Young Writers Society

Despite the absence of gravity, the cabin’s silence pressed on Ellipse’s shoulders like the weight of a star. Focci watched her, his tail curling around the pilot’s seat like an arm around her shoulders.

Eventually, she turned back to the window, set one hand on the joystick, and let the words drip out.

“I was betrayed,” she sang. Her voice sounded wrong, and raw, and like she was hitting all the wrong notes, even though Ellipse’s ears knew she was not. “My, er… my sister is like you. She left home to provide for our family. It was mostly me, now that I think about it, but when she left the first time I figured the money was for my parents too.”

Focci’s tail flicked, and his face kept neutral. Ellipse could not figure out what he thought, or what he predicted, but she soldiered on.

“About a year later, my sister’s employers came back. I was not supposed to listen to the conversation they had with my parents, but my sister and I were close.”

“So you eavesdropped,” Focci finished for her.

Ellipse leaned closer to the window, trying to discern whether the black blob in the sky was just a lack of stars or a hunk of space debris. “Of course I did. I had always been closer to my sister than my parents, and they did not tell me about the goingson in her life.”

She stopped there, worried that her singing was too wonky for Focci to understand. She needed to clear her throat and calm down in order to sound good.

“Go on. You know I interpret frequency before timbre, and not the other way around like you.” Focci swam towards her, fin-like arms pushing through the air, and floated so he had both hands on the back of her chair. “What did you hear?”

Water pricked at Ellipse’s eyes, and she tried to blink away the tears. Crying in zero-g was messy business; all the water floated up and clouded her vision instead of conveniently rolling down her cheeks. “They sold me,” she sobbed. “They sold me! I saw them sign a paper, a-and then the employers handed over cash, and then when my parents came out they told me to pack my things.”

Focci was quiet. “I thought slavery was illegal in the earthling system?”

“It is.” Ellipse dipped the ship down, under a hunk of black debris, and bit out the next string of notes. “Transferring custody in return for under-the-table cash is a good substitute though.”

Focci hummed an augmented triad. “Go on then.”

Ellipse forced out a shuddering laugh and returned the ship to its original path. “You know, I was never close with my parents, but I thought they at least loved me and my sister. I was ten or so, and I was old enough to understand what it meant to be sold, and it just… it hurt so much. But I went willingly because then I would be with my sister, and I knew at least she loved me.”

“And then somehow you were separated from your sister.”

“It was not a ‘somehow’ situation,” Ellipse replied. Her voice cracked, and she heard her notes go sharp, and her hands shook again. She wanted to be angry, wanted to shout and scream and yell and kick, but Focci floated behind her, peaceful and prompting, and when she blinked again, she saw a drop of water hover in front of her face. It glowed blue from the cabin lights, like the magical snow and ice that showed up in all the wintery movies set on Earth.

Then came another droplet, and another and another.

“My sister sent me away,” Ellipse whimpered. “Right after Independent Titan destroyed the citizen databases, she put me on a ship and forced me to re-register.”

Focci’s tail curled around to rest in Ellipse’s lap, pressing a comfortable, warm weight against her side. “Is that why you are so afraid of being caught? Your identity really is faked?”

No. No, that was not it. Ellipse feared being caught, yes, but so many people had changed themselves after the Titan Attack that it hardly mattered what her papers said. She shook her head and wished Focci had not brought this up or been so calm, because now she had to think and process all of her feelings, and she felt so stupid doing this in front of someone else.

“So you are afraid that, if you are caught you will be a slave again.”

That was not quite it either. Ellipse hiccupped. “Sometimes I want to be caught. I miss my sister, you know?”

“I do miss my brothers,” Focci sang softly.

“But she sent me away!” Ellipse bawled. She pulled her hands off the joystick and palmed her eyes, trying to keep more tears from floating into the cabin. “What if she does not care about me anymore? I mean, I know logically that she does. She sent me away to be free, right? Because she loves me?”

Focci curled his tail in tighter and squeezed Ellipse’s shoulders in a hug.

“But if I get caught, then all her work will be wasted, and then she might not love me anymore!” Ellipse cried. “And then I would be alone,” she murmured, “because my parents sold me, and my sister would hate me.” She rubbed her eyes harder and vaguely remembered that the salt concentration in tears was one that sirens found comfortable for their habitats.

“I think you will find,” Focci sang, his voice quiet and smooth and soothing, “that there is more than one person in this universe who is capable of loving you or being part of your family.” He stroked Ellipse’s hair, and she felt a pang in her heart, because her older sibling had done that too.

“I know that,” she sobbed. “But I do not want anyone else.”

Focci’s comforting motions stopped, and he flipped himself over the chair to float in front of Ellipse. “And why is that?”

“They might leave me too,” Ellipse admitted. She closed her eyes and wiped away the tears one last time, and then looked Focci straight on. “I am sorry I cannot help you with the generator. Staying free, like my sister wants me to be, is more important.”

Focci sighed. “I want to convince you that you have other options, but I suppose that is a good enough explanation for now.” He gave Ellipse one final squeeze of the shoulders and then let go. “You should probably explain that to Tejal soon,” he said, as he pushed off the back of the pilot’s chair. “He is moping.”

Even though her eyes were red-rimmed and crusty with salt, Ellipse scowled. She could tell secrets to Focci, but Tejal was a bounty hunter. No way was she confiding in him.