Spinning Starlight (31 page)

Finally it’s enough. The Khua breaks free from the anchors, floating off to who-knows-where, and I stumble forward a few steps.

It worked.

“Setting it loose on this side,” Fabin says. “Clever girl.”

He hasn’t called me that in years. The words bring a Khua-sized glow, even if Spin-Still is really the clever one.

It’s getting a little easier to separate Spin-Still’s gut-speak from my own gut instincts, so I guess the idea of how to free the Khua
was
mine. I unwind the cord and find
my hand is bleeding. Dozens of pinpricks, tiny but deep.

“You’re hurt!”

Fabin saw, but it doesn’t matter. I shrug. It has to be done.

His jaw sets, acknowledging he doesn’t like it but can’t do anything about it. “All right. I’ll let the others know what you’re doing. We’ll try to find a way
to help. Be strong, Liddi.”

Always, I’m trying. Fabin disappears, leaving me alone with Spin-Still. The other Khua has either wandered out of sight or disappeared as well. There are alarms of some type to detect
Khua-tampering—I know that from the night I was arrested—so I’d better get going before the keepers arrive.

Or the Aelo. When I first arrived on Ferinne, Tiav responded to the alarm. I can’t begin to guess what assumptions he and Shiin and Jahmari will make about what I’ve done, what
betrayal they’ll read into it, what possible explanation they’ll come up with. It’s unlikely to be anywhere close to the truth. Knowing that brings a fresh surge of heartache.

I have to get out of here. I wonder if Spin-Still can slingshot me back to the safe-house.

Time to run.

The summer got unbearably hot, beyond what the weather modulators could handle. So hot, Luko threatened to make those modulators his next project, upgrading them so they
could truly control the weather, rather than just smoothing out most hurricanes and the like. The Jantzens could have stayed inside—Dom kept the house perfectly comfortable—but it was
summer. Summer was not for being locked up in the house.

Liddi wasn’t allowed to go swimming on her own, which she hated. The triplets were definitely allowed on their own when they were ten. Fabin didn’t like her going with just those
three, either, convinced they would get too distracted to notice a river snake strangling their little sister. That was ridiculous—even Ciro wouldn’t be that irresponsible, and Emil
would never let anything hurt Liddi—but with Durant, Luko, and Vic out of the house, Fabin was in charge. The rule wouldn’t have been so bad, except Fabin was spending more time in the
city with the older brothers. Anton was gone almost as much, usually spending time with various girls, according to Marek.

Every time one of Liddi’s brothers got old enough to operate a hovercar, it was like another thread loosened in the seams of their family.

Finally, though, Anton stayed home one day and agreed to take the younger kids swimming. They hiked out to the widest part of the river—the hike itself was almost too much in the
heat—stripped down to their swimsuits, and cannonballed in.

It was the Sentinel’s paradise. Just cool enough to be comfortable, and deep enough to test Liddi’s swimming skills. The triplets took turns jumping into the water from a tree
branch high above. Anton shook his head at them a few times, but didn’t make them stop. Liddi kept busy swimming back and forth and flipping under the water.

When she got tired, she went to lean against a tree on the bank, just long enough to rest. A moment later, she felt something on her head. She reached up and touched it: cold and wet. Before
she could panic, Marek was laughing.

“Careful, Liddi, toads will make you ugly.”

A toad. Liddi tried to grab it so she could take a look, but it hopped down to her shoulder. Good enough. It was red with yellow and black markings along its back.

“Something pretty isn’t that likely to make me ugly,” she retorted.

“Maybe that’s how it
gets
pretty,” Ciro said. “It steals the ‘ pretty’ from little girls.”

Anton splashed water at all three of them. “Grow up, you null-skulls. Liddi, you can be as pretty as you want. And you look like Mom, so you probably will be. But you’re a
Jantzen. Make sure that toad doesn’t steal the brains from you, and you’ll be fine.”

Liddi took the toad from her shoulder, kissed it just to make the boys shout with disgust, and set it on the bank to go on its way. The triplets had their first time at the Tech Reveal when
they were Liddi’s age, but she hadn’t come up with anything to show this year. Not a big deal—the rest of the boys didn’t debut until they were eleven or twelve. Liddi knew
she wasn’t just a Jantzen—she was
the
Jantzen. The one who would take over the company. For her, a clever debut wouldn’t be good enough.

It had to be amazing. And amazing would take time.

Hopefully that toad
hadn’t
stolen her brains. And if the kiss gave her a little luck, that wouldn’t hurt, either.

I KNOW ONE THING FOR SURE.
As long as I have Spin-Still around my neck, I don’t have to worry about getting lost. She has a super-solid sense
of direction. That shouldn’t surprise me, since she launched me into orbit with such accuracy, but it does make it strange that she can’t do the same to get me back to the
safe-house.

I get the feeling I could spend the rest of my life studying Khua mechanics and barely understand a tenth of what they do. The Aelo have generations of knowledge. I wonder how much Tiav
understands that he wasn’t able to tell me.

Thinking about him is less than smart. I thought I’d left the aching guilt behind at the empty spires, but now it returns, doubled as I imagine what he’ll think when he discovers
what I just did. I want to explain to him—I should have explained everything sooner—but Quain is right. The planetary officials would take too much time discussing instead of acting,
and the Agnac in particular will never believe I’ve knocked a Khua loose for everyone’s good. At this point, I doubt anyone will. Asking them to believe that would be like asking me a
year ago to believe portals are alive.

I can’t worry about Tiav. What energy I have has to go to moving fast and not getting caught. That’s more than enough to worry about.

Approaching Cim gives me a good distraction. Some Haleians are out walking the streets, and I don’t know whether they’ve seen the news-vids with “Please help us find poor lost
Liddi.” Spin-Still gives me an instinct-level sense of where the safe-house is, but I can’t take the most direct route. I stick to smaller roads, darker alleys, and finally reach my
destination.

Yilt doesn’t exactly look happy to see me, but I don’t think I’ve seen what a happy Haleian looks like yet.

“Quain contacted me two hours ago to say you’d returned.”

Before I can think of a way to explain the detour, he activates a news-vid. It shows two empty anchors, but I recognize the hills around them. They’re not the ones I just left;
they’re Spin-Still’s.

“We’ve received new and disturbing information about the missing Lost Points visitor named Liddi,”
the voice-over begins
. “She’s reportedly interfered
with at least two Khua, both of which are now missing from their shrines.”

I don’t know what shrines are other than another name for the anchors, but it feels like a word the Agnac would use.

“Speaking on behalf of the Aelo Prelacy, Shiin’alo indicates she is unable to tell us Liddi’s aims or what effect this will have on the Khua as a whole. The Agnac Hierarchy
considers this a capital offense and has asked for an inquiry into Shiin’alo’s fitness as Primary Aelo.”

The image switches to Oxurg from the council.
“Shiin’alo has had our respect, but we now wonder if our patience with her unorthodox ways has been in error. Her involvement must
be questioned, and our people will provide volunteers to guard as many shrines as possible. In light of these new developments, I have ordered the release of Agnac cititzens involved in the recent
riot in Podra.”

Kalkig and the other Agnac are free again, Shiin’s under heavy scrutiny, and I’m a fugitive. My head feels skewered by all this news.

Yilt deactivates the wallscreen and turns to me. “Two Khua. Are you carrying the second as well?”

I shake my head and sketch a quick explanation. Two spires with a spark of energy in the middle, then two spires with a spark of energy off to the right.

“You set it free? Quain said you were unbinding the Khua from their anchors. He meant the shrines?”

Yes, the shrines, the anchors, the crystal monoliths of doom…whatever he wants to call them. I point to the first drawing, with the Khua still anchored, and hold up three fingers.

“You’ve freed three of them?”

No. I try to be patient as he guesses again.

“You need to free a third?”

Right. I hold up four fingers, five, six, and on until I run out.

Yilt stretches his broad shoulders, but I have no idea what the gesture means. “This is important? You heard them—this is a capital offense. I need to know it’s
important.”

I don’t know what “capital offense” means, and it takes a moment for Yilt to see that’s the part I’m stuck on.

“If we’re caught, our punishment could be death.”

Right, that. Tiav and Jahmari said laws allowing execution were still around. I’ve finally crossed a line that could justify enforcing those laws by anyone’s standards, not just the
Agnac’s.

Is it that important? If it were just my brothers, I would say no, and the admission startles me. I couldn’t ask this person I hardly know to risk his whole life for men he’s never
met. Important to me doesn’t make it important to everyone. But Minali’s harming the Khua, and that endangers entire planets.

Definitely important.

“Right, we can work out a strategy and get going in the morning.”

Interesting. Maybe that’s why I can only see my brothers at night. Regardless, if the bonds are looser, I’m all for it. I don’t know that my hand can take it if it’s any
harder.

Yilt grabs my wrist. I didn’t realize I was flexing my fingers, but he noticed. The pinpricks stopped bleeding during my run back, but my whole palm stings and aches.

“What happened?”

I shrug. As far as I know, it’s just part of the process. It hurts, but it’s not going to kill me. I take my hand back and add to my drawing. Three moons and stars in the sky.

“It has to be at night?”