Page 21 of Ava Stargazer

Ava settled into the grass with Vox in the humid night. The summer heat of the day had given way to a cooler night now, but the air was still sticky from the recent rain.

They sat at the soul joining for Orla and Erox, leaned up against each other, a bit up the hill and away. The sound of the Vorbax rhythmically hitting dried bavla reeds against the ground filled the air.

Before the ceremony, Ava was filled with renewed energy and had been cataloging and sorting the parts they could sell for credits. She was able to put Vox’s upcoming journey out of her mind as long as she stayed busy. Her body felt sore from all the lifting and packing she’d done, but it was a good ache. Overall, her body felt good. The peeling on her arms had stopped as well.

Ava looked excitedly over the crowd as she hit the reeds in front of her, matching the beat of the others. The rattling from the reeds echoed, making a combined sound much louder thanit ever naturally did when the wind whipped through the fields every afternoon. She picked up the tempo easily, hitting the stalks with the rhythm.

A low hum came from the Vorbax as they chanted words in their language. Her translator couldn’t pick up exactly what they were saying, but she didn’t want to interrupt Vox to have him translate and disturb the song.

The only other time she had heard music live like this was on Hoya with Nuor the one time she got off the ship to visit there. This music was different. Here it felt like an extension of nature rather than a sophisticated city tune like the Hoya music.It's beautiful.Ava liked this beat just as much, if not even more because she was a part of making it with the others.

The music drew to a close, and Ava followed the motions of the others, laying the reeds in front of her. She leaned back and took Vox’s hands off his lap and positioned them around her. Settling in the crook of his arms, she watched, excited to see what amounted to her first ceremony on Xai.

It’s nice to take a break like this.She sighed, feeling at peace in the bright night, the voices of the Vorbax ringing around her and Vox’s voice vibrating behind her. She rubbed her hand up and down Vox’s arm, feeling the toughened skin. His hand closed over hers when she got down to his palm.

Vox took a break from the chanting to gesture in front of him, speaking low in her ear. “Look, Ava.”

Ava looked in the direction he indicated and smiled wider at the fireflies winking in and out. She shook her head and corrected her thoughts about the glowing insects.Luras.Fireflies were what her mother told her about from Earth. They had luras here, similar yet different, but in her head she pretended it was the Earth insect she had never seen before.

“How pretty,” she whispered back to Vox, not letting the insects out of her gaze as they traveled over the grass and the heads of the other spectators watching the ceremony.

Vox said quietly in her ear, “They are drawn by the reeds shaking. I don’t know why, but they come every time. It’s part of why we do it every ceremony. They’re lucky. A good omen.” He leaned to the side around Ava and caught one as it came close, bringing it down to Ava’s cupped hands to transfer the purple insect, whose wings lit up as they flapped against her palm, soft and delicate, like a gentle brush.

So beautiful.She leaned forward to inspect the small creature. “Oh. Its wings are what light up.” She stared at it a few more moments, then brought it down in front of the biologics. “See?”

The biologics matched the glow pattern of the lura as it crawled out of her hands and across the case, then flapped its wings to leave.

Ava giggled softly as she watched the biologics continue to flash the pattern long after the insect departed.

Vox covered her hand with his, put his head down on top of hers, and hummed, pulling her thoughts back to the present. He glowed like all the others and Ava felt his gentle touch on her, questioning how she was handling being in such a large crowd with such an open connection.

She looked up at him and absently patted his shoulder. “I’m fine. It’s nice here right now. You don’t need to worry,” Ava said softly, not wanting to disturb the quiet atmosphere.

Another lura twinkled by. Ava watched it go until she lost sight of it, then refocused on the crowd below. It was better to sit here, a bit away. Not only were the telepathic waves blunted, but less were directed at her than when she was more visible.

Most of the Vorbax from this section of the city were on the main field tonight, at least those that knew Orla or Erox personally. The lake was so large that other ceremonies, on othershores, also were occurring, the sounds traveling faintly to them. The city sprawled, in many directions, with thousands more Vorbax that Ava never had met, and probably never would. The three moons on Xai were at their fullest tonight. The ceremony was held during this time to take advantage of the bright night sky that lit up the entire field as if it were a muted day.

A quiet lull in the ceremony happened when Erox and Orla began to walk the fields together, gathering stalks of bavla grain.

“Orla said he wasn’t, but do you think Erox was surprised when she chose him?” Ava asked Vox softly. “Does it usually happen this fast? Their joining?”

Ava felt a bit blindsided, as she hadn’t seen much of a connection between them on the ship.Then again, I spent a big part of the way here not noticing much at all.Her head ducked briefly at the thought.

Vox’s tone was steady. “Yes he was surprised, and overjoyed. There was some practicality to it, as she knew her genetics were compatible with him from being my brother and us already having gone through testing...” He cleared his throat. “But Erox is happy. It had to happen fast because Orla is fertile now.”

“Ah.” Ava frowned. She resisted the urge to touch her fertility blocker and instead stared absently at the crowd as she picked up her reed instrument. The seeds rattled within, softly, as she tapped it against her leg.

“I’m going to miss you so much.” Her voice was soft, almost a whisper, at the mention of Erox leaving the planet.

She felt selfish for voicing that and looked at the grass as she put down her instrument. It tickled her palm as she pulled a few strands.

Vox contracted his arms around her in response. “It will be for just a brief meeting. I will not be gone long.” He hesitated before adding, “We will talk more about it later, but I have to keep us safe. I can not sit idle.”

Ava didn’t say anything, but her body tensed involuntarily. She nodded, pushing her feelings down.Now isn’t the time to talk about anything serious between us.Not here at someone else’s moment.

Vox pressed his chin to the top of her head. “Nothing has happened yet, little bird. Settle your mind. Look at the ceremony.”

He offered her his mental calm, and she took it as she resettled into Vox’s arms while absently reaching for any flickering luras that came near.

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