Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis)'s Arc

Chapter 4 of 4

The stars on the page stayed dark. Betelgeuse stared at his planted sign, then turned away from it. If the others would not look up, he would make them. He needed something brighter than a globe in a net. The white pearl closet stood at the far wall, gold rims shining. Shaula tapped its side. "It sleeps here." Antares folded his arms. "Then wake it." The doors split open. The tall mech stepped out, plates layered, orange lights burning along its chest. Betelgeuse studied the seam at its core. A hatch. A way in. He climbed. Hand over hand, up the cold plating, until the hatch hissed wide. He slid inside. Lights blinked around him. At the center hung a real star, small and white-hot, caged in wires. Betelgeuse cut the wires. He cradled the star and climbed back down. Outside, he strung it inside a wide woven net stamped with a robot motif. The star hung there, plain for anyone to see. The mech stood empty behind him, hollowed out. Betelgeuse had his prize. But the closet doors were already grinding shut, and the orange lights along the empty shell began to blink red.