For Darkness Shows the Stars

“Don’t watch this part.” She wished that she, too, could avoid it, but even if she didn’t watch, there was no denying that it was done. Kai jumped across to the cliff again, and this time he did it with a full-grown person in his arms. It was impossible. It should have been impossible.
    Oh, Kai, how could you?
    But there was no time, no time to even contemplate what had happened to the Cloud Fleet Posts. No time to do anything but offer a quick prayer that Horatio was too overcome by worry for his sister to think about the abomination before his eyes. Donovan leaped back to the mainland and they laid Olivia out on the grass. Andromeda wrapped bandages around her bleeding head. She was unconscious, but breathing. And every moment, she was losing more blood. Elliot felt her limbs for broken bones. Her leg was bent at a funny angle, and there was clearly something wrong with her collarbone, but the biggest damage by far was to her head. Elliot pressed cloths against the wound, hoping to slow the flow of blood.
    “We have to get her home,” Horatio said.
    “No,” said Elliot. “Take her to the Boatwright house. It’s closer, and Felicia Innovation can help her.” Indeed, Felicia might be the only one in two hundred kay who could. She’d known about their eyes that day in the cavern. What’s more, she’d apologized for taking away the wonder of the sanctuary’s stars. Felicia had been the one to do this to them. She’d doomed them all.
    Elliot looked up at Kai, who was standing over them, breathing hard. His glittery, inhuman eyes were wide with fear, but they widened even more at her words.
    “Felicia,” she repeated. There’d be time later to give in to her shock. “Perhaps it would be best to send one of the carts down there as quickly as possible. You can explain the situation and she can get ready. We’ll have to drive slowly with Olivia so as not to jostle her too much.”
    “Great idea,” Andromeda said. She turned to her brother. “Take Horatio and Wentforth and go. Elliot and I will take Olivia.”
    “I can’t leave my sister,” said Horatio.
    “The ride will be smoother with less weight,” said Andromeda. “I can drive it, and Elliot seems to have a handle on what Olivia needs, medically.”
    “I’ll drive Olivia and Elliot,” Kai blurted. Elliot cringed at the sound of her name in his mouth.
    “No.” Andromeda’s tone was firm. “You drive quickly. I drive carefully. Now go. Every second we waste might be her last.”
    Horatio seemed appeased by this, and they helped load the unconscious girl into the cart. Then the boys all piled into the second cart and took off. As Andromeda steered carefully down the path toward level ground, Elliot cradled Olivia’s head from the worst of the bumps.
    “That was smart,” said Elliot. “Sending Kai down first.” He’d bristled with energy he needed to race off.
    “Well, I’m smart,” Andromeda answered simply. After a moment, she spoke again. “Though you wouldn’t be able to tell it from my behavior today.”
    She didn’t, Elliot noticed, correct her about using Kai’s old name.
    The ride seemed to go on forever. Soon they lost sight of the boys’ cart, though Andromeda was still driving as fast as she dared. Now that Elliot knew the appalling truth, she marveled that she’d never noticed it before. She’d never suspected how Andromeda could have driven like a maniac through the woods the previous evening. She’d never wondered how it was that she could so skillfully steer around every dip in the path. Or if she had, she’d simply chalked it up to the Fleet’s skill as pilots.
    Elliot felt sick to her stomach. She wanted to scream, to leap out of the cart, but what good would that do? She could act like a model Luddite if she wanted, run away, denounce Andromeda then and there, and it wouldn’t help save Olivia’s life. Like it or not, she must not show anyone what she knew until the younger girl was safe. No matter how wrong it was, right now she needed these people to keep Olivia alive.
    After an age, they finally arrived at the Boatwright house. Felicia Innovation ran out to greet them. “Bring her inside, quickly,” she cried. “I have to see to her head. Are there any broken bones? Has she stirred at all?”
    Elliot answered the questions she could as Felicia got Olivia situated on a bed and began tending to her wounds. The Posts gathered around, their faces ashen. Horatio stood like a statue at the