Beneath the Guarding Stars

by Everly Frost

“I guess so.” I strode past her. From the look on her face I judged she wasn’t going to answer any more questions. I made it to the end of the hall without gagging, and took deep breaths another twenty feet down the corridor.

  “This way.” Arachne grabbed my arm again and moments later we arrived in a corridor with what looked like a set of offices along the side, much like the offices in Evereach—desk, chair, computer, the usual drill, except it seemed out of place in Starsgard. She led me to the office at the end of the hall—the only one without clear glass on the outside. Inside was a small desk with a computer, a bookshelf scattered with papers on the left, and a lonely chair in the middle.

  She reached up to the bookshelf and withdrew a small object from behind a set of books. “I had to hide it down here in case they set off an EMP, which is just as well because it would’ve fried on the day you arrived.”

  It was a memory stick. Ordinary-looking, encased in a small plastic box.

  Within moments, Arachne had the computer running, but she handed the stick to me. “Only you can open this.”

  I ran my fingers across the case and it clicked open, the lid flipping up against my thumb.

  Arachne froze for a moment, shaking her head and throwing her hands in the air. “Just like that, it opens.” But the tension in her shoulders eased. “Plug it in,” she said, and to my surprise she strode to the door. “He said my message was at the end. Call me when it’s my turn.”

  She didn’t go far, hovering outside the doorway, her arm and the side of her body remaining visible. I figured it was better if she was there, since she could alert me if anyone approached. As I plugged the USB into the computer port, my heart suddenly beat faster.

  I’d wanted to talk to my brother for so long. I had so many questions.

  I hadn’t had the chance to say goodbye, to mourn him…

  All my closed-off emotions rose to the surface as the screen flickered. I tried to see through the sudden blurring of tears. I had to hold it together.

  The video flickered on and I raced to adjust the volume so I could hear what he was saying.

  “Little sister.”

  There he was, black hair all scruffy, eyes even more dark-rimmed than I remembered, as though he never slept. Or, if he did sleep, he never slept well. He paused on the screen as if he knew it would take me a moment; he knew he didn’t have to say much else to make me curl up and cry.

  “So, I guess … you’ve made it to Starsgard and Arachne has somehow got you into the underground so you can see this. Go easy on her, Ava. I must be dead, and she won’t understand why I didn’t come with her when I could. There’s more I have to do here. I have to get you out but that’s not everything. I have to get Mom and Dad out as well. I have to make sure none of us can be used anymore. One of us is enough.” His eyes turned darker than they already were. His jaw clenched. “I’d rather be dead, Ava, than cause the death of millions.”

  He paused for a moment and gathered himself together. “There’s so much I need to tell you. I don’t know what you’ve figured out already, so I’m sorry if I don’t say everything you need to hear. I also don’t know how much time you have.”

  He leaned forward. “There are two things you need to do. First, you have to make sure our parents are okay. If Ruth has honored her word, then they’ll be in Starsgard. I’m sorry I can’t tell you exactly where because Ruth won’t tell me her plans.”

  They’re here? Shock rocketed through me, but Josh was still speaking.

  “If you haven’t seen them already then you’ll need to find them in the data storage system. Arachne will help you with that.”

  My parents had left me the day after I got home from the recovery center—the day after I found out I was mortal. They’d packed up our whole house and gone somewhere. I didn’t know where. And now Josh was saying it was because of him. The thought of seeing them again after everything that had happened was almost too much.

  Part of me wanted to back away from the computer. I didn’t know how I could look them in the eye and not hate them for leaving me behind. One of the last things they’d said on the night they left—the night they’d drugged me to make me sleep through their departure—was that I’d understand why they were leaving. Mom had pulled her blue cardigan close and Dad had called me “moonbeam.” Someone had stood behind them and talked about my parents being used to create an endless supply of mortal girls. I knew how dangerous that would be. Michael’s dad and Cheyne had made it clear to me that the mortality serum could only be made from female blood. But it didn’t stop the pain of knowing I’d been abandoned. I remembered flashes of gold and then my parents were gone, pulled away by something I couldn’t see in my drug-induced haze.

  Josh swallowed, and stared at his hands a moment. “As hard as that might seem, the next thing you have to do is more difficult.” He raised his eyes as though he could see me, and I wondered what could be harder than finding the people who’d abandoned me.

  “You need to get hold of something. It’s called nectar.”

  I stared as he shook his head. “I don’t even know if you’ll know what that is, but it’s the only thing keeping me alive right now. I’d be dead without it, trust me. I’m hoping … I’m hoping that they gave you a calibrated ampule and you still have it, but it won’t last forever. You need to find an alternate source.”

  “Where?” I whispered as though he could hear me.

  He leaned forward. “There’s a natural source in Starsgard. Mr. Bradley calls it the origin. All I know is what I’ve heard, and he and Cheyne talk about the origin being there. I don’t know anything else, but you have to find it. And once you do, you have to figure out a way to calibrate the dose so you don’t get the side-effects.”

  Again, he shook his head. “If they already did to you what they did to me—in the name of science—then you’ll know that nectar makes us strong but it also makes us crazy. The stuff it makes you see. I killed a girl because I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. It’d sound stupid to anyone else—why wouldn’t you want to be that strong? But the craziness and the people you could hurt when you’re like that…” He blinked as though he was brushing away bad memories. “Be careful with the raw nectar, Ava. Use it only if you have to.”

  He dropped his head. “I’m sorry I never told you about this stuff, but I figured you were safer not knowing. I still don’t know if I made the right decision to stay here in Evereach, but there’s no point in me being safe when they could still use you—or Mom and Dad.”

  He clasped and unclasped his hands, jiggling one of his knees. “I’m supposed to get the Bashers a sample of nectar. They said they’ll take my ampule if they have to.”

  His eyes rose to meet mine. “I won’t do it. Nectar is half of the equation. It’s the key to true immortality. They’re still trying to use my blood to create a mortality weapon but nothing’s working. Not the Bashers, not Mr. Bradley, nobody seems to be able to make it work, and I’m glad. I don’t want them to succeed, but I’m scared they’re going to start looking at you.”

  Breath caught in my throat as he ran a hand over his eyes. “I’m trying to stall. I hope I can get you out, get us both out, before they make a move.”

  He hadn’t. They’d made their move before he could escape. They’d taken his ampule and then they’d come after me.

  He took a deep breath as my heart pounded. “There’s one more thing. The Bashers have a new leader. Their old leader, Alexander, he stepped aside willingly for this new guy, so I’m guessing they all think he has some kind of advantage. He’s high up in government. His name’s Olander. I don’t know what his game is yet but I’m trying to find out.”

  Olander.

  I blinked at the screen. Olander was the opposition leader in Evereach, the one agitating for President Scott to step down, the one stirring up citizens.

  “You probably have a thousand other questions. I’m sorry, Ava. I’m sorry I didn’t make it, but if you got out then that’s some
thing. Remember—find Mom and Dad, make sure they’re safe—and get hold of nectar. You’ll need it.”

  He studied his hands again, hair falling over his eyes, becoming quiet. “Do me a favor and pause this so you can get Arachne for me, okay? I need to say something I never told her.” He paused, his eyes burning the screen. “Goodbye, little sister.” Then he seemed to wait, studying the screen in front of him, as though he trusted that I’d do as he asked and get Arachne for him.

  My legs wobbled as I stood up, my feelings churning. I blinked back the burn of hot tears as I reached the door. “He wants to speak to you. I’ve paused it for you.”

  She didn’t wait for me to take position outside the door, racing past me as though she was starved and Josh’s voice was the only food she needed.

  I stared at the wall across the corridor, twisting my fingers into a knot. Josh’s voice, when it began again, was soft, but I could make out the words. I tried not to listen, not to eavesdrop, but there was only so far I could move away from the door.

  “Arachne…”

  There was a sob, and I glanced in to see Arachne curled toward the computer, her tears gleaming, her hand planted against the screen as though Josh were doing the same and she would give anything to touch him again.

  “I’m sorry I’m not there with you.” There was a choke in his voice. “I’m sorry I died.”

  Tears streamed down Arachne’s cheeks.

  “I love you.”

  Then there was silence. And finally, the light across Arachne’s face dimmed, and I knew that Josh had switched off the recording.

  Chapter Thirteen

  WHEN ARACHNE emerged from the room her eyes were red and her cheeks blotchy. She drew a deep breath as though she was determined to stay tough in front of me. I didn’t wait for her to speak. I knew she wouldn’t want to talk to me about Josh’s message. “Josh said my parents are here. He said I have to find them in the data storage system and make sure they’re safe.”

  Arachne blinked away her tears and shot me a glance I couldn’t decipher. “In the data storage system? You’re sure that’s what he said?”

  When I nodded, she chewed her lip. “Are you really sure? Did he say they were in the data storage system or their location was in the data storage system?”

  “He said ‘in.’ Why?”

  “For starters, it’s really hard to get into. And, even if we can, I don’t think you’re going to like what you find.”

  “Quit stalling and get me there.” The snap in my voice was loud in the silence. Maybe I’d hate my parents—maybe I wouldn’t forgive them—but Josh had given up his life to make sure we were safe and he’d told me to find them. So that’s what I was going to do.

  “Fine. It’s this way.”

  Without checking the corridor first, she sauntered along to the end, heading back the way we came, and I began to regret snapping at her, since she seemed to have turned reckless all of a sudden.

  When we got to the junction where we could have turned right and headed back through the fuel marsh, she turned left instead, and finally slowed down. “The data storage system is this way.”

  Down two more corridors, we finally came to a white wall. It looked like a dead end. “You’re lucky I have access to this area.” Arachne sized me up. “You’ll have to stay out here or you’ll trip the security system.” She sighed. “I don’t know how I’m going to find them in there. Stand back.”

  She palmed the wall at eye height without waiting for me to move away. As soon as she touched the wall, it turned green, and both light and wind shot out from the wall like a mini-storm, knocking me several feet backward.

  The wall opened and she sauntered through. As I steadied myself, I glimpsed flashes of deep green, multiple other colors, large shapes and shadows, and the sense of an enormous space beyond.

  The doorway closed. I waited in the silence, staring at the blank wall until my eyes watered. What was beyond it hadn’t looked like any kind of data storage area that I’d ever seen. Neither did the wall itself. I inched closer to examine it and found that what had appeared white was actually threaded with very fine, pale green lines. Peering closer, it looked a lot like spindly veins, and if I squinted hard, there was a single thread running at a crooked angle that was darker than the rest, almost black. It appeared to be moving.

  As soon as my skin touched the wall, I felt it—a living warmth.

  The wall was alive.

  In an instant, wind and light shot over me like a creature exhaling, except that it breathed fire as well as air. In that moment I connected with some other vast thing. It reminded me of my own body soaked in nectar, fire and strength oozing from my pores. I wanted to jump away and run as fast as I could, but some kind of force kept my feet planted to the spot, holding me in place.

  The door opened.

  Beyond the opening, the data storage area was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Not computers and air screens, not electronics and wiring, but plants. Hundreds of them. Maybe a thousand. None of them were alike. It was some kind of vast botanical garden, a repository of rare and wonderful living things.

  Whatever held my feet let go and I was free to decide what to do: walk forward or backward.

  I went inside.

  About twenty feet in, there was a circular platform all lit up like a fluorescent light, raised slightly off floor level, only wide enough for one person. Arachne stood on it, and as I neared I made out what she was saying:

  My parent’s names.

  “Amelia Holland,” she said, a tone of annoyance creeping in. She didn’t seem to notice as I took a step closer. “Matthew Holland.” She paused. Waited. Started again. “Amelia and Matthew Holland.” Her fingers twitched, tapping the side of her thigh. “Mr. and Mrs. Holland. Amelia and Matthew.” She paused again. “Why isn’t it working?”

  “What are you trying to do?”

  She jumped. “How did you get in here?”

  “It let me in.” It knew me. I shook off the strange thought.

  “I’m trying to find your parents.” She huffed and gathered herself together, reminding me of Josh on the footage. “Do you see the plants? Do you see the fruit on them? Each one of these plants is genetically coded with information. I should be able to ask for the information and the right plant will respond. Watch.” She shifted on the plate a little and said her own name.

  Immediately, a cluster of lights flickered into life somewhere off to the left. They raced toward us, circled around Arachne once, close enough that I could see they looked like fireflies. Then they flew off to the right, to a low-lying bush. I could make out that it was covered in berries.

  “All of my information is stored in those berries.”

  I gaped.

  “Not what you were expecting?”

  “Hardly.”

  She stared at me. “Your parents must be totally hidden if I can’t access them.”

  It didn’t surprise me. “Let me try.”

  She assessed me for a moment before she stepped off the plate. “Whatever.”

  I stepped up to it. Immediately it gripped my feet like the force outside the room, clinging onto me. Not cold or hot, but warm like the moss in the elevator when we first arrived.

  I swallowed and said, “Mom and Dad.”

  A glow started in the back right corner of the cavernous space, mimicking a rising sun. At the same time, a swarm of fireflies flew in from the left, more even than for Arachne. They zipped around me once, fanning my face with their tiny wings, and swarmed off toward the increasing glow in the back of the room.

  It was Arachne’s turn to gape. “I don’t even want to know how that worked.” She moved in the direction of the light without waiting for me, her high boots clacking on the stone pathway.

  I followed, hurrying to overtake her, shooting daggers at her for racing away. At the rate she was moving, I’d think they were her parents and not mine. “Slow down, would you?”

  “We don’t have forever. I have to
get you back to the apartment before Ruth suspects anything. The longer this takes, the higher the risk she’ll figure out something’s up.”

  Fair enough. But it was a shame to race past all those plants. In among the bushes and hedges, and flowering plants, and even ground cover with the tiniest flowers I’d ever seen, were trees, their branches spreading across the pathway way above head height. If I looked up, it became apparent that I couldn’t really make out the ceiling at all, it was so high; probably a good thing considering how high some of the trees reached.

  As we moved along the path, following the fireflies, we passed an area separated from the rest by a wire cage. There was a single tree inside it with deep, purple leaves like dark bruises resting along its branches. The leaves were heart-shaped, with long stems that reminded me of tails. I halted, veered off the path, and stepped closer to the cage. It was hard to tell at that distance, but each leaf and stem appeared to be covered in hair-like follicles.

  “I’ve seen those before.”

  She grabbed me, urging me after the fireflies. “Stay away from that tree.”

  “Jonah was wearing one of those leaves when we got here. What do they do?”

  “You don’t want to know. C’mon.”

  I stood my ground, forcing her to stop. “What do they do, Arachne?”

  She stared back at me. “Actually…” She looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know. I just know they’re dangerous. See the furry side? That’s the safe side, believe it or not. The smooth side underneath is some kind of poison like the moss, so don’t touch it.”

  I glanced back at it before moving on, marveling at the other trees along the way, pointing upward. “I’d hate my information to be in one of those.” I peered all the way up the long gray trunk of the nearest tree. Small yellow flowers budded high above, way out of reach. Some of its leaves had fallen across the pathway and the scent of eucalyptus wafted up as we crunched them underfoot.

  “I hate to break it to you, Ava, but look.”

  I took a breath. Now I understood why it had appeared that a small sun was rising in the distance.