Among the Dark Stars

Premise:

What happens when the stars go dark? Lizzie never meant to start a war, but there's one coming.

The war isn't over. It's just begun.

Summary:

Sequel to In the Midnight Blue

The colonists and the rebels are at war. Lizzie and her friends made it to the Capital Sector, only to be cornered by the Rebels and their ruthless leader, Titania. Now, they lie in wait, preparing to rescue their friend who is being held hostage by their enemies. When the Rebels find out their hostage has been taken back, bombs rain down. With the Capital Sector in ruins, the Venus Alliance is forced to reveal their biggest secret- A hidden city in the heart of the Capital Sector. New alliances are formed, and friendships are put to the test. Nobody can trust anyone anymore, because after all, this is war.

Cover for Among the Dark Stars

Prologue:

Music featured in this scene: Long Time Coming by Caitlyn Smith

Elayne Kelsey stepped up onto the platform, and two hundred soldiers went quiet. She sometimes forgot how much she was in charge of, who she was leading.

The fact that two hundred people went silent at her command blew her mind. She was barely twenty-two years old. She took a deep breath and straightened, trying to appear taller than her adult height of 5'4."

Remember, you are in control. You are leading a military, an army. An army that will save lives, and protect everything on this planet, and in this hidden city.

She paused for a moment, toying with the star-shaped studs on her ears.

I will not be afraid of anything, she reminded herself, as she did every day.

"Thank you all for being here today. It's another day for us to protect what we know. The tensions in the Capital Sector are rising."

A murmur of conversation passed through the soldiers below her. She ran a steady hand over her hair, her fingertips touching the raised area where she'd braided the strands into a headband. A nervous habit. The soldiers went silent, as if just now noticing that she had stopped talking and was waiting for them to return to attention. She broke into a smile.

"No need to act so serious around me. I may be your commander, and I have the power to inflict punishment, but you can see me as a friend, as someone you can trust, but someone you respect. Remember, everyday our job is to protect Star City." Her voice trailed off and she glanced down, sliding her engagement ring around on her finger, watching as the midnight-colored light caught the clear and blue gems on the silver band.

"You are dismissed for training. Remember who the enemy is, and where your morals lie." She waited until her army was gone before she glanced at her ring one last time, then headed for the training rooms.

Chapter one

Phoenix had been in the prison cell for seventy-two hours. Not that he was counting or anything. To call it a prison cell would be inaccurate, and almost an insult to what it really was, but Phoenix couldn't help but feel like a prisoner.

The room's four walls were sleek and silvery-white, with neon lights running along the ceiling. A separate bathroom was attached, and the fortified door to the outside corridor remained locked. The only human contact he'd had was with a steel-eyed young woman who had been with him since he had taken Lizzie's place. Food and water came down through a clear tube in one corner of the room, and the food wasn't like the fresh greenhouse vegetables and fruits that he was used to eating in the colonies. The poor excuse for food served here was similar to what the original space colonists almost a hundred years ago had, after the doomsday year. It was powdery and dry, and to add insult to injury, it was nearly tasteless, but enough to fill him up, and that was all that mattered right now.

Staying alive.

Phoenix pressed a button on the wall and leaned back onto the cot, watching the hologram screen come to life. He got thirty minutes a day to watch the news that was programmed to be displayed on the hologram, which was only Rebel and Capital Sector news. The Rebel leader still hadn't shown her face on the media yet, but Phoenix knew who she was. He'd memorized every inch of her face, from her cold, crystal-like eyes, to the slight downtilt of her pale coral lips. Despite her icy glare and calculating demeanor, Titiana looked just like Lizzie with her small eyes and high cheekbones. All of the surviving colonists, ex-space colonists, traitors, and runaways near the sector only got her threatening, yet lyrical voice, which still gave him chills. Phoenix couldn't even imagine what Lizzie was thinking, this woman, no psychopath- was her sister.

With nothing better to do, he glanced up at the screen, thinking about how he was going to become a Manipulate in four days, or ninety-six hours, not that he was counting.

Chapter two

It had been three days since they lost Phoenix. Three days since Lizzie had found her sister, and realized that nothing was as it seemed, and she was still reeling from the week's events. She sat down on the ground away from the camp and put her head in her hands, thinking.

"Hey, you okay?"

It was Max. She lifted her head up and looked sideways at her friend. "You know, maybe don't answer that. Then again, when are any of us okay lately?"

Lizzie gave a half-hearted smile and scooted closer. In the time that Lizzie had been with the group, four of Gale's best friends, she'd grown closest to Max. She'd gotten close with all of them, but Lizzie and Max had developed a brother-and-sister-like friendship in the short time that they'd known each other. She looked up at him with tired eyes and rubbed her temples, feeling another headache coming on. She hadn't gotten much sleep the past few nights. All she could think about was Phoenix being kidnapped, and her parents. Dreams and visions of Phoenix taking her place in those final moments with Titania haunted her waking hours and kept sleep at arms-length. Two nights ago, when she was supposed to be sleeping, Lizzie got an idea. She willed it to go away and spent all her energy trying to forget about it, but her attempts were futile. After sleeping on it another night, she was sure of what needed to be done. Not telling anyone about it was making her feel like she was going to explode.

"Max, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" he asked, frowning slightly.

Lizzie took a deep breath. "I know how to get Phoenix back, but we have to act quickly." He motioned for her to go on. "We're going to storm the rebel compound." Max was quiet for a moment too long.

"Max. Can you look at me please?"

He ran a hand through his wavy dark hair and let out a breath. "Okay. That was- wow. Unexpected?" Lizzie could feel the heat creeping into her cheeks. She wanted to bury her face in her hands and disappear, but she was done with that. Lizzie was done hiding, being scared, and running away from her problems.

"I'm ready to fight back. Are you with me?"

"Yeah, I'm with you." As their group, which was now a person short, assembled for dinner, Lizzie stood up, heart pounding as she prepared to make her announcement.

"We're gonna go get Phoenix back."

Faye dropped her granola bar. Gale looked at her, blinking and Halley began to laugh. She was beginning to lose hope when

Max stood up and helped Lizzie explain the plan that they had come up with while their friends had been out gathering resources and information. The silence that followed was deafening. Finally, Halley spoke. "We're going to do what?"

"You heard us," Max said, giving his little sister a dead-serious look.

"I don't know guys," Gale said hesitantly as if he were afraid of challenging Lizzie's idea. "Last time we tried to get into that compound, it wasn't good."

"But we'll know what to expect," Lizzie countered. "Last time we weren't prepared. We'll get weapons and uniforms, and we know how to navigate the compound. If we get some masks we could protect ourselves from any chemicals they try to release to screw with us. I think there's a mask warehouse somewhere in the city that The Venus Alliance built after the last pandemic before the doomsday year happened." Faye seemed to consider, and Halley nodded.

"If you guys really think that this will work, I guess I'm in too," Gale said, locking eyes with Lizzie. She gave him a smile, the first real one in days, and tossed her apple core into the fire as she walked away to go pack.

Chapter three

Lizzie was sick of hiding behind dumpsters and in the alleys between buildings. Vale City, known as the Capital Sector, was much bigger than the cities that Lizzie and her new friends had lived in all their lives, but it didn’t necessarily make it nicer. She frowned and picked a wire from a discarded Starscreen out of her jacket sleeve.

“Hey I found something!” Halley called. Lizzie turned to Max who shrugged. They made their way to where his younger sister was crouched behind a bin of some sort.

“What is it?” Gale asked, walking over with Faye and Phoenix in tow.

“I think this is some type of military supply warehouse,” Faye said motioning to the wall of the building behind them. A soft thud caused them all to spin around, looking for the source of the noise. A moment later Halley popped up from inside the bin, a piece of cloth on her head. She plucked it off and threw it aside, tossing her glossy dark brown locks.

“There’s uniforms in here, I think.” Max shook his head at his sister and stalked over to the container to help her climb out. Fifteen minutes later, everyone had found a uniform set and mask.

“We should change into our uniforms and find out where we can get some weapons,” Lizzie suggested. Titania’s Rebel guards had confiscated all of their weapons, leaving them near defenseless. Lizzie, Gale, and Phoenix had their knives from the first campsite they’d stumbled upon, but she doubted that a small blade would do any good against a Rebel army. She heard a click behind her and jumped. Halley and Max stood a few feet away near the bin pointing guns at the ground.

“No need to go anywhere else. There’s a bunch of guns and rounds dumped at the bottom of this thing,” he said, pounding his fist against the side of the scuffed metal.

Lizzie thought on it for a moment. “That seems like a trap, new weapons and uniforms just sitting here?”

“These guns are old, and the uniforms look pretty well-worn. Clean, but definitely used,” Halley explained, running her finger along a tear in the sleeves of one of the jackets for emphasis.

“We’re running out of time,” Faye said, gesturing to the sky as a hologram flashed in the sky over the city. Titania’s lilting voice flowed over the sector.

“It is 1:00 clock pm! Guards, your shift will change in five minutes. I repeat your shift will change in five minutes.” The voice repeated a few more times, and Lizzie clenched her fists and bit down on her cheek, trying to keep herself from kicking the nearby wall. When it passed, she went over the plan.

“Let’s go then. You guys know the drill. Max, Halley, and Faye are going to fire some shots, create a distraction. Get to the hiding spot we decided on. While the guards are running to diffuse the breach, Gale and I will go find Phoenix."

"No one separates," Gale added, giving a pointed look at Lizzie.

"Right," she said through gritted teeth. "Together or not at all."