By Karisa Moore
Elianna released two bursts from her jet pack and realigned with Polaris.
The jarring incineration alarm blared on her exosuit, triggering her heart to beat a staccato. She suppressed a squeal. I’m actually saving the North Star!
Geysers popped and spewed gas on the yellow giant’s surface, hundreds of miles away, but she could see them as if they were right before her. Where’s that singing coming from?
Her breath caught as a full-grown turquoise worm emerged from a geyser. “They’re beautiful!”
It undulated up and down like a whale toward her, spun a wormhole, and dove inside. She desperately wanted to follow. Where in space or time did it end up? Another galaxy, perhaps?
The creature was nothing like the clunky gray clones she had practiced on in training, but its beauty didn’t matter. Their nests destroyed stars. Her stars. We’re just controlling the population.
Elianna visualized the erupting geyser and retraced the worm’s path. Spotting the nest, she got to work.
The procedure, completed thousands of times in practice, should have been textbook.
Telekinetically picture the larvae inside. Fill the image with water. Heat it to a boil.
The pale blue worm with rose freckles writhed and squirmed away from her touch.
Startled, she withdrew her mind. “They feel pain.”
“Quit overthinking,” Commander Jackson snapped. “Nothing more than your cattle back home.” He hovered to her right, his arms crossed, just waiting for her to fail.
“Shouldn’t I sedate it first?”
“Good grief, kid. Follow protocol.” His gravel rasp bit her ears with an unspoken threat. No silk would go home to her family if she flaked. “More telekinetic energy than we’ve ever witnessed, they said. I warned them you were too young.”
I’m not too young! I can do this.
She refocused and didn’t pull back when the worm squirmed away. Elianna filled the cavity with water and heated it to a boil.
“Zalla!” The worm’s shriek vibrated in Eli’s brain like a tuning fork until the image of the turquoise worm emerged. It’s calling its mother.
Elianna glanced toward the wormhole. No mother returned. Follow protocol.
She pictured her frail mom standing in their wheat field, staring at the night sky. Like a snapshot of home, the image grounded Elianna, and she ignored the writhing beast’s incessant dissonance.
The sound died. The worm stilled, and the star’s hydrogen sputtered. The massive star began to shrink and whiten. Wait. That shouldn’t happen. Was the star’s life dependent on the worm?
Elianna stared at the fading North Star she had murdered.
They lied.
Acid burned her throat.
“Twenty minutes. A record, newbie.” Jackson chuckled. “Keep this up, you might mine enough silk to get back home before you’re thirty.”
Elianna shut off her comm. Through her visor, she watched miners swarm the chrysalis and eject the body like space garbage.
Her thoughts birthed a new galaxy of doubts. No one cares that I snuffed out a star. Why?
She touched the mini silk IV keeping her alive. Soon, it too would dull, forcing her back to the ship. Time silk is the most valuable commodity in the universe.
The adult —Zalla—sang to her nest. I know she did. It sounded like the slow, gentle brush of chimes in a spring breeze. Warm and safe, like the hymns Mom sang when she rocked Elianna to sleep as a child.
No wonder they had rushed training. I wasn’t emotionally ready.
Her alarm chirped. Only ten minutes of silk remained, but she hesitated.
This time last year, she’d lingered in the field, staring at distant stars, frozen in awe. She would get to witness their reality in vivid detail.
The whole town knew she was the youngest cadet. No one else in her family was telepathic and telekinetic, and they were too poor to buy an ounce of silk, let alone a pound.
But Mom’s quiet plea echoed in her mind. “Eli, it’s not your job to save me. Stay.”
“You’re asking me to let you die. I won’t.”
Elianna shut off her thoughts like a spigot and glared at the star. Killing this worm and others would extend Mama’s life.
I need this silk.
Mama could experience the twins leaving for college and the baby starting kindergarten. Silk would keep her alive, just as it kept Elianna alive in space.
The first batch would arrive before the end of the year. She visualized Mama opening the package. The blue glow of her mother’s veins as life surged through, destroying the invading cancer. Mama will be the brightest star this Christmas. But she pictured her mother’s eyes meeting hers. “At what cost?”
Elianna shook off the scolding and looked at the drab star.
I wish I were still ignorant—an earthbound stargazer.
But she wasn’t. The worms sang to her the day she’d arrived in space. Their voices were pure joy. Why can’t the other telepaths hear them?
Awe deteriorated into an ache, and she groaned under the weight of her realization. I wasn’t supposed to know they could communicate.
She gazed at the body floating in its infinite burial ground. Aren’t human lives more valuable than that thing? Than a star?
At least the mother escaped. Its inky tunnel now gaped beneath her.
“Hey, kid, get away from the wormhole.” Jackson’s voice screamed in her ear. He had overridden her mute.
A voice pleaded to her. Follow.
Zalla? Ellianna bit her lip.
Yes.
Time silk, like a lifeline, shimmered at the hole’s edge. I can’t.
I will keep you safe.
I don’t deserve forgiveness. Not from you or Mom. She knew this as surely as she would never kill another star worm.
What is done, is done. What will be done, can be different. Zalla’s song was confident.
Gripping the silk cord, Elianna visualized the Iowa prairie.
***
Standing in the snow-covered field, Elianna could no longer find the North Star. Zalla, I will find a way to save both of our families.
I know you will.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Well written, and definitely different!
Thank you for reading. I loved looking at stars differently.
I love the word pictures and vivid scenes playing out in this story. The space verbiage intrigues the reader and makes for an interesting story.
Thanks Karen. What is your favorite thing about the night sky?
so intriguing…hope a publisher invites you to expand that story…
Ooh, sounds like a challenge. Should I start from here or when she’s home in Iowa, longing to explore space?
Ooh, that’s a great challenge. Where should I start, before she’s called to the academy, or keep this as the story’s beginning?
A powerful and moving story. Carefully crafted. Eloquent language. Rich for development.
Thank you Peggy!
Thank you. I loved exploring the mysteries of space. Only made me more in awe of creation.
Zalla’s husband missed the whole affair. He was sitting in a bar, complaining to the boys about how Zalla constantly asks him dumb questions like “would you still love me if I was a human??”
This story hooked me at the beginning, and fate of the star and its inhabitants surprised me. Fascinating!
Thank you! World building is a blast.
Thank you, jdoran. I loved discovering the star worms’ existence.
Wow! So creative! Love the internal struggle of the main character and her compassion towards both the creature and her mom. So so good!
Thank you, Amy. I wrestled with placing Elianna in such a difficult dilemma. I love her response.
What an imaginative piece! I would love to see it as a book. There’s so much you could expand on with Eli’s story. Great job!
Thank you, Krista. There is lots of space to explore. What other creatures do you think inhabit space that I’m not aware of?
Faith is important!
It is indeed. Changes how we relate to one another and value life and sacrifice.
I too love Elianna’s internal struggle and compassion. “She pictured her frail mom standing in their wheat field, staring at the night sky. Like a snapshot of home, the image grounded Elianna, and she ignored the writhing beast’s…” This was so heartbreaking. Great story.