before it is too late.”

  I grabbed my head as it started hurting again. That name. We were having a conversation, Michael and I. I wanted peace, I wanted a treaty. Michael was furious. He wanted war, saying that they Galaftns were no match for us. They were the weaker species and we had to put them in their place. Our argument got very heated and Emmerich came into the room, asking what was going on.

  I b
linked, the images faded but the headache didn’t. I rubbed my forehead, hoping that would help but it didn’t. One question kept running through my mind: Who were Galaftns?

  Done with eavesdropping, I stepped out to where they were discussing me. I had to stand up for myself. I couldn’t let them decide for me.

  They stared at me, looking surprised to find me awake. They were probably hoping I hadn’t heard them talking about me, but I had. And now I wanted answers, especially about Michael and the Galaftns.

  Emmerich was the first to break the silence. “Angel, I thought you were asleep.”

  “I couldn’t sleep, I heard you three,” I rubbed my head, the pain still lingering from the recalled memories. “I just...”

  “Did you remember something else?” Elwood asked, worried.

  I ignored his question. “What are Galaftns?”

  Emmerich looked at Isaac and Elwood. “What did you remember, exactly? How much of our conversation did you hear?”

  I fidgeted with the sleeve of my jumpsuit. Not only did it fit me perfectly, strangely enough, the edge I was fidgeting with was already worn. “It came to me just now when I heard you discussing Michael. I remember arguing about it with him. Something about a war. Who or what are they?”

  No one said a word.

  I felt my blood heat up. The pressure of the last few days coming to a boil. “Tell me the truth Rick! Someone, please!”

  “If I do that,” Emmerich said softly. “I could hurt you. I can’t do that to you, Angel, if anything happened...”

  I shook my head and ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. My head was pounding now. “But I heard you just now, you said you couldn’t keep me in the dark like this.”

  “I won’t let him,” Elwood added. “You have poison in your system and I don’t know what will happen.”

  “Why don’t you let me make that decision? It’s my life, not yours. I can live with the consequences.”

  “If that means your death, I would never be able to live with myself. I’d rather die than let any harm like that come to you,” Elwood replied sharply.

  “Why? Why do I mean so much to you, to any of you? Do you have any idea what it’s like not knowing who you are, or who anyone else is?” I took a breath, willing myself to calm down. “I simply want to understand, I want to help.”