The ground rises to meet me as I plummet. Right as I open my mouth to scream, a force clamps down around my ankle. I jerk to a halt, dangling a few feet off the ground.

"You want to do me a favor and grab onto the ladder?"

After hearing the strained voice, I look up past my feet to see Ness, one hand around my ankle and the other on a ladder rung. The way his arms are strained means that I can see the full tension in his flexed muscles, and it looks like his tight-fitting t-shirt might actually rip under the pressure like when cartoon characters flex.

"Paula?"

"Right. Sorry."

I reach for the ladder and grab onto a rung. I climb up bar by bar, Ness keeping his hold on me until I'm nearly upright again. We climb down, and once on the ground Ness rubs his hands together and winces. I study his palms and don't see any signs of blistering, at least.

Ness reaches for the brim of his cap, and only then do I process that it isn't there. He tenses and glances around, and the relief that washes over him when he spots it a few paces away looks genuine. He runs over, shakes the dirt out, and places it back on his head with a deep sigh.

"I'm scandalized that you saw me without the cap again," Ness says. "It's like being naked. You're the squeamish one, so I was counting on you to point it out."

I can't stop myself from rolling my eyes at him, and only after I catch the twinkle in his eye do I realize he's diffused the tension in the air yet again. But this time, I'm not going to hide my experiences.

"Sorry about the fall," I say. "You know how I mentioned that the Starman and thralls have been using telepathy to talk with me? I saw that Starman by Giant's Step and it was talking to me."

Ness frowns. "That doesn't sound good. I know we're not supposed to bug the dynamic Andonuts duo," He breaks a smile upon catching the glance I shoot at his way in response to the name, "But we could see if they have any ideas."

I nod. There is a part of me that wants to spend more time with Ness alone, but we should address this sooner rather than later. But before that…

"One last thing," I say. "Remember when you were talking about how I'll never see you as cool after I spent a lot of time around you while you were twelve?"

"You mean three minutes ago? My memory's not that bad, Paula."

"Well, you were right."

Ness huffs, crossing his arms. "And after I saved you from a nasty fall, too. I see how it is."

"I'm not done."

Ness's comedic indignance breaks, and I see a glint of unease behind it. I'm not sure I ever realized how much of his heart Ness offered me, and he knows I could shatter it right here and now.

"I'm glad that you're not cool," I say. "I'm glad that I'm not some girl from Onett who sees only the hero that she'll never be good enough for. I'm glad that I get to see the real you, delisauce-covered rock candy and all. Thanks for having my back, Ness. During our adventure and now. And I wouldn't trade the time we spent together for anything in the world."

"So I'm hearing," Ness says, "That my trash burgers were actually a good thing that helped break the ice between us."

I shoot him a flat look, which only makes his grin widen. After a second, the energy in his expression fades to a quieter warmth in his eyes and smile.

"Sorry," he says. "I couldn't resist. Thanks, Paula. That means more to me than you know. Even after our chat in that horrible puzzle dungeon in Winters, I was still worried you hated me."

"What?" I furrow my brow. "Why would I hate you?"

"I never claimed my worries made sense, Paula. If I were normal then I wouldn't be picking hamburgers out of trash cans."

I let out a sigh at that, and Ness breaks into a laugh.

"Last time I'll joke about it, I promise," he says. "But seriously. I couldn't ask for a better friend. Now let's see what the smart people have to say about what happened to you."

Couldn't ask for a better friend. Was Jeff wrong about Ness liking me, or does he still not realize my feelings for him? I mull over the question as we walk back to the building Dr. Andonuts is staying in, and upon entering Ness has to pull me back so I don't slip on all the papers scattered across the floor.

"Uh, sorry about that," Jeff says. "Good news is that we actually found what we were looking for, somehow. I don't suppose you prayed for us and got a good result, Paula?"

I blink. I know he's making a joke about the random effects that came from my prayers during our adventure, but I can't remember the last time I've prayed at all.

"And there's that."

Dr. Andonuts's voice. I glance over to see him putting down the phone and turning to us. "All of the others who got abducted report no sign of psychic powers. I don't think they were hiding anything from me, but I suppose that isn't out of the question."

"Good news," Jeff says, "Though it means we need a new lead about where to go next."

Ness exchanges a glance with me, and I nod. He informs Jeff and Dr. Andonuts about what happened up on the ladder, including my fall.

"Oh, dear," Dr. Andonuts says. "Are you quite all right, Miss Paula?"

"We're both fine," Ness says, "Aside from my cap getting a little banged up."

Jeff studies the hat. "Is that the same one from five years ago? You need a new one anyways."

"All I can say," Ness replies, "Is that some of us didn't go and get a big head after the adventure ended, so my cap still fits."

Jeff snorts. "That wasn't the worst comeback. You might have a chance as a third-rate comedian after all."

"Thanks, buddy." Ness winks at him. "Always nice to know my friends believe in me."

"Not to interrupt your little moment," I say, "But what do you two think about the Starman and what it's doing to me?"

Jeff's hand goes to his chin, and the focus in the gaze behind his thick glasses makes him look like a professor even at age seventeen.

"I have a hypothesis," he says. "This Starman has more powerful PSI than we've seen from any of its kind, it's speaking to Paula in a human-like manner, and we know that some people started to turn into Starmen. Combine that with the fact that all the people who were taken to Stonehenge are accounted for, where does that leave us?"

"They could have captured someone else and turned them into a Starman," I say. "Someone like…"

When I meet Jeff's gaze, I know we've arrived at the same answer.

"The missing psychics who fought Starmen before," Jeff says. "Ninten and Ana. What if the Starmen already forced their transformations? It could explain why this one is powerful enough to use telepathy on someone miles away."

"Okay," Ness says, "But then why have we only seen one? And I don't know how much the human speech matters. We've been able to talk with Starmen in English before."

"Like I said, it's a working hypothesis. But it's guarding a sanctuary like the other thralls were. Either way we'll have to take it on, and we should prepare for the worst and assume that we're dealing with a powerful psychic here."

The room goes quiet. Another question lingers in the air that nobody has dared to ask. If this Starman is able to tap into my mind, am I a liability? Right now, the point is moot. My PSI Magnet is the only reliable tool we have for dealing with this thing. If the Starman tries to influence my mind again, Ness and Jeff will have to distract it long enough for me to get close and drain its power.

Or there could be another way out.

"If we're really against a master psychic," I say, "We need all the help we can get. I don't suppose you two have another way of getting into contact with Poo?"

Ness shoots Jeff a questioning look, who responds with a curt shake of his head.

"He could have called my home phone back for all I know," Ness says. "I can check and leave him another voicemail. It's better than nothing."

Jeff and I both hesitate before nodding, but in the end it's not like we have better ideas. At least now we have a plan.

To Onett, then.

#

After Ness teleports us to Onett, Jeff says he wants to check out the nearby stores for junk parts while Ness makes the call. I'm hesitant to let him go after the last time he went off somewhere on his own we found him unconscious in a cave, but he should be safe walking around in Onett.

Besides, it's me that the Starman wants, not Jeff.

Ness and I make our way back to his house, and when Ness enters I see Tracy at the kitchen table doing homework. With all the chaos that's happened, it takes me a second to remember that today is a Saturday.

"How is Dr. Oldnuts doing?" Tracy asks, not looking up from her worksheet.

"Better than ever," Ness says. "Mom's out?"

"Running errands. She'll be sad when I tell her she missed you. I need to find my own monthlong adventure so that she spoils me whenever I'm around."

"You do that," Ness says. "You didn't happen to get a call from Dalaam this morning, did you?"

Tracy scrunches up her nose. "Who do I look like to you, someone who answers phone calls? Check the voicemail yourself."

The fact that Ness is unfazed by Tracy's attitude tells me that this is normal behavior for her. I was always jealous of Ness for having a younger sibling, but now I'm starting to wonder if I dodged a bullet.

Ness heads over to check the phone, and once he's out of the dining room Tracy finally looks up and studies me.

"Thanks for keeping him alive, Paula. I'd rather our mom doesn't find out how helpless he is on his own."

"Actually, he's been doing most of the keeping us alive."

Tracy snorts. "He had better pull his weight after leading you all into danger time after time." She pauses, setting down her pencil. "You know that he likes you, right?"

I blink. "Jeff mentioned that, yeah."

"Cool. Just making sure."

She goes back to her worksheet.

"Um," I say. "Did Ness tell you that?"

"That he likes you?" Tracy looks up at me, raising an eyebrow. "He may be desperate where girls are concerned. I might even go so far as to call him a lost cause. But even he's not going to tell his little sister about his crushes and look for approval or advice."

"I… suppose he wouldn't."

Tracy finishes a problem, circles the answer, and flips the page over.

"Tracy?" I say.

"Mm-hmm."

"Is Ness… doing all right? I mean, after his journey, did he have a hard time going back to a normal life?"

"Ness wouldn't know a hard time until it socked him in the face," Tracy says. "He was happy to finally be the popular kid. Always in a mood so good that it was kind of annoying."

That does match up with how I saw him act towards the other Onett students who were in that bus we protected. I hadn't realized until seeing him again how much of that camaraderie was a learned skill.

"And he wasn't, like, depressed?" I say.

"No." She studies me. "What are you getting at?"

"Hey hey."

I nearly jump upon hearing Ness's voice from behind. He walks into the dining room, glancing down at Tracy's worksheet.

"How's algebra?"

"It's quite literally child's play. Don't you have better things to be doing?"

Ness laughs, unfazed. "We're waiting for Jeff anyways. What were you two talking about?"

"You," Tracy says.

For a second I'm worried she's going to relay what I was asking about, but she doesn't elaborate.

"All good things, I hope?" Ness says.

Tracy snorts. "You wish. All your fangirls stroke your ego enough already. You definitely don't need any more praise from me and Paula."

"They're not fangirls, Tracy. We're all classmates who chat with each other because there's not much to do in this town."

"Yeah, yeah, and your favorite food isn't steak." She sighs and looks up at Ness. "As much as hearing your voice makes doing homework annoying enough to be a challenge, don't you have better ways to kill time before Jeff gets back?"

As if on cue, the doorbell rings. Ness leads me over, glancing back at Tracy to shake his head with an amused smile on his face.

"Thanks for bearing with her," Ness says. "She means well, even if she's… getting used to being a teenager."

"You're a patient older brother," I say.

"Eh, she's also pretty nice for a little sister. Getting roasted is about as bad as it gets. None of the kicking beneath the table or stealing my stuff or fake crying to get me in trouble with mom that normally comes with the territory."

If this is the standard for nice younger sibling, then maybe I did luck out. Still, it was good to chat with Tracy and confirm that she hasn't seen any of the vulnerability Ness shared with me. I want to tell him that he can always be open with me about that kind of thing, but I'm not someone who can direct conversations in the way that he can. So in the end, I stay silent as Ness opens the door and reveals Jeff in the doorway.

"Got some good parts," Jeff says. "Nothing that will help us now, but could be useful down the road. How'd things go on your end?"

"I got a royal advisor from Dalaam saying that Poo isn't available," Ness says. "I asked him to pass along my message but didn't get the feeling he'll do it. I think we're on our own for a while."

Jeff sighs. "Figures. Any last stops before Giant's Step?"

We look around, and none of us come up with anything else we need to prepare. I take a deep breath. Time to face this Starman who's been pestering us on its own turf.