Starbound: A Starstruck Novel (23 page)

The sudden hurt I sensed from her took me by surprise. “Just because I kill every plant I try to grow—”

“No, Molly, I didn’t mean that at all!” I felt mortified by my stupid slip. “I’m sure you’ll be the best Agriculturalist ever, one of these days. I just meant you’re so good at all the protocol stuff. Way better than I am, even though I’ve studied it till it’s coming out of my ears.”

She smiled reluctantly, the hurt fading. “Then thanks, I guess. And really, being the Sovereign’s Handmaid is way further up the social ladder than even the top-ranking Ag, so it’s not like I can complain. Here, why don’t you wear this?”
 

Though it seemed like she pulled the outfit out of my closet almost at random to change the subject, it was perfect, nice but not too fancy: a swishy green skirt and a cream top with matching green trim. The green was the exact shade of my eyes so I knew it would be flattering.

“Thanks, Molly. You have a great eye, even better than Bri. Which is lucky for me, since I’ve always been hopeless in the fashion department.”
 

I swirled for Rigel when we came out of the bedroom and was rewarded by a wash of appreciation and love that nearly made me throw myself at him again, since I’d decided not to worry about the stupid cameras. But it would embarrass Molly and she’d feel obligated to remind us again about her chaperone duties, so I restrained myself. Still, I was in a great mood when we headed down to dinner, already wondering if I could talk Rigel into another late-night rendezvous.

Mars was finally on the Commons viewscreen tonight. The sight of that reddish sphere brought my excitement surging back—an excitement I’d almost forgotten, with everything else going on. I was
born
there! It was still impossible to believe. I had to pull my gaze away when Sean called us over to the table he and all the other teens—except Brenna—had staked out. During dinner, everyone talked about what they wanted to do first once we reached Nuath, all of them as upbeat as I was.
 

Mr. O stopped by our table as we finished eating, looking the most relaxed I’d seen him since leaving Indiana. “You got my message?”

I nodded. “Everything’s been going great at my end, too. Thanks!”
 

“This will make things go much more smoothly in Nuath. I’ve already written a message to the Council I can send once we land. Are you ready for your first gravity reversal?”

Sean had told me about that earlier today. We’d all be strapped in while the ship switched over from acceleration to deceleration, since that would make the gravity would go wonky for about half an hour. Sean claimed it was fun, but I was a little worried I’d get queasy.

“I guess so. Do you, um, want to sit with us?”

He waved a hand dismissively. “No, no, I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourselves more if I don’t. And there’ll probably be a movie afterward, there usually is. We can talk tomorrow. Perhaps over breakfast?”
 

I agreed to that and he left us. Not long after, a ship-wide announcement reminded everyone that they had fifteen minutes to report to the Commons and secure themselves for deceleration. Of course, most people were here already because of dinner. The latecomers started eating more quickly while a few others who’d been elsewhere filtered in.
 

The changeover of the Commons from dining/recreation area back to theater-style seating was pretty cool all by itself. We all stood to one side and watched as tables, chairs and all the games and workout equipment sank into the floor. A moment later panels slid over everything and, after some rumbling, the airplane-type seats rose up again to fill most of the floor space.
 

“Everyone please be seated,” the Captain’s voice boomed over the speakers. “Deceleration will commence in five minutes.”

“C’mon.” Sean grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the front, nearest the viewscreen. “You’re going to love this! I’ve got ping-pong balls and stuff.”

“Huh?” I was totally confused and could tell Rigel was, too.

“You’ll see.” Molly was grinning. “I’ve got a hair clip and a pen.”

Still baffled, we accompanied Sean, Molly and several other teens to the third row of seats, which Sean insisted was the best place to sit. Just like for takeoff, Sean sat on my left, Rigel on my right and Molly on Rigel’s other side. I wished Rigel and I could hold hands. Not that I was exactly nervous, but—

Yeah, I know, me too
.
But it’ll be fine,
he assured me.

I didn’t have time to wonder if he was right because just seconds after we’d latched our harnesses, the ship shuddered slightly and then I felt…weird. Sort of like going down fast in an elevator, making my stomach feel higher than it should be. Was this weightlessness?
 

Sean nudged me. “Check this out.” He pulled a ping-pong ball out of his pocket, held it out in front of me, then let it go. It drifted slightly upwards, then to the left, where it stayed motionless, spinning. On my other side, Molly set a hair clip in midair and when it didn’t do anything, she tapped it my way. It spun lazily past Rigel’s nose, then mine, toward Sean. In front of us, I saw kids, teens, and a few adults releasing other lightweight, relatively harmless objects into the air in front of them, just to watch them be weightless. Awesome!

“Can I try?” I asked Molly. Grinning again, she handed me a ballpoint pen.
 

I held it at arm’s length then let it go, half expecting it to fall, like everyone else knew some trick I didn’t. But no, it just hovered there for a good minute before gradually starting to sink toward my knees.

“Ship must be almost turned already.” Sean sounded disappointed. He quickly pulled another ping-pong ball out of his pocket and lobbed it up toward the ceiling. Like the pen, it hung suspended for several seconds, ten feet above us, then slowly, slowly drifted back down, gathering speed toward the end. “Ah, well, still fun. Don’t you think?”

“Absolutely.” I dropped the pen again. This time it fell a little quicker. What an amazing life I was leading! A year ago I could never have imagined any of this.
 

Definitely cool,
Rigel agreed.
I only wish—

Yeah, me too.
I sent the longing I felt from him back his way with a little sigh. Still, if I could get Acclaimed as quickly as Mr. O predicted, then deal with the Grentl issue, our path would
have
to get easier.

On that exact thought, the image of Mars on the big screen in front of us pixelated.

“They must be about to start the movie,” Molly remarked. “Probably a Disney flick or something else family-friendly.”

That made sense, since every passenger was trapped here at the moment, including a few younger children. Like everyone else, I watched the screen, figuring we’d decide whether to stay once we knew what the movie was.
 

But no movie started.
 

Instead, the screen went completely blank for about five seconds, then another image appeared—the living room of my suite, with Molly, Rigel and me standing in the middle, talking without sound. What the—?

Up on the screen, Molly was smiling as she said something to me. I gestured toward my bedroom as I responded, then Rigel shrugged and said something to Molly. Molly went into her bedroom and came out with her toiletry kit, then headed to the bathroom. My heart thudded up into my throat as I realized what we were seeing—what everyone was about to see. I could feel Rigel’s panic, as intense as my own, but there was nothing—
nothing—
we could do but sit and watch, just like every single other passenger on the
Quintessence.

beidan
(BID-den):
gossip; scandal

Sean

I’m wondering if I’d be dumb to try holding M’s hand during tonight’s movie when suddenly I’m seeing her—and Molly and Rigel—up on the big screen instead of “Transformers” or whatever. Huh? It looks like a video feed from her quarters but it can’t be live, since they’re all sitting right next to me. I keep watching, trying to figure out how the heck we can be seeing this, when suddenly M—on the screen, I mean—starts making out with Rigel.
 

My breath huffs out like somebody just punched me.
 

I can’t look away, even though it kills me to watch them kissing…and kissing. Finally I turn to look at M, though to say what, I don’t know. She’s staring straight ahead, her face tense and paper white, like she’s as shocked as anyone. And she probably is—shocked that everybody’s
seeing
this.
 

The kissing goes on and on and what began as startled murmurs rises into a babble of confusion and outrage. I know exactly how everybody feels—only more so. Finally the picture freezes, M still in Rigel’s arms, their faces all mashed together. Then, mercifully, it disappears.
 

But only for a second. Another video pops up, this time of Rigel tiptoeing across the now-darkened living room to M’s bedroom door. He taps on it soundlessly, the door opens and there’s M, in a frilly nightgown, obviously expecting him. He goes into her room and the door shuts behind them. Then suddenly Mars is back up on the vidscreen, like it never went away. If it wasn’t for the shocked faces and voices all around me, I’d almost think I hallucinated the whole thing, like some horrific waking nightmare.

I barely hear the announcement that we’re free to undo our harnesses, I’m still so gut-punched. I turn to M again, praying she has some explanation, but she still won’t even look at me. People in front of us, behind us, on either side, are all yelling questions and accusations at her and at Rigel but it’s like she can’t even hear them.
 

Molly’s the first to speak. “We…we should probably go.” M doesn’t respond. It’s like she’s retreated into another dimension or something. Probably from shame and embarrassment.

Pissed but also a little worried now, I reach over and grab her arm. “Come on. We can’t stay here.”

She flinches and finally turns wide eyes to me. “Sean, I—”

“Not now.” My voice is harsh, but harsh is how I’m feeling.

The four of us stand up. I don’t look at Rigel. I can’t. We move to the end of our row. The Captain and my dad are standing there, waiting for us. For M.

“Excellency, I must ask you and your attendants to come with me,” the Captain says.

She nods, her face expressionless. I’m not exactly one of her attendants and neither is my dad, but we come, too. The Captain doesn’t tell us not to. All of us get into the executive lift and he takes us up to Level One. The whole way up, M and Rigel hold hands. Guess they figure there’s no point hiding the truth now. I want to wrench them apart but I don’t. I don’t do anything at all.

Once we’re inside the Captain’s quarters, the same room where we had dinner last night, he turns to M. He doesn’t look happy. None of us do.
 

“Excellency, I find myself in a very difficult position. I already have someone investigating how that recording was accessed and diverted to the Commons viewscreen. For that security breach, I apologize. However, I cannot ignore what I—what everyone—saw.”
 

“I understand.” M’s voice is almost a whisper, like she’s scared. “We never meant—” The door chime sounds, cutting her off.
 

One of the women we met yesterday on the bridge comes in, escorting Gordon Nolan. “Captain, I was able to trace the source of the breach to this man’s cabin on Level Two. I thought you would want to question him at once.”

The Captain turns to Gordon with a frown. “Explain yourself.”

The guy doesn’t say anything for a second, then he shrugs. “After hearing rumors about the Princess and her Bodyguard, I thought it important to find out if they were true—for the good of Nuath. It’s the sort of thing our people should know about, given the new policy of openness after all of Faxon’s lies. Don’t you agree?”

The Captain just gives Gordon a long, cold look. “Exactly how were you able to pull off this bit of sabotage, sir?”

The guy positively smirks and I remember M never liked him. “Your security leaves a bit to be desired, Captain. Finding and copying that feed wasn’t nearly as hard as I expected. Patching that copy into the feed downstairs was even easier.”

“It appears to have been a sophisticated hacking job, Captain,” the female officer says, “but not sophisticated enough to keep me from tracing it. I’ve already taken steps to ensure nothing like this can ever happen again.”

“Thank you, Jana.” Captain Liam turns back to M. “I do apologize for the intrusion into your privacy, Excellency. While I thoroughly condemn what this man did to prove his suspicions—” he glances angrily at Gordon— “I can’t ignore what has been revealed. I’m afraid I am forced to take action.”

Rigel speaks up before M can answer. “What sort of action, sir? Nothing that will compromise the Sovereign’s safety, I hope?”

I snort, but Gordon actually has the nerve to laugh. “You’re a fine one to talk about her safety after posing as her Bodyguard under false pretenses. I can’t imagine how you managed to worm your way into such a responsible position without having your true intentions suspected, but now that you’ve been exposed—”

“He didn’t worm his way into anything,” M interrupts him, color coming back to her cheeks. “I myself convinced the
Echtran
Council to appoint him Bodyguard and the Council has known about our relationship all along. They only asked that we hide it in public. Rigel was completely trained for his Bodyguard duties, you can check with the Council. He passed their test and everything.”

“The Council
knew
?” Gordon sounds scandalized. I wonder if he’s faking it. “How could they allow such a thing? Just how long has this…relationship been going on?”

“They allowed it because I refused to become Sovereign if they didn’t. And Rigel and I have been together since before I learned about Mars, or who I was, or…or anything.”

“Together?” the Captain repeats. “Do you mean—?”

M huffs out a breath. “No! We’re not sleeping together and we never have, no matter what people think.” Her cheeks are bright red now. I wish I had my mum’s ability to tell if someone’s lying. “I wouldn’t be alive right now if it weren’t for Rigel. I thought everyone knew that story, how he saved me from Faxon’s minions back on Earth? More than once?”