Chance of Stardust

Stardust (ch 4)

Cassie cried until her chest ached and her eyes burned. Kidnapped. Out of her own backyard no less like she was some kind of naïve twelve year old taking candy from a stranger. Her stomach still hurt from that strange bout of nausea. Had they drugged her? Is that why the words he said weren’t the words she heard? Was that possible? A psychotropic might account for the distortions of sound and vision, but the thought didn’t make her feel any better. People who stole women and gave them drugs rarely had anything good in mind.


Her mother. A fresh wave of tears wet her cheeks. Having her daughter kidnapped would be more stress than Laura’s already weakened heart could take. She had to get out of here and soon. But how? She’d tested the door earlier and hadn’t been able to find a latch or handle anywhere. The toilet she’d not so gracefully lost her lunch in had quietly slotted itself back into the wall. There were no windows, no latches or opening mechanisms of any kind that she could see.


A soft touch on her shoulder jerked her over to find herself face to face with the small boy from the junk yard. His green eyes were solemn in his thin face. He stepped back, giving her room to sit up. She wiped her face on the tail of her shirt and slid her legs off the edge of the bed, wishing her head didn’t feel so heavy.


“I wanted to apologize to you,” he said.


Or, at least, those were the words she heard. If she strained, she could almost make out that lyrical cadence she’d heard in the junk yard. She closed her eyes, shaking her head to ward off another wave of nausea. It passed more quickly this time.


“You’re not the one to blame for this,” she corrected him tiredly.


She could overpower him when he opened the door again, make her escape. The thought made her wince, but she steeled herself. It was her or him, and her mother’s life was at stake.


“I didn’t bring you here, if that’s what you mean.” One slender shoulder rose and fell. “But Revelin and the hirrient are tasked with keeping me safe. Leiv was afraid you would tell the Gurot about me.”


“I don’t know any Gurot, I don’t know Leiv and I don’t know you.” She shook her head. This was getting weirder by the minute. “What kind of drugs did they give me, anyway?”


Llyr—at least, that was what the man had called him—tilted his head. “They gave you nothing but the Universal implant so that you could understand us. It makes explanations easier, you know.”


He waited as if expecting her to laugh. Cassie could only blink at him.


“You actually think there’s some kind of mechanism in my brain translating your words? That’s not possible. Nothing like that exists. Scientists would have been blaring that one from the rooftops.”


He looked intrigued. “Your people shout news from the tops of buildings? I would have thought there would be better ways of communicating. The machines I saw indicated a higher level of technology.”


She wanted to argue, but he tucked the fall of his hair behind his ears. Pointed ears. Gracefully, decidedly, most definitely pointed ears. He looked like a baby elf.


Why would parents do permanent alterations on a child? The idea made her pulse jump in moral outrage. What kind of doctor would perform the surgery anyway?


“Revelin says your name is Cassie,” Llyr went on when it was clear she’d lost the ability to speak. “I’m Llyr.”


“I guessed that,” she said. “The guy with you in the junkyard would be Leiv. Right?”


“Yes.” He touched the top of his head. “Leiv has red markings. Ari was there, too, but you didn’t see him. He’s the one who tapped you. He’s dark.” He took a deep breath and fixed her with a solemn look. “They aren’t bad people, Cassie. They are just protective of me.”


“Who are they? Who are you for that matter? And what does any of this have to do with me?”


His gaze dropped to the floor. “I wasn’t supposed to leave the ship,” he murmured. “But I got bored. I mean, if I’m going to be on a proscribed planet for any length of time, why wouldn’t I want to see it?”


“Proscribed?” The word planet reverberated in her skull. No way.


Llyr shrugged again. “It’s just a name for planets that aren’t advanced enough yet to be brought into the Amalgamation. Contact is forbidden.”


Okay. It was clear he believed all this nonsense. She would play along. Maybe he would let something slip she could use. She hadn’t heard anything about any weird cults in the area but given his ears and talk of planets, it was a good bet his parents were whacked-out mental cases on a religious high. Bring on the happy punch.


“How long have you been here, um, on my world?” She forced the words out, hardly able to believe she was having this conversation.


“Just a few days. We left Gael when the Gurot attacked, but our ship was damaged. We had to land here and try to make repairs. That’s what Leiv was doing in that place with all the machines.”


“You expect me to believe that you’re interstellar visitors and you’re looking for spare parts in my uncle’s junkyard?” She couldn’t help the sarcasm. “What make is it? A Chevy? A Ford?  I might be able to help you find a starter at a good price.”


Llyr didn’t take offense. “That’s the problem. We can’t find anything that is close to what we need. From what Revelin said, the metal is all wrong. It’s too weak to handle the power required to enter spatial flux.”


She blinked at him. Now she was going to discuss astrophysics with a six year old? Those drugs must be pretty powerful stuff. Warp speed ahead.


The door made a soft whisper of sound and she and Llyr turned to see a man framed in the doorway. He wasn’t one she’d seen before, but he was built along the same lines. Tall, with a powerful body and long legs. He wore the same metal scale shirt as the other two. This one, though, was dark haired and dark eyed, pretty in a purely masculine way. His eyes softened as they rested on the boy.


“I knew I’d find you here,” he sighed. “Llyr? You know Rev will have a fit if he finds you with her.”


Llyr shrugged, leaning against the bed beside Cassie’s leg. “I wanted to talk to her. You know Rev won’t explain anything to her. She deserves to know, Ari.”


“Rev won’t see it that way.”


“He’s your leader, not mine.”


“You’re under his care.”


“Not under his power.” Llyr grinned suddenly. “I’m the Crown Prince of Gael, Ari. I could command you to obey and you’d have to do what I say.”


Ari crouched, the move so fluid and graceful, Cassie couldn’t drag her eyes away. “We aren’t subjects of the Gael Crown, kytt. Our loyalty is to your father and he asked us to keep you safe.”


“She won’t hurt me.”


There was a note in his voice, utter assurance of the truth of his words, and Cassie realized he was right. No matter how badly she wanted to get free, she couldn’t hurt a child. Ari shook his head and looked her over, his mouth kicking up at the corners.


“You pick the worst times to be stubborn, kytt. You know that?”


Llyr chuckled.


In a move so quick her eyes barely registered it, Ari lunged at the boy. Llyr shrieked as he was scooped up and tossed into the air. Ari spun, his body twisting in a way that should have been impossible without breaking his spine, and caught the boy before he could fall. Cassie found herself on her feet, her heart in her throat.


Llyr curled an arm around Ari’s neck and smiled down at her.


“I told you they wouldn’t let me get hurt. You really shouldn’t worry so much.” His smile softened. “We’re going to be good friends, Cassie. I know it.”


Ari glanced between them, one brow raised. “Rev is currently, um, talking to Leiv about his decision making. Do you think she should come along? Meet us all en masse and get it over with? Seems easier if we’re to be such good friends.”


Llyr nodded, his smile sweet. “Come on, Cassie. No one bites. Well, maybe Leiv but we won’t let him hurt you.”


“Just let her hold onto a food tray and Leiv won’t come within arm’s length of her,” Ari chuckled.


So it had been Leiv she’d hit in the face with the tray. She’d thought she might have seen that red stripe in his hair, but she’d been too scared to notice details. Still, out of the room and maybe seeing the layout of this place couldn’t hurt. It was one step closer to freedom.