Page 101 of Star Bringer
“That sounds even worse than I’d imagined,” she whispers back, her eyes wide.
“Why don’t we ask our resident technical expert. Gage? Are bugs a possibility? Could someone have bugged theStarlightwhile she was docked on theCaelestis?” Ian asks.
Gage frowns while he thinks about it. “It’s not impossible, but it is unlikely. I doubt it ever occurred to anyone that theStarlightwas going anywhere, so why bother with a bug? Fuck, from what I understand, they’d been trying to get her to function for years and gotten nowhere.”
“Yeah, but say shewasbugged,” Ian continues. “You used bug finders on theCaelestisfor your Corporation work in the docking bay, right? Could you rig one for us to use here?”
Gage looks thoughtful for a moment, then nods. “Yeah, okay. I think I can do that.”
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Ian looks at him like he can’t believe Gage is still just sitting there.
Gage mumbles something uncomplimentary, but he’s already up and shuffling out of the room. Seconds later, Max gets up and follows him.
I think about sticking around to see what else Ian has to say, but at that moment my stomach rumbles. I figure there isn’t anything I can do to help right now anyway, so I head to the galley to find something to eat instead. Maybe I can get a head start on cooking us all up some dinner.
There’s still a bit of the fresh food left, and I help myself to a piece of bread and some sort of fishgalen paste from the refrigeration cabinet, along with a glass of water from the purifier. After my first few days on board theStarlight, I’ll never take the chance to drink water for granted again.
I sit at the big table while I eat, because there’s something really appealing about being alone right now. On the plus side, I find that I actually like the paste. My mother refers to fishgalen as food for the poor, and ever since my dad passed away, the palace chef stopped serving it, focusing mostly on proteins imported from all over the system. No expense spared.
I sigh. Everything they say about me is true. I really have been terribly spoiled.
But I’m not about to let myself sink back into self-pity. Instead, I start cutting up pieces of the loaf of bread, maybe to put together some fishgalen sandwiches for the crew, while I try to unravel what I know and don’t know about current technology in the hope of getting some answers.
The Corporation has always been secretive about what they can do. And they control all the tech. The vast majority of the population live in a virtually technology-free world, though the Ruling Families have access to some. We have comm units that allow communication between ourselves and also between planets. We have motorized vehicles and access to ships for inter-planetary travel. But everything comes from the Corporation. It’s a convoluted exchange between the Ruling Families and the Corporation, in which we sort of control their activity but they possess and delegate all resources. And I wonder now, for the first time, just what we have to give them in return for those resources.
I remember Ian saying that he’d heard of prisoners on theCaelestisdying after being forced to touch the heptosphere. And yet, when the delegates were in the lab, Dr. Veragelen was encouraging all of us to touch it. Why would she even do that, knowing we might die? And how did she plan to explain it if Rain or I did? We were the two highest-ranking officials on theCaelestiswhen it exploded.
The more I think about things, the more nothing makes sense. Or maybe it’s that I don’t want to untangle the muddled strands because then I would see clearly and I might not like what comes into focus. In fact, my entire belief system might unravel. It already feels like my life has.
Exhausted and still a little hungover—maybe even buzzed again from my drink with Max—I rest my head on the table and try to clear my mind. But the second my eyes close, I’m dozing.
I’m not sure what wakes me up.
But when I open my eyes, I hear voices, so I head out of the galley to see what’s going on and almost bang into Gage and Max. They’re laughing hysterically at something, and Gage is waving some kind of wand around.
“What are you up to?” I ask as they pass right by me.
“Casting spells,” Gage answers, pointing the sleek wand straight at me. “Surrender or I’ll turn you into a slogg.”
I turn to look at Max, brows raised.
He shakes his head with a grin. “We’re checking the ship for bugs. But Gage, here, was inspired to cast spells by some old fairy tale he read.”
“Yes, well, surely there’s someone else on board who would benefit from being turned into a slogg much more than I would,” I tell him in my poshest princess voice. Because if you’ve got it, why not flaunt it at a time like this?
“Yeah, but Ian fights dirty,” Gage comments. “As evidenced by the state of Merrick’s face.”
Well, I certainly can’t argue with him about that one. “How much have you done?” I ask, thinking about volunteering to take over, as the two of them seem a little punch-drunk.
“We’ve done the airlock and the cabins and…well, everywhere except the galley and the bridge.”
I shake my head but lean in the doorway and watch as Gage methodically walks the corridor, waving the wand slowly up and down the walls.
“I assume you’ve repurposed some hunter/seeker sensor, but where did you get enough aluminum alloy for the base?” I ask. “I haven’t seen any on theStarlightuntil now. I’ve been trying to figure out what she’s made of, and it’s definitely not an alloy I know.”
Gage narrows his eyes at me. “I liberated some parts from aCaelestisdrone that happened to fall into my toolkit. Why do you ask?”
I shrug, but my cheeks heat. “I like science.”
