Astra''s Mixed-Up Mission

by Ahmet Zappa

  But it wasn’t coming to her.

  She looked up. Lady Stella was standing in the doorway, watching her. “Star greetings, Astra,” she said with a smile. “Looks like you had a good time in Aspirational Art class.”

  “I did,” said Astra. “It was totally starprising, but I really did.”

  “It’s about time,” Lady Stella remarked. Astra shifted in her shiny red boots, feeling a bit uncomfortable that the headmistress knew she had been struggling with the class. Was Lady Stella keeping tabs on her? Maybe as a Star Darling she should have expected it. But it was still disconcerting.

  “Who was that?” Astra asked the headmistress, pointing to the hooded woman, who was by then a small figure at the end of the long starmarble hallway.

  “Oh, just someone…interviewing for a position,” said Lady Stella vaguely.

  “But she seemed so famil—” Astra said.

  “So how have you been, Astra?” Lady Stella interrupted. Her piercing eyes, a kaleidoscope of colors, seemed to be staring right into her. Astra looked away.

  “Okay,” she replied. Should she bring up her concerns about the other Star Darlings? She desperately wanted to, but without Piper’s input, she didn’t feel like she should do it. So she changed the subject herself. “So what’s going on with Ophelia?” she asked. “I heard she left Starling Academy. Kind of abruptly.”

  “Yes, sh-sh-sh-she did,” said someone behind them. Lady Stella and Astra both spun around. Lady Cordial stood in the middle of the hallway, her purple hair escaping from her bun, and her cheeks flushed in an unbecoming shade of violet.

  She caught her breath and continued. “We received some good news from the orphanage where Ophelia was from. They found a family who wanted to adopt her and sh-sh-she needed to return immediately to s-s-s-start the proceedings.”

  Lady Stella nodded. “Such wonderful news,” she said.

  So Cassie had been wrong. Ophelia was an orphan. “Well, that’s great,” said Astra. “I’m really happy for her.” She thought for a moment. “Maybe we could all send her a holo-card. Does she still have her Star-Zap?”

  Lady Cordial shook her head.

  “I guess we could send it to the orphanage,” Astra said, pressing on. “What is it called?”

  Lady Cordial frowned. “I think it was called the S-s-s-starland C-c-c-city Home for Orphaned S-s-s-starling Children.”

  Lady Stella shook her head. “Are you sure? I seem to recall it was called the Starland Memorial Institute.”

  “We’ll let you know,” said Lady Cordial. She stared at Astra. “Hadn’t you better get back to your room to rinse off before the paintlight s-s-s-sets in and you’re stained forever?”

  Astra looked down. “Oh, that’s right!” she said. With a quick farewell to the two faculty members, she hurried down the hall and to her dorm. She glanced at her Star-Zap and quickened her pace. She liked her aura red, not rainbow, thank you very much.

  Freshly sparkled and paintlight-free, Astra jumped onto the Cosmic Transporter, her starstick in hand. It was time for SD class and she didn’t want to be late. She started to jog on the moving sidewalk, passing students who preferred a more leisurely ride, were upperclassmen with a free star period for their last class, or simply didn’t care about their attendance records. She spotted a cluster of students chatting together on the transporter and, about to overtake them, shouted, “On your left!” so they would get out of her way. Suddenly, the floor stopped moving underneath her. The students she was about to pass all bumped into each other and began to fall like a bunch of stardominoes. To her great starprise, Astra found herself hurtling through the air, about to crash into the girls. Thinking quickly, she jammed her starstick down, lifted her body up, and vaulted right over them.

  She landed neatly on her feet on the other side of the fallen girls. Brushing herself off, she stretched out her hand to the students, who had tumbled on top of each other in a very untidy pile.

  “What happened?” a girl with shoulder-length bright yellow hair asked as Astra helped her to her feet.

  “The Cosmic Transporter just stopped moving,” said Astra. “How startacularly strange.”

  Once she had determined that the girls were not hurt, just shaken up, she headed to Star Darlings class.

  The students, ensconced in the soundproof room they used for their private classes, were all chattering excitedly about the power outage. “The Cosmic Transporter just ground to a halt!” Astra informed them dramatically. “I’m lucky I didn’t get hurt!”

  “Nothing is working,” said Piper. “It’s like when the lights went out after Cassie’s mission.”

  “Very strange,” said Adora.

  “What?” said Astra. She shook her head. Adora and her low talking! Adora opened her mouth to speak again.

  “It’s okay,” said Astra. “Never mind.”

  The girls’ Star-Zaps chimed and flickered. They all had received a holo-message. Tessa read it first. “Oh, no, Professor Illumia Wickes is trapped in the Flash Vertical Mover!” she said. “No class today.”

  “Every cloud has a sparkly lining,” said Scarlet, who then skipped right out the door. She almost knocked into Libby, who appeared in the doorway with a large bandage on her forehead.

  “What happened?” asked Adora.

  “What happened?” asked Astra.

  Libby yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. “I was on the Cosmic Transporter on my way to class. The next thing I knew, I was under a pile of students!” She sat in her seat and put her head down on the desk.

  Astra exchanged glances with Piper. They both realized that Libby must have fallen asleep standing up.

  “Since we’re all here—well, everyone but Scarlet, that is—I have some news to share,” said Astra. “I ran into Lady Stella and Lady Cordial earlier today and they told me that Ophelia really is an orphan. And that she’s getting adopted. That’s why she left Starling Academy so abruptly. I’m just not sure which orphanage she is at,” Astra continued. “Lady Cordial said it was called the Starland City Home for Orphaned Starling Children and Lady Stella thought it was Starland Memorial Institute.”

  She looked to Cassie for her reaction, but Cassie was too engrossed in posing for starselfies.

  “So, Cassie,” she said loudly, “it looks like your theory was totally wrong.”

  Cassie put down her Star-Zap for a moment and smiled distractedly. “Yes, I do have many theories,” she said. “In fact, I shared seventeen of them today in my classes. Everyone was very impressed, I could tell.”

  “Really,” said Astra. “Seventeen, you say.”

  “Really,” said Cassie. “I have a fascinating way of looking at things, and I enjoy sharing my perspective with my fellow students.”

  Vega spoke up. “Now this may truly sound absurd,” she said. “But should we take Lady Stella’s word?”

  Astra paused, digesting Vega’s rhyme. “So you think she isn’t telling the truth?” she finally said.

  “The answer is I’m just not sure,” Vega replied. “But maybe we should find out more.”

  “That’s a good point,” said Astra. “I’ll try to get in touch with the orphanage and verify that information.”

  Piper nodded. “Good plan.”

  “Well, I’m going to call the orphanage right this very starmin,” said Leona. She walked across the room and proceeded to photobomb Cassie’s starselfies. Astra sighed and looked around the room. Adora was moving her lips, but no sound came out. Libby snored gently, her head resting on her desk. Vega opened her mouth to speak. Piper, seeing this, put her hands over her ears.

  Astra had reached her limit. Enough was enough. “That’s it!” she shouted. Everyone stopped talking and stared at her.

  “Something really strange is going on, and none of you can see it,” she said. “And it’s driving me and Piper crazy!”

  Tessa stared at Astra. “Maybe you two actually are crazy,” she said, “if none of us can see it but you.”

  A
stra looked around wildly, then noticed that Vega was holo-vidding her. “Vega, give that to me,” she said brusquely. Vega scowled and opened her mouth, about to retort. “Please,” Astra added. “I just want to look at some of your holo-vids.” You never knew when Vega was going to start holo-vidding. Luckily, once Astra said the magic word, Vega handed it over without rhyming.

  Astra began to quickly scan through the holo-vids. She found what she was looking for—breakfast that morning—and pressed the projector option. The cafeteria scene sprang to life in the middle of the room.

  “Do you really think this is going to work?” whispered Piper.

  Astra shrugged. “It’s worth a try,” she said.

  Slowly, the Star Darlings began to drift over and watch. After a couple of moments, Cassie’s mouth fell open in shock. Leona shook her head. “Oh, my stars,” said Sage. She giggled, looked mortified, and slapped her hand over her mouth. Adora said something; no one knew what. Only Libby, still snoozing, did not react.

  “Moonberries,” whispered Tessa.

  “Did I really just…skip?” asked someone in a horrified-sounding voice.

  Astra spun around. Scarlet was standing in the open doorway.

  “I forgot my Star-Zap,” she explained. “Is that holo-vid for real?”

  Astra nodded grimly. “It’s for real.”

  “Well, then we have to do something about this!” Scarlet said, her cheeks bright pink with embarrassment. “Right now!”

  Vega nodded. She opened her mouth, then shut it. It was clear that she didn’t want to talk because she knew she would start rhyming again. Finally, with a look of resignation on her face, she said, “I thought that you were being cruel. But I really am a rhyming fool.”

  Now that everyone was aware of their strange behavior, they wanted it fixed, and fast. The problem was that nobody had any idea how to fix it.

  Later that night, after they had attended their various meetings and clubs and had an unusually quiet dinner, the girls gathered in Astra and Clover’s room, where they could talk freely.

  After everyone was settled on couches, chairs, and the floor, Astra started the conversation. “I know it was kind of shocking to watch Vega’s holo-vid today and be able to see how you all have been acting. Piper and I think the key to finding out why it is happening has to do with the fact that the two of us are acting normally.”

  Leona snorted.

  “Very funny, Leona,” said Astra. She smiled. “Well, acting as normally as we usually act, anyway.”

  Adora typed into her Star-Zap and passed it to Piper, who sat next to her. This had become her new way of communicating since she had been informed that her voice was inaudible. CLEARLY IT WAS YOUR TRIP TO WISHWORLD, she’d written.

  Piper considered this and shook her head. “Oh, I don’t think so,” she said.

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s just a coincidence,” Astra informed her.

  “What makes you think that?” asked Gemma.

  “Because Piper and I never acted odd, even before we went to Wishworld,” Astra explained. “So it must be something else.”

  Piper nodded in agreement, but the only response from the other Star Darlings was laughter. And it wasn’t just from Sage.

  “What’s going on?” Astra asked, feeling irritated.

  Vega looked up from her Star-Zap guiltily. “I found a holo-vid of you. You will not like it, this is true.” She held up her Star-Zap and projected the image. It was of the Star Darlings sitting around their table in the Celestial Café a starweek earlier, eating lunch. Astra and Piper watched in disbelief as Piper finished everyone’s sentences, sometimes quite incorrectly, and Astra pulled one silly practical joke after another—pulling out a chair as Scarlet was about to sit down, switching Gemma’s iced Zing with Tessa’s ozziefruit juice, gluing a fork to the table…

  “Ohhhhh,” said Astra, feeling completely mortified. Piper blushed and looked at the floor.

  “So since you two were acting odd before the mission and then stopped once you got back, clearly something happened on the trip to reverse it,” said Tessa.

  “Maybe it has something to do with traveling through the atmosphere?” suggested Clover.

  Astra frowned. “I don’t think that’s it,” she said. She began to pace the room, thinking.

  “Did you do anything out of the ordinary on Wishworld?” asked Gemma.

  Tessa perked up. “Did you eat something different?” she suggested.

  “Oh! Maybe it was the chocolate egg creams!” Piper said.

  “What’s that?” Tessa wanted to know.

  “A delicious Wishling concoction of seltzer, chocolate syrup, and milk!” Piper explained. “We each drank one.”

  “That must be it!” said Tessa, licking her lips. “How do we get one?”

  Astra was not convinced. “I just don’t think that’s it,” she said. “But what could it be?” Absentmindedly, she put her hands on the ground and flipped her legs into the air. There! That was much better. She did her best thinking upside down; she was sure of it. As she roamed the room, walking on her hands, she saw Cassie’s silver slippers, Clover’s purple boots, and the star ball she had been looking for for a double starweek. Then she spotted a pair of bare feet, the toes sinking into the thick carpet. They had to belong to Piper, who often remarked that walking barefoot helped her relax. Astra noticed that Piper’s toenails were a deep sparkly blue, which reminded her of her mission and the slumber party they had attended, where they had given each other…

  Astra toppled over. “That’s it!” she said from the floor. She was so excited she couldn’t even wait until she stood up to speak. “It’s the nail polish! Piper and I went to a sleepover and everyone gave each other manicures and pedicures. We had to take off our Starland polish first. And then, when we got back home, we could see that the rest of you were acting odd. All we have to do is remove your polish, and everything will be back to normal!”

  The Star Darlings headed straight to the starbeautychambers in the Lightning Lounge where they had put on the polish in the first place. They eagerly sat down and accessed the polish removal function. But when their hands emerged from the pods, the polish was as shiny and perfect as ever. Adora tried over and over, to no avail.

  “It’s no use, Adora,” Cassie told her.

  “I can’t believe none of you can hear me!” Adora said.

  Cassie nodded. “You’re right, this color does look great on me,” she said. “But pretty as it is, we’ve still got to figure out how to remove it.” She looked around at the group. “Moons and stars,” she said. “Was I just bragging again?”

  They next tried to scrape it off with the scratchiest materials they could find—leaves from the ruffruff tree, pieces of eternium wool, and prickly buds—but nothing worked. Adora ran off to her room and returned with vanisholine, which smelled so terrible the girls down the hall came by to complain, but it didn’t make a dent in the polish. As a last resort, they tried to scrape it off with Sage’s crystal from the Crystal Mountains, the hardest substance on Starland, but even that didn’t work. The nail polish was impervious to everything. The girls stared at their colorful nails in disbelief.

  “So how did you get yours off?” Leona finally asked.

  “With this magical Wishworld potion that they use at slumber parties,” said Piper.

  “That’s right,” said Astra. “It’s called the polish of removal. Whoever goes down to Wishworld next has to bring this magic elixir back with them. Apparently it’s the only way to take this crazy polish off.”

  “I am furious!” Leona said. “So we have to wait, knowing we’re acting like weirdos, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” She saw everyone staring at her. “I’m smiling, aren’t I?” she asked.

  Astra sighed. She hoped someone would get sent down to Wishworld and fast, to collect wish energy and also to bring back the magical polish of removal. Because now not only was everyone still doing the weird stuff, but they were annoyed
with themselves for not being able to stop doing it.

  After everyone had left for their rooms, looking disappointed, and Clover had hugged her tightly before heading off to take a sparkle shower, apologizing as she did so, Astra picked up her Star-Zap. In all the excitement, she had completely forgotten to call the orphanage! She was eager to verify that Lady Stella was correct. There was enough going on without the Star Darlings distrusting their leader, too.

  Astra flipped open her Star-Zap. “Give me the numbers of all the orphanages in Starland City,” she said. It turned out there was just one.

  A pleasant-looking woman with turquoise hair in a neat bun answered the call. “Starland City Home for Orphaned Starling Children,” she said. “Star greetings. How may I help you?”

  “I wanted to verify the name of one of your, um…orphans,” Astra said awkwardly. “Her name is—”

  “I’m sorry,” the woman interrupted. “Our students’ privacy is very strictly maintained. We don’t give out information about anyone over a communication device. If you want to request information on someone here, you must come in person.”

  “How about I say her name and you nod if she’s there?” Astra suggested—rather cunningly, she thought. “Her name is O—”

  The woman shook her head emphatically. “I’m sorry, but that is against the rules. Good night.” The screen went black.

  Astra scowled, then consulted her star schedule. Her Chronicle Class professor was out, so she had third and fourth periods free the next day. If she hurried, that was probably enough time to take a quick trip into Starland City. She holo-texted Piper:

  You free third and fourth periods to take a little field trip tomorrow?

  Sure. I’ve got study hall, and Professor Roberta Elsa never takes attendance.

  Astra smiled. Piper didn’t ask questions; she knew that if Astra asked, it must be important. Astra’s Star-Zap beeped and she realized that a holo-message had come in while she had been talking to the unhelpful orphanage lady. She glanced down and saw that it was a holo-card from her family. She opened it. Instantly, her mom, dad, and two younger siblings appeared in a small 3-D holographic image, which beamed into the air in front of her. They sat around the dinner table, one chair noticeably empty. She could even smell the food they were having—flug and beans, her favorite.