Chapter 14

  The Past Is the Past

  Bridge-making, a craft as old as the Greater Systems itself. Early in humanity’s stellar evolution—when the first blue stars were born—it was observed in a shoal of stellar squid. The rhythmic movements of their tentacles were reproduced. These bridges, these holes, connected two points in spacetime. Expansion, communication, trading, and several other aspects of stellar life are reliant on the use of bridges.

  The tearing of spacetime is no simple feat. Only the strongest of stars are capable of it. It's what sorts the class IVs from the class Vs. Even then, the process can take months to grasp, years to learn, and decades to perfect. So when Mira and Stephen were given a timeframe of maybe a week, the odds of escape didn’t seem in their favor.

  Rigel had been coaching them for four days on the skill he no longer possessed.

  The lecture hall they chose to practice in was in one of the rear hallways on the left side of the Helyx complex. An unsolved electricity issue, causing the right half of the room to bask in darkness, had designated the room as temporarily closed.

  In the left half of the room, Mira and Stephen were waving their flames in front of them.

  The tedious task of bridge-making had become more frustrating by the day. Mira was still struggling to understand what she was supposed to be doing. Blankly waving her arms was not offering any success. The man from the outpost, what had he done?

  Rigel had mentioned something about focus, concentration. It was about locating an energy-dense point in space and bringing it forward. Though the last thing Mira figured she wanted to do was drag a black hole to Helyx. He mentioned it was a possibility but not one she should worry about. That somehow she would ‘feel’ where she was bridging too.

  Mira groaned, dropping her flames. “I don’t understand this at all. I don’t feel anything!”

  “Mira, you need to keep calm, stay focused. You keep breaking concentration,” Rigel told her.

  “I don’t know if I’ll feel anything concentrating until I look as old as you,” she said.

  “Mira, listen, it took me weeks to feel even the slightest thing. It's only been a few days. You’ll get there… We have time.” He stumbled on his last words.

  They all knew that wasn’t true.

  Rigel gestured to Stephen. “Watch him. He has good form.”

  Jealous, she couldn’t recall being jealous at Stephen before. There were no stellar skills he had excelled at over her. Yet here he was, waving his hands with grace, with rhythm.

  She followed his arms. The space in front of him—. There was a blur in the architecture of the room. A subtle distortion had taken up the space in front of him.

  “Woah,” Stephen gasped.

  “Do you feel something?” Rigel questioned, floating over to him.

  “I think so,” Stephen replied, continuing to dance his flame in front of him.

  “Keep focus,” Rigel insisted.

  “I shouldn’t try to open it though, right?” Stephen questioned.

  “No, no,” Rigel replied. “That’ll surely alert them. Hold it for a while longer. We’ll worry about opening when we have to.”

  “But that’s different?” Stephen questioned.

  “Yes, it's a task of strength.” He turned to Mira. “For that part I'm sure Mira would excel.”

  Mira sighed. “I’m trying.” She turned back around and alighted her arms.

  In her repeated motions, she still failed to complete the task. Concentration was difficult for her. There were so many things running through her head: fears of getting caught, worries about her future place in the Greater Blue Forces. But the central reason was her friends. She didn’t want to see them leave. A part of her wanted to go with them, and she was having trouble fighting it.

  By the end of the session, she had yet to succeed in her task. Stephen had, but his bridges—if he even were able to tear one open—wouldn’t get them nearly far enough. However, it was starting to seem like the only option they had.

  Now she had to go to practice with Castor. She was starting to dread them. Guilt, shame, and regret were always spiraling in her mind when she was around him. She took a breath from her nebulant to ensure Castor wouldn’t notice her exhaustion when she arrived.

  Stephen and Mira ascended above the stairwell of desks of the large lecture hall and up to the doorway.

  “I’ll see you guys soon,” Rigel smiled with a wave. “Mira I know you’ll get it eventually.”

  She rolled her eyes at the comment. She didn’t want his wishes. She just wanted to be able to do it.

  The smile fell from his face, and he dropped his wave.

  “See you, old man,” Stephen waved back, trying to lighten the mood. He nudged Mira, but she still chose to remain silent.

  “Mira, can we please talk when you get the chance, actually talk this time? There’s something I want to say.” Rigel questioned.

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  Her hand was already in motion to open the door. “Fine, yes. I have things I need to say to you too.” She exited into the hallway and closed the door.

  It was difficult to explain her anger towards him. She just knew that she felt it. There was something she was blaming him for, even if she didn’t know what it was.

  Stephen sighed. “Can’t you just be nice to him before we have to leave?”

  “You wouldn’t understand,” Mira replied, crossing her arms. She didn’t understand either.

  Stephen rubbed his blonde hair out of his face. “Ok, fine, be ominous about it.”

  “How did you do it?” Mira questioned, changing the subject. “I don’t get it.”

  Stephen grinned. “Maybe… I’m just better than you at something. Have you considered that?”

  She smacked him on the arm.

  “Yeah, sorry, I deserved that, I know.” There was a moment of silence, and Stephen bit his lip before opening his mouth. “Just come with us, please.”

  Mira almost shivered when he said it. “I can’t. I have to do this.”

  Stephen opened his mouth to respond. The words were on his tongue as a figure turned the passageway corner ahead of them.

  Castor.

  “You’re right,” he said.

  Everything in Mira’s vision went black. A soft ring echoed in her ears. The shiver that ran up Mira’s spine felt paralyzing. Fear, a fear she’d never experienced. She stuttered out her next words. “Castor… It's not what you think it is—please.”

  “Wouldn’t that be lovely? I presume Rigel’s down the hall?”

  Both Mira and Stephen stood frozen.

  He found his answer. “Thank you.” With that, he pushed by them and headed down the hall.

  “Shit... I—I shouldn’t have done this,” Mira groaned.

  “Mira, what the hell are we going to do?” Stephen panicked.

  A debate stormed in Mira’s brain. Should she follow through and risk getting in more trouble than she already was?

  “Tell Yue and Atlas,” she finally responded. “Meet me in our room. I… I know where to find Sola.”

  Stephen nodded, not wasting a second as he flung himself down the corridor.

  Mira did the same, routing back to the dormitories. She never flew so fast in her life.

  BREAK

  Mira docked at the room platform and squeezed her forehead before knocking on the door. Her vision was still blurry, and an ache was growing in her chest.

  She knew Sola would be here at this time of day. Over the past few days, she found herself recognizing Sola’s schedule as they parted from their secret meetings. Occasionally she found herself waiting by the door, listening briefly to what she had to say. It was comforting to learn she hadn’t completely ruled out forgiveness. Mira couldn’t ever find the words to apologize, though.

  Outside her door she rocked back and forth. They were there. She could hear muffled voices inside. She raised her hand to knock again. The lock clicked, and the door cracked open.

  Sola peeked her eye through the opening. She went pale, slamming the door shut.

  “Sola, please, I just want to talk. It's important,” Mira said. She heard a faint conversation on the opposite side of the door.

  “What? What do you so desperately need to say?” Sola’s muffled voice carried through the door.

  Mira sighed. “I—I’m—Sola, we have to leave, now,” Mira answered her, unable to muster an apology.

  Sola cracked the door open again. “What do you mean?”

  “Castor, he found us out,” Mira replied. “Stephen is going to bridge us out of here.”

  “And how—how do we know you’re not with him?” Sola asked, the question struggling to leave her lips.

  Mira hesitated. “I wouldn’t put my brother at risk.”

  Sola pulled the door open. Inside she was with her ginger-haired roommate, who Mira now knew as Thebe. The two-bed dorm was much smaller than hers, with just enough space for the two of them to get to and from their beds.

  Sola looked towards her roommate and nodded. She looked back to Mira, her lips trembled. She was scared.

  Mira resonated, but she didn’t want to show it. So many questions remained. They had no plan now. Rigel knew more about it than anyone. Without him, it might as well be hopeless.

  BREAK

  Castor flung the door open.

  Rigel turned his head towards the auditorium door. “Did you forget—.” His facial expression abruptly turned to dread.

  “This isn’t a sight I like to see,” Castor growled, floating down the auditorium to where he stood. “So that’s it then, you’re done, you’re going to run.”

  “It’s—,” Rigel started.

  Castor landed a few feet from him. “Shut up. Every word that comes out of your mouth is fucking pathetic. I wouldn’t be nearly as upset if you weren’t also planning on taking Mira, but I’m glad she has the decency to opt out of such a cowardly expedition.

  “You do know what this makes you, a traitor, and if there’s something I despise more than our enemies, it's traitors.” He spat. “Naive thinking this plan would come to any fruition. You had one damn job, you fucking idiot.”

  Castor approached him and shoved him in the chest, forcing him against the front wall.

  Rigel grunted. He couldn’t make eye contact with him, his head drooping down at the floor.

  “So what will it be?” Castor asked. “Prison? At least.”

  “It was my idea. I convinced them to join me,” Rigel replied.

  “I would hope so. But now you’ve indicated them, and I don’t think Ophiuchus will let that slide. The students may get off easier, but they will learn regret.”

  “Why, Castor? Why do you suck up to them so much? We did the same things out there. We saw the same things.”

  Castor pushed him further against the wall. His hand pressed against his chest, practically cracking open his ribs. He could feel as Rigel’s core grew warmer from the strain.

  “Because I’m not an idiot, Rigel, and I don’t know what you think you saw out there, but those ‘horrors’ are what gave you your name,” Castor snapped, waving a finger at Rigel.

  “You—frustrate me, Castor,” Rigel replied, his words barely escaping his throat.

  “I can say the same about you.”

  “Those kids could have a good life away from here. Do you really want to just send them out there to die?”

  “We all have to do our part. Some of ours are more unfortunate than others.”

  “You used to have a soul, Castor. I remember when we first met.”

  “What does that even mean, Rigel, having a soul or not having a soul? You look soulless if I’ve ever seen anyone,” he remarked about his frail image.

  The wall began to creak as Rigel was forced further into the metal. “Fuck you.”

  Castor smiled at that.

  Rigel ignited his fist in a weak gray flame.

  “That’s not going to work.”

  “I have to try.” He swung his fist at him.

  Castor backed out of the way, releasing his grasp on Rigel. The gray embers skirted past Castor’s face.

  Rigel fell forward. There was an indent left in the wall.

  “You did this to yourself,” Castor said.

  Rigel jumped at him.

  Castor grabbed his face, wrapping his fingers around his head. He squeezed his skull. The bone fractured as he dug his fingertips into him.

  A desperate wail escaped from Rigel’s throat.

  “Like I said, pathetic,” Castor growled.

  Rigel unleashed a pulse.

  The sphere of gray energy pushed Castor back. He released his grip.

  Rigel wobbled backwards, grabbing his head. A painful throb echoed through his cranium.

  Castor cracked his neck and flew forward with a fist of flame. He hit Rigel in the shoulder. The blunt force scorched his exposed skin as he was sent flying backwards and into the same crease in the wall. A few splinters of metal broke off of it.

  Rigel tried to peel himself out, but he was almost out of energy.

  Castor just watched him, amused.

  “They’ll never trust you,” Rigel said, grunting in pain.

  “Don’t need them to. Just her.”

  “And when you’ve killed me? Will you trust me then?”

  “They’ll never know.” Castor responded. “Isn’t it poetic? You’re the one who saved me, but I'm the one who’s going to kill you.”

  “I never should’ve done that,” Rigel cried.

  “The past is the past,” Castor said. “You can only change the future, which doesn't look like there’s much of one left for you.”

  Rigel ignited his fist once more, the gray flame almost running on embers.

  “No, but I'll always be a part of yours,” he said. He cried as he ran towards him, trying to send a punch at him.

  It wouldn’t matter. The lights in the facility flickered as the building shook with a violent blast.