Starbreak Read Online Free PDF Page B

had two heads each.
    “What’s so funny?” she said, with the sort of righteous indignation that only someone under the age of ten can muster. “I don’t get it!”
    But no one answered her. We only breathed in deep gulps of frigid air, our laughter echoing against the mountainside.
    •  •  •
    I don’t think our meager meal filled any of our bellies, but we didn’t complain. There was no telling how far we’d have to stretch our rations, how long we’d have to make them last. We were used to following the leader—the Council, Captain Wolff, even Aleksandra. But we had no leader, no plan. It would have been worrying if the weight of sleep hadn’t been pulling at us so heavily. The sun was barely three quarters of the way across the sky, and already we were yawning, sniffling, and blinking the sleep away.
    “I can’t believe I’m so tired,” Deklan said. With the rifle still nestled against his belly, he pressed his face to his knees. “It can’t be any later than—what? Twenty-three o’clock?”
    “We don’t have our pills.” I thought of the little packet of pills we all ate each night, and of something Koen Maxwell had told me once. How years ago, just for kicks, just to see what it would do, he’d started palming them.
    No matter what the light looked like in the dome, it was like the day inside me was getting shorter and shorter.
    Jachin let out a small grunt of agreement. He lifted himself to hisfeet and went to fetch our tent. Laurel scrambled to help him pound in the stakes.
    “Melatonin,” he said as he worked to unfurl the canvas walls. “And somnescence. We’re not built for Zehava’s days. It’s only the pills that keep our internal clocks synced to hers.”
    “Abba always thought—” I started, then stopped. It felt weird to talk about my father now, as I sat amid a coterie of rebels. Like I hadn’t quite shed the skin of our former lives. But I guessed it didn’t matter. He was a clock keeper once, after all. It had been his job . “My father had this theory that, given enough time exposed to the natural rotation of Zehava around its sun, we’d adapt. Our circadian rhythms would shift. But it was only a theory. No way to test it on the ship.”
    “Guess we’ll have our chance now,” Deklan Levitt said. He pulled himself upright and snatched up one of the sleeping rolls. Then he ducked inside the tent. We all craned our necks after him, staring into the dim interior. It was inviting, dry and warm. After only a moment’s hesitation we followed him inside.

4
    T he rest of them all stripped out of their flight suits, exposing the sweat-soaked clothing beneath. But I didn’t—couldn’t. I wore only my underwear under the synthetic fabric. It wasn’t until I was tucked inside my sleep sack that I felt okay undoing the long zipper at the front of my suit. It was strange to feel the soft fabric of the sleep sack against my bare skin. The blankets on the ship were all wool and rough-hewn linen, but these ancient synthetics had been saved by our ancestors just for landing. I pulled my suit out of thesack and left it splayed out like a second skin beside me, then snuggled down inside the covers.
    Sleep came instantly. At first I was buried in the firm hold of the forest—vines lacing their way through my hair, branches looping my ankles. It was warm, safe. But wrong. I pulled forward, parting the brambles. He was waiting for me, as he always was. I guess he couldn’t stay away.
    I’m here now , I said. On your planet. I’m here. I came for you.
    His back was to me, a wide violet plane that dipped gently in the middle. His shoulders were lit by the setting sun. When he glanced back at me, his eyes caught the light above. For once they didn’t look flat, impenetrable. Instead they sparked and danced. Like fire—like a pair of living flames.
    I can’t— he said. I don’t—
    Even in my dreams I was exasperated. I threw my hands up into the air.
    If you don’t help