Starstruck

Chapter 27a: Resolution matrix (part 1)

Again Rigel and I exchanged a glance, then he answered. "We, um, discovered recently that together we seem to be able to create an electrical charge. It's how we stopped Mr. Truitt's runaway car last night."

Shim's eyebrows rose. "I see. So today was not the first manifestation of this, er, power? I trust the Truitts have no suspicion of the truth?"

"Oh, no," I said quickly. "Rigel convinced them he'd just turned off the car--he was really fast, and everything was so confused, they didn't question it. Anyway, I've never gotten the least hint they know the truth about me. They definitely would have said something by now, if they did."

"And how did you know you could do this last night?" he asked Rigel.

After sliding a quick look my way, Rigel faced his grandfather and told him about the incident with Bryce Farmer. From his parents' shocked expressions, this was the first they'd heard about that, though they didn't interrupt him.

"It took me as much by surprise as it did M," he concluded. "It's also what made her start demanding explanations." He gave me a quick smile. "I sort of thought you might know how it's possible, Grandfather."

Shim looked at us for a long moment, then finally nodded. "It appears, as you may suspect already, that the two of you share a true graell bond--something most of our people would consider impossible. However, there is no other plausible explanation I can think of. Nor is it completely unexpected--to me, at any rate. Unfortunately, news of your bond will be unpopular in some quarters, but we can discuss the ramifications at some future date. First, I thought you would be interested to learn how things stand after this afternoon's events."

"Yes, sir, we would," I agreed. "Is everyone . . . all right?" I didn't really care about Morven, but I'd been worrying about those on our side.

"My people have recovered for the most part," he said, "though one or two may need a few days to return to complete health. Thank you for asking, Princess. Morven's people, those few we captured, appear to be mostly recovered as well. Morven himself did not fare so well, but he is alive and had finally regained consciousness at last report. He may make a full recovery in time, though it is too soon to know."

"And what happens after he recovers?" I asked, frowning. "I know Martians--not counting Faxon and his followers--don't believe in killing. So, since there must not be a death penalty, what will they do to Morven? And Smith? And Faxon, for that matter, if he's overthrown? I mean, what kind of criminal penalties do you have on Mars?"

"Memory modification," Mr. Stuart replied. His wife and Shim nodded.

"It hasn't been used more than a dozen times in the past hundred years," Shim explained, "But yes, we have the technology to erase memories. It is considered the ultimate form of rehabilitation."

I blinked. "Like, give somebody complete amnesia?"

"Usually not. Usually just enough to give someone a fresh start from the point they began to go wrong. But in extreme cases, such as Faxon's—or Morven's—we do have the power to do a tabula rasa-wipe the slate blank."

I nodded, satisfied. If anyone deserved that, Faxon did, since he was the reason I had no family.

Rigel spoke up then. "Sir, I'm curious about something else. How could Morven have had so many people supporting him, without us--you--knowing about it? And how did they all find us so quickly?"

"A fair question." Shim sighed. "I received a painful--but necessary--kick in my complacency today. My biggest regret is that my arrogance put others--and especially the two of you--at risk. When we identified Morven as the ringleader of the invasion movement here on Earth, we kept what I thought was a close watch upon him. Obviously not close enough. He clearly found ways to recruit adherents, and to communicate with them without our knowledge.

"As for today, we discovered what was essentially a GPS homing device on his person, which directed his followers to his precise location once activated. It is disturbing that there were so many of them within a few hours' travel of Jewel. It means their total numbers were clearly far greater than we had guessed."

"Were?" Rigel looked at his grandfather, then his father.

It was Mr. Stuart who answered. "We're hopeful that with Morven out of the picture, and especially once news of today's events spreads--which it will--the invasion movement will wither away, along with support for Faxon, both here and back on Mars."

"But . . . we don't actually know yet, do we?" I asked. Surely it was too good to be true that the bad guys were all vanquished and that Rigel really loved me. I just wasn't that lucky.

"No, not yet," Shim conceded. "We can't again make the mistake of underestimating the lengths to which fanatics will go." He sent a wry glance Mr. Stuart's way.

The doorbell rang just then, making everyone jump--at least, I did.

"The pizza," Dr. Stuart murmured, breaking the tense silence.

She went to answer the door and came back a moment later with two large pizzas, which immediately lightened the atmosphere. While we ate, Shim told us that a few of those captured had been forthcoming with information, and he expected to be able to locate and destroy the remaining Ossian Spheres within the next week or two. Also, that it was fear of those devices that had convinced many of them to follow Morven in the first place.

"Once those are destroyed, even the fanatics aren't likely to see invasion as a viable option. We should be able to finally start planning a gradual, peaceful relocation of our people."

What Morven had said about the colony's resources running out within a century or so was apparently true, which made some solution essential. Shim and the Stuarts discussed some of the specifics they hoped for, and though I knew I should be paying attention--I was bound to regret it later if I didn't--it was impossible to follow all the references to people and events I knew nothing about.

Finally, long after the pizza was eaten and the table cleared, Shim turned to me and said, "I owe you an apology, Excellency."

"Huh? Why?" Oh, that sounded regal! But I didn't understand.

"Though I told Van yesterday that the Council would announce your existence via MARSTAR, we held off, hoping that it might prove unnecessary--that with Smith exposed, Morven would abandon his plans and that you could then continue to live a normal life. We also, upon further discussion, feared that there might be those in the network who were secretly loyal to Faxon, and who might therefore pose a separate risk. But had we announced the truth earlier, it might have lessened the risk you faced today. And for that, I sincerely apologize. Be assured that the word has gone out now, since after what happened today, there was little point in attempting to keep it secret. Better for everyone to know the real story than to piece together an erroneous one from whatever Morven's escaped followers might say."

"Oh." Morven's gang had arrived so quickly, I doubted having the word out sooner would have made much difference. But I was mainly concerned with just two words out of Shim's explanation. "Um, normal life? I can still have that, can't I?"

All of the adults exchanged glances before anyone spoke, making me uneasy in spite of Rigel's hand covering mine.

**If you enjoyed this, please vote for it and share it with your friends--I'll be posting THE END next weekend! :)

** Sign up for my newsletter at http://smarturl.it/BrendaNewsletter for a FREE Starstruck short story! Oh, and if you just can't wait to finish reading STARSTRUCK, the complete ebook is available FREE at all major online retailers, so you can read it on your phone or tablet! See http://starstruckseries.com for download info :)