“Oh, but that’s not proper meal etiquette.”
“It’s your birthday. Go wild!”
“But it’s not my birthday.”
I sighed. “Just eat the cake first.”
She hesitated, and then picked up a silver fork and went to separate a section, but I remembered something—a song—very deep in the back of my mind.
“Stop, wait!”
She halted the fork in the air. Everyone stared at us.
“What is it?”
“I know a song. You can’t eat that until I sing you a song.”
“Is this a Stargazer custom?”
“No, I don’t think so.” I closed my eyes, trying to remember the lyrics. When I opened my eyes, Henrietta was furrowing her brow at me, confused. I opened my mouth and began to sing, “Happy birthday to you—happy birthday to you—happy birthday, dear Henrietta, happy birthday to you!”
I smiled, feeling joyous inside, happy for Henrietta, but she just stared at me with a look of confusion. I glanced at everyone else. They had the same look.
I turned back to Henrietta. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”
She hesitated, but then nodded, and dug in. I did the same. We both ate very quickly, enjoying our meal, not slowing down to savor the taste. The chocolate cake was by far, the best part.
I smiled at Henrietta. “You have icing on your face.”
She smiled, giddy with sugar overload. “Do I?”
She went to clean it, but missed the spot entirely. I took a napkin. “Here, let me,” I said as I wiped the black smudge from the side of her mouth.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two guards advance, and then stand still. They must have thought I was going to hurt Henrietta. I was surprised at their actions; I didn’t think a slave’s life was worth their effort, but perhaps it was an opportunity to shoot me and prove to everyone that I was indeed, dangerous.
“You really are different, aren’t you?”
I turned to see Dr. Eyre, standing cautiously near me. I looked at her prison outfit. Her designation was NTRS-01-24-3013. She took a seat at my table, several feet away. Her once brilliant red hair was now dull and thin. Being in prison didn’t suit her well.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “Am I?”
“The Stargazers wouldn’t dare be so tender to humans.” She shrugged. “And why should they? We haven’t been very welcoming.”
“Don’t group your Corporate demons with us, doctor,” said a gruff voice near us.
I turned to place the face with the voice. It was short man with long brown hair, unkempt. He wore a white shirt and pants with his designation as EHRI-09-24-3010-L.
I deduced the “EH” to be Extremely Hostile. The “RI” I could only conclude to be Rebel Intruder or Infiltrator. The date was when he was apprehended, three years earlier than me. As for the “L” I had no idea what that letter meant.
He saw me eyeing his shirt. He gave me a wicked smile. “Trying to figure me out, alien?”
I didn’t like being called an “alien,” but I let it pass. I lifted my head, trying to show bravery, as if he didn’t upset me.
“What does the ‘L’ stand for?”
He looked down at his shirt as if he needed to remember. Then he looked up at me and smiled. “I was a lieutenant in a rebel faction.”
“Were any others caught with you?”
He nodded to a girl and boy across from him. They both had blond hair, unkempt, eyeing me curiously. They didn’t seem threatening like the short man.
“These two privates were captured too. That’s how we got caught.” He turned to them with a sneer. “These no good bunch of kids couldn’t bypass the security measures in time.”
“We did,” said the boy, defending himself. “My sister and I got through, but you tripped the secondary security net in a rush to enter the dome.”
The man shot off his seat, furious. The guards did nothing—yet.
He pointed a threatening finger at the boy, who now looked extremely scared. His sister clutched onto his arm, fearful as well.
“We had that sector under surveillance for months! You knew what to do! You failed!”
The sister, even though scared, stood up and pointed back at him. “Don’t blame Rainn! You were the one in charge!”
“Sunny,” said Rainn softly to his sister. “Sit down, please. I can handle this.”
“Like you handled it back then?!” shouted the man.
It all happened so fast. The man lunged forward, knocking Sunny out the way, as he grabbed Rainn’s shirt, and pulled him forward, his fist reared, ready to slam it against the boy’s face. I shot off my seat, not thinking of the repercussions, and rushed to the next table. I heard shouts behind me, maybe Henrietta, maybe Dr. Eyre, I didn’t know, and I didn’t care. I had to stop that man from hitting Rainn.
My only thought was to stop his fist from reaching the boy’s face. So I held up my hand and blocked the blow. The man’s fist slammed into my hand. I heard bones breaking and the loud cry of someone in awful pain. I thought the boy had really been hurt, but when I looked at him, he was already backing away, unhurt, with his sister, retreating away from me. I looked down at the man I had stopped, his knees to the floor, holding his broken hand in the air, screaming in pain. His eyes were wide, staring at me, with his mouth open, screaming and cursing at me for what I had done—vowing revenge. His hand was nothing more than a crumpled and broken mess.
I looked up in time to see the barrel of a gun pointed in my direction. Out of instinct to protect myself, I advanced forward. He pulled the trigger once and a massive sound wave shot straight to my ear drum, sending a shrilling ring inside my head. The ringing bounced back and forth, causing me pain, making me delirious. I clamped my hand to my ears, as if that would make it all go away, but the screeching sound only got louder as I felt my legs go weak, and my knees crashed to the floor.
Someone stabbed me in my arm. With my eyes half-closed from the pain in my head, I turned to see a guard holding a now empty syringe in his hand. I felt sleepy and realized he had administered a sedative. I was glad for it as I drifted off into the cozy world of black and the pain in my head was nothing more than a dim memory.
Chapter 11
I woke in my room to find Henrietta, John, and Loren watching me.
“Finally,” said Loren, as he covered me with his body, giving me a hug.
John held my hand tightly. Henrietta remained seated at the edge of my bed with a little smile.
I felt embarrassed and immediately sat up, resting against the white headboard. Loren let me go but stayed close with his arm around my waist as if I were going to get up and leave. The sedative had worn off, but I still felt a little dizzy and weak.
“How badly did I hurt that man?”
John shook his head. “His hand is broken, that’s all.”
I didn’t understand his casualness. “But I hurt him.”
“He deserved it. He was threatening a kid.”
“Still,” I began, “if I wasn’t in complete control, I could have ripped his arm off.”
“But you didn’t,” said Loren, cupping my cheek. “You’re not dangerous. You just did what anyone else around here wanted to do. Thaddeus Ridge had it coming to him. He treated everyone, even his fellow rebels, as dogs.”
I noticed John’s distress at Loren touching my cheek. I gently removed Loren’s hand and placed it back at my waist as not to hurt his feelings.
“Why are you all here? Why didn’t I get into trouble?”
“It was just a rebel,” said John, slyly rubbing his thumb against the flesh of my hand.
I remembered why I was still angry at him. He served the Corporation, even though he knew they committed horrible acts. He was grateful to Pallas for giving him a life he wouldn’t have received out there in the wild with the Resistance. I wanted to hate him, but I couldn’t. But I also didn’t want to receive his affections. Gently, I removed my hand from his. He furrowed his brow, co
nfused, but then nodded and stood, placing his hands in his pockets.
I looked at Loren. He was smiling at me, gorgeous, with his wild blond hair and emerald eyes. I didn’t realize how much I missed him until now. I was also afraid for him. He was a rebel spy and it was only a matter of time before he was found out. Everyone in the Corporation was supposed to spy on the other. John could easily turn Loren in. He knew his friend had rebel tech. It would only be too easy to sign Loren’s death warrant and then he could have me. But it wouldn’t work that way. John would fail, for if he did that, I would never, could never, love him after that betrayal. For if he was to betray his friend of almost two decades, why should I be any different?
Loren was wearing his white lab coat. I remembered he went to see the captured Stargazer.
“What’s she like?”
“Who are you talking about?”
“The Stargazer you went to assist on with Dr. Keller.”
“She’s not like you at all. She’s very…feisty. She speaks only in Stellar whenever she does speak. As you know, we are still unfamiliar with the language. Medusa has been able to translate some, but still, it’s not enough to gain any worthy intelligence.”
“Did she mention Overlord?”
Loren furrowed his brow. “Yes, that was the only word we were able to translate. How did you know about that?”
“I told her about the intercepted transmissions,” said John. “I wasn’t going to until she likened Pallas to an Overlord.”
Henrietta stood up. “President Pallas seemed anxious about this Overlord. He would never talk to me about important Sanctuary matters, but often he confided in me his fears about this Overlord.”
I sat up more erect, curious. “Does he have any knowledge about this Overlord? Why does he fear this person?”
She shook her head. “I asked him. He said it was none of my concern.”
Of course he would say that to his slave, but just the fact that he had confided in her, only briefly, was enough to suggest this Overlord was his weak spot.
“So, Pallas has an Achilles heel.”
They all furrowed their brows at me.
“What do you mean?” asked John.
“You don’t know the story of Achilles?”
He shook his head. “Was he a doctor?”
I chuckled. “It’s Greek myth. He was strong and a good fighter, but there was a spot on his ankle that was unprotected. After all his victories, it was that spot when attacked that caused his death.” I looked at all three of my companions with their confused faces. “You’ve never heard of this?”
They all shook their heads simultaneously.
I pointed to the white wall where Medusa would appear if called. “What about Medusa? She’s from Greek myth—the monster with snakes for hair.”
“There’s nothing in Sanctuary archives of…Greek myth,” said Loren. “Is this perhaps, Stargazer history?”
I grunted, frustrated. Loren removed his hold of me, scared perhaps that I was going to harm him.
“It’s not Stargazer history! It’s Earth history! It’s human history! It’s my history!”
I grabbed my head, even though it didn’t hurt, and held it firmly, as if all my frustration was going to burst out, and I needed to contain the explosion from destroying the whole quadrant.
Loren cautiously rose from my bed and stepped away.
“Ava…”
“What is it now?!”
He took another step back, nervous. I hated to make him feel that way, but I was frustrated with everyone and everything here.
“I spent several hours with the captured Stargazer. While restrained, Dr. Keller placed a Separator in her head, but it yielded no results.”
I looked at John with narrow eyes. “Just like me, right John?”
He simply nodded, unable to speak.
I turned back to Loren. “Did Dr. Keller put that poison at the back of her neck too?”
I felt sorry for the Stargazer, whoever she was.
Loren nodded. “It was procedure. Victor…”
I stood up, propelled by his name. “Was Victor there?”
Loren nodded again. “He was sent in to interact with the Stargazer.”
I looked at Henrietta, remembering how she was forced to mate with a Stargazer and have her child killed as a result of the Corporation’s nasty business of experimentation and seemingly inherit hatred of anything different from the bliss of Sanctuary.
I turned back to Loren. “What do you mean interact?”
“Her restraints were removed. It wasn’t so much experimentation than…an execution.”
I sat back down, dizzy, in disbelief, and upset at what he was going to say next.
He continued. “Victor wasn’t merely transferred. He was being held in solitary confinement, in the dark, without food and only water to drink once a day.”
“Why?”
“He was being punished for his feelings for you. The Corporation saw him as a threat—he was hatching an escape plan—he was going to break out of the dome with you.”
I shook my head, still confused. “But you and John—you both love me—Medusa has heard you—the Red Woman—Pallas has assuredly heard you—seen us kiss. Why aren’t you two in solitary confinement?”
Loren shot John an angry look. “You kissed her?”
John smirked. “She enjoyed it.”
Loren looked at me, as if I had betrayed him. I wasn’t in the mood for this. I stood back up.
“What happened to Victor?”
Loren was silent, fuming.
“What happened?” I said, making my voice into a low growl.
Loren sighed, defeated. “He was starving. He was told that if he could subdue the Stargazer, knock her out, or do any sort of damage, he would not only eat, but be allowed back into the Corporation.” He halted and then continued, “He was no match for the Stargazer. She snapped his neck before he could lay a finger on her.”
I sat back down and started to cry. “I didn’t want anyone to die because of me.”
I felt an arm around my shoulders and went to shrug it off, thinking it was John or Loren, but it was Henrietta. I accepted her embrace. She said nothing and just held me. That made me feel better than if she had begun a long trail of meaningless words to comfort me.
“When you’re feeling better,” Loren began softly, “you’re needed in the Examining Room.”
I looked up at him, wiping my tears. “Needed?”
He gave a crooked smile. “It’s required, actually—by Madam Secretary’s orders.”
“And what am I supposed to do? Communicate with the Stargazer? I don’t even speak Stellar. I’ve told you all again and again that I’m not one of them.”
“But you’re not one of us, either,” said John softly, as he stood behind me.
I turned to face him, snarling. “Why do you even love me if I’m such a freak?”
“You’re not a freak. I love you for who you are. Remember our conversation earlier?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I remember when you basically told me you’d serve the interests of the Corporation above me.”
“I never said that.”
“You implied it and I’m sure if I were to shove that Separator in your head, I’d find out how deep your loyalty truly lies, and how quick you’d be to sell me out.”
“Leave, now,” demanded Loren, advancing towards his friend.
John advanced too; his face was determined. “I’m not leaving.”
I stood up and went to the door. “No, you two stay here. I’ve got a Stargazer to meet.”
Medusa opened it for me, and two guards had their weapons on me, ready. I recalled being shot earlier and did everything I could to show them I wasn’t a threat. I didn’t want to go through that again. I kept my arms to my sides and heard the door shut behind me, locking in Henrietta, John, and Loren. They could either stay there or leave, but I didn’t want any of them near me right now. I was desperate to meet this Stargaz
er—desperate to find out who I really was. Would she be the key? Could I communicate with her? And if I could, did I really want to know the truth?
***
The room was exactly as I had remembered. It was white, bright, and cold. The Stargazer wasn’t restrained to the table like I had been. She didn’t wear a gown either. Instead, her clothes were all black from neck to toes. It molded to her body like a glove. Her hair was like mine, except darker, more purple, and fashioned in a Mohawk style. Her eyes were darker too. I wondered at our differences. Why was she darker than me?
As I looked more like a girl, she looked like a woman—curvaceous and voluptuous. We were several feet apart. She took slow and methodically steps toward me, unsure. But she didn’t behave in a threatening manner. I actually felt quite safe around her, despite that fact that she was strong like me, and most undoubtedly unmerciful towards those weaker than her—as evidenced by Victor’s death. At least it had been quick, if that mattered.
We were five feet apart when she started to speak. The language was, I assumed, Stellar, for I didn’t understand a word of it.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t speak Stellar.”
Her eyes went wide and she took a step back, as if frightened of me. It was an unusual reaction. What did she think of me? She took a timid step forward and spoke in Stellar again. A few of the words I recognized from her earlier speech, but I couldn’t translate what she was trying to tell me.
“Do you speak English?” I asked her.
She tilted her head like Medusa. Then she flexed her pink lips in and out like a kissing motion.
“English,” she repeated.
At first, I was shocked, but then I remembered that Stargazers were supposed to be great mimickers.
I nodded. “That’s right. I speak only English. I can’t communicate with you any other way.”
She tilted her head around, processing my language. She didn’t say anymore, instead, advancing towards me until we were a foot apart. We were the same height, but I felt myself tremble a bit at her sudden closeness. I knew my strength, but what if she was stronger?
She scanned my shirt. Her mouth moved again; her lips trying to produce words.
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