* * *
I don’t remember anything about my return to the infinite tunnel. I recall only the joy of feeling free, weightless, and comfortable, bathed and calmed once again by light. I opened my eyes and saw that my Ergal was still in my hand. The first sphere I had collected was getting smaller and smaller. It had stopped shadowing me and had reattached itself to my Ergal, disappearing completely as I kept mega’ing and could no longer see at the molecular level. As I continued to grow, the wall in front of me lost its texture and once more became a smooth surface of glowing radiance.
I waited uneasily for my Ergal to take me still further into the endless room, worried that I’d be pushed into yet another terrifying experience. But, the Ergal instead whooshed me briskly back to the starting point of my bizarre journey. I arrived at the RAM entry breathless and grateful for my short, spiky haircut that was ideally suited for surviving the wind.
At the entrance, as Agriarctos and I had planned, I, with fingers crossed, simultaneously X-fanned and activated a temporal leap. This is a very dangerous and, if unauthorized, illegal move. Temporal leaps are different from time loops. Time loops bring the traveler back on or after the point he or she left. The time the traveler experiences in the past or future is just lengthened relative to those who remain in the present. For example, it was a week in Hell for me, and only an anxious hour outside waiting for Spud. Temporal leaps take you back in time without looping, so the traveler can return to any time, including a time before he or she time-traveled. There’s a potential for some pretty peculiar paradoxes with temporal leaps. And, if you’re caught, some pretty long temporal loops in Hell.xxxi
Temporal leaping, I M-fanned in the reception lobby under the cupola minutes before Agriarctos and I were due to arrive. As several of the Sentinels whipped out their stun guns, I strode directly to their Chidurian leader, whom my Ergal had by now identified as Gameshi.
“Gameshi,” I said immediately in Zygan, “Rush from Central. You’re about to be invaded by two impostors, one of them pretending to be me, and the other my partner. They’re going to try to break into the RAM.”
To my dismay, the Chidurian seemed suspicious. He ordered one of his Sentinels to keep his stun gun aimed at me, and then told the rest of the team to adopt defense formation five. Anxious, I stood at the periphery of the lobby with my captor, watching as the guards formed a circle awaiting the impostors’ M-fan. I crossed my fingers once again.
It took a couple of minutes, but my prediction did come true. Agriarctos, muted as Spud, and the “earlier me” M-fanned into the circle of Sentinels. I shouted loudly in Ursan, “RHRak’nk!”xxxii The cry distracted the Sentinels for a crucial moment as they turned to look at me. Agriarctos and the earlier me sprung into action, Ergaling stun guns and spraying the closest Sentinels with stun rays. I shot out a kick that threw my guard’s stun-gun flying across the room, and levved out of the way to avoid his lunge. It was soon down to three against five, and we fought like…Zygan Sentinels. I disabled my own sentry with a blow to his head, and as I whirled around to assist my team, I saw the Chidurian raise his stun gun to get a clear shot directly at me.
Shouting, “Find out about Stacy!” I tossed my Ergal to my earlier self just as Gameshi fired. The laser burned my skin for a nanosecond and then—
* * *
Screaming, I leapt towards the Chidurian, trying to stop him from shooting. But, it was too late. The stun gun fired a laser ray that completely disintegrated me—or really that person who looked so much like me across the room. I had caught the Ergal she had thrown to me, and slipped it into my pocket as I landed on top of the trigger-happy warrior, knocking him to the marble floor. Purple blood started seeping from the back of his head, but that didn’t stop him from using several of his arms and legs to heave me off of him. I did a double back-flip and landed on the shoulders of the last free Sentinel, knocking him out, and turned to help Agriarctos, who was finishing off another fighter.
The Chidurian was back on his feet again, rivers of violet blood flowing down his face. He lunged towards me, and, just before he reached me, he was stunned in mid-air by Spud/Agriarctos and crashed, grunting, to the ground.
“Did you get it?” Agriarctos asked me urgently.
I nodded, looking sadly off at the place where my avatar had recently stood, and responded, “X-fan!”
We did.
* * *
With all the Sentinels either unconscious or stunned, we were hoping that we could make it out of Nejinsen without setting off alarms. We M-fanned into the Maternity Ward, and Ergaling into scrubs, we strode confidently behind a row of chattering, expectant Ytrans, whose eyes were glued to the meiosis chambers where their offspring-to-be were splitting and incubating.
We reached the lifts without incident, and stepped into a crowded elevator for the trip down to the lobby. Wary of a potential welcoming party, I was relieved when the door opened and we saw only routine activity in the Medical Center’s entrance hall. I realized then that I had been holding my breath longer than I ever thought I could.
As soon as we had exited Nejinsen, we mega’ed our ship, and set off as quickly as possible in stealth mode for Benedict’s planet-vessel. Every minute’s delay increased the chances that someone would stumble on the stunned Zygfed Sentinels, who would, no doubt, raise a very angry alarm about our RAM invasion as soon as they were unstunned. Briskly dodging guard buoys, I piloted the Nautilus with one hand on our weapons control, ready just in case.
As we approached the last tendrils of Zyga’s atmosphere, the terminal buoy started flashing a pulsing red light. Going into hyperdrive while still in planet orbit was a risky move, but it was one of the best ways to avoid the laser blast that I knew would follow from the buoy in the next second or two. I warped, and the ray missed.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I sat back in my jump seat and focused my eyes on the starstreams on our viewscreen. After my adrenaline shakes passed, I turned to Agriarctos, who had waited until we’d cleared Andromedan airspace before returning to his normal Ursan form.
“So, where are they?” I asked Agriarctos, who was thankfully no longer Spud.
The Ursan shrugged, but, perhaps picking up on my anxiety about my friends, he swung his seat around towards the Nautilus’ nav and scan holos and pulled up displays of M81. Despite Benedict’s assurances that, if we succeeded in our assigned mission, he would keep up his end of the deal, I didn’t exactly believe he’d come through with his promises to keep Spud and the rest of our team safe.
Agriarctos fiddled with the holo screens for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, he responded, “They’re still there. M81. Octet 6.”
“At a portal?” I wondered.
Agriarctos didn’t answer, but kept his snout buried in his viewscreen.
After a few minutes of silence, I spoke up again. “Who’s Stacy?”
Agriarctos looked at me and shrugged. “I don’t know. Who?”
“It’s something she yelled to me just before she died, ‘Find out about Stacy!’”
“Who yelled?”
“Me. I did. Or rather, she did. The me that went into the RAM.”
Agriarctos appeared genuinely puzzled. “No idea. Are you sure the name was ‘Stacy’?”
I nodded. “Yeah …” Sighing, I added, “That’s okay.” In all the commotion, I probably didn’t hear her right. She could have said “space heat” for all I know, maybe something to do with the Zygan Sentinels. I shook my head. If only I’d had time to ask her. And to say thanks.
I just could not erase her final minutes from my mind. As a catascope, I’d witnessed deaths before, but seeing yourself die, disappearing into nothing, had been both terrifying and devastating. What had she—I--been thinking, feeling? Did it hurt? She’d been so there… and now she was gone … and I was here. I’d just met her, but I knew her better than anyone else in the Universe, and, in some peculiar way, I missed her.
A flash of anger washed over
me. She was the one who’d succeeded in the mission. I should’ve been the one to die … Or maybe we could’ve merged, so that both of us could live. Damn these paradoxes! I suddenly understood why Zygfed considered unauthorized temporal leaping a very serious crime.
But she—I—didn’t deserve the death penalty. No one does. I wiped the tears from my eyes and turned my gaze once again to the stars.
* * *
M81 Galaxy—present day
Benedict’s planet-ship loomed enormous on our viewscreens. My reflections on my future self’s demise had rapidly been superseded by my ongoing worry about my comrades. Yes, Agriarctos had located the “Death Star” in M81. But, were my friends still alive on board, or would I find myself following them to Level Three as soon as I handed over my Ergal and its package to Benedict? With the planet-ship’s impenetrable shields blocking our scanners, I had no way of finding out from space.
The Nautilus was welcomed with open hangar doors and we landed without obstructions—no surprise. After all, we still hadn’t made our “delivery”. We stepped off our ship in the vessel’s hangar and found ourselves—alone. I stood dazed, expecting any minute to be greeted with a hostile welcome and a guided trip back to my cell. But, Agriarctos motioned for me to follow him with an urgent “Come on!”
Scans, scans, scans. Steps, steps, steps. Minutes had passed, and no one had joined us, or attacked us. Agriarctos had led me once again to the giant chamber with the three domes. The spheres I had witnessed on my first visit were still missing. I suppressed a shiver. The cavernous room seemed empty and cold.
“Give me your Ergal!” barked the Ursan.
“What?”
“Your Ergal,” he repeated.
Robotically, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the instrument, handing it to my erstwhile partner. “Here …”
Agriarctos activated some settings for a few moments, and then I heard the Ergal vibrate once again. An ant-sized sphere M-fanned next to the Ergal and started to float away towards the enormous open vault of the chamber above our heads. As it soared, it grew larger and larger and was soon the size of a beach ball, its internal lights flickering brightly in shades of white and yellow, bathing us in a comforting warmth.
“Well done,” a familiar voice behind us cheered.
Benedict. I didn’t turn to face him. “My friends?”
“I have kept my end of our agreement as well,” he responded. “They are unharmed.”
Relieved, I did an about-face and pointed a finger up at the new sphere. “What is that?”
“Not ‘what’, my dear,” he said gently, “’who’. My mother.”
I suddenly felt myself shaking, and I didn’t know why. I just wanted to get out of here, to go home. Not to Malibu, but to Maryland, to see Andi, and Billy, and Bobby, and Kris, and Blair, and Connie, and George—and John, especially John. Again.
The tears came and I didn’t bother to try to stop them. It was only Spud’s arm around my shoulders that helped me ease my sobbing. Spud! Matshi! Eikhus! Sarion! Setsei and Suthsi! Pallas and his mates! All around me, reaching out to me, in the living room with the crackling fire in Benedict’s country cottage. All alive!
First, hugs and laughter. And then, “Nephil Stratum?”
Suthsi spoke first. “I released her with my Geryon.”
“She insists on helping Benedict,” Setsei said sadly. “She is convinced it’s the right thing to do …”
“They’re going to try going to … the other side,” Suthsi whispered, trembling.
“To another brane,” Spud corrected. “Another dimension. With Nephil Stratum’s assistance, Benedict might be able to channel enough energy from SN1993J, one of M81’s largest suns, to succeed in transporting himself and his mother this time, if not this entire ship.”
My eyes met Spud’s. “Is that what John did? Channel energy from a sun to cross into another brane?”
Spud nodded. “It’s certainly possible his Somalderis was a Syneph, too. Anamorphed as a ram, a fleece. Helping your brother draw energy from the Sun closest to his portal so he could make a crossing. Or …” He stopped and looked down at his feet.
“You might discover the answers if you joined us on our journey,” a gentle voice said from the door. We turned and saw Nephil Stratum ease into the room.
“Or, I might find … nothing on the other side,” I said, my voice cracking. I shook my head and snorted, “Come on, Nephil Stratum. You’re acting as if it’s even my choice. Benedict’s going to decide our fate now.”
“You always have a choice,” Benedict announced as he strode into the room.
“You mean if we don’t make the, uh, trip with you, you’re just going to let us go?” I said bitterly. “Just like that?” I snapped my fingers. “Aren’t you supposed to be a villain?”
Matshi interjected. “He wants to kill His Highness. That makes him one.”
“I want to,” Benedict agreed, “but obviously I can’t. At least not now. And not for the reasons you might think,” he added to Matshi.
“So, instead he’s going to run,” Eikhus posited.
Benedict smiled for a moment. “So, ‘I’m going to run in such a way that I may win it.’”
“What’s ‘it’?” I asked, curious.
“’It’ is 1 Corinthians 9:24–27. Sort of.” Spud’s eyes met Benedict’s. “‘Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?’”
Benedict laughed. “Escott, I have a few regrets in my life, and one of them is that I can’t take you with me.” To my shock, he reached out a hand to my partner.
To my even greater shock, Spud took his hand and shook it.
* * *
With Benedict’s acquiescence, Nephil Stratum Ergaled us back to the Nautilus in the hangar.
None of the group except for me was willing to talk to her. As my cohorts entered the ship, I took a moment to step away and pull her aside. My hands felt safe nestled in her tufts, and I felt more than a twinge of sadness at the thought that I probably would never see her again.
“You’re sure about this?” I asked, with a hint of desperation.
“Yes,” she responded softly. “It has to be done.”
Trying to keep my voice steady, I ventured, “Well, then, I know it’s just me dreaming, but … if you make it … and if you find John …” My voice cracked again. “Please tell him to come home …”
I felt her tufts tenderly squeeze my hands, just as Matshi stuck his head out of the Nautilus’ fuselage and yelled, “Rush, remember your name!”
Nodding, I pulled my arms away and said, “Well, thank you for the, uh, ka’vyr.”
“There is an old proverb, from one of your Terran countries, China, I believe,” Nephil Stratum said. “Without experiencing a thing, one can not gain knowledge from it. Have a safe journey—and wish me the same.”
I stood still, struggling with mixed feelings. Finally, after Nephil Stratum had almost reached the hangar door, I shouted, “You, too!” and, without looking back, Ergaled into our ship.
* * *
En route to Zyga—present day
I was relieved that Eikhus was back at the helm of the Nautilus for our return to Zyga. I was drained and exhausted, and not eager to battle the winds of space again at nav controls. Assuming we’d arrive safely, we’d have a lot of ‘splaining to do, and I needed to use the voyage gather my strength—and my wits. Meanwhile, unable to truly believe that Benedict would simply set us free after our capture, Matshi and the Megarans had spent the last few minutes scanning the ship for potential booby traps.
The Nautilus seemed clear, even after Setsei did a Geryon scan. With little fanfare, we launched through the opening hangar door and departed post-haste from HDWhocares.
Spud seemed unusually quiet, sitting in one corner of the bridge, his head buried in a scanning holo.
I ambled over. “What’re you looking for?” I asked casually.
“I am
not certain,” he replied. “Some type of a disturbance.”
After a few more moments, he straightened quickly, exclaiming, “There. There it is!”
We mega’ed the holo so we all could see what Spud had observed.
“A portal!” Eikhus cried, shooting a spray of mist at the center of the display, “Only twelve thousand kilometers from HD5927!”
“No, not that.” Spud pointed at the lower end of the screen. “Down here, approaching us. See this flux?”
It was barely visible, but definitely there—and coming at us very, very fast. “Fusion Torpedo!” shouted Matshi. “Eikhus, evasive!”
Eikhus immediately amped the nav and pitched our ship violently to one side and on a new course, speeding away from the missile as fast as possible. Unfortunately, his efforts were unproductive, as the bomb seemed to duplicate our every move, all the while nearing closer and closer. My cohorts’ suspicions were right. Benedict was not going to let us get away alive!
“Shields!” Matshi ordered, as he pulled up the Nautilus’ weapons console and started running his fingers over the holo.
Setsei continued to monitor the torpedo’s progress. “Three thousand kilometers to impact.”
Matshi shouted, “Firing torpedoes with track!” We heard the grinding sound of the Nautilus’ weapons launching mechanism under our feet.
“Missed,” Spud said without visible emotion.
“Two thousand kilometers to impact,” Suthsi advised tremulously. “Try again?”
“Wide scatter blast, now!” Matshi fired another round of homing torpedoes.
“Benedict’s ship!” I pointed at the center of the scanning holo. “It’s almost at the portal!”
“Missed again,” Spud declared to Matshi’s frustration.
“One thousand kilometers to impact,” Setsei chimed in once more.
“Better hope our shields hold,” Sarion didn’t joke.