Interlude

“This is fucking insane, Jen. You’re pushing 60.” Terry paced her office, running his fingers over his head for the umpteenth time. His hair stood ruffled and messy at odd angles on his head, and paired with his wide-eyed stare, it made him look half crazed. Comparatively, Jennifer felt strangely calm – her will set, the way it used to be when she worked field missions as a younger woman. It was the resolve and sense of purpose she had been lacking in her life since she retired, and she realized that she had desperately missed this feeling. She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror as she finished pulling back her hair into a tight ponytail. It was true that she wasn’t young, but she didn’t think she looked her age, and thanks to her recent gym obsession, she felt more physically fit than she had in the past decade.

Terry groaned audibly, running his hands through his hair again. He could see that he wasn’t going to convince her to not go, but he wasn’t done trying. “Certainly this should be run up to someone in another branch? There’s got to be someone with training more in line with this mission. Some group of commandos that will cream themselves at the thought of infiltrating an alien ship.”

Jennifer shook her head as she stepped out of the bathroom. “With the tech they have, there’s certainly surveillance. If we take too long planning and make a big fuss among too many different people, we risk them finding out that we know about them, and we lose the element of surprise. It has to be now.” She paused for a moment, then added. “Besides, Polypt said they were going to make their move soon. We don’t have time for bureaucracy.”

 As she strapped on her holster, Terry scoffed and gestured to her gun. “You’re going to storm an alien shape with a fucking sidearm! Tell me you’ve got better weapons at least?” She ignored him. Attempting a different tactic, Terry swung around and gestured toward Larry, who wagged his tail weakly at the acknowledgement. “Who’s going to take care of the dog!?”

Larry whined softly, as though to punctuate the question. “You will,” Jennifer said. “He needs to be fed in an hour. One cup, food’s in that cupboard.”

Terry took a deep breath and let loose a string of expletives with so much force and volume that it caused Larry to jump slightly in alarm. Then her friend walked out of her office, grumbling loudly as he went. Jennifer settled behind her computer, checking in with the Stream briefly. A part of her wondered if their team was already monitored and if they had already lost the element of surprise she was banking on. They had spent too much time deliberating on the matter as it was.

When they had first gathered for the meeting, the possibility that their office was surveilled was brought up immediately. After all, they were one of the groups that were actively looking into finding the source of the Stream and the passengers of Flight 5071. If they were being watched, then certainly the aliens already knew about Polypt’s presence, though Polypt said that she doubted they were being given any more than minimal attention. Still, out of an abundance of caution, they had kept that initial meeting brief as they improvised an alternate meeting location for field agents and for team members that wished to volunteer to go on the mission. They had dispersed from the office, knowing that they had to approach the new meeting location quietly and separately. It was one a little removed from a normal safe house or any of their known locations. An abandoned barn set far out on a rural property that someone passed daily on their commute to work. They all left their phones in the office and arrived at different times, having parked at varying distances and hiked in. Just arranging and arriving at the meeting location took up most of the night and the next day, even if only half the team had been summoned. The other half maintained operational procedure back in the office, keeping up the appearance of business as usual.

 Jennifer had to find a way to transport a large insectoid creature as well. Luckily, Polypt seemed capable of compressing her body tightly into small locations, and bending in ways that made Jennifer feel uncomfortable to watch. She confined herself into the back seat of Jennifer’s car, and Jennifer parked far enough out from roads that their hike in was made across a wooded landscape before they came to the field where the dilapidated barn stood. The meeting itself was long as well, as they hashed out who would be going, when they would go, and what they would do when they got there. A lot of their plan relied on Polypt’s knowledge of the alien ship, which was sadly sparse as she had been a prisoner there.

In the end, Jennifer had insisted on going. Polypt would be there as well. Vincent had enthusiastically asked to be brought, but she had to turn him down, uncertain of how he would handle field work. She would be bringing Manuel though, as well as the two that had been assigned to finding Flight 5071, Billy Hall and Jake Reese, as well as half the field team, all eager to finally be of use. In total, there would be 10 of them – 9 humans and a human-sized preying mantis.

 It was probably at some point during the meeting that Cassandra had been freed from her imprisonment on the Stream. After the meeting, the team that would be going to the alien ship stayed together to hash out details, visit the craft that Polypt had reached Earth in, and agreed to meet up within 12 hours, giving them enough time to rest, refresh, and prepare themselves. Polypt remained at the vehicle with Vincent, who insisted on at least attempting to understand the tech enough to possibly give them an advantage on their return to the ship.

 Now, sitting and checking the Stream, Jennifer could see that the group in the other world were resting. Soon, one of them would be given the choice to come back to their world, at which point the Stream would end and the aliens would begin their invasion. She stared for a long moment at her daughter’s sleeping form on the screen, curled up with the elf. It was reassuring to know that even when the Stream stopped, her daughter at least had found some small semblance of happiness. Assuming they overcame their enemy…

She went down a mental checklist of everything she needed. She wanted to arm herself a bit better before she arrived at the ship, which would require one stop on her way over. “I’m ready,” she said out loud to Larry. He gave a low woof and wagged his tail. She shut down her computer and stood to leave her office before pausing a moment.

  Turning back to her desk, she carefully slid the top drawer open and pulled out the envelope with the letter Cassandra had left. She folded it and tucked if carefully and securely into a pocket. She held her hand over it for a moment once it was put away. It seemed silly to bring it, she didn’t know if she’d have a moment to read it, and she risked it being damaged or lost if it wasn’t kept safely here. But still… With a sigh, she moved over to gently rub Larry between his ears and left.

---

Cassandra

 I stifled a scream as four floating objects appeared suddenly in the air before us. They were black and shiny, reflective in the dim light of the cavern. One hovered close, bobbing low, and I found myself staring in shock at the small and warped image of my own face barely perceptible on its shiny surface. “Greetings,” it stated in English, its voice tinny and hollow, like listening to someone over a phone.

 Captain Kaphryn’s grip on her sword was so tight that her knuckles were turning white. “Was that… did it speak?” she asked, her voice expressing her discomfort at the situation.

 Lyre frowned, shifting close, and I could feel the warmth of him pressing against my shoulder. I noted that both Peyton and Lucas shifted closer together to stand in front of Lexie. Asterollan’s bright glow as he reached for his magic illuminated the entire room.

The orbs hovered in the air before Peyton and Lucas, bobbing gently, silent. “Greetings,” Peyton finally said, her voice even and smooth, just at about the same time Lucas cleared his throat and nervously said, “Yeah?”

The orb that had addressed them bobbed lower. It seemed to study their grouping briefly – Peyton and Lucas and Lexie. Lucas frowned, looking like he was about to try to swat the thing away, when it twisted and bobbed closer to me. I drew a deep breath, staring into the reflective black surface as it smoothly slid closer, hovering inches from my face, and did my best to steel my nerves so I wouldn’t take a step back. These things had been watching us this entire time. Certainly they wouldn’t harm us now? “Greetings,” it said again.

I frowned and said, “Greetings?” Raella narrowed her eyes as I spoke English back to the orb.

 The orb twisted in the air. “You are to be presented with a choice,” it said, its voice flat and robotic.

I blinked in confusion, and looked around at everyone else – they all looked confused, and scared. “Just… just me?”

“Yes. You.” I swallowed hard.

“Is it speaking your language?” Raella asked at the same that Lyre asked if it was speaking English.

 “English?” Lexie squeaked, her eyes boggling.

“You can’t understand it?” Lucas said in surprise, frowning at Raella.

As everyone continued to talk in confusion, I stared back at the orb. “What choice?” I asked, my mouth dry, my voice barely perceptible above the clamor.

Only Peyton focused hard on our conversation as the others talked. She stepped closer to listen better, standing shoulder to shoulder with Lyre. As the orb spoke, I felt the blood drain from my face. “You can return home.”

“Return home?” I whispered.

“Only her?” Peyton asked loudly. “She’s the only one that can return home?” Peyton’s voice caused the other conversations to quiet down. Lyre’s head swiveled to look at her, understanding her by whatever magic had made it so that Peyton, Lucas, and Lexie never had to learn the language here. For a moment I silently cursed her for speaking up.

“Home?” Lexie said, her voice a near reverent whisper.

Lucas muttered a comment to her asking if she was a parrot and she elbowed him.

“Yes,” the orb finally said, its voice vibrating with a pleased hum.

I swiveled my head around to look at everyone else. Peyton stared back at me evenly, her lips thinned and her expression thoughtful. Lucas frowned, looking confused, and Lexie stared at the orb with wide, sad eyes. I tried very hard not to look at Lyre, but I felt his hand grip my arm. “But… just me? Why just me?”

“Because you were chosen.”

“I don’t want to go home. Can’t someone go in my place?” I glanced briefly at Lexie before looking back up at my reflection on the orb.

“No. But before you make your choice, know this: if you don’t return home, it will be destroyed.”

I felt my mouth drop open in shock at the statement. “What? Destroyed how?”

“We will destroy it,” the orb said, its tinny voice once again taking on the pleased hum. I felt a shiver run up my spine.

“And who the fuck are you?” Lucas said, his voice louder than usual, angry.

“That does not concern you.”

My mind raced, considering my options. If I didn’t go home, it’d be destroyed? Everyone I had known my entire life – my entire family, all my friends, coworkers, the patients at the doctor’s office I worked at, my dog… everything, destroyed? “I’ll go back,” I said immediately. “But can it wait a day? I have something important to do here.”

“No,” the tinny voice hummed, and for some reason it sounded so smug I wanted to hit it out of the air. “You must make your choice within the hour. You are out of time.”

“But I have something I have to do here!” I repeated, my voice getting shrill.

“That does not concern us.” Lucas actually did swing at the orb then, but his fist whished harmlessly through air as it floated out of reach. “We will give you time. Make your decision.”

As it floated away, Raella said, “What did it say? You can go home?” I felt Lyre’s grip on my arm tighten at her words.

Lucas began to angrily pace underneath the orbs as Peyton relayed the entire conversation to those that hadn’t been able to understand it. As she did, I stared absently, watching Lucas pace and the way his animosity made Peter tense as well. The spider chittered, its eyes glittering in the low light of the cavern. “We may need you against Shadawn…” Raella began weakly.

 “She has to go,” Lexie spoke immediately, cutting Raella off. “She can’t let Earth get destroyed. My family… my baby brother, my dad… mom…” Lexie’s voice choked a little as she spoke, and she turned to me, gripping my hand tight, tears welling up in her eyes. “You have to go back! You can’t let them die!”

I stared back at her wordlessly. When I finally worked up the nerve to look at Lyre, I saw grief on his face, but understanding as well. I had expected stubbornness and was a little relieved, but more than that… I felt exhausted. Overwhelmingly sad. And I realized then that I had already made my decision.

“Wait… You can’t go. They won’t let someone else do it? It can’t be you!” I blinked in surprised confusion, turning to look at Asterollan as he shouted suddenly. Everyone had turned to look at him in surprise at his outburst.

  “What?” Lexie started angrily.

Asterollan pointed at me as he spoke, his brow furrowed. “She said she had a disease before she came to this world. Being here made it disappear. If she goes back, and the disease returns… she’ll die. She’ll die! She had less than a year to live!” I gaped at Asterollan for a moment and he stared back, his expression furious. “I don’t want you to die,” he said fiercely. I hadn’t even considered the idea, but what if he was right? What if I got home and the cancer came back? Was that part of why I had been chosen to make this decision?

Who was making us choose?

 Now it was Lyre’s turn to angrily say, “What?” I avoided looking at him, cursing the moment that I had told Asterollan about my cancer. Lyre shook my arm briefly, trying to get me to look at him. “What does he mean by that?”

Lexie looked stricken, staring at me. “No,” she said softly, drawing the word out.

I swallowed hard but gripped Lexie’s hand tight. “I’m not going to let Earth get destroyed,” I told her resolutely, staring directly into her eyes. She looked a little relieved, but mostly terrified and sad.

“You can’t…” Asterollan started.

I looked at him, cutting him off to say, “I already made my decision.”

---

I asked the others to give me some time in my last hour here and pulled Lyre with me into one of the derelict buildings. The second we were alone, he pulled me close, pressing his face to mine, kissing me desperately. “Is it true?” he gasped.

I closed my eyes tight for several long moments, forcing myself to take three deep breaths, but then felt that I was wasting what little time I had left. I opened them to stare back into his bright blue eyes and nodded. He had always been pale, but paled considerably more at my nod. I placed my hands on his face, rubbing my thumbs along his cheek gently. “It might not come back. I might go home and be just fine.” He didn’t look convinced, so I added, “There are treatments. They might extend my life.” I remembered how bad my chances had been when I had discussed those options with the doctors before.

“I will find a way to bring you back,” Lyre said, his expression set with determination. “I don’t know how long it will take, so you have to do everything in your power to live as long as you can. I will bring you back!”

I swallowed hard. I thought about the therapies that the doctors had discussed before, the low quality of life that they brought on, for such a short extension to my life – maybe months, they had said. Maybe an extra year, if I was lucky. I knew logically it wasn’t worth it in my case, but I nodded as he spoke. “I promise,” I whispered. “But you have to help defeat Shadawn. You have to make sure the others succeed, finish what we started here…” He gripped the sides of my face, pulling me in for another desperate kiss that left me breathless.

As I gave in to this one last brief moment of passion, I heard the voice of T’Keran whisper like a soft breeze in my ear.

(The favorite of my favorite is my favorite…)

 I hoped that meant Lyre would be safe.