Page 77 of Ava Stargazer

Both she and Vox looked at the screen, dumbfounded. Then Vox cleared his throat. “Well ... there. Doing that took us right to where the Human files are located. I’ll be quick.” He took his com and connected it, using a wire from Fijjak to begin downloading the data.

Ava walked forward, looking at her sad, small brown eyes on the screen.I was just a child. And so sad.Then she looked lower, and her heart dropped. There was more information here than on the logs Ebel sent.So much more.

Next to her status it said she was sold to a private buyer, and the credit amount. She looked below her name and saw it had her family tree there. An identical amount was listed for her sister, Maebel, as another private buy. The other three that she remembered living with her at the time she was sold to Ebel, they all went to auction, with no information other than that they were sold and the credit amount—lower than what was given for her and Maebel. Their photos stared back at her in sharp relief. A shudder went through her seeing their faces. She could hardly remember how they looked but it now came back with startling clarity.Sophia, Emma, Ivy.

And her heart stopped at seeing the words next to a picture of her mother, who had the exact same color of eyes Ava had, and who looked eerily similar to the grown-up version of Ava.

“Subject: Laura . . . deceased.”

The finality of seeing that made Ava turn away, her hands shaking.Mama.

Ava audibly swallowed. “Mama . . .”

She really didn’t know what she’d expected. But a part of her had hoped. Always hoped. Tears poured down her face, and she pulled away from her childhood photo, and the photos of her family.She’s gone for real. She never left here.

Vox was concentrating, the blue light on his face as he downloaded the data. His focus was too intense to be listening in on Ava’s thoughts.

She looked back at the picture, above Laura’s and her sisters, of her tiny, scared face. Her thin face and arms.But I made it.The glass covering on the screen reflected her face over her smaller one. She stood and lined it up so her eyes were over hers in the picture.

She narrowed her eyes at her picture, changing her reflection to look determined.I’m back. I’m here.She was able to lead Vox here, right to where the records were.I found all of you.Ava took a step back from the feed and began to pace. Walking these floors, feeling their familiarity as she ran her hand alongside the walls ...It is really familiar. Even the texture.

“It will take a few more moments,” Vox said, glancing over at her. “Luckily this area is no longer in use and we can take the time. I am deleting the files as I go. Now there will be nothing left if others come here looking.”

He looked at the screen, the light reflecting and enhancing the blue in his face and amber eyes. “The Human logs have other offshoots on this local database. I’m pulling that data as well to show their crimes, and what else is occurring.”

Ava paced, up and down, tugging on her hair, until she felt the need to run. A light at the end of the hall beckoned her.There. I need to go there.“Vox,” she choked out, her feet planted in that direction. She leaned forward on the balls of her toes.

“Almost, Ava.”

She huffed and paced again while pulling on her hair now in earnest until Vox appeared. “I took off my com to keep downloading. What is it? Is there a threat? I don’t sense any life ahead.”

She pointed down the hall, where sections of the hand rail were missing. “There.” Ava pulled on Vox’s side.Iknow ... where I am.“Vox, come this way.”

She walked them down the passage, feeling pressure within her. It was all empty and sterile.Not here.Ava skittered from room to room like a pom, frantically searching.

The voices in her head pounded, the memories rising. It made her vision swim, intensified by the knowledge that her mother’s ghost was here. That she’d never left. Never escaped. She turned to the side and threw up on the floor, on the dented metalfootpath, as her head began to ache, then broke into a run as she wiped her mouth.It’s here.

“Ava!” she heard Vox yell, racing to keep up.

But Ava couldn’t stop.I need to see this.If she stopped, she didn’t know if she could start again, to run toward the place her memories called her to. She continued to wipe her mouth and moved forward.

Ava didn’t need a map. She knew where she was going.

Her feet knew.

Her body knew.

And her mind?

Unfortunately, that knew most of all.

Vox followed in her wake. She could feel his eyes and mind on her, but he made no attempt to interfere. The Yar husk that knew of Humans walked right behind them. The others that didn’t have any knowledge did as well.

Ava picked up the pace until she was sprinting down the tunnel. She ran as fast as she did through the silent halls ofCelestial. Her feet followed the memory trail until she slid to a stop outside a room, her footsteps echoing.

She smashed her face against the window, breath fogging up the glass, desperate to look within. Sweat now coated her back through her heat suit as she breathed heavily.Here.

The room was five doors down from the end of the hall. Four white walls to contain her life.

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