Bright Star Read Online Free Page A

has turned to a dark red, almost black, and an exclamation of astonishment escapes my lips, surprising even myself. I approach. A strange, unimaginable, rosy hue spreads on Prince’s complexion. His cheeks redden. His lips become juicy.
    “Temperature: twelve degrees Celsius. Heartbeat: absent. EEG: flat. Blood transfer in progress. Twelve minutes to total awakening.”
    I consult the map. The white dot in the Sixth Sector approaches faster than I had guessed. Evidently the alien, with all those legs, can proceed quickly.
    “Blood transfer completed. Temperature: twenty-two degrees Celsius. Heartbeat: absent. EEG: flat. Start resuscitation procedure. First defibrillation.”
    Suddenly, a terrible jolt shakes Prince’s inert body. A spasm raises him at least a palm from the padding, and then he falls down, sprawled, hair upon his face.
    I shout and put my hands on the cover. “Corp, what are you doing to him? Stop it!”
    “Heartbeat: absent. EEG: flat. Temperature: twenty-nine degrees Celsius. Second defibrillation.”
    “No!”
    Prince’s body quakes again. When I imagined his awakening—and I imagined it many times—he just opened his eyes, the sarcophagus lid lifted, and there he was, smiling at me. Nothing like this. I’m not even sure Corp is really awakening him. It seems Corp’s torturing him.
    “Heartbeat: irregular. EEG: minimal activity. Temperature: thirty-three degrees Celsius. Third defibrillation.”
    “Stop it!”
    But Corp doesn’t listen to me. He never listened. He created me in pain and He’s awakening Prince in pain. He has as little respect for Prince as for me. This angers me deeply.
    Prince’s body jolts again.
    “Heartbeat: irregular activity. EEG: irregular activity. Temperature: thirty-six degrees Celsius. Fourth defibrillation.”
    I can’t do anything but watch, my hands clenched on the sarcophagus edge. Corp shakes and tortures Prince two more times. His body trembles, and at every violent shock his head falls back. I wonder what will happen if the tubes in his neck tear out. I realize Prince’s eyes are open to two white crescents. I can’t stand it anymore, and I look around for something to break the glass. But there’s nothing. Nothing.
    “Fifth Sector under decompression.”
    I swivel toward the map. The alien has entered our sector.
    As in my whole stupid life, I don’t know what to do. “You’ll be damned, Corp. Could you provide me with something to use against them?”
    I watch in horror as the dot approaches. I think the alien is moving in the levels above us, and perhaps uses some kind of equipment to sense our living bodies, as it travels directly toward us.
    The aliens are here for Prince, I’m his guardian angel, and I don’t have a weapon to defend him with. I clench my fists.
    A sound travels toward me. A faint echo inside this tiny, ridiculous metal shell, lost in the depths of Outside, that I always considered my whole world. Since I was born, I never questioned Ship’s safety. Ship seemed endless, indestructible and inalterable. What a stupid idea.
    I hear the alien’s steps, several levels higher, approaching and then stopping above us.
    I wait, fists so tight I hurt my palms with my fingernails.
    A moment of deadly silence. Then Corp’s fake voice makes me jolt.
    “Heart rate: 50 bpm. EEG: regular activity. Temperature: thirty-five degrees Celsius. Subject condition: good. Resuscitation completed.”
    This catches me by surprise. I thought Prince was dying.
    Another sound travels up to me through countless levels of bulkhead: the clink of metal against metal.
    And behind my back, muffled by the heavy glass lid, a cough.
    Incredulous, I turn to Prince, but the cover is fogged in condensation and I can’t see him.
    Something moans behind me. I spin sharply on my heels, heart in my mouth. The little keypad on the wall beside the elevator’s door shines with a threatening green light. The main elevator comes to life with a huff.
    I gasp.
    The