Camellia grabbed the chairbacks. She tugged on Pan and Meladee’s seats. She wanted to pause and say sorry, but Camellia couldn’t take her eyes from the Volanter clan home.

The time bubble drifted, looking like a snow globe, with several layered scenes inside. The Volanter did not live on a planet. They lived on the floating landscapes, so often depicted in old Blath drawings. Camellia saw a snowy land. She saw a field of flowers. She saw a forest and an ocean. She saw hundreds of places, resting on clouds that provided both support for and staircase from scene to scene.

Around the entire bubble, runes glowed. A circle repeated, looping itself several times over the bubble’s surface.

Camellia took all that and acknowledged its wonder, but the great obsidian disc, a lightyear from the bubble, captured the winning prize in her attentions. The obsidian disc stretched as large as the bubble and loomed on a silver frame, connected only at the midpoints. It could swing around, just like a mirror.

Camellia pointed. “It’s the Obsidian mirror.”

“The Obsidian mirror to end all mirrors,” Pan said. “But, where are the runes?”

“The other side,” Meladee grumbled. “They don’t want it active.”

“I wish I could see,” Aria said.

From Engineering, Eva assured her, “You aren’t missing much.”

Camellia stood straight and released Pan and Meladee’s chairs. The chairs bobbed, and Pan growled.

Camellia put her nails to her teeth but did not bite. “Why do they have a mirror? What do they need it for?”

“Well, looks like they feel the same as you.” Meladee gestured out the window. “They think it’s a great time, and they all do it together.”

Pan stared at the mirror. “No. They need it for something.” She raised her hand and motioned to the mirror, as if drawing a circle around it. “They put it across from the bubble. They all look at it, at the same time. Maybe, it keeps them sane.”

Camellia felt her eyes go wide. “In a place as boring as one without time, it just might. Maybe, it helps them grow.”

Meladee glanced up at Camellia. “You mean like…it helps the kids get bigger?”

Camellia waved her hand. “No. I mean it helps them learn about themselves. Their texts and myths speak of forgotten lessons and relationships. Timelessness robs them of their drive. The mirror, used periodically, must give it back.”

Meladee made an incredulous face and turned back to the windshield. “That’s sick.”

From Engineering, Eva said, “Potentially useful.”

Camellia laughed.

Pan drummed her fingers on the console. “So, where do we hide? I want to get under cover before your invisibility spell wears off.”

Meladee held up a hand as if to block off Pan. “Look, this is the improved version of my invisibility spell. Someone has taken a look at it and fixed the inconsistencies. Forget that Inez said there were fundamental issues. The spell serves its purpose.” Meladee pushed the controls and eased the ship forward.

“I recommend we hide under the mirror,” Eva said.

“Whoa, no. No way,” Meladee objected.

“We’ll see the surface.” Camellia shook her head and strolled back to her place at the com station. “We can’t hide there.”

“I installed a shield over every view of the Halfmoon. We don’t need to look out when we have our sensors, and if we block the view, we can’t see the mirror.” Eva paused and gave them all a chance to consider it. “If we hide there, the Volanter will be unlikely to notice us. They don’t look under, unless it’s time to. We’ll be effectively invisible.”

“Cameras.” Pan stared out the window. “And, sensors. Specifically, our cameras, and their sensors.”

“Their sensors are subpar, and the mirror will block them. As for our cameras, we simply need to keep them off the mirror.” Eva’s calm voice rang in the cockpit, sounding very clear despite the com being its source.

Camellia sat at the com station. She moved slow into the seat. “Hmmm. I think it’s a good idea. And, I would love a closer look.”

All eyes turned to Camellia, except Pan’s. Meladee swiveled her seat. Aria twisted hers. Eva probably looked through the deck to stare at Camellia in disbelief. Pan kept her focus on the window.

Camellia let out a weak laugh. “I don’t mean literally. I want to get some scans, if we can.” Camellia would settle for a rest in its shadow. She fingered the shard of mirror that hung on her necklace. She let it go and heard it tink against the resin pendant that held her day walker’s stone.

“I vote for hiding under the mirror,” Pan said. “We have the best chance of success there. Might as well start there – this time.” Pan worked the controls on her side, earning a look of annoyance from Meladee.

“I vote mirror too.” Aria sat, with her hands folded in lap. She occupied the weapons station, though she would be shooting blind if called upon. “I can’t see out the windshield whether you cover it or not. So, the mirror poses no danger to me.”

Meladee looked at Camellia; then Pan, and finally Aria. “You’re all agreeing to it.” She shook her head. “Fine. Eva, you better close up that windshield before I see something.”

The windshield buzzed as a metal case slid over.

Meladee jumped. “Great.”

As the Halfmoon drifted closer to the mirror, Camellia took one last look. It was a great wonder, and she soaked up every detail for her memory, until the metal blocked her view.

“Get ready to drop the package.” Meladee leaned into the com and spoke low.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Eva hissed. “Have you renewed the illusion?” The com buzzed as Eva finished.

Pan turned a questioning gaze to Meladee.

Meladee pressed her hand to the console and cast the triple-ringed illusion. The spell contained few runes and a lot of shorthand. Meladee wrote it on such short notice that she had to employ pictographs. The pictographs of light faded from the console.

Pan had suggested the illusion instead of Meladee’s flawed invisibility spell. Pan argued they could create the illusion of a Volanter ship and pretend to be servicing the mirror – if caught. Meladee thought it was a good enough idea, so she went through with it. Later, she’d have to write another invisibility spell, probably from scratch. Though, she may give up on it and switch to illusions. Even with the pictographs, her new illusion spell seemed sturdier.

Their outer camera reflected off a small span of mirror, too small to give any of them problems, though whispers seemed to tickle Meladee’s ears whenever she looked at it. So, she took a glance and saw their ship as a nice green Volanter vessel – a little one – image courtesy of Camellia. Meladee’s illusion looked damn good.

Meladee pressed her finger to the com. “I just renewed the illusion. What about the bomb?”

“I’ll have my probe ready in just a moment.” The sound of welding came over the com, obscuring the last of Eva’s words.

Meladee sat back and crossed her arms. She checked the camera again to admire her illusion.

“Oh, Meladee, don’t. Not too much,” Camellia warned. “The camera shows the face of the mirror.”

Meladee turned it off. “Yeah, I know. It’s been whispering to me.” The last of the most recent whispers grew distant. “Any patrols on sensors?”

Camellia bent over her board. “No. I’m unsure whether they keep any ships close. We passed that single patrol on the beginning of this path and then nothing.” Camellia stared at her scans. The light painted her chalky skin in a yellow green. “I don’t even know if the people inside see us. They talk about this place being somewhere that forgets time. They’re all inside, oblivious to what’s out here.”

“You mean pretending they have no troubles, until it’s true.” Pan’s eyes strayed to the windshield, though she could see nothing outside.

The metal shade blocked the view and reflected back the console glow in blue, red, green, and yellow.

“You know, this might have been the place for me way back when.” Meladee eased the thrusters and moved the ship closer to the mirror, keeping in its shadow. She held out a hand to Camellia. “Let me see the scans of their bubble again.”

Camellia walked a tablet over. She didn’t give it to Meladee, but she held it out, with the images in full view.

Meladee studied them. “Damn. That’s spellcraft.” She turned away, having the refreshed image of the bubble in her memory. She picked up her nearby snack and caught a smile on Pan’s face. “What?”

“How do you know that it’s so wonderful? What makes a spell worthy? Scale?” Pan asked.

“Nah, skill.” Meladee held up a finger. “But, also because it’s big.” She took a bite of her food.

“Oh, Mother Tree.” Pan shot a look back at Aria as if to say did you catch that?

Aria wore a faint smile, only a little smaller than Camellia’s. Aria was a reserved girl. Most of the Scaldin were considerably more reserved than the Iruedians. Meladee patted herself on the back for that observation. She thought she might raise the topic with Camellia, see if Meladee could get herself a footnote in some article.

“I’m dropping the bomb,” Eva called.

Meladee dropped her sandwich. Crumbs dropped over the console, and her hands scrambled over her boards before she realized that she didn’t have to do anything.

“There.” Pan pointed at the scanner.

Meladee looked. She saw a dot, representative of Eva’s probe – a thing lacking sentience, thank god. It carried the bomb ahead to the bubble.

“I can’t believe we’re going to destroy something this beautiful.” Camellia stood by her post and stared at the tablet, wistfulness in her eyes.

Meladee checked her board. “Direct hit. Yes!” Meladee continued to examine her board and saw little fluctuations in the bubble. “And, I think it’s working. Gonna take time though.”

“Now, we just hide until the Fauchard and Ischyros happen by,” Eva said.

Eva trusted their hiding spot; so much that she relaxed in her seat. She could probably head up to the cockpit and join her team, but she remained in Engineering. It was best for her to be ready.

After all, she wanted to prove to Sten that copying one’s consciousness should never be an option. She would survive this excursion and many long years as one of Lurren’s leaders. She would see the rise of the Adalhards, the success of the Arais, and possibly even get to know the Scaldin children of Pan and Aria. She was going to see a lot.

Fifty more years would breeze by. By the seventy-fifth year, things would slow down, but she would have a rebuilt Lurren. Its success would sustain her, till maybe the passage of a full century. Then what?

Eva stared into space. Engineering lacked windows, and console light, as well as light from the ceiling, always set the mood. Dim, somewhat green, a bit blue – that was the mood that Lurriens cultivated.

Eva didn’t zone out for long before a message blipped onto her screen. Eva narrowed her eyes. It was from the helm, but it hadn’t come through the com and was without vocal component.

Eva opened the message. She found a picture of a cat wearing a hat.

“What are they sending me?”

Her screen blipped again. This time Eva opened the image to find a very fat seal, looking tearfully into Eva’s eyes.

She closed the message, only to get another. It was a creature that Eva had no concept of, but it was furry.

She hit the com. “We’re supposed to be hiding you know. We don’t have time for this.”

Camellia answered. “I think we have a lot of time, Eva. Anyway, I’m not the culprit. The pictures are Meladee’s, from the storage disc.”

Meladee interrupted, “Aria and Pan love them. In fact, Pan’s going to use them as reference photos. If you want to have a deep dive into my collection, just go to storage drive and find the folder labeled Furry Things.”

Eva didn’t answer. She just opened the folder. Deep down, she felt gears turning as she looked at the cute animals. She’d long since thought smaller robots were cute because her maker had implanted into her the concept of cuteness.

It was still very inappropriate.

“Don’t encourage her,” Eva called back up.

“Why not?” Pan asked. “These images are a great service to society. They lift Aria’s spirits, and they ignite passion for drawing in my very soul.”

Eva felt her face twitch. She heard Camellia laugh in the background, and Meladee’s muffled agreement of the pictures’ importance.

“Eva, it’s this or some card games,” Camellia called.

Eva picked the card games. Though, she wondered how a woman blind to screens could see the animals at all. She didn’t bother to ask. To ask would be to invite more of the animals across her screen.

Aria kept a single finger on the button and pressed her way through the images. She blinked tears out of her eyes. They marred her view, the way auras did when she didn’t have Meladee to invent spells to sweep the colors clean.

“Just let me know when you need another round,” Meladee called. “I’d teach this one to you, but I don’t know if you can do Iruedian spells.”

“I’ll give it a try,” Pan said. “But not here. I need to practice in my bay.”

“Really? That’s disturbing.” Meladee tapped through the images on her own tablet. “Awww. I forgot about this one. It bit Benham’s pants, after he took the picture.”

Aria didn’t know if she’d passed it. She wiped her eyes and studied the cockpit. Meladee had wiped the whole thing clean. Aria could see the edges of auras again.

Pan’s rays shown by a clear, but covered, windshield. The rays stretched in lavender, blue, and grey. Camellia’s aura hung like mist, a thing of yellow and blue, curiosity and sorrow. And, Meladee’s had a blobby, uneven edge, in hues of pink, green, and yellow. Meladee’s colors responded to the pictures, changing with each one.

Aria wanted to thank her for the spell, but Meladee just moved on, as if it meant nothing.

It meant so much to Aria.

“We’ll call it Aura Sweeper,” Meladee handed a paper to Pan.

Pan accepted the paper. She put her nose into it the minute it touched her hands. She glanced at Aria. “I’ll learn this. This or the unbinding.”

Aria nodded at the promise. “There’s no rush,” she said, a bit shaky.

“For this, I think there’s a rush.” Pan didn’t look up. She pointed at an element of the drawing and showed it to Meladee. “I understand the outer ring, that’s all Volanter, but what’s inside?”

“Hell if I know where they come from, but I can give you a rundown.” Meladee began the explanation.

Aria wondered if she would be able to read to her future kids. If she lived near Pan, Pan could sweep the books clean, once a week, and Aria could read through them. It would be a dream come true – if Aria could have kids that is.

She looked back at the animals. A bit of grey, blue aura obscured a feline tail. Aria tapped to the next.

Camellia had been through a few rounds of solitaire. She won most, but she was getting tired of it and likely to lose her current round. Camellia sighed and propped her head up with her hand. She was stuck on the cards.

A quick glance round the room showed her Pan, hard at work on a sketch; Meladee, who played with a disc that she kept spinning atop her consoles; and Aria who looked through more of the wildlife pictures as well as those concerning Iruedim in general. Aria had called for two additional sweeps, so the aura sweeping effect didn’t last long.

“Where is this?” Aria asked.

Camellia swiveled in her chair. Aria leaned aside, so that Camellia could look without getting up. Camellia recognized the place.

“It’s the Copac Acasa. A famous building bordering Groaza and Ponk.”

Camellia watched as Aria studied the image. The building was tall and black, taking a shape akin to a cathedral. The dark façade, however, gave way to a roof of carved flowers. The flowers were made rather large to allow them to be seen by passerby. It was like the top of a giant’s bouquet had been shoved into the building and left there in all its glory. Sometimes, the flowers were painted. Sometimes, the paint wore away. Camellia had seen both versions. The picture showed the painted one.

Camellia noted the flowers on Aria’s dress. They were lace and flowed from her shoulders to her ankles.

“I can see why you’d be interested in that place.”

Pan got up from her seat and looked over Aria’s shoulder. “Wow,” Pan nearly whispered. “What happens there?”

Camellia shrugged. “It’s just the capitol building of that city. The dark wood and overall structure is inspired by current Groazan aesthetic, and the roof is a tribute to a garden of wooden flowers that burned about three-hundred years ago.”

“I wish I could see Iruedim,” Aria said.

Camellia perked up. “Maybe, you will.”

The com beeped. Camellia froze.

“Uh oh,” Meladee said. The disc she had been spinning fell out of her hands and clattered to the floor.

Pan rushed back to her seat.

“Ponic to unidentified Volanter ship. Why are you in the shadow of the mirror?” asked a very confused voice.

Before Camellia tapped the com, she considered telling the truth. They were terrorists. But, that would never do. “We’re repairing the mirror. The hinge won’t operate.”

“The mirror is the last thing we need to be concerned about. Are you aware that the Standstill runes are showing instability? I don’t need to tell you what will happen if they give out.”

Camellia silenced the com. Actually, he did need to tell her, but she had no way to ask without arousing suspicion.

“Shit shit shit,” Meladee swore. “They’re coming closer.”

Camellia felt her heart pick up speed. “What do you want us to do?”

“If you have repair personnel, head to the bubble. We have no need of the mirror this moment.”

“Okay,” Camellia said. “We’ll get moving.”

“Please…” The voice stopped.

“They are not coming towards us. Not anymore,” Pan said.

“Afraid of the mirror.” Camellia pressed the com button. “Ponic? What were you about to say? We missed it.”

Their forward creep resumed. The com fuzzed and then, it said, “Intruding children of the Volanter, your ship will be seized, and you will be brought before the clans for…”

Pan cut off the rest of the message. “No point in listening to that. How far along is the decay we set up?

Meladee checked the scan. “Ooo, I’d give it twenty minutes.”

“They’d better get working on repairs,” Pan said. “We have ten minutes, until our ships happen by.”

“That’s right,” Camellia agreed.

Pan smiled. “Let’s only do this once – if we can.”

Pan began by using an old trick. She looked out the camera view, where she could see the Ponic. She let her eyes glaze and cast eighteen portals between their ship and the would-be arrestors.

The ship, which had been drifting towards them, slowed. One ship was not going to take on Pan with her many portals. Or, would it?

The ship stopped, and one by one Pan’s portals winked out, countered with the circle’s perfect match.

Pan growled. “They don’t want to play at all. We might be in trouble.”

“Shit. Use the familiar. I’ll see what I’ve got. How about the decay shield?” Meladee suggested.

“More of that might baffle them. They can’t seem to figure it out with the bubble,” Camellia agreed.

Wonderful, Pan would get to see how that shield worked. She hoped the Volanter wouldn’t get such a good study that the Scaldin wouldn’t be able to use the shield on some of their new friends later.

Pan started on her familiar. She planned to conjure it on the back of their ship, already in space. But then, the dragon would see the mirror. Would that have an effect on the beast…or her?

“What about the mirror? Can my dragon look at it?” Pan sought Camellia’s gaze.

Camellia shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Their ship rocked.

“Damn. My illusion went out. Got some magic shields on though, decay and all.” Meladee urged their ship down, following the blinking light on the scanner.

They still couldn’t see out the windshield as they hid from the mirror.

The mirror!

The Volanter couldn’t look either, and Pan bet they kept their gaze covered as well.

“Another ship,” Camellia called. “No new attacks though.”

Meladee continued down. “I dare them to touch us.”

Camellia listened to a headphone, keeping whatever message the Volanter sent private. “They’re pretty angry. They might be angry enough to do something crazy.”

“Then, they’re all gonna die, and Rooks is gonna be pissed at me.” Meladee shouted over her shoulder. “Tell them to just let us go.”

Camellia objected.

Pan ignored the conversation. She didn’t summon her dragon. She had to keep it safe. Instead, she thought about the interior of Volanter ships. She spun in her chair. “I need pictures of Volanter ships. Now!”

Camellia startled. With unsteady fingers, she swiped across her tablet. Then, she held it out.

Pan got up from her chair. Their ship rocked again. Pan staggered but snatched the tablet. She ran back to her chair and flipped through sketches and images from the large Volanter vessel. She needed a view into a smaller ship. Pan kept looking.

Meladee drew in a sharp, deep gasp. “They got through. They put a hole in my decay shield.”

“What?” Camellia checked the scans. “Oh, pockmark on the hull.”

The com fizzled. Eva spoke from Engineering. “They have powerful magic. If they can aim their next hit just right, they’ll get through the hole in your shield and reach our ship.”

Camellia watched the scanner. She gasped too.

“What’s happening?” Aria asked.

Camellia answered, “They’ve finally decided to leave. There are a lot of ships on their way out of the bubble. Some are going to pass under the mirror. The rest are headed wherever they can.”

“It’s the chaos we wanted.” Pan flipped through the images and finally found a floorplan for one of the smaller vessels. She hoped that the archaeologist who made it was good at his or her job.

The ship rocked again.

“They missed,” Meladee declared. “Could be because I shimmied the shield over. I know – simple but so genius.”

“They’re backing up,” Camellia said.

Pan imagined the portal circle. Its quiet hum seemed to lurk in the background, but its runes didn’t come or set off light. She looked at the floorplan and pictured the interior of the Volanter ship. Then, she glanced at the camera view that showed the mirror above Halfmoon. Pan was careful not to look too long at the mirror. She cast the portal circle. It blazed on the camera screen but made no connection with a ship. Nothing happened. Pan growled.

The ship bounced.

“Oh,” Meladee called. “My shield’s down. I’m going to have to have to think of something else.”

Shots fired from the Halfmoon. Pan thought it might have been a missile. Then, she heard Aria work the weapons, shooting only part blind now, thanks to Meladee’s aura sweep spell.

Pan closed her eyes and tried to imagine the Volanter ship’s interior. She pictured herself there. The space would be dim. The ceiling would be low, according to the dimensions printed on her floorplan. Consoles rested in a winged pattern, before a large screen. But, Pan would put the portal on the ceiling. She focused on that ceiling and imagined the vine like shapes, maybe a carving of the Mother Tree to watch over the bridge crew. She opened her eyes, checked her views, and cast the circle again.

This time, she saw the portal appear on camera and stay. She made a connection.

“Move aside. Give them the full view,” Pan said.

Meladee pushed the controls, and Halfmoon surged sideways.

The Volanter ship did not follow.

“I think you were successful.” Camellia’s heavy tone didn’t match their cause.

They should celebrate. They could get out of this situation in one try.

Pan jumped as Meladee cast another spell: invisibility.

Pan checked her hands and their purple tinge, seeing herself in color for one of the first times. Now, that they were invisible, they could hide again.

“I don’t know how long that’s going to last,” Meladee said. “But, what have we got to make?” She checked their clock. “Six minutes. Yeah, should be fine.”

“The bubble is exploding…No, I don’t…” Camellia shook her head. “I don’t know what’s happening, but something is coming from the bubble. Oh, the computer says it’s a shockwave!”

Pan held tight to her console.

Meladee eased the controls. “I see. I’ll get us out.”

“It’s speeding up,” Camellia called.

Pan checked the small scanner that she shared with Meladee. The shockwave blinked closer, jumping a further distance each time it moved. Then, it met their ship. As she saw it onscreen, she felt it. The Halfmoon lifted, moving upwards, and a proximity warning beeped. The ship jolted, and lights flickered.

Magical energy ran in sparks over the consoles. A random rune glowed on Pan’s screen and fizzled out. She checked the room. Runes littered the floor, walls and ceiling. They lit up, shone a brief moment, and died. A rune traveled over Camellia’s skirt. One fluttered in Aria’s hair. A rune glowed over Pan’s hand. She shook her hand, but the rune petered out, leaving her unchanged and unharmed.

More sparks blew around the cockpit, and the runes glowed brighter and longer.

Meladee worked a spell. The two rings finished, with a sputter and a jolt, but the effect worked. Close-cut, personal shields encased Camellia, Aria, Meladee, and Pan. Hopefully, Eva as well. Meladee began the spell again, but she was too late.

Movement in the cockpit seemed to slow. The runes flickered for longer. They glowed on the windshield. The metal barrier, that kept their eyes safe from the mirror, slid up. It retracted and revealed the darkness of space.

The Halfmoon bounced away, and as they drifted back down, Pan realized it wasn’t space. She didn’t see any stars, just a deep, perfect darkness. She glimpsed a large blue rune and realized it was the mirror. Pan tried to look back, to see if the others made the same mistake, but her view faded into something else.

Aria could hear the others around her. The voices, like whispers seemed far at times and then, came close.

Aria blinked, and stared at the windshield. Meladee and Pan’s auras formed a thin haze over the view, but Aria could still see out. At least, she thought she should be able to. She didn’t see any stars.

More blindless.

“Don’t look,” a far-off voice warned.

A weight came over Aria, and she obeyed the voice, not by turning away, but by watching as her vision phased out. She couldn’t possibly look if she saw nothing.