And All the Stars by Andrea K Höst Read Free Book Online

to do some comparisons of our stars to the ones of the
Spire. You seriously think someone hit
him, Nash?"
    "It would be stupid to ignore the possibility. We still haven't the least idea what is going
on."
    "Why compare your stars to the Spires'?" Noi also looked over her shoulder, craning
back to sight the tip of the Spire.
    "To see if they matched in pattern, or even
reacted." He glanced down at Fish,
at the patches of blue on his exposed arms. "And to see if having stars would let us through the barrier around
it."
    "Did it?" Madeleine asked, interested. "Did you touch it?"
    "No. The barrier
remains. But it was only a first
look."
    Unlocking the sliding entrance door of Nikosia , Noi led them into the
small indoor dining area, pulling one of the tables aside to clear access to
the long, padded seat which ran up the right wall.
    "There's a first aid kit somewhere. Be right back."
    "Have you been cooking?" Pan asked, sniffing the
restaurant's fresh-baked aroma as his friends manoeuvred Fish onto the
too-narrow seat. Then he laughed:
"Man, you won't even have to look at people to tell which ones are Blues –
just wave something edible and we'll come running."
    "Are you all–?" Madeleine asked, and Pan held his
arms out, showing starry blue palms and a thick stripe disappearing under the
sleeves of his jacket.
    Nash was more obviously Blue, with all of the back of his
neck that shade, the stars rather faint, and Gav – wearing a black blazer over
a school uniform similar to Fish's – stripped it off to reveal all of his left
arm and most of his right was blazing with light against a midnight field.
    "Only Blues are out and about, I think," he said,
hooking the blazer over a chair. "We fell over quickest, once the stain showed up, but the Greens at
school can still barely get out of bed."
    "School? You
stayed at your school?"
    "We're from Rushies ," Pan
explained, gesturing at an embroidered gold crest on the blazer. "Rushcutters Bay Grammar. It's one of the biggest boarding schools in
Sydney. Two-thirds of the students are
day boys, but the rest of us are either from out of town, or overseas. No way to get–"
    He broke off as Noi emerged from the kitchen, first aid kit
in one hand, and a baking tray half-full of scones balanced on the other.
    "One of you grab the jam and butter I set out," she
said. "There's drinks in the
walk-in to the right."
    She handed the tray off to Nash and then began sorting
through the first aid kit while everyone else attacked the scones. Even Madeleine had another, surprised at
herself.
    "Is this extreme appetite thing going to keep up, do you
think?" she asked Nash.
    "Who can tell?" He didn't seem as hungry as his friends, only eating one scone for the
pile they'd inhaled. " BlueGreen – one of the data compilation sites – is
suggesting that the stars indicate some level of stored energy, and that is why
there's a need for increased food intake. Did both of you experience the surge after the stars developed?"
    "Surge?" Noi
paused, holding a pad of antiseptic-soaked cotton wool. "The poltergeist imitation? Yeah, I sent our coffee table flying."
    Madeleine nodded, and rubbed her arm where her shirt hid a
plaster-treated cut.
    "It may relate to the field which stops anyone from
approaching the Spires," Nash said. "The Spire has stars. Blues
have stars. The Spire has a shield. Blues experience the surge. And only Blues are so ridiculously
hungry. So far." He sighed, and looked quickly at Noi's patient, who had shifted in response to her
dabbing. "We went down to Circular
Quay after trying the Spire, because someone had reported a Blue dog, and small
animals surviving are so rare we wanted to document it."
    "An exercise in futility, with bonus rotting
seagulls," Pan said. "Gav, you
have a car, right? I don't think Fish is
going to be up to a walk even if he does wake up."
    "Right." Gav
grabbed his blazer and another scone and headed to the door. "See you soon."
    "I think he'll be okay," Noi said,