SHADOW STAR Page 2

  Then, I started to notice the old man again. He walked up to me, and then I knew. The Keeper, who else, had something on his mind. He motioned to the door, something big was up.

  “I am going to leave in two weeks.”

  “Somehow, I knew that already.”

  “I thought you might.”

  “What should I do?”

  “I need the use of your friend’s communicators. Also, I am going to leave you to protect this sector.”

  “Sector?”

  “My people have divided space, which we travel only lightly, into sectors. We have mapped space, well our known space. A small ship is on its way now to take me home. I will see you again when the high elder calls a meeting of all the Star People.”

  “Star People?”

  “Yes. You are the newest member of the Order of the Star People.”

  “I see.” I should have said something else, but what?

  “At that time, you will meet the rest of your new brothers and sisters. The Order of the Star People will induct you as a full member.”

  “How many are there?”

  “They are now complete. They number many. Some say as many as the stars. However, they number seventy-seven. You are their lucky number. They will treat you with much respect, because of the way you were chosen.”

  “How many did they begin with? I mean how many founders were there?”

  “There were only seven original members. They are the most dear to the elders. Sometimes, they even meet with the elders.”

  “How will the elders react to me?”

  “Like the special one you are. I tell you now the elders will know and treat you as a son. You must treat them well.”

  “Do you and your people have a god?”

  “Oh, yes. The Old One who made all that is, is our God. He walked with us for a time long ago. I was very young then, but I remember well. He was kind to me. He was killed in an unpleasant manner. But his death freed us. I don’t know how to tell you this but He is still with us. And will continue to be there and here, forever.”

  “I know.”

  “You do?”

  A question from him surprised me. “We call him Lord or Jesus.”

  “Jesus, I have heard of him only in small amounts. What we call him is of old and this place is not the right place for it.”

  Sam saw us outside and walked out to us.

  “Greetings”, the Keeper said.

  Sam knew how to deal with this type. “Well thank you. I’m pleased to see one of our age here. Would you like a personal demonstration?”

  “Yes, I would.”

  Old Sam had hooked a big one. Now it was his turn to be amazed by the Keeper, for the Keeper was going to tell Sam almost everything in order to gain his trust.

  As Sam was giving the Keeper the deluxe tour, I slipped into the quest room to get my stuff. I changed there and left by the window. Sam only saw a black flash as I went and did not think anything of it. People who came for the party had started to go to the bars. This left Sam, Mike and Joe all alone with the Keeper. I could hear them talking from on the roof.

  “You want to do what?”

  “I said I wanted to use your devices to make contact with my people.”

  Joe and Mike did not hear this, they were cleaning up.

  “Who are you?”

  Here we go again. The Keeper told him everything but the dealings with me. To Sam he was on vacation or something and had gotten homesick. Nice and believable I thought. Well, to me it was. After some more talk, Sam agreed, but quite did not know why.

  Mike and Joe had late dates and left. So I went back inside. There are ways to change ones voice. The suit had several. Now would be a good time to try one I thought.

  “Good silence Keeper.” Right on cue; almost, and I knew it.

  “Greetings, Shadow Star.”

  Sam thought he was dreaming now. Who could blame him? To him I was another space weirdo.

  Chapter 5

  Sam had fully explained the hoover craft to him and presently the Keeper and I were floating in Sam’s living room. Too much of Sam, he just sat there and look shocked. In short order, the Keeper had mastered the craft and was trying to call home. I said something about E.T. and calling home, which brought Sam around. He laughed so hard he almost cried.

  By the look on his face I knew something was wrong. The Keeper had bad news and would leave for home as soon as his ship got to earth. As advanced as they seemed, they must have had poor luck in space travel. His ship was in deep space two weeks away. To me it made sense that they should have mastered space better.

  I could not get him to tell me what was wrong. Although I knew it bothered him, I guess he figured I could not handle it yet. Later on, I found out he was right.

  Sam had work to do, so we left. I felt great. The Keeper was mumbling something about the other side. Well, that’s all I heard. I had not seen anyone at the party I wanted to go out with so I went out (in my normal clothes) by myself. This time I did not mind, I had a lot to think about. It was a cool evening and I had my full complement of gifts with me. Even though I had used them all, I needed practice. However it may look, I felt like a space age ‘007’.

  I started to walk down to the strip to meet Mike, Joe and their dates, but decided to take a ‘short cut’. After landing behind the bar, I checked my bag at the door and went in. Joe was dancing and Mike had started act two of his comedy routine. He must have been above par tonight because people were listening instead of leaving.

  Joe saw me first and had taken the liberty to set me up with someone. Great, I thought just what I need to get stuck in one place and not be

  able to leave. He introduced me to her and I first noticed her eyes. They seemed to sparkle. I was hers. She seemed to know a lot about me. Joe said she may be a little strange because she asked twice what my real name was. I knew she knew more than she was letting on to know. As we began to dance I asked her first name.

  “Venessa.”

  I was in love then. She wanted to go for a walk, so we left saying good night. It made me think about what could happen. I’m glad I did not know.

  I know some nice lakes around there and the moon was almost full, so that is where we headed, arm in arm. She wanted to know all about me. Slyly as possible, I told her very little. I wanted to know her. She said she was a foreign student. Funny, I thought, I had never seen her here before. I was getting sleepy when she said something about getting a closer look at the moon. I’m not sure what exactly she said. I suggested the campus observatory and she seemed disappointed.

  “What do you want then?”

  “Your confidence.”, said Venessa quite mildly.

  I knew that tone. Who was she really? I said something like ‘sure’ or something. Good enough I guess, because she whispered ‘Star People’ to me. What a shock, one of them with me here. I pointed towards the moon. She understood. We changed in an old gym on campus. After we met outside, I saw her sign, a virgin white star. Mine was of course a dark star with an infinity sign over it.

  “Shadow Star”, she said in quite amazement.

  “And you?”

  “I am simply Venessa. I’m one of the Seven, the youngest. I needed someone my age to talk to.”

  “You, my age; I’m about a year old in your time.”

  “How old am I in your years? And how old do I look?”

  “In my years you are around 400 years old, even though you look twenty.”

  “Thank you.” With that she took my hand and we sailed toward the moon.

  If you think looking at a full moon is nice, try being on it with someone you care for. I did not think the elders planned this, but if they had it was fine with me. She had nearly 400 years of experience and it showed, wow. That night was great. We woke up in the bottom of a crater, just on the dark side of the moon. Moon dust is softer than Florida
beach sand, simply heavenly. Only a honeymoon could have been better.

  Chapter 6

  The good times can last for only so long. The Keeper was upset, but still would not talk. He had taken the hover craft back to the cave. I knew he knew was talking to the elders and to the ship coming for him. Venessa could only stay for a week; she had to get to her sector, one of the home sectors. I asked her to go to church with me. She was thrilled. I explained the mass as we sat there and she loved every minute. Everything reminded me that both she and the Keeper would soon be gone. Also, I got the feeling hard times were ahead.

  Hard times were coming (Hard Times - a distorted or twisted experience which ruins your day), I could feel it. Well the Keeper finally told me what was bothering him. This other side, or dark side, as he called it, had heard about the completion of the Star People and wanted to test an old tale or prophesy if you wish. The Star People being whole; would mean the beginning of the three year war. One of the ancients had written this. The high elder was believed to be the last of the ancients. Great, I thought, I was going to be responsible for a war. Venessa tried to explain I had almost nothing to do with it but I may be important in it. Oh fine, a three year war that I was going to fight in. Did I mention ruined days well this one was the pits.

  The next night was Tuesday; bargain night at the movies. I had to escape. Classes were dragging me down. Joe and Sam were worried about me. Mike thought it was a ‘phase’, a mid-life crisis at twenty. With me depressed and the Keeper upset, Venessa and I went to see a movie. The show was alright but I can’t remember the name, some science fiction flic.

  Sam had ideas about the strange ‘Shadow Star’ guy he had met. Why he asked me about it I don’t know. He figured ‘Shadow Star’ came from a nearby galaxy not from the distant galaxy the Keeper was from. He had to have been a close friend of the Keeper that

  happened to have strange powers. Sam decided, ‘SS’ as he called him (or rather me) was born with his powers. Well I played it up to say the least. Joe wasn’t interested because he had girls on his mind. I thought he might get engaged any week now. Mike tried to make a joke out of the whole thing. I think it confused him to consider it seriously. We decided not to tell anyone else, that was my idea.

  On Thursday, the Keeper called the ship. It said it would land at an abandoned air strip north of here a week from Friday. I was to protect it while it was in my sector. My responsibility would begin when the Star Person in the next sector turned back to his home. His name was ‘Death Star’; disturbing, I thought. The rest of the day I talked to Venessa, she had to go tomorrow. She said she really cared for me. Then she surprised me and gave me a necklace which had a small white star on it, her symbol. The way she explained it to me, I could hold it and talk to her mentally if I had to contact her. I thanked her with a well meant kiss; she must have understood. She smiled and I nearly cried, oh I knew I loved her and the feeling was mutual (thank God).

  The Keeper had me at the cave right after class. Venessa was there by she was silent. It had started. The other side had attacked early that morning in one of the home sectors. How they had got that far across the border, nobody knew. They had been soundly defeated and run all the way back to their own space. That did not matter, the three year war had begun and now I was to get my orders. My sector was a remote sector on the border with the other side. They would most likely leave me alone but that did not mean they would not try me from time to time. I was to only keep my sector clear and to aid in nearby sectors if needed. Simple and plain that is what bothered me. I knew Venessa could tell I was a little worried, but she seemed to be waiting for the finale. The problem was getting the Keeper back to his home planet. All interplanetary travel drew attention from the other side but this was different, the ship would be dangerously close to the border in order to pick up the Keeper. As

  soon as I had the full scoop, Venessa said her goodbyes and took me outside, kissed me telling me she loved me and to take care of myself and left. I could have died then.

  Chapter 7

  Well, I had to think. I had a week to prepare for the ship’s arrival. It would only be on the ground long enough to get the Keeper and his things and would leave to return for home immediately. I had to follow it from Death Star’s sector to earth and back. I prayed that there would be no problem, but I knew there would almost certainly be some type of difficulty. I had the weekend to work with so class would be no problem. What if I encountered the other side? What would they try to do? How would I react? Would I succeed? That is a lot to think about and I’m not sure if I knew the answers.

  I did not know what to do with myself that weekend. I could have studied, that would have done me some good but I didn’t. Sam wanted just the guys to go out Saturday so that is all I planned to do. I slept sort of uneasy Friday night. Breakfast was all right; 7:00 AM is a little early for me to be eating but I could not sleep any more. Flying time, I thought I would get in a little flying time. Venessa had just left and I was already looking forward to seeing her again. It was like a part of me was missing. I was going to bum-around until the get-together with the guys. Space felt good, it’s peaceful out there. An uneasy feeling came over me like I was not alone. Then I thought about the war. Was the other side trying me already? I could only hope it was not serious yet. Well there he was, not trying very hard not to be seen. He was watching me. A dark warrior, a bad race at best, the opposite of the Star People, was in my sector and was there uninvited. Dressed all in black, they have no symbols, he was so dark I could not even see the whites of his eyes, I guess his eyes were solid black. I went up to him as calmly as possible; he didn’t even move. I was going to ask him to go back to his side of the border, because there was nothing of interest here to him (I hoped he did not know of the ship and the Keeper, yet). The distance between us must have been too close for his comfort, he sailed straight at me. I had plenty of room to dodge him, and I turned but was not going to do anything at that moment. Thinking I had startled him, I was going to

  wait and see what he would do first. Apparently to him I had started it and he was going to do his best to finish it. Well he got off a good ‘light’ blast which nearly knocked my shoulder off. That’s all it took to send me into action. I guess he did not know my symbol yet, I nearly killed him almost too easy. He froze as I pounded him with two or three ‘light’ shots then he fell back as I hit him in the ankles with a small bolo. After I had given him some sound advice, I put the fear of God in him; I rudely took him back to his side of the border and left him dumbfounded.

  Only after I got home did I feel my shoulder. It felt broke, but it was only badly bruised. I did what I could for it and took a shower. A wonder it is how much better a shower can make you feel after a good fight (oh, but I was sore!). As soon as I got dressed it was time to go out and I did not even eat lunch and it was time for supper. Funny how much time people take to have a hard fight. I had been up there all day and it felt like an hour to me.

  Sam was waiting for me in his car. I thought where are the other guys? Sam sensed this and said he had a few questions to ask me in private before he picked up Joe and Mike.

  “You know, after I have had a chance to think about it, you remind me a lot of S.S. [me again] Do you know this guy? Are you related or something?”

  I could tell Sam was not going to let the subject die without a good reason. “Sam I have known you and the guys long enough that we have almost so secrets between us. What I’m going to tell you, you must not tell anyone, not even Mike and Joe. … I am Shadow Star, the Keeper was my teacher.”

  He was stunned but that is what he expected me to say. I told him everything about the Keeper and me but almost nothing about the elders, the Star People, Venessa, or the war.

  He stopped to get a six-pack before we went to Mike’s apartment. Joe would be there also. Every time Sam looked at me he would just
shake his head and look away. I figured he was trying to believe me but was having a hard time doing it. I can’t say that I blame him.

  We stopped at Mike’s which is just off campus. It looked like a slow evening of drinking and B.S In fact, I was ready for a dull evening so I could relax and forget what I did that day. However, every subject we chose to talk about ended up with that ‘strange’ old man and the guy who could fly. One of those conversations that seem to go in circles. At times it was rather funny, thanks to Mike. The conversation was wearing on me and Sam knew it.

  “Let’s go for a ride.”, Sam.

  I was glad for a change and the guys seemed ready to leave also, so we piled into Sam’s car and left. Finally, I had a normal evening since I became Shadow Star. We had all had a good time. Most of our troubles were forgotten for at least a few hours. That is what I needed most of all. We ended up by the cliffs talking, where all my trouble had started and tonight I did not even mind being out there. Sam was even laughing about his fall and said he might try it again if he did not have to hit at the bottom. Well part of my life at least was back to normal.