Star Grazers: Return
Star Grazers
Peris and Alfie sat facing each other on Nor’s ribs, their feet dangling. They continued to orbit the yellow star while Nor lapped at its energy, half-asleep. On a normal day, they’d be underway as soon as they woke up, but on this occasion, they let her doze.
“It feels wrong to exercise control over Nor,” Alfie said.
Peris bent her head forward and sent her violet hair to cascade in a mess. “I keep going over the early days of her training in my mind,” she admitted. “At first, she wasn’t able to reach the suns when she didn’t have my help. Organizing herself for takeoff was too much for her to handle. I know she needed me back then.”
“I remember when she couldn’t fly through the solar system alone without stray comets pinging her,” Alfie agreed. “But things seem to have changed.”
From across the chamber, Breton ventured a guess. “What if they don’t wander off and die when we quit using them? Could it be that they just stop needing the assistance we provide?”
“What do you suppose she’ll want from us now?” Alfie asked in a whisper, as if she could keep the question from Nor.
“I’m sure she wants our help.” Peris insisted. “She goes faster when we’re engaged. I can feel her awareness heighten, can’t you?”
Alfie considered a moment. “My awareness heightens. The total understanding we build is more than I’m capable of myself. The same seems true of Nor, but I don’t know anymore,” she confessed.
“I guess we’ll have the answers soon,” Peris said. She nudged the sleeping giant. Nor? How are you doing? Are we going to make it home today?
A deep groan engulfed them as Nor rose to full wakefulness. But she agreed to continue. She broke orbit with the star and started out along their previous course, maintaining a sub-light jog.
Peris gasped. “Is she waiting for us?”
Alfie gave a shrug. “Let’s see what we can do.”
They joined Nor’s consciousness as easily as before. Space around them wound its way into sharper clarity. Their path glowed ahead of them for several parsecs toward home before it sputtered out.
Nor picked up speed when they met her mind. She seemed grateful for the increased cognitive powers. She nudged Peris until she began working on their map through the stars. Alfie caught on and enriched their understanding of the cosmos by focusing on the extrasensory nodes around them. They got the impression that Nor was capable of more, but her exhaustion ran deep. It felt awkward to fit the pieces of their mental puzzle together at first, but the three friends had shared their minds for years and the long-term familiarity soon replaced the unfamiliar sensation. The women tread carefully, unsure of where to apply pressure and how commands should be given, but they flowed back into their former roles.
Kentar was only a few hours ahead of them, at Nor’s preferred speeds, but even with Peris and Alfie’s input, she was flying slower than usual. Together, the three of them navigated the cosmos until they arrived at last at the recognizable cluster of their own solar system.
As they broke through the debris field at the edge, Peris felt a familiar presence. The extrasensory nodes resonated with a metallic mass floating adrift in the outer asteroid belt, as it took a beating from the skull-sized rocks soaring by. It was only a matter of time and gravity before a larger object or one of the six dwarf planets wound its way into the spacecraft’s path, obliterating it completely. “Alfie, look at this. Someone is in a predicament.”
Alfie confirmed her suspicions. “I warned him. Breton, grab the transmitter. Guess who’s stuck in the middle of the outer belt?”
“I can feel him too,” Breton remarked. “And he feels scared.” He pushed the button on the transmitter. “Jarel, is that you? Everything alright over there?”
“Peris and crew! Thank goodness!” Jarel’s voice was bereft of the haughty quality it possessed the last time they’d heard it. “My escape pod’s battery has cut out. I’m clinging to life support. I have no energy left for propulsion or guidance systems. Asteroids are bombarding the ship; I can’t stay here any longer. Please help me!”
Is there anything we can do? Peris asked Nor, thinking of the previous day. She couldn’t phrase her ideas in complete sentences, but considering the feat they’d accomplished, the task of moving an escape pod from the edge of the solar system to the center seemed minor, even if they had thick asteroid belts to maneuver through.
From all around them emanated the swimming sensation they experienced towing the other ship. Their muscles ached to the bone as if they’d been working for hours and they felt depleted.
Peris’ eyes widened. “Nor has really grown capable of communicating in distinct thoughts.”
An exact copy of Alfie’s eye roll resounded through the corridor. Alfie burst at the seams first, but they all had to laugh at the acuity.
Then something louder rang out across more harmonic frequencies. While they weren’t able to understand the content of the message, any sentient creature would realize it was a call for help.
Initially, nothing seemed to happen. However, when Peris reached out with the extrasensory nodes, she sensed the presence of two other astropods in the system. They felt Nor’s cry and headed their way.
“I can’t believe it. We have company. Nor’s invited some friends,” she told the others.
“Do you think they’ll help?” Alfie asked, stretching out with her awareness to reach a better view.
“I’ve never heard of anything like that before yesterday,” Breton objected.
“Is Nor special, or can they all do it?” Peris put the question to the room.
A vibration deeper than sound waves and thought patterns washed over them, but they weren’t able to understand it.
“What was that?” Breton demanded.
“It must have come from the other astropods,” Peris conjectured.
From all around them, Nor shook along the same frequencies. They couldn’t make out what she was saying, but she was answering.
“I guess this is what it feels like to be inside her when she’s speaking Astropod,” Alfie squealed.
“Who knew there was such a thing?” Breton caught the excitement.
Another wave flooded in from the astropods in space. It was an undeniable conversation.
The transmitter chirped. In the voice of a frightened child, Jarel asked, “What is your astropod doing? How is that noise carrying through the vacuum?”
“If you’re lucky, you might learn quite a few things concerning astropods,” Breton retorted.
Nor responded again, but in her reply, Peris felt an echo of the previous day’s events and the plea for help.
“It sounds like she’s pleading Jarel’s case,” she told everyone. “I wonder if the others are against saving him.”
“They’ve never helped before. It seems they’d rather leave us to our own devices,” Breton said.
“It was Nor’s idea to become involved at Ventas,” Alfie reminded him.
The next reply felt deeper, as though it were angry.
“Maybe she got in trouble for it,” Peris ventured.
“Two more astropds are coming into view!” Jarel peeped over the radio.
There was a loaded silence as the crew waited for Nor to respond. When she began to speak, she didn’t stop for a long time. Although they couldn’t understand what she was saying, during the diatribe, Alfie’s amber eyes snapped forward and pulled her up until her posture was noticeably more erect. Soon after, Breton drew his hand through his vermillion hair, blushing. Peris sniffled, awash with warm, tender feelings all of a sudden.
Her silver orbs still brimming with tears, Peris hopped off her rib and strode over to Breton and the transmitter. “That’s your ride, if Nor has her way,” she informed Jarel.
When Nor finished her oration, another pregnant pause filled their region of the asteroid belt. The other astropods watched the tiny, helpless escape pod caught between them. They were six times as massive as the metal vessel; unless Nor’s feat had been a recent development in their physiology, this task should be easy. The longer they stared at each other across space, the more it seemed a question of their willingness to help, not their capabilities.
“What are they doing now?” Breton asked.
Alfie’s head cocked to the side. “Could they be doing exactly what we’d do? Looking into her thoughts?”
Peris gasped. “They’ve proven they can do everything else. I don’t see why not!”
Although the silent debate felt interminable, eventually, the astropods turned to face the interior of the solar system. One of them maneuvered overtop of Jarel’s ship and tucked the diminutive object under its belly. In tandem, the three astropods accelerated toward the planet. The crew heaved a sigh of relief, collectively unaware they’d been holding their breath in anticipation.
Flying in formation, the astropods could move faster than Nor had by herself the day before, although whether they were working together or it was a result of the lighter load, no one could say. Peris and Alfie stayed engaged with Nor and lent her their mental acuity, but at those slow speeds, in the safety of the solar system, she shrugged them off. While they could observe what was happening through her eyes, part of her mind closed to them, and inside it, machinations they had never felt emanated from her.
They wove through the asteroids and debris without taking any hits. Jarel was lucky his pod had survived until they found him; his hull showed only one serious dent. Any of the larger objects within the belt could smash him to bits. They dodged the remaining hazards and reached the other side.
From there, it took less effort to put their heads down and fly straight toward home. The gas giants of the outer solar system orbited away from their path and there was only the inner asteroid belt to contend with. Peris and Alfie were aware of the dangers surrounding them, but in their newfound reticence to act, they saw Nor had decoded them too and was cruising on her own without help. The astropods outside needed no guidance to make it through and neither did she. Keeping in formation, they coasted into the asteroid belt, using the gravity of the large bodies to propel themselves forward only to bank and speed around them. They danced between the minute particles, their triangular arrangement rippling with the disruptions, and traversed the distance in short order.
Kentar orbited the suns next. Their world always looked beautiful through Nor’s eyes as they descended from above, with pink, fluffy clouds spun over its golden forests and the great valley of the Rift. When they reached the planet, Nor assumed the lead and showed the way back to their town.
The astropod carrying Jarel’s escape pod deposited it on the grass by the chasm. He mashed the emergency release panel, opening the latch. Then he stumbled out, gasping in relief when he drew a breath of the planet’s fresh atmosphere. Nor landed and opened her mouth to allow her crew to disembark. The wild astropods hovered near the edge of the cliff, waiting.
Peris gathered her things with a heavy heart. She followed the others down the corridor and into the bright sunlight, glaring at the end. When she reached it, she turned and extended her arm up to stroke Nor between the eyes. Nor craned her head down, eager for the affection.
You’re ready to go have amazing adventures with your friends, aren’t you? Peris asked.
Nor snorted in response. A definite affirmative.
Tears welled up in Peris’ eyes. Is this goodbye?
I’ll still come when you call, she answered, picturing the light stick. But I’ll be farther away and it might take me a little longer to return.
Editor: Michelle Naragon
