Page 26 of Ava Stargazer (Planet Xai #2)

Ava ate in the solarium the next cycle, instead of the mess hall. She tried to tell herself it was not about the cycle before, and the awkwardness she felt now, but deep down she knew that was a lie.

In the solarium, she felt more at ease, arranging her plants. It left her with time to think and be peaceful. Much like painting the halls with Sai did. She was lucky too; it was empty when she arrived with a ration bar in hand. That was a rarity lately with how much Fijjak liked to stay in the solarium. Ava had her suspicions that he spent the entire night there and never used his crew room at all.

The artificial waterfall bubbled in front of her as she sat on the stone bench, staring at it. The entire solarium had Fijjak’s touch on it now, in addition to her own. Not like he needs to sleep at all. Fijjak had taken to cutting the grass and organizing the rocks that Ava had started to move to make garden beds after understanding her intent.

A ping at the door startled Ava, who looked up and over to see who it was. Her ears turned red, thinking of someone checking on her when she’d come here by herself in such an obvious way. Especially as she had eaten with everyone normally only a cycle before. She sighed and her shoulders drooped a second later at seeing Sai, who was carrying a bag under her arm.

Sai shook the bag in her hands. “What are you doing in here? Alone? You avoiding Zeed?” She sat down next to Ava on the bench, scooting close. “I know for sure you’re not avoiding me.”

Ava didn’t answer, but leaned over to look into the bag, happy to see some of the fruit still there. The smell of citrus was a welcome distraction. “No. I mean, yes. I just needed time before eating with everyone again.”

Sai nodded, pulling out a red, fuzzy fruit and handing one to Ava. “I told you. These men are intense. I told them I was going to come eat with you, and for them to stay away a bit. Can’t get away from them as much here being on a ship.”

Ava asked, softly, “Is Vox in there?”

Sai shook her head, blue frills flapping. “He is still in navigation. From what I could pick up, Iryl will be back any minute. Vox and Rhutg keep going in circles trying to plan for Cipra without having any more data.”

Silence fell, only broken up by the waterfall as the water hit the rocks. Sai bumped her elbow into Ava’s side. “You want to talk about it? Yesterday?”

Ava put her hand on Sai’s elbow and leaned forward to connect foreheads. “Not really .”

“Okay.”

Ava frowned, but then shoved the words out. “Sai, thank you. I know you have your own things you are going through, but you have helped me the most here. Thank you so much. I wish I could do more for you.”

Sai leaned forward and pressed her forehead against Ava’s again. “Ava. You helped me initially. And you are now helping in other ways that ... I just am not good at talking about and putting into words. So let’s not talk. But I’ll do this instead.” She shone and opened her connection until Ava felt the close bond between them in her bones.

Ava smiled, looking at the waterfall as Sai sat back and threw the pit from her eaten fruit in one of her garden beds. They both watched it land. Ava asked, “Think it will grow if we bury it?”

“Maybe.”

Her heart picked up though, thinking of Iryl being back. “I’ll get to see Joy soon if Iryl is almost back.”

“Mhm.”

That, more than anything, made Ava’s spirits rise, and she felt nervous butterflies in her stomach. They ate together, and Ava relished the calm with just Sai next to her. She knocked Sai’s elbow. I like this.

More than Cipra, her mind kept returning to Xai. A large part of her missed the planet and the warm sun. The solarium just isn’t the same. Now that she knew the difference, she could feel how artificial it was in here. She looked upward. So different from a real planet. Ava finished chewing and cleared her throat. “Sai?”

“Hmm?”

“Will it still be summer when we get back? To Xai? I know Vox said he wanted to be back in around a month for the peace talks. When does that change? He talked about there being different seasons before.”

Sai pointed up at the artificial sun shining down on them. “Yes, the sun will still be intense, but not for long. It will still be hot when we return, though. Then everything will start getting ready for it to be cold. The flowers will stop blooming, and some of the plants will lose their leaves.”

Ava shifted on the bench, running her mind through pictures she’d seen of different planets that had seasons. There was so much variability, but also a lot of sameness. “Does it snow?”

“Yes, but not often. We get more fog on the coldest days. It comes from the lakes with the winds until they freeze over. The winds never stop in the afternoons. All year, we have the late afternoon high winds. We don’t travel much on the days when the fog rolls in.”

“Hmm.” Fog? So many different weather events. But I have seen rain now. Probably similar.

Soon Sai was done eating and wiped her hands on her jumpsuit. She stood up and walked to the door, gesturing behind her. “C’mon. We hardly got anything done yesterday, and we are almost to Cipra. I think only three more cycles from what I overheard. I want to get at least one hallway finished before we get back home.”

“Alright. Hold on.” Ava got up and rinsed her hands in the waterfall, the sticky residue falling away in the recirculating water, before joining Sai, who was already walking away.

The difference between the walls outside the solarium and the one leading to the engine room was stark now, after fifteen cycles into the trip, and the closer they got to the engine room, the more it became a world of color.

Ava stood back, looking around, as she openly laughed. “This looks crazy.” She pointed to the paint splashed everywhere. “You’ve done so much.”

Sai looked at her from where she was already sitting down, paintbrush in hand and ready to get back to work. “I’m actually loving doing it.” Her blue hand patted the walls as she grinned back at Ava, sharp teeth on display. “I only know how to make things I already have seen though, unlike...” She indicated where Ava was working and stifled a chuckle.

Along the bottom, Ava had given up making orderly flowers and instead put some handprints and footprints in a line. And weird shapes she drew faces on. She liked the tactile sensation the paint gave her on her hand so there were many, many handprints . Ava laughed. My section doesn’t fit. At all.

She sat down to make some more, Sai a few paces beside her. The only sound in the hall was them dipping their paintbrushes and the faint sound of painting on the walls. Ava liked how random it was turning out and now deliberately kept the pattern going, feeling like the more color and brightness on it, the better.

The painting grew and some time passed before she heard, “Ava.”

She looked up as she was finishing drawing a bug to see Vox looking down at her with amusement. “It’s time, Ava.” He handed her a cloth.

“For what?” Ava wiped her hands, turning back to finish what she was painting.

His eyes gleamed in the lighting. “Hmm?” Vox looked closely at one of Ava’s flowers. He put his hand over one of her handprints on the wall, his mouth curved in a half-smile.

“Hmm?” Ava tapped him on his leg as he stood next to her. “What?” She squinted up at him. “You are in an awfully good mood.” Especially after yesterday’s talk.

He had held her tight the entire night, and in the morning had kissed her so deeply before leaving for navigation, but it had been almost half a cycle since then.

Vox grinned back at her. “To meet Joy.” His eyes lit up at Ava’s rush to get to her feet. “Iryl just pinged letting us know they were ready.”

Oh right! Yes! Ava bent back over and grabbed a cloth to wipe her face. “Oh, let's go. Am I covered in paint?”

“Yes. If it’s not dirt or grease it’s . . .” Vox took the cloth from her and wiped the paint on her nose after wetting the towel. He set it down before he pulled her along. “They are just setting up. We will need to wait a minute for the hologram.”

“Good luck, Ava! I can not wait to hear,” Sai said from behind, paintbrush in hand.

Ava waved back and walked behind Vox into navigation, her footsteps fast on the floor and heart in her throat. It's happening. She looked at Vox as they walked. “It’s real, Vox!”

“Yes. I’ll get the call started. They should be ready by now,” Vox said when they walked in, sliding behind the control panel.

Ava stood in the middle of the room awkwardly, waiting for the hologram to begin. Anxiety spun in her gut as her feet tapped impatiently on the floor. Once it connected, Ava saw a small blonde woman peek out from behind Iryl the moment the hologram picture came online.

“Hello Ava,” Iryl said. He looked tired. His head drooped and his eyes were not shiny, but dull. His posture was curved.

“Iryl, are you alright?” Vox said with alarm in his voice. His earlier humor was gone as he moved to stand next to Ava’s side.

Ava’s eyes widened, looking at him. At Iryl’s pained expression. What happened?

Iryl, however, waved off their concerns. “Just tired. At the last minute the negotiations went a bit sour. Ended up having to spend more credits. But . . . she’s here. This is what’s important.” Iryl gestured behind him and stepped aside.

A Human came forward in the field’s display, walking hesitantly, allowing Ava to get a good look at her. The woman stared back at Ava, and Ava devoured her with starved eyes. She was slightly taller than Ava, and her coloring was different. Ava had a more olive skin tone, darker now after her time on Xai.

This Human female was lighter. She had dirty blonde hair that was cut short, ending above her shoulders. But what was the same were the eyes, other than the color. The iris was like hers in that they had white around them, not a solid hue like the Vorbax, with a darker center. This woman’s were dark blue, instead of Ava’s muddy brown, and they radiated both sorrow and ... joy.

Ava walked closer to the hologram as well, watching Joy study her as she did. She was at a loss of words for a moment, taking in the sight.

“Joy?” Ava asked softly, finally. She walked even closer, drinking in the sight of another Human. Joy looked thin but otherwise whole.

“Yes,” Joy said in an almost inaudible voice as she walked up, mirroring Ava’s movements. Hunger was in her gaze at seeing Ava as she reached out, as if trying to touch her.

Ava reached back, delicately placing her fingers like they were touching the hologram of the thin hand reaching out. Tears streamed down Joy’s face seeing Ava’s hand lined up next to her own. Ava watched them travel down her cheeks. You cry. Like me.

“You’re Ava,” Joy whispered, a note of awe in her voice. “You’re l-like me.”

“Yes. Exactly.”

Then Joy said softly, “Th-thank—” But she got choked on the rest.

Iryl came forward and finished for her after Joy looked back at him. “Joy has trouble speaking aloud sometimes. She needed to be silent for a very long time where she was kept. But her mind says the words.”

Iryl and Joy took another moment and looked at each other. Then Iryl spoke for her. “She was a child that was taken from old Earth, one of the last born there. She and her mother were kept together as a matched pair for work on a farm, her mother passing away soon after their arrival. It was on one of the Riolie’s farming planets, where they keep their working class. She remembers a bit of what the Earth looked like.”

Joy interjected at that, in a very soft voice. So soft, so hesitant, that Ava had to lean forward to hear. “Not much. I don’t remember much. Iryl can see more in my memories of Earth than I...”

Iryl finished the sentence. “In her subconscious, yes. When we meet in person I’ll help you see it too.”

Joy’s eyes were haunted, but less so as she looked at Ava and gave a watery smile.

Vox came forward and asked, his eyes still narrowed on Iryl’s appearance. “Were there others there? On the farm? From Earth?”

Joy shook her head and Iryl elaborated, “No. It was not a profitable farm. It sounds like there were many that were sent off to various work sites randomly, and this farm just needed some extra help and bought them. Then afterward, the farm was closed and Joy, with the livestock still left, was sold to the fighting ring.” He grimaced. “Where I found her.”

“The Riolie.” Ava tested the word. Her memory supplied a vision of a tall, angular species, opaque colored, but that almost shined when the light hit. “I remember them. The Phor loved doing their transports; they had the best things usually.” She frowned and said definitively, “They didn’t run the Cipra facility though. The Riolie are beautiful. They weren’t there.” She closed her eyes, her mind unable to remember the full features of the minders except for the large robe they wore. The minders at Cipra. They were not the Riolie.

Joy spoke slowly, confirming that thought. “Whoever took us from the Earth I think sold us to the Riolie. In the few memories I have, and based on what my mother told me ... it wasn’t them that took us from Earth. The Riolie sort of just left us alone to work.”

Vox put his hand on her shoulder. “We will see soon enough who they are.”

The hairs on her arm raised with uncertainty as Ava nodded slowly. “Yes, we will.”

Vox pat her shoulder again and turned to look back at Iryl. “Lirell said there was some difficulty getting back to Elyheim? Is everything okay?”

Iryl looked away, his eyes downcast. “Nothing like your shuttle injury, just rough space travel. The mercenaries keeping Joy also changed the price at the last second.” He cleared his throat and gave a glance at Joy. “I don’t want to relive it. Everything worked out in the end. It was a good reminder that not all members of every species are civil. However, I am happy I did not wait, as Joy was able to come here sooner.”

Vox said over Ava’s shoulder, “Once we are done with Cipra, let’s arrange for her to go see Xai. The Galactic Board isn’t the safest place for her.”

Ava nodded, unable to look away from Joy. “It is very nice on Xai.”

Joy looked like she wanted to say something. It took her a moment before she said, “Yes,” with a small smile.

Ava looked at her, craving connection. The hologram and her presence felt both close and light-years away. “Can you ... would you like to message me? I don’t ... want to say goodbye like this, right after this call.” The hologram’s light reflected off of Ava’s com watch’s front as she held it up. “It might be easier to write instead of speak.”

Joy frowned and said softly, “I can try.”

Iryl nodded. “I will set it up.”

Ava looked up at Vox. “Can we have a few moments, alone?”

“Of course.” Vox pat her on the back before exiting, the door closing with a click behind him that Ava heard, rather than saw with her eyes fixed on Joy. Iryl also exited on his end.

The room seemed smaller now to Ava with it just being her and Joy together. Ava took a deep breath, feeling jittery. It felt like something grand should happen to them with both of them staring at each other, two pairs of eyes surrounded by white, and separated by a countless expanse of space. But she is here. I’m here. That’s enough. Ava walked close and sat next to the hologram, crossing her legs on the floor.

Joy hesitated and then mimicked her movements. She sat cross-legged as well, looking back at Ava as she pushed her wavy blonde hair behind her ear, just like Ava always did herself.

Ava’s eyes teared up. She pushed the bit of hair that came out of her ponytail back too. Even her mannerisms are like mine. “I know it is hard for you to talk. Don’t worry about that, take your time. I just...” Her knees felt the coldness of the tile as she shifted even closer to Joy’s hologram. “I’m so happy to meet you. Another Human. I had your picture on my nightstand for a long time. I fell asleep with it every cycle. My ... friend ... gave it to me when he found it one day as an auction flyer. He printed it off, thinking I might like to see it. I talked to that picture every day. Never knowing if I would ever get to see another real Human again, ever. And now you’re here. I hope you are okay with everything I did.”

Tears rolled down her face, heavy, as she saw them also roll down Joy’s as well. Almost silently Ava added, “There’s not many of us, I don’t think. Not many Humans left now. I never came across any other flyers other than yours.” After swallowing thickly, Ava finished, “No others in all the cycles.”

Joy nodded, crying profusely now. Ava wiped her tears. Her eyes leak like mine.

Ava then sat, collecting her words and feeling slightly embarrassed about sharing so much about herself so fast. To a woman who looked like a stranger but also not, built up as she was over so many years in Ava’s head. But . . . This is no stranger. She looked at Joy carefully. Human like me.

Joy spoke slowly but clearly in a low, quiet voice. “Iryl told me about your life before. I was on ... a farm, sort of, for a long time. My mother and I.”

Ava shifted her legs to sit more comfortably, focusing on learning anything she could. “Right. He said there, and then a fighting ring?”

Joy shook her head and dropped it, taking a deep breath. “Yes, the farm was fine. But then I was sold with the livestock I had taken care of. I went to a place that ... had fights with other beasts they would purchase. Most of the livestock from my auction, from the farm I was on. They went there and fought. When they found out I could be useful they made me ... help instead of fight like the animals.”

Ava rapidly waved her hands at seeing a fresh wave of tears come over Joy’s face. “You don’t have to tell me. You’re safe now, and that’s what matters.”

Joy wiped her face. “It’s easier to talk now, when it’s less ... pressure. And just quiet. Even just being away, safe, for the bit of time I have been has helped. Iryl, he is able to meditate with me, and already I feel better. I wasn’t like this when I was younger.”

“Yes, time has helped me too.”

Joy looked up, her eyes radiating sincerity. “Ava, I’m so glad to meet you. I thought I was all alone too. They ... the people at the fights said I was odd, and something malformed. I knew I wasn’t because of my mother, but I didn’t let them know that there were others. I let them think it was just me.”

Ava’s heart warmed. Ebel never told her she was odd, but feeling different was something she’d felt every day in her life being with the Phor. And on Xai, despite all of the efforts to make her feel welcome. “You’re not. We’re not. We’re just ... Human.”

Joy sighed and said in that slow, stilted way she had, “I know. I haven’t wanted to be a Human for a long time. But I know that’s what I am.”

Ava’s heart fell, hearing that. And knowing where Joy was coming from. “I know that feeling. But I’m also learning that there was nothing wrong with me to begin with. Nothing wrong with being a Human.”

There was no sound other than the hum of the navigation system as Joy looked all over Ava, as if she was memorizing her various parts, and Ava did the same back to her. Even the biologics around her neck were subdued in the quiet.

Joy touched her own face as she spoke again. “We still look different from each other. The Vorbax don’t look as different from each other as we do.”

At that, Ava had to agree. “Not really, no. Just different shades and body structures. When you come to Xai, you can see more. From where I was born, I remember more variety.”

“Iryl said we are compatible with them. That we can make babies together.”

A flash of uncertainty ran through her. I guess so. The recent conversation she just had with Vox about that compatibility, and Zeed’s focused face as he’d said the word “breeding,” came into her mind. “Yes. Apparently they will look like the Vorbax too, since their genes are dominant. But I am not ready to put that to the test, though.”

“Me neither, but it does make me feel better to have a use to them. To be wanted, somehow. Iryl has been so ... nice. It makes sense if there’s something they want for them to be so nice. People aren’t usually nice if there’s not something they want.”

The talk with Vox ran through Ava’s mind from earlier as well. If they weren’t compatible at all, there probably wouldn’t be the level of cooperation she was now getting from the others, like Zeed. What he wanted, and the other unmated males on Xai wanted as well, was obvious. Is it bad that some of them are helping only because of what they want from us? But Vox’s words from earlier also came back to her. I want you in whatever capacity you are able to give me. Her body warmed, remembering. Not Vox. Not Rhutg either. They’re good men. They won’t force. Even Zeed backed off without pushing.

Ava gave a smile back at Joy, trying to not let her own uncertainty show on her face as she echoed her thoughts. “They are good, the Vorbax. It feels like the first stroke of luck Humans have had in a long time, meeting them.”

“Yes. I can’t . . . can’t believe it.”

Ava shifted her legs and raised both her hands to the hologram. “But I don’t want anything from you. That’s for sure. Other than to talk with you and figure out what being a Human means together. I meant it; let’s message once this ends. All the time.”

Joy brightened a bit at that and reached forward, as if her hands could connect to Ava’s across the hologram. “Okay. I can’t spell very well.”

Ava laughed, dispelling her nervousness and feeling her stomach unclench. That’s the least of things to be concerned about. “I don’t care. It will help you practice. Besides, the com can correct that stuff anyways. You can talk into it even.”

There was determination as Joy looked up, eyes still watery, and nodded.

Ava looked on with approval. Any Human still alive by now must be a survivor. They must be strong to have lasted this long and not given up. Regardless of what they think about themselves. The thought stuck with her. She took a deep breath in, processing it. Like me. Pride welled within her, looking at Joy and knowing she’d helped her. Strong like both of us.

She said a summary of that thought out loud, feeling it ring true in her bones. “You survived. You did it. You are strong to have survived. I know how hard it is to endure. There’s ... a new life now, Joy, for both of us. We can’t change the past but ... we have a chance now. We gotta ... if we’re it for Humanity, we need to try our best.”

Joy looked up, the fire in her gaze breaking through her hungry expression. She answered in the Earth language that Ava’s mother had used that the translator didn’t know and therefore didn’t engage in her ear to translate. But Ava knew the word’s meaning, even if she hadn’t heard it spoken for many, many cycles. “Yes.”