Page 3

“ L ights,” someone shouted. “Get the lights back on!”

Soft cries and distressed murmurs vibrated through the space, raising the tension in the room to palpable levels. No one seemed to know what to do. Frank’s shoulder bumped mine. I leaned into him. “This is not good.”

“Won’t last long.” He switched on the light on his wristband. I’d forgotten I even had mine with me. I left it in my pocket for the moment. All around us, others turned theirs on, creating small islands of light in the darkness.

I felt better. Losing the lights wasn’t great, but at least we could sort of see each other. I looked at the windows. The bland view of space was still there, so the ship hadn’t lost power, because I knew from Hazel that the visual systems were controlled as a whole from the command center. Just this deck’s electric had gone down.

Hazel appeared at our table, the seriousness on her face announcing it wasn’t a social visit. “Frank, you’re in Mech, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He got to his feet.

“Do you know where the panel is for this deck? Do you think you can get these lights back on?”

“Should be close to the elevators and I can try.” He looked at me. “You okay if I?—”

“Go.” If he could help, I was all for it. A malfunction of this level in front of the premier must have Hazel infuriated and embarrassed. I prayed Frank could figure out what was going on and fix it.

As he hurried off with Hazel, I took my wristband out of my pocket, strapped it to my wrist, and turned on its light. The special sticker Frank had given me a while back remained affixed to the back of it, put there to be sure all my communications remained private.

The others at our table looked panicked. “It’ll be all right,” I assured them, but they were only words. I had no idea what was going on. No idea what was actually going to happen.

I stood up to get a better look around and noticed faint glimmers of light sparkling near the floor. I frowned, trying to figure out what that might be. Making an educated guess, I left my seat.

I rushed forward, weaving between people. “Excuse me. Coming through. Excuse me.”

Ayronina lay near the base of the gem pedestal. I kneeled beside her. “Ayronina?” I patted her cheek lightly. She was breathing. Maybe the shock of losing the lights had caused her to faint? I didn’t know a lot about Loessaian physiology. Maybe surprises caused them to pass out? Like those fainting goats.

I patted her cheek again, trying to get a response. “Are you all right?”

A strapping young man in mess dress appeared beside me. He kneeled, too, and took one of her hands in his. “Ayronina, talk to me.” He seemed frantic, but Ayronina’s lids were fluttering. She was coming around.

He looked at me. “I should get her out of here. She could get trampled.”

I didn’t think there was any danger of that happening. “Who are you?” He didn’t look like anyone who had the authority to remove her, but what did I know.

“Ensign Connor Ludwig. I’m Ayronina’s cultural liaison. I was assigned to her. To keep her safe and guide her around.” He looked more than a little upset, which seemed like a bit of an overreaction. Although he was young and this was probably his first major assignment. “I’m not doing a very good job, am I?”

“You’re doing fine. None of this is your fault.” It wasn’t, but I also didn’t want him to lose it. “Come on. Let’s get her up and into a chair.”

As the ensign lifted her, I kept the light directed toward the ground so it wouldn’t blind her. I glanced up at him. He had his arm under hers and was easily holding her steady. Once she was on her feet and a little more responsive, I shifted the light upward and had a look around. It flashed across the pedestal.

The Omega Min Star was gone.

I inhaled, momentarily panicking, but then I realized the Loessaian guards were gone, too. No doubt they’d spirited it away as soon as the lights had cut out. They’d done their jobs. No worries there. I breathed a sigh of relief and helped guide the ensign and Ayronina to a seat.

Not long after she sat, a gasp went up from the crowd, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out why. Someone had removed the prerecorded images from the windows. The Omega Min nebula was now on full display, and it was breathtaking .

There was no way anyone cared about the lights being off right now.

I took back every thought I’d had about all nebulas being the same. That couldn’t be true. I could not imagine another nebula being this spectacular.

A hush fell over the attendees as they gazed at the celestial wonder now available for viewing. It stretched out before us, a vibrant watercolor painting of blue, teal, and white that seemed to pulse with life. But saying it was blue, teal, and white was like saying the ocean was wet.

Accurate, but it did nothing to capture the nuance of what lay before us.

I stared, as mesmerized by the nebula as I had been by the gem named after it. Every shade of blue was present, from the ultramarine blue of the deepest sea to the palest blue of a summer sky. It was as luminously blue as any tropical water I’d ever seen. In a few places, the blue looked more turquoise, almost green. The white was bright and sparkling, defining the blue by its presence, the teal bold and shocking.

I knew it was just a cloud of dust and gas, but even for a librarian like me, there were no words to do it justice. My feelings reminded me of the time I’d seen Monet’s Water Lilies. The painting, in person, had brought me to tears that I’d been unable to explain.

I felt that way now. As though the presence of this inexplicable beauty was changing me in ways that I could feel but couldn’t give voice to. I swallowed at the emotion thickening my throat.

This wasn’t something I’d ever forget.

More than anything, I wished Frank was at my side. I wanted to share this with him. I looked around, the soft light from the nebula making it easier to see my surroundings. But I couldn’t find him. No doubt he was busy helping with the lights.

With a sigh, I turned to check on Ensign Ludwig and Ayronina, but they were gone. Again, I scanned the area, but there was no sign of them anywhere. I shrugged and made my way back to the table.

It was easier now. People had gotten up and gone to the windows to take in the nebula. I thought Frank might be back at the table, but he wasn’t. I took a sip of my sparkling water, which was no longer cold but still refreshing.

My stomach growled. Protein shakes never lasted me very long. I didn’t think we’d be getting dinner anytime soon, either. Leaving my glass on the table, I went to walk around. I spotted Vashti on the other side of the loop, looking out at the stars with an older man at her side.

I went over to them. “Vashti, hi.”

She turned, smiling as soon as she saw me. “Ellis! There you are.” She looked past me. “Is Frank here?”

I nodded. “He’s gone to see if he can help with the lights.”

“How kind of him.” She tipped her head toward the man next to her. “Ellis, this is Dr. Mechai Saetang. He’s an astrophysicist from Loessa, but he’ll be in residence with us for the next month.”

I offered my hand. “Lovely to meet you, Dr. Saetang. I’m Ellis McFadden. I’m the head librarian here on the Athos . Welcome aboard.”

He shook my hand as he bowed. “A pleasure. I am a great fan of libraries, so I’m sure you will be a good person to know. I would love to introduce you to my assistant, as she is an avid reader, but I’m afraid I don’t know where she’s gotten to.”

He looked around, searching for her. “Davika, where are you?” He called for her, but no one materialized.

“Send her to the library,” I said. “I’ll be happy to help her find some books.”

“Thank you,” Dr. Saetang said.

“Ellis is not just the head librarian,” Vashti said to him. “She’s also the mother of our vice-admiral.”

Dr. Saetang’s brows lifted. “Is that so? How marvelous. What pride you must feel.” He bowed his head at me.

“I am very proud of my daughter,” I confirmed. “Are you here to study the nebula?”

“Somewhat.” His gaze shifted to a place behind me. “I will also be testing the Omega Min Star as we travel. It’s never been off-planet, and there are many of us eager to see how it responds to certain stimuli in space.”

“But isn’t nebulite already used as a fuel source by much of your planet’s military and exploratory spacecraft? Surely that means nebulite has been off-planet before.” Not to mention, it came from space. I wondered if some of what he was here to do was something he couldn’t or wouldn’t talk about.

“It has been,” he answered. “But the Omega Min Star is a particularly rare piece of nebulite. What we use for our fuel sources is…” He shook his head, forehead furrowing as if he was searching for the right words. “Those pieces are as bits of carbon compared with the Omega Min Star, which would be, in your vernacular, like a diamond of the highest quality.”

“I see. Well, I wish you great success.”

“Thank you.” He smiled. “I will be seeing you at the library, I’m sure. As will my assistant.”

“I look forward to it.”

The lights came back on, and a collective sigh of relief seemed to go up from the crowd, followed by applause.

Frank strode toward us, a hint of a smile letting me know he’d had a hand in it.

“You helped with that?”

He gave a short nod. “Getting the panel open took longer than getting the lights on. Whoever did the last pressure seal maintenance on this deck also sealed the panel. Rookie move.” He frowned. “Broke my utility tool getting it open.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s not a big deal. The vice-admiral told me she’d fast-track my requisition order.”

I smiled, pleased that Hazel had done that. I was just as proud that he’d been able to help. The fact that he’d brought along his utility tool while wearing a tuxedo wasn’t lost on me either. I wanted to introduce him to Dr. Saetang. “I want you to meet?—”

A shout of alarm went up.

I rolled my eyes. “Now what?”

Everyone turned toward the sound.

The premier stood near the stage, hands clenched, face red. “What is the meaning of this?”

Admiral Borisov approached him as the rest of us fell silent. “Premier Hanth, what is the problem?”

He glared at the admiral as he gestured to something behind him. “The Omega Min Star is gone .”

All around us, the crowd gasped. Things had just gone from bad to better to much, much worse.

I shook my head as I spoke quietly, for Frank’s ears only, really. “I thought the guards took it for safekeeping.”

He glanced at me. “You saw them take it?”

“No. But it was there with the guards, and then it wasn’t. And neither were the guards. I was helping the singer and the officer assigned to her get her to a chair. She fainted when the lights went out.”

Dr. Saetang stepped forward. “This is outrageous.”

Hazel was a few yards behind the admiral and speaking into her wristband.

The admiral faced Dr. Saetang. “We will find it, Dr. Saetang, I assure you.” He nodded at the premier. “We will find it. There are only so many places it can be.”

Hazel approached the admiral, spoke a few words to him, then he nodded and raised his hands to get everyone’s attention. “I’ve just been informed that the Star is safe and sound. It was whisked away for insurance purposes, as you can well imagine. As soon as we’ve run a safety check on all of our systems, we’ll have it back on display. I do apologize for any inconvenience. Please, let’s all sit and enjoy our dinner.”

Frank shot me a look. “Well, that’s good news.”

I’d watched Hazel’s face the whole time. Whatever she’d told the admiral, I was fairly certain it wasn’t that the Star was safe and sound. “No, it’s not. That’s just a cover meant to buy time.”

Frank frowned. “How do you know?”

“I can read my daughter.”

“Then you ought to tell her about what you saw with the guards.”

“I hate to bother her right now. I’m not even sure what I saw was important.”

“I still think she’d want to know.”

He was probably right. “Okay.”

I made my way toward her as more Athos Security Forces officers entered the room. They took up positions by the security checkpoint, as well as the elevators, the stairs, and the escalators that connected all the decks. No one, it appeared, was going anywhere except back to their table.

Hazel was giving the security personnel orders. I waited until she was done, catching her eye as she called another officer to her. “I’m a little busy, Mom.”

“I know, but Frank said I should tell you what I saw.”

Her eyes narrowed. She held up a finger for me to wait, then spoke to the officer, giving him some command. When she finished, she came to me. “What is it?”

“I saw the Loessaian guards beside the Star, where they were supposed to be, but then they and the Star were gone.”

“When was this?”

“Right after the lights went out.”

She frowned. “How close were you?”

“Pretty much right in front of the pedestal.”

“Why were you there?”

I took a breath. I should have started from the beginning. So much for my attempt to be concise and just give her the facts. “I saw that Ayronina, the singer, had collapsed. I went to check on her, and right after I arrived, so did a young man, Ensign Ludwig?—”

Hazel nodded. “Her cultural liaison. He’s young, and he’s bright and capable and has a good future in front of him, but he’s not who I would have ordinarily assigned to her. However, he also happens to be the president of the interstellar chapter of Ayrie Fairies. Her fan club. Because of that, he speaks enough Loessaian to work as a translator if need be.”

“A wise decision. I’m sure he’s done a lot to make her feel comfortable here.”

“I hope so. Go on with what you were telling me.”

“Right. Ensign Ludwig helped Ayronina up. She was coming around by then, and I used the light on my wristband to guide them to a chair. While he was getting her to her feet is when I saw that the Star and the guards were no longer there. I figured they’d done their job and taken it to safety when the lights went out.”

Hazel looked unconvinced. “I hope that’s true, because I don’t know where they or the Star are.” She blew out a breath. “No one does.”