Masters of Fate

by A. K. DuBoff

When we had completed our account, Colren studied us. “While that was a rousing mission brief, you’ve made no indication of how you intend to destroy this energy core and then trap the aliens in their plane.”

  “Yeah, we’re still working out the details on that,” I hedged.

  “I’ll need more to go on than that,” Colren replied. “I can’t have the ship circle this system indefinitely, and the Hegemon himself is asking questions.”

  “We will discuss as soon as you are finished here,” Hoofy said in our minds.

  “Give us a few hours and you’ll have your answer,” Toran said.

  Whatever solution we devised, I was certain it would require going back into the heart of the alien civilization. Except, this next time, they’d know not to underestimate us. It was a very real possibility that we wouldn’t make it out of the next engagement alive.

  “Very well.” Colren agreed, then he dismissed us so he could give his superiors an interim update—no doubt including our intention to retrieve the energy core. There had been too much interest in his gaze for me to believe he had given up hope for us to follow through, but I think he at least understood the reasons for our resistance and wouldn’t hold it against us personally.

  We left the viewing room and returned to our lounge to strategize.

  “We’re in it deep now,” I said as soon as the door was closed.

  “I think that happened some time ago,” Kaiden replied, taking his usual seat at the table. He propped up his legs on an adjacent chair.

  Toran remained standing, arms crossed. “We’re agreed that no alien tech makes it out, right?”

  “Absolutely.” I sat down next to Kaiden.

  “Yeah, I want this over,” Maris agreed.

  “Okay, so we can blow shit up without worrying about finesse,” Toran concluded.

  I laughed. “Well, that’s one way to look at it.”

  “Hoofy, do you want to fill us in on your plan now?” Maris asked, sitting down across the table from me.

  A ghostly image of the unicorn appeared to my left next to the table. “Thank you for trusting me. You are still missing one piece. Speak with your scientist friend again and explain what happened when the Overlord tried to control you. Once you understand, then we will talk.” He disappeared.

  I groaned. “I’ve had it with cryptic non-answers.”

  Kaiden massaged the bridge of his nose with one hand. “Another chat with Lisa it is.”

  “Maris, you’d better make Hoofy come through for us after this,” Toran said.

  “He will,” she assured us. “I know he’s been a little cagey, but he’s trying to walk the line between his vow to not interfere and his desire to help us.”

  “Sides always need to be taken in the end.” Toran leaned over to activate the desktop so he could initiate a holoconference with Lisa in the Capital.

  It took thirty seconds for the hyperspace relays to connect, and then a holographic image of the scientist appeared above the desktop. She smoothed back the stray strands of hair from around her face. “Hello, again. What can I do for you?” she asked.

  Toran smiled. “We just completed another hyperdimensional expedition.”

  Her expression brightened. “Tell me everything.”

  We repeated the tale we’d told Colren, tailoring it to the most relevant details about the structures of the hyperdimensional planes we’d observed. The envy was clear in Lisa’s eyes as she vicariously lived the experience.

  “Amazing,” she murmured when we finished.

  “Can you think of an explanation for the telepathic resistance?” Toran questioned her.

  “Well, it’s all connected,” she began. “Since our previous conversation, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. It all comes back to the Duzies. They’re not just the building blocks of, well, everything, they’re also pure energy—they’re everything that could be.”

  I blinked. “You lost me.”

  “It’s not like one of our cells that has a unique function,” she explained. “Instead, they can be in a certain state, but also any number of other states at the same time. It’s what allows you to redirect energy and ‘cast magic’, though really you’re just ordering the Duzies to suddenly perform a different function.”

  Kaiden pursed his lips. “Okay…”

  Lisa smiled. “But it gets more interesting. It’s not just that you have been granted access to these Duzies, I believe you’ve also become super-saturated with them—like giant batteries. That’s how you were able to cast magic in the vacuum of space without having much direct matter to draw on. And, I think that anything that’s remained in your possession for some time also starts to get super-saturated.”

  “Like our clothes and stuff?” Maris asked.

  The scientist nodded.

  “Hmm. I guess that might explain why I felt so attached to my outfit,” I realized. “A few times it would be easier to print a new one, but this one always felt… special.”

  “And our backpacks!” Maris exclaimed. “Those didn’t come with us when we transitioned before, even though the other items did.”

  “We must not have spent enough time with them for those accessory items to have become saturated,” Toran speculated.

  “Exactly,” Lisa confirmed. “Subconsciously, you’ve been aware of the Duzies for far longer than we’ve had a label to place on them.”

  “And what about the telepathic resistance?” asked Toran.

  “Again, the Duzie super-saturation,” Lisa replied. “The more your bodies get saturated with the Duzies, the stronger your abilities become. Your brains were the last part of you to become saturated. And, since Toran’s abilities are about strength and resistance, I suspect that extends to his mind.”

  I stared at her image. “Wow.” I supposed that also explained how I was still able to maintain some of my own thoughts, since I had the ‘Protector Lite’ treatment with my own abilities; Kaiden and Maris had indicated that they had almost no memory of the encounter, only a sense of being suffocated.

  “Maybe the extra distance from the 5D thought-plane wasn’t all of it!” Toran exclaimed. “The Duzie saturation may have been a part of why the Saps’ telepathic influence broke so suddenly when we transitioned to 8D. It seems like that action of transitioning to a higher plane is what fully activated the Duzies that had been slowly saturating us. It must have flushed out the lingering telepathic link, so afterward we only remained susceptible to their control when in their presence—when their influence was stronger and faster than the natural ‘repair’ functions in our minds.”

  “Of course, I can’t say with absolute certainty that this is what’s going on with you,” Lisa said, “but I can say that the evidence from your individual reports supports these conclusions. And, that means you should now be reaching your maximum potential.”

  “Yes. Now do you understand?” Hoofy interjected.

  I took a deep breath. “I think that’s the answer, Doctor.”

  The scientist smiled. “Call me ‘Lisa’, please. I’m happy I can help give you some clarity, if that’s what this is.”

  Maris slumped in her seat. “Mind-melting stuff, but yes.”

  “Thank you, Lisa,” Toran said. “We’ll be in touch once we wrap our heads around this.”

  “Of course. I’ll be here.” The holoconference ended.

  I massaged my eyes with my fingertips. “I have no words.”

  Kaiden shook his head. “I’m not sure what I find more disturbing—that this is the reality we’re facing, or that it makes sense and I’m not all that surprised.”

  “You’re not?” I snorted. “Stars, I don’t know. Maybe I’m not actually as shocked as I should be.”

  “I appreciate that we now have an explanation of our abilities,” Toran said. “This knowledge doesn’t change our circumstances, but perhaps it will give us more control.”

  “Knowledge is power,” Kaiden said.

&n
bsp; “Yeah, something like that.” I almost wished I didn’t know what I did now. My abilities had seemed like simple augmentations at first, but realizing that I was saturated with these Duzies—that they were in my brain—was a lot to process.

  Toran moved to sit down. “So, I was thinking—”

  “I’m going to be honest,” I cut in, “I can’t talk about this anymore right now.”

  Maris nodded. “Me either. Just thinking about those Duzie things being in us…” She shivered.

  “Let’s take a break to digest this new info,” Kaiden suggested. “After that, we’ll work on our plan.”

  “I’ll work on getting Hoofy to open up,” Maris said.

  Toran huffed. “Very well.”

  I rose from the table. “See you in a bit.”

  21

  After leaving the lounge, I hung back in the hallway with Kaiden while Toran and Maris went ahead to their cabins.

  “Mind if I invite myself over?” I asked.

  He smiled. “I was hoping you would.”

  “That was a day,” I said while we stepped into his cabin. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so mentally exhausted.”

  “You haven’t been through a college finals week.”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, that’s true.”

  “This is different, though.” He turned somber.

  “I know… I want to say that I still know myself, that we haven’t changed, but those things are in us. How different are we because of it?”

  “That’s bodies. What makes us who we are—our minds—that’s above physical transformation.”

  “Is it, though? Can you really separate the two?” I sat on the bed.

  Kaiden eased down next to me, placing a comforting arm around my back. “Whatever may have changed, we’ve gone through that transformation together.”

  “Yeah, there is that.”

  He took my hand. “We’re in the final stretch, Elle. We’ll get through this.”

  I shifted to lay my head on his shoulder. He tightened his arm around me—the kind of physical grounding I needed in that moment. Having seen the other planes, I realized just how small and insignificant our individual existences were. Yet, we’d been handed the power the change the direction of an entire civilization. I’d never wanted that kind of power, and now that the decisive moments had come, I was scared I wouldn’t be able to follow through.

  “I spent my whole life worrying about things that aren’t actually important,” I murmured.

  “Importance is relative.”

  “Yeah, well, the color of my hair doesn’t rank very high compared to the fate of the universe.”

  Kaiden laughed. “Okay, that would be silly to argue. But I do like this shade, for the record.”

  “Past me would have been thrilled about it. Now, I’d gladly give up my looks if it meant I could skip this fight.”

  “A few hours ago, you couldn’t wait to get your hand on the Saps and put them in their place.”

  “That was before one of them bored into my mind. Don’t get me wrong—I still want to whip their asses—but I don’t take pleasure in this.”

  “Me either.”

  “This’ll change us,” I went on. “Even if we don’t remember the details after the reset, this seems like the kind of experience that would imprint on our high-dimensional consciousness.”

  He reclined on the bed, and I lay back with him. “The universe will be better off without them.”

  “All the same, I hope we can trap them rather than have to do a full-on extermination.”

  “Yeah, I don’t want that on my conscience.” He paused. “I’m glad we’re going through this together. If we remember anything after the universal reset, it’ll mean a lot to have a friend who understands what happened.”

  I skootched closer to him. “I think we’re more than friends at this point.”

  He turned so he could look me in the eyes. “I wish we hadn’t met like this. I can’t stomach the idea that I may never see you again after this is over.”

  “We’ll find each other.”

  “I want to believe that, but…”

  “I know.” My throat tightened with the notion that our time together could be cut short at any moment. In just a few weeks, I’d grown closer to him than I’d ever anticipated. He’d given me a glimpse of a different side of myself and the kind of connection that was possible with another person. I realized how alone I’d felt for years, and I didn’t want to give up the possibility of a future together.

  I stroked the side of his face, and he drew me to him. Our lips met and I kissed him back, gently at first, then with the hunger of wanting to be as close to him as possible. My hands slid downward, working under his outer layer of clothes as he caressed me in turn. The more he touched me, the more I wanted.

  This is when I’d always put on the brakes before, citing one excuse or another. But this time, I didn’t want to stop. “I know I said before that I wanted to wait until there won’t be any more universal resets, but what if we don’t make it through this?”

  “Elle—”

  “We can’t ignore that possibility. I…” I looked into his eyes. “I don’t want to have any regrets.”

  Kaiden leaned in and kissed me deeply. “I don’t, either.” He pulled back just enough to make eye contact. “So I want to say now, while I can… I love you, Elle.”

  My heart jumped and my breath caught in my throat. A contented tingle spread through me.

  “Maybe that’s too soon to say, but—” he hastily added when I didn’t reply.

  “No, we threw conventional timelines out the window a long time ago,” I said, smiling. “I love you, too.”

  Joy washed over me having finally been able to vocalize what I’d been feeling. I knew it was still early in the relationship and I was still falling in love rather than being all the way there, but that distinction didn’t matter on the eve of our potential deaths. What I knew for sure was that I didn’t want to spend my final moments—if this was the end—wondering what could have been.

  I pulled him to me, and our lips met again. The threats and worries of the outside world didn’t matter. We had each other, and nothing that happened in the future could take that away.

  I savored every moment as we made love, knowing I’d only have one first time, and not sure if it would also be my last. I was thankful I waited for someone I truly cared about and who loved me in return. The connection came through in every kiss and caress. No matter what the future held, I’d be able to look back and know I had true happiness in that moment.

  We lay together afterward, his arms around me and my head on his bare chest. I felt different—maybe not in a way anyone else would notice, but I sensed it in myself.

  “You okay?” Kaiden asked.

  I smiled up at him. “Yeah, I’m great. Just… reflecting.”

  “I have to say, I wasn’t expecting this now.”

  “Me either, but that’s probably how it should be.”

  He kissed the top of my head. “The eve of saving the universe does seem like a pretty appropriate time.”

  “That does have the makings of an epic love story.” I snuggled closer to him. Being in his arms, I felt safe from the dangers awaiting us. “Hey, random question: why fire?”

  He gave me a quizzical look. “What are you talking about?”

  “Your magic. You were first drawn to fire. I jokingly said you must have been a pyromaniac as a kid, but is there any other story there?”

  “Oh.” He lay his head back. “Where is this coming from?”

  “Just something I talked about with Maris earlier. We were reflecting on our abilities and why we were drawn to certain things with our disciplines.”

  “Hmm, well, I’m not sure there’s a profound deeper meaning to my interest. Growing up on a ship, a runaway fire was always a worst-case scenario—we took every precaution to avoid accidentally burning ourselves up. Ma
ybe I had some lingering desire to have control over it.”

  I slid my hand along his chest. “Maybe.”

  “What about you?”

  “Oh, I just wanted to be a showoff.” I laughed.

  “Shocker, Miss All-Three-Disciplines.”

  “So high-maintenance, I know.”

  Kaiden chuckled. “I think I’m starting to figure you out.” He traced a finger down my back and bent his head to kiss me. “You know… we don’t have to go anywhere yet.”

  I kissed him back. “Is that so?”

  He moved his hips toward me. “Uh huh.”

  The ache of desire rose in me again as his warm breath brushed against my neck. “In that case—”

  “Come on!” Maris exclaimed in our comms.

  “Gah!” I winced, wishing I could rip it out of my ear. “Of all the…”

  Kaiden drew back from me, then tapped behind his ear to open the channel. “Maris, this isn’t a good time.”

  “Stop napping. We have strategizing to do,” she replied. “And if you’re not napping, I don’t want to know.”

  “Give us a few minutes. We’ll meet you in the lounge,” I grudgingly responded and then severed the commlink. “Seriously, they couldn’t give us even an hour to ourselves?”

  “Hey, at least she didn’t interrupt in the middle of things.”

  “Yes, very true.”

  Making the mental shift from lover back to teammate, I suddenly felt exposed lying naked in his bed. I reached for my clothes. “We should get going.”

  Kaiden gently extended his hand to stop me from getting up. “Elle, I meant every word I said. I think you’re incredible, and I can’t wait to get to know you more.”

  I gave him a light kiss. “Me too.” I paused. “I’m glad this happened.”

  “Same. Honestly, I’m surprised we were able to hold out for this long. Two super-hot young people with magical abilities? I mean, come on.” He grinned.

  “It was definitely worth the wait.”

  We dressed and tried to quickly re-style our hair so we weren’t a giant, flashing beacon for ‘Just Hooked Up’. It went without saying that it was a special experience between us, and we didn’t need to broadcast it to anyone else.