‘I’m not the person I once was, Nida,’ he added softly, ‘and I’m not sure I ever really was the person you believed me to be.’
Her dimpled smile became more fragile, as her eyes drew wide. ‘Why are you saying this?’
‘Whoever people thought we were, isn’t who we’ve become. Before you asked whether I would have wanted to be stuck on this mission with someone else. If you’d asked me that a month ago, when it had begun, I might have answered yes,’ he told her truthfully. But before she could look crestfallen, he added, ‘I would have been wrong. I wouldn’t be here today without you.’
His last statement had multiple meanings. Not only would he have died long ago without Nida’s help, but he wouldn’t have wanted to get this far with anyone else. Not a member of the Force, not an admiral, not J’Etem, not Travis. No one else.
Slowly her smile returned, puffing up one cheek, then the other.
Again they shared the most glorious moment of silence, and once more it stretched longer than ordinary time would allow for. All around him, he swore he could glimpse eternity.
Then she brought her bottom lip down and sunk her teeth into it. ‘Is this just an excuse to hold my hand?’
He spluttered, but the move quickly turned into a laugh. ‘I kind of hope I’m smoother than that,’ he added through another light chuckle.
She joined in.
They petered out together. They stopped. They looked across into each other’s eyes, and they kissed again.
He couldn’t describe it; he didn’t want to. No analytic part of his mind registered activity as his lips were pressed against hers. The rest of him sung though. It tingled. It shone.
He logged it all away though. Every moment, every feeling, because he would need it.
This was the calm before the storm. Their last friendly port before they struck out on the final chapter of their journey.
Chapter 28
Cadet Nida Harper
She didn’t know whether to be wildly happy or cripplingly sad.
Carson felt the same way about her, she knew that now.
But knowing that brought something new.
It raised the stakes.
She wasn’t just doing this for the United Galactic Coalition. She wasn’t just doing this to figure out some way to help the Vex—if in fact she could. No, now she didn’t want to lose him.
She’d had him for barely a few hours, but that was enough to know she couldn’t fail him.
She was standing just outside of the bridge of the Orion. Travis and Carson were inside, discussing and re-discussing their battle plans.
Meanwhile she stood in the corridor with her head directed up at the view beyond. There were large windows running along the top half of the wall, and she considered that dark mass of space behind them. She focussed on those bright dots of stars.
To think the entity had once made her believe that it could pull them from the sky. That, if she didn’t do everything she could to stop it from becoming ‘corrupted’ it would destroy the universe.
As she stood there and concentrated on those luminescent specks scattered over the dark blues and blacks of space, she started to understand.
The stars might not fall from the sky if the entity failed, but they would fall from Vex’s sky. Because everything the entity had done was about that lonely planet lost in time.
Not for the first time, and not for last, she stared at the TI device locked around her left wrist.
Carson had suggested that, with time, she might learn to control the entity, drawing on its power to manipulate objects just like an ordinary implant allowed one to move TI blocks and poles.
. . . .
Could she do that?
As she stared at the device, she pushed deep to find the entity.
It was still there.
And yeah, she could sense its power. With just a little concentration, she could probably find a way to use that power too. She could open more than a time gate—she could probably open a hole in the hull before her. She could lift a cruiser, she could mow down an army.
At that thought, her head jerked to the side, tears briefly swelling in her eyes.
She remembered what it had done to the Barbarians. Even though they were undisputed enemies of the United Galactic Coalition, no one deserved to die with such brutality.
So she wouldn’t turn into it. She made a promise to herself then and there that whatever she faced, she would not succumb to the full power of the entity.
She would only use it to get the mission done, nothing further.
‘Hey, what are you looking at?’ someone asked softly behind her.
She knew who it was long before she turned to face him.
Carson.
She wanted to jump back into his arms.
She wanted to stay pressed up against him until time stopped again, and it was just the two of them.
Maybe he saw that desire flickering in his eyes, because he gave a discrete cough as Travis walked up behind him.
‘You ready?’ Travis asked directly. He didn’t pause to say hello, he didn’t check to see how she was—he just looked at her right in the eye and asked if it was time.
Yeah, it was time, and yeah, she was ready.
With a private little sigh, she nodded her head. Then she saluted. Because Travis was technically a captain, and she was technically still a cadet.
Travis offered her one in return, then blew a breath of air through his teeth. ‘I can’t believe we’re going back there,’ he said quietly.
Her skin chilled as she realised what he was saying.
The last time Travis and the Orion were at Remus 12, was when most of the coalition had been destroyed.
‘It will take us less than a day,’ he suddenly announced. ‘With so few ships left in the fleet, no one else is hogging the priority transport routes,’ he explained in a hoarse voice.
Both Nida and Carson just nodded in silence.
‘The Orion will be ready for anything, I’ll promise you that. This crew isn’t big, but we’ll do what we can. Which reminds me, how’s the TI device going?’ he nodded down at her left hand.
She brought it up and considered it as she sucked in a calming breath.
Whether she wanted to stop time or not, it would no longer be slowed down.
She could feel the situation building and building.
It felt like she’d been standing in a babbling brook that had just turned into a raging river. She would be washed forward no matter what she held onto.
Despite that thought, she got the sudden urge to hold onto Carson just to see if that, amongst everything in the universe, could keep her still.
She didn’t though.
She just swallowed a smile and nodded once more. ‘It’s doing its job. I can still feel the entity, but it’s like there’s a wall between us. It can’t get to me, but I think I can still get to it,’ she added.
‘That’s exactly what I want to hear,’ Travis conceded with another beleaguered sigh. ‘Now we just have to get you two back to Remus 12, and you have to open a time gate, go through, and fix this,’ his tone became firm and sure as he finished, then, seemingly out of the blue, he gave a hiccup of a laugh. ‘Wow, I can’t believe I just said that. That doesn’t sound like a mission plan—it sounds like a bad plot from one of those ridiculous adventure books Carson used to read as a kid.’
‘Hey,’ Carson jumped to his own defence, ‘they had a certain kind of charm.’
‘Yeah, but plausibility wasn’t it,’ Travis chuckled again. All too soon his chuckling ended though. ‘I guess I can’t fight the reality under my nose though. Like it or not, that’s the plan. I’m man enough to just throw a salute and get on with the job.’
‘That’s very big of you,’ Carson said through a light laugh. ‘But I bet the fact time travel is possible is going to fuel quite a few drunken ramblings in the future. I imagine I’m going to have to put up with some seriously bizarre questions from you when this is all over.’
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Travis began smiling, then he stopped.
She knew why.
They would never see this Travis again.
If they managed to change their time line, he would just . . . no longer exist.
Carson coughed, his cheeks slackening, all trace of humour melting away from his expression.
‘You’ll fix this,’ Travis nodded once at his friend, ‘you’re still the leader of the Force.’
Carson didn’t say anything.
A moment that had begun light and friendly, was now dark and sad.
Because no matter what Nida found to distract herself, her mission remained.
She forced herself to stand straighter, forced her chin to lift.
She could do this.
As she pushed tentatively past the wall the TI device erected between her and the entity, she could sense its power still pulsing within.
She knew she could open another time gate.
‘Well then, I guess there’s nothing more to be said,’ Travis pointed out as he took a solid step backward.
‘There’s one more thing,’ Carson stopped him and pushed out a hand. ‘Tell us good luck, because I think we’ll need it.’
Travis looked momentarily confused. ‘You’ll be fine. Even though you’ll face off against Barbarians when Nida opens that gate, we’ll ensure you have enough fire power to fight them off. Plus, we’ll send through a Class 1 Deep-space Communication Microarray with you, and the second you arrive in your own time, it will send an encoded message to the United Galactic Coalition, telling them everything. Even if something were to happen to you and Nida,’ Travis said in a quiet tone, ‘it would do the job. It’ll warn our friends.’
Carson nodded.
. . . .
Nida didn’t.
That tight feeling was back in her stomach. The one that told her this would not be as easy as it seemed.
Though both Carson and Nida already knew that the Barbarians would be waiting for them when they got back to their own time line, that wasn’t what made her stomach suddenly tense.
. . . .
She just knew it wasn’t over.
It wasn’t going to be easy.
This journey had been hard from the outset, and it wasn’t about to change now.
Yet now she had something she hadn’t had before.
And that something—some one, rather—turned and offered her a low and reassuring nod.
‘Everything will be fine,’ Travis tried.
Carson just looked at her, and she looked back.
They shared a deep connection in that moment, one that told her he felt exactly like she did.
That there had to be more.
Yet at the same time, neither of them were going to turn away.
As if to confirm that fact, they both spun on their heels and snapped Travis a salute.
‘Captain, thank you for your assistance,’ Carson said.
‘We won’t let you down,’ she added.
Travis snapped a salute in return, then, with a nod, turned and walked back to the bridge.
‘I never thought I’d say this,’ Carson acknowledged in a quiet tone when Travis was out of earshot, ‘but command actually suits him.’
She smiled.
And when Carson turned to look her way, her smile grew.
It was not a distinctly happy move though; it did not brighten her cheeks nor make her gaze dance with energy.
It was just . . . all she could manage right now.
Without a word, he walked up to her, and as one they turned to the view.
They both looked up at the stars shining beyond.
‘It’ll be fine; we’ll do everything we can. We’ve both come a long way,’ he added.
She reached out her hand and grabbed his.
They were standing side-by-side, so she did not have to reach far.
Still, it was probably something she shouldn’t do in public.
Though it wasn’t against the rules for two members of the Academy to get together, it was frowned upon. Relationships, after all, made work uncomfortable.
Carson didn’t pull away though. Instead he locked his fingers tighter around hers.
He could have been smiling, but she couldn’t see it; he still had his face directed at the view beyond them.
Space.
Infinity given form.
Carson kept ahold of her hand, and she kept ahold of his until finally he was called away.
Then all she had to do was wait.
They would reach Remus 12 soon.
And the final chapter of their journey would begin.
Chapter 29
Carson Blake
They were almost there. It would take barely a quarter hour before they reached Remus 12.
He could feel the tension building within the crew.
They were returning to a scene of total annihilation . . . yet despite how much shock and grief they must all feel, they were still doing what had to be done.
He was standing on the bridge, Travis at his side. In a few minutes, he’d start walking towards the hangar bay though.
They were not going to land the Orion on Remus 12—it was too big. Plus, it was also too damaged.
Carson doubted they were ready for the ship graveyard down there anyway. They might all be professionals, but it had shattered even him.
And he hadn’t witnessed the brutal battle that had led to it.
The closer he got the more he felt . . . that something wasn’t right.
Which was an understatement—a hell of a lot of things weren’t right. That wasn’t the point though. As he stood there, his feet locked onto the floor and his hands locked behind his back, he felt anticipation roar up towards him. It was a cruel, jolting feeling that felt like someone had their hands wrapped around his neck as they tried to choke the life from him.
‘Almost there,’ Travis said again.
Time ticked down, and it was finally time for Carson to head to the hangar bay. Nida was already waiting there apparently, and as he walked through the corridors, he started to walk a little faster, then faster still.
He wanted to break into a full-tilt sprint, just to get to her side as soon as he could.
Because something wasn’t right.
He was so certain of that fact, he could bet his life against it.
. . . .
And maybe he would have to.
‘Hey, there’s plenty of time left,’ he heard an officer say as he rushed past them.
Of all the things that man could have said, that was . . . the creepiest.
Because that’s exactly what Carson felt; like he was running out of time again.
Being with Nida managed to slow down the seconds and minutes until he felt like an eternity gathered between them, but now that reprieve was lost.
He ran now.
There was ostensibly nothing wrong.
There were no enemies, the entity was all but controlled, and they were safely aboard the Orion. But none of those facts could cool his nerves. Instead they burned brighter and hotter with ever step he took.
Until finally he reached the hangar bay. He ran in so fast he almost knocked over a surprised-looking engineer. ‘Hey, watch where you’re going,’ the guy shouted over his shoulder as Carson kept pelting forward.
He could see her standing roughly in the centre of this cavernous space, her hands held neatly in front of her as she stared at the ship before her.
They would have to take a small vessel down to the surface of Remus 12, and right now it was being loaded with all the things they would need.
Or weapons they would need, rather.
Because Travis intended to arm them both to the teeth. In fact, he was giving away valuable armaments Carson knew he couldn’t afford.
Or he could. Because everything was riding on this.
If Nida and Carson could change the time line, then it was worth every risk.
Finally he reached her. In fact, he practically barrelled
into her.
She took a step back and looked up at him with round, surprised eyes. ‘Are you okay?’
He opened his mouth to reply . . . but couldn’t. No words could explain exactly how he felt. It was just . . . he could just . . . .
Shaking his head, he gave up, and just surrendered to his growing apprehension.
Her eyes quickly narrowed. She had beautiful eyes. They weren’t a startling shape or colour—it was the quality of their attention that caught his every time.
As he looked at her, she took the edge off his worry and paranoia. She couldn’t take it away completely though.
‘Carson?’ she whispered as she took a step close to him, her brow crumpling with worry. ‘What is it?’
He searched her gaze, but ended up saying nothing as he turned to survey the ship.
‘Get ready to board,’ and engineer told them as she walked past with a scanner in her hand. ‘We’ll be there in 60 seconds.’
60 seconds . . . why hadn’t she said a minute? Because 60 seconds sounded like a count down.
Nida was still looking up at him, her concern obvious.
‘Carson . . . I . . . I think I feel it too,’ she suddenly said.
This made him snap his head around.
‘Something isn’t right. I just . . . can’t believe things are going to be this easy,’ she muttered.
Every hair on his body stood on end as he considered her.
He wanted to say something. He couldn’t. He just nodded and took a step forward when the engineer waved them onto the ship.
He grabbed the side of the airlock as he moved in, his white-knuckled fingers briefly gripping the edge of the metal.
They were both just being paranoid, right? The break-neck pace of their mission to date had simply altered their expectations, until they both thought one battle would inevitably follow the next.
Everything was fine, he told himself as he pushed a breath from his lips.
He walked on board, Nida a few steps behind him.
‘Alright, you are good to go. Get in, shut the door. The ignition sequence has already been initiated, and all you have to do is sit back and wait for the computer to fly you down to the surface.’
Sit back and wait.
Yeah . . . it was never that easy.
. . . .
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