I could have lived forever in the moment I kissed a million of them goodbye, but though I feel impossibly strange and empty, just listening with my ears, just seeing with my eyes, when Kal pulls me in against him in a fierce embrace, and I hear his heart beating loud and true through his ribs, the … the sheer joy of being alive is overwhelming.
I can’t feel him in my mind at all. I can see him, though, and touch him, and when I smile up at him through my tears, and he smiles back, I know my choice was right.
I’ll live in peace, and I’ll live for love.
Love offers choice, and I made mine—I made the choice my squad has taught me from the moment I met them. Your family is where you find it, and this is mine. We should be together.
“Is it gone?” Scarlett whispers, and I know she’s thinking of Cat.
“It’s not here anymore,” I reply. “But … it’s not gone.”
I instinctively turn in the right direction.
I think I’ll always know which way it is.
There’s a space out between galaxies where only darkness should be, and now it glimmers with life and memories, with stars like fireflies that will share themselves with each other as long as they wish.
They’re far away, but they’re not gone. And I find a phrase on my lips I learned from Saedii, in those moments we were all joined.
It seems fitting, so I whisper it in farewell.
“I will see you in the stars.”
39
ONE YEAR LATER
“Go go go, we’re gonna be late,” Scar hisses, threatening to break into a run, but not quite managing it.
“Which will be a huge shock to everyone,” I reply, reaching for her hand to slow her down.
We’re just back from shore leave, which we took on Trask—Scar even charmed my third grandmother. I’m pretty sure at this point that if we ever broke up, my family would keep her and toss me, but I can’t blame them for that. She’s impossible to resist. We’ve only been gone three weeks, but Maker, it’s good to be back at Aurora Station.
At first, none of us were sure if the Legion was the right future for us, after everything that had happened. But at least for Ty, Scar, and me, it’s where we’ve settled for now. Tyler says this is where we can do the most good, and good’s sorely needed.
Most planets lost huge chunks of their citizenry in the battle against the Ra’haam. Whole civilizations were shut off behind destroyed FoldGates. Aurora told me once that she’s positive someone will be along in the future who’ll know how to get around that, but she refused to say more.
For now, we do what good we can, where we can.
And tomorrow, we’re doing some good right here.
Scarlett and I hurry out onto the long crescent of the station promenade, stepping hand in hand into the crush. The whole place is packed with people—delegates from all over the galaxy have begun arriving at the academy, flocks of cadets and legionnaires and civilians flooding the eateries and bars, all of them abuzz with excitement for the ceremony.
I look up to the transparent ceiling, the light of the Aurora star shining down on the statues of the Founders in the promenade’s heart. One hundred meters tall, towering above this place they forged together, this Legion that saved a galaxy.
The first is carved of black opal from Trask, her face wise and brave and serene, looking into a future of infinite possibility. The second is marble mined on Terra, and I smile as I look up into the familiar face of Nari Kim. She’s older than the kid we knew, her chest covered with medals now, admiral’s stars on her shoulders. But she’s still a kid I knew.
“Looking good, Dirtgirl,” I grin.
“Hey.” Scar pinches my arm. “That’s a Founder of Aurora Academy you’re talking to, legionnaire.”
“Yeah, but she got me shot. And blown up. And incinerated. And admiral’s stars or no, I’m certain she was still a colossal pain in the ass.”
Scar laughs and squeezes my hand, smiling at the statue above. “She does look good, now you mention it. I think they polished her.”
“Well, she’s got company coming.”
I nod at a third shape, standing between the Founders. It’s covered in a massive sheet of green velvet, but it’s clear another statue has been built alongside the first two. A statue all these people have come to see.
The mysterious Third Founder. The unsung hero of the whole Ra’haam war, set to be unveiled in tomorrow’s grand celebration. She was content to spend her whole existence in the shadows for the sake of secrecy, of avoiding paradox. A life devoted to saving a galaxy that would never even know who she was.
But tomorrow, we change all that.
Tomorrow, the whole Milky Way will know her name.
“Come on,” Scarlett insists. “We’ll see her tomorrow. The others are waiting.”
We push our way through the crush, the people, all these lives, finally making it to the turbolifts. Rising up, looking out through the transparent walls at the crowd below, I can’t help but smile at the sight.
My smile only widens as we find our meeting room and discover Aurora, Kal, Tyler, and even a scowling Saedii Gilwraeth waiting for us. The scene disintegrates into squealing and hugs as Scar throws herself at Auri, and I have to admit I kind of join in, and Kal bears up with considerable dignity when he’s pulled in too. I notice a neatly dressed, serious young woman standing at the head of the table, but my musings about who she is are cut short as Auri hugs me so tight my exo moves to protective settings around my lungs, to make sure I can keep breathing.
Ty just laughs, and lets it die down of its own accord, reaching out to lay one hand on Saedii’s. She must be feeling pretty loved up today, because she doesn’t even look like she wants to bite it off. I guess they’re making long distance work.
“What are you and Kal doing here?” Scarlett demands, grabbing Aurora’s hand as we all take our seats. “I thought you were on the other side of the galaxy!”
The two of them have been working with the Syldrathi rebuilding effort—now that a peace accord has been signed between the Unbroken and the rest of Syldrathi society, it’s time to do the messy stuff like settling a new planet. Usually Syldrathi don’t like outsiders much, but Auri says her history as a psychic superpower and her connection to the Eshvaren win her enough respect to get by. Probably doesn’t hurt to have a Templar as part of the family, either.
“Are you kidding?” Auri says. “We wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
“Have you seen the design?” Scar asks.
“Tyler sent it to us,” Kal says, nodding to our Alpha. “Beautiful work, Brother.”
“Still think you should’ve put a disruptor pistol in her ha— OW!” I yelp as Scar kicks me under the table, glowering at me, then smiling at her twin.
“It is beautiful, Ty. Seriously. Zila would be very proud.”
“Zila would be very uncomfortable is what Zila would be.” I grin and rub my bruised shin, looking around the room. “Come on. You think Zila Madran ever imagined herself sculpted a hundred meters high out of solid gold? Maker, I wish she was here so I could see the look on her face when we unveil it.”
“Welllll … ,” Tyler says.
All eyes in the room turn to our Alpha.
“Well what?” Kal says, suspicious.
“… Ty?” Scar asks.
“Well, there’s a reason I called you all here a day early,” he says, nodding to the woman at the head of the table. “And there she is.”
All eyes turn to the stranger now. She’s Terran, maybe mid-twenties, neatly dressed in gray attire. She has a serious face, but she doesn’t scream “military” to me, so I don’t think she’s Legion. She looks around the room at each of us, dark eyes finally settling on Aurora.
“Who are you?” Auri asks.
“A messenger,” she says simply, bringing up a projection from her wrist unit and letting it speak for itself.
Aurora’s face lights up, Scarlett gasps, and I feel my own lips curling in wonder at the projection before us.
It’s Zila.