Rooks and Alban remained on their respective ships, but they kept the possibility for communication open. That is to say – they waited by their coms.

Rooks leaned on the bridge rail. She glanced longingly at the bench behind her station and blew out a long breath.

“Tired?” Eder asked.

“Frankly, yes. Aren’t you?”

“Yeah.” Eder stared through the doorway that led off the bridge. “Is she back yet?”

Rooks shook her head. “No. I don’t see Inez.” I do see a young man who seems to be afraid of his sister. Rooks looked ahead to the windshield.

Space outside moved by so fast, that all the crew on the bridge could see was darkness.

Rooks glanced at Eder. “May I ask you something?”

Eder tensed, and his eyes got wide. “Okay.”

Rooks gestured for him to follow her to the benches. Then, she spoke low, “Do you want to keep following Inez around for these adventures?”

Eder opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. “I’m the best partner for her, and it’s getting better for me.”

“Eder, I thought you were pretty shaken up by the whole Ul’thetos adventure. I really did not expect to see you back aboard my ship.”

A dark look came into his eyes. “Uh, sorry.”

Rooks sighed. “That’s not what I meant. I will find your sister a new partner if you’d rather be doing something safer.” Rooks stared into his eyes, but she lost the connection.

Eder sat on the bench and stared away. “She said we wouldn’t do anything too crazy. I thought the wormhole stuff was crazy, but I never thought we’d end up way out here. I was okay with it all till then. Plus, I don’t know. It’s nice to have my name be admired when Inez does the majority of the work outside of the magic. You know…getting us the jobs.”

Rooks sighed. “You can’t live like that. You can’t just follow her around. I love Inez too, but I can see that you are going to need something for yourself.”

The com beeped.

Rooks hurried back to the rail. “Alban and the Ischyros?” she asked the com officer below.

“I’m putting him through.”

“I’ve got good news and bad news,” Alban said. “First, we have only a fifty-fifty chance that we’ll escape through the wormhole before our Volanter pursuit catches us. And, that is going to hinge directly on how well Inez and Eder do.”

Rooks glanced behind her to find Inez back on the bridge, sitting beside her brother, with a look of excitement in her eyes. Eder looked green.

“That’s the bad news. We’ve got pursuit and faster than we anticipated. The good news,” Alban continued. “The good news is that the group after us is smaller, and should we have to fight them, we have decent odds to defeat them.” A short pause followed. “And, if we beat them, we get to go home and get ready to fight them again, when they bring all their forces against us.”

Rooks’ mouth twitched. “They’ll come for Iruedim first. There’s no reason they even have to come your way if we switch the location of the wormhole again, once we get you home. They don’t seem to know your origins.”

“You could do that, but the Scaldin will have to deal with the Volanter eventually. If we deal with them now, we have Iruedians to help. Frankly, I think we’re going to need you more than you need us. Besides, if you move the wormhole to Scaldigir, the Volanter will have an easy path to us.”

Despite Alban’s dark declaration, Rooks smiled. He’d said a lot of other, brighter things first. Friendship, it seemed, was not too far out of reach for them.

“I’ll hope for the best. We’re two days from the wormhole. I’ll get Inez and Eder ready. Rooks out.” Rooks turned. “Alright, you two. Go sleep. If you need medicine, see the infirmary first. I want you to get eight hours of rest, each day.”

Inez jumped up. “We will.”

Eder pushed himself to his feet. “I hope we don’t let everyone down.”

“No matter what happens, you won’t let us down. Sleep. Practice. Sleep. Then, we fix this mess with the wormhole.”

Irini sat in her quarters that she shared with Kat and Chara. Hagen lay on the couch, asleep. He’d worked so hard, he’d opted to let Chara baby him for a few days. He would have stayed one day only in their quarters, but Irini begged him to hang out longer. He was helping her with her game. It was a mix of things: jumping, combat, and obtuse puzzles. Irini excelled at the puzzles, thanks to her thread. Jumping and combat were things she always struggled with. She just hadn’t put in the time to get good.

Irini waited for him to wake up. While she waited, she watched her golden thread lead out the room. Thanks to the thread, Irini kept a good idea of her place in the Ischyros. She knew that her thread pointed back – back to the Volanter that pursued them. Irini wondered if the Volanter could see her thread, and would they follow it? Did she make it easy for them?

With wide eyes, she cut the thread. Then, she sat stiff, trying not to reimagine it. She stared at the screen, paused where they’d left off, and clutched the couch cushions beneath her.

“You alright?” Kat paused as she strolled by.

“Yeah.” Irini nodded. She forced herself to relax, which in hindsight just moved the stiffness to places Kat couldn’t observe.

“Okay,” Kat said slowly. “I’m making food. Healthy food of course. We need to think about our health now – now that I’m older. Want some?” Kat rummaged in the cupboards and fridge.

“Sure,” Irini said.

Chara joined Kat in the kitchen. “I’ll give you a hand. Then, maybe, we can join Irini’s game.”

Irini perked up. She’d never seen Kat or Chara play games, at least nothing more than some match 3 or hidden objects on public transport.

“You’ll help me?” Irini asked.

Kat laughed. “You need to get a game you can finish by yourself.”

“I’m building my skills.” Irini fingered her controller.

“I’m going to die if I play that,” Kat said.

“In the game? Or, in real life, when you get angry at how you do?” Chara asked.

Hagen stirred. He squinted at the screen. “You still stuck here?” He shook his head and sat up. “Alright. Unpause it. Let’s go.”

Irini grinned and grabbed her controller. Finally, some distraction.

Cooking sounds started in the small kitchen, and Hagen focused on the screen. Irini barely kept up with him, not because she was bad, but because she was too distracted. The game wasn’t doing its job.

Irini took a deep breath and cleared her throat. “Uh, Hagen. It’s really cool how you can save people from bad dreams.”

Hagen died. Irini followed soon after.

“Thanks,” he said.

“I wish I could be that cool.” Irini’s power, so far, seemed so tangential to everything she’d done. She found things, but that all depended on whether there were good things to find. She was sick of the thread.

“Your power is cool too,” Hagen said.

“Thanks.” Irini did not believe it. She couldn’t even find them a good path home because there wasn’t one.

Irini thought if a reaper happened to come upon her power, that reaper would eventually feel a wave of disappointment. The thread did so little. Although, in tandem with other powers, the thread could be useful. Irini had the white hair from Glyptik, but she was no reaper. The single circle she got was the one she would always have.

Pan, save me. Unbind me.

Chapter 45: Move the Wormhole

Camellia was one of the lucky few to be invited to the bridge to see their trip through the wormhole. She and Florian. Meladee and Benham, and Sten and Eva.

A deck below, unseen and unheard, everyone else, who didn’t have a job to do, squeezed into the forward viewing room. Though they should have remained unheard, Camellia snatched portions of their cheers from a nearby vent.

Rooks’ brow furrowed, and she glanced at the vent. “Is that what I think it is?”

Camellia nodded.

“If they’re all deaf after this, we’ll know why,” Rooks said.

“Who’s deaf?” Alban asked over the com.

“My celebrating crew will be. They’re cheering loud enough for us to hear them through the vent system,” Rooks said.

Camellia crept a little closer to the vent, and the cheering intensified.

“No cheering over here. We’re far from home still,” Alban said.

“I know. Inez. Eder. Be ready. Soon as we’re through, you shift the exit.”

“Yes Curator,” Inez said.

Eder nodded tightly. Camellia studied his ashen face. He stared into space and whispered to himself.

Camellia missed something Rooks said.

Florian tugged her back to his side. “Here we go. You don’t want to miss this.”

Camellia interlaced her fingers with his, and together, they stared at the wormhole.

The bubble grew larger and loomed ahead of Fauchard. Iruedim waited on the other side. Home.

As Fauchard’s nose dipped into the bubble, Camellia watched the view distort, and then, she saw Iruedim.

Florian relaxed beside her and let out a breath she hadn’t known he’d held.

The Fauchard hurried through the wormhole, and beeps assailed the com, all from Iruedim and its tiny fleet.

While the com officer handled most of the calls, Rooks answered one, “Yes, we’re all safe and sound. And, we’re about to have some guests, so don’t be alarmed.” Rooks made a cutting motion across her neck. “Is the Ischyros through?”

“Yes,” someone reported. “Through and moving away from the wormhole. Taking up a position between us and Iruedim.”

Rooks turned back to her guests. She wore a substantial smile. “He’s using as a shield, not at all out of character I suppose. That’s fine since we need to shift the wormhole exit anyway. Bring us about. Inez and Eder, you’ve got a few minutes. That’s it.”

“Iruedim wants to know who the newcomers are.”

Camellia imagined they did. What would Rooks say? That they had accidentally kidnapped these other children of the Volanter? They would have to back track and introduce the idea of Volanter as dangerous beings that Iruedians willingly became entangled with. They would have to add that the Volanter were not yet finished with their lonely planet. Maybe, Rooks should keep it simple.

Rooks said, “Friends we found on our little trip. We actually have to get them home first. We took them from their galaxy, and now we’re returning them. So, if you would give me a moment.”

Nice and simple.

“Message for Eva and Sten!” Someone shouted from below.

Eva crossed the upper level of the bridge and looked over the rail. Sten trailed.

“Yes?” Eva asked.

“Leonidus welcomes you back and awaits your return to your duties,” the young man reported.

“That’s nice of him.” Sten had innocence in his eyes, as Eva gave him her own dry look.

“Message for Florian Adalhard!”

Camellia heard Florian’s heart beat faster. He trekked to the rail, with Camellia’s hand in his.

“What do they say?” Florian’s heart continued to pound.

Camellia held his hand a little tighter.

“They welcome back their chair of the AAH and say that they kept things moving in your absence. They’re overjoyed to hear you’re alright as they didn’t want to pick a new chair.”

Florian smiled and leaned a bit over the rail. “Can you send a message back and let them know how glad I am to have returned?”

“Sure.” The com officer’s fingers fluttered over his keys.

Florian faced Camellia. He wore a relaxed grin.

She returned the smile. “It turned out fine. Now you can breathe again.”

“I can.”

Camellia stood on tiptoe and tossed her arms around his neck. He squeezed tight around her waist. Finally, his heart seemed to catch up to the news and slowed, beating just fast enough to telegraph his joy.

A quick rush of wind blew past Camellia. She turned to see Meladee at the rail.

“Just check for me if our other ships have been impounded or whatever. We left Faustina in Eva’s garage, but we parked Mountaineer in Lurren’s southeast lot.” Meladee leaned over the rail.

The com officer stared up at her; then, nodded.

Eva narrowed her eyes. “I’m not going to have your ships impounded.”

“Yeah, you won’t, but who’s to say someone else didn’t. You haven’t been home.” Meladee leaned over the rail and around Camellia and Florian’s embrace.

Eva sidled close to Rooks. “The so-called lot is a vacant piece of land, with no plans to develop for at least four months still.”

Meladee shot back. “Look, let me worry about my ships.”

“Hey!” Benham called.

“Sorry. Our ships.”

The com officer cleared his throat. “Your ship is fine. In fact, Tiny Tin and the other members of Eva’s household checked on it three days ago. They also send their greetings to Eva and Sten.”

Meladee abandoned the rail. She strode back to Benham, relief on both their faces. Camellia heard Meladee mumble about how rich they would remain.

Florian guided Camellia back to the benches. She glanced at Rooks, who was deep in conversation with Alban over the com. Camellia wanted to hear that conversation, but she understood Florian’s desire to get back and out of the way.

Eva waited still at the rail. “Let my family know that we’ll be home as soon as possible.” Then, she too abandoned the rail. She strode to Sten’s waiting hand at the back of the bridge, and he pulled her against the wall.

Now, the bridge fell quiet. Camellia could just hear the cheers from below, but it wasn’t enough to mar Rooks’ words.

“I know they’re coming,” she said to the com. “Inez and Eder are working on it.”

Camellia’s eyes darted to the view of outer space. She saw the wormhole, centered in the windshield. The circle flitted in and out of view, rippling around the wormhole.

Camellia’s heart beat hard. She put a hand to her mouth and checked on Eder and Inez.

Inez’s face was smooth and calm. Eder embodied the opposite.

Camellia knew a struggling mage when she saw one. “Maybe, they need a third person.” she suggested in a whisper.

“Two should be enough.” Meladee frowned, and she watched them. “I might need to step in.”

“Too late,” Alban called. “I’m moving Ischyros away from the wormhole. Do the same or call for backup.”

Rooks’ head whipped around, and she checked on Inez and Eder. “Damn. Break the spell. Give up for now. Meladee, you’re going to have to take over for Eder.” Rooks projected her voice over the rail. “Get some distance between us and the wormhole.”

Camellia backed against the wall. She felt her head bump metal, and her hair bunched over her shoulders. Camellia pressed both hands over her mouth as not one or two Volanter ships streamed through the wormhole. It looked more like eight and counting.