But her grip was strong too, and with a command to the entity, could pull a ship from the sky.
Maybe they really were suited for each other after all.
Before she could consider that fact, they reached a wide room.
She pulled back. ‘Now,’ she said.
He ran several steps before turning to face her. The glow of her skin played across the smooth lines of his armour.
He didn’t say anything.
‘Now,’ she said one last time as she closed her eyes and locked her right hand over her left wrist.
She could do this.
God, she could do it.
So she did.
She pushed right in. Right into the corners of her mind, and right down into the unbelievable depth that was the entity.
It felt exactly like jumping into a well, sinking into murky waters, and being dragged to the centre of the Earth itself.
She did not shudder, even though her body wanted to break free.
She just pushed further down.
Then the entity surged up.
She could feel its anger and grief and sorrow. They danced across her skin like flames. Burning her deeper and deeper, yet at the same time chilling her bones.
She had to fight, fight like she never would again.
As she opened herself up and commanded a time gate to form, the entity did the same. Yet while she concentrated on the exact moment she wanted to return to, she could feel it trying to confuse her.
She gripped her hands, and could feel Carson close by. All of a sudden she lurched out and grabbed hold of him.
He didn’t pull away.
She forced her mind back to the fight, back to the entity.
She was vaguely aware dust now swirled around her in a vortex, small stones striking against her cheeks and head.
She ignored them.
She concentrated. With all her might, she tried to open the gate.
. . . .
It was working.
She could feel it. Time opening up all around her like a book.
It gushed into her.
As it did, she fixed her mind on the one point she had to return to.
She had to return to the exact moment her and Carson left. Only then would she be assured of securing a vessel so they could make it back to the United Galactic Coalition and warn them.
Either the Farsight would be still there waiting for them, or they’d have to secure a Barbarian vessel, after they fought their way through the Barbarians, that was.
She had to get there first though.
She was aware she started to lift off the ground, gravity no longer locking her to the dusty floor below.
Carson tightened his grip on her hand, and she did the same until they were both holding on as fast and hard as two people could.
Maybe he whispered to her that she could do it. Maybe he remained completely silent.
It didn’t matter.
He was here.
He was by her side.
She was not alone.
With that fact singing in her soul, she pushed harder into the battle.
As she concentrated on the right time period, the entity tried to pull her back into the past, back into some other point in Vex’s history.
But she couldn’t let it.
With everything she had, she concentrated on her own time. On the point just after they had left through the time gate.
The entity pushed into her.
It tried to force itself into every gap in her mind. It wrapped itself around every thought and belief, trying to steal away her mind as it did.
She wouldn’t let it though; she fought.
Despite how fraught it was, it was a silent battle.
She did not scream nor whimper. She only pushed on.
Until finally, finally she felt it.
Time opened.
It furled before her like curtains parting to an endless view.
She saw flashes of Vex’s history intermingled with her own.
She ignored them.
She knew where she had to be.
And it was time to go home.
With one final surge, she did it.
She overcame the entity.
She opened the right time gate.
Light burst around them, and the world shifted in silence, rewriting itself anew as the clock was wound back.
Chapter 31
Cadet Nida Harper
Finally she made it. She forced herself through.
They arrived back in their own time.
Both Nida and Carson struck the floor, crumpling like dolls abandoned by their owners.
As she lay there, unconsciousness threatened to consume her. Yet it didn’t.
She pushed it back with every last scrap of resolve she could muster.
She forced her eyes to continue blinking, her chest to keep sucking in breath after breath.
And she sought out his hand. She forced her fingers to move, to collect over his.
He was still, but he was not dead. Even though he still wore his armour, she knew his heart still beat within that impenetrable chest plate.
It was the kind of boundless knowledge the entity gave her flashes of every now and then. Facts beyond her limited time and space.
. . . .
It took her a long time to rise up, to sit, and to shift forward until she had his helmet cradled in her lap.
He was silent, still, unconscious.
She rested her palm flat on his helmet and closed her eyes.
Dust filtered down from above and dashed against her face and hair.
Slowly she opened her eyes and stared at it.
She still glowed, lighting up the whole room.
But gradually that glow withdrew as the entity pulled in on itself.
With ever-widening eyes, she watched the ceiling high above draw into darker shadow until she could hardly see it any more.
‘Carson, wake up,’ she croaked. ‘I can’t do this without you.’
Perhaps she could. Perhaps she was mistaken, and she could complete this mission without him at her side.
But she didn’t want to.
And that was all that counted.
Slowly he woke.
She was right there as he did, still cradling his head in her hands.
Ready for what would come next.
The end of Book Three. Book Four will be available shortly.
For free fiction and details on current and upcoming titles, please visit www.odettecbell.com
Odette C. Bell is an author of over 40 books in genres ranging from sci fi to adventure. Her catalogue of works is available from most ebook retailors.
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