Stella Constinight

Chapter III

A long and strange month passed with more questions unanswered. Cherrie and Vice were overly polite to me and made sure to always leave their silver in the tube and on the living room table where I could easily see it. It turned out Cherrie knew how to cook elaborate meals and made everything we consumed. When I asked her once how she learned to cook, she shook her head and smiled sadly as she told me she didn’t know. My training was only interrupted when I had a mission. Time with my new handlers was limited to meals and travel time. Cherrie did all of the research needed to find my missions and Vice arranged it. To make sure we were never surprised by a guard or the General, Vice hacked into my rooms wiring and set up a silent alarm when my elevators were in use. He didn’t know how he’d learned to do something like that and I didn’t ask anything else of them.

       
        They sent daily reports to the General, he had yet to see them or check up on me. I never trained with Vice or Cherrie, though they spent a lot of time watching me in the viewing box as I worked. Every night I would be called to eat while Vice watched the news and Cherrie researched missions or read my old reports. They never really spoke to me, only asked how I was doing and if their training exercises were hard enough.

I’d read through my entire N.O.V.E.L.S. and couldn’t find a single thing even hinting at two people slightly matching their descriptions missing or dead. I’d gone back a thousand years and through every planet ever inhabited and still found nothing. They wanted me to trust them and tell them what I knew, and despite myself, I found myself liking them.

I would listen to them at night softly laughing and talking in the living room long after I had excused myself for bed. Vice would draw intricate pictures and cut them in complex shapes, then Cherrie would try and put all the pieces together again. I hadn’t seen such play since I was a young girl back on my home planet, they didn’t know I watched them. They were always together and shared some dark secret between the two of them, I just didn’t know what it was. They seemed happy somehow, and I was, honestly, jealous of such feelings. I hadn’t known happiness is so long I wondered if I could ever feel it again.

The three of us had just finished an assignment involving protecting the Prime Minister of England and were on our way back warm and somewhat comfortable in our hidden plane. This plane was explicitly made for me and was completely hidden from any and all tracking and satellite devices. We had no heat source, no fuel exhaust, no sound, no color, completely secure. There was one pilot, his only job was to fly us to and from missions, then he was well paid and comfortable on a private floor where he could do whatever he wanted to. There were four black leather seats, the entire inside was black and gray. The pilot was shut off from the rest of us and didn’t know who or what he was flying, not that he cared. The cab was heated and there were drinks, food, and a severe medical lab ready for either me or my handlers use.

Cherrie was sewing a gash across Vice’s stomach caused by a silver bullet he had taken when he’d pushed me out of the way. His skin was blistering and there was a strange purple color around the wound. Vice had his eyes tightly closed, his face was scrunched in pain, his forehead beaded with sweat. He was laid out on two seats which turned into a table, his knuckles white. I had helped him inside, and Cherrie had immediately pushed me out of the way and started taking off his cape and shirt.

I watched her steady hands working to clean and sew, her eyes narrowed in the process. Vice was reacting to the silver almost as severely as I would. He flinched with every stitch and ground his teeth as she wiped the blood away with disinfectant. His bleeding was different. Not red, but not blue either. More of an orange, purple, blue. I didn’t understand it, he was more confusing than I had initially thought. Cherrie knew what she was doing, it would work only so well on people like us.

Cherrie helped Vice to sit up after she’d finished and wrapped clean gauze several times around his waist. She tucked it in place and handed him a new shirt, helping him as he needed. I didn’t offer to help as Cherrie struggled under Vice’s weight and they made their way to the other empty chair. Vice slumped into his seat weakly and kept his eyes closed. Cherrie cleaned everything up and put everything away, then fixed the table back into chairs and fell into her own with a huff. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes as though she was going to take a nap.

I turned and looked out my window watching the little clouds fly past us. The trip was silent,  Vice’s pain meds seemed to work quickly, he was softly snoring in a matter of minutes. I looked back at Cherrie, and she was sneaking a peek at me through mostly closed eyes. Her yellow haze was faint around her, and I wondered what she was reading from me. Confusion? Wonder? Speculation? Excitement?

There had been no reason for Vice to risk his own life to save mine. The bullet was aimed for my heart and would have found it’s mark easily enough had Vice not shoved me down and stepped aside, yet he’d still been grazed. The attack on the minister had been anticipated and I’d been hired out last week, the plans just coming together this morning. Everything had gone according to plan all day at every stop, if she had just not wanted to stop for more pictures. I had seen the gunmen from my height in the sky and had shoved her back inside of her car and slammed the door right as the first string of gunshots had started. The car sped off and I was left to push people towards storefronts and out of the streets alone. I was invisible and people were probably more confused by being pushed from an invisible force than the actual bullets. Masked people came from everywhere and I’d been excited to fight them and dodge their crazy shooting. Only I hadn’t seen the bullet which might have killed me. One second I was knocking out the last man and the next I was on the ground with Vice bleeding atop me. I’d grabbed Vice and flown us to first point where our pilot was waiting. Cherrie wasn’t far behind me and she was assuring the General the last man had been dealt with and the Prime Minister was safe and unharmed. Our job done, I was free to leave. I’d been hired to simply make sure she made her speech and stops safely, nothing was said about getting home and not being attacked there.

When we finally landed Cherrie helped Vice to dress and leave the plane, I followed closely behind invisible. As soon as we were safe on our floor, I took Vice’s weight from Cherrie and helped him to the couch so he might lay down. I pulled his coat off and propped his head on a pillow, then grabbed a blanket from a shelf and covered him up. I went and made some special tea and grabbed some beef jerky and crackers, then set them on the table and stepped back.

Vice and Cherrie looked at me strangely and shared a look between themselves. “Thank you,” Vice said carefully. He drank some tea and stared at me, confusion mixed with pain in his eyes.

I pulled down my mask and pushed my hood back. I sat on the couch opposite Vice and crossed my ankles and twisted my hands together. “Why did you do that?”

“I’m sorry?” he asked.

“Why did you push me aside and take the bullet yourself? Why risk your own life? Why not let it hit me?” I wanted to know more than anything why this stranger would do this for me.

Vice glanced at Cherrie and looked back at me. “I saw it happening and knew if I were simply to shout you still would have been hit. I don’t know, I just knew I had to something. I couldn’t just stand by and watch you possibly die.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“But we were sent to find you. You must be something special.”

I shook my head and stood. They were sent to find me, why? What made me so special two people not even supposed to exist were thrown directly into my care?

I stormed into my room and changed clothes quickly, then let my hair fall loosely around my shoulders and grabbed the books I’d been reading to try and find answers. I started for my door and stopped, my gaze falling on my N.O.V.E.L.S. This was just a test, I reasoned with myself. I grabbed it and went back out into the living room.

Vice was laying on the couch with his eyes closed, his tea drunk and most of the snacks I’d brought gone. Cherrie was changed into clean clothes, her hair shone as though she’d washed it. She was sitting on the couch with her legs tucked under her and the remote in her hand.

She looked at me in surprise and her eyes locked onto the thick books in my hand. Her yellow haze lit up as she read my mood and walk critically. She dropped the remote beside her and turned her full body towards me. Vice, sensing a change in the room, opened his eyes and struggled to sit up as I approached.

I handed Vice my Book of Names and Cherrie my Book of Catastrophes. I held my N.O.V.E.L.S. tightly to my chest and waited as they looked at the expensive books in their hands covered in priceless jewels and gold.

“What are these?” Cherrie asked.

“What do you see?” I asked them instead.

Confused, Vice shook his head and said, “A book bound by gold and rubies.”

“And yours?” I asked Cherrie.

“This one is bound in gold and sapphires.” She didn’t understand my questioning, and she furrowed her brow as she looked at the book.

I nodded once and took a deep breath. There would be no going back after this. Once I started to tell the truth, I could never hide again. I looked at Cherrie, her yellow haze blazing brighter than ever as she studied me. I turned to Vice, he was still in pain with blood seeping through his bandages and his white shirt.

“You know you aren’t humans,” I started. “I know what you are. Humans can’t see my books for what they are, they see old leather and torn pages. They don’t understand why these books are special to me. When they do open the books, they see either blank pages or strange pictures. They think me stupid for keeping them, for reading them. They do not want to understand what they are, they don't want to believe I am anything more than a weapon.” I gestured for them to open the books and they gasped as they did so.

“What is this?” Cherrie asked, her voice shaking.

“My Book of Catastrophes,” I answered her. “It goes back ten thousand years and tells of every terrible thing which has ever happened. Every war, every illness which has wiped out civilizations, every murder and kidnapping. Mostly told through moving pictures, little else is needed to be said so there aren’t many words.”

Vice flipped the pages of his book and skimmed over the words in ancient text. “These are family trees. Matched through planet marriages and rightful kings and queens.”

“You’ve been reading these,” Cherrie stated as she closed the book in her hands. “Why?”

“I have searched a thousand year’s worth of history for every known planet and not a hint of the two of you have been recorded. Not your families, your births, your loss, you coming here. Neither of you are supposed to be alive. I have no idea what you are doing here, let alone being sent to me. My being here has been hidden only through arduous work and constant secrecy. Yet y’all have managed to remain hidden for how many years through whose power?”

“What are you talking about? What do you know of us?” Vice asked.

I went to the kitchen and set my book on the counter, then dug around until I found my small first aid kit and went back to the living room. I sat beside Vice and motioned for him to remove his shirt. After a pause, he obliged and slowly slipped it over his head. The wound looked worse than it had earlier and I could clearly see the veins dark and bulging against the pale of his skin. I opened my box and pulled out a small, precious, bag with the special paste that was neon blue inside. I cut away his bandages and wiped the blood away as I looked at Vice, his eyes filled with confusion and a hint of worry. I opened the bag and dipped the tip of my finger in it, then gently applied it to his skin. Vice flinched and sucked in a breath, but remained still as I applied more until the entire wound was nearly glowing blue.

Vice exhaled slowly, his shoulders relaxed. I knew from experience the medicine was extraordinarily cooling and instantly numbing. In a few hours his veins would disappear from view, his skin would look less puffy and infected, the purple would go, and it would look like a simple paper cut in a day. I wrapped his waist in fresh gauze and helped him to pull his shirt back down, then stood and returned my kit back to its hiding place in the kitchen.

“What was that?” Vice asked with relief heavy in his voice.

“Medicine,” I answered. “From my home planet, Ambarria. Specially made for people like me, a Stella, it is not for regular Ambarrian’s and would instantly kill a human.”

Vice and Cherrie looked at one another in surprise. Vice looked back down at the book in his hand and the gash across his waist.

I gestured to my N.O.V.E.L.S. and said, “I’ve read my entire N.O.V.E.L.S. and can’t find you at all. I might understand y’all not being included in catastrophes, but names and this? Someone extremely powerful has hidden you here and are continuing to make sure you are never found.”

“What is a N.O.V.E.L.S.?” Vice asked.

“Notice Official: Volume Eternal, League of Sheltra.” Cherrie sat up straighter, her mouth dropped. Vice and I looked at her, my eyes narrowed. “I,” she paused and shook her head. “I don’t know how I knew that.”

“Because someone taught you,” I replied. I sat my book on the couch beside her and took the empty chair in the middle so I could see them both. Cherrie stared at the book, her eyes swimming with emotions. “You don’t know who?”

Cherrie shook her head sternly. “I don’t have any memories before this place. I don’t know what I know.”

“A N.O.V.E.L.S., Vice, is the history of the universe contained in one book. Constantly changing with each birth and death, the book grows accordingly. Every war or joining of planets is recorded in it. The book is priceless and can only be made and given by a Reader. It is written in code and extremely difficult to learn. It takes years of constant study to be able to read just a page of the ever-changing book. Cherrie, try and read something.”

Her hands shaking and her lips pressed into a thin line, Cherrie picked the book up carefully and laid it in her lap. She took several breaths, and I tried not to rush her. She looked at Vice as they shared another coded message, then she opened the book slowly.

Her brown eyes burned blue and grew to where you saw nothing but the bright color. Her breath stopped and her head tilted. The yellow haze around her changed to a deep orange, a fire’s embers, and she leaned into the book.

Vice leaned forward, his face changing to worry, and I held my hand out to stop him. He looked at me, and I shook my head. Wait, I mouthed. Apparently unhappy with my order, Vice sat back and stared at Cherrie intently.

A long moment past and Cherrie shook her head and closed her eyes. Shutting the book and setting it aside, she held her head in her hands and leaned forward. Vice stood and went to his sister’s side, wrapping his arms around her he held her tightly to him. Cherrie breathed deeply and shook softly.

“What was that?” Vice asked angrily.

“She could read the pages,” I said softly. I blinked several times and looked at the silver tubes on the table. “She has not read the codes of her people in some time, so it came back to her harshly. Someone made her forget her abilities and seeing the codes made her mind fight against the powers. It will be easier next time.”

“Her people? Next time?” Vice shook his head and squeezed Cherrie. “She can’t do that again, Stella. We don’t know what or who you’re talking about. I want to understand and know who we are, I just don’t think feeding us little bits of our story is the best way to do it. What’s happening to Cherrie?” He looked down at his sister shaking violently in his arms.

I stood and went to their side. “Her mind is fighting something. Whatever she read in the book has awakened old memories, and she’s struggling to remember them. She will need to rest for some time. Let her fight it in her mind, don’t try and break her of it. She needs to lie down.” I helped Cherrie to stand and wrapped one arm around her waist, the other to hold her arm around my neck. Her head fell down, and her skin felt cold to the touch, her eyes closed tightly.

Vice walked with me as I headed to her room. The silver lining their walls slowly made its way to me, and I stopped halfway to their rooms. Vice looked at me questioningly, and I pushed forward a few more feet. I took a breath and winced, the silver was too weakening. I stumbled and leaned against the wall. Pain shot through my arm and I gasped, forcing myself off the wall and back to my feet. My arm burned through the fabric and I shook my head, unable to take another step.

Vice took Cherrie’s weight from me, and I stumbled back from their space. “I’ll make sure she’s comfortable, Stella.” Vice watched as I walked backward and I nodded once. He shifted Cherrie a little and walked into her room without pause.

I fell to my knees in the kitchen and took several deep breaths. I had to hurry and pull myself together before Vice came back and saw me so weak. I would explain to them what silver did to me later, they didn’t need to see the effects right now. I closed my eyes and forced a few deep breaths in and out of my lungs, then stood and leaned against the counter. I heard a door shut, and I pushed off the counter and smoothed my hair back.

I was fixing a glass of water when Vice came back. He looked angry and curious as he stared at me. He wrapped his left arm around his waist and grabbed the counter as though standing was painful.

“Please, sit, and I’ll answer what questions I am able.” I motioned to the couches and Vice went without pause. I fixed another glass of water and brought it to him, then sat down across from him and picked up my N.O.V.E.L.S. I pressed it tightly to my chest and held on to it in a death grip.

“So what is she?” Vice asked, sipping his water.

I shook my head. “I’ll tell her when she is better and can hear for herself.”

Vice looked down and rubbed over the bandage. “What am I?” his voice was soft and only because of who I was, was I able to hear him at all.

“You are like me, but you are different,” I answered, and he looked at me. “I am a Stella, a protector of my planet and ruler of billions. My name is Constellation Constinight, and I am number one thousand of my kind. There are four ruling families of Ambarria, and every twelve years another Stella is born into the planet, most from a different family but sometimes not. My family, the Constinight’s, produce the most Stella’s and so we have been in power the longest. We are always girls, and when we turn five there is an operation which helps us to fully become who we are supposed to be. After a while a Stella is complete, and she takes her place in government. The most rule as queen, few others are only advisers to their brother as he is king.”

“What do you do?” Vice looked tired as he struggled to understand what I was saying.

“We represent our planets, help guide others in another way than war, dictate who will be allowed to become their own ruling planets, keep the peace between zillions at once. When one planet goes off on its own and tries to start a war with others, a Stella is sent to demolish the planet and reinforce peace throughout. When a planet is threatened, a Stella is sent to protect it and show that we are friends with them to try and make others rethink their actions. A Stella controls Ambarrian’s military and goes to High Council Meetings. Her power is almost impossible to defeat, and her rule is never-ending. When one passes, another is born and ready to lead.”

“So I am from Ambarria?” Vice asked. “What does my wound mean?”

“You are from my planet. Vice. Your blood is not like our peoples, it is not like mine, yet you are like me.” I shook my head. “I don’t understand it, Vice. You come into my training room when you aren’t supposed to be able to, you aren’t cold when we go outside, Stella’s medicine heals you. You are, somehow, a modified Stella. There has never been a male Stella before. I would not know how to help you. My powers have only grown stronger since coming to earth, yet you show no signs of anything unusual.

“I’ve been watching you and Cherrie closely since our first meeting,” I went on. “You seem stronger and faster than most, but I wouldn’t say it was because you are from Ambarria. You work harder, focus better, have more strength and endurance, yet still, I wouldn’t say it was because of one thing. I wonder what would show itself if you went back home, what powers would force themselves to the surface.”

“You’re saying I have powers?” Vice asked. He looked like he wanted to laugh, his tone slightly hysterical.

“I’m saying I wonder if you do,” I answered him. “It would make sense to me if you did. All of these years and Cherrie never remembered the language of her people, yet she sees one page of their writing, and she melts. You don’t know what you have, Vice, and I would not be surprised in the least if, put in the right atmosphere, you had powers challenging to my own.”

Vice leaned forward and gripped his head. “This is too much, Stella.”

I looked down, letting Vice try and cope with all I had told him. I felt bad for him for a minute. If he thought this was stressful, he wouldn’t be able to handle everything else I needed to tell him.

“Is no one searching for you?” Vice suddenly asked. “You said you were hiding here. Who is looking for you?”

“Her family,” a soft voice came from behind.

I jumped to my feet and hurried to Cherrie’s side. She took my arm gratefully and let me lead her to the other couch. She sat, and I put a pillow behind her to help prop her up some. She was still pale looking and laid her hand against her head gently. I fixed her a glass of water and made sure she held it tightly before releasing it. Cherrie sipped her water and cleared her throat, thanking me with a nod.

“Cherrie, what are you doing up?” Vice was worried about her and leaned towards her a little.

“I’m fine, Vice,” Cherrie smiled a little. “I just have a headache, it will pass.” She looked up at me and nodded once. “That’s what I saw in the book. The page was filled with requests from Ambarria to find and return you home alive and well. There were dates and times, but I had to stop reading. Why are you hiding from them? Why are they so adamite in finding you?”

I stiffened. “I cannot, Cherrie. I cannot answer those questions right now. Just know it will soon come to pass where I cannot keep anything from you, and my story will be well known.”

“That doesn’t sound good, Stella,” Vice said softly.

“It will be enough for you, and my home,” I finished. “I will answer what questions I can about the two of you, and that is all. Anything else about me will have to come later.”

“Stella,”

“Tell us what Cherrie is,” Vice interrupted Cherrie.

Cherrie looked at Vice and said, “What do you mean what I am?”

I touched my N.O.V.E.L.S. and said, “You are a Reader, Cherrie.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means no one can ever lie to you,” I explained. “It means you crave knowledge and never forget anything you learn.”

“That isn’t special,” Cherrie said sadly.

“It is,” I said quickly. I leaned forward a little, excited to share with her what I knew about her people. “You could tell how I felt about y'all the moment you met me. How Vice automatically trusts your judgment, never doubts anything you say, is because of what you are. You can read someone’s emotions, their intent, their breathing and words, their very heartrate.

“You’ve never been wrong about a person, have you?” I asked, and she shook her head slowly. “And you never can be. No matter how hard someone tries to lie to you or keep something from you, you will always know the truth. 

“On your planet, you would have been trained until you were sixteen to be a proper Reader. There is so much that goes into that gift you’ll spend years trying to learn it. Then, when you are sixteen, you are given a choice to either be bought by a planet and used as a judge, advisor, translator or representative or stay on and marry and produce the next generation of Readers.

“Readers are also the galaxies record keepers. Because y’all crave knowledge so much you are sent out to study and record everything which happens on planets. Contracts, promises, lies, births, deaths, purchases and sell, affairs, ages and names, generations and family history are all written and protected by your people. Wanting only the truth, the facts, Readers are the sole providers and protectors of everything. Nothing happens without a Reader documenting it. They cannot be bought or threatened into changing history, they are trusted with everything by everyone.

“You, Cherrie, come from a significant people. You should be proud,” I finished.

Cherrie smiled, and Vice looked happy, though his eyes were sad. Cherrie sipped some more of her water and Vice adjusted himself in his seat, wincing a bit before settling in a spot.

“If Readers know everything and cannot tell a lie, cannot keep things from history, then how are we here without anyone knowing?” Vice asked.

I shook my head. “I do not know. I know only that my being here has cost a great deal and every day I have to beg the Readers to keep me from their daily reports home. Only because of who I am are they willing to temporarily keep me from history, yet when I pass every painful detail of my life will be told. The Readers who kept me hidden will be punished, though I have given them all my pardon and it will help some. The fact in which you both have been hidden, though, over countless years and trained and taught is something I cannot understand. Someone extremely powerful has ordered it, and it should not be possible. No one should have that power, especially here on earth.”

“What do we do now, Stella?” Cherrie asked. “Vice and I know where we come from now, what we are, but what now? Why were we told to find you when the woman clearly knew all of this herself? Why put us here in the first place? How do we find out anything else? How do we get home?”

“I don’t know,” I said softly. “I have never wished to return home, so I have not tried. I can’t help either of you go to where you belong, not yet.”

“What aren’t you telling us, Stella?” Cherrie looked at me critically. “What’s happening you won’t tell us?”

I stood and bowed. “I am afraid it very late and I am tired. Please, Handlers, excuse me. You both need your rest, and I need to train early in the morning to make up for the mission today. General will be expecting his reports first thing in the morning, and I’ll be a while making sure my facts are correct. Tomorrow we can speak more of the matters at hand.”

Vice stood slowly, gripping his side. “It’s only nine-thirty, Stella.”

I lowered my head. “And reports are needed to be finished and sent to General. We to rest, to heal from battle and wounds, so we might rise early and work again without pain. Like I said, in the morning we can speak more of the matter at hand. Please, allow me to go to bed now.”

Cherrie narrowed her eyes, the yellow haze thickening and closing in around her. “Alright, Stella. Go to bed. Vice and I do need to get our reports finished and sent in before General demands them, you are right. We can talk in the morning during breakfast.”

I bowed and turned to leave, headed towards the safety of my room.

“We are not your enemy, Stella,” Vice called after me.

I paused a moment, my hand on the door frame. I looked back at them and nodded once, then hurried into my room and shut my door. My enemy they may not be, my friends they were not either. With the click of my lock, I fell to my knees with a pain in my chest and a gasp of air. The pain was gone as soon as it came, but it had come at all. I stood, my legs shaking. I closed my hands into fists tightly and closed my eyes. It was coming, and I wasn’t ready. Then again, I doubted any Stella was ever prepared. I looked up at my ceiling and changed, then flew through it and hurried towards the sun.