by Dana Kelly
“Stop,” Simicron muttered through clenched teeth, has hands clutching the leads. Sparks showered from his body. “You must stop! I cannot shapeshift while suffering any kind of injury!”
“That was kind of the idea,” said Nimbus. “You can thank Orin’s sister for that useful tip.”
Simicron gritted his teeth, and it stifled his cries.
As Nimbus and Cajun hurried away, Simicron screamed mutely until he exploded in a burst of charred flesh and circuitry.
Lafuega’s flames subsided, and she stared at Mike’s blackened form. He raised his brow, and ash fell away from his eyelids. “Well, this is embarrassing,” he said, and he used one of his hands to cover up. “I really should’ve worn my fireproof underwear.”
“How?” stammered Lafuega. “Are you unregistered?”
“I’m not,” said Mike. He approached Lafuega and dropped into a defensive stance. “Are you ready for the second round? This time, I fight back.”
Lafuega glanced at Schurke, at Meteor Mo’s corpse, and at what little remained of Simicron. She shook her head. “Not really.” She put her hands behind her neck and lay face down on the ground. “This never felt right to me, anyway.”
Shona stood tall amidst the smoldering wreckage. Gasping for breath, her clothes singed, she slowly turned around to face Schurke. “Any last words?” she asked.
Visibly shaken, Schurke cleared his throat. Retrieving his datapad, he held up his hand and said, “Wait!” He turned his device toward them, his thumb pressed against a large, red button. Within the display, Watchtower floated against a background of stars. “This is a dead-man’s switch. Understand? So, just… wait.”
◆◆◆
Orin stood alone. The air wavered, shadows flared, and everything around him existed in a haze of ghostly, doubled images. He shivered as a chill wind blew along the streets, across his naked body. Crouching low, he grabbed his clothes, but they felt hard as stone and didn’t budge. “What’s going on?” He cupped his hands to his mouth. “Casey! Mike, are you there? Nimbus! Shona, Malmoradan! Is anyone there?” April, can you hear me? he thought.
He dashed inside a nearby building. After trying several mannequins covered in the same immovable clothing, Orin at last found slacks, a polo shirt, and a pair of flip-flops in a prop closet that he was able to manipulate. Quickly, he put them on.
A pale woman approached as he exited the building. Her name was Mackenzie, and her metallic purple eye shadow flashed under the erratic lamplight. She wore a bright-red waterfall perm. “Knox got you,” she said just loud enough to be heard. “Didn’t he?”
“You mean Constable Knox?” asked Orin.
She nodded, her expression sympathetic. “He got me too.”
“I barely grazed the back of his hand!” said Orin.
“That’s all it takes. He’s a graft, and that means he can’t control his powers. Anyone he touches ends up here.” She introduced herself, and her trench coat ruffled in the breeze. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Orin.” He furrowed his brow. “What’s a graft?”
“Don’t know exactly, but he explained it as him receiving donor blood from a UBA,” said Mackenzie. “Something in the blood bonded with him, and ever since he’s been able to do this. Whatever this is.”
Orin took a deep breath and sat on a brick ledge. “How long have you been stuck here?”
“About two weeks. Or has it been two months?” Shaking her head, she looked pained as she tried to remember, and she studied a black smudge on her palm. “Yes, two weeks. It’s been two weeks.”
“Are we dead?”
“Don’t think so. I’ve seen dead people around. People that starved or took the twilight express—if you fancy the saying.” Mackenzie glanced away. “They don’t rot here, though. Don’t know why. They just don’t.”
For a moment, Orin heard echoes of familiar voices. Fire roared in the windows. He saw Shona reflected in the shadows, and he reached for her, but he touched nothing, and the image disappeared.
“Those are phantoms,” said Mackenzie. “You can’t catch them. Not any of them. It’ll drive you crazy if you try.”
Orin shivered and rubbed his hands together. “Why did Knox send you here?”
“I think because Lord Blösch was one of my regulars.” She put her hands in her pockets and forced a smile. “I guess he got tired of me. Told Knox to get rid of me. It just really sucks because Knox was always nice to me.” Mackenzie sniffed and shrugged slightly. “I thought we were friends.”
“Why didn’t Blösch just fire you? I mean, why get rid of you?”
She smiled warmly and tilted her head slightly. “People in my line of work don’t exactly get fired. I’m an escort.”
“Oh,” said Orin, and he nodded. “Maybe his wife gave the order.”
“Not Andrea,” said Mackenzie. “Florin may have been a regular, but Andrea was my best customer.”
“Nice.” Orin chuckled. “I’m sorry you ended up here. Do you think there’s any way back?”
“Don’t know.” She sat down on the ledge beside him. Shrugging out of her coat, she draped it across their backs. “I hope so.” She held his gaze with a caring smile, and her pale blue eyes caught the lamplight. “I bet that feels better.”
“Thanks,” said Orin. “It’s very cold here.”
Mackenzie rested her head against his shoulder. “I can tell you what I’ve learned about this place if you want.”
Orin glanced her way. “Sure, tell me.”
“Well, the distance between things is always changing, especially between different parts of the city. I was over by the dome when I first heard you, and suddenly I’m here.” Absently, she kicked her feet. “Some things you can take, some things you can’t. You can eat some packaged food, but only the stuff in the back, and never anything that’s being cooked. If it’s been out for a while, then it’s fair game. So is almost anything you can find in a refrigerator. You can open some doors, but only if no one’s home.”
“Interesting.”
“I guess,” said Mackenzie. “Why? What are you thinking?”
“I’m not sure yet,” said Orin, and they lingered awhile in the warmth of her trench coat. Suddenly, his expression brightened, and he removed the coat from his shoulders. With a smile, he passed it back to her as he stood and took Mackenzie by the hands. “I think I know where we are.”
She looked doubtful. “You mean besides this ledge?”
“I mean…” He indicated everything around them. “…here! I think I know where Knox sent us.”
Mackenzie regarded Orin with growing hope as she put her trench coat back on. “I’m listening.”
“I think we’re in the future!”
Her shoulders sank, and she shook her head. “You didn’t last long.”
“No, no, think about it! You said we can open some doors, but only if no one’s home. Who isn’t a little unsure if they left their door unlocked? And the food, and the other items—out of sight, out of mind! Even the shifting nature of distance fits my theory. Depending on how you travel, it could be five minutes or an hour between here and the dome! We exist in the future, because the future is unknown, and it’s always changing.”
“I’m glad that makes sense to you,” she said, and she stared pointedly into his eyes.
“What?” asked Orin.
She smiled slightly. “Well, you look stable.”
“I am,” said Orin. “I’ve got on idea, and if it works, I’ll be back to help you and everyone else that’s stuck here.” He closed his eyes and embraced the forces that churned within a black hole’s event horizon. His body flickered.
Mackenzie took a step back. “Orin, are you okay?”
He allowed the singularity to fill his senses. Crossing through the barrier, he felt time begin to slow. With every step he took, time slowed further, and further still, until… time… stopped… completely.
◆◆◆
Orin opened his eyes and found his
friends facing off against Schurke, neither side moving a muscle. Frozen fire grazed Shona’s clothing as she stood near Nathaniel’s body. Behind her, Meteor Mo lay dead on the sidewalk. He saw no sign of Simicron, and Lafuega lay face-down on the street.
“Jesus,” muttered Orin. “How long was I gone?”
“Not that long,” said Casey. Standing across from him, she covered up using her hands, as a prismatic aura wreathed her naked form. “I saw you get disintegrated. What is going on?”
“I was out of phase. Banished a few seconds into the future, I think. I must’ve caught you in my time distortion,” said Orin.
“Time distortion? Is that why no one else is moving?”
Orin nodded. “Who killed you?”
“Meteor Mo.” She glanced at his body. “Looks like Shona avenged me. Can you see my clothes anywhere in there?”
Orin walked around the wreckage and collected Casey’s gear. He turned his back as she got dressed and picked up his own clothing. As soon as he had changed, he retrieved Ellylle’s morning glory from his vest and placed it gently on Nathaniel’s chest. He closed the constable’s eyes and stood up. “Sorry I couldn’t save you.”
The bloom promptly sprouted a dozen tendrils. They coiled into the gaping wounds that marred Nathaniel’s chest. Silently, they burrowed through his ribs into his heart. Two of the vines emerged, wrapped around a tiny explosive device. Pushing into its casing, they ruptured it and quietly dropped its wreckage to the sidewalk. The rest of the tendrils filled the holes in his chest and stitched his skin back together, but he remained dead.
“This is the problem with speaking in riddles,” said Orin. “If she’d just told me how to use this stupid flower, he’d still be alive.” He sighed. “And Mackenzie wouldn’t have to be stranded.”
“I don’t know who Mackenzie is, but you don’t owe that man anything,” said Casey. “Imagine what we’d be dealing with if I’d been the one he put out of phase.”
“I guess everything happens for a reason,” said Orin.
She moved around to study Schurke’s device. “Hey, that’s Watchtower!” Casey cinched the last of her straps. “If he’s keeping Shona at bay with a datapad, it’s either a bomb or a dead-man’s switch.”
“It’s a dead-man’s switch,” said Orin. “He wants us to watch as Saxony destroys our ship.”
Casey looked anxious. “You can shield her, right?”
“Holding this moment is draining too much of my power to shield anything, but it’s okay—there’s no need,” said Orin. “On the call, my sister told me she actually waited a couple days to send her message. She suspected Saxony would be in the vicinity, and she wanted to line up her attack without tipping her hand, in case Schurke was listening to her transmission. That text I got just before Knox banished me was Eridani confirming she’s in position.”
“You didn’t feel like sharing this information beforehand?”
“There wasn’t any guarantee she would’ve gotten there in time, and I didn’t want to gum up your plan with maybes,” said Orin.
“You and I need to have a long talk about what counts as tactically relevant information.” She cast him a questioning smirk. “All right, time for you to let go.” She drew her sidearm and took aim at Schurke’s head. “Don’t worry, this is just so he takes me seriously.”
He walked over to April. “You ready?”
“I’m ready,” said Casey.
Orin let go of the moment and felt the weight of exhaustion crash into his body from all around.
◆◆◆
“So, just… wait. If any of you so much as lay a hand on me—Officer Cartwright! Where did you come from?” asked Schurke, and he took a step back.
Casey primed her plasma pistol. “I’ve been here the whole time. You saw exactly what I wanted you to see.”
April dropped her rifle. “Orin?”
“Hey April,” he said with a smile, and she threw her arms around him.
“I thought I’d lost you,” she whispered. “Thank God you’re alive.”
Orin returned the embrace, though his muscles quaked from the exertion. “Hey, I’ve got one more thing to do. I’ll be right back.” He retrieved his phone and approached Schurke from the side, placing a call with Eridani along the way. Orin tapped Schurke’s shoulder. “It’s for you,” said Orin.
Schurke spun around. “But… Constable Knox killed you! I saw it with my own eyes!”
“I don’t think Constable Knox had a complete understanding of his powers,” said Orin. “But that’s beside the point. You should take this call.”
Eridani appeared on screen. “Admiral Schurke,” she said. “My brother’s phone isn’t nearly as big as Imperium’s viewscreen, so much of the detail will be lost, but I’m sure you’ll understand the implications.” She switched the video to an external feed that captured the length and the breadth of the United Planets Star Navy’s flagship from directly overhead. Saxony was a titanic vessel with twin hulls, a colossal S-ring, and dozens of adjustable thruster blades. Several towers rose from her aft section, amidst her outrigger-mounted turrets and ahead of her missile batteries. “I want you to remember this moment.”
“But not before I destroy Watchtower!” said Schurke. He tried to release the button, but his thumb didn’t budge. “What… is going… on?” Desperately, he tried to toss the datapad away, but his hand held fast.
Orin shook his head, his hand glowing softly with blue fire. “Just watch.” Orin forced Schurke to stand up straight and swung the datapad in front of him.
Imperium unleashed her nuclear force destabilization cannons. Three scintillating blasts pumped into Saxony’s reactors, carbonizing them instantly, along with the hull, bulkheads, and passageways on either side of them. Essential power came online, and a fourth blast from the C-beam turned Saxony’s emergency generator into a crumbling pile of coal. The turrets drooped, and every deck went dark.
Schurke sputtered and snorted. “Impossible!”
“Keep watching,” said Eridani. “It’s almost done.” From every deck, tiny lifeboats launched from the flagship, swarming through the void. “Now, look up,” said Eridani.
Glancing overhead, Schurke saw a meteor shower of lifeboats descending through Trionides’ twilight skies. “Enough,” whispered Schurke. Orin release him, and the strength fled Schurke’s body. His datapad fell from his grip. “I surrender.”
“Captain,” said Krané over the commlink. “Please let Orin know that his sister is here.”
Casey laughed, grinning from ear to ear. “Yeah, I think he knows.” She retrieved her restraints and clamped them in place around Schurke’s wrists. “You’ll let me know if these are too tight, won’t you?”
Casey’s teammates hooted and cheered, joined by everyone on Imperium’s command deck.
◆◆◆
Casey and her team stood within the shelter of a starport hangar as April ran pre-flight and Cajun checked the shuttle for damage. Shona and Malmoradan guarded Admiral Schurke and Earth Star’s survivors as they lingered near the exterior airlock door. The prisoners all wore ankle and wrist restraints, while Frostshadow, Kodama, and Lafuega each wore a disruption collar. Edison examined Kodama’s injuries.
Wind whipped across an adjacent tarmac as Eridani’s Starwind touched down. Steam shot out from the cargo ramp as it lowered into place. Moments later, Eridani descended clad in her day clothes, only to be swept into Orin’s tight embrace as soon as she stepped off. “Easy now,” she said, and she laughed.
Grinning, he set her down. “Nice duds! Where did you get such a colorful long coat?”
“Oh, some dork gave it to me as a graduation present,” said Eridani. “Oh wait—it was you!”
Orin chuckled. “Guilty as charged!”
“What happened to the uniform you were wearing on screen?” asked Mike.
“That was mainly for Schurke’s sake,” said Eridani. “I’m not really a captain, so much as the proud owner of a Colima-class battlecruiser
, and now that Schurke’s in cuffs, it’s time I stopped pretending to be something I’m not.”
Mike nodded. “I can understand that.”
Eridani regarded the spry young woman who hurried over to stand before her. “Well, hello Nimbus.”
“Eridani Webb, it is me!” They shared a friendly hug. “What do you think?”
“You look lovely,” said Eridani. “How do you feel about the transition?”
“It took me several hours to master human locomotion, which is far longer than I expected,” said Nimbus. “I’m learning the extents of my physical limits and limitations, and I have experienced dreams! Oh, Eridani, it pains me that I must wait to share them with you.”
“Sure,” said Eridani. “That sounds like something we could talk about one day.”
“I understand the depth of friendship I feel toward you isn’t presently reciprocated,” said Nimbus. “But you must understand that I see not only how you have touched my life, but also the lives of everyone we both care about. You are a light in the darkness, Eridani Webb, and I hope you will one day consider me a friend.”
Eridani smiled and blushed slightly. “Wow, thanks Nimbus! That’s so nice of you to say. I look forward to getting to know you.”
“Mike! Orin!” Torsha stooped into view from inside the cargo hold. “Oh my gosh, Nimbus!” She scampered down the ramp, and all four shared a joyful embrace. “What’s next for you guys?”
Mike explained what happened on Arsenal Bay. “We’re helping Casey with the investigation. As soon as that’s over, I might apply for a remote learning exception and finish my degree out here.”
“I will remain a starfarer as well,” said Nimbus. “I intend to support Captain Cartwright for as long as I believe in the work she’s doing.”
“I’ll be submitting my application to MABAS Academy and taking my Spacer’s Exam as soon as we get back to Watchtower,” said Orin. “There’s a woman that’s stuck here. She saved me, and I’d like to find a way to save her if I can.”
“What happened?” asked Torsha. “And what do you mean ‘stuck?’”