‘Time,’ she let the word peel from her lips like a breath of wind through gossamer curtains. This entire adventure had come down to time. She’d travelled from the present to the past to the future to the present once more. And though she thought her journey through time had come to an end, perhaps she was wrong. For perhaps the solution lay within time itself.
If she truly thought about the Vex’s unique situation, she appreciated it was like a knot in a rope or a snake swallowing its own tail. It had to be untied, the snake’s mouth forced open.
If she wanted to solve this, she had to get Vex’s timeline to realign to the rest of the galaxy’s, she had to iron that kink out.
But the only way to unravel a knot or force that to snake open its mouth would be to begin at the beginning. She was currently stuck in the middle of this, in the present, searching her mind desperately to find a solution, but here the solution would not be found.
The only way to fix Vex’s timeline would be to travel back to the point it broke.
As these thoughts thundered through Nida’s mind like an electrical storm picking up between her temples, her eyes snapped open so wide she could have cracked her lids.
Pressing a shaking hand into her teeth and feeling the sweat against her gums, she whispered a startled, ‘God.’
She still had the power to travel through time; she still had the entity locked within her left hand. She knew instinctively that if she travelled back to Remus 12, she could use it once more to open up a time gate.
Before this entire adventure had begun, Nida, like everybody else, believed time travel was impossible. Now it was possible, she was trying to wrap her head around what it meant.
Though the Coalition were pinning their hopes on the possibility of destroying Remus 12 obliterating the Vex for good they really had no idea whether that would work
In fact, the more Nida questioned, the more she realized it was unlikely to work. If they destroyed the Remus 12 of the present, surely that couldn’t affect the Remus 12 of the past? Though the various engineers and scientists who’d worked on this conundrum hoped that by obliterating the planet they would somehow shatter its delicate timeline, it could be nothing more than an assumption.
Slowly a conclusion built in Nida. It felt like a flame beginning to light in her toes, gently but surely spreading up her legs and into her belly before it ignited and shot towards her head.
She kept saying she was running out of time. How could she possibly run out of time when she could travel through it?
She stared again at her left hand.
All the entity wanted to do was fix its mistake. Left unchecked, it would destroy everything else in order to achieve its task. Left unchecked, that was. What if it had a shepherd? Somebody who could control it and help it towards its goal in a moral, righteous manner?
That conclusion now spread through her mind like wildfire, burning away every sense of fear and every ounce of tension.
Nida had been looking at this problem all wrong. She’d pushed herself into believing they were running out of time, and that the only solution was to destroy Remus 12 or fight the Vex. But she was a fool—she could travel through time.
‘I can travel through time,’ the words ricocheted off the walls. ‘I can travel through time.’ Her eyes lit up as she realized what that meant.
The entity had once used its control to force the Vex towards that one point in their future where their timeline aligned with the rest of the galaxy’s. It made them into brutal killing machines in order to steal the technology that might save them.
But there was another way. There was another goddamn way: Nida could travel back in time. She could go down to Remus 12, and she could do it all over again. She could travel to the point where the entity had burst through into Vex.
She could investigate. She could try to figure out what happened. Then she could travel forward in time, shepherding the Vex, preventing the entity from manipulating them once more.
It would be hard work, but she could do it.
She promised Carson she would push on, that she wouldn’t give up until she found a solution. Well, this was it. From this point on, Nida could devote her life to the Vex, to the entity, to finding that solution.
The Coalition might be barely an hour away from destroying Remus 12, but if Nida could get down there, open a time gate, and travel back into the past, that wouldn’t matter. She’d have her time again, because she was never without time, not as long as the entity was within her.
She could jump backwards and forwards through history itself.
She let her hands drop to her side, her cheeks slack as her lips drew open silently. ‘My God,’ she said. She stared at the view of that planet through space.
This was her miracle, and she was a fool for not thinking of it before.
Within her grasp was the ability to keep trying. Sharpe had said that was the greatest quality, and he was right. She was the kind to keep trying over and over again, and if she could travel back and forth in history, using the entity’s power, she would do just that.
She would try and she would try and she would try, never running out of time, for it was within her grasp until she found her solution.
Nida shivered back. She fell to her knees, crumpled down as the surprise shook through her, but she didn’t let it last. Because although she now understood time was in her hands, it was also running out.
She had to get down to Remus 12 before the Chronos destroyed it, or at least attempted to. Then Nida could jump back and devote herself to the entity’s task. Except she wouldn’t turn into it; she would control it and its desire until they both finally fixed its mistake and set Vex on its true path.
Nida picked herself up and ran. She didn’t run to the Admiral; she knew she couldn’t exactly beg the woman to hold off on the destruction of Vex while Nida borrowed a craft and nipped down to the planet. They would think the entity was in control of her.
Well, the entity wasn’t.
Nida knew she could control it as long as she had her TI. She could keep it locked behind that wall. And even if she no longer had the TI, she was learning to control it even in her sleep. She could do this, she told herself as she gritted her teeth together, reached the door and flashed through it.
First she’d have to escape the Chronos.
Briefly she thought of telling him—of calling Carson, begging him to help her.
He’d offered. She couldn’t draw him into this, though.
She was about to steal a ship, fight her way through security, and fly down to Remus 12. There’d be no turning back from this one. There’d be no forgiving her for what she was about to do. And if Carson came along, he’d ruin his career.
She also couldn’t condemn him to travelling back and forth through Vex’s timeline; that wasn’t his destiny, it was hers.
So instead she ran forward, shedding a tear as she did.
She didn’t want to give him up, but she saw no other way.
She ran, ran as fast as she could.
Chapter 21
Carson Blake
He should be on the bridge, he wasn’t though. The Admiral wanted him there, but he’d excused himself. There was something he had to do, something that was calling him. A feeling, a niggling feeling that was creeping up his gut like a wave of spiders clambering towards his throat.
Though he’d started off at a jog, now he was running. Not towards her room, because he’d already confirmed she wasn’t there. No, towards the main docking bay.
In the hours since he’d left her, he’d had time to absorb his own advice. He told Nida to press on no matter what. To find a solution for the Vex.
He’d only said that in order to raise her spirits, but now he was slowly realizing what kind of affect his words would have on her. Sharpe was right: she pushed on. That summed her up entirely. She pushed on and on and on, no matter the odds. She never gave up.
So she wasn’t exactly going to give up now.
&
nbsp; Though he’d left her with a smile and a warm kiss, and a hope she’d be waiting when he returned, he now understood she wouldn’t be.
A tumble of nerves hit his gut, and it told him she’d be giving it one last try.
His instinct begged him to hurry.
He ran now, sprinting as fast as his limbs would carry him.
Though there were no klaxons going off in the corridor, a sense of doom descended on him. Something wasn’t right. Things were too quiet.
What was going on?
Where were all the people?
Shit, he hadn’t passed another soul for at least two stretches of corridor.
He had to get to her.
‘Nida?’ he said in a harsh breath.
Suddenly he commanded his armor to turn on. It raced around him with silent, efficient ease.
In barely a second, it formed over his whole body, his visor blinking into place over his eyes. Now he ran faster and faster, a black blur against the grey, gunmetal corridors of the Chronos. His metallic boots beat against the floor, and it was the only sound as he pounded on.
He didn’t know how he knew it, but he was sure she’d be in the docking bay. She’d be heading down to the planet. Maybe the entity would be in control. Maybe it wouldn’t be.
He’d set her the task of saving the Vex. And knowing Nida, she wouldn’t be giving up so easily.
Despite the fact the Chronos was about to blow that planet out of the sky, she’d go down there. Because Cadet Harper didn’t give up.
He was now running so fast, he taxed his armor to its fullest speed. It was a surprise steam didn’t start issuing from every pounding step.
Soon enough he reached the docking bay. He didn’t pass another soul. He had no damn idea what was going on, but by the time he reached that door, he slammed a hand on the panel that would open it.
It hissed open and he ran in.
The docking bay of the Chronos was enormous, of course it was. This ship was huge, and required not only massive resources to run but needed to hold numerous smaller vessels for sorties and reconnaissance. The docking bay was usually a hub of activity, with engineers and officers working like busy bees in every corner and around every ship.
Well, right now it was deserted, absolutely deserted.
Every ship lay there locked against the black and silver hull as the enormous flickering blue shields that always protected the docking bay door cast their eerie glow over the room.
Beyond the glow and the sleek ships, there was nothing. Nobody.
This cavernous space was empty.
Before he could send off a quick and desperate warning to the bridge, he saw her. Nida.
He expected to see blue light cascading off her like water from a thunderous waterfall.
He didn’t.
She looked calm, collected, and totally fine.
But she was completely alone.
She was working near a small, fast reconnaissance ship, and it was clear she was getting ready to run.
He slammed to a halt, his feet pounding so hard into the hull they sent a resounding clang echoing through this huge room.
She froze.
She lifted her head up and she stared at him.
What was she doing? Christ, what was she doing?
Suddenly his world bottomed out from his gut, feeling like it was tied to a superfast transport and shot halfway across the galaxy.
‘Nida?’ he croaked her name in a husky voice. ‘Nida?’
At first she twitched her left hand up, opening her fingers with a quick flick. But suddenly she stopped, and he watched her eyes widen with recognition. ‘Carson?’
He stared at her, his body locked in frozen in surprise. ‘What are you doing?’ he managed.
Her own surprise now thawed to be replaced by a calm determination. She took a step back, closed her eyes, breathed, and nodded. ‘I’m going to fix it, she said in a breath that didn’t travel and yet one he could pick up easily with the acoustics of his armor.
‘What do you mean, Nida? What have you done? Where are the crew? What have you done?’
‘Carson, they’re fine. I haven’t done anything to them. I just need to get down to Remus 12.
She opened her eyes and looked at him. Despite the situation, she smiled lovingly.
‘What do you mean? What’s going on? What are you doing? What do you mean get down to Remus 12?’ though Carson’s gut had told him to get here, and his instinct had somehow warned him of this exact situation, he couldn’t believe it.
What was she doing?
‘Carson, I don’t have time to explain. But trust me, the entity isn’t in control. I just figured out a way to save the Vex.’ she clutched her hands in front of herself as if in hopeful prayer. ‘I can do this. But I have to get down to Remus 12.’
He was stunned, completely stunned. If his armor weren’t locked around his joints and muscles, he’d be on his knees for sure.
He creaked forward, opening a palm as he stumbled a single step her way. ‘What are you talking about? Save the Vex? How? It’s not possible, Nida,’ he stated bluntly.
She still held her hands carefully before herself. ‘Carson, just trust me, I have to go. I can do this.’
‘Do what? You can’t leave. You can’t take the entity back to Remus 12. That’s what it wants.’
She shook her head. ‘I can control it. I can also help it.’
‘Nida, listen to yourself, the entity has been manipulating you from the beginning. It wants you to take it to Remus 12. Are you really sure you can control it?’
She sucked in a harsh breath, but soon enough that calm assurance returned. She nodded her head. ‘Yes, I can. I can control it,’ she said in a determined tone, ‘and I can help it. I kept thinking I was running out of time, but how can I run out of time when I can jump through it?’ she suddenly said, her eyes widening as they burned with passion. She lifted up her left hand and opened the palm. ‘The entity is a curse, but it’s a gift. You were right, if anyone can solve this problem, it’s me. I can go back in time to the point where this all began, and I can do it over. Rather than let the entity manipulate the Vex, I can shepherd them. I can help them look for a solution. I can use my ability to shift through their timeline to help. It could take weeks, or days, or years, or the rest of my life, but, Carson, I can find their solution.’
He was shocked and terrified at what she was suggesting.
‘Nida,’ he repeated one more time, desperation like knives stabbing into his back, ‘you can’t take the entity back to Remus 12. It’s too much of a risk. Sure, you could spend the rest of your life shepherding the Vex and trying to find a solution, but what happens when you die? What happens if the entity leaves you? It’ll all begin again.’
She shook her head. ‘I’ll be careful. I can always jump back to this period of time and return to the Coalition,’ she tried.
He shook his head. ‘It’s so much of a risk. Listen to yourself, Nida, please listen to reason,’ he begged.
She took a step back from him towards the ship.
His eyes drew wide. She was going to do it, wasn’t she?
‘It’s too much of a risk,’ his voice boomed out, shaking through the room like thunder.
‘No one else can save them, Carson, no one else. Plus, I don’t think destroying Remus 12 will destroy the Vex. No matter what you throw at it, as soon as the timeline realigns, the Vex will stream forth and attack the Coalition. This is the only hope we have.’
He started off shaking his head, but it became a stuttering move, like a puttering engine drawing to a stop. ‘Nida?’ he asked in a questioning, choking tone’
She brought her hands up again and pressed them together. ‘I can’t ask you to trust me, and I can’t ask you to come with me. You need to stay here. This is where you belong, Carson Blake. You’re the head of the Force, they need you here. I’ll go back in time and I’ll do everything I can to stop the Vex from attacking the Coalition. I’ll go back to the poin
t where this all began and stop the entity from manipulating them. That will mean that even if I can’t heal the Vex’s timeline, the Vex won’t attack the Coalition. In a few hours when they realign, they won’t come out to obliterate us. It’s the only way,’ she said again in a near-silent voice.
He wanted to scream at her that was an unacceptable risk, that it wouldn’t work. But he couldn’t. A sickening understanding was drawing through him, and it felt exactly as if he’d just swallowed two colliding suns that now burnt through his stomach and chest.
He’d already had his misgivings that destroying Remus 12 wouldn’t work. Despite the assurances the various engineers and scientists had given him, he was still preparing himself mentally to fight the Vex.
But now as he stared at Nida, he couldn’t pretend she didn’t have a point.
He had travelled through time with her, he knew what was possible. So maybe what she was suggesting was right.
Could she really travelled back 5000 years and usher the Vex through another iteration of their time line to prevent them from ever becoming the vicious race that would destroy the Coalition?
It was confusing to think about, yet her reasoning made sense.
It didn’t stop him from shaking his head, though. ‘It’s too much of a risk,’ he muttered.
She took another step back from him. ‘Carson, thank you,’ she paused as if trying to think of something to add, but instead muttered in a low, gentle tone, ‘thank you,’ once more. Then she turned and walked towards the ship.
He was torn, right down the middle, by reason, by loyalty, by love’ on the one hand, he knew it was a risk to take the entity back to Remus 12. On another, he couldn’t deny that perhaps Nida was right: unless she went back in time and altered the Vex’s history, there would be nothing stopping them from destroying the Coalition.
He watched the door of her tiny transport begin to close. As it did, it felt as if all other doors closed to him too.
He ran forward, his decision made.
They’d begun this together and they would end it together.
Chapter 22
Cadet Nida Harper
Ouroboros 4: End Page 16
