Authors: Lisa Lace
Elara.
"What are you doing here? I'm pretty sure they're waiting for you on the bridge," I said. "Where were you?"
"I was throwing up."
"Sweetie. It's going to be okay."
"How can you know that?"
"My future mother-in-law says so." I grinned, remembering how Dar's mother had told me that she was going to have grandchildren before she died. I couldn't give her grandchildren in the future if I was flattened in a wormhole today.
"Are you serious?"
"The Susohnnan are always serious," I said.
She pulled herself up.
"That makes me feel an infinitesimal amount better," she said.
She placed her hands together in front of her chest in a prayer position and closed her eyes. I noticed that her hands weren't red and cracked anymore. I hoped the labrador tea had worked.
I felt out of place. "What are you doing now?" I whispered.
"Calming myself."
"Elara," I said. "That's going to have to do. There's no time. They're already trying to keep the aliens from beaming us all on to their slave ships."
"Right. Right," she said, nodding her head vigorously.
"Are your hands better?" I said, trying to take her mind off her nerves.
She smiled broadly.
"They're the best they've been in years. I don't itch anymore and the skin is beautiful." She held them up to show me.
"That's great," I said. The distraction about her hands had worked, taking her mind off of the destabilization. I grabbed at the chance to send her on to the bridge. "Now go. They need you. You're the only one who can do this. You're brilliant."
She smiled again and it was a little stronger this time.
"You're brilliant too, Kenna. Thank you so much." She walked backwards down the hall and held up her hands palms towards herself. "This is a gift. You should share it with everyone."
She turned and ran down the hall towards the bridge.
And I stood there, transfixed.
My green thumb and healing people with plants was a gift? I supposed it was. My Gran had given it to me. And the look on Elara's face as she had explained about her recovery had been pure gold. I would feel useful if I helped people the way I helped Elara.
But how?
I turned and kept walking towards the cafeteria to get some food. My mind was going a million miles an hour.
I could stay put somewhere for more than a few weeks and actually grow things. Then I could prepare them the way my grandmother had taught me. With those medicines, I could help people who needed it. And even though I couldn't take a garden with me, I could take prepared herbs and salves and other things to make people well.
It's all up here, I thought, tapping my head. Everything I need to finally be useful.
As long as I survive the next hour.
DAR
I watched as Elara and Jakk talked quietly. It was almost time. Her face was calm but she was as pale as a ghost. Kenna had told me that she was worried about being the person in charge of something so important.
I wouldn't want to be in her position either.
I had to admit that I was glad that having no memories made me have less responsibility. As soon as it went through my mind, I realized it was a lazy thought.
We had retreated as far back as we could go while still being within the range for the equipment that would destabilize the wormhole. The idea was begin the process and then get out of the way before we got pulled in.
Eventually we would need to dart back in closer than our current position. To reverse things the equipment needed to be at close range.
The trick was to destabilize the wormhole after the aliens were all destroyed but before everything in our galaxy was sucked into an out of control black hole, ending life as we knew it. It was going to be some trick.
I didn't envy Elara and Jakk. She was timing the destabilization and he was maneuvering the ship so that it would be at the right place at the right time. They each had their crew at the ready.
There were thousands of alien ships that were positioned all over this sector. As I watched the wormhole, another one came through. It was insane. This had to work or we were all going to be made into slaves.
I listened as Jakk contacted Earth and Susohn, confirming that the mission was a go.
I held my breath as Elara raised her hand and gave the signal to begin destabilization.
"Begin destabilization procedure," she said, her voice low but firm.
The scientists tapped at their consoles and kept their eyes glued to their screens. The rest of us watched the main view screen for signs of any change.
There was nothing.
I wondered if in spite of all their calculations, they had made a mistake.
Suddenly there was a fluctuation in the wormhole's structure. I watched again, but maybe I had just imagined it. No. There it was again. It began to change from an orderly spiral shape into something more chaotic.
I felt a tight coil of fear in my guts as I watched it. This was out of control. It was something that could destroy us all.
I glanced at Elara. Her eyes were wide in her pale face. Jakk was watching her, his jaw rigid, his hands positioned over his console.
"Now! Retreat," she said, and Jakk sprang into action. I stumbled as the space craft took off so quickly that we felt the acceleration.
He must be slipping. He had been the slickest of pilots from the time he was an adolescent. He would never have made a movement like that if all our lives weren't at stake.
I froze at the thought. I knew something about Jakk. He was an amazing pilot.
I smiled a little. Life as we knew it was hanging in the balance and I was happy about some useless little memory I could recall. If we ever got out of this, it might mean that my memory was coming back.
At the thought, I realized that we might not get out of this alive and there was something I had to do before I died. Quietly, I tapped on my comm unit.
"Kenna," I said softly. "I need you."
KENNA
I had been watching from the lounge when I had heard Dar's voice coming from my comm unit. I took off running. There was nowhere I would rather be. Especially since this might be the end of everything. It was too bad that he hadn't remembered me completely, but I still wanted to be with a part of who he was.
I snuck on to the bridge covertly, trying not to disturb anyone. Thank goodness Dar was at the back, out of the way of everyone who was working. I didn't ask what was happening. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to disturb their concentration. Instead, I took his hand and tried to soak up some comfort from his touch.
"Mo," Jakk said, quietly. "Status on their attempts to transport."
"They're attempting, sir. We've kept them off so far, but I'm not sure how much longer we can evade them. They change tactics and they're so damned fast."
"Keep it up as long as you can, Mo," Jakk said. "Let me know if they get through."
"You'll know when I vanish."
We all watched in silence as the ships closest to the miniature black hole got pulled in. It was both horrible and wonderful to watch. The mighty ships crumpled, blew up, and disappeared.
"Earth," came Jakk's voice. "Status report."
We all strained to hear. The connection was terrible. Maybe the wormhole was affecting our communications.
"There are reports coming in from all continents," the voice said. "Earthquakes, floods. A volcano has sprouted in the middle of North America. There are no death counts coming in yet, but I imagine there will be soon."
The person on the other end of the line's voice was full of anxiety and I didn't blame him. We were playing with fire.
The tension was thick. I could see the fear in Elara's eyes now. She glanced at Jakk and then back to the view screen. Jakk met her eyes and began watching her instead of the view screen. He had complete faith in her, never questioning her decisions or second guessing her choices.
They made a good team.
"Susohn, come in," Jakk said next. "We need a status report."
"There has been considerable seismic activity on the planet. Three volcanoes have erupted and there looks like there's a fourth pushing up. No deaths."
"Thank you," he said. At least Dar's planet wasn't being torn to bits yet. Earth was closer to the black hole.
Just then Mo's voice came on. He was practically screaming.
"We have been breached. They got a lock and fifty people are gone!" he yelled.
"Fifty. Shit. We can't lose any more. Can you keep us protected a little longer, Mo?" Jakk said calmly, his eyes on the screen as the flow of destroyed ships accelerated.
"I'll try my best, captain. I have one more trick up my sleeve," he said.
"Jakk," Elara said so softly that I could barely hear her. "We're going to be reaching the point of no return soon."
"Okay," he said, nodding. "Where do you need me?"
She blushed but I don't think anyone else noticed.
"I need you to get as close as you can to the wormhole without compromising the integrity of the hull. You'll have to monitor it closely. It won't be easy," she said apologetically.
"Easy is boring," he grinned. "You should learn one thing about me right now, Elara."
"What's that?" she said.
"I like a challenge," he said, tapping on his console.
DAR
Kenna squeezed my hand until it hurt. We all stood still as Jakk piloted the space craft closer and closer to the wormhole.
He had to get close enough to deploy the equipment that would reverse the destabilization â but without getting sucked into the wormhole itself or having our ship crumble in its gravitational pull. It was easier to unleash chaos than it was to stabilize it again.
Most of the alien ships had been destroyed, but the ones that remained were still trying to get a lock on us. The droids never gave up and they didn't care how long it took to get us. They weren't worried about dying the way a biological crew would have been.
"Jakk, what if we sent an electromagnetic pulse to crash their systems and buy us some time," I suggested, the thought coming to me out of the blue. He didn't look up from what he was doing.
"Elara," he said.
"I'm already on it," she said, pulling up a console and tapping furiously. "I don't know why Mo didn't think of it before this."
"How did you think of it, I wonder," Kenna murmured beside me. I had no idea.
There was nothing to see but suddenly we heard Mo's relieved voice.
"Thank The Three, they've let up."
"We only have a few minutes, Mo. Hopefully it will be enough to restabilize the wormhole." Elara's voice trailed off.
"Elara," Jakk's voice was tight. "Thirty seconds."
She nodded and sat down at her console. "Got it," she said. "Twenty seconds till initiation of restabilization procedures."
As we got closer to the wormhole, which was slowly turning into a black hole, we began to feel the effects of its enormous gravitational pull.
"Reverse engines," Jakk said. "Maximum power."
As soon as he gave the order, the ship began to rock and shake. Our footing was unstable. Kenna and I grabbed for the nearest console and held on tight. She looked at me, eyes wide, not saying anything.
"I love you," I said.
"I love you, too."
Now I could die with no regrets. I just wished I could remember her.
We were jarred as the ship bucked and fought the pull of the black hole.
"Elara." Jakk said, his eyes never leaving his console. "How much longer?"
"Beginning restabilization procedures," Elara said, her eyes scanning her console and her fingers tapping. "Keep us there, Jakk."
There was a horrible groaning sound and Jakk looked frantically at his console, trying to figure out where the hull was beginning to disintegrate. His fingers flew and the groaning noise stopped. I was glad because one thing I never wanted to hear was the sound of a spaceship's hull being breached.
"Earth reporting in. There are massive earth quakes being felt around the globe. Supervolcanoes are protruding from every single continent. The electric grids are down in all major cities due to seismic activity and there is widespread panic. What the hell are you doing out there?" a voice demanded.
Jakk grunted, keeping his focus on what he was doing. No one else responded, so I answered.
"Restabilization procedures have been initiated for the wormhole. Earth, you should see a decrease in seismic events soon." Kenna was watching me with a smile on her face. "Susohn, have you got a status report?"
It took a moment but someone finally replied.
"Susohn, here. We have major emergencies all over the planet right now. There has been so much seismic activity that it's affecting the winds."
The winds were everything on Susohn. All of our cities were built to be sheltered from the winds. If they began to blow the wrong way, it would be a disaster.
"They have switched direction causing widespread destruction across the entire planet. Super volcanoes have already destroyed settlements that were built nearby. It's crazy down here."
"Copy that, Susohn," I said. "Restabilization has begun and you should feel the effects soon."
"Thank The Three," the voice said.
All of a sudden, Jakk spoke up.
"Elara, I can't hold it here much longer. We have sixty seconds until the hull completely disintegrates."
"Captain." it was Mo again. "The aliens are back online and they got a lock â twenty more people are gone."
"Shit, hold them off, Mo. Not much longer," Jakk said, through his teeth. He kept his eyes on his monitor.
"Elara," he said, the strain in his voice apparent.
She didn't respond and only kept working on what she was doing. The groaning started again. We thought the ship was dangerous before, but it became really unstable now, pitching and tilting so that people started flying in all directions.
I saw Jakk and Elara strap in without taking their eyes off their consoles. Anyone else who had a belt was already strapped. The rest of us headed for emergency seat belts that had popped out of the wall. Getting there was easier said than done. The floor was now at such an angle that we had to climb up.