Episode 39
Octave of Stars Theme Song:
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"On the last and greatest day of the feast," Cascadia read, "Jesus stood up and exclaimed, 'Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.'" She was curled up with her book reader against the wall of bars, while Ash sat on his bed, keeping one eye on the television in case another message came through. "Whoever believes in me," she continued, "as scripture says: 'Rivers of living water will flow from within him.' He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because—" She looked up.
Ash turned to her. "Because what? Did that thing run out of battery?"
"No, did you hear that?"
He had been about to say 'hear what?' but stopped quickly enough. He focused in the lull of her scripture readings and heard it too, a woman's voice yelling, strange whirring noises, and a lot of crashing and banging around. Ash smiled, standing up and stretching. "Looks like we might have some more company."
Cascadia's brows furrowed, but she remained where she was on the floor, until the door burst open and a high school-aged girl barged down the hallway, yelling her name. And Ash's too.
Azalea skidded to a stop in between the two cells, turning back and forth to address each inhabitant and speaking quicker than usual. "There you both are, this is great! Hi Cascadia, we've never met, I'm Azalea and I'm already a big fan, I love your work, I'm so excited to spend time with you at last, but we've gotta get going, this was so fun, me and Gayle busted our way up here and then—" She took a breath to continue.
Ash took the opportunity. "Don't you mean Gayle and I came up here?"
She rounded on him. "No, you weren't there!1 But anyway, I should let you both out." She brandished the key card in one hand, and with the other, she threw a handful of white round seeds in the air. "Open sesame!" She scanned the lock for one cell, then the other, still grinning as the seeds scattered on the floor, some already becoming thin green stalks. "I've always wanted to do that."
Cascadia was clutching the bars near her door, and as soon as she was released, she threw it open and ran forward. Ash had opened his, but didn't even get out of the cell before she grabbed him around the waist. He caught his balance, putting his arms over her shoulders, resting his cheek against the top of her red hair.
Cascadia mumbled from his shirt: "What did I ever do to deserve you?" She started crying, which felt wonderful.
Ash held her tightly, thanking God for the opportunity to be doing so. "I could say the same thing, you know."
She squeezed him tighter, then released him and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Alright, first things." She turned to the girl nearby, who was bouncing in place. "Azalea, right?"
"That's right!"
Cascadia took the young lady's hands in her own as the bouncing stopped. "Thank you," she said, looking into Azalea's eyes, blue and green cementing the excitement they both felt. "Ash has told me so much about what you've done for me. And, I'm truly humbled that you would risk your life for someone you've never met."
Azalea’s eyes were wet also. "You're welcome. Just doing a corporal work of mercy, visiting the imprisoned, right?"
Cascadia nodded. "And I'm definitely putting a vivacious plant girl in my next story."
They both released hands, and Azalea pumped her fist in victory. "Woohoo! I'm gonna be famous."
Cascadia glanced around. "But where's Gayle?"
"Right here," Gayle said, and moved forward so she could accept Cascadia's hug. "It's good to see you, hon."
Cascadia squeezed her another moment before stepping back. "It's so weird to see you! I never thought, in a million years…"
Gayle smiled warmly. "I know, Ash went through the same thing. I hate to break up the reunions, though, but we gotta mosey. They know where we are and they'll be bringin' the cavalry in any minute."
Cascadia's expression of happiness and joy changed to one of determination. "Okay," she said, pulling down the sleeves of her sea-green dress.
"First," Gayle said, "we got some gear to hand out." She unstrapped the pack she was wearing and handed it to Ash, grimacing. "Here's your stuff, gosh that's heavy. I dunno how I got it all the way up here."
"Thanks," Ash said, taking out his red jacket and unwrapping his tools from inside it. "I appreciate it."
"No problem. Azalea, your turn."
"Oh right!" Azalea said, from where she sat cross-legged on the ground. She deftly took the thin backpack off of her own shoulders and handed it up. "This is for you, Cascadia. We thought you could use it." She pulled out a plastic tube attached to the top of the pack and squeezed out a drop of water.
"Fantastic," Cascadia said while putting it on. "This'll be great, I've been so dry in there, I feel like… something really dry, I'm coming up short."
Gayle smiled her lopsided grin. She picked up another bag from the floor, a blue sling pack. "This here is yours too, but I can carry it if'n you wanna." She passed it to its rightful owner.
Cascadia unzipped it and peered inside. "It's all my stuff! Where did you find it?"
Azalea spoke up: "It was in the only closed locker out there, I found it when I was searching for the keycard." As she talked, she twirled a thin maple seed in her fingers.
Cascadia shook her head as she rummaged. "I can't believe they actually brought it here with me. My favorite rosary! I thought I'd never see it again…" She pulled out her blue flip phone and opened it. "It still has battery, but barely… Oh gosh, I have a hundred missed calls."
"Most of those are from me," Ash said, tightening down the straps of his wrist launchers. His firebrand was at his waist, belted on with a ring holster designed to hold firefighting implements. Or fire starting implements.
Cascadia beheld his new kit with a mixture of amusement and interest. "That's impressive," she said. "Your uncle helped you make that?"
He smirked back. "Yeah, he's awesome." He slipped his turnout coat on and put his backpack over the top. "I'm ready to bring some heat."
Cascadia held her pack out to Gayle. "If you would carry this, that would be great. I need all the water I can, and it's pretty heavy."
"I'll bet. Azalea, you ready too?"
Azalea got up from the floor with less of her usual vitality. "Whew," she said, adjusting her fanny pack. "Yeah, let's go!"
"I could use a snack, though," Azalea continued as they filed out of the hallway. "Too bad we don't have time for me to make a salad with one of those planters."
Gayle reached into her pocket for a silver wrapper. "That's why we got them granola bars."
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Ash beheld the arboreal chaos in the hallway. "What happened here?"
Azalea grinned. "I happened here."
Cascadia looked down at the still sleeping form of Juliet. "What happened to her?"
Gayle answered. "She's in time out."
Cascadia frowned. "Aw, I wanted to thank her for the book reader."
Azalea fumed. "She tried to blind me, and shock me, and a bunch of other stuff."
"Oh, well," Cascadia said, adjusting the straps of her water pack. "She was just doing her job."
"Yeah," Gayle said quietly. "Ain't we all?"
As per custom, Gayle led them down the hallway, backtracking according to the path she had taken after her separation from Azalea. This took the group through the empty cafeteria, but not before checking around the corners.
Azalea pulled back to report. "Black Holes, four of them, they used the tables for a barricade. So, one for each of us?"
"I think so," Gayle said. "Can we rush past 'em again?"
"No, they're right in front of the door…"
Ash had been scanning the hallway they'd just come down, then turned to Cascadia, who was already looking at him, a confident smile on her face. They nodded to each other and Ash spoke up. "Hey Gayle, why don't we take care of them so you two can have a quick break?"
"Huh?"
"Oh gosh, that'd be great," Azalea said, slumping against the wall quickly. "It was a long run up here, even with Gayle helping."
Gayle opened her mouth, but closed it again when she saw Ash's expression. It was the one he had given her when paying in the diner. The one that told her she wasn't responsible for everything.
"Alright," Gayle said, but frowned. "Cascadia, you good with a tussle like this?"
Cascadia grinned at her. "Don't worry about me," she said, twirling a handful of water around her fingers. "I've been practicing since I tried to get out of the hotel, twice."
Gayle relaxed, which showed the weariness in her eyes even more. "Good deal, then."
"Besides," Cascadia continued, "Ash and I have been discussing strategy." Ash nodded.
Gayle calmed even more. "So, first thing to remember when fightin' these fellas is they have air tanks, so don't worry about drownin' 'em…"
Gayle and Azalea laid out the rest of the techniques for combat against Black Holes while Ash and Cascadia positioned themselves closest to the doorway. Azalea sat on the floor while Gayle crouched next to her. Gayle knew this was another one of those moments when she needed to give up control, but it was a lot easier when seeing how easily the pair talked about the upcoming combat. Neither seemed afraid, their confidence was obvious.
Azalea blew out a long breath, as the conversation paused. "I wonder why they're called Black Holes, anyway? I mean, they wear all black, but what about the hole part?"
Ash was peering around the wall, his firebrand in his hand. Cascadia had a sphere of water ready, the rest of her pack on standby. The freckle-faced girl answered Azalea casually. "Oh, that one's easy."
"What?"
"Black holes can destroy stars." She turned to Ash as Azalea and Gayle processed this. "Let's go."
Fire and water ran into the room, Ash on the right and Cascadia on the left. At least, Ash ran, while Cascadia sailed forward on a cushion of water, keeping her balance as it rolled across the floor.
The Black Hole troopers pressed ahead at once. Each had specialized shields similar to what Juliet had wielded, except their stun prods were hand-held. Regardless, they activated the strobe projectors right away. Cascadia pulled the rest of her water out into a sheet that broke up the light and colors well enough, but it was still uncomfortable for Ash to look ahead.
"I need more water!" Cascadia called.
"Got it!" Ash responded, and focused a stream of fire at one of the sprinklers on the low ceiling. A fine rain fell through the room, the Black Holes halted their approach. Cascadia sent a tendril of water up to the sprinkler Ash had activated, wrenching the end off and bringing gallons more pouring down upon her.
Ash ran around the wall of water and rushed the wide-shouldered trooper nearest him, using only his peripheral vision to aim his flame launcher. He got off a few close shots, but his opponent didn't recoil like most people did around open flame. Ash guessed their uniforms must be fireproofed, too.
The trooper raised his shield to deflect Ash's sustained stream, the fire warping the plastic and obscuring the projector with soot. Undeterred, he drew back his baton, bringing it down to be parried by Ash's now-flaming club. Ash gritted his teeth as the soldier activated the shock, but he didn't crumple. Ash grinned. "Rubber handle, you like that?"
He pushed upward with both hands, leaving the Black Hole exposed, then crashed his weapon into the shield. With a growl, the Black Hole flipped another switch and Ash's firebrand was ripped out of his hand, stuck fast to a magnet on the front of the shield. After a second of surprise, Ash fired both launchers at full power, trying to get under the shield and testing his theory about their uniforms. The soldier rolled back quickly, unfortunately too rapidly to avoid hitting into the overturned table. He toppled backward over the edge, landing hard on his back.
Cascadia kept her eyes on both the soldiers rolling her way, relying on the much larger pile of water in front of her to deflect the barrage of light. She held up both hands, directing a shifting mass of liquid on the right to keep the taller trooper at bay, while focusing another at her left into a pounding hammer; trying to knock away the shield of the other, shorter one. His grip was too firm, so she flowed another direction and wrapped two ropes of water around the top and bottom of the shield, wrenching it out of his grasp.
The taller one suddenly lowered his shield and struck forth with his stun baton. Cascadia heard the crackling energy and pulled the water away from where he swung, and while he recovered from the missed thrust, Ash jumped forward and slammed down on the weapon, knocking it out of his hand. He adjusted his grip on his firebrand, tightening the paracord he'd used to tether it to his wrist.
Cascadia glanced sideways and saw Ash's first opponent was already out, his tread boots smashed and smoking. A wave crested in her heart and she doubled her efforts, sending a surge of water forward. Ash ran ahead of it to engage the shorter soldier who still had his baton. The other trooper floated helplessly inside a column of water still clutching his shield; every time he tried to swim or move, the liquid just moved with him, keeping him off the ground and immobile.
Ash parried a hard swing from his opponent. "Where's the other one?" he yelled.
Indeed, there had been four Black Holes, and only three were arrayed before them. Cascadia spun around, swiveling the water she was standing on, and saw a lanky trooper barreling toward the opposite entrance. Clearly he had done the math and suspected the other two ladies were nearby. Leaving her opponent still trapped, she whipped up a wave of water, cracking it like a whip and launching a spinning orb of liquid toward the errant combatant. It struck him in the back, bowling him forward as she cheered "Yes!" and clenched her fist in triumph. At the noise and clatter, Gayle appeared around the corner, reckoning the situation and disabling the poor fellow with her cable ties.
Ash was still dueling with the final Black Hole, exchanging quick blows between baton and firebrand. This one had some kind of training, as he handled his weapon with poise instead of just swinging it around. Whenever Ash moved, the expert trooper was ahead of him.
"Ash," Cascadia called, "teatime!"
The Black Hole hesitated, then drew back as Cascadia positioned a ball of water near her partner and he thrust his hand inside it, heating up the liquid in moments, spraying outward in a directed jet. The hot steam fogged up the duelist's visor in moments, allowing Ash to grab his wrist and twist in an unpleasant way, the baton clattering to the ground.
Ash forced the trooper to the floor and tried to handcuff him, hindered by the hot weapon still tied to his hand. Cascadia saw the issue and assisted, pressing heavy water on their foe's back while Ash slipped his hand out of the makeshift support. He reached inside the column that held the taller guy and incapacitated him similarly. Cascadia let all the water fall, drawing up as much as she could into her pack while Ash untied his firebrand and holstered it. He was breathing heavily from the exertion, her from the excitement. His face was fierce from the fight, it softened when he saw Cascadia standing there. She was gazing at him with a similar expression of tenderness, they each felt a new kind of closeness, a new unity. He felt the familiar prickling sensation on his skin as Cascadia dried him off, and Gayle called from the other side of the room to see if it was all clear. Ash yelled back that it was, then held out his hand. Cascadia stepped toward him and took it, and they walked together to meet their allies at the far door.
As soon as they left the cafeteria, Gayle pulled them aside for a moment in a corner. "Nearly forgot, everyone got their flashlights?"
Azalea pulled hers out and wrapped it around her slingshot brace. "Check!" She resumed her lookout around the corner.
"Yeah," Ash said, checking his headlamp, but leaving it in his pocket.
"Good deal," Gayle said, showing her own light tactical model, done in black metal. "Cascadia, I got one for you too." She handed her a twin of her own.
Cascadia took it and zipped it into her bag. "In case they trap us and cut the power? Oh… wait…"
Gayle nodded. "You got it. None of us've gone head to head with Frost, but it's the best chance we got."
"I have…" Cascadia said quietly. "Well, sort of." Ash took her hand and squeezed it. "It's not only the darkness, it's more than that. You'll need to… well, it'll help if you think happy thoughts, let's put it that way."
"Huh," Gayle said.
"The darkness does more than affect your eyes," Cascadia said quickly. "It also affects your heart, it'll make you feel… despair, sadness. It's hard to explain unless you've felt it before, but I really hope you won't have to."
"We'll do our best, like always," Gayle said.
"Oh, I thought of something else," Cascadia said, raising a finger. "That big machine… engine thing they put me in yesterday, the one that Lumina used to find out I was here," Ash and Gayle nodded. "It's down that way," she pointed to the particular hallway. "We should destroy it before Frost can use it on anyone else."
"Yeah, I'd love to," Gayle said, "but…"
Ash chuckled. "Gayle, with you there's always a catch."
"Part of bein' the leader is knowin' when to say no. In fact, that's most of it. Anyhow, I passed by it on the way up here. They must've put all the rest of the security fellas around it, and a mess of Black Holes. We wouldn't get through without somebody endin' up back in one of those cells."
Cascadia nodded to Gayle, her blue eyes shining. "Okay. Maybe next mission then?"
Gayle looked pleased. "Yeah. Let's get goin'."
Octave of Stars is currently airing on Substack for free, with two of the 45 total posts per week. It’ll be fully released at the end of April 2024. If you don’t want to wait that long, you can get the entire story right now, in either Ebook or paperback. Every purchase supports the ZMT Books mission of family-friendly entertainment.
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I honestly had someone say this to me at one point long ago, which is why it made it into the book!