The Star Dwellers (14 page)

Despite Tawni having asked the question, my
mom’s eyes never leave mine. They look different than before. Less
compassionate. Harder. Not somber—fierce. More like my eyes. I feel
like I’m looking in a mirror, the way I normally do when I look
into my father’s eyes. “Yes,” she says. “Ben, too.” She lets it
sink in for a minute and I say nothing.

“We were the two topmost members of the
Resistance Council.”

I say nothing, heat rising in my chest.

“They hid us in plain sight after the
Uprising was quashed…”

I say nothing, the fire in my throat.

“Allowed us to start a family…”

I say nothing, my lips twitching.

“To live a normal life—”

“No!” I shout. “No, no, no!” My mom’s head
moves back, seemingly surprised by the ferocity of my outburst.
Even Tawni looks shocked, and she’s been dealing with me for a
while now.

I lower my head to the floor, take a deep
breath. What is going on? Have I accidentally fallen down a hole
and into another dimension, one where my soft-spoken mother has
become a born fighter? All these years, has she been hiding her
true self? The truth slides behind my heart, flits into it, bumps
and shakes. I know the truth, but
No!
It can’t be
true!

It is—and I know it.

With the truth, everything in my life
abruptly makes sense. Why my dad wanted me to go to find my mom,
and why he expected I’d be safe once I found her. Going back
further, why my father always said I was more like my mom than him,
particularly once I learned to fight. It all makes sense and none
of it makes sense; it’s definitely one or the other, and I know
which.

“Adele,” my mom says, snapping me back to a
dream world which is really reality. I slowly lift my head, meet
her eyes, and she pulls me into her chest.

“Are you okay?” Tawni asks, gently stroking
my hair. I think about the question, all my crazy thoughts over the
last few minutes, and what it means to my life going forward.
Despite how insane it all sounds, something about it just feels
right. It’s like a missing link, or the last puzzle piece, and now
the picture is complete.

“I’m fine,” I say, sitting up straight.

Mom’s eyes are twinkling and I suspect she
knows much of what I’ve been thinking. “You fought,” I say, not as
a question, but as a statement.

She nods.

“And the Enforcers took you and Dad away
because they figured out who you were?”

“Yes. When the Resistance was defeated, we
laid low for a few years. We maintained the organization, but
didn’t seek to grow it. Eventually, though, we had to start
recruiting. Slowly at first, and then more and more as our plans
advanced. We were careful and patient, vetting all potential new
members before approaching them, using mostly referrals and
internal connections. But no system is perfect, and at least one of
the President’s spies slipped through. Somehow the traitor found
out about us—you know the rest.”

“You were brutally abducted, I was locked and
forgotten in the Pen, and Elsey was dumped in a shithole
orphanage.”

Her lips part slightly and I can tell she’s
shocked by my language, but she doesn’t reprimand me. “Exactly,”
she says.

I feel like screaming and crying and laughing
all at the same time. A smattering of emotions, all fighting for
control. Instead I ask another question: “What happened after the
Enforcers took you?”

“I was brought here—to the Star Realm. Locked
up in the Max; the key thrown away. Dead to the world, at least in
Nailin’s mind.”

“Why’d they take Dad to a different prison?”
I ask.

“They knew who we were, how dangerous we were
together. So they weren’t taking any chances. Perhaps they thought
two of us in one place would increase the chances of a rescue
attempt.”

“But why not just execute you?” I ask,
swallowing hard.

My mom cocks her head to the side. “Good
question, one I’ve pondered myself. The best I can come up with is
that under the law all traitor executions must be well-documented
and publicized. Maybe Nailin didn’t want anyone to know, because he
had been so adamant that the Resistance was snuffed out years
earlier.” Anticipating my next question, she rushes on. “They could
have arranged a secret execution—with Nailin’s power he can do
almost anything—but it’s almost like he wanted to add us to his
collection, like trophies.”

I realize I don’t care why he didn’t execute
them—just that he didn’t. “I’m just glad you’re alive. Then what
happened?”

“When the star dwellers rebelled a few weeks
ago, they opened up the prison gates and I was free. I reconnected
with some members of the Resistance, joined the star dweller
rebellion, and they made me a general because of my past
experience.”

I’ve never heard my mother talk like this. So
methodical, so soldier-like, as if she’s conveying tactical attack
plans to her subordinates. I cringe when a thought pops into my
head.

“All those people,” I say, unable to hide the
contempt in my voice. “So many moon dwellers died from the
bombings.” My mother, the compassionate one. The selfless one. The
murderer?

“No, Adele, it wasn’t like that at all.
Please let me explain.”

My breaths are coming rapidly, and I inhale a
deep gulp of air to try to get control, to give her a chance to
explain. I owe her at least that much.

“Okay,” I manage to say.

“There are seven generals. Seven, Adele. I am
only one voice. Two are Resistance members, including me, and I
trust my friend implicitly.”

“But what if your friend is the mole?” I
ask.

“She’s not,” she says without further
explanation. “The other five generals are star dweller leaders, and
they maintain control of all major military decisions. I can try to
sway them, but I can’t force them to do anything. I tried—tried
desperately to get them to reconsider bombing the Moon Realm, but
they wouldn’t listen. God, Adele, do you really think I would
willingly attack our people, kill innocent men, women, and
children, put your and Elsey’s lives in danger?”

A moment ago I
had
thought that was
possible. The woman sitting next to me seems like a stranger,
capable of anything. But the tone in her voice sounds like my mom,
the woman I grew up with. She’s still herself, just a little
different.

“I guess not,” I say.

Her eyes flick to Tawni, but then right back
to me. “The best I was able to do was influence where and when we
attacked. I tried to ensure the bombs hit areas that would be
sparsely populated, at times when people would be closer to the
protective shells of their cellars and storerooms. I made sure that
when the bombing started, I was close to home.”

My head jerks up. Trevor’s words flash in my
mind.
14 and 26.
He wasn’t lying. “You mean…?”

“Yes. I was in subchapter 14 on the first
night of bombing,” she says. Tawni looks at me, her face awash with
surprise, reflecting my own shock back at me. “As commanding
officer, I steered the bombing away from the residential areas,
knowing full well that very few people remained in the city after
dark. One of the pre-determined targets was the Pen, as the rest of
the generals wanted to create as much chaos in the subchapter as
possible—and they thought a pack of escaped adolescent criminals
would do just the trick.”

“But that’s when we were escaping,” I
say.

My mom laughs, and once again I get a glimpse
of my old mom, the one who tried to make light of even the direst
of situations. “Yeah, I didn’t expect that. I’d positioned the
bombers such that they would only destroy the electric fence and
the outer walls. I was overseeing each and every minute detail, as
I didn’t want some rogue bomb technician dropping incendiaries in
the center of the Pen where you might get hurt. I was hoping I
might see you, might even be able to rescue you.” At that, she
squeezes my hand, instantly sending warmth through my palm. My mom
is touching my hand. It still hasn’t truly hit me.

“Anyway,” she continues, “we were about to
begin phase one of the attacks, when one of my guys spotted
movement in the Pen yard.”

“That was us,” I say.

My mom nods. “I didn’t know it was you at the
time, but I wasn’t taking any chances, so I ordered one of my
soldiers to zoom in using the infrared binoculars.” A vaporous
thought swirls through my mind and I try to grab hold of it, but it
dissipates before I can snatch it. “I’d recognize my beautiful baby
any day, anywhere,” she says.

Mom!
I want to object, what with her
embarrassing me in front of my friend, but I don’t because her
words feel so good after all this time. I smile sheepishly. “Sooo,”
I say, prodding her to move it along.

“So we watched as the guards chased you,
cornered you, and then I ordered my team to bomb the other side of
the fence, helping you escape.”

I raise my eyebrows. “So it wasn’t just
luck?”

“More like fate, really.” I’ve never heard
Mom talk about fate before, but it sounds right coming off of her
pink lips.

I can’t hold back a sudden frown as a thought
pops into my head. “Why didn’t you rescue us then?”

“I was too far away. The rockets were shot
from hundreds of feet away, on the tops of buildings. When the
smoke cleared you were already gone, and we had no choice but to
retreat from the subchapter.”

I manage a smile. “My mind has officially
been blown,” I say.

“Ditto,” Tawni says, laughing.

My mom smiles, the twinkle back in her eyes.
“Well…I’m not quite done yet.” I gawk at her like she’s an alien.
“Remember the bomb that took out the Nailin boy and his men in
subchapter 26?”

“Tristan?” I ask, sitting up straight.

“The other one.”

“Oh, Killen,” I say, feeling silly.

“Yeah, that one. Well, once I knew you had
escaped, I tracked your progress across the Moon Realm. I knew
exactly where you were headed and I managed to gain responsibility
for the bombing of subchapter 26. The waiting was the worst,
wondering if and when you would show up, whether you’d escape that
sicko Rivet long enough for me to help you. But you did, Adele, you
did, and I chipped in where I could, by using a well-aimed rocket
to help you escape again. But again, I couldn’t get close enough to
get you out of there. I just had to trust that once you were with
your father that he would know what to do.”

I am surprised, but not as much as the last
time, especially because Trevor gave us the heads-up. “I knew it
wasn’t a coincidence!” I exclaim. “I wasn’t sure, but when we found
the freshly singed, gaping hole in the wall of Camp Blood and
Stone, I knew something was weird about it all. One time, maybe.
Twice, unlikely. Three times, impossible.” My mom had been
protecting me all along. My guardian angel.

Mom smiles. “That’s my girl,” she says. “You
always had good instincts. You’re so much like your father.”

“He always says I’m so much like you.”

She laughs. “You’ve got both of us in you.”
And for that, I’m glad. “It was hard to resist charging in with the
cavalry to rescue your father, but it wasn’t part of the plan and
would have been too suspicious. I had to trust you’d do what I
could not.”

“We need to go meet up with Dad,” I say.

Her laugh quickly turns serious again. “Thank
you for coming here,” she says, “for finding me, but I need you and
your friend”—she motions to Tawni, pausing as if trying to remember
her name—“Tawni, to stay here in the Star Realm with some of my
guards. The Moon Realm is too dangerous right now, and you need to
stay safe.”

What? No!
Heat floods my face. I don’t
want to sound like a child, but we’ve come too far, been through
too much, to just be left at home, safe in our beds. We are a part
of this, for better or worse. I can’t speak for Tawni, but I will
for myself. “I’m coming with you,” I say firmly.

“And me,” Tawni echoes, her eyes shining with
determination. Glancing at her, I consider trying to talk her out
of it, but who am I to tell her what to do after everything she’s
done for me?

I wait for the rebuttal, but it never comes.
Instead my mom laughs. “How did I guess you would say that? Well, I
thought I’d give it a try anyway, can’t fault me for that, can
you?”

I cock my head to the side, smirking. Who is
this woman?

“You can both be listed on the star dweller
army rolls as my personal aides,” she says. I’m still smirking.

“Nice try, Mom. I want to fight.”

“Aide sounds pretty good to me,” Tawni says,
her face flushed.

My mom nods at Tawni absently, accepting her
as her personal aide. Looking back at me, she says, “One problem.
If you want to fight against the Sun Realm, you’ll have to join the
star dweller army for now.”

“Never!” I blurt out, anger rising within me.
“Not after what they did to the moon dwellers. They took it too
far. Much too far.”

“Hear me out. A lot has happened since you
showed up on our doorstep. As of yesterday, the generals have
agreed to a cease-fire, pending talks with the moon dweller
leaders. They may be able to reach an agreement and join forces,
and then it will be us against the Sun Realm.”

“And if they don’t reach an agreement?” I
say.

“We have to trust that Ben…that your dad, and
Tristan, can convince the moon dwellers to join us.”

Tristan.
Dad. Elsey.
My desire
to see them again springs up so quickly it takes my breath away. I
swallow it back down. “Okay, I’ll do it,” I say. “But I won’t fight
the moon dwellers.”

“I know. If it comes to that, we’ll figure
something out together.”

The tension leaves my body and I manage a
crooked smile. “Sounds good. Is there any way we can contact Dad
now? He doesn’t even know that I’ve found you.”