He turns to face me, eyes bright with tears. And he inclines his head. “With every breath I have left.”
? ? ? ? ?
They don’t let me help with the jump this time. They want to preserve what’s left of my mental energy for the repairs to the Neridaa. For the jump home. For the battle with Caersan, and then the Ra’haam.
“We will not need anything left once this is over,” a Waywalker said to me as he turned down my offer. “We need spare nothing when there is no tomorrow.” His face was blank, his mind calm. Reconciled to what’s coming.
Today the last survivors in the galaxy will jump us to the Theta sector. The thickest patch of Weeds in the galaxy. And there they’ll die, holding the Ra’haam off as long as they can, buying us time to get the Neridaa home.
If we fail, humanity’s history—the history of every sentient species in the Milky Way but one—ends today.
And even if we win, today will be the last day of their lives.
I’m standing on the bridge of the Vindicator with Tyler and his crew—Kal and I have come to say our goodbyes before we transfer to the Eshvaren ship. And I’m feeling so very, very small as I stare out the front viewscreen at Sempiternity. At the tiny lights that speckle her surface, every one of them a room that’s home to someone.
Today each of those lights will be snuffed out.
I’ll make you a different future, I promise them silently. I’ll give up every last part of my soul to change this.
As if he can sense my thoughts, Tyler silently wraps an arm around my shoulders. We watch as Sempiternity’s ragtag fleet takes up position, ready to plunge through the rift the moment the Waywalkers tear it open.
Then a voice crackles across our comms, loud and cheerful.
“Hey, Vindicator. Jones, you got your passenger there?”
Tyler exchanges a glance with Elin, the Betraskan, and Elin leans into the mic to reply. “We’re about to offload her. What is it, Redlich?”
“Well, I was thinking when she gets back where she’s going, maybe she can do me a favor,” says the voice. “It’s been bothering me all these years, and at last I’ve got a chance to set the record straight. You see, I’m pretty sure I left the convector on back when we evacuated Radin IV. Maybe she can drop me a line, tell me to be more careful this time, if things go south.”
There’s a soft rumble of laughter around the deck, and some of the tension goes out of the air.
“Relaying that now,” says Elin, grinning.
“That’s Redlich’s ship right there,” says Tyler, pointing at a battered red shuttle with AUTHORIZED TUGBOAT stenciled down one side in faded letters. As I watch, the tug flashes its cabin light off and on again.
“And that’s a salute,” says Toshh from behind us.
Before anyone else can speak, the line buzzes again.
“Hey, Jones, you think your friend there could place an order at Eizman’s? A couple of thousand bagels, delivery date today?”
And again. “If we’re doing this, can she find my brother and tell him it was me who broke his yellow truck?”
“… tell me to stay in school, this really is a dead-end job …”
“… blow the lot on a trip to Risa. Turns out I won’t get to go later …”
“… warn me to stay away from blondes …”
And one by one, as they laugh into the darkness and take up their positions, their lights
flash
flash
flash
in salute.
And by the end, I’m crying, and I’m not the only one on the bridge who is, and we’re all laughing, and it only dies away when Lae steps forward to Tyler’s side, starlight gleaming on her silver-gold hair.
“Time, Commander.”
Tyler gestures me forward, and I lean down to speak into the mic.
“I think I got all that, though I don’t think I’m old enough for that stuff the crew of the Galavant talked about.”
I take a breath, steady my voice. “I promise I’m going to give it everything I’ve got to try and make sure you all get a chance to do it right yourselves the second time.”
I pause, drag in another breath.
“But I’ll always remember each one of you, just as you are in this moment.”
I step back, and this time when I go up onto my toes and throw my arms around Tyler’s neck, his own arms wrap tight around me, squeezing the air out of me, and we hold on, and we hold on, and letting go feels like the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
And I’d probably cry again, except Tyler grabs Kal next, and my love’s startled expression drags a hiccuping sob of a laugh out of me instead.