Starfall: A Starstruck Novel (36 page)

“No, nothing. I made certain of that after receiving Van’s message.”

“Is there some way you can, I don’t know, look closer? I mean, maybe our regular Earth technology can’t see them.”

“There are
Echtran
instruments that would likely detect even a cloaked ship, but I don’t have direct access to them. I can contact those who do.”
 

“That would be great.” I hesitated. “Kyna, I…I know this whole thing must be really hard to believe, but I’m asking you to give me the benefit of the doubt, at least until someone can verify for sure if there’s a Grentl ship out there.”

“You are my Sovereign. Donnan showed me the preliminary results of last night’s testing, and they are…remarkable. Indeed, Excellency, I feel I owe you and apology for my earlier skepticism about the
graell
. According to the data I saw, your bond with Rigel Stuart is far more powerful and far-reaching than I ever guessed. As a Scientist, I am embarrassed to think I may have allowed prejudice or preconceptions to cloud my judgment on the matter.”

“Thank you, Kyna.” I was as gratified as I was surprised by her words. “I’m going over to the O’Garas’ now. It’s possible I can find out more using the Grentl communication device.”

“Has it activated?”

“It must not have before school this morning, or Molly would have told me. She checks it every day for me. But even if it hasn’t, I’m going to try using it.”

“Do be careful, Excellency. And bring your omni. I’ll contact you should we discover anything at this end and you can notify me about whatever you learn from the device. Then we can plan from there.”

I agreed and we broke the connection. I was relieved she hadn’t simply assumed I was crazy—which is what I probably would have done in her place. Tucking my omni in my pocket, I headed over to the O’Garas’ house.

*
   
*
   
*

On my way there, I reached out to Rigel with my mind, since he was probably getting worried by now.
Can you talk for a minute?

Just a sec.
Then, after about five seconds,
Okay. What did you find out?

Nothing yet, but Kyna’s going to look into it and now I’m on my way to the O’Garas’ to see if I can make the Grentl device work. Wish me luck!

Oh, wow, good luck, M! I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?

The very thought of having Rigel at my side made me a lot less nervous.
That would be great. Maybe let your dad know what’s going on?

Will do.

Sean was pacing his front porch and as soon as he saw me, he came striding out to greet me. “So, can you tell me now what’s going on?” Curiosity—and worry—came off him in waves.

“Okay. This will sound crazy, but try not to freak out. Sean, I think the Grentl are here—in orbit around Earth, or close. I told Kyna and she and some other
Echtrans
at NASA are going to check it out.”

Sean rocked back on his heels, staring down at me in mingled shock and doubt. “Here? How can they be? And how would you know, even if they were?” He glanced up at the clear, sunny sky above us.

“I just… It’s a long story and I don’t know any details yet. I need to get up to Molly’s room, though, to their device.”

He paled slightly. “You don’t plan to…to
use
it, do you? Dad’s gone to pick Mum up at the airport, so it’s just me here. What if—”

“At the very least, I need to see if they’re trying to contact
me.
”

“Yeah, okay. I guess that makes sense. C’mon.”
 

I followed him into the house and upstairs to Molly’s closet, where we’d hidden the Grentl device, along with my Scepter. Unfortunately—or fortunately?—the device looked the same as always, sitting inertly on a box of books that had never been unpacked. Whatever the Grentl were doing, they hadn’t tried to warn me about it.
 

Sean peered at it over the top of my head. “Good. It’s not glowing or anything. That means you can wait, right? At least till Mum and Dad get back? Or maybe for the NASA folks to find out if there really is anything out there?”

I bit my lip, hesitating, trying to remember
exactly
what I’d sensed in the cornfield with Rigel. It had only been for a second or two, then I’d panicked and closed down. What if I was wrong? What if I’d imagined it?
 

Deep down, though, I was sure I hadn’t. The Grentl hadn’t even been on my radar (so to speak) when I’d been blindsided by touching their consciousness.

The last time I’d used the device, to send that report, I’d been able to pick up images and impressions from them. One of those images, I suddenly remembered, had been of a blue marble that looked like Earth. Had they been planning to come here even then? And if so…was it my fault?

“I’d better go ahead and do this now.” It’s not like the O’Garas, or even Kyna or Shim knew any more about the Grentl or their device than I did. “They may not answer, but I might learn something.”

“Or piss them off.” He sounded worried again.

“I’ll try not to.” My decision made, I took a step forward—Molly’s closet was no bigger than my own—and poised my hands over the prongs sticking up from the device.
Okay, I’m doing this,
I thought to Rigel as well as myself.
One, two, three!

I grabbed both projections simultaneously. Like the last time, back on Mars, nothing happened right away. Rather than wait for them to realize I was there, I immediately started probing with my mind, drawing on the extra practice I’d had with Rigel since re-bonding.
 

It was noticeably easier now. In fact, after only a few seconds I started “seeing” things from the Grentl’s viewpoint. That same blue marble was there, huge now, but between me—or, rather, the Grentl—and the Earth-marble, I also saw a nearer, smaller white one. Earth’s moon. The Grentl were on the other side of the moon!
 

Even as I registered that, the projections in my hands started to warm. The Grentl had noticed me using the device, which meant they were getting ready to suck out everything I’d experienced, everything I knew. I felt their familiar mental presence touch my mind and braced myself, determined to resist if I could.
 

To my amazement, it worked. Though I could tell they were
trying
to pull memories out of my head, I was somehow able to block them. It wasn’t easy, though. In fact, it was taking every ounce of mental energy I could summon to keep them out. Slowly, their collective consciousness began to overpower mine. I started to shake, then sweat. Gasping, not knowing what else to do, I threw myself backwards, releasing the device and the Grentl’s inexorable pressure on my mind.

Sean caught me before I could hit the floor. “What happened? Did they…zap you?”

I took a few deep breaths, then shook my head. “No. I let go on my own. Before they could— But they’re
definitely
here! They’re on the far side of the moon. I need to let Kyna know, they probably won’t look that far away. Then I need to—”

“You need to come downstairs and have a cup of tea.” Sean gave me a gentle shake to stop my panicked babbling. “Calm down, take time to think, before you do anything else.”

He was right. I needed time to untangle the images I’d picked up. Last time, it had taken a while before they’d sorted themselves out—before I’d recognized that blue marble as Earth, for example. Maybe if I waited, more things would come clear.

“Okay. I guess that did take a lot out of me.”

Sean led me unresistingly back downstairs, to the O’Garas’ warm, cozy kitchen, where he busied himself making a pot of tea. Even though it was still in the mid-seventies outside, I was shivering slightly from my experience—or maybe the accumulated experiences of the day. When he handed me my cup, I wrapped my hands around it before lifting it to my lips.

After a few fortifying sips, my brain started working again. “I need to call Kyna. And Cormac. Before we sensed the Grentl, Rigel and I found Gordon. He’s in Elwood. Cormac can—”

“Elwood? Gordon? What do you mean, you and Rigel
sensed
it?” Sean stared at me in utter confusion.

Of course. Sean still had no idea of what Rigel and I could do, wouldn’t even have heard about last night’s tests yet. “Oh. Yeah. We, um, can talk telepathically. Because of the
graell.
We’ve been able to do it all along, but now it’s way stronger. In fact—” I focused for a moment— “he should be here any second. Amber’s giving him a ride, along with Molly.”
 

Even as I spoke, a car door slammed out front and a moment later the front door opened. Sean’s eyebrows rose into his hairline as Rigel burst into the kitchen, followed closely by Molly.
 

“What happened? Are you okay?” Rigel demanded. “I tried to listen in, but I couldn’t tell what was going on. Did the Grentl—?”

“I’m fine. I’ll fill you in right after I call Kyna. Did you tell your dad?”

Rigel nodded. “He says it’s good that Kyna’s on it. That if anyone can find out—”

“Wait.” Sean put up a hand, looking wildly from me to Rigel and back. “You can do the telepathy thing to talk to your parents, too? Can you, like, hear
everybody’s
thoughts?”

“No, just M’s.” Now Rigel looked confused. “I guess you told him?” I nodded.

“Then how did you talk to your dad just now?” Sean demanded.

“Um.” Rigel pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and held it up. “With this.”
 

There was a long moment of silence, then all four of us started laughing. It had a slightly hysterical edge, though. Because we all knew the situation wasn’t funny at all.

While Molly made another pot of tea, I went into the living room to let Kyna know what I’d learned from the device, then called Cormac and told him about Gordon. When I joined the others in the kitchen, Rigel was filling Sean and Molly in on our newly enhanced abilities.

“But you still don’t know what your real limits are?” Molly asked, eyes wide. I was relieved to feel more curiosity than fear from her. Sean was mildly outraged at having been kept in the dark all this time—though also avidly curious.

“Not yet.” I glanced at Rigel, then back to the others. “I mean, we only re-bonded or whatever four days ago.” We’d both been careful not to mention the kissing part. “And we only found out today that we could sense things farther away than the Jewel town limits.”
 

Sean gave a mirthless little laugh. “Like, other side of the
moon
farther away! Sorry, but that still seems impossible.”

I couldn’t disagree. In fact, until Kyna’s team independently verified my discovery, I wasn’t sure I’d fully believe it myself. But what if the Grentl really were here to destroy Earth? With our relatively limited resources—even counting Nuathan technology—would there be anything we could do to stop them? I had a horrible feeling that, once again, the fate of the world might rest squarely on my shoulders. Only this time it was the fate of
this
world, the one I’d grown up on, with billions more lives at stake.
 

Rigel put his hand over mine.
Don’t borrow trouble, M. We don’t actually know their intentions are hostile. Maybe they’re only here to observe.
But I could tell he didn’t believe that any more than I did.
 

“I should head back,” I said, standing. “Aunt Theresa will be home by now and I didn’t think to leave a note.”

The others didn’t argue. Until we knew more, we still had to pretend, at least to the
Duchas
, that everything was normal. Rigel called his dad to come get him and I went home to help Aunt Theresa with dinner.

Twice while I was in the kitchen with her, my omni vibrated in my pocket and I ran upstairs—first claiming I needed the bathroom and the second time that I wanted to change into my slippers.

The first call was from Cormac, saying he’d already caught Gordon Nolan in Elwood and had him in custody—though by now he was the least of our worries.

The second was a message from Kyna that she’d called an emergency Council meeting that evening to discuss the situation and our options.

I’d just put the noodles on to boil when Molly called to ask my aunt if I could come to her house and work on our project over—and after—dinner. When she relayed Molly’s request, I tried not to sound
too
eager.

“I should probably go. This project will be half our grade this quarter.”

Aunt Theresa quirked an eyebrow. “It sounds as though you’ve put things off till the last minute. Probably spending too much time with that quarterback.”

Shrugging, I tried to look contrite. “Maybe a little. I’ll try to make sure I don’t fall behind in my schoolwork again, though.”

“See you don’t. Go on, then. I’ll finish getting dinner. And try not to be too late.”

That was exceptionally accommodating for Aunt Theresa but I didn’t argue, just grabbed my backpack and headed out.

*
   
*
   
*

As though determined to prolong everyone’s suspense as long as possible, Kyna was the very last one to join the Council meeting.
 

“I was waiting for a late report from Ennis Gill, who is monitoring our
Echtran
orbital sensors this evening,” she explained when she finally shimmered into focus, “but she has unable to find anything definitive. If a ship is indeed using Earth’s moon as a shield, our technology may not be able to separate its signature from Luna’s natural one. Ennis has contacted Nuathan astronomers for assistance, as they have a better angle from which to view the far side of Earth’s moon, but it will undoubtedly take time for them to redirect their own orbital telescopes.”

“Thank you, Kyna.” I tried to ignore the raised eyebrows of the Royals on the Council, all of whom clearly suspected I’d just imagined sensing the Grentl. If it hadn’t been for my session with the device this afternoon, I probably would, too.
 

 
Kyna nodded deferentially to me, then turned to the others. “Malcolm, you indicated earlier that you had other business you wished to discuss tonight?”