The Lost Star Episode One by Odette C. Bell

, this is a direct order. You need to show me how to remove
them.”
    “I can’t take them off,” she repeated, still
staring at the wall.
    That pissed Hunter off. Here Chen was
trying to do his best, and she was ignoring him.
    Prickly anger spiked up his back. “Ensign,
follow a direct order.”
    “My armlets do not come off,” she said in a
stronger tone, the first time she’d ever responded in like kind to
his anger.
    “ Yes they do. I know they can’t be that
important; I’ve seen Meva take hers off plenty of times,” he
snapped.
    Ava looked at him, shock shattering her
expression. Her eyes grew wide, her cheeks slackened, and her lips
stiffened and parted.
    The intensity of her reaction was enough to
send a bolt of nerves shooting down his back.
    “She… takes her bands off?” Ava asked in a
stuttering tone.
    It was like he’d just told her Meva was the
devil.
    He suddenly realized he might have just
shared an intimate detail that could get Meva in trouble.
    “ Is that such a bad thing?” Chen asked
diplomatically, a touch of concern arcing through his words, no
doubt at Ava’s strong reaction.
    “ It’s forbidden,” her voice dropped low.
“Avixan society does not permit the removal of locks.”
    Locks.
    She called them locks.
    All this time he’d thought those bands were
just adornments. What if they weren’t? What if they were reminders
of how shackled most of Avixan society was?
    Come to think of it, Ava’s armlets were
massive. They spanned her entire forearms and were made of an
unusual gold metal that looked expensive. Were they a symbol of her
position in Avixan society? A permanent reminder to the other
Avixans on board that she was better than them?
    His muscles constricted as he thought
about it. “Just take them off. Stop playing the cultural-reasons
card. If it’s fine for the other Avixans, it should be fine for
you. Unless you think you’re better than them, which you aren’t.
Now, Chen’s trying to help you.”
    “ I suggest you don’t comment about things
you don’t understand .
And they don’t come off,” she said once more, meeting his gaze
directly.
    He’d finally done it. He’s pissed her
off.
    Good.
    She deserved it.
    “Okay, guys, we all need to calm down. But I
have to stress once more, I need to get these bands off,” Chen
tried in a calm tone.
    “ Doctor, they can’t come off. They are
physically locked on. You would have to amputate my
arms.”
    Chen looked shocked. “But… I… the other
Avixan s—”
    “ I’m nothing like the other Avixans. Check
my file. I can’t take my locks off when I feel like it.” She looked
directly at Hunter.
    “ I… I’ll check your file.” Chen took a step
back, brought up his wrist device and typed something into it. A
second later he sucked a deep breath through his teeth. “I am very
sorry,” he nodded low, “I didn’t realize. I should not have
insisted. If we’ve offended you culturally, we apologize.” Chen
made brief eye contact with Hunter.
    Hunter ignored it.
    So what if Ava couldn’t remove her armbands.
It didn’t mean anything.
    “I guess I can work around this.” Chen
nodded. “It might take longer to heal, and you’ll have to come back
for a couple of checkups, but it’s doable. I’m sorry again.”
    “ It’s okay.” Ava’s expression mellowed, and
she nodded politely. “You didn’t know. Avixan society can be…
confusing to those from the outside.”
    “Sure can, but that’s no excuse for being
insensitive.” Chen grabbed a scanner up and waved it over her
arm.
    Hunter stood there for a single second, then pushed back hard on
his heel.
    “ Lieutenant , wait up. I need to speak to you – clarify what
happened. Can you please wait in my office for me?” Chen didn’t
even look up.
    The only thing Chen wanted to clarify was
why Hunter was being such a jerk.
    Chen had seniority in all medical matters,
so Hunter had no choice but to obey.
    A few minutes later, Chen walked in,