The Lost Star Episode One (10 page)

He locked his jaws together.

He didn't want to speak, but when she placed
a flat warm hand on his back and sighed, he caved.

She always knew just how to comfort him.

"Just come back to your quarters and I'll
explain everything," she said in a hushed tone as she dropped her
hands and took a step away.

A few seconds later two hurrying engineers
rushed down the corridor.

He hadn't heard them coming. Then again, he
wasn't an incredible Avixan warrior.

It took him a moment to realize what she’d
said. “What do you mean you’ll explain everything?”

“Just come back to your quarters.” She
reached a hand out to him.

He was torn as he looked at it. “Meva,
what’s going on?”

“
Hey, Hunter, just come back to your
quarters. I know it’s confusing now, but just trust me.”

On the word trust, he moved.

He followed.

Meva didn’t breathe a word until the doors
shut behind him and he walked into the center of his room.

Meva immediately pulled her hair out,
grasping the strange clasp she used to hold it back and throwing it
on his recliner.

He raised an eyebrow at the move.

As she fluffed her hair up and brushed it
over her shoulder, she lifted an eyebrow too. “Don’t get any ideas.
I’ve got a shift in half an hour.”

“
Then skip to the bit where you tell me
what’s going on.” There was an edge to his tone.

She picked up on it as she tilted her head
towards him and shook it. “Don’t trust her.”

“What?”

“
Ensign Ava,” Meva’s lips moved jarringly
around each syllable. “Don’t trust her.”

A cold sensation sank through his gut. “What
are you talking about? Why not?”

“I can’t tell you. You just have to trust
me. Believe me, if you’re feeling any sympathy for her, she doesn’t
deserve it.” Though Meva’s expression was normal her tone wasn’t.
It was bitter.

“
What’s going on?” he insisted. “What the
hell is so wrong with Ensign Ava?”

Meva stretched an arm over the back of the
recliner and shifted until she was looking at him, her glistening
hair arranged attractively down her front, a few strands caught in
her half-undone collar. “What’s going on, is you need to trust me.
As for what’s wrong with Ava… I can’t really get into
that.”

“What? For cultural reasons? She almost bled
out today,” he found himself snapping.

He knew the rules. He’d been with Meva long
enough to know never to ask her about her people.

Now, that didn’t matter. First his
brother, now Meva – what the hell was everyone’s problem with
Ava?

Granted, he’d convinced himself to hate
her on pretty slim evidence this morning. A lot had changed in the
intervening hours.

So now he pushed.

Meva stopped arranging her hair over her
shoulder. She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know what she’s told you
about me, but don’t believe it.”

“
About you? What? She hasn’t said a word
about you. We were too busy almost dying. Now, if you want me to
trust you, you have to tell me what’s going on.”

She rested her hands on her lap and pushed
her back hard into the recliner.

She looked at him, her luminescent blue eyes
catching the light. “I would have thought I didn’t have to earn
your trust. You don’t have to earn mine.”

Her comment punched through him. He felt his
shoulders deflating.

“But fine. I’ll tell you… what I can.”

He looked up sharply, anticipation making
the move jerky.

“Ava believes she is better than us.”

“
What?” His nose crumpled in
confusion.

“
She is from a different clan to Shera and
myself. In fact, she’s from a different clan to every Avixan on the
Mandalay. A clan that assumes superiority over everyone else.” Meva
wouldn’t look at him as she spoke. Instead she stared at the large
window behind his bed. “Her people have enslaved us for thousands
of years.”

Hunter
’s stomach kicked.

“They’ve repressed us, jealous of our
power,” Meva continued in a slow cold tone.

He swallowed. He’d never seen her like this,
never heard her speak this way.

This wasn’t an act. She believed every word
she was saying.

“I can’t tell you much more. Just don’t
trust her.”

He took a sharp breath and stood back,
reeling. “I… had no idea.”

“Of course you didn’t – it’s a crime to
discuss Avixan society with outsiders.”

“
But… if your people are still enslaved,
you need to appeal to the Coalition. They’ll be able to
help.”

Meva stretched her arm along the back of the
recliner and tapped her fingers against the fabric. “We can look
after ourselves.”

“
So… Ava comes from a different clan to
you,” he repeated, trying to wrap his head around this new
information. “Has she ever directly threatened you? You didn’t
interact at the Academy, did you? I’ve never seen you two
together.”

“
We lived in fear. We still live in fear.”
Meva pushed slowly to her feet and pushed towards him, only
stopping when she was right before him. “Every day. We live in fear
of retribution if we step out of line. They control us, stifle our
abilities so we can’t threaten them.” She suddenly looked away,
then pushed against him, collapsing her head against his shoulder.
“I came to the Academy to get away. So did Shera. Then one of them
followed us. So you can understand if we don’t trust Ava. We have
good reason.” She nuzzled against him.

Automatically, he wrapped an arm around
her. “God, I’m so sorry. But there’s got to be something we can do.
Your people shouldn’t have to live like this. If the Coalition find
out—”

“
They’ll jeopardize
diplomatic relations. And they won’t get
directly involved in a sovereign state’s issues, anyway. This is an
Avixan problem. And don’t worry, we’ll deal with it.”

“What does that mean?”

She nuzzled against him harder, her loose
hair bunching against his neck. “I don’t know what I’m saying,” she
sighed as she hooked a hand on his sleeve, her face still pressed
against his chest. “If I tell myself that, it’s easier to sleep at
night.”

“Meva… I had no idea.”

“
Don’t beat yourself up about it. I’m okay
now. I’m not on Avixa anymore. I’m here with you. And you’ll look
after me, won’t you, Hunter?”

“O-of course.”

“Then just hold me.”

He pressed his arms closer around her back
and locked his chin over her head.

And with open eyes, he stared through the
window.

Harvey had been right. Christ. Of course
he’d been right.

Hunter
shouldn’t have turned against Shera so easily.

If he’d been in Shera’s shoes, he would have
done worse.

Ava was turning out to be the monster every
one kept telling him she was.

Ava

“You seem kind of distracted,” Nema said as
she walked by Ava’s side.

They were on a scanning detail through the
belly of the ship.

The
Mandalay had megalithic storage bays. They’d yet to be
filled. Nema and Ava had to scan them to ensure internal scanners
were properly aligned before any cargo was shipped in.

They walked down a wide, massive corridor
used to ferry cargo from bay to bay.

Every footstep echoed.

“I’m not distracted,” Ava suddenly answered
when she stopped thinking long enough to consider Nema’s
question.

Nema snorted. “Yeah, sure, that’s why you
keep sighing. But it’s totally okay to be distracted, considering
what happened to you yesterday. I can’t believe you’re back at work
already.”

“I’m fine.”

Nema gave a long-suffering sigh. “If you
were anyone else, I wouldn’t believe that. But because you’re you –
the bravest damn person I have ever met – I guess you’re right. So
what’s distracting you then?”

Ava dropped her gaze.

“Come on. I knew you have to keep a lot
bottled up for cultural reasons, but unload what you can.”

“…
I’m starting to question whether this is
the right post for me,” Ava answered. It’s not what she wanted to
say. What she wanted to point out was she felt nervous.

Not fearful, just concerned that something
wasn’t right.

Her locks withheld most of her subtle
powers. In her true form, she had senses beyond the ordinary. With
the armlets hemming her in, she could access nothing more than this
diffuse feeling that something was wrong.

She tried to tell herself it was nothing.
But it wasn’t working.

Nema suddenly nudged her softly with her
elbow. “Hey, the next hangar bay we’re meant to scan is enormous.
Great acoustics.”

“Ha?”

“
I’m trying to tell you I’ll go ahead and
do the corridors – you scan the bay. And then you’ll get a chance
to sing. I know you love it. And you never get a chance to
practice. So go ahead.” Nema pointed to the massive cargo bay
doors.

Ava considered her friend, a true smile
spreading her lips. “Thank you,” she said honestly.

Nema shrugged. “What are friends for? Now
go ahead.” She gave Ava another friendly shove.

Ava needed no more encouragement. She walked
towards the massive doors.

They reminded her of the dark temple’s
gates.

Every priestess had to undergo intermittent
periods of isolation. They started as an initiate at the age of
nine. You were taken into the temple tunnels and left to survive
for a year.

Those who could not look after themselves
could not become priestesses.

Those who could, would never forget the
darkness.

As Ava walked forward and the massive doors
opened, the lights took several seconds to blink on.

In those several seconds she enjoyed the
dark and she began to sing.

It was the one skill that wasn’t locked off
from her. The one skill that reminded her of her true power.

The one skill she wasn’t ashamed of. It came
with no responsibilities – just freedom.

She began with a haunting melody. It echoed
around the expansive room, easily filling the cargo bay, despite
its size.

The more she sang, the less unsure she
felt.

It reminded her she was no pushover.

It reminded her, that under these locks,
whether she liked it or not, she was an Avixan
priestess.

…

Lieutenant Hunter
McClane

“
You must be in the dog house,
lieutenant,” B’cal chuckled to
himself as he walked side-by-side with Hunter.

Hunter
pretended not to know what B’cal was talking
about.

“
Captain McClane is usually reasonable. To
put you on engineering duty, he’s either punishing me or you. Now
as far as I’m aware, I haven’t done anything wrong. You on the
other hand, trashed a lift.”

“
I think you’ll find I didn’t trash it. It
was faulty. I did almost die yesterday, chief.”

B’cal laughed. He also clapped a hand on
Hunter’s back.

B’cal’s race said it how they saw it. They
were about as subtle as a slap.

“
Shrug it off. You lived. Most wouldn’t
have in that situation. Now, whatever you’ve done to piss off your
brother, shrug it off too. The captain’s a reasonable guy. He’ll
let you off the hook.”

Hunter
didn’t respond.

“
Cheer up, lieutenant, that’s an order.
Today’s a different day. I promise.” B’cal stopped before one of
the enormous cargo bay doors. “Here we go. I think this is the one.
According to my exceedingly unreliable sensors, this cargo bay
should be the best to adapt to a weapons depot. Why the captain
thinks we need another, I don’t know. But he’s put you in charge of
assessing this. So here we go.”

B’cal walked towards the massive doors and
they opened.

Instantly, singing met their
ears.

Powerful incredible
singing.

At first, due to the clarity and sheer
volume, he thought it was a recording being piped through the
internal audio system.

Then he saw her.

He knew who it was, even with her back
turned to him.

There was only one person aboard the
Mandalay with hair like that.

Ava.

She obviously had no idea the doors had
opened. She was leaning over something, maybe a scanner, her song
so strong and strident, it could have muffled a cruiser
engine.

B’cal gave a soft, impressed laugh.

Hunter
didn’t make a sound.

He was too engrossed.

His body was, too.

It was the kind of singing that sent
tingles racing up your arms and stood your hair on end.

Finally B’cal started clapping.

Ava stopped and looked over her shoulder.
“Oh. Sorry,” she called, “I didn’t see you there.” She jogged
up.

B’cal put his hands on his hips and
laughed. “Do not let us stop you,” he said with honest passion
spreading his wrinkled face. “That was amazing. I haven’t heard a
performance like that in years. My people value singing as the
highest art form, and you, ensign, have a true talent.”

She blushed slightly. When Avixans blushed,
they turned blue, and a pretty smattering touched her pale
cheeks.