“It came with a free handbag,” Scar pouts.
“ALL THIS DATA WAS INCLUDED IN THAT UPGRADE. DESIGNED TO BE UNLOCKED ONCE CERTAIN OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS WERE MET. A FEW YEARS LATER, TYLER PASSED ME TO AURORA, AND HERE I AM.”
“Am I really that predictable?” She sounds more than a little insulted.
“I MEAN, I DON’T HAVE SHOULDERS, BUT IMAGINE ME SHRUGGING RIGHT NOW.”
“Ugh.”
“BACK TO BUSINESS. BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO DAMPEN THE MOOD, BUT YOU’RE ALL STILL TRAPPED IN A COLLAPSING PARADOX LOOP THAT WILL END WITH YOUR ERASURE FROM THE SPACETIME CONTINUUM. PRESUMABLY YOU LEGIONNAIRES WANT TO GET OUT OF IT. LIEUTENANT KIM, ARE YOU IN?”
Everyone’s gaze turns to Nari, who’s standing perfectly still, her mouth a little open. It’s half a dozen heartbeats before she speaks.
“I … I don’t think I can… .”
Zila tilts her head, thoughtful. “With which part do you struggle? The loop’s existence is well established now.”
“Not the loop. That’s insane, but it’s happening. It’s … I can’t found a whole army of the future!”
“Demonstrably, you can. We have seen the result. We are the result.”
Nari shakes her head. “But … Zila, I can’t. Someone else, maybe, but I can’t. I’m years off my next promotion, I’m never gonna make admiral. Are you kidding me? We’re in the middle of a war, anyway, and … Look, I have to back things up a little, did you say a hundred-meter-high statue of me?”
I open my mouth to speak, but Scar lays a hand on mine. And I realize that Zila’s and Nari’s gazes are locked, and this conversation—maybe one of the most important in the galaxy, now or ever—isn’t mine to have.
Zila’s got this.
“It will be a well-earned tribute,” she says quietly. “The founding of Aurora Academy is an extraordinary act. Even after the war ends, the Founders will push through great resistance, stare down their doubters with nothing but their own resolve. And together, they will create a peacekeeping force renowned throughout the Milky Way.”
“All this from me?” Nari whispers. “Impossible.”
Zila nods, gaze still unwavering. “Aurora Legion squads will be known for their honor. Their willingness to hold the line. They will be champions of peace, of justice. And for generations, people in need will sigh in relief when they see our ships arrive.”
Nari lets out a shaky breath and tries for a smile, but it wavers. “You’re not making it sound any easier, Madran.”
“It will not be. But you are up to the task. You will do it for those you love. Those who need someone to stand up for them. Those who are alone.”
The pair gaze at each other in silence, and there’s something there I can’t name, something between them. I don’t know what they said while Scar and I were off making out … I mean, distracting the security patrols. But Nari knows—Zila was alone too, once.
“Champions of peace,” Nari says softly. “I like the sound of that.”
“We the Legion,” says Zila.
“We the Light,” says Scar softly, beside me.
I have to clear my throat before I can finish the Legion’s creed. “Burning bright against the night.”
“This isn’t just so the future works out the way it’s supposed to,” Nari realizes slowly, looking right at me. “It’s something we’re going to need if we ever want to stop fighting like this. We’re all friends here.”
“Even if it’s not easy,” Zila says.
“Even if it’s not easy.”
“… Is it okay if I’m scared shitless while I do it?”
Finally the solemnity breaks. Scar laughs, and I snort. Zila bows her head, dark curls tumbling over her face.
“We’ve been working scared forever at this point,” I grin. “We’re doing fine. I mean, apart from being trapped in a collapsing time loop a couple of centuries in the past.”
Even Zila is … okay, she can’t be smiling, but her mouth’s a little different. “If your halmoni can line up a legion of grandchildren to dutifully call on schedule, then …”
“It’s in my blood,” Nari allows. “Korean old ladies are legendary, you’re right. I’m going to need to tap a little ajumma energy.”
“OKAY, WELL,” Magellan breaks in and totally ruins the moment, “IF YOU’VE ALL FINISHED ABANDONING YOURSELVES TO THE RELENTLESS PULL OF DESTINY? WE SHOULD KEEP MOVING.”
“Ready?” Zila asks, looking across at Nari.
“Ready,” Nari agrees.
“GOOD. STRAP IN. BECAUSE THIS IS GOING TO GET COMPLICATED.”
I lean against Scar as Magellan starts speaking, and though I’m listening, I’m also noticing how nice it is to just sit shoulder to shoulder with Scar. How it warms my cheeks when she looks at me and winks.
“OKAYYYY, SO, ACCORDING TO THESE MEMORY FILES … SCARLETT’S CRYSTAL IS THE KEY HERE.”
“It is?” Scar blinks.
“That makes sense,” Zila murmurs, breaking her stare from Nari’s. “Every gift left for us in the Dominion Repository has played a pivotal role.”
“Z, I got a damn pen,” I growl.
“So this crystal”—Scarlett’s fingertips brush her necklace—“is also the piece upstairs in Pinkerton’s office, right?”
“RIGHT,” Magellan replies. “AND BOTH ARE THE SAME PIECE OF THE LARGER PROBE. LOOK, WE DON’T REALLY HAVE TIME TO GO INTO THE METAPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE ESHVAREN AND TRANSPHASIC TEMPORAL MECHANICS, BUT BASICALLY, ESHVAREN CRYSTAL EXISTS IN SUPERPOSITION ACROSS MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS. INCLUDING TIME. SO IF THE PIECE OF CRYSTAL AROUND YOUR NECK WAS SUBJECTED TO SOME MASSIVE ENERGY FLUX IN 2380, AND THE PROBE IT CAME FROM WAS EXPOSED TO A COMPARABLE FLUX HERE IN 2177 …”
Zila glances from Scarlett’s throat to the dark matter tempest. “Magellan, you are saying the fragment in Scarlett’s necklace and the larger chunk of crystal it came from … called to each other across space and time?”
“THAT’S RIGHT!” the uniglass beeps triumphantly. “THEY SNAPPED BACK TOGETHER LIKE AN ELASTIC BAND.”
“So why is time collapsing?” Scarlett demands.
“Paradox … ,” Zila murmurs.
“YOU GOT IT! SCARLETT’S CRYSTAL ALREADY EXISTS IN THIS TIME AND PLACE. IT’S UPSTAIRS IN DR. PINKERTON’S QUARTERS. SO WITH TWO VERSIONS OF THE CRYSTAL OCCUPYING PROXIMAL POSITIONS IN SPACE AND TIME …”
“Time is trying to right itself,” Zila concludes. “Hence the loops. Which are becoming shorter and shorter.”
“EXACTLY! TIME RESISTS DISTORTION, TRIES TO BEND ITSELF BACK INTO ITS ORIGINAL FLOW, LIKE A RUBBER BLOCK BEING BENT OUT OF SHAPE. SO EVENTUALLY THIS LITTLE BUBBLE OF PARADOX YOU’RE LIVING IN WILL EAT ITSELF UNLESS YOU FIND A WAY TO SEND SCARLETT’S CRYSTAL BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL POSITION IN TIME.”
“Okay, question,” Scarlett interjects. “If this is all a part of the plan, but us being here could derail the plan if we don’t get home, why did Adams and de Stoy give me the necklace in the first place?”
Nari shakes her head. “Because apparently I’m going to pass on a message to my successors that they have to.”
“We must be meant to be here,” I breathe. “There must be something we’re meant to do. Maybe it was meeting Nari, getting her on track to founding Aurora Academy. Telling her about the Zero, the gifts. Maybe all that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”
“This is getting awfully close to being my own grandmother,” Scarlett mutters. “Okay, so how do we get out of this, Magellan?”
“GOOD QUESTION!” the uniglass beeps.
Silence descends, broken only by the shuddering station, the sound of alert sirens. We look at each other, then down to the cobbled-together string of uniglasses. Magellan spits and pops.
“Well?” Scarlett asks.
“I HAVE NO IDEA!”
The floor feels like it’s falling away from beneath my feet. “You what?”
“I MEAN, MAYBE I USED TO. BUT IT LOOKS LIKE THAT PART OF MY MEMORY IS CORRUPTED. OR GOT DELETED BY MR. BULLDOG CLIP HERE. YOU SURE YOU DIDN’T STUDY BOTANY, SASSYBOY?”