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| Generated by Google Gemini Advanced text-to-image AI software, powered by Imagen 3, and by Pixlr AI image editor |
It took a long time for the medical staff in the Gatewood Collective to
realize that there must be something quite unusual about the planet that
Tinaya and Aristotle were living on, and even longer to realize that
Tinaya’s whole glass skin condition was making things worse. As it happens,
Verdemus emits an unusual form of radiation, which sticks with everyone who
steps foot on it. It doesn’t appear to be harmful, but the Gatewooders—is
that what they’re called?—didn’t want to take a chance, so they needed time
to remedy the issue. It appears that it will happen on its own given enough
time away from the environment, but in the interest of expediency, they
found a way to dissipate it quickly, but still safely. The primary physician
postulates that it’s the result of a form of communication. The plant and
animal life on Verdemus have indeed been noted to enjoy some level of
harmony. It’s nothing quite as dramatic as Pandora from that one franchise,
but it does seem to be there to support its idea of homeostasis. If true,
it’s the Gaia Hypothesis made real, just not for Earth. The doctor is
fascinated by this possibility, and is very interested in visiting Verdemus
to study it.
Captain Kestral McBride is not okay with that. “Doctor, the deadline to
apply for passage on the Extremus was weeks ago. You’re not getting on that
ship.” It’s July of 2270, and the TGS Extremus is days from launch.
“What are you talking about?” Dr. Norling questions. “I’m not asking to get
on the ship. I want to go to the planet, and I have to do that seventy-eight
years from now. I have to go back with Miss Leithe and Mr. Al-Amin.”
“That’s not how I’ve made the new recall device work, Vaska,” Lieutenant
Ishida Caldwell tries to explain. “It will send the two of them back to
where they were before they traveled through time. They can’t take someone
with them.”
“Well, then modify it so it can,” Vaska suggests.
“That would be a supertemporal transporter,” Ishida argues. “That’s so much
harder, if not impossible given the parameters. Now, you give me a
collapsar, and I’ll send you into the next galaxy, but—” She interrupts
herself to stare into the corner as if she’s just given herself a new idea.
“You don’t have to worry about all that,” Maqsud contends. “I tried telling
you, I’m just having trouble with accuracy, but the power is in me. All you
have to do is devise a device that taps into my temporal energy. I
certainly can take people with me.”
“That will not be necessary,” Kestral insists. “Dr. Norling will not be
going anywhere.” She faces the doctor. “We need you here.”
“Oh, don’t give me that. I’m not the only doctor here. But I am the
foremost expert in Verdemusian radiation.”
“Oh, you are, are you?” Kestral asks sarcastically.
“Name one other.” Expert is a definite exaggeration in this case, but
she is indeed the closest thing they have. The problem is that Keshida
doesn’t care. They don’t need to know how the planet works, so they’re not
properly incentivized to sign off on this mission. Vaska has to come up with
a good reason why anyone should go, not just that she should be the one.
That’s probably going to be a pretty tall order.
“I’m sorry,” Kestral says simply.
Vaska steps over to gaze out of the nearest viewport. Many stars can be seen
from this angle, but they fade away closer to the edge where just a hint of
the sunshine from Barnard’s Star peeks out from behind the hull. “Do you
remember what your lives were like before we came to this universe as
refugees...before every moment—waking or unwaking—was consumed by your
responsibility to our health and safety? Do you remember what you were
doing, and why? Do you remember your dreams? Why are you such brilliant
scientists?” She turns back around. “Did you study because it was easy?
Because you were bored? Or did you do it because you wanted to learn, to
discover? In the last couple of centuries, humanity has encountered a
handful of exoplanets. We’ve gone right to them. Each one is special in its
own right. Proxima Doma is the closest. Bida is the most Earth-like, albeit
naturally a deathtrap for all Earth-born organisms. Hell, even this system
right here, with no fully coalesced planets, is interesting enough. But
Verdemus sounds like a paradise. It’s like nothing we’ve seen before. And
you just...couldn’t give a shit? What would Past!Kestral and Past!Ishida
have to say about your attitudes?”
For Tinaya’s part, that’s a pretty decent argument, but it doesn’t have to
resonate with her. It has to change Team Keshida’s mind. The two of them
exchange a look, and then they gently press their foreheads together. It
looks like more than just a familial bond, but a genuine means of
communicating with each other without other people hearing, or having to
leave the room. This is all but proven when they separate, and suddenly
agree to Vaska’s request. Ishida retires to her lab where she modifies the
recall device. It was originally designed to send Tinaya and Maqsud
back to a place where they had already been, but since Vaska has never been
there, that plan will no longer work.
Six days later, they reconvene to explain the new situation, and give them a
chance to back out. Ishida holds up the device. Unlike the first one she
created, which was only a relatively small sphere, this is three hoops
connected to each other by a larger sphere. “Interstellar teleportation is
very difficult to accomplish. It’s hard to do it at large scales, and it’s
hard to do it at smaller scales. Recall technology, like homestones, get
around this using a branch of mathematics that even I don’t
understand. But basically if your quantum signature has already been to a
place, it’s easier for it to get back there. Going somewhere new that’s so
far away is a whole different ball game. I think I’ve figured it out for a
one time trip, but I cannot guarantee the results. It’s
still based on your recall point,” she explains to the Verdemusians.
“And Vaska is still a hanger-on. Most of the time, when something
goes wrong, navigation is what gets thrown off, rather than, say, coherence.
This is actually a good thing, because while you may end up in the wrong
place, at least you end up in one piece. Or three, as it were.”
“What’s the margin of error?” Tinaya asks.
“A few years, plus or minus. Though, from where I’m standing, due to the
added mass of Vaska’s presence, my guess is that you’ll be late instead of
early. It’s up to you to decide which is preferable.”
Tinaya looks over for Vaska’s guidance.
“No, no, no,” Kestral says. “She doesn’t get to decide this for you. Since
this affects all three of you, it must be a unanimous decision. She’s not
the only one taking a risk here. If even one of you doesn’t want to take
that risk, we go back to the original plan, and Dr. Norling will have no
choice but to return to her pathetic job as the Primary Physician for
billions of people.”
“I’m in,” Tinaya agrees with no hesitation.
“For what it’s worth, so am I,” Vaska confirms sheepishly.
They all turn their eyes to Maqsud, who waits a moment. “I still think I can
do this myself.” He doesn’t look as confident as he wishes. Verdemus is
16,000 light years away, and they’re trying to get there eight decades in
the future. Those numbers do not match up with each other. A Trotter can
travel through time given the right conditions, and these aren’t them. It’s
clearly possible for him, since he’s the one who got them here in the first
place, but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to transport them in that way
intentionally, and accurately. “But this sounds like a safer bet. Let’s do
it.”
Ishida holds the sphere and hoops in front of her. She presses four buttons
on the sphere, which release a single leg that extends to the floor, holding
it up. “It’ll be here when you’re ready. Its range is unpredictable, so I’ll
activate it remotely. Take the suits on your back, and one carry-on. That’s
all it can handle. Any questions?”
“We’re ready now,” Tinaya decides, seeing Vaska with her carry-on. She’s the
only one with any belongings.
“All right. Give us a minute to get out of here,” Kestral says. “Goodspeed.”
As Team Keshida are leaving, the three passengers get in place. The hoops
open, and allow them to step inside to wrap around their torsos. Since
they’re not perfect circles, the only way to fit into them is to either face
the center, or the outside. The former seems more awkward, so they all end
up looking away from each other. A couple of minutes later, they feel the
power vibrating through the metal. They instinctively grab onto their
respective hoops as the leg retracts itself. A translucent bubble forms, and
expands around them, then a few meters beyond. But its borders are
undefined. The Captain and Lieutenant were right to bug out.
Once the power reaches critical mass, the bubble suddenly collapses again,
and zaps them with a painful—but not overly painful—electrical shock. The
room they were standing in disappears, transplanting them to a different
one. Tinaya recognizes it immediately, even though she only saw it for a
second years ago. This is the mess hall on Verdemus, which exploded when
Tinaya unwittingly triggered it by teleporting Ilias away from the hostages
that he had taken. Ishida was wrong. They didn’t show up a little too late,
but way too early. They’re at risk of changing the timeline. Then
again, maybe they should. Then again, how could they have any hope of
doing that? This isn’t a few days prior to the tragedy. This is that very
moment. Ilias is here, as are his hostages. He’s holding onto one of them
tightly. That’s as much as Future!Tinaya is able to garner before
Past!Tinaya appears out of nowhere, and takes hold of him. She teleports him
out of here, and into the woods.
In one more second, the deadman’s switch is going to obliterate this entire
settlement. Dozens of people are going to die, leaving only one survivor who
was graced with phoenix resurrection powers. There is not even enough time
for Future!Tinaya to remove her suit’s gauntlet to reach her watch, which is
the only way she can teleport out of here herself. Even if she did, at best,
she can save the other two travelers. Everyone else is still going to die.
They’re going to die all over again, and she’s going to have to relive that
pain, that loss.
Something is happening. An energy is surging through her again. A bright
light is breaking through her suit, melting it along the way. Time appears
to slow around her. Only Maqsud and Vaska are moving at a normal rate. The
hostages are standing up to run away, but have barely made it to standing
positions. The suit slips all the way off of her, leaving only her shining
naked glass body. The light expands faster than the bomb explodes, and they
begin to battle each other. The glass light wins out, and fades away.
Everyone is alive. She has just successfully changed the past. Or has she?
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