Starcrossed (7 page)

“What?” they both exclaimed, looking positively shocked.

“Oh, no,” Molly protested. “The monarchy has been wonderful for our people. I mean, I don’t really remember it, since I was born around the time Faxon took over, but
everybody
says how much better it was under the Sovereigns.”

“Everybody?” I couldn’t help being skeptical, since I knew for a fact at least
some
Martians hated the monarchy enough to want me dead.

“Everybody except Faxon’s people.” Sean spoke with conviction. “And I expect most of them are deserting him now, or will soon. Not even the ultra-progressives ever wanted to do away with the monarchy, you know. At least not until Faxon started spreading his lies and buying people off. They just wanted to move more power to the legislature and make the houses more equal.”

“So, make the Sovereign more of a figurehead, like in England?” I was a
lot
more interested in Nuathan government and history than the stuff in our textbook.
 

“Not at all.” He seemed startled again. “I didn’t realize you never even— Anyway, the Sovereigns have always been wise, compassionate, intuitive, fair—in other words, great leaders and the final word in resolving all kinds of disputes. Nobody wanted to change that. Some just thought more of the day-to-day governing should devolve to the legislature.”

“So . . . how did the Sovereigns get to be so wise and intuitive and all?”

“Genetics, mostly. And, uh, training, I guess. Like Molly said—”
 

“This was all before your time. I know.” I didn’t think any amount of training would make me the kind of leader they were talking about, not even if I lived to be two hundred years old. Which I might. It was just as well I was on Earth and not Mars, completely apart from the threat Faxon posed. Nobody would expect as much from me here. Would they?

I was suddenly ready to change the subject. “So, that village where you lived in Ireland—” I began, when Mrs. O’Gara stuck her head around the corner again.

“Sorry to interrupt, but M’s aunt just called. It’s nine-thirty and she wants her home, as it’s a school night.”

“Wow, already?” Molly and I said at the same time. Then we looked at each other and giggled. I felt like we were already friends—maybe better friends than I could be with Bri or Deb nowadays.

“Can you come over again soon?” Molly asked as I zipped up my backpack.

“I hope so,” I said automatically before remembering Rigel’s theory—and that I wanted to hang out with
him
as many evenings as I could. If he could. “I’ll ask my aunt.”
 

“Did you bring an umbrella, dear?” Mrs. O’Gara asked then. “It’s pouring outside.”

Oops. “No, but I’ll be okay. It’s not far, and I can run.”
 

“Don’t be silly. Sean can walk you.”

I frowned. “I hate to be so much trouble. I could just borrow an umbrella and give it back tomorrow.”

“Oh, Sean doesn’t mind, trust me,” Molly said, her eyes twinkling.

“What do you—?”

“No, it’s fine,” he assured me with a quelling glance at Molly. “My pleasure. Really.”

“Um, then thanks. Bye, Molly. See you at school tomorrow.”

“Bye, M. And thanks!” She sounded genuinely appreciative, even though I’d learned a lot more from them than they’d learned from me.

It was only as Sean opened the front door that I noticed he didn’t have an umbrella.

“Um, there’s really no point in both of us getting wet,” I said, peering out at the rain falling in sheets just past the porch overhang.

“No worries. We’ll stay dry as dust. Come on.”

Puzzled, I walked with him to the top of the porch stairs. A gust of wind blew a flurry of drops into our faces. “Dry as dust?”

“One sec.” He pulled something about the size of a pack of gum—or a flash drive—out of his pocket. Suddenly a glowing screen, about six inches square, appeared in midair. It looked like some kind of control panel.
 

“Is that a hologram?” I gasped.
 

“Basically.” He flashed me a mischievous grin, then touched a spot on the screen, which made a different screen appear. He made his selection on that one, then stuck the device back in his pocket. The screen disappeared.

“Okay, let’s go,” he said, taking my backpack from me.
 

I was briefly reminded of Rigel taking my gear bag this afternoon, but then my attention went back to the rain, which was coming down harder than ever.
 

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.” He grinned again and held out the crook of his arm for me to take.

I hesitated but decided it would be rude to refuse. When I touched his arm I felt that jolt again, though his coat muted it somewhat. He escorted me down the first step and I squinted against the onslaught of wet on my face—except my face stayed dry. All of me stayed dry. I took another step down and so did he. Still dry.

“How—?”

“Call it an invisible umbrella,” he said, watching my face with undisguised amusement. “It’s a sort of force shield that keeps the rain off us.”

I stuck my hand out and watched as the rain sheered away from my skin about an inch before it touched me.
 

“Cool! And it’s generated by that thing in your pocket?”

He nodded. “My omni, yeah.”

“Omni,” I repeated. “So it does other stuff, too?”

“Loads of other stuff. I’ll show you sometime.”

Though I was dying for a demonstration right now, I just said, “Okay.”

“Let’s get you home. I got the impression last night your aunt isn’t someone to mess with.”

I laughed. “You got that right. But she seems to like you guys, so I probably won’t get in trouble. This time.”

“Glad to hear it.”
 

He smiled down at me so warmly I was reminded again of Rigel’s suspicions. I dropped my hand from his arm—and got a face full of rain.

“Watch out,” Sean said, holding his arm back out to me. He was laughing! “It only works if we’re touching. Sorry, I should have told you.”

I wiped my face with my sleeve and put my hand back on his arm. “Yeah, that might have been nice.”

“I really am sorry.” But I thought he still looked amused. “I’m so used to everyone knowing this stuff, I didn’t think to explain it.”

“That’s okay.” I was starting to feel kind of silly now. “A little water won’t kill me.”

“Maybe not, but we can’t take chances with our Princess, now, can we? Here.” He pulled out his omni again, the screen appeared, he pushed a couple more holographic buttons, too quickly for me to see what he was doing, and suddenly I was totally dry.

“Holy crap! How did you do that?” I asked, the last of my irritation swallowed by amazement.

Again he was laughing at me, but not maliciously. “Just another function, the instavap.”
 

“But how does it work? How does it dry just the water on the surface—and in my clothes—but not suck it out of my body?”

His eyebrows rose. “I guess your science education isn’t as primitive as I thought. It works from the outside in. Because it only lasts a second, it doesn’t have time to dessicate you, though your mouth might feel a little dry.”

I checked and it did. But only a little, and only for a few seconds. Very cool.

“So what other, um, apps do you have in there?” I asked, even more curious than before.

He shook his head. “If I tell you now, how do I know you’ll let me walk you home again? Anyway, we’re here.” He walked up the porch steps with me and handed me my backpack. I took my hand off his arm the moment we were under the overhang and the tingling stopped, making me realize I’d felt it this whole time without noticing.

“Thanks,” I said, ignoring his question and being very careful not to touch his hand as I took the bag from him. “Guess I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“And at our house next time you, um, tutor us?”

“That, too. G’night.”

He smiled down at me but didn’t try to get too close—to my relief. “Good night . . . Emileia,” he said softly, then turned and left.

I frowned after him for a moment, not sure what to think, then shook my head as I opened the front door. There was no point imagining motives where none might exist. And though I knew Rigel wouldn’t approve, I couldn’t help liking the O’Garas. Already, I found myself looking forward to my next visit to their house.

graell
(grayl):
an emotional and physical bond believed mythical by most Martians

“Didn’t your aunt tell you I called when you got home last night?” Rigel asked when he met me at my locker the next morning.

“Good morning to you, too,” I said, going up on my tiptoes for a quick kiss—quick enough that no passing teacher would yell at us. “She did tell me, but she also said it was too late to call you back, even though it was barely past nine-thirty. I hung around in the kitchen hoping they’d go upstairs early enough that I could call you anyway, but they didn’t. I didn’t want to risk calling after ten-thirty.”

“You can call my cell anytime, M, you know that. So where were you, anyway? She wouldn’t tell me.”

I was startled he didn’t know. Hadn’t I told him I’d agreed to tutor Molly and Sean? Maybe not.
 

Watching his expression carefully, I said, “I was over at the O’Garas’ house. My aunt promised Mrs. O’Gara I’d help Molly and Sean catch up in History, but she didn’t tell
me
that until I got home from taekwondo.”

As expected, he didn’t look happy. “You were at their
house?
All evening? After everything I—”

“Not all evening, just for a couple hours after dinner. And you didn’t tell me much of anything, remember?” I noticed people looking at us and dropped my voice to a whisper. “If you really know something, Rigel, some reason I should avoid them, then tell me. Please!”
 

He opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, but only to ask, “So, it wasn’t just Molly, but Sean, too? I can’t imagine he needs any help with his classes.”

Suddenly I saw where this was going and felt stupid I hadn’t realized it sooner. Unfortunately, the truth would only make things worse, but I had no intention of lying to him. Ever.
 

“Both of them, yeah. They had a lot of questions about U.S. History, since neither of them ever studied it before. And they told me some stuff about politics on . . . er, where they come from,” I amended, since we were walking down the hall now and might possibly be overheard. “It was interesting.”
 

I paused, bracing myself for his reaction, then confessed in a rush, “And then Sean walked me home because I forgot to bring an umbrella.”

“Because you— Gee, wasn’t that nice of him?” Rigel’s jaw was tight and I could feel waves of anger rolling off of him. Which wasn’t fair at all.

“I didn’t ask him to. And it was like a three minute walk.” I knew I sounded defensive. “Anyway, it was his mom’s idea, not his. She’s . . . really sweet.”

The anger I felt from him ebbed slightly but became tinged with something else—sadness? But why? That’s what I seemed to see in his eyes, too, when he looked down at me again.

“Sorry, M. It wasn’t your fault, so I shouldn’t take it out on you. It’s just . . . There’s something about Sean that rubs me the wrong way.”

I knew better than to suggest jealousy again, even if it sure felt like that to me. “It was pouring, so it would have looked weird for me to refuse. And it
was
my fault I forgot my umbrella. But, Rigel, he has the coolest device!” I dropped my voice to something lower than a whisper but that Rigel, with his enhanced Martian senses, could easily hear. “This little thing he called an omni. It does all kinds of stuff, including generating a sort of rain shield, like an invisible umbrella. It was amazing.”

Now he looked—and felt—alarmed. “An omni? And he actually used it out on the street?”

“So you already knew about them? How come you never told me? It was so cool!”

We reached the classroom but lingered just outside the door, still speaking so low no one else could possibly hear.
 

“I’ve never seen one, just heard about them. And yeah, they sound great. I used to beg my folks for one. But they said they’re not allowed on Earth—along with a bunch of other stuff that would be too hard to explain if it was found. So if he—“ The bell rang, cutting him off. “We’ll talk more later,” he said.
 

This was starting to feel like a pattern, but I was determined this time he really would tell me more. A couple of periods later, walking together from English to Science, I maneuvered him toward the edge of the hallway, holding tightly to his arm.
 

“If you think the O’Garas are some kind of threat you
have
to tell me,” I whispered. “They expect me to come over again soon. If there’s some reason I shouldn’t, I need to know.”

He slanted a glance my way but looked away before I could decipher it. I concentrated on his emotions instead and thought he felt nervous. Nervous?
 

“Rigel?” I prompted.

“Okay,” he finally murmured. “I think Molly’s probably fine. Maybe they all are—though they shouldn’t go waving technology around like that. But I’m pretty sure Sean is . . . after you.”

Flashing back to the scene in the cornfield last month, my heart leaped into my throat. “You mean he might—“

“No.” I could tell he was responding to the fear he felt from me more than my words. “Not that way. I mean . . . romantically,” he finally finished, with obvious reluctance.

I actually laughed out loud, right there in the hallway, before remembering to drop my voice again—not that we were exactly talking Martian stuff now. “No way. He knows I’m with you—it’s not exactly a secret. And even if he is . . .
interested
in me, it doesn’t matter. You know that. I won’t ever think of anybody else that way. I can’t.”
 

Then I remembered that weird tingle I got from Sean—surely just some random Martian anomaly? Whatever it was, I definitely wasn’t about to mention it to Rigel now!