Starstruck

Chapter 18: Orbital degradation (part 2)

CHAPTER 18

Orbital degradation (part 2)

It was easier than I expected to get our computer protected. I made it home early enough--biking the last quarter mile from behind the post office--that my aunt hadn't had time to get suspicious about where I'd been. That meant no awkward questions over dinner, and no demand for explanations when I went to bed earlier than usual for a Saturday.

I sat in my room and read, wishing more than ever that I had a cell phone or at least a cordless I could take to my room. I was dying to talk to Rigel, to find out what everyone had said after I left and whether they were going to stick to the plan to do nothing drastic just yet. That last expression I'd seen in his eyes still haunted me.

After I heard my aunt and uncle go to bed, I waited another hour, then crept downstairs to power up the computer, carefully following the instructions Mr. Stuart had given me. I went into the kitchen for a glass of milk while he did whatever he needed to do, which gave me an excuse for being downstairs just in case Aunt Theresa woke up and investigated.

She didn't, and in half an hour I got a message from Mr. Stuart that the deed was done. Breathing a sigh of relief--and still wishing I had a way to communicate with Rigel--I erased all signs of my log in, shut down the computer, and quietly went upstairs to bed.

At church the next morning, I got my first inkling of how different things were going to be. As always, we arrived early, and I made a point of saving seats for the Stuarts--four spots, in case Shim came with them. But when the Stuarts arrived fifteen minutes later, not only was Shim not with them, neither was Rigel. And though they smiled and nodded at Uncle Louie and me, they didn't sit with us.

Maybe he was still in the car and would come in late, I told myself. But ten minutes later the service started without Rigel appearing. And when it ended, the Stuarts were among the first ones out of the church, not even taking the time to say hello.

Stuck near the front of the sanctuary while Aunt Theresa chit-chatted with her choir friends, I watched them go, my heart feeling like it was right down in my stupid Sunday shoes.

It was a long, long afternoon. I'd done all my homework the night before while waiting to deal with the computer and I was sick of reading, for the first time I could remember. Even though it had only been twenty-four hours, it felt like forever since I'd heard Rigel's voice or felt the touch of his hand.

Three or four times I seriously considered calling him, but kept remembering what Shim had said about phone lines not being secure. Besides, Aunt Theresa was in the kitchen making cookies for some bake sale or other, so it's not like I could have talked privately. Still, as the afternoon wore on, I felt increasingly twitchy.

Finally, an hour or so before dinner, I announced that I was going for a walk. If the bad guys were watching Rigel, I reasoned, I should be safe enough on my own. "Is there anything I can get for you in town?" I asked my aunt. "I just need to get out and move a little--I've been a slug all day."

"Nothing's open but the drugstore," she said. "But I do need some cotton balls." She dried her hands and pulled a couple of dollars out of her purse and gave them to me. "Are you feeling all right, Marsha?" she asked then, surprising me.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little restless."

"All right, then. I just hope it's nothing to do with that football player. I noticed you watching for him all morning at church. I'd like to think you're too sensible to be thrown into a mope by anything a boy does."