Page 22 of Ava Stargazer (Planet Xai #2)

That evening, Ava sat looking at the large biologics tank across from her alcove in the engine room.

Vox leaned forward, his eyes focused on her while she stared at the swirling bubbles, her hand on the ones on her chest. He tapped her on the nose. “Okay, try to shield.”

Ava shook her head away from him and scrunched her nose. She poked his nose back. Defending her mind had turned into an activity every evening between them. They sat in their room, on the bed, while Ava practiced. Well, attempted to practice.

“Okay.” Ava averted her gaze as she saw Vox begin. Let’s try again. She asked Vox to try to read her thoughts while letting herself drift away into that sort of detached state she’d felt right after Torga, where his mind couldn’t touch her.

Vox shone, a low gleam, as Ava sat with the deck of cards in front of her, having seen the top one and trying to not give it away. “It is harder,” he said with a grunt, his amber eyes focused on her with such intensity it was hard to not focus on them back.

Ava didn’t react, and instead kept her gaze pointed mindlessly at the biologics tank while still keeping the correct number on the forefront of her mind. She already knew that distracting herself with random thoughts could obscure things for him, as the Vorbax could only pick up what her present thought currently was. She wanted to see if the way she was thinking, slightly out of focus, could also obscure her mind . Hard to do, though.

“A seven ring,” Vox said after a moment’s pause.

Ava huffed and flipped it over before side-eyeing him. The golden rings of the seven card stared back. She mumbled aloud and flicked the card at him, “Frustrating. You still got it fast.”

Vox chuckled as it bounced off his arm. “Your expressions when you lose are everything.”

Ava eyed him once more before picking up her worn deck of cards. “Again.”

Vox grabbed the seven ring card from where it had fallen and put it on the table with the others he had already guessed. “It is harder. I’m not holding back anymore.”

The card she turned over from the top was a nine triangle. She leaned against the wall behind the bed, stretching out her back and making herself comfortable, keeping triangles in her mind.

The simple act of trying to detach made her sleepy. Vox kept shining mutely and Ava gave into her fatigue, slumping to lie down fully before closing her eyes. She felt a concentrated mental jolt go through her and opened one eye to see Vox looking back at her smugly.

Yawning, she waved her hand in his direction. “I’m tired, come to bed. My dreams are more interesting anyways.”

“Triangle nine,” he said in reply, his glow shining brightly.

Ava reached over, tapping him briskly on the leg. “Very good. You know, on Hoya when I went with Nuor that one time there was a side show that they did tricks at. That’s what this reminds me of. Ebel also liked to watch shows of sleight of hand things sometimes.”

Vox shook his head, amused. “Not a trick though.”

“Yes, but I bet you would like some of those videos anyways.” Ava adjusted the biologics around her chest. They were digging into her with how she was lying. She took the container off her neck and stretched out her hand to give it to Vox. As his hand extended to grab the card, a noticeable tremor was present.

What is that? Ava frowned, leaning up on her arm. “Why is your hand shaking?”

Vox quickly took his hand and balled it behind his back.

“Don’t try to hide it, now I know that it is.” Ava’s mind raced. “Is it those tremors like from after Torga?” Are you okay?

Vox sighed and brought his hand back out. “I told you it was a bit harder to see, to read you. The detachment was working.”

“So now when you push hard, that happens?” Ava looked at him, her voice shaking.

Vox leveled a look at her. “I’m fine, Ava.” He held up his hand. It was steady. “Look. Fine now. I was helping Tiral train the youngsters earlier, and just did a bit too much there over the last few cycles.”

“But we are going to Cipra.” Won’t it ...

“Yes. I will rest before then. There will be no more extending myself between now and then.”

Vox came close, touching her face gently with his firm hand. Steady. “Do not worry.” He dipped his forehead onto hers and said deeper, “I am strong.”

“I know you haven’t had the ability to do it for very long, but what if breaking the minds is hurting yours too, Vox? Maybe that’s why it is happening?”

With a half smile, Vox looked into her eyes. “Our abilities have been a blessing to learn to protect ourselves. But you are right that a lot is unknown. I am not suffering right now, I promise.”

He looks fine right now . Ava regarded him again, his open expression. She would just have to trust his assessment. Rhutg, Erox, and Lirell all seemed fine as well. Still ... “Maybe one day we won’t have to fight as hard.”

Under his breath, Vox said, “Now you sound like Iryl and the quorum.” He exaggerated the word. “Diplomacy.”

“Yes. That’s what the Spry do. And trade, so they have good relationships. The Phor did that too.” Ava snuggled down into Vox, thinking hard. Maybe I’ll talk to Fijjak more about how they work with other species . She pushed her hair out of the way. I bet Pyra and him have talked about it too.

The mattress sank as Vox scooted close to her, holding her on the bed. “I’m not discounting diplomacy and trades. Going to the board was illuminating. But not everything can be solved by just asking nicely. We are going to Cipra now, after all. Sometimes you need to push.”

“There is a balance.” Ava tapped on his leg, mimicking his tone and voice.

Vox chuckled. “You make me sound so grumpy. There is. But I’ll admit I do not know what that looks like yet. We have had to fight, to defend, for a very long time.”

I hate fighting. She snuggled down into him further. “Vox?”

He was busy pushing her hair over her shoulder so he could lay with her easier. “Hmm?”

A thought came to her. “How far from Cipra are we?”

“More than halfway. Around six cycles. The ship moves fast now.”

“Are we near Earth at all? Or where it was supposed to be?”

She felt his body shift underneath her at the mention of what should have been her home planet. “No. Not close. The advertisement from Cipra only had its general location, not exact coordinates. Iryl has a better idea, but hopefully we can get the exact location.”

“At some point, I might want to try to visit there. I want to see what is actually left.”

Vox put his hand over hers. “One thing at a time. There should be more data in Cipra’s logs. Earth is scrubbed from most records otherwise.”

Ava closed her eyes, inhaling his scent of the bavla fields that reminded her of Xai. “Yeah, I agree. Cipra might have something.”

“That is the hope.”

Right . She shook the thought aside, along with the melancholy it brought. Ava sat up, out of his arms, and picked up the cards on the bed. They were a bit scattered from her stretching out. She absently fanned them in her hands.

The cards were worn. She had used this same deck with Ebel a lot when they felt like playing with a physical game instead of the electronic ones. Ava had been teaching Vox to play some of the games she knew. He learned fast, even with Ava forbidding him to read her mind while they played. One card fell out as she placed the deck on the side table. She glanced at it before returning it to the top.

Vox reached over to pat her head. “Six of stars.”