Broken Wings (15 page)

Raea could understand that now,
something she used to hate about her friend but forgave for the
sake of the many years they'd hung out together. It seemed so long
ago.

It would have been easier to be human,
to never know the Starfire.

Raea clenched her hand around the
shard beneath her shirt. So much trouble for one little crystal
shard, yet without her, it was immobile and all but completely
helpless. Sure, it could kill anyone who touched it, but that's all
it did on its own.

It was safer on Earth.

Home sweet home.
She closed her eyes and remembered home as if she
was there in her room again. The smell of Debbie cooking pancakes
wafted from the kitchen, filling the house. Dave shouted and swore
at the TV with his dad when their favorite teams lost or fouled.
She actually missed her annoying freshman cousin as much as his
quiet little brother.

It lasted only a moment.

["Let's go."] Cris patted her
shoulder.

["Where?"]

["Stay with us,"] Leksel said on
passing. He gave Cris a dark look.

Ouch. If looks could kill, Cris would
be six feet underground.

["All right,"] Cris said with a smile
to her, as if Leksel had asked him to an amusement park. ["Let's go
sneak around some Shirat soldiers, and maybe more
Shirukan."]

That's the last thing she wanted to
do.

__________

Shadows

The world around Elis had vanished,
replaced by streaming microcosms of computations from the basic
element of electricity, a form of energy the Starfire in him could
easily absorb and redirect.

That's all Earth computers
were—processors of energy on and energy off at their most basic
principle, but flying at a rate of gigahertz.

He wasn't human, nor was he limited by
basic Inari capabilities. He could access a processor's on and off
switches that generated bits, and bits to bytes, and bytes to
codes, and codes to programs. Faster than any input device, the
Starburst marks provided direct access. Keepers were living
machines, faster than any computer with a direct link to anything
accessible through energy. But he couldn't sustain it for long. The
Starfire energy would drain him until he rested and let his body
and mind recover.

After Debbie left, his burden had
lightened. That's when Josh's revelation about Pallin's contact
sprang to the forefront of his thoughts. Pallin had help on Earth.
That help came from California.

Elis swore to gain access to his file
at the school and learn those secrets.

He almost hacked the
system.

Almost…One more…

Got it!

He was in.

The resonance faded, leaving him
sweating, but the view on his monitor was the menu of the school
server, where all the student records were kept. He had cracked it
in a matter of seconds, according to his clock, though it felt like
hours. Now to find Pallin.

His head pounded, the steady stream of
data crashing against his skull. It would fade in time, but the
immediate aftereffects crowded his brain. Now he understood why his
mentor in Keeper training had advised against computer access. Bad
enough to enter the mind of a living being. Inari computers were
far more complex, but this would leave him drained and reeling from
the data surge for a while.

He couldn't afford to rest
now.

If he found the information he needed,
it would be worth it. If the Shirukan were on Earth or had help on
Earth, they might be planning something far worse than the
abduction of a Crystal Keeper. Assuming they were, how long had
they been on Earth?

First, he needed that
address.

Nare's steps thumped down the stairs
in the silence. He'd left his door open a crack to hear what she
was up to. She ignored him most of the day.

Montran…
There. He found the file and clicked it open. Now he had it,
but with his head pounding from the data stream, he wrote down what
he needed, in the off event he actually forgot. Though unlikely, in
his current state, he couldn't be sure.

"Oh! Hi, Josh." Nare's voice carried
up through the quiet house from downstairs.

Elis hurried to finish
writing down what he needed. Now was not the time to forget or lose
the information. He did
not
want to go through this again. Once was enough for
him, and he wouldn't doubt Josh would interrupt.

"Hey, Nare. You're better?"

"Not a problem, hon. Neutralizers
aren't lethal. A pain in the head, but not lethal. I slept it
off."

"That's good." Josh paused. "Um, is
Elis awake?"

"In his room. He's been hiding out all
day."

"Is he okay?"

"Enough to tell me to mind my own
business." Nare sounded upset, but she deserved it for trying to
poke into what he was doing. When he had something, he'd tell her.
For now, though, Elis preferred to work without her hovering over
his shoulder.

Josh paused a few seconds.

"Go on up. He's been on the computer
all day. Someone needs to tell him to eat."

Elis's stomach threatened
to take Nare's side at that revelation. He
had
forgotten to eat lunch. His focus
had been on the target—getting that information.

And now he had it.

The bad step creaked. Josh
came.

Elis shut down the network connection
and moved to the bed. Crystal fire. His head hurt. He laid back,
his eyes closed and a painful satisfaction inside. He had it, a
start to finding out what connection Pallin had on Earth. A PO box
in San Francisco, California, and a name. Not much, but it was a
start.

That's all he needed to
hunt down whoever helped Pallin. If they were Shirukan, no place on
Earth would be safe. But if they were, why hadn't they come after
Raea—or any of the other Keepers—sooner? What if they were
not
Shirukan?

A soft knock on his door banged in his
head, making him wince. Did they have to knock so loud? "Come
in."

"I hope you don't mind. Nare said you
were working, but if you're resting, I can come back
later."

Elis let out a sigh and opened his
eyes. Josh stood in the doorway in his jacket and black slacks.
Dressed up? "It's all right. Come in."

"You're sure? I mean, I can wait
downstairs."

Wait
downstairs? For what?

"Debbie thought I might like to join
you guys for Saturday mass, since Raea was, like, my friend
too."

So that was it. He'd been so busy
hunting down the information on Pallin that he'd forgotten about
them all going church to pray for Raea to a deity they thought
would help her return home. The search had taken all his focus off
the grief that had torn him apart all night. He didn't want to
think about losing her.

"It's better not to be alone, you
know, when something like this happens."

Tell that to Raea, he wanted to say
but bit his tongue. It wasn't Josh's fault. He knew nothing until
last night. Now he knew everything, including the truth about
Pallin, who had only been the first Shirukan, sent to find,
restrain, and retrieve her when they reopened a portal for him.
Winning her trust had been only a means of achieving his
goal.

The Shirukan didn't give up because
one operative failed. Elis had expected they would come again but
not last night.

"I didn't know what to say to anyone.
I haven't told Linds or Jess. I mean, last night…it's such a
blur."

Elis could only wish last night was a
blur. Although with bits of data streaming through his head, all
other thoughts faded to the background. Soon enough, the rest would
rise again to torment him.

"How are you holding up?" Josh
asked.

Elis sat up on the bed and motioned to
the chair he had vacated, not really wanting to talk, but relieved
in some way that someone cared. Josh had been one of Raea's closest
friends.

Josh sat down and swiveled to face
him.

Raea's smile, and the way she pushed
her brown hair behind her ears on different occasions were all only
memories now. "It's not easy. I miss her." More than anyone would
ever understand.

"Me too." Josh's cheek twitched and
his eyes dropped to his fingers tapping each other. "I…um…I've had
a lot on my mind since last night. One minute, it's like, 'Holy
smokes! My best friend is an alien, and her boyfriend is the Dark
Angel!' and the next I want to cry. And after everything we talked
about last night, and then you flying off…I've been totally
confused all day what I should feel. I feel guilty for being
excited about you being the Dark Angel, because she's gone…I can't
believe she's gone."

Neither could Elis, but it happened.
"I can't bring her back."

"I know." Josh spoke quietly and
paused, his eyes glazing but no tears falling.

He did a better job of controlling
them than Elis had done all morning and last night. Focusing on
chasing down Pallin's contact or contacts on Earth had given him
something else to think about for a while.

After a few seconds, Josh
sniffed. "She's gone, and might never come back. I've known Raea
for twelve years—
twelve
years
—and I never thought…" He sniffed and
wiped his eyes. "I never told her things I should have."

Things he should have? Elis
straightened, noting his sore back muscles from sitting at the
computer too long, although much of that was probably lingering
soreness from last night. What kinds of
things
did Josh mean?

"I guess I always took for
granted she'd be here. I never thought anyone would hurt her, or
want to hurt her like that. To
kill
her!" Josh's cheek twitched. He restrained the
tears. "Oh, God. I wish I'd known. I wish…I wish I'd told her." He
sniffed and wiped his eyes, holding back the real tears.

"I'm sorry. I can't help it. It's so
much easier expressing myself with the girls than any guys—no
offense. They're more fun to hang out with, especially Raea. She
always made it easy. I never fit in, really. Too short. Too
scrawny. Too geeky. Too…whatever. They made fun of me since first
grade."

Josh looked up with a forced smile.
"You know, I tried to tell her not to judge you. I never thought
you would, like, win her over, that she would fall for you like she
did."

Josh understood what it was like not
to fit in. That had surprised him. He seemed to have no problems.
Elis had also overheard Josh's words many times on their walks to
and from school, and understood what he meant about judging others,
him in particular. "I know."

"She didn't stand up to Chad and Joey
or anything, but she came to help me when they left. That was how
it started. I was a total wuss. She was so smart but shy. Linds
kind of took us both under her wing when the kids harassed us. She
was Raea's friend from the first day. So, I played with the girls.
But I always knew Raea was special. Her marks were so cool to me. I
had no idea…"

Elis shifted his feet. Why was Josh
telling him this?

"I always thought we'd be together. I
never imagined anyone would want to take her away."

That
they
would be together? Josh liked
her. Elis had always suspected—the way Josh looked at her and
lingered longer around her than any of the other girls.

"She's been through so much lately.
I'm glad she had you. Really. I am. I wish she was here, safe and
sound. But you don't think she'll return? You think she's dead? Is
there the slightest chance she could escape?"

If his family couldn't escape, how
could Raea? She was one person.

"No one would help her?"

"Unlikely…" Maybe there was the one
possibility, a slim chance. Maybe, just maybe, the rebels had been
ready and had helped her, if Nare was right. "But, maybe someone
has. The Shirat Empire doesn't control all of Inar'Ahben. When I
left, they had about a fifth of the population. Our world values
Keepers and the services we provide. There's a strong resistance
that Marin has never extinguished. If they knew anything of the
attack, maybe they tried to rescue Raea." A slim chance, but it
renewed his hope. "If they knew and if they rescued her, they'd
still have to keep her out of Shirukan hands. I wish I could
contact Saffir." Any news of the Starfire would reach Saffir. She'd
know if Raea was alive.

Unfortunately, any message he sent
from his tri-comm wouldn't reach Inar'Ahben for thousands of years.
He didn't have the equipment on Earth to distort space. Nor did he
have a Starfire to open a portal.

If Raea was safe, he would
never find out until she returned.
If
she returned.

"Then all I can do is pray and hope
she finds her way back, but that's better than giving up. Raea
deserves that much."