They arrived at yet another world on the edge. Cruiser Erin asked the usual question. “Do we make an attempt or go straight to the next?”

  “We skipped the last three worlds,” Hector said. It was more complaint than answer.

  The Major gestured to a portion of the planet displayed on the screen. Though it was in daylight, darkness gathered beyond any mundane storm. “We can’t even get you close to the rifts in this region without risking our only remaining shuttle.”

  If they lost the shuttle, the Sages would be permanently removed from the missions. Having Cruiser Erin approach so close to the ground in a hostile environment was more risk than he was willing to accept. “I guess we move on, then.”

  The screen went dark as Cruiser Erin made her normal announcement to prepare for singularity travel. Being on the first floor, Hector heard footsteps clanking down the stairwell. Piercing jumped out and sprinted towards the shuttle bay.

  Hector rolled his eyes. On his first ride on a Jinn vessel, Hector found singularity travel fascinating. Having made hundreds of trips now, he had no remaining interest in the method. He once asked Piercing why he watched through the window every single time. The Sage’s answer hadn’t been enlightening. ‘Because the way the Jinn treat space is so wrong that it’s beautiful.’

  The Major pulled up a chart on his tablet and began filling in information about the status of the world. He was recording events to share with his superiors when they eventually returned home. It was a dutiful act, especially considering he would likely be executed as a traitor. Everyone here had the bigger picture in mind, though. If accurate charts might help the multiverse some day, then they were worth making.

  Cruiser Erin broke the silence. “Be aware, a spatial anomaly is forming approximately ten thousand miles from our current location.”

  The Major dropped his tablet. “Size?”

  “Class three.”

  “Shit.”

  Hector didn’t follow the meaning of the conversation. “What is going on? Is this world collapsing already?”

  “A singularity is forming. Based on how deep we are in this vein, it is almost certainly a Mercom war barge come to scour this world from existence.”

  “What can we do?”

  Cruiser Erin answered the question. “I am already forming a singularity. I’ve also disabled my transponder. Otherwise the best I can do is speak Rus when they contact me. A Mercom Cruiser has a similar body shape to a Rus Destroyer. The deception may buy us a few minutes.”

  “Is that long enough?” Neither Cruiser Erin nor the Major answered his question. That meant the answer was no. “Are we going to have to fight?”

  The Major shook his head. “Not immediately. They won’t have a positive identification at first. When they discover you are aboard, things become interesting. If we trust the predictions of Foresight, they want you alive and under their control. That means they won’t use serious weapons.”

  Cruiser Erin took over the explanation. “The most reasonable expectation is that they will grapple with us using gravitonics. I cannot match a war barge. Either I submit or my systems overheat during the struggle. In either situation, we are boarded by commandos of similar build to the late Captain Devin. Your retinue would be able to fight them off, but once a hostile force from Mercom enters I become their hostage. They can use override codes to disable me. Once those are used, there will be a twenty-four hour countdown before my cognition units automatically wipe. The only way to prevent my erasure is to detach my units from the vessel. At that point, reactivation requires returning to a Citadel.”

  The Major nodded at Hector. “Just in case, you should be prepared to evacuate your retinue by transit sphere.”

  And leave Cruiser Erin and her crew to face their inevitable executions. That was left unsaid, but Hector heard it loud and clear. It was the practical move. Hector needed to get to Aes, no one else. He needed protectors, of course, but that was what the individuals handpicked by the Sage of Foresight were for. Everyone else was disposable in service of their cause.

  “There will be plenty of time for that if it becomes necessary,” Hector said.

  Then came the waiting game. Once more the comparison between singularity travel and transit spheres came out in favor of Hector’s preferred method. He could exit a universe in a little under two minutes if he pushed it. Cruiser Erin took fifteen minutes just to mold the singularity into existence. Traversing it would take hours. For that entire time the tunnel would remain open.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “War Barge Katherine was not convinced by my Rus. She is detaining me until I am positively identified. It will take her a few minutes to arrive. My singularity is ready to open now but she will be able to collapse it. That will result in space rebounding to place us back into the universe of origin.”

  The Major gave a crisp salute to Hector. “Gather your people, Lord Dragonbane.”

  “I will continue my escape attempt to give you more time,” Cruiser Erin added. “They cannot land a boarding party while I am within a singularity.”

  With a heavy heart, Hector rushed from the room. He started at the top floor and began gathering his retinue. By the time he returned to the first floor, everyone was following behind him other than Piercing, who was already in the shuttle bay.

  They poured into the large space. “Piercing, you need to circle up with us.”

  “Can it wait until after the show, war barge?”

  “No. If you have any possessions you want to keep, get them now. In five minutes you need to be back here and ready to load up in my transit sphere.”

  Piercing left the window. “What is going on?”

  “A Mercom war barge is in the area. Cruiser Erin won’t be able to escape in time, so we need to abandon ship.”

  The Sage frowned and turned back to the window.

  “Piercing,” Hector said, “we have to keep our mission in mind.”

  “I know. But… what if we went faster?”

  Conrad lost his patience and snapped. “Don’t you think Cruiser Erin would do that if it was an option? She’s caught and we need to continue on without her.”

  Piercing waved for Hector to come closer to him. “Chaos. Please.”

  Hector sighed and walked over. “What?”

  “I watch this every time. The cruiser is like an earthworm, stretching and shrinking space to inch forward. It’s the craziest thing I ever saw.”

  Hector cleared his throat. “I understand what it is like to quest, Piercing.”

  “No, you’re not listening to me. I know how this singularity stuff works. It’s the most brilliant hack I have ever seen. That it works at all is a damn miracle. The Jinn did the best they could with legal energy, I know.”

  “Piercing….”

  The Sage slapped a hand over Hector’s mouth to prevent any further words. “It's the best they can do. Not the best I can do.”

  Hector gently removed the hand from his face. “Explain. Quickly.”

  “I’ve got lots of ideas how it could work better. This could be so much faster.”

  “Piercing. Are you saying you can speed up our move to the next universe?”

  “Definitely,” the Sage said. “Maybe not as fast as your transit sphere or Macy’s Slingshot, but the only reason this metal vessel goes so slow is the constant switching between stretching and shrinking. I can do all the shrinking myself.”

  Hector stared at Piercing for a few moments, then tapped his earpiece. “Cruiser Erin, what do you make of that proposal?”

  “I have noticed his experimentation in the past. It is unlikely to make a difference.”

  Piercing placed his hands together like he was praying to Hector.

  “Will it hurt for him to try?”

  Cruiser Erin’s reply came quickly. “War Barge Katherine is already in the process of disassembling my singularity.”

  Piercing, unaware of the words spoken directly in Hector’s ear, noticed a change in his expression. “How about I start small, then?”

  The vessel shuddered around them and a warning klaxon began to sound. Cruiser Erin shouted in his ear to be heard over the din. “Whatever he is doing is not small.”

  “Should he stop?” Hector waited for a count of five, then asked the question again. “Cruiser Erin, should he stop what he’s doing?”

  “I am adjusting my gravitonics to compensate for the new pattern. Tell him that any changes he makes must be done gradually. We almost outran the dimensional envelope when he first pulled his stunt.”

  Hector pointed at Piercing. “Be very gradual when you increase what you’re doing.”

  Piercing saluted with fist to chest. “You got it. Nice and easy.”

  The vessel shook once more. “This is straining my engines.”

  “Should he stop?”

  “At this point, stopping may be more dangerous than the current foolishness. You should raise your transit sphere in case a rapid escape is necessary.”

  Hector followed the advice, bringing his sphere into existence. He looked at Piercing and the man grinned like a maniac. “She stopped with the slinky maneuver. Watch this.”

  Before Hector could stop Piercing from whatever foolishness had entered his quest-addled mind, the interior of the vessel went temporarily to zero gravity. When normality reasserted itself, the Sage clapped his hands. “Ha! I knew that would work!”

  “We’ve emerged into normal space. The singularity collapsed behind us. Despite the success of that operation, I insist that it never happen again.”

  Hector felt tension drain from him. “So we made it? We’re safe?”

  “I will be able to depart this universe before War Barge Katherine arrives, but we’ve been spotted. There will be more Mercom vessels in this region very soon.”

  Hector turned to his retinue. “Everyone out of the transit sphere. We’re safe for now. Good job, Piercing. You’re not allowed to do that again, though.”

  The Sage winked at Hector. “Sure thing, War Barge. Never again.”

  “I mean it, Piercing.”

  “Right.” Another wink.