The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

Chapter 701: [SERENDIPITOUS SUMMER] (II)

OVER the following week, Abby showed Jace every corner of Harborview—from the salt-crusted market stalls to the abandoned observatory atop the northern cliffs. On Thursday, they trekked to the outskirts where a crumbling stone shrine stood half-swallowed by ivy. Its arched doorway, carved with fading constellations, led to a courtyard where wind chimes made of sea glass clinked softly.

They were poking at moss-covered reliefs when a voice rasped behind them. ”You two lost?”

An old caretaker emerged from the shadows, her apron stained with clay. She eyed Jaceʼs motorcycle gloves. ”Tourists?”

”Just researching,” Jace said. ”For a paper.”

”Hmph.” She wiped her hands on her apron. ”Well, youʼre standing in the only place in town the tide wonʼt erase.” She nodded to the shrineʼs central mosaic—a woman holding a lantern, her features worn smooth by time.

Abby crouched, brushing grit from the tiles. ”Who is she?”

The caretaker sighed. ”Captain Elara. Sank her own ship three centuries back during some prideful stunt. Now they say she haunts the bay, pulling sailors from storms.” She jabbed a thumb at the broken lantern fragments littering the shrineʼs base. ”Folks used to leave these as offerings. Asked her to forgive herself.”

Though she was a local, Abby had never heard this story before—some fading legend slowly disappearing from the townʼs memory. There was no way she wouldnʼt have known about it otherwise.

”Did it work?” she asked before she could stop herself.

The woman laughed. ”Doubt it. Guilt like that? Itʼs a current, not an anchor. You either swim or drown.” She tossed a lantern shard into Abbyʼs palm. ”But kids these days donʼt believe in ghosts—or second chances.”

Abby closed her fingers around the ceramic. It was still warm from the sun. Its heat seemed to pierce her heart, making it harder to breathe.

***

The next afternoon, they found themselves in a cluttered boathouse where a grizzled man carved miniature ships. Jace picked up a delicate schooner, its sails thinner than paper.

”This is beautiful,” Jace commented. ”You made it so lifelike.”

The grizzled man laughed. ”Well, with my experience, I say I should be good at it.”

”You mean youʼve been doing it for a long time?” Jace asked.

”Thereʼs that. But I also used to build cargo haulers for a big company before. Made a fortune from it. Also made me miserable.” He pointed to a wall scribbled with miniature designs. ”Now I craft what I love. Even if it pays in peanuts.”

Jace rotated the schooner in his hands. ”Your family didnʼt mind?”

”Oh, they disowned me.” The man grinned. ”But kid, you only get one life. Why spend it being someone elseʼs idea of ʼusefulʼ?”

Abby watched Jaceʼs expression shift—like heʼd been handed a key he didnʼt know he needed. That night, as they walked back, he stopped at the docks.

”I got into the Advanced Propulsion Engineering program,” he admitted suddenly. ”My dadʼs dream, not mine.” The sea wind nearly stole his next words. ”I think… Iʼd rather restore pre-war tech instead. Those old combustion engines, analog systems—things that actually have history in their gears.”

Abby blinked. ”Thatʼs a pretty big detour.”

Jace laughed, sharp and bright. ”Yeah. Maybe thatʼs the point.”

***

As the sun dipped below Harborviewʼs skyline, the neon signs along the boardwalk flickered to life, casting a kaleidoscope of reflections on a dinerʼs rain-streaked windows. Inside, Abby watched Jaceʼs brow furrow at his holographic schematics—the same intense focus heʼd worn all week whenever antique tech was involved.

”Youʼve been staring at that engine schematic for an hour,” Abby said, nudging Jaceʼs boot with hers. They sat on the patio of a harborside diner, his Terminal projecting a holographic diagram of a vintage fusion drive between their empty plates.

Jace blinked, as if waking from a trance. ”Sorry. Itʼs just—” He zoomed in on a fuel regulator design. ”Look at this. No AI, no quantum calibration. Just pure mechanical intuition. They donʼt make them like this anymore.”

Abby tilted her head. ”You get like this every time you talked about old tech.”

”Yeah, well.” He shut off the display with a flick of his wrist. ”My dad calls it ʼwasting my potential.ʼ” The words came out sharper than heʼd intended.

Abby studied him for a long moment. ”Come on,” she said suddenly, standing. ”I want to show you a place.”

She pulled Jace along, the boy following with a helpless smile on his lips.

By the time they reached the beach, the tide had pulled back, leaving behind a ribbon of wet sand that mirrored the star-streaked sky. Abbyʼs sneakers left shallow impressions beside Jaceʼs boot prints, two parallel trails cutting through the dark.

The moon hung low as they walked along the shoreline, Abby leading Jace to a stretch of sand where the waves curled like liquid silver.

”You never told me why you really picked Harborview,” she said, nudging a shell with her toe.

Jace exhaled, watching the waves. ”Same reason you always sit in that café corner, I guess. Some part of me needed a place that felt... separate. Like it exists outside all the noise.”

Abby halted. ”Thatʼs the most honest thing youʼve said all week.”

”Yeah?” He turned, studying her. ”Whatʼs yours?”

”My what?”

”Your honest thing.”

For once, Abby didnʼt deflect. ”I like how you notice things,” she said softly. ”The way you actually see people. Not just... look at them.”

The breeze carried her words between them. Jace felt something unravel in his chest.

Then, then finally arrived at the cove Abby wanted to show Jace.

The cove was smaller than Abby remembered, its crescent of pale sand half-hidden by jagged rocks. Moonlight pooled in the hollows between stones, turning the shallows into liquid mercury. Somewhere beyond the breakers, a buoy bell clanged—a lone sound in the vast, salt-scented dark.

As they watched the sea from the cove, Jaceʼs fingers brushed hers.

”This okay?” Jace murmured, his pulse loud in his ears.

She laced their fingers together in answer, her blush visible even in the moonlight.

And thatʼs when Jace realized it.

He was falling for her. Not in some dramatic, world-ending way, but in the simple, stubborn manner of things that just are. And thereʼs no point denying it now.