Lost Planet 01 - The Lost Planet

by Searles, Rachel

  Maurus nodded. “The captain and I had a very long discussion. We’ve worked out the details of the story that I was operating deep undercover—everyone on the crew believes it now. I’ve been returned to active duty on the expeditionary squad, and the captain and I will be working together to figure out who set us up.”

  “You talked about everything? Even…?” Chase was hesitant to repeat Maurus’s jail cell confession.

  “You mean my connection with the Karsha Ven?” Maurus smiled. “Yes, we talked about that too. He was very upset about my deception, but I think he believes that my intentions were only good. He’s agreed to keep it secret, but he had me re-swear allegiance to the Fleet, and I agreed to a little additional surveillance for a while. It’s only fair, given what I kept from him.”

  “You re-swore allegiance to the Fleet?” Chase asked in surprise. After everything that had happened, he’d almost expected Maurus to be on the next flight home to Lyolia, not recommitting to the organization that had tried to kill him.

  Maurus placed a hand on Chase’s shoulder. “Despite what’s happened, there are still many good people in the Fleet. Captain Lennard is one of them. Just like there are bad members of the Karsha Ven, those who would happily claim responsibility for what happened to Trucon, and others, like me, who only want the conflict on my homeworld to end. I still believe I can do good for both sides.”

  The elliptical badge on Maurus’s uniform flashed red, and Maurus raised a hand to his ear. “Yes, right away,” he said, answering a voice only he could hear. “Sorry, Chase, that was the chief of the exped squad—she’ll have my hide if I don’t attend debriefing. See you at seventeen-hundred hours, okay?” He gave Chase a squeeze on the arm before leaving.

  Chase lay on his bed for a while, allowing the ocean of information to wash over him. So many things made sense now—his amnesia, his ability, Captain Lennard’s first reaction to him. But he still had as many questions, and not just about Asa Kaplan. Colonel Dornan, for one: She admitted she’d been present when his family was attacked, but she was also involved in setting up Maurus to take the fall for Trucon. He felt crazy for even thinking it, but he wondered if the two attacks were somehow related. Maurus and Captain Lennard were planning to hunt down whoever had set them up, but if Chase was going to be living aboard the Kuyddestor for a while, he’d have to take every opportunity to do his own investigating as well.

  It occurred to him that Dr. Silvestri had sent him down the wrong path—if he’d managed to stay far away from the Fleet like the doctor had warned him to, he never would have learned what “guide the star” meant. He didn’t think the doctor had led him astray on purpose—he worked for Asa, after all. Avoiding the Fleet was part of his job. But what if Maurus hadn’t stolen Mina on Qesaris? Would they have just called Asa for help and let him imprison them both in another comfortable compound? Chase would never have learned the truth from Captain Lennard, never would have found his sister.

  Lilli. He turned the name around in his mind, examined it, but it brought up no memories. He wanted to go seek her out. At the same time he was afraid to finally talk to her. Who was this strange little person, this girl who had spent her whole life being different? What could she tell him about his life, their parents, about their deaths?

  Chase climbed out of bed and padded barefoot to the door. Before he got there, it slid open. Parker pushed past him and sat down on his bed.

  “Chase, this place is amazing,” he sang. “I was just down on the flight deck, and I think I persuaded one of the pilots to let me have a go in the Khatra simulator.”

  Chase shook his head, smiling. “Settling in pretty quickly, are we?”

  Parker grinned, kicking at a bedpost. “I already feel at home here, like this is where I’m meant to be. Not locked up in some remote compound with an android.”

  For the first time, Chase could appreciate how lonely Parker must have been when he first met him. “It was wrong of Asa to keep you isolated like that. Even if he was just trying to keep you safe.”

  Parker’s grin vanished. “Safe? He didn’t want to keep me safe, he wanted to keep me his prisoner.” He planted his feet on the ground, suddenly agitated. “All my life I was told he was the owner of a tech corporation, and it turns out he deals weapons to criminals? What else was a lie? Did my parents really work for him? Were they criminals too? I may not have lost my memory, but I know just as little about my past as you do. Maybe less. Asa stole it all from me.”

  Chase frowned. “I still think he cared about you, even if he didn’t always do the right thing.” The terror on Asa’s face when Rezer Bennin aimed his blaster at Parker had been unmistakable. “He tried to protect you—he took a blaster hit for you.”

  Parker raised an eyebrow. “Are you sticking up for him?” His tone grew aggressive. “He never even looked me in the eyes, not once. Maybe some criminal code obligated him to keep me alive after my parents died, but don’t you dare say that he cared about me.”

  Chase dropped his head, nodding. He knew he wouldn’t change Parker’s mind about Asa—Parker was too angry. But he needed to share the suspicions that were brewing in his mind, and so he continued in a low voice, “I think he might have known my parents. I haven’t told Captain Lennard, but Asa knew about my … ability.”

  “Are you sure?” Parker gave him a doubtful expression. “I don’t know how he could have. You didn’t even know about your ability.”

  “Well, maybe he didn’t know about the phasing exactly, but you heard what he said to me. ‘I know you’re different.’” Chase hesitated, fearing the reaction Parker might have to his next confession. “There’s something else I never told you about my microchip. When Mina took me to Dr. Silvestri’s home, he told me it was the same as yours. He said Asa designed it. I think maybe it’s why I rematerialized at your compound.”

  Parker was quiet, and for a moment Chase was afraid he’d angered him by withholding this information. Then Parker looked up with a grim smile. “I guess we both have a good reason to hunt him down, don’t we?”

  “I need to know how my parents got that microchip from him, and what he knows about them,” said Chase. “Maybe he can tell me why the Fleet sent people to kill my family.”

  Parker’s eyes took on the faraway look of deep thought. “The ship’s doctor is removing my microchip tomorrow. There might be a way for me to reverse it, to use the trace ping…” He looked at Chase with a fierce expression. “We’ll find him, and we’ll take him down. Him and his stupid android.”

  Chase felt an unexpected twinge of sadness when he thought of calm, reliable Mina. “Don’t you miss her though? You spent your whole life with her.”

  “Her?” Parker rolled his eyes. “You don’t get it, Chase—you never got it. There is no her, she’s an it.”

  “She saved your life.”

  “A program saved my life,” said Parker. “She was never my mother, never my friend. She’s just a machine.”

  Chase was silent, considering this. Despite what Parker said, he still sort of missed Mina. “Do you think Dr. Silvestri died on Trucon?”

  “Didn’t seem like he had much of a chance, did it?” Parker looked solemn for a moment. “It’s a shame. He was a pretty okay guy.”

  Something in the corner of the room caught Chase’s eye. Standing against the wall and staring at him was a blond girl in blue pajamas.

  It took a second to get past his shock. “Hey,” he said softly.

  She vanished, blinking out like a light.

  “Whoa,” whispered Parker. “I think she wants you to come visit her.”

  Chase lifted his hands, frustrated. “Captain Lennard won’t let me. I don’t even know where they’re keeping her.”

  “Oh, I can show you.” Parker slid off the bed and headed for the door.

  “How do you know where she is?”

  “I’ve been doing a little exploring.” One side of Parker’s mouth tilted up.

  A jealous twinge rose in Chase’s
chest. “Did you see her?”

  “No, they’ve been keeping the door locked.” Parker gave him a theatrical wink. “Not that that’ll be a problem for you.”

  They slipped into the hallway, and Parker led the way down a maze of corridors and stairs. Soldiers passed by, most preoccupied by their own business, but some smiled at them or nodded acknowledgment. By the time they’d traveled at least three floors down, Chase was completely disoriented. He wondered how long it would take him to feel at home on the Kuyddestor, or if he ever would.

  Halfway down a long, white hallway, Parker stopped and gestured at a closed door. Chase hung back a few feet.

  “What is it?” Parker asked.

  “I don’t even know her,” whispered Chase. “I don’t remember anything.”

  Parker gave him a smile. “It’ll be okay,” he said. “Just go in and talk to her.”

  Chase hesitated, and then he bowed his head and, with the uncomfortable tingle that he was starting to get accustomed to, walked through the door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  The tiny girl sat in her bed and stared at Chase, although he couldn’t tell if she was surprised by his unconventional entry. Even in a narrow hospital cot she looked so small, engulfed in blankets. Her skin was no longer as pale, but her eyes were dark and huge, and there were still violet crescents under them. Her short blond hair stuck out in all different directions.

  “Hi, Lilli,” said Chase. The name felt foreign in his mouth.

  “Hi, Chase.” Her voice was high and slightly hoarse, as though she hadn’t used it in a long time. She watched him carefully and did not smile.

  Chase took a hesitant step and crossed the room to her bed. His mind raced with questions. Should he hug her? A high five? Did he have a nickname for her?

  “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said lamely.

  Lilli nodded, but the words hung in the air between them. Chase raced through his mind, trying to think of something else to say.

  “Last time we met, you, uh, tried to kill me,” he said with a nervous laugh.

  Lilli looked down at her bed. “I was following Dornan around. When I saw her talking to you, I thought I was going crazy. I thought someone had cloned you.”

  “I guess that’s what Captain Lennard thought too,” said Chase.

  Lilli gave him a strange look. “Yeah, that’s what he told me,” she said slowly. “It’s not like anyone thought you’d still be alive. I was the family freak, not you.”

  “Yeah, I guess I survived … everything.”

  Lilli looked back up, and her dark eyes pleaded with him. “Do you really not remember anything?”

  It was Chase’s turn to glance away. He couldn’t look at her desperate face. “Nothing,” he whispered. “Not even my own name. I woke up a week ago out of nowhere, with a big wound in the back of my head.” He reached back and touched the spot, long since healed. “I haven’t even been able to get hurt since then,” he realized aloud.

  Lilli was silent for a minute, and when she spoke, he could tell that she had to force each word out. “It was because you tried to run. They were going to shoot at you, and Dad told you to run, and when you did, they fired at the back of your head.”

  “Then what happened?” asked Chase.

  His sister stared past him at the wall. “They said some mean stuff to Dad. And then they dispersed you. Only it wasn’t like this time, where you were able to stay. You were just … gone.”

  Chase gulped. He knew he should stop here, but he needed to know more. “And then?”

  Lilli continued to stare at the wall, and after a minute Chase thought she wasn’t going to answer. Finally she spoke. “Then they dispersed Mom and Dad,” she said in a barely audible voice. “And then it was just me.”

  She sounded so miserable that Chase decided to share the minuscule seed of hope he’d tucked away. “Maybe they’re still alive somewhere, like me.”

  “No,” said Lilli flatly. “They’re not. They weren’t like me—like us.”

  Chase lowered his head. “I’m sorry.”

  Lilli raised her eyebrows. “Sorry for what? It’s not your fault. You fought back. You told Dornan you’d hunt her down and kill her yourself.”

  “What did our parents do? Did they try to stop it? What did they say?”

  Lilli closed her eyes and said nothing, and after a few minutes it was clear that she was not going to speak any more about the attack.

  “I wish I could remember them,” said Chase.

  Lilli’s head jerked up. “How can you not remember? They were our parents!”

  “You think I don’t wish I could?” asked Chase hotly. “I’d give anything to have my memory back! You have no idea what it feels like to have no idea who you are.”

  “And you have no idea what it feels like to watch people murder your whole family, and be left all alone.”

  Chase raised his hands to his temples. How was he already arguing with her? Did they always fight like this?

  “Neither of us is alone anymore,” he said, sitting down on the bed beside her. “We have each other again.”

  Lilli gave him a guarded look and lay back down. “But I still feel alone,” she whispered.

  Chase sucked in his breath. “How can you say that?”

  “Do you remember the time I fell in the creek and you pulled me out? Dad’s stupid jokes? The special cake Mom made every year for your birthday?”

  Chase dropped his head. It was painful to listen to the list of memories he knew were probably lost to him forever. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  “For what?” Lilli asked. “Because our lives got wrecked?”

  “We’ve still got each other,” Chase repeated. “Captain Lennard said we can live on the Kuyddestor with him.”

  “Uncle Lionel can’t replace Mom and Dad,” Lilli snapped.

  “Uncle Lionel,” Chase repeated, embarrassed. The name felt terribly wrong coming out of his mouth.

  Lilli stared at him. “He’s not our real uncle.”

  “Of course.” Chase kept his eyes on the floor.

  A few silent seconds dragged out between them. “We’ve known him our whole lives, but he’s a stranger to you now,” said Lilli quietly. “Just like me.”

  “You’re not a stranger,” Chase protested. “You’re my sister. We share the same blood. And I need you.”

  She gazed at him for a minute with a tight, indecipherable expression, then turned her head away and rolled toward the wall. “I need to sleep,” she mumbled.

  Chase sat beside her, waiting. He had not expected such bitterness from this tiny girl, and her rejection stung like nothing else he had experienced in his short new life. It’s not fair, I lost everything too! he wanted to scream. He stood up and started toward the door.

  “Chase.” Her voice sounded strangled. “Please don’t leave.”

  “What do you want?” The question came out more harshly than he’d intended.

  “Will you stay here until I fall asleep?” she whispered.

  He sat for some time on the side of her bed, trying to sort out his thoughts. The adventure was over, but he recognized the long journey that still lay ahead of him. He knew he would have to be patient if he was going to uncover the person he had once been.

  He laid a tentative hand on her shoulder. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I would be deeply remiss if I didn’t thank the people whose support, encouragement, and effort contributed to the making of this book. My heartfelt thanks and appreciation go out to:

  My spectacular agent, Joanna Volpe, whose tireless hard work allows me to keep playing around in my imagination. I am so, so grateful to have you on my side. Gigantic thanks also to Danielle Barthel, Kathleen Ortiz, Pouya Shahbazian, and the rest of the awesome team at New Leaf Literary.

  My wonderfully supportive editor, Liz Szabla, and my publisher, Jean Feiwel, for their enthusiasm for this book, as well as Anna Roberto, Allison Verost, Ma
ry Van Akin, and everyone else at Macmillan/Feiwel and Friends who worked on the words, design, artwork, production, marketing, and promotion. I’m so thrilled to be working with all of you, sometimes I have to pinch myself.

  My reader numero uno, accomplice, and dear friend, Elizabeth Briggs, for keeping me sane and never sugarcoating. I’m fairly certain none of this would have happened if I hadn’t met you.

  Fabulous beta readers Karen Akins and Cortney Pearson, and the rest of my indisputably awesome support system: Jessica Love, Dana Elmendorf, Kathryn Rose, and Amaris Glass.

  My dearly disbanded DFWs, Avi DeTurenne, Kelly Boston, and Deborah Blum, the critique group that kept me going and helped me wrangle my earliest draft.

  My parents, Ken and Ruth Searles, who patiently let me keep them in the dark about my closet writing until things really started to pick up. Thank you for making our visits to the Bayliss Public Library a frequent and beloved part of my childhood, and for letting me grow up with the support and love that made me believe there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do.

  And finally, my husband, Bülent Altan, for his unwavering and enthusiastic support, and for transitioning with good grace when his wife’s creative side suddenly came out of hibernation.

  A FEIWEL AND FRIENDS BOOK

  An Imprint of Macmillan

  THE LOST PLANET. Copyright © 2014 by Rachel Searles. All rights reserved. For information, address Feiwel and Friends, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

  ISBN: 978-1-250-03879-1 (hardcover) / 978-1-4668-5695-0 (ebook)

  Feiwel and Friends logo designed by Filomena Tuosto

  First Edition: 2014

  mackids.com

  eISBN 9781466856950

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