Dark Star Calling by Julia Keller

Author:Julia Keller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

13

Wonderstruck

They waited.

They waited longer.

They waited and …

Nothing happened.

At some point in the first few seconds of the changeover in the signal’s destination, when the alien transmission was reaching Shura’s brain, Violet had closed her eyes, pinching them shut. If something terrible happened to her best friend, she didn’t want to witness it.

Now she opened them.

And she saw that … nothing had changed.

Shura still stood in front of the blank canvas, brush raised and ready, palette poised. Mickey’s attention was locked onto the incoming coordinates. Rez was focused on his computer screen. Kendall was stationed next to the tripod and its bevy of receptors, watching for the tiniest twitch or fizz, while Tin Man watched the device that monitored Shura’s vital signs.

Still, nothing happened.

Absolutely … nothing.

“Told you it wouldn’t work,” grumbled Rez. He smacked the desk upon which his keyboard resided. “Friggin’ waste of time.” He bolted up from his chair, stretching out his arms. “Geez. Trying to turn alien emotions into painting. That’s about as stupid an idea as I’ve ever—”

“STOP IT.” Shura’s voice sounded like a lion’s roar crossed with a rocket engine. “Just stop. We’re all in this together, Rez. We don’t make fun of each other’s ideas, okay?”

Rez looked a little stunned. He was used to being reprimanded by Violet or Kendall. Even Tin Man had taken shots at him. But Shura? No.

“I just meant—”

“I don’t care what you meant,” she said. The outrage in her voice still hadn’t subsided. “Nobody made fun of you last year for Olde Earth World, right?” She was referring to Rez’s plan to create an amusement park on Old Earth, complete with roller coasters and a variety of rides related to the fate of that tattered planet.

“No.” He said it simply and quietly. Because she was right. “No, they didn’t.” He sat back down in the red chair.

“So let’s cut Violet a little slack here,” Shura went on. “She’s doing her best. We’re all doing our best. And besides—” She turned to face the others. They’d been watching the confrontation with surprise and—it had to be said—more than a little bit of satisfaction. “I think I know why it didn’t work. And what we can do to make it work.”

“You do?” Violet said.

Shura nodded. “I do.”

Tin Man was at her side in an instant. “What do you need?”

“My medical bag. It’s in my apartment.” She told him the access codes required to enter.

“Anything else?”

“Um … yeah,” Shura said. She looked a little embarrassed. “While you’re there, could you make me a peanut butter sandwich? I’m so hungry I swear I could eat this brush.”

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