Camellia set her eyes on Rooks’ office. Many steps still stretched between her and her destination. An officer exited the office. He gave Camellia and her friends a short nod. Then, he headed away, towards the bridge.

Camellia guessed that she and her friends would find Rooks alone, which meant Rooks was ready for their meeting.

Camellia bumped against the wall and startled. Meladee bumped against her a second time. Then, Meladee danced to the other side and bumped Eva.

Meladee sang, “Secret meeting. Secret meeting. No boys allowed.”

“That’s a horrible melody,” Eva spat.

Meladee hip-checked Eva, but Eva resumed her step.

“It’s not that bad,” Camellia said. “But, you probably shouldn’t sing about a secret meeting in the middle of the hall. And, last I checked boys are allowed in this passage.” Camellia pointed to the retreating officer. “That man might have heard.”

A new officer walked into view. He waved.

“Or that man.” Camellia pointed to the newcomer.

He pretended to tip a hat he didn’t have.

“Oh, shut up,” Meladee complained.

Eva tapped a key on the frame of Rooks’ door. She smiled.

“Yes?” Rooks asked.

“It’s the three of us,” Eva answered, still smiling.

“Come in.” Rooks’ door slid open.

Camellia entered Rooks’ office, with Meladee and Eva on her tail. She stopped abruptly. Meladee bumped into her, but Eva stopped in time.

Rooks sat at her desk, chin in hands watching Inez and Eder draw magic circles on a wheeled chalk board. Rooks’ eyes darted to Camellia and the others as they stood in the doorway.

Rooks waved them in.

Meladee shouldered past Camellia and strode up to Inez and Eder’s work. “Nice. This is bound to fix the whole problem.” She swept her hands through the air to signify one drawing that resembled the wormhole spell.

“Really?” Eder asked.

“Fuck if I know,” Meladee said. “I just got here. I’m boosting your confidence. Working on the wormhole?” Meladee nodded at the board.

Eder looked at Inez.

Rooks answered, “Among other things.”

“Ah…adding your two cents to my decay magic.” Meladee shimmied to the side and stood before a different circle. “I approve.”

With a renewed twinkle in her eye, Inez gestured to the wormhole circle. “We studied the way Iruedim’s wormhole works, and we realized that it needs a lot of time to jump around before it settles. It’s going to do that no matter what. Our magical wormholes don’t need as much time.”

Eder shook his head along with Inez’s explanation, as if he felt he should at least contribute some body language to the conversation.

Camellia drew close and studied the board. She counted ten circles in all. The number of circles hadn’t changed, but the rune work and star lines had gained complexity. Her mouth dropped open. “This is might be a three-mage spell now.”

“No. There aren’t that many new symbols here.” Eder shrugged. “At five rings each, it’s still a stretch for two mages, but it’s doable with practice and dedicated memorization.”

Inez gave Camellia a look, not too withering. “To continue my explanation…We’ve set up the spell so that it has a path devoted to the roulette like aspect of how the wormhole performs its natural shifts. That star path is going to allow the wormhole to bounce around before the spell completes.” Inez traced the star. “Then, once the wormhole is ready to stabilize, we’ll bounce it back to the place we want it.”

“We were trying to get to Scaldigir all along, so we didn’t have to change the location symbols.” Eder pointed to the top of the circle where the first location symbol occupied the outermost ring.

Meladee held up a hand. “So, you’ve accounted for that extra star, but there are three more.”

“That’s the part I don’t get.” Rooks sat back in her seat.

“We just need to make sure we’re more delicate in our attempts to move the wormhole, so we tied the appropriate symbols together, changed the connections – just added some redundancies. Do you want any specific details?” Inez’s hands traveled over the circle, showing where the symbols shared new links.

Camellia certainly wanted further explanation. She opened her mouth to speak.

Meladee beat her to it. “I think I got it. Thanks.” Meladee peered at the new spell. “I see what you mean about being more careful. Got the gist.”

Rooks held up her hands. “I’m glad someone does.”

“I don’t get it either.” Camellia shook her head.

“Thanks for the company.” Rooks rose from her seat. “I have a request to make of you three.

Camellia stood straight and faced Rooks. Eva also stood at attention. Even Meladee fixed her relaxed posture.

A hint of a smile showed on Rooks’ face. “You three are excellent survivalists.”

“We are?” Meladee asked, just above a whisper.

Camellia shushed her.

“You survived Lurren twice. You made it through several encounters with Ah’nee’thit and Ul’thetos. You represent technology.” Rooks gestured to Eva. “Magic.” She gestured to Meladee. “And, intellect.” She gestured to Camellia.

Camellia’s heart beat with pride at the mention.

“I need to send a team ahead with whatever bomb Inez and Eder make. It can’t be a big team because you have to fit on a small, hide-able ship. Alban will pick a couple of people for the team, I want to pick you three.” Rooks folded her hands and waited.

“You know, you can just order us.” Meladee shrugged.

“You’ve been through a lot, and you’re all settled. I didn’t want to presume.” Again, Rooks set her eyes on them and waited.

Camellia looked to Eva. She knew Eva would agree. She looked back to Meladee and saw a fair amount of confidence in Meladee’s eyes.

“You’re not scared?” Camellia asked.

“I’m scared of whatever happened in that other timeline. This is the good one – the one where we get to go home, right?” Meladee raised both her hands. “Now, the next time you guys experiment on the wormhole, I won’t be there. But, we’ve got to make sure there’s a next time.”

“I agree,” Eva said.

Camellia nodded.

Rooks smiled. “Wonderful. And, that’s my A-team.”

Pan sat on Alban’s desk. The other arcanes claimed comfy spots for themselves. Kat stole Alban’s seat, and Aria took one of the chairs opposite his workspace.

That left Alban in the middle of the room. He stood with his arms crossed. “We’ll send Pan.”

Sotir leaned on his staff. “That’s it? Just Pan?”

“Who else can I send? I’m not sending you.” Alban pointed at Sotir.

“I could determine missteps before they happen,” Sotir countered.

“Not well in a battle situation. You lack practice.” Alban nodded to Aria. “What good would it be to send her? There won’t be auras to read.”

Aria bowed her head.

“Here, here,” Gavain agreed with Alban.

Alban drew a long breath. “I could send Irini.”

Irini perked up.

“But, I won’t.”

Irini stood straight and tall. “I could be a big help. I could guide the team out there, and Sotir could guide the team back here.”

“I know. But, you’re valuable; you’re young, and I get in trouble when I put arcanes under the age of 17 in harm’s way.” Alban looked at Kat and Chara. “Also, I’m not sending an elder.”

Kat shot up from her seat. “Whyever not?”

Alban gestured to Kat. “Fire loses a bit of its potency in space, and you can’t get the fire outside the ship without a spacesuit or Pan’s help. The ship is going to be small enough that wearing a spacesuit and leaving the vessel will be a big risk. You could get left behind. As for using Pan’s help to get fire outside the ship..” Alban shook his head. “If a fight happens, she won’t have time to babysit you.”

Kat’s mouth fell open. She sat down. “Never thought I’d hear that, but I suppose I second your reasoning.”

Chara shifted in her seat. “I could go.”

“You could, but you won’t.” Alban’s eyes flicked to Pan. “Shall we just say that I don’t want her watched.”

Pan did not smile. The freedom that Alban offered her was both good and bad. Good because she hated to be watched. Bad because if no one watched her, she felt less motivated to achieve golden actions.

Alban turned to Hagen. “That leaves you, but of course, you will also stay aboard the Ischyros.”

Hagen lightly tossed up his hands. “I will gladly remain here. Normally, I’d jump at the chance to be alone with four women, but none of them – or their dreams – strike my fancy.”

“Precisely.” Alban gestured to Hagen “And, by precisely, I mean that those four women are too far out of your league. Now…” Alban smirked at Pan. “Will you be alright with Rooks’ team?”

“Of course, I’ll bring a stuffed animal for company.” Pan managed a hollow smile.

She would be fine on her own. She’d be better than fine because she would have some Iruedians for actual companionship. She just felt strange leaving her home behind.

Pan slid off the desk. “Now, I know I can be of use in a stealth situation, but what happens if we fail at stealth? Should I time message, until we get it right?”

“That’s an option,” Alban said.

Sotir’s staff clicked over the floor, and he crossed the office to Pan’s side. “You’ll be aboard one small ship. Time message will be your only way out. If it goes very badly, you might as well come back to this moment.”

Pan nodded. She would accept that invitation, assuming things went badly. She stared at Sotir’s face and picked the moment she looked into his eyes as her target.