Most of the demons in Pendervale had followed the soldiers through the teleportation pad, doubly propelled by the intrinsic drives to stay close to my mother and to put as much distance between themselves and the centipede as possible.

When I followed my mother to the parking lot of our building, we found at least thirty radish demons standing in a cluster near the doors, waiting with Michael for my mother to appear.

They stood a little taller when she stepped through the sliding doors.

“Go with these two,” she ordered, pointing at Lannon and Vargo. “I’ll be nearby.”

The horde of reptilian monsters bumbled after the two leaders, walking straight through the gathered MEAD soldiers. Men and women parted like the Red Sea as the demons walked through their ranks.

Across the lot and spilling into the neighboring properties were at least two hundred Republic soldiers. They kept their distance from MEAD.

We were all operating under a very tense alliance, and it appeared that my mother was currently the lynchpin of it all.

When we were out of earshot from the crowd, I pulled her aside.

“Mom, that was incredible.”

Her lip trembled in a half-smile.

“You really think so?”

“Yeah.”

She stepped forward and hugged me. I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed in return.

“You don’t know how much that means to me.”

Fluid glistened across her corneas. I felt a stab of guilt but was distracted by the arrival of Jack and Violet. My husband was pushed in a wheelchair by a Republic soldier. Our daughter sat in his lap, clearly enjoying the free ride.

“Is your leg okay?” my mother asked him.

“They say it’ll be good as new when I see a surgeon from the multiverse.”

“Good.”

She looked him up and down.

“You’ll take care of my Laura, right? And Violet?”

This was the most my mother had spoken to Jack of her own volition in years. A look of confusion crossed his face, but he answered earnestly, “of course I will.”

She nodded and turned to me.

“I’ll leave you with your family. I’ve got to get ready to move.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll need to travel with Michael and his friends. I’m the only one who can give them commands.”

I considered what she said. Unfortunately, I agreed with her. She was the key to controlling the demons, and we might need her to continue exerting her influence over them as the repulsive magnetism of the centipede grew stronger.

I discarded the option of having her radio in from our current location. We’d found a way to control radish demons. Now was not the time to experiment with it. Not with so much on the line.

“Okay,” I agreed. “But I’m coming with you.”

Her brow angled downward.

“I can’t ask you to do that. It’s dangerous.”

The fate of the entire world rested on this plan working. There was no way I was letting my mother, with no augmentations, shields, or knowledge of the multiverse, enter that conflict without backup.

“I’m not letting you do this alone, and I have a body shield. I’ll be okay.”

“Violet. She needs you to stay alive.”

“Helping prevent the end of the world is the best thing I can do for her.”

I expected resistance, but she folded.

“Okay.”

Maybe she really was scared.

We walked away from Jack before my husband could talk me out of it, because truthfully, I was scared too. Maybe it wasn’t as strong as the radish demons’, but I felt a primordial voice in my head screaming at me to empty my bowels and run at the mere thought of the hungry centipede.

I comforted myself with the fact that, after a few days of stealing atmosphere, it was just as likely to kill me in northern California as it was in the remains of Pendervale.

My mother and I rejoined Lannon and Vargo. The two stood like they were in a lover’s spat - close enough to talk but just far enough that it was clear they weren’t on good terms.

They were assigning equipment to radish demons as their soldiers fetched it from the ranks. The demons had encapsulated themselves with their human shells since the straps on the flight packs weren’t long enough to wrap around their natural frames.

Michael’s progeny had chosen an array of human bodies to disguise themselves. Men and women. Ethnically diverse. An array of ages ranging from early twenties to midlife crisis.

Unfortunately, they all had Michael’s sense of style.

Converse and jeans with the cuffs rolled up. Bright sweaters and t-shirts with sharp patch pockets sewn on. A few pairs of sunglasses. Nothing quite matched. Taken together, they looked like they were either on their way to the skate park or to Thanksgiving dinner and trying to look too cool for either occasion.

The eclectically-dressed bunch accepted the equipment from Lannon and Vargo. Spearlight rifles were slung over shoulders. Flight packs were strapped over torsos. We didn’t have the time or surgical technology to give the demons body shields, but the captains did produce deflector field generators. They were strapped on forearms to be wielded like kite shields. Umbrella shield generators were clipped onto helmets, designed to drop a protective veil over the wearer.

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Lannon noticed me approaching.

“Take a good look,” he said. “These are the most dangerous radish demons in the multiverse right now.”

“Which is why we’re so screwed if these fuckers get loose with our tech,” Vargo muttered.

“I can control them,” my mother assured him.

“God, I hope so.”

He looked at me.

“And you. Dr. Parsons. How did you figure it out. How did you realize that the demons were so…controllable?”

“Is it that surprising?” Lannon interjected. “These things literally cross universes just to follow the stink of radishes.”

I shrugged in agreement.

“Don’t act like you could’ve figured that out,” Vargo snapped at him.

“Not at all. The credit’s all Laura’s.”

Lannon grinned as he strapped a shockwave generator around the wrist of a waiting demon.

Vargo scowled at him.

“So,” Lannon changed the subject. “Assuming this works, and we’re still alive in a few days, any thoughts about us parting ways peacefully?”

“If this plan somehow works, and we’re still alive, you’ll face judgement before the imperial court for treason.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.”

I gave him a warning look.

“Hey Lannon, why don’t we focus on not being suffocated by this centipede for now?”

He winked at me.

“Trust me, it’s better to talk these things out before they become a problem.”

To Vargo, he said, “tell you what, you agree to a ceasefire with MEAD, and we’ll start negotiations to return Revella Keyes back to you.”

That made Vargo start.

“Keyes? The chief of the ranger corps?”

“The same. She’s in our custody as we speak.”

“You gollonwalkers,” he spat. “You think taking prisoners gives you credibility? That just makes you terrorists.”

“It sounds like it gives us credibility,” Lannon replied, obviously thrilled to get a rise out of the captain.

These two were betta fish trapped in a tank together.

“Please,” I urged. “Can we keep it civil until after the centipede is dealt with?”

Vargo looked at me.

“Only if this guy can keep his wheat hole shut.”

I gave Lannon a look.

“Fine.”

He clipped a deflector field generator around the forearm of another demon.

“Clifton told me she’s organizing a few jets from the nearest airbase for us. They should be ready in an hour. It’ll be another hour to get in the air and within range.”

“Mrs. Parsons,” he looked at my mother. “We’ll need you with us. To continue controlling the demons.”

“I know.”

“What about the radiation from the nuke?” I asked.

“You can thank the centipede,” Lannon replied. “It’s pulling in air at such a rate that it’s already sucked up most of the nuclear fallout. I anticipate our exposure to radiation will be minimal. Especially if we stay in the jet and circle at a distance.”

I looked to my mother. She offered a brave smile.

“We’ll both go,” I said.

Lannon and Vargo continued arming the demons. Someone gave them all headsets to wear, tuned to a private communication channel. My mother was given one as well. She fitted it over her ear and taped the tiny microphone to her cheek. Along with access to the main channel, she now had a direct communication line to Michael and company.

The radish demons didn’t seem to resent my mother for controlling them. There were a few grumbles about, “Sally being unreasonable,” from the group, but mostly, their faces were glassy. The lights behind their eyes were on, but it was an unconscious driver at the wheel.

Soon, a parade of black SUVs arrived. Lannon and three MEAD soldiers climbed into one. Vargo and some of his compatriots climbed into another. Radish demons, armed to the teeth, clambered into most of the others.

I hurried over to Jack and Violet before it was time to leave.

“Hey.”

He looked up at me, Violet still in his lap.

“Hey.”

“I’m really sorry. For abandoning you.”

He smiled back weakly.

“And I know I’m doing it again now,” I continued. “But this is the last time. I promise.”

He sagged into the wheelchair.

“Promise me you won’t disappear again.”

“I won’t.”

“Please don’t.”

“I love you,” I said.

“I love you, too.”

The words sounded reflexive rather than intentional. That hurt a bit.

I kissed him briefly and hugged Violet.

My mother and I joined agents Clifton and Whitehall in the lead SUV. We rumbled down the highway to the airbase like a slithering funeral procession. The gate at the airbase was a giant hinged mandible which yawned wide to swallow us in.

The radish demons climbed into a pair of small jets at my mother’s orders. The humans of our posse squeezed into a third aircraft. I buckled myself into a seat next to my mother. There was a small porthole window for us to view the outside world, and if I leaned into the aisle, I could see through the cockpit windshield.

We taxied out to a runway with two more fighter jets.

“They’ll be support for us,” Clifton said.

“Psh,” Lannon swatted her comment away. “More like decoys to feed to the centipede.”

Clifton didn’t acknowledge his response.

“Everyone, buckle up. We are cleared for takeoff,” our pilot spoke over the intercom.

He was probably close to my age, wearing a green jumpsuit. I wondered how much he know about the situation he was flying into. I was sure every news channel and social media site was brimming over with panicked reports about the monster at Pendervale and the nuclear bomb that had been dropped on the city.

One by one, our jets catapulted themselves across the runway and swooped upward. The flat scrubland of the airbase below us waxed into wide swathes of earthy hues.

“Hey. Parsons,” a voice clipped in my ear.

I snapped to attention. As did my mother. Belatedly, I realized it was probably for her.

“We’ve got a problem in our plane. The demons are getting agitated. One of them is threatening to destroy the cabin.”

“I’ll talk to them,” my mother said.

She flipped a dial on her earpiece to access the demon’s wavelengths.

“Hey,” she snapped. Assertive.

“It’s Sally. I want you to ride this plane to Pendervale without complaining? Understood? You know what I’ll do to myself if you don’t listen.”

Over the main line: “Whatever you said worked. Appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.”

Jets churned as we sliced through clouds and rumbled through turbulence. Foreboding gnawed at the inside of my stomach like I’d swallowed a rat. Thirty-three radish demons with some shiny gadgets were what we’d banked the survival of this planet on. I wished we had more time to think. To come up with some other alternative or a different way to counteract the centipede’s invincibility.

But there simply wasn’t time.

I burned with frustration thinking about all the time I’d wasted on the widow’s nest. Two whole months I could’ve used to read about the multiverse, to teach myself about bridgemaker machines, to wrap my head around the consequences of using one improperly.

And I’d spent it putzing around in the greenhouses and watching multidimensional sitcoms with my mother.

Stupid.

At least we’d sort of patched things up on the widow’s nest. Not fixed, because that implied that my belly still didn’t burn with disgust when I thought about the mother of my childhood. But at least patched. She could accept me for who I was. I could appreciate that she’d had her own demons to deal with after Dad’s death. And something about facing the destruction of your home planet really made past grudges feel less consequential.

“How are you feeling?” I asked her.

She shrugged.

“Nervous.”

“Me, too.”

She nodded, scalp bobbing against the headrest.

“Laura?”

“Yeah?”

“When this is over, you should take some time off work. Be with your family.”

I almost chuckled.

“Mom. My workplace is a pile of nuclear ash now.”

She waved me off.

“Not just the lab. After this, things are going to be very busy. You’ll have a lot of people expecting a lot of things from you.”

I looked at her quizzically.

“So?”

“So, don’t prioritize all that above time with Jack and Violet. You’ve been gone for two months. Don’t let anything else put a strain on your family, because at the end of the day, when you’re my age, that’s all that really matters.”

“Sure. I’ll do that.”

She touched my hand.

“Thank you.”

“Maybe we can try to visit you sometime.”

She smiled.

“I hope you can.”

We received another message about the demons growing agitated as we winged our way up Oregon. My mother snapped another round of threats into the microphone, settling them down.

They really were like iron filings caught between the magnetic fields of the centipede and my mother. As we pressed closer to the centipede, she was required to apply more and more magnetism to keep her soldiers stable.

The pilot’s voice rang out.

“Beginning our descent. We’ll maintain a holding pattern around the centipede as the demons deploy.”

My mother grabbed my hand. Her grip clamshelled around my palm, dripping with sweat.

The plane jolted under a downdraft and began rumbling over potholes in the sky.

“Brace yourselves for turbulence,” our pilot warned. “We’re approaching the vortex.”