“His nemesis, Lom of Pleva, a bad dude who was behind the hybrid creation, wanted the technology for war.”
Mary’s interest was fully piqued. “He created the hybrids? Like Bob and Janine?”
“Yes. The very same.”
“Wow. I’ve missed out on some important things, haven’t I?”
“We’ll get to that. He wants the tech, so Garo sets up for his nemesis to die in a freak accident while Lom was visiting one of his very own mines. Everyone thought he was dead, but Rivo swears he’s not, and he’s coming for Garo and the Shifter.” My hand still rested on the pocket.
“What does this Shifter have to do with our situation?” Slate asked. He didn’t know any of this, since we’d been separated on Bazarn.
“I have it, or one of them. The last true device with the ability to shift something to another dimension, or so Garo claimed. He was freaked out, and I offered to take it from him.” I didn’t know what the others would think.
“You took the Shifter? Is that what that battle on Bazarn was all about? We barely made it out of there alive!” Slate shouted.
Mary raised a hand, taking the conversation back to her. “I’m not even going to ask about Bazarn or the battle there. What are you saying, Dean? You want to use this technology on the Unwinding? Great, let’s do it.”
I didn’t want to say it out loud, but I had to. “I can’t use it from here. I have to be… up there.” I pointed to the vortex.
“What do you mean? Dean, how are you going to get up there?” Suma asked, finally chiming in.
“I’m wearing Garo’s suit. It has built-in thrusters. I’ve already been out there. I goaded the Iskios down to the surface.”
“I was floating around in space this whole time?” Mary asked, her expression saying she found the whole thing unsettling.
There was no point in keeping it from her. “Yes. As far as I know, you were.”
She didn’t comment further on the subject. “Is there any other way?”
“Not unless you can think of anything.” I’d run through options in my mind for the last half hour, but nothing else would work.
“Dean, this is a planet with lots of technology. I bet we can find a ship. Use it to shoot the Shifter into it.” Suma stood straight-backed, proud of her idea.
“The vortex is getting closer by the minute. I don’t think we have much time, and it needs to be tapped manually. Garo showed me how it works, and he was clear about the details.” I brought the compact disc-shaped device out.
Suma stuck her palm out, and I handed it over. She fiddled with it, and I showed her what I knew about the Shifter.
“Here’s where we select the dimension to send it to. How will we choose?” Suma asked.
I hadn’t thought about that quite yet. “There’s no way of knowing what’s there. I mean, even Garo made it sound like theory at this point of their research. It didn’t sound like they’d had anyone return once they dimensionally shifted.”
“We’ll be sending it into another dimension?” Slate asked. “There could be millions or billions of lifeforms on the other side, being sent to their deaths.”
“Or there could be nothing but empty space.” Mary was getting behind me, and that made me grateful for the support.
“Guys, it’s either we get devoured by the thing, and let it continue on until it reaches countless other planets, including New Spero, or we toss it away and let some other parallel universe deal with it. I know where my vote’s going.” I tried to sound confident, but the idea of making it someone else’s problem didn’t sit well with me. My stomach flopped inside.
“The odds of finding a dimension with life are low. I studied a theoretical class on the subject,” Suma said.
“Fine. Let’s say we’re doing this. How do you get to it?” Slate asked, frowning at me. He already knew the answer; it was written all over his face.
“I use the suit, fly up there, use the Shifter and fly into it, taking it with me wherever we’re going.” As soon as I said it, Suma’s hand wrapped around the device as if she intended to keep it away from me.
“Dean, no,” Mary said. “There has to be another way.”
Slate started to undo his own EVA. “Give me the suit. I’ll go.”
“Stop!” I shouted over them. “I’ve made my decision. I’m going. Slate, it’s too small for you. Suma, it’s too big. I’ve already flown in it, and it’s tricky. We can’t risk anyone else doing this.” Mary wouldn’t look me in the eyes.
Suma passed the Shifter over to me. “I’m sorry, Dean.” She turned around and walked away. Slate mopped his mask with a gloved hand and joined her, leaving Mary and me alone.
“Dean,” she said, her voice light, yet heavy with sadness, “maybe we can get away. Suma thinks there could be a ship nearby.”
“Then what? How do we stop it?” I asked.
She refused to look up as tears fell onto her flushed cheeks. “We can find another way, get help.”
“You know that’s not in our cards. I can’t let anyone else deal with it. Just like the Event, or Mae going to the Bhlat, or finding a way to keep everyone we could alive and bringing them to New Spero. We don’t have anyone to do this for us. We never have.” I hugged her close to me.
“What about our baby? She needs you.”
That brought out the tears I’d been trying to hold back. All I’d wanted was a quiet life. I’d become an accountant knowing I could do my work, be my own boss eventually, and watch baseball games on Sunday afternoons. When I met Mary, I wanted nothing more than to have a family and just be on our acreage on New Spero. While we’d had a few months of that over the past couple years, it wasn’t enough. It was just a tease of what could be. Now it would never happen, and I already mourned for the life we couldn’t have together.
“I know…and I need her too. I’m sorry it’s come to this, Mary. If there’s any way I can make it back, I will.” The words were fruitless, said for her sake more than anything. I didn’t think it would be possible.
Storm clouds thickened as if to set the mood for my task, and lightning began to flash across the cityscape once again, leading toward the lava ocean.
“I need more time with you,” Mary said. Her grip on my hand was tight.
The vortex was closer, the wind stronger over the platform on which we stood, high up on the building. “Time is something we don’t have.” After all the fight to get Mary and our baby back, I had to leave.
Change the universe. Kareem’s words echoed in my mind. Was this my task? To save our universe from the Unwinding? Did it all lead to this moment? The Kraski, the hybrids, the Deltra, Patty, Ray, and all the others who’d lost their lives along the way? Was it all so I’d be here with the Shifter in my hand as the Iskios energy vortex threatened everything in the galaxy?
Regnig had called me a Recaster. I had the power to change things. I hadn’t found Mary so she could stay under duress. The vortex was the ultimate stress, and I could change that. I would.
I took my helmet off once again and coughed as the harsh air hit my lungs. I didn’t care. It was worth it. Mary slid her respirator off her face, and our lips met. Her hand pulled me in closer, the moment intimate and raw, lust and love intertwined as we stood there, lightning cracking in the sky around us. Wind gusted heavily, and we ignored it all, and for a short time, there was nothing in the world by the two of us.
Eventually, we broke our contact. Both of us had tear-stained cheeks. “I love you, Mary. I always will.”
“I love you. Come back to us.” She rubbed her belly, and my heart shattered.
I wiped my eyes before getting my helmet back on. I tried to firm my resolve and push it all down. My reservoir was getting full of the pain and angst, but now wasn’t the time to let it out. It was time to save my friends, and most importantly, Mary and our baby.
“Dean…” Slate pointed to the sky, where we could see the large vortex above the world, even through the clouds where we stood. It was clos
er. That made it time.
“Slate, I can’t begin to say…”
“Then don’t, boss. Just do what you have to do. Finish the mission and come home to us.” He hugged me and fired off a salute.
Suma ran to me, wrapping her short arms around my waist. “What he said.” Her squawks were deeper than normal.
The three of them stood beside one another, watching me as I moved to the edge of the balcony. I checked to make sure the Shifter was ready and tapped on the thrusters. I’d just done this, but the Theos had been inside, guiding and helping me when I needed it. Now it was just me, one human trying to make a difference for many.
This was it. I’d never see them again, and I didn’t even know how to feel about any of it. There was no choice now. I was committed. Much like every other adventure leading me to this point, I was going in head-first, but this was the only time I assumed there was no coming out of it alive. The other times, I’d done what needed to be done, but somehow thought everything would be okay. This was different. It felt…final.
I waved to them where they stood, a handful of yards away, each of them clearly upset. I couldn’t look at them anymore or I’d lose my nerve. I spun and accelerated away, not looking back.
It was one of the hardest things I’d ever done.
Thirty-Four
With less control than before, I raced toward the looming vortex. I was above the clouds, each breath coming quickly as I pushed through the world’s atmosphere. The suit’s built-in energy shield kept me safe as I bucked to and fro crossing into space. I had to straighten using the thrusts on the back of the suit a few times but quickly found the hang of it again.
“Barl?” I asked, hoping something from inside would answer. No one did, but for a moment, I thought I felt a tugging on my mind. “If you’re still there, now would be a good time for some help.”
The vortex was huge now, the swirling mass compiled of emerald green colors, dancing as they moved. If I didn’t know how deadly the thing was, I’d have thought it beautiful.
I kept away from it, seeing small space debris being sucked toward it from a distance. As soon as I got closer, there would likely be no turning back from the power it held. I’d be committed. I looked around, hoping for some sort of intervention from the outside, only there was nothing else near us. I checked the suit’s map, and nothing but the anomaly showed on the sensors.
The world below was quite the sight, and I stared at it momentarily. The red lava was visible even from this distance. Mary and the others were down there with no way of getting home. I could only hope they’d find a way off the vacant rock. Leslie knew where they were and would find a way to get to them. She wouldn’t leave them behind, especially after the portal showed as dead.
The Shifter was tethered to my arm, and I opened it, seeing digits glowing on the screen. These were the coordinates for some other time and place. I wondered if I’d be consumed, or if I’d live long enough to see where we ended up. I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
It locked in on the target. The image of the vortex appeared on the screen now, and the Shifter estimated the size and trajectory. It was now or never.
“Goodbye, Mary,” I said, knowing she wouldn’t hear me. I hit the thrusters on the back of my suit, pushing me slowly toward the center of the vortex. The power of its pull quickly grabbed hold, and I moved smoothly through space directly at it.
The fear that had threatened to overtake me earlier was gone now as I neared my goal.
I was moving faster, directly into the singularity of the vortex. The Shifter was held tightly in my left hand, and it was flashing red. The lock had failed.
“Come on, come on!” I cheered it on, watching it flick from red to green as I got closer to the center. I was moving quickly and almost lost my grip on the device. I was running out of time.
“Work, damn it!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, and it flicked to green, staying there for a second. I hit the button and everything came to a screeching halt. Nothing moved at that split second, and inside I felt the Theos come to life. Barl whispered something to me as they came alive; a brilliant white light shot me away from the vortex and the shifting dimension. The Shifter snapped from my wrist as my neck cracked from the force, and everything turned black.
____________
Everything hurt, and I struggled to open my eyes. When I did, I almost passed out again. I was in space! What happened? It slowly came back to me. The vortex, the Theos spewing from me into the singularity as they pushed me out of danger. I spun around now, using the thrusters on my back, looking for any sign of the massive green energy, but it was gone.
I looked down, expecting to see the planet below, but it wasn’t there either. All I saw was a gray moon a few thousand kilometers away.
“That can’t be good.” If the mass was gone, and so was the planet, that could mean a couple of things. Either the planet had shifted with the Unwinding vortex, or I’d shifted with neither of them. Dread seeped in fast and hard, and I found myself unable to move. Was I in another dimension with nothing but a flying EVA? The Shifter was gone. The Theos were gone. I was alone in empty space.
It was at least ten minutes of me assuming the worst and trying to determine where I was, when I finally noticed the star in the distance. If that was the same star, then I might only have been pushed away a short distance – “short distance” being a relative term in space.
That would put the planet on the other side of the moon that was taking up all my viewing range. Relief inundated me. I hit the thrusters on the bottom of my boots and made for the moon. It took me an hour or so to rise over the moon and finally get a glimpse of what I was looking for. The planet was there. I cried in joy as I sighted it. Even from this far, I could see the lava and clouds. It was perfect.
“I’m coming back, Mary. I’m coming back.”
____________
The suit, as advanced as it was, fed me with some intravenous nutrients as I moved through space. The needle poked my skin, and I could feel the liquid enter my bloodstream. I instantly felt better. Likely there was something healing and rejuvenating in the blend.
I’d been traversing space for a couple of days now, and I could only begin to imagine what was going through Mary’s, Slate’s, and Suma’s heads. I slept sparingly, worried something terrible would occur if my eyes were closed. The suit kept going, though. No fuel gauges beeped, and my oxygen hadn’t depleted. Garo Alnod had the best EVA money could buy.
So many thoughts coursed through my brain in those two days. If I was still in my own universe, would they be waiting for me at the portal’s high-rise? What would our baby look like? Would she, or he, have Mary’s eyes and my hair color? What kind of future could we give a child? Dreams for New Spero lingered after an unfocused daydream session. As much as I’d stuck my head in the sand about our new planet before, seeing that girl on the street before I left had really hit me hard.
There were things we needed to do. It wasn’t always about what was happening out there in space; we had to take care of our own planet first and foremost. I didn’t want to raise a child only to have the same issues that Earth had suffered as they grew older. I wouldn’t let that happen.
Dozens of these topics internally battled back and forth as I flew toward the world where Mary would be mourning my death. Memories of her face kept me going in those two long days, and eventually, I was there above the planet, right where the Iskios’ final attempt at destruction had been a short time ago. There were no signs it had ever existed.
With a spin, I changed trajectory, and raced head-first toward the world below.
____________
The platform I’d left them on was empty, devoid of any evidence of my friends. I ran inside, hoping to catch them staying close by. My legs pumped, the feeling odd after being in space for over two full days. I stumbled as I passed by rooms, checking the inside of each for Mary.
Chiding myself for being foolish, I tapped on my earpiece and scanned
for an active line. It scrolled through twice, not discovering any. After finding the portal room empty, I hurried back out to the platform and scanned again. Still nothing.
It was dark out, and I turned the light on my suit. The elevator lift wasn’t there. “They must have taken it down!” I shouted in happiness to myself. Remembering I had the thrusters on the suit, I lowered myself to the surface, a cloud of dust puffing up at my landing.
The same streets we’d trodden through a couple of years ago led me toward the building where we’d started this section of the city’s power again. I don’t know why I went there, other than it was the only place Slate, Suma, and I had visited that first time on the planet.
I scanned for an open line again. This time, a faint signal stretched to my earpiece. “Mary! Slate! Suma! Anybody, come in! It’s Dean!”
Maybe they weren’t there. Conceivably, I’d been blasted to another dimension by the Shifter, and this was an alternate reality.
A response came, a distant whisper in my ear. “Dean…i…n’t be.”
“Mary?”
“Dean!” Her voice came in clear as I crossed the street. Lightning lit the dark road, and a building boomed as one of the forks struck a lightning rod rising ten feet in the air above it.
I ran now, and the signal got stronger. Another lightning flash, and I saw the silhouette of a person a block away. My legs propelled hard and fast as a surge of adrenaline hit me, and I shouted out as I lost balance, skidding forward on the hard ground, coming to a halt.
“What an entrance,” Slate’s voice said in my earpiece. I felt a strong hand turn me over, and I lay there smiling at Mary and Slate, who were leaning over me with concern.
“How?” was all Mary could muster as she knelt beside me. I unlatched my helmet and let it fall to the stony ground.
“Divine intervention.”
Thirty-Five
“Do you think it’ll ever run?” I asked Suma. She’d been in the hangar two days now, with nothing to show for progress.
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