by Steve Hertig
Chapter 46
RefPlane: 65,025,073 BC
The four landed in the rear of a small compartment amidst the startling sound of a klaxon. John blinked from the brilliance of lights flashing in unison with the alarm as he stumbled onto a control console. Through a large window in front of him, he saw a tiny shuttlecraft on the deck below surrounded by armed crew looking up at him. He ducked back behind the control console, just as the window exploded. Multiple energy beams blackened the bulkhead and closed hatch behind them. Tye crawled to the hatch and blasted its controls with a single disruptor discharge.
"There's armed crew below us," John shouted to her, amazed they had found what he guessed was the Mobius.
Prophet was already cautiously probing the console with his main appendage.
The fire from the hanger deck below intensified as John pulled Wigwag farther into the small space of cover next to him behind the console.
Tye fired a disruptor salvo blindly through the smoldering window. The last blast deflected backward narrowly missing John. He took another quick look only to see energy beams trying to push through a force field where the window once was.
"I have cut the com and alarms from this section and initiated the shuttle bay's containment field," Prophet said calmly.
"Any idea where we are?" John asked.
"It appears the Mobius is a heavily armed and modified Confederation class starship. Given its overall profile and apparent age, it must have been salvaged during the later machine wars," Prophet said.
"Unlucky for us," Tye said as thin wisps of steam began to rise from the hatch behind them, "and the last crew."
"Its internal outfitting shows major departures from a typical Confederation variant," Prophet continued. "We are in a shuttle-bay control room on deck two. The whole shuttle compartment is modular and reinforced so that hatch should hold for a few minutes."
"Any idea where the Mobius is?" John asked.
"The ship is located just beyond Mars and slightly above the plane of the solar system," Prophet replied.
John felt Wigwags legs shaking. He pulled the O'jit still closer attempting to calm him.
"Typical crew for the ship?" John asked.
"Could be as many as fifty," Prophet reported, "But life signs, excluding us, indicate sixteen. The only female signal is located on this deck just aft of engineering as well as the warp and temporal displacement drive cores. We must assume that it is Colonel Scott. She is in close proximity to a male."
"Drac?" Tye asked.
Prophet shrugged his appendages. "Perhaps, but not in the change."
"How big is this ship?" John asked, frantic to pull a plan of action together.
"Confederation specifications of all variants of this class would indicate an average length just under one-hundred fifty meters with a beam of almost eighty meters," he said.
"Ideas?" Tye asked anxiously as the hatch behind them began to show a dim orange glow.
"Rescue Jen and destroy the tractor beam," he said. "I assume that’s the thing they'll use to nudge Chicxulub," he added looking at the Calma.
"The most probable assumption," Prophet replied. "The main tractor beam emitter is just behind the stem, deck five."
"Then we escape," John added suddenly realizing he was not wearing the temporal entity. "Tye, what happened to Turas Luath?"
"I do not feel its presence," she replied. "The entities are rarely unpredictable. It may be in great needed elsewhere."
John shook his head wondering what could have a bigger need. He peeked over the console again. The attack on the force field had stopped. "Tye, you and Prophet make your way forward and take out the tractor beam emitter. Wigwag and I will try to find Jen and Drac. I assume your weapon could take out the warp core if necessary?"
"No problem," Tye said looking worriedly at the now glowing red hatch.
"Then we'll meet on the bridge to deal with Seren," John said.
"And plan B?" Tye asked.
"Just destroy the ship," John said solemnly.
Tye nodded agreement.
"The deck below has access to the tractor beam emitter through the main deflector array hatch located below crew quarters," Prophet said.
"Getting past the crew trapped in the shuttle bay could be difficult," Tye said as the glowing hatch behind them began to creak.
"Any way to engineering from the shuttle deck?" John asked.
Prophet made a quick adjustment on the console. "You can access deck 4, directly below the shuttle bay, from a side maintenance shaft to the warp coil. From there, up a Jeffries tube to deck three and then to an engineering access hatch to the antimatter containment pod. On the far side of the containment pod, a ladder will lead to engineering or aft to what are usually the medical compartments. However, it appears Seren is using least one medical containment barrier as a brig."
"What's directly beneath this us?" John asked.
"A hold usually used for shuttle parts," Prophet replied.
"Tye you and your big fucking gun are first. Wigwag, cut us a hole," John said tapping the deck next to them as his back grew uncomfortably hot from the crew's attack on the hatch.
Wigwag unsheathed the entropy blade and cut a near-perfect circle in the deck, which promptly fell with a clang to the deck below.
"On my mark," John said. "Tye you jump down and come out firing. Prophet, you cut the containment field. Wigwag, stay close to me." He looked at them and then received subtle nods from each. "Go!" he shouted.
Tye slipped through the hole as Prophet deactivated the containment field before jumping after her. Wigwag was next and John followed as the hatch behind him finally began to sag inward.
John heard rapid disruptor fire as he fell behind a large container narrowly missing Wigwag. Prophet was behind Tye who was already in the cover of the lone shuttle sitting in the middle of the bay and auto firing the disruptor back in their direction.
"Clear!" she shouted as a crewmember vaporized in the hatchway in front of John. His phaser clattered on the deck next to John's feet. John grabbed it as he saw Tye scramble with Prophet to open the forward hatch as more phaser bursts flashed around them. She returned controlled bursts of disruptor fire and then closed the hatch behind them.
John saw what he hoped was the warp coil maintenance hatch to their left. He fired the phaser back up through the hole above him and then ran for the hatch with Wigwag close behind.
Jen covered her ears as the klaxon continued. Her captivity in what she guessed was the Laith sanctuary had been brief. The shadows released her into a brilliantly white room and then moments later converged upon her again to deliver her here. She shivered at the literally chilling memory.
She had no idea if she was their sole captive much less, how John and the rest of the Family had fared after the citadel's breach.
She thought she heard footfalls between the klaxon's rhythmic yelps. Seren, the sun obvious on his forearm, made a quick visit over an hour ago only to stare at her. He now was back with two guards pushing a small man in a yellow suit in front of them. Deactivating a containment barrier, they shoved him into her cell.
"Queeny, I'll be back for you," Seren told her curtly before reactivating the field and trotting off with his men.
The man in the yellow suit watched Seren depart then laughed. "He thinks you’re the queen, hilarious!" he said. "Draconous, Family ambassador at large at your service," he proudly added, checking again Seren was out of sight. "I must apologize. My plans have gone dreadfully wrong. And must that sound be so annoying?"
"Jen Scott," she said loudly and held out her hand. She had recognized him from Luinan's security vid.
Drac promptly took her hand and kissed it lightly.
"The Family owes you a debt of gratitude," he said.
"Uh huh," she said as the klaxon finally fell silent. "For what?"
"Destroying the Navis of course and ending the war," he said. "There soon should be funds for more research into ending the change."
&
nbsp; "And how did you come to know these things?"
"I had a quick peek at a report Queen Luinan was reading when I paid her a recent visit," he said avoiding her gaze. "A terrible habit," he added sheepishly.
"Just before you threaten her and the Family?" she asked hoping to put Drac off his guard.
"Surely, she knew it was all a pretense," he said hopefully.
Jen stared at him, emotionless.
"My jibber jabber of clues to Seren's plans has not been deciphered? I thought they might be too difficult, but Seren is smart. Very smart." He sat down hard on the lone featureless bunk in their cell, put his head in his hands and sobbed gently.
Jen turned away from him and flicked the cell's force field with a finger that instantly went numb. She wondered if Drac was a plant but the recent alarm gave her hope. "Where are we? And what's happening?"
"We are prisoners on a space ship," Drac said looking up with a sniffle. "Where? I have not a clue. When? Is a better question and I'm guessing that would be about sixty-six million years in your past. And as far as to what is happening, I got the impression there was some kind of disturbance in the main shuttle bay."
She looked up and down the passage in front of their cell. "Let’s hope it's the cavalry, Drac," she said wryly in Romanian recalling Drac's changed form from Luinan's record of their meeting.
"Sper ca asemenea," Drac replied looking up, "And you respect the change. Again, I am in your debt," he added earnestly with a curt nod.
Once on the other side of the hatch, John copied Tye's tactic and fired the phaser at the lock mechanism in hopes of stalling the Optimum crew behind them.
"Any idea what a Jeffries tube looks like?" John asked Wigwag jokingly.
Wigwag trembled slightly but did not reply.
"It's okay," John said realizing he was obviously causing internal turmoil for Wigwag by asking him a question that he could not answer.
They scrambled around what John assumed was a warp coil, and found a small hatch on the opposite side of the compartment.
"That must be it," John said as Wigwag was already opening it. They climbed into the narrow passage and as John inched upward to the next deck, Wigwag already had the next hatch open.
"The pod." Wigwag said as he pointed through the hatch only to leap back as an energy beam shot above his head. He quickly closed the hatch, his movements a blur to John.
"Cut another hole," John said as he caught up with the O'jit.
Wigwag just looked at him.
"Here," John said, emphatically pointing to a spot on the interior of the Jeffries tube.
Wigwag cut another nearly perfect circle that fell outward with a thud. John took a quick glance though the hole. The compartment was empty save two large, coiled, cylinders each marked as antigravity thrusters.
He slid out of the hole feet first, followed by Wigwag.
"Professor?" Prophet's voice came from the com next to the thruster access hatch.
John touched the com. "Prophet? What's your status?"
"I have found an active station in crew quarters as Tye is attempting to blast through an internal hatchway that the crew has secured trying to contain us," he said. "You are not on route. You are still on deck 4."
"Any ideas," John asked, trying to stay calm.
"You are just below the antimatter injector," Prophet said. "There is only one exit in your compartment; directly opposite that hatch in the outer passageway is a maintenance hatch to another short Jeffries tube that will lead to deck three and the antimatter-containment pod. From there, take the ladder to deck two. The medical units should be just down the passageway to the right. From there, the passageway provides both port and starboard access to the bridge."
"Rodger that," John said. "How many bad guys are left?"
"Current life signs, excluding us, total eight; two would be Colonel Scott and Draconous."
John realized Tye had killed ten crewmembers so far. "That's evened the odds," he said into the com.
"I must terminate the connection; Tye has opened the passage," Prophet said as the com fell silent.
"Let's go," John told Wigwag, opening the hatch to the outer passageway. And as Prophet indicated, there was another hatch directly opposite. As John stepped in the passageway, a phaser bolt hit the adjoining bulkhead. He leapt back into the thruster compartment, falling over Wigwag in the process and desperately brushing molten metal bits off his clothing as several burned through reaching his skin. He blindly fired two times into the passageway before Wigwag managed to seal the thruster compartment's hatch.
"Fuckers!" John screamed in frustration; they were so close to Jen. "Open the hatch and then close it again as soon as I am clear," he said to Wigwag.
Wigwag, worked the hatch's internal mechanism until it released then pushed as hard as he could. John took a deep breath, phaser ready, preparing to start firing down the passageway but Wigwag past him in a blur.
John leaned out the hatch and saw Wigwag sheathing the blue blade as he stood over three headless Optimum crewmembers.
"Good work," John told Wigwag slowly in amazement of the O'jit's initiative and swiftness.
They entered the Jeffries tube and climbed up to the next hatch.
John pressed his finger against his lips looking at Wigwag as he slowly opened the hatch. He cautiously looked into the antimatter containment compartment and was relieved it was unoccupied. "There's the ladder to deck two," he said hopping onto the deck from the Jeffries tube.
Wigwag past him and scrambled up the ladder. He nodded the all clear back to John, and then disappeared from view. John found him in the corridor, the entropy blade in hand and ready. Wigwag pointed it to the right and John saw a caduceus on the bulkhead in the corridor confirming the O'jit's direction.
As they crept forward, hugging the side of the passageway, John figured it should be only a few meters to the nearest compartment. Just getting a glimpse of a guard, he stepped back and adjusted his phaser. Taking a deep breath, he quickly advanced and fired, felling the guard in a heap on the deck.
Not stopping, John ran to enter the compartment, but the containment field bounced him to the deck next to the unconscious guard. Dazed, he shook his head to clear his vision.
"Superb! You must be the cavalry!" Drac shouted, clapping his hands.
"And you must be Draconous," John said, shakily getting to his feet.
As Wigwag jumped up to try to switch off the containment field at the controller on the bulkhead, John's heart sank as he realized Drac was alone in his cell.
"Family ambassador at large at your service," he said with a small bow. "My, this face does get around." Drac added studying John's face.
"Seems so," John muttered.
"More research to do, that's all," Drac said quickly and turning to Wigwag. "It is voice controlled by Seren," he added as Wigwag tried several more times to disengage the containment field.
"What's the code?" John asked.
"Disengage," Drac replied.
John spoke with a slight alteration in his voice trying exactly to replicate Seren's timbre, "Disengage."
The field disappeared and Drac joined them in the passageway.
"Where's Jen?" John demanded.
"She has been personally taken to the bridge by the General, I mean, Captain Seren," Drac explained. "I can never remember what that man wants to be called. He thinks she is our queen and has taken her personally to observe the end of humanity." Staring at Wigwag, he added, "I believe Captain Seren has issues with both the Time Corps and the Family."
"Good guess," John muttered.
"I am so glad my clues were deciphered," Drac said excitedly. "But you need to hurry. Follow the corridor to the lift. It will take you directly to the bridge."
"Can you use a phaser?" John asked, judging Drac on their side and handing him a weapon.
"Goodness, no," Drac replied, pushing the phaser back to John.
John looked at Wigwag, and then stuck the phaser behind
his own back.
"I'll be right behind you," Drac said.
John nodded to Wigwag and they all eased down the passageway until they came to a lift. By John's count, they were now, at the most, only two crew and Seren left alive on the Mobius. He and Wigwag stepped on the narrow lift and automatically moved upward; Drac would have to wait until it cycled again.
They were wide starboard now and would enter the bridge on that side. He had no better option but to take the bridge by rapidly firing his phaser at as many targets as possible, hopefully missing Jen in the process.
"You back go down with Drac," John told Wigwag, reassessing his strategy to take the Mobius. "If I don’t contact you on the ship's com, you two must go back to the containment pod and destroy it with the entropy blade," he said stepping off the lift. Wigwag started back down and gave him a smart salute just before disappearing below the deck.
John pulled the phaser out from behind his back and checked its setting. It was on full power. He adjusted it back two clicks. Crouching with a phaser in each hand, he activated the door to the bridge and then bolted in and to the left where he guessed would give him cover behind the command chair.
He quickly brought his right hand phaser's sights to alignment with Seren's forehead but stopped. Seren had a hand disruptor pressed against Jen's temple. John sole a quick glance down the other phaser pointed at a lone crewman's chest who was aiming a disruptor at him from across the bridge.
"You didn't think I'd have surveillance in the passage outside my quarters?" Seren laughed at him.
John took a long look into Jen's eyes.
"And good timing," Seren said as Tye and Prophet entered the bridge's port hatchway followed by another crewman pointing a disruptor at their backs.
Tye's violet eyes told him they had failed as Prophet slumped against an empty bridge station.
John dropped his aim on both Seren and the crewman.
"Drop your weapons," Seren demanded.
As his phasers clattered onto the deck, he noticed a countdown timer on the main display behind of Seren; it read just under a minute.
"Come. Come. Get a better view," he said to John waving his disruptor at the command chair. "And after the show, we'll have to have a long talk about where you acquired that face," he added.
John winced at Seren's words, remembering his ordeal under the Mountain in Minus.
"As soon as the sector jump sequence initiates the ship will nudge the comet the required amount before getting the hell out of this universe," Seren said sadistically. "But I really don’t need any passengers. Even you queeny," he added pressing the disruptor into her temple making Jen wince. "But you too should see the show," he added as the timer on the main display faded to an image of a slowly tumbling comet. It's subtle tail following behind.
"Chicxulub," John said softly to himself.
"And thanks to the ineptness of your Confederation we'll be using a photon torpedo, not the tractor beam," Seren said looking at Tye then Prophet.
"Much more impressive. Don’t you think?" he whispered into Jen's ear as she struggled unsuccessfully to free herself from his grasp.
Seren stepped back with her until he touched the science station behind him. "And you two," he said to Tye and Prophet, "making Swiss cheese out of my ship. What should I do with you? I know. I'll kill you," he said with a nod to the crewman still standing behind them but he only received a shocked look that fell to the deck with the crewman's head.
Wigwag scrambled in front of Tye brandishing the glowing blue entropy blade as two human forms materialized next to each other in front of the bridge's main display.
John looked on in disbelief as a vaguely familiar face became apparent on the nearest form that quickly crouched to the deck, revealing Jennifer behind him pointing a strange pistol at Seren.
John heard Seren mutter, "Fuck," while staring at Jennifer wearing Turas Luath. He then looked at Jen and then back to Jennifer just before her weapon's barrel exploded in flame and smoke jerking Seren's head backward violently.
He collapsed onto the science station and then fell to the deck, a neat hole slowly bled from just above the bridge of his nose.
The remaining crewman dropped his disruptor and raised his hands as Jen rushed into John's arms.
"I told you we'd make it this time," a barefoot Jennifer told the man with John's face. The Turas Luath disappeared from around her as she brushed sand off her bright orange, frilly blouse and lime green pantaloons.
The man also looked like a color-blind pirate, complete with knee-high, purple, leather boots. He extended his hand to John. "I'm Lars, brother," he said warmly.
"Prophet!" John shouted as his brain began to process time again.
"Disengaging jump sequence and disarming photon torpedo," Prophet said calmly from a station as Chicxulub faded back to the timer. It had stopped at eight seconds.
"Fuck that was close," Jen said embracing Jennifer who was still holding the flintlock pistol, smoke wafting from its barrel and pan.
"Long story," Jennifer told her as Jen started at the antique handgun.
John fell into the command chair as Turas Luath appeared around him. "Good to finally meet you and thanks," he said taking Lars's hand firmly and seeing a delicate swirl on his forearm. It was identical to the one in the middle of the shiny, golden watch hanging around his neck.
Prime: 1 Jan 2000
John, carrying two pints of Guinness, looked around The Gulf Breeze and sighed as twilight descended on South Padre Island and first day of the new millennium. The thirty or so guests from last night had swelled to well over a hundred. More Family from Trua, some of the newly freed Liaths and a few regulars who had not been able to make the New Year's Eve festivities were having a great time.
He knew he was lucky to be alive. Jennifer had somehow convinced Mick to let her borrow Turas Luath after it curiously appeared back at the Citadel after the mission team's translation to the Mobius. Her candid admission that the lone security officer on the bridge of the Mobius had killed him several times during botched rescue attempts was disturbing on too many levels.
It was only after Jennifer managed to convince Wigwag to disobey orders and decapitate the other crewmember and her dramatic head shot on Seren that the last security officer finally surrendered without firing his disruptor.
John thought it an odd combination, Lars's new watch along with Jennifer's flintlock pistol that proved to be the tactical arsenal necessary finally to take the ship.
Lars did not stay long and promised that he would be back. However, before he left, he made sure he had a chat with Tye that he said was long overdue before John and he had a moment to talk. John told him about his life and their other brothers, as well as Helen and Steph. It was obvious Lars lived in the present and did not dwell on the past, but he did say he had lost his guardian decades ago, too.
He seemed truly joyful that they found him. He laughed and then cried remembering O’Shanley's bar in the past. He told John about his amazing life and experiences and the things that humanity still needed to see and do.
John missed him already.
"Hey don't spill my beer," Carl shouted from across the pool, now filled with guests rather than beer kegs, breaking John’s glum mood.
Weaving his way around partygoers surrounding the pool, John glanced at the bar where Sara and Tye were fiddling with the coffee urn next to Mick pulling beers and Sam vigorously shaking a cocktail mixer.
"Hey you," Jenny said grabbing his elbow and nearly spilling the beers.
"Hey," John said turning to see Jenny and Tristan and trying to counter both beers' sloshing. "Madam Vice President and Mr. Vice President," he said as Jenny kissed his cheek. "Or is it Councilman Picare?"
"Vice President will do," Jenny said, "although the new Secretary of State is now next in succession after the President. We decided there was just too much potential conflict," she added looking at Tristan.
"So, how long have you known?" John a
sked Jenny, referring to Tristan's place on the Family council.
"Not long and good work on ending the war among other things," she replied. "You continue to amaze me," she added.
"You know I have not really done anything," John said. "I'm just a glorified Klingon," he said and instantly regretted the overused pun.
"Not exactly," Tristan said with a grin. "What about the TIA? Didn't you find that? It started this whole thing," he added through a grin.
John groaned. "I really should get Carl, the finder of the TIA, his beer," he said taking a step back.
"Hey, we need to talk later about this Lár," Jenny said taking a small white bag out of her short's back pocket. She tossed it to John. "You forgot that," she said as it landed in one of the beers, splattering his parrot shirt with bits of creamy foam.
"Thanks," he said turning and resuming his zigzag course toward Carl.
"Isn’t Sam's Guinness incredible?" Carl asked getting up and taking the stout without the floating bag off John as he reached their table.
"I'm sure Mick has something to do with it," he said taking a closer look at the bag as he fished it out of his pint glass. "13-C," he said tipping the piece of the phaser out onto their table.
Carl picked it up and peered down it again. "Mick's got a collection of odd stuff back at the citadel. You should donate it," he said. "Hard to believe, huh?" he added handing the TIA to John.
"Hard to believe Time Corps didn't suspect a thing," John said referring to the return to of the Relativity.
"The Calma is good," Carl added with a nod at Prophet standing next to the barbeque talking to either the Prime or Plus Higgs. "Interesting body structure the Calma's," he said still looking at Prophet.
"Like our bodies, evolution is to blame," John said. "There home planet is about four times more massive than Earth thus more gravity—"
"Thus the similarity to a fire plug," Carl said.
"Prophet likes it on Earth and Trua because he can move much more quickly with lots less effort. He says it’s almost directly proportional to productivity."
"Ever see him eat?"
"Not that I can remember, but he likes a drop of Sam's Angostura 1919 in coffee."
Carl laughed.
As they looked around the Breeze at their friends and family, John realized they were both smiling from the shared joy that had enveloped them.
"I guess, I better go first,'" John finally said and then filled Carl in on events post-university and then Carl did likewise; it took a few more trips to the bar.
"Multiverse travel. Crazy, huh?" Carl said rubbing the bandage on his stomach and finishing his last pint as Sandy joined them.
"Hello captain," she said sitting down.
"Hi, Sandy," he said and then leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Have you seen Jen?"
"She and Jennifer are in the old sauna," she said with a nod to the once makeshift capsule.
"If you excuse me," John said.
"Catch you later," Carl said. "Do you know when's the band starting up?"
"Shouldn't be long." John said over his shoulder.
Turning back to the sauna, he noticed Drac in his changed form up to his neck in the deep end of the pool alongside the former Kharg cull master. Wigwag was laughing wildly as he and several other O'jits manically dog paddled around them. Billy, Benny, Dutch and a few regulars appeared to be making bets on the outcome.
John shook his head but smiled having never heard the laughter of the Jit.
He past several of the cured Liaths that were free of their Mór side rather than their humanity. That was not exactly as they had expected but there had not been any complaints, as they were still Family.
John glanced back at Drac amidst the spectacle in the pool. Being so temporally distant at the time of the other's Mór rapture, Drac had retained his ability to change but now could do so at will and seemed ecstatic with the result.
Finally arriving at the sauna and looking into its open hatch, John could see Jennifer and Jen sitting next to each other having an animated discussion while Angstrom slept next to Jen. The old tom had apparently adopted the Breeze as well as the rest of South Padre.
"There you are," Jen said with a smile. "Jennifer was just catching me up on her Caribbean adventure."
"I've been wondering about that as well as where you went," he said unable to repress a shiver taking a seat next to her. "You'll never guess what I've got," he said patting his shirt's breast pocket and then rubbing Angstroms' head briskly.
"I bet it's very interesting," Jen giggled tipsily, and then both frac twins laughed sloshing most of their martinis on to the bottom of the sauna.
John dumped 13-C out of its sample bag into his palm. "Very funny," he said not sure why they were laughing, but they were so infectious and he could not help but chuckle.
"Remind me to poke you later," he said to Jen as he sat next to her.
"Repeatedly, my sage." Jen giggled again and adding a mock bow.
"Ooh, I've heard about this," Jennifer said picking 13-C gently out of John's hand.
"Hey, can we join you?" Luinan said from the sauna's hatchway.
"Come on in," Jen said loudly, pulling Angstrom onto her lap from the bench opposite and rubbing behind his huge ears, which resulted in a loud purr reverberating in the chamber.
Mick and Clare were behind Luinan, and all three took a seat on the empty bench.
"Should be bit quieter in here," Clare said pulling the hatch almost closed. "But perhaps not," she added, staring at Angstrom noisily purring and now completely draped across Jen's legs, belly up and stretching so all paws just touched the wooden slats of the sauna's floor.
"Yeah, good party," Jen said as she sipped the remains of her martini while rubbing Angstroms belly.
"And it seems like the longest one in history," John added.
"I hate to bring up Family business," Luinan said cautiously.
"Flint?" John asked, trying to think through all the Guinness.
Mick just shook his head staring at the bottom of the sauna. Clare sighed and looked distressed at the mention of her lost brother.
"Nothing so far," Luinan said hopefully. "But that raises an important issue. Tristan's council seat is now vacant with his resignation, leaving two empty seats."
"You are the obvious choice," Clare said taking John's hand warmly and giving it a gently squeeze before placing it on Jen's knee.
"Sound's fun," Jen told John barely slurring her words. "Lots of opportunities for scientific exploration," she added dryly.
"Yeah, like I haven't heard that one before," John said with a cringe seeing Jenny through the portal across the Breeze's courtyard. "Okay, I'm in," he said absolutely confident his past life was just that. "But the first order of business has to be to find Flint."
"Too bad Lars left so soon," Jennifer said, "with his new watch."
"He'll be back," John said hopefully.
"But who knows when?" Mick added.
"Amhrán and Turas Luath will refuse to translate the distance back to the Lár," Clare said.
"The chaos coefficient is still too elevated," Luinan added.
"What other choice is there?" Jen asked slurping the remnants of her martini.
"Are you joking?" John grinned and then looked around at his new family. "We have a timeship!"
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