The man obeyed, giving them space to talk.
“I need to know why you attacked this planet.” Bauer crouched in front of Harper to better look her in the eye. His tone sounded more exasperated than angry. He eyed the crew. They glared back at him.
“Release my assets.” Harper drew her legs up and rested her arms on them.
“From where we stand, you went rogue. This was not part of the mission,” Bauer continued.
“Release my assets,” she repeated.
“You were to infiltrate Ingeniare One’s royal family, not attack Ingeniare Three.”
“Release my—”
“Bloody nova,” Bauer swore. He motioned for the eavesdropper to return. “Untie them. But if anyone runs, shoot them.”
The guard didn’t appear too pleased to be letting the prisoners go. As he pulled the gag off of Rick’s mouth, Rick blew him a kiss and winked. “Thanks.”
When they were freed, Bauer again waved the man away.
“Let us try this again.” Bauer stood, waiting for them to do the same. “Give me one reason to believe you did not go rogue. Your mission was to infiltrate Ingeniare One, not attack Ingeniare Three. The last check-in has you heading to the VR Advanced Technology and Programming Conference on Nozando. We have confirmed you arrived at the event. Now Prince Bucky is missing, the royals are tightening security, and we find you fumbling around in the dark with people we can’t verify.”
“You weren’t read into my mission, and I am not authorized to give you details,” Harper denied. “So, you might as well stop asking.”
“I was read into every part of this mission,” he countered.
Bauer reached into his pocket and pulled out a device. He held it up. Harper’s photo appeared next to the words “Classified File 7890-8889.”
Harper’s expression changed, and Rick felt her stiffen. He wanted to move closer to her, but she’d made it clear they weren’t to say anything, and that probably meant the nonverbal as well. It took everything inside of Rick to keep back. Agent Bauer didn’t need to know that Rick and Harper were lovers. If they think she ran off with a romantic affair, that might make things worse for her.
“I brought this mission forward,” Bauer said. Rick had the impression the man didn’t want to detain them unless he had to during the course of his job.
“My directive was to undermine the power of the royal family.” She gestured around. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she didn’t think there was a way out of the situation. She was trying to put all of the blame on herself, in an attempt to save the rest of them. “You’re welcome. Royal family’s power undermined.”
“Where is Prince Bucky?” he asked. “Did you dispose of him?”
“To the best of my knowledge, he flew himself into a nebula,” Harper said. “The artificial kind, not the harmless kind. Beyond that, I don’t know.”
“What supposed nebula?” Bauer looked as if he wanted to believe her but couldn’t.
“I don’t think it had a name.” Harper glanced at Rick.
Rick cleared his throat. “Harpy Nebula.”
Harper’s lips pressed together, and she briefly closed her eyes as if to bite back a laugh.
“Never heard of it,” Bauer answered.
“I can point it out on a star chart,” Violette offered. At some point, she had inched closer to her husband. Jackson had switched places with her and stood with his body blocking Raisa from the guards. Lochlann had stepped back and was peeking up into the ship’s cargo hold.
“Get her a star chart and send a team to check on the prince,” Bauer ordered the eavesdropper. Then to Harper, he said, “Even if what you say about Bucky is true, it does not change the fact that you are here on an unauthorized mission taking out a very valuable, powerful trio of planets. An act like this does not go unnoticed in the galaxies.”
“Someone had to do it,” Harper said. “If you are the one who brought this mission forward, then you know what this place is. You know what they do to people here, about the factory purges. You know these people do not belong here. They are merely pawns used for the gain of the royal family.”
“I might have been read into all of the missions, but you were not. Why do you think I was trying to lessen their power?” Bauer placed a hand on Harper’s shoulder and lightened his tone. “A move like this takes time. We don’t need a bio-army starting an intergalactic event.”
Rick pressed his lips together and stared at the agent’s hand. Who did this man think he was? Frowning, he said, “A plan that slow could take decades and easily be forgotten halfway through as politics change. What about the people who are here now? They do not deserve this life or to be purged into the next one.”
“Don’t make me gag you again,” Bauer warned.
“Rick, please, don’t,” Harper said, before turning to Bauer once more. “The bio-guards are not very dangerous once they’re disarmed.”
“I’m going to need to know how you did that,” Bauer said. “Our people have been trying for nearly a year to disarm the bionics. The best they have is cutting the tubes, which from the amount of fluid on the floor you already know.”
“You can thank my assets for disarming them,” Harper said. “Clear them and let them go and I’m sure they’ll give you plans for the device. Then you won’t have to worry about a bio-army. All the bionic Ingeniarians will be stopped before they can even utter the command to attack.”
“We also need a place to relocate all of these people to.” Bauer dropped his hand away and gestured to the factory. “Do you have a plan for that as well?”
“Not—” Harper began.
Suddenly, tiny lights rained down from above like noiseless sparks.
They all glanced up in surprise, though there didn’t appear to be a source for the energy.
Several gasps filled the loading dock. A soft pink glow appeared amongst the darkly clothed men. As the sparks stopped falling, the glow lightened to reveal a young woman. Long brown hair fell to her waist, and she smiled as if entirely unconcerned by the fact she had materialized into a room filled with armed men. She wore an ethereal gown of pure white. It appeared to float around her as she moved. The soldiers stepped back to give the creature space.
Bauer stiffened even as his mouth opened in surprise.
“Is that a ghost?” Lucien asked.
“That almost looks like the ancestral spirits on Lintian,” Jackson said.
“Rick, quick, insult her and get Lucien and I cursed to find women, too,” Viktor whispered.
Rick didn’t answer.
Harper touched Bauer’s arm to get his attention. “Is that one of…?”
Bauer nodded. He instantly went down on one knee and bowed his head. The action caused the others to do the same.
“Holy space balls,” Harper swore under her breath in awe. She was slower to kneel. “What is she doing here? I didn’t think they were allowed to leave the compound.”
Bauer didn’t appear to have an answer.
“Should we…?” Lucien asked.
The crew remained standing. Rick was too mesmerized to move.
The young woman stopped in her progression toward them. She leaned to study the face of one of the agents. A violent shiver racked her body before she pulled away. Leaning to one of the other kneeling men, she ordered, “Shoot him.”
The spirit’s voice was not as soft as one would expect from an airy being.
The agent took out his blaster and fired without hesitation. The crew jolted at the sound of the weapon’s discharge. The condemned agent fell without having put up a fight. No one went to aid him.
“Never mind,” Viktor whispered. “Rick, don’t you dare piss her off.”
Rick saw Viktor pulling his brother as they both kneeled on the ground.
The woman refocused her attention and moved toward them.
“Rick? Do you know this woman?” Dev asked. “She seems to recognize you.”
Rick shook his head in denial
. The loading dock was quiet. None of the soldiers moved to stand. They kept their eyes down as if afraid to look at the creature.
“Rick, you should kneel. She’s one of the eight crystals,” Harper said in a reverent tone. He had no idea what that meant.
Rick started to kneel like Harper suggested, but the creature locked eyes with him and lifted her hand. He leaned away when she made a move to touch him. There was something familiar about her features, especially her eyes.
“You have done it,” the spirit said, smiling.
Rick glanced to where the dead man lay, unsure if that was a good thing.
“Don’t worry about that.” She touched his cheek and waited until his eyes met hers. Energy hummed from her fingers. “His darkness needed to be stopped before it ate its way out. Fifty-seven people were saved.”
Rick again glanced at the dead man, and the crystal moved to block his view.
“You have done almost all I have asked of you,” the woman continued.
“I’m sorry. I think you have the wrong man,” Rick said. “I don’t know you.”
The spirit chuckled as if he was telling a joke.
“I am three,” she said. Her skin began to solidify as if finding form. The pink glow about her swirled and lost intensity. It collected into the body of a young girl. She cupped her hand to her mouth and leaned up to whisper, “But you call me Sprout.”
Rick fell back into the ship’s exterior. His hands shook, and he was sure he might be dreaming. Before him stood the childhood friend he’d held in his arms as she’d bled out. He sank to his knees in disbelief so that his face was level with hers.
All the emotions he felt that day in the forest as a young boy surged within him. He remembered her face, her laugh, her smile, and the way it all faded as blood spurted out of her neck. This was not possible.
“Sprout?” He shook his head in denial. “How? I saw… Are you… a ghost?”
The child’s hands cupped his cheeks. The energy in her fingertips had lessened from when she was in spirit form. “You’ve become even more beautiful than I hoped, my creation.”
“What the hell is going on?” Jackson whispered. “Is that Rick’s mother?”
“Shh,” Raisa shushed him.
Sprout didn’t take her eyes off Rick, as if memorizing his face.
“I saw you die,” Rick stated.
“I didn’t want to do that to you but you saw what you needed to see. You would have looked for me because you are a loyal friend, and I needed you to look for those adventures I planted inside your head. I needed you to use the knowledge I uploaded into your brain to do what must be done. All of that led to this. So many lives disrupted here. Six thousand, two hundred and ninety-eight lives were saved by the actions of you and your crew today—the ones here now, the ones that would have come later, and not counting the babies that would not have been born. I saw this when I met you in the forest.” She continued to stroke his cheeks.
Rick could not look away. She mesmerized him, not just with her touch, but with the memories she drew from the depths of his mind. It only raised more questions.
Sprout nodded as if hearing what was swirling in his thoughts. “You were always full of questions. I appeared to your father as the ghost of your mother. I told him to lead you away from my dead body. I told him to make sure you told no one of what you saw, or that you would both die a terrible fate.”
His father had done just that. He could almost hear the sound of his father’s voice repeating, “Push it far from your mind, never mention her, never think about her, never go looking.”
“Your father’s fate was already written. I knew he would not survive the death of your mother. He did not have inside of him what you have inside of you.” Sprout’s voice sounded so young and innocent.
No one dared to interrupt Sprout as she spoke. When Rick glanced around, only his crew seemed bold enough to look directly at the girl. Harper snuck a quick peek before averting her gaze.
“I found the stone prisoners you used to talk about,” Rick said. “They were on Florencia’s Fifth Moon. We freed one, the only one we could save.”
Sprout nodded and glanced at Violette. “I know. You brought two sisters together across an impossible lifetime.” Sprout’s attention did not stay off Rick for very long. “You saved the prince from his own loneliness. Captain Samantha and Prince Falke’s children will do great things. You helped Princess Mei’s family discover the drug production in the mines. Your actions spread over the universes and stopped a planet from exploding, and you didn’t even know it was in danger.”
“I did all that?” He slowly lifted his hand to touch Sprout, as she did him. Her face was soft, just like a child’s, but this was no young girl. The kind of wisdom that only came with age filled her eyes.
“You all did. Together. In your adventures, you collected the people you needed to assemble along the way. First, by finding a crew, and then by believing in a curse.” Sprout looked at Harper. “And you sought adventure and pleasure where you could. I am glad you are finally able to remember her. It was too early before. Don’t worry, most of the memories will come back to you in time now that you know they are missing.”
“You know about the curse?” Rick asked.
“I whispered it to Zhang An. How else would you have found your true family?” She giggled, a girlish sound. “Besides, what better reward for all you have done, and will do, than to find love?”
Rick glanced at Harper.
“Um, excuse me, crystal, lady, um, Lady Crystal Sprout?” Lucien lifted his hand. “Not everyone on the crew was cursed.”
Sprout glanced at him. “Didn’t you find the sisters?”
Viktor and Lucien shook their heads in denial.
“They’re around here somewhere,” Sprout dismissed, again turning to Rick. She stared at him, smiling, not saying a word, as if time had no meaning.
“So, what now?” Rick asked, unsure how to take the news that everything in his life was tied to his childhood friend. There were threads spreading out over time and space, connecting him to this moment. He’d always felt that some greater power didn’t want him dead. Was Samantha’s saving him, the pirate life, the curse, finding Harper, all to serve this moment? To be in this place at this time to free these people? If this was his life’s purpose, what next? Did the fates have no more use for him?
“So many questions swirling,” Sprout whispered. “My tasks for you are done. I can ask no more. I release you.”
Now that he knew the truth, Rick wasn’t sure he wanted to be released from his life having a purpose.
“Don’t look so worried. Find your own adventures. There are plenty of people out there who need help.” She glanced at Harper. “Take her with you. I’m sure she’ll have some ideas.”
Rick looked at Harper. Her head had lifted, and she stared at him. Like every other time he was near her, his heart beat a little faster. “Only if she wants to stay with me.”
Sprout furrowed her brow and went to where Harper kneeled. “You should tell him.”
Harper glanced at Rick before turning to Bauer.
Sprout grabbed Harper’s jaw, her little fingers gripping tight. Her body began to glow brighter, and tiny lights danced over her. “Tell him. Don’t worry about Agent Bauer or the agency. Make up your own mind.”
Harper took a deep breath and gazed at Rick. “I love you. I want to be with you. But—”
“Agent Bauer,” Sprout cut her off. Her body grew and she retook her ghostly form before gliding to the man. “Harper has to stay with Rick now.”
Rick pulled Harper to stand next to him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
“Those aren’t the orders I’ve received,” Bauer said. “I’m—”
“The fate of three, no, tell them seven planets are in the balance. Good planets, too, not those industrial smog smelly planets like Rayvik.” Sprout ordered. “You’re to fix their ship and let these people be on their way.”
Bauer nodded. “I’ll see to it.”
“We need to relocate all of these people, and you need to report to Zoxin to deal with the Red Guard,” Sprout ordered. “Bring extra boots with you.”
“Will they really just let us leave?” Violette asked.
“Sounds like it,” Jackson answered.
“I’m going to find Alexis.” Lochlann boarded the ship. No one stopped him.
“I didn’t think we were going to make it out of this one,” Rick said.
“I didn’t either.” Harper didn’t take her eyes from him. “I can’t believe your childhood friend is one of the crystals.”
“I still don’t know what that means.” Rick couldn’t help himself. He held her tighter.
“Now, please, Agent Bauer,” Sprout said.
Bauer stood and began shouting orders to bring down transport ships to load the workers and to have engineers and mechanics board the Bound Virgin. The once silent room suddenly filled with movement.
“He’s one of the good ones,” Sprout said of the agent as he did as she’d commanded. “He’s facing a scorching path, but he’s Killian so it’s fine.” She leaned forward and whispered. “Don’t be jealous, Rick, but if he succeeds, he’ll save five more lives than you so far. Unless you choose to continue your work.”
“Hold on,” Lucien called as he moved to go after Bauer. “Not the sisters. Don’t load the sisters. You heard the lady. We need to take them with us.”
Viktor hesitated, glancing at Sprout before following his brother.
Sprout watched them leave before saying, “I might have forgotten to tell them the sisters have already stowed away on your ship.” She waved a hand in dismissal. “They’ll figure it out.”
Since he hadn’t realized he’d been on some special mission set into motion during childhood, he hardly knew how to continue it unless it was to keep being himself. That would be easy enough.
Sprout smiled at him, not seeming to notice the fact he embraced Harper. She reached between them and touched his face. Her fingers hummed with ethereal energy.
“You may be my most favorite thing.” Sprout tapped his nose. “You still have it in there.”
“What?” Harper asked.
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