Dr. Glass wasn’t happy with my broken elbow when she saw me the next day.

“What did I say about taking it slow?”

I shrugged.

“I didn’t have much of a choice. The giant bird monster kind forced my hand.”

We both looked out the window of the medical building, which was somehow still operational with a segment of its top floor ripped off. Across the window were a few smashed habitations and the corpse of the dreadhawk splayed across the desert just a stone’s throw beyond the perimeter fence.

MEAD soldiers were still working to harvest flesh and viscera from the carcass. About half of it hadn’t been blown to a crisp by ground-to-air missiles.

“I hope you know this means more surgery. Much quicker this time, but I’ll need to operate on it today.”

“I figured as much.”

“Otherwise, how are you feeling. Did the modifications work as intended yesterday?”

I flexed the fingers of my right hand and observed the augmented tendon cords in my forearm writhe under the skin.

“Oh yeah,” I said. “They worked.”

Dr. Glass smiled knowingly.

“I thought they would.”

She didn’t even knock me out for the second operation. A needle in my left shoulder made the entire limb go numb. She flopped it onto a table next to my bed like a dead snake and began setting out her tools.

Lannon looked over from his new bed. He’d been successfully stabilized yesterday until it was safe to return to the medical building.

He’d also confirmed what Revella had told me.

“Yes, it’s risky to create an interdimensional bridge without the proper stability protocols. But nobody knows how dangerous. Could be a one percent chance the bridge fails. Could be a fifty percent chance. Maybe I’m an optimist, but I think we have enough technical expertise to make a bridge almost as well as the Republic with the engineers at our disposal.”

One percent I could live with.

But fifty?

Well, I didn’t really have a choice, so maybe it didn’t matter what the numbers were anyways.

Dr. Glass activated a whirring drill that sounded like the dentist’s office, drawing my attention back to the moment.

She’d put up a small drape on her table, blocking my view of the operation on my elbow. I assumed it was to avoid grossing me out.

After a while with the drill, she discarded a few fragments of bone.

“Common problem with these modifications,” she said, surgical mask muffling her voice. “Sometimes the muscles become capable of exerting so much force that bones snap before your strength gives out.”

She grabbed a knob of polished metal.

“I’ll replace the joint with self-lubricating titanium. It should be able to catch a falling piano before snapping again.”

“Let’s hope no pianos end up falling on me.”

I couldn’t tell if Dr. Glass smiled or not behind her mask, but she continued to use lasers and drills behind the drape.

The days continued to pass on the widow’s nest. Sweaty and plethoric, the sun crawled across the alien sky with a midsummer laziness. I thought of Violet, not knowing where I was or what had happened. And Jack, probably fearing the worst, maybe desperately trying to warn the authorities about what I’d told him. And Michael, skulking away in some radish farm in southern Oregon, laying eggs and preparing to swallow up the world.

I willed the time to pass faster. Every day was agony.

Once I was healthy, I tried to keep busy by helping around the compound. MEAD soldiers taught me how to manage the greenhouses. Their corn grew golden ears the size of bread loaves. Their tomatoes hung heavy on the vine, bulging like pregnant bellies.

Genetically engineered, no doubt. With technology that was probably decades ahead of what I’d devoted my life to studying. I made sure to snag a few seeds to bring back home for analysis later.

My mother mostly stayed in the small living quarters she’d been assigned. My living space was a few doors down in the same building. Most nights, she would come visit me at the end of the day.

We’d eat our dinner rations while watching something on multidimensional television.

We didn’t speak much, but even spending an hour in the same room without ripping each other to shreds was a pretty big step for us.

My mother managed to quit smoking. Partially by choice.

Cigarettes didn’t exist in the multiverse, but the widow’s nest did have gum containing nicotine and nitrous crystals for those wanting a similar buzz. As far as I knew, she never partook.

She only brought up Jack once. After three weeks of being marooned on the nest.

“I’m sorry you’re stuck here without your husband. And Violet. I’m sure you miss them.”

“Yeah. I do.”

“I hope they’re okay.”

“I really hope so, too.”

A long silence. Voices from the television murmured in the background.

“I know you think it was wasteful of me to buy the Mercedes after Dad died. And I agree with you. It was.”

I frowned.

“Then why’d you buy it?”

“I…I don’t know.”

She looked back at the television.

“I was suddenly in charge of the family finances and didn’t know what to do with them. I don’t know. I thought it would make me feel better? The car salesman pressured me into it? I’ve never been good with money.”

“Why didn’t you sell it?”

“Well, I did once it started breaking down.”

“But why didn’t you sell it back earlier?”

“I was afraid to go back to the dealer.”

“I could’ve helped you.”

“You…” she trailed off. “Yeah. You probably could’ve.”

I nodded.

“Thank you for saying that.”

The days lumbered on.

I hated the wait, but it wasn’t until seventy-one days after we’d first arrived on the widow’s nest that the biometric clone was ready.

I’d witnessed robotically augmented humans get ripped to shreds, an interdimensional demon discard its human form, and a flying bird monster try to squeeze me down its gullet.

The biometric clone was far and away the freakiest thing I’d seen since learning about the multiverse.

It consisted of a robotic metal skeleton covered with fleshy growth matrix. Revella’s stem cells had been implanted into the matrix and spent the last two months growing until they’d covered the entire robot in Revella’s skin.

The robot had already been modified to mirror her height, build, and bony facial structure. Now it had her skin, her fingerprints, and her eyes.

They weren’t functional, but two brown-irised lenses had sprouted out of the orbital indentations of the skull. They seemed to follow me with a macabre stare like dolls’ eyes. It was extremely unsettling.

When the operator fired up the robot, the entire mechanism could walk, talk, and act like an unhelpful bitch with a superiority complex in almost exactly the same way Revella did. Like the person operating it had been studying her movements and mannerisms.

Also extremely unsettling.

But unfortunately, it was our best bet at getting past the security at the bridgemaker factory.

On the day of the mission, I woke to anxiety plucking at the inside of my stomach like a cat idly claws the threads of the carpet.

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

My eagerness to return home was tempered by fear of what I might find.

I dressed in the uniform Lannon had ordered for me. A nondescript brown shirt with cargo pants. Thick boots that rose to my mid-calf. An outfit designed to resemble the work attire of bridgemaker factory operators.

I took out the watch I’d been given by Dr. Glass and clasped it around my wrist. It contained a small screen mounted on a fibrous strap. I could still issue commands verbally, but the watch allowed another avenue to manage the AI controlling my biomodifications.

I slipped the handgun I’d been issued into the sown-in holster at my thigh. It was heavier than the weapon I’d stolen from Magrue. Lannon had explained that most of the weight was an improved cooling system, which would allow me to fire more shots before the gun overheated.

I hadn’t accumulated many other items during my stay on the widow’s nest. I was more than comfortable leaving behind the clothes and toiletries that had been issued to me. I abandoned a dusty paperback on the history of the connected multiverse, which I’d skimmed through during slow days. The only personal item I placed in my pockets was the bag of seeds from the greenhouse.

Of course, if this mission succeeded, there would be a permanent bridge to the multiverse on my home Earth. We would have access to all the agricultural, medical, and mechanical technology shared by every other reality.

But just in case, I still wanted the seeds. The scientist in me couldn’t risk losing such valuable information should something happen to that plan.

I put the seeds into a pocket of my cargo pants and stepped out of my quarters, leaving the door unlocked behind me.

It was dawn outside. The sunrise yawned over a sea of arid dunes. The pink sun sat perched at its sharpest angle, slicing axial shadows over the rippled golden sand.

The acrylic beauty of it almost made me regret leaving. Then I remembered that dreadhawks lived in this dimension.

Yeah, I’d had my fill of the widow’s nest.

I approached my mother’s quarters and knocked on the door. Despite the early hour, she opened it immediately.

She looked me over, noting the uniform. Bags of insomnia hung below her eyes, deepening the crows’ feet etched into her visage.

She’d aged noticeably during our time on the widow’s nest. She wasn’t built for an unforgiving place like this, and it had taken a toll. Her skin had begun to leather in the salt and sun. Despite Dr. Glass giving medicines for her arthritis, my mother didn’t look any steadier on her feet.

“It’s time to go?” she asked me.

I nodded.

“I came to say good-bye.”

She inhaled a whistling breath through her nostrils and managed a tight smile.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I don’t have a choice.”

She nodded. She understood what was at stake.

“I love you, Laura. I knew you’d do great things. And now you are.”

I smiled weakly in return.

“I guess so.”

“Can I give you a hug?”

“Okay.”

She stepped forward and squeezed me tight. I put an arm around her and pressed my palm into her upper back.

We stepped apart.

I mustered up a breath.

“If I don’t see you again…”

She raised a hand to cut me off.

“Don’t finish that sentence,” she said. “Come tell me yourself. When this is over.”

“Okay. I will.”

I took another step away.

“They’ll be wanting me at the truck soon. Goodbye.”

Her eyes glistened, but her cheeks remained dry.

“Goodbye, Laura.”

I met Lannon and the team at the gate to the compound. He was fully recovered from being Swiss cheesed by Revella’s armor-piercing round. He stood tall, clearly in charge of the assembled group.

There were four other men and two women, plus the biometric clone. If I hadn’t known otherwise, I would’ve thought it was Revella herself. Her resting expression had settled into a disapproving snarl, nearly identical to the one so often plastered on the real Revella’s face.

Aside from the clone, everyone wore attire similar to mine. Designed to draw no attention at the bridgemaker factory.

Lannon nodded approvingly as I approached.

“Alright everyone,” he said. “Let’s get this party started. The first strike against the Republic happens today!”

There were a few whoops and sounds of enthusiasm from the group. I smiled encouragingly at their excitement, but I didn’t join them.

We climbed into the back of a plain white van. I sat on a crate next to Lannon after he slammed the doors shut. The male soldier responsible for controlling Revella’s biometric clone climbed into the cab with her. He started the engine and we jerked into motion, rumbling over the uneven sand.

I looked around the interior of the van. Faces were dimly lit by light strips on the floor. All of them were grim. Resolute.

These six people, plus the driver, had volunteered to work on the front line. With my help, most of them were going to be the first boots on the ground in the fight against Michael – two would have to peel off and summon the reinforcements after we’d stolen the machine.

Once our bridge was established, another three hundred MEAD soldiers would quickly follow to provide backup and assist in welcoming leaders of my Earth to the multiverse.

But before any of that could happen, we needed to steal a bridgemaker, and that mission required stealth and a small team.

Seven people and a robotic clone, upon whom the entire fate of my reality rested.

I really hoped these guys were as good as Lannon had promised.

“Will you tell me how we’re getting to the factory now?” I asked him.

Lannon nodded.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before, but this is MEAD’s most closely guarded secret. I couldn’t share it until I knew for sure you’d committed to going through with this mission.”

I swept my hands open, gesturing at my body.

“I’m here.”

“And I appreciate it immensely.”

Lannon crossed one leg over the other, trying to get comfortable sitting on a box that jostled unpredictably with the terrain.

“We were able to access the widow’s nest through a bridge that was created in the early days. Before interdimensional transport become monopolized by the Republic. That bridge was never made official. Its existence was only kept alive through rumors spread by a few individuals.”

He looked at me to make sure I understood and then continued.

“There are other bridges like the one you used to access the widow’s nest. Ones that were made before permits were required. Ones that the Republic still doesn’t know about. Since security at all official bridges is way too strict, the only way we could move a group like this across realities is through another one of these ‘forgotten bridges.’”

“What kind of Earth does this one go to?”

“Earth twelve zeta. They’re already part of the connected multiverse, but nobody knows about this old bridge. It opens up on the continent you call Asia back on your Earth. Inside an old barn in the countryside. Once we land, we’ll need to drive about a hundred miles to get to the nearest bridgemaker factory.”

The crate underneath me smashed into my ass with tailbone-shattering intent as we continued spinning our wheels through the desert sand. I was beginning to feel queasy. I felt like a pebble inside a maraca, rattling around in this dark van without any windows

“A hundred miles? In this thing?”

Lannon patted my leg like a parent consoling a child.

“Don’t worry. I brought snacks.”

Miraculously, we arrived at the cave in good time. The van lurched to a stop, and we all stumbled out.

Lannon stuffed a patch in my hand to help with the nausea. I eagerly stuck it to my shoulder and felt my writhing stomach grow calm.

We didn’t enter the cave I’d arrived through. Instead, we guided the van over a coarse outcrop of stone to a tall-ceilinged chamber that jutted out from a rock wall. Another disinfectant chamber. Another portal.

The doors slid open as we approached, wide enough to fit the van through. We all entered as the vehicle idled its way inside.

Mist rained down on us again, and we all poured ourselves glasses of disinfectant solution.

“Those chimmies wouldn’t be able to handle the germs we put up with here,” one of the men said.

“Better to keep the biospheres of the different Earths separate as best we can,” Lannon explained to me. “People might not have immunities to germs on the widow’s nest or your home Earth.”

“It keeps your immune system tough, living on the nest,” one of the women leaned in to say to me. She smelled like sour cheese. “I haven’t gotten sick since I arrived.”

I nodded and gulped down my own antimicrobial cocktail.

A large circular portal was cut into the wall across from us. The circle burned as dark the back of my eyelids and spread wide enough to squeeze our entire van through.

Lannon typed into a control panel to activate the portal. Stars swirled into a formation as the portal unlocked the bridge security mechanisms and opened the tunnel across the multiverse.

We stepped into the circle, and I crossed dimensions for a second time.

It still wasn’t very pleasant, but the nausea patch helped.

We spilled out of a different portal onto the dusty soil of an old barn, just as Lannon had said. A sleeping rabbit dashed for cover at the sound of our arrival. Evening sunlight filtered through gaps in the wood paneling – this end of the portal was in a different time zone than its counterpart on the widow’s nest.

I dusted myself off as two soldiers pushed the barn doors open, allowing us to wheel the van outside.

Our surroundings were desolate.

The barn was half rotted and covered in chipped paint. It stood next to a house that had fully decompensated. Weeds and vines littered the property, and saplings from a nearby forest sprouted closer and closer to the structures, slowly swathing them in nature’s embrace.

I understood how a place like this went undetected by the Republic. I couldn’t see anyone else for miles in any direction. We were truly in the middle of nowhere.

“Hurry up,” Lannon said, waving us back into the van. He had a hunger in his expression. The look a man gets when the steak he ordered is being carried to his table. He was close enough to taste his plans coming to fruition.

We all filed in to sit with him. He slammed the doors shut behind us.

The drive wasn’t so bad. Once we found a real road, our turbulence subsided, and the wheels glided over clean asphalt.

I sat next to Lannon again.

“When this is all over, are you going to kill Revella?”

He shrugged, turning his gun over in his hands.

“I think she deserves as much for what she did to my brother, but unfortunately, she is a valuable political prisoner.”

“So there’s a chance she won’t die?”

“Well, it’s problematic that she knows about the widow’s nest and how to find us,” he mused. “But once we have a bridgemaker, we’ll be able to create a secret hideout on any Earth in the multiverse. So, it’s certainly not a dealbreaker.”

“That’s not really a yes or a no.”

“Which answer are you hoping for?”

I frowned.

“A no, obviously. I don’t like Revella, but I don’t want her to die.”

Lannon raised his eyebrows in a suit-yourself expression.

“Still a bit of an idealist, I see.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can’t expect a fairytale ending when you’re fighting something as powerful as the Republic. You’re going to have to make some sacrifices to win a war against an opponent so much bigger than you.”

“I’m not fighting your war, remember? I just want to get back to my Earth and stop this demon.”

Lannon shrugged.

“Say what you want, but you are in a van full of MEAD soldiers about to steal a bridgemaker from a Republic factory. It sounds to me like you’ve picked a side.”

I didn’t feel like arguing with him.

After two hours, night had fallen, and we’d arrived outside the factory.

The man who’d been driving the van put Revella’s biometric clone in the driver’s seat and joined the rest of us in the back. We climbed into position, cramming into the deepest end of the van and putting up a tall black panel – a false back.

The breath of MEAD soldiers steamed on the skin of my neck. Perspiration prickled down my spine as heat pooled within our close quarters. The van was our magician’s hat, and we were a bunch of sweaty rabbits hiding behind the false bottom. Not very comfortable, but hopefully, we wouldn’t have to hold the pose for long.

The man controlling the biometric clone sat down with a laptop. Peering over his shoulder at the camera feeds, we were able to follow the action.

Revella’s clone pressed the gas and drove the van up to a security window.

A machine greeted her.

She reached out a palm and pressed it against a scanner. She turned her face and let a separate camera shine sensory beams into her eye.

A man wearing a security guard’s outfit emerged and spoke to her.

“Mind if I look in the back?”

“Go ahead,” she responded, lips moving in perfect harmony with the synthetic voice.

Behind our barrier, we heard the door swing open and the clunking of footsteps as the man we’d seen on the video feed climbed into the van. The vehicle bounced slightly under his heavy footsteps as he paced all the way up to the false back. A half-inch of cheap plastic was all that stood between us.

I heard him nudge a few boxes with his shoe, let out a grunt of satisfaction, and climb out.

We all exhaled.

“Have a good night,” he said to Revella’s clone, waving her through.

The clone steered the van around to the back of the factory and parked us next to a garage door.

“Alright team,” Lannon said, keeping his voice low. “Let’s move.”