"We'll always be together," he whispered, embracing her as the world fell apart. "Always. I love you, Addy Linden."
She clung to him. "I love you, Marco Emery. I'm so glad I saved the world with you. I'm so glad I'm with you here as this world ends."
They kept bleeding. They were so tired. So hurt. Marco's eyes grew hazy. Around them, the last structures of the city vanished. All was chaos. All was stone and fire. All was the void and the shadow.
And above them—a light.
A new star.
A single flicker growing brighter.
And from the shadows she emerged, glorious and beautiful, a ship of hope.
The Lodestar.
Marco gazed up, eyes blurred, scarcely believing his eyes. Surely it was just a vision. Just an echo from the fallen crystal. Just a dream.
The beautiful ship, shaped like the hull of an old sailing vessel, descended with beams of light. From her prow thrust out Eos, golden and luminous. A hatch opened on the ship. A figure stood there, wreathed in light, and Marco wept. It was impossible, yet there she stood. Young again. Calling to him.
"Einav," he whispered, raising a weak hand toward her. "Einav Ben-Ari. My captain."
With blazing light and rumbling engines and storming clouds, the Lodestar descended to hover before the crumbling pyramid. And Ben-Ari reached out her hand.
Marco clasped it.
His captain pulled him into the airlock, then reached for Addy too.
The ship rose.
Below them, the pyramid gave a last groan, then collapsed, tearing apart into dust. Its ruins vanished into the void.
Marco lay on the floor as medics knelt above him. He reached out and clasped Addy's hand. Through the porthole he saw that they were rising, flying over storm and sea, saw the mountains falling. A glowing blue portal opened like sheets of rain under dawn, and they passed through the light, and all was shimmering raindrops and molten sunbeams. His eyes closed, and all sound faded, but he still felt Addy's hand in his, warm and gripping him, and he knew that they would never let go.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
He did not remember falling asleep.
For a long time, he floated through dreams of childhood.
Light fell upon his eyelids, and finally Marco opened his eyes and saw dawn spilling through a window, golden and warm.
Trees rustled outside the window. Robins sang.
It was Earth.
"Earth," he whispered. "We saved it."
"Poet!"
Something heavy slammed down on him, knocking out his breath. A wild beast was grabbing him, shaking him, kissing him.
"Poet, Poet, you're awake!"
He groaned. "Ow. Addy! You're poking my ribs again. God, you weigh a ton. Off! Off, wild beast!"
But she would not release him. She kept kissing him. "You're alive! God, when you lost consciousness, when the medics were all working on you, I thought . . ." Addy laughed and wiped her eyes. "But you're alive."
He blinked and looked down at his body. A sheet was pulled up to his waist. His arms were thin. His legs felt so weak.
"How badly was I hurt?" he said softly.
Addy's smile vanished. Her eyes turned solemn. Sitting on the bedside, she placed a hand on his cheek.
"Poet, I'm really sorry." Her voice was somber. "They had to amputate your penis."
Marco groaned. "Addy!" He shoved her away. He checked just to be sure. Still there.
She laughed and began kissing him again. "Oh, I'd have missed it more than you." She reached under the sheets. "I love my little mini-Poet."
Marco frowned. "Not that mini, surely."
She kissed his cheek and mussed his hair. "My poor giant Poet." She leaned against him, and she held his hand. "I'm glad you're alive."
He looked at Addy in the dawn's light. Her eyes were still sunken, her hair still matted. Both had suffered along the road. Both were weak, scarred outside and inside. Both would need long to recover.
But she was beautiful. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
"We did it, Addy," he whispered, pulling her into his arms. "We did it. We're alive. We saved the world. We're still here."
"We're still here," she whispered, holding him tightly. "We'll always be here. You and me. Marco and Addy. Things will be good now." Her tears fell, and she smiled, a beautiful smile that showed her teeth. "Hockey."
"Books," he said.
Her eyes lit up. "Hot dogs!"
"You and me." He kissed her.
And then he was crying. And she cried too. Because the pain was still too real. The scars inside would never heal. They would never forget the shadows on Black Earth. Never forget the horror they had seen in Gehenna, city of the grays. Never heal from those wounds.
But it was over.
They had won this war.
And after fire and death and darkness, they had found each other. And they were happy.
The door burst open.
Lailani and Elvis raced into the room.
"Poet!" they cried.
"Not in the ribs—ow!"
Both Lailani and Elvis jumped right onto him, all hugs and kisses and poking elbows.
For a long time, they just hugged, laughed, joked.
Finally Marco asked, "Where are we anyway?"
"Switzerland, I think," Addy said. "Or is it Sweden? I keep getting those two confused."
Lailani nodded. "Yesterday you thought it was Swaziland." She looked at Marco. "It's Switzerland. The Alliance of Nations is headquartered here. We're inside the presidential chalet." She lowered her head. "President Petty fell in battle. The tough old bastard fought Nefitis hand to hand. They haven't yet chosen a new president, but they said we can stay here for now." Lailani looked up, and her eyes brightened. "Come on outside if you can walk. It's pretty."
Marco rose from bed. He was still dizzy, still weak, but he managed to walk on his own. The president's chalet was a cozy wooden home, filled with portraits of previous presidents. The last two frames showed President Maria Katson and President James Petty. The hallway would need a new portrait soon.
The companions stepped outside into sunlight. Mountains rose around a lake, capped with snow. Grass swayed, flowers bloomed, and a lazy stream gurgled. Deer grazed and birds sang in a copse of pines. The air was fresh and warm, the sky without a cloud.
It was beautiful.
It was Earth.
Marco thought about the world he had seen in the future, a world without a blade of grass or flower, a world where smog hid the sky and the rain burned, a world of desolation and despair.
Here before him was a world of life. A world he had saved. A world to cherish.
"Our work is not yet done," he said softly. "We must protect this world. Make sure it lasts forever."
Addy nodded. "We will. We'll tell everyone what we saw." She squeezed his hand. "We'll take care of this place, Poet. We'll save all the baby whales." She mussed his hair and winked. "There are some trees over there if you wanna hug one."
He looked at those trees, and he saw a figure walking among them. At first his heart leaped, the old instincts kicking in, and he imagined a gray among the pines. He reached for a gun, realized he had none.
Then the figure emerged into the light. It was Ben-Ari. She wore hiking boots, cargo pants, and an HDF sweatshirt. It was so rare to see her in civilian clothes that Marco at first did a double take.
She ran up to him. Yes. It was her.
Marco pulled her into his arms.
"Captain! I mean—ma'am! I mean—Einav."
She grinned. "Marco. You and Addy did it." She squeezed him in her embrace. "I'm so proud of you. I'm so grateful." Her eyes dampened. "Oh, Marco. My dearest Marco." Her tears fell. "Thank you. Thank you."
He held her tight. He never wanted to let her go. For a long moment they stood in silence, just holding each other, saying more with tears than they ever could with words.
"How?" he finally whispered. "The Lodestar—"
/> "Professor Isaac did it," Ben-Ari said, smiling through her tears. "He studied the hourglass. It was out of sand, but the professor was able to cut new sand grains from azoth crystals, to open a new portal. To find you and Addy."
Marco looked around him. This lake was beautiful. But he had seen the saucers fly over Green Earth. In the crystals inside the pyramid, he had seen the war rage.
He spoke softly. "How bad was it? The war."
Ben-Ari lowered her head. "It was bad, Marco. Many brave warriors fell. We will never forget their sacrifice." She raised her chin. "But we will rebuild. We will heal. There is much work left to do. Across the world, governments are scrambling to maintain order. Already fascist, communist, and theocratic movements are seeking to seize control. President Petty fell in battle, and there are many who seek to shatter Earth, to plunge her into chaos. The grays are gone. But we must still battle ourselves. Perhaps that is our fate for a long while—a battle between the nobility of humanity and our darker nature. That is a battle that will, perhaps, rage for many generations." Then her face softened, and Ben-Ari smiled. "But today we rest."
But Marco frowned. "Ma'am, the Nefitians. The monks on Isfet. Won't they just evolve into the grays again? Can we kill them, or—"
"They're gone." Ben-Ari touched his cheek. "Destroyed in the paradox. We're safe, Marco." She hugged him. "So rest. You deserve it more than anyone, my friend."
Marco nodded. "I could use some rest. Some time to breathe."
"We can go fishing," Lailani said, stepping up toward them.
"We can build a campfire and sing some tunes," Elvis said, joining them.
Addy ran up, eyes bright. "Does anyone have a rake?"
* * * * *
That night, they sat around the campfire, and Elvis played guitar and sang, and Addy roasted hot dogs, and Marco and Ben-Ari talked about literature and poetry and other things that made Addy roll her eyes and call them nerds. The professor joined them here in Switzerland, and the kindly man sat by HOBBS's massive metal form, talking to the robot about the physics of time travel. Epimetheus kept running up to Addy, who was quickly becoming his favorite, thanks to her generosity with sharing her hot dogs.
"So as you see, one cannot change the past," Professor Isaac was saying. "It's a law of physics. You can perhaps change things for a short while, but the universe will always correct itself, the way the universe will fill a vacuum the instant it finds air. The grays tried to change the past. They ended up vanishing."
HOBBS tilted his head. "But professor, is time travel then impossible?"
"We are all time travelers," said Isaac. "We just move forward. Very slowly."
Addy tossed a hot dog at them. "Will you two dopes stop talking science? You're boring me to tears."
"Addy, stop wasting food," Marco said.
"What?" Addy bristled. "Epi is eating it!"
"I swear, that dog will weigh three hundred pounds by the end of the night," Marco muttered.
Addy poked him in the ribs. "You need to gain a few pounds yourself. You've gotten scrawny. Eat."
Elvis approached them with his guitar. "Ah, young love! Let me serenade the couple." He began to croon. Soon the others were hooting.
It was a night of friendship. Of peace. Of joy.
But a shadow hung over Lailani. She sat quietly by the fire, watching the others, feeling empty. She only smiled thinly at the jokes, did not laugh like the others. She only nibbled on her fish, did not scarf down the food like everyone else. Her belly felt cold. Her chest was tight. Even her robot and dog could not soothe her today.
I left a rip in spacetime. I changed the past. I created a paradox.
She kept seeing it before her. The tear in space. It was far from here, all the way over at Indrani, a red giant in a different solar system. But it seemed to hover before her. A crack inside her.
Lailani felt nauseous.
She rose to her feet.
"Excuse me."
She ran to the bushes, and she threw up behind them.
She straightened and stood for a moment, gasping for air. Her head spun. From behind her, she could hear her friends. Laughing. Enjoying the night.
Lailani stood in the shadows. She walked down toward the lake, washed her face, and rinsed out her mouth. She looked up at the moon and stars.
I saw myself there, she thought. A young girl. A monster. I went back in time and met myself. And I don't know who I am now.
She was back on the Miyari.
She was digging her claws into Elvis.
A crack spread across time.
A crack was spreading inside her.
She was breaking apart. She was past and present. She was afraid.
"I don't know who I am," she whispered. She stood on a lakeside. She stood in a starship. She stood on a knife's edge between two worlds.
"Lailani?"
The voice came from behind her. She turned to see Elvis approaching her.
"Lailani, are you all right?" His voice was soft, and he joined her by the lake.
"I don't know," she whispered. "I feel like I'm in two places at once. That I'm thirty years old, a captain in the military, here by this lake. That I'm eighteen years old, a monster on a starship far away."
"You still look like a teenager," Elvis said. "But I assure you, you are a captain. I saw you lead a company in battle. You were amazing."
Tears filled her eyes.
"I'm scared this isn't real," she whispered. "That you aren't really here. That I broke something. Something in the universe. Something in me."
Elvis smiled. "Lailani, I assure you. I am real. I am here." He stepped toward her. "Here, feel me. Hold my hand."
He held out his hand. Lailani reached to take it, and her hand passed through him.
She stared up into his eyes, startled.
She took a step back.
Elvis frowned. He reached for her again. He tried to hold her. His arms passed through her as if he were a ghost.
"Elvis," she whispered. "Benny. Benny!"
He stared at her, eyes wide.
He was becoming translucent.
"Professor!" Lailani shouted. "Hurry! There's something wrong!"
The others all left the campfire and rushed toward her. They gathered around Elvis.
"Guys!" Elvis said, laughing nervously. "I'm fine! I'm just a little dizzy. Maybe tipsy?"
Suddenly he doubled over. He fell to the ground, not even bending the grass. They knelt above him. When they tried to touch him, their hands passed through his body. He was growing dim.
"What's happening?" Lailani cried, turning toward the professor.
Isaac lowered his head. He spoke softly. "The universal timeline is correcting itself. I'm sorry, Lailani."
She spun back toward Elvis, then toward the professor again.
"Where's he going?" she cried.
But she already knew.
Back to where she had saved him.
To die.
Her tears flowed.
She leaned over Elvis, trying to stroke his cheeks, to kiss him, but she couldn't feel him. She could barely see him anymore.
"Benny, you have to stay here," Lailani said. "You have to fight this. Do you hear me? Stay here with me!"
His eyes were damp. "It was wonderful, Lailani. To see you again. To see all of you. Poet. Addy. Ben-Ari. Everyone else. I'm so happy I got to see you all one last time."
"Don't you talk like that!" Lailani said. "You're staying right here with me." She wept. "You have to." She leaned over him, her tears falling through him. "I'm pregnant, Benny. I'm pregnant with your child."
Lying in the grass, barely visible now, Elvis gasped. His eyes lit up. He smiled.
A breeze blew from the lake, and he was gone.
Lailani knelt on the lakeside, head lowered, tears falling.
Ben-Ari knelt beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Lailani, I'm sorry," Ben-Ari said softly.
Epimetheus ran up to Lailani and n
uzzled her. Addy was crying and hugging Marco. The professor and HOBBS watched, silent, heads lowered.
Lailani rose to her feet. She walked toward HOBBS. The robot knelt, bringing himself to eye level with her. She placed a hand on his chest.
"Mistress, I am sorry," HOBBS said. "All that we have been through. Our journey to find the hourglass. To save your friend. It was all for nothing. I am sorry."
Lailani kept her hand on his chest. Inside of HOBBS, she could feel it beating. The human heart. Her tears flowed. She understood.
She turned toward Isaac, and she spoke in a shaky voice. "Professor? I'm going to need my hourglass back."
* * * * *
She flew in the Ryujin, her small starship with the dragon painted on the hull.
She flew with only Epimetheus at her side.
She flew back to Indrani, the giant planet on the frontier.
"There it is again, Epi." Lailani ruffled the Doberman's ears. "The red giant. You ready for one last trip?"
He gave an approving bark.
"Good."
Lailani pulled out her hourglass. Professor Isaac had carved more grains of sand, each grain's facade calibrated down to the atom. The grains had let the Lodestar fly to save Marco and Addy. And a few grains still remained. Just the right amount. The professor had counted them himself, one by one.
With her starship orbiting the planet, Lailani tilted the hourglass, and she flew through the portal.
Twelve years rewound.
She saw it ahead. The starship Miyari. An angry, scared girl was aboard, her head shaved, her wrists scarred, an alien evil screaming inside her.
A girl who will grow into a strong woman, Lailani thought. She placed a hand on her swelling belly. Who will become a mother.
She wished she could hug that young girl, tell her things would be all right. But that younger Lailani, that girl in the warship ahead, would have to discover this truth on her own. She still had a long path to tread, full of darkness and danger and loss. But the path led to light.
Lailani flew closer.
She emerged from the Ryujin and glided through space in a spacesuit.
As she had before, once more she entered the Miyari.
Earth Eternal (Earthrise Book 9) Page 27