Ar'Tok - Alana Khan Page 0,65

you remotely, just as my father did for several decades.”

“I knew you weren’t the original ‘O’,” he says. “Perhaps you’re even better.” His face approximates a smile—it looks like it took great effort.

“Comm me anytime,” Star says as she rises, then hobbles over to him, pulls the golden bow off her shoulder, and fastens it to his. “Happy Blessed Peace Day.” She smiles.

We take that as our cue to leave. One of Ergonn’s males will return our shuttle rental. I carry Star onboard the hover-bus as we join all of our friends. The new gladiators we recently picked up from planet Trent, the ones who were staying on Fornication Island, are shoulder to shoulder in the rear. Usually they’re a rowdy lot, but today they’re silent.

“I think they’re hungover,” Dax whispers loudly.

“Shhh,” Erro says as he holds his head with both hands.

I look back a second time to make sure my eyes didn’t deceive me.

“Are we one short?” I ask, trying to picture all the gladiators to figure out who’s missing.

“I was going to make an announcement,” Zar says, his face worried. “Wrage has been missing for days. Callista has been searching the Intergalactic Database to find him. So have the Paragonian authorities. There’s nothing more we can do here. We’ll continue to search. We may have to travel as a result of any clues we get. Right now we have nothing.”

His news is met with quiet discussion as we all wonder what happened to one of our crew. I didn’t know him well, we were usually on different ships, but I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose the companionship I’ve found here.

The quiet doesn’t last long because Grace stands in the front of the hover and leads us in a round of ridiculous Earth songs. “This Old Man,” I understand, but ‘knick-knack patty-whack’ doesn’t translate no matter how I try to make sense of it.

I like “When You Wish Upon a Star,” especially the part that says no request is beyond your reach. Although I never dared wish for anything as amazing as my North Star, she’s here with me now. And even more amazing, she wants us to stay together.

I memorize every word of the lilting lyrics. I’ll sing it to her in private some time—I love that the title has her name in it.

I let the sound of singing fade into the background as I focus on the beautiful female in my arms. She’s got a dreamy smile on her face as she cuddles even closer to me.

“You haven’t stopped purring all day,” she whispers into my ear.

Really? I hadn’t noticed. She’s right. This is my body’s response to happiness.

“And you, my love?” I ask. “That wide smile hasn’t left your face except when we were in Ergonn’s warehouse.”

“This is my body’s response to happiness.”

Epilogue

Six Months Later

Star

“Star, I have an admission to make,” Brianna catches me in the hallway. “Your bolliberries are all that and a bag of chips. They taste so amazing that maybe . . . I snuck into your hydroponics room once or twice to steal some.”

“Thanks. They’re amazing, aren’t they? You better not tell Maddie, though. She told me she’s planning on using them for pies.”

“Pies?” Brianna’s face lights up. “I promise I’ll quit filching them if that means more homemade bolliberry pie.”

I quicken my steps toward the ludus. One of my favorite things is watching Ar’Tok spar with his friends. I don’t want to miss it.

“Star?” Anya calls as she runs to catch up with me. “I was trying to create a way for Zar to have more communication with the bridge from our cabin. I think I totally messed it up. Can you help me before you go over to the Devil’s Playground?”

“Absolutely. I’ll catch you after dinner,” I say as I scurry forward.

It’s been a wicked, off the chain six months since we visited the Pleasure Planet. Ar’Tok and I just keep getting better and better. Sometimes I still want to pinch myself to believe that so many wonderful things have happened to me in such a short amount of time.

Shortly after we left Paragon, we returned to the Misfit. I grabbed a picture my mom painted for me before I was born. It’s of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. She had memorized the old Earth poem and recited it to me my whole childhood. It has a place of honor on my dresser. Every time I look at it I think of her and smile.

I wasn’t certain