Enid was leaning on Eyre’s desk watching her daughter poke Amee in her chest repeatedly. Eyre had been shouting and swearing her direction for the last fifteen minutes. Enid was impressed. She glanced over at Maria who gave her a half smile.

“That woman is your daughter. Even her body language screams it.”

“It does, doesn’t it? Does my nose do that thing when I’m furious too?”

Maria nodded.

“Since you were a kid.”

Eyre’s focus turned to the sisters.

“Oh…don’t worry I have plenty in the tank for the pair of you.”

Enid held up her hands in surrender.

“Hey, I said no at first, but they just kept piling the bonuses on. The Empress of the Human Star Empire title was the thing that won them the deal though.”

Eyre screamed.

“This is not even close to the time for you to be joking mother.”

Enid crossed her arms and looked up at her much taller daughter who was glaring down at her.

“This was your idea wasn’t it?”

Enid quirked an eyebrow at her daughter.

“I assure you; It was not. I really did say no, but then they convinced me.”

“Do you know how dangerous this is? We just got you back!”

“So, I should just what? Live in your penthouse? Never leave?”

“You have a baby!”

“I mentioned that to them.”

Amee reached out to touch Eyre’s arm. Enid shook her head at her girlfriend. The pair had been an item for two months now. Enid looked at Maria and then to Amee.

“Let us talk this out alone please.”

Amee opened her mouth and Enid shook her head.

“This is for us to sort out.”

Maria nudged Amee out of the Aureilus CEO’s office leaving the mother and daughter alone. Eyre was shaking she was so angry.

“Mom, just because you’re having sex with her doesn’t mean you have to say yes to this madness.”

“Eyre, hon, sit down.”

Enid patted the desk beside her. Eyre closed her head and flung her head backwards and finally sat down beside her mother. Enid wrapped her smaller hand around daughter’s.

“Eyre. I said yes because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Why?”

“Because the three of you are victims of your own success. Space is going to run out, you can’t remove the grey without destroying two domes and displacing twenty-five million people. Twenty-five million people who will have no homes until the glaciers melt and the Earth is reseeded with life. And considering those domes were never meant for more than five million each, do the math, fifty years, even without destroying those domes, this one is as overpopulated as they are. A hundred years you’re choosing who you need to kill off. And by then you might have another fifty-million-person dome.”

“We cannot move twenty-five million people to a colony world.”

“Maybe not in a year but give it ten years. With a new world’s resources, modern fabrication tech, programmable matter, liquid metal? You could build a modern city for twenty million in a decade. I understand the need. What I do not understand is why you haven’t already started colonizing Alpha Centauri?”

“The stars in the system. They are volatile because of the interactions of magnetic fields. Planet gets blasted by extinction level events on a regular basis. Hell, we don’t even like having more than a hundred people on it at once. It has nothing to do with being paranoid about contamination. There are probably more pathogens in this dome then that entire planet because of the solar storms. It is why I kept saying no to BMC. Ships in that system are not a cost-effective risk.”

“Did you tell Daniel this?”

“No, I did not see the point. If we lose a ship, we’ll be lucky to break even on the deal. I mean there are some good cosmic radiation resistant plants, but we already got samples of ten thousand species. At some point its diminishing returns when at any moment our ship could be obliterated by an emp created by a star. He has some ideas to reduce the risk, high speed probes that can land and leave the surface. Ship stays close to the edge of the stellar system.”

Enid nodded. Eyre narrowed her eyes.

“You’re not getting off that easy, distracting me with fucking questions.”

“Well, you can’t blame me for trying.”

“Mother you’re infuriating.”

“Look, I do not want to leave Miko and Hazel. And I just got you, Mitena, and Violet back. But I know now the only place Hazel and Miko will ever be able to grow up is in this time. I need to worry about their future. And domes with humans stuffed in like sardines, that’s not a future.”

“Mom, I can’t let you do this. This was my fault.”

“Eyre?”

“Yes mom?”

“How many people are depending on me at this moment? Ignoring the demons for the moment.”

“Miko, Hazel.”

“How many people are depending on you? How many employees does Aurelius have?”

Eyre sighed at her mother and nodded.

“How many people are depending on Maria? Amee? What other vampire can understand any language in creation? Anyone else know how to fly a starfighter?”

“I get it, you are the only real choice and we’re completely fucked right now unless something changes.”

Enid nodded. Eyre looked at her mother again.

“Mom, why does it always have to be you?”

“God likes to fuck me over? I don’t know. I can only do what I do and let the universe attend to itself.”

“What did Hazel say?”

“Hazel? She’s pissed she’s not coming and is stuck in school.”

“Mom, that kid. She’s so witty and smart.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Enid shrugged.

“I’m just as surprised as you, she’s only had me, well and my last husband…”

“Mom, why don’t you have your sword?”

Enid laughed.

“Lucius?”

Eyre nodded.

“I’m letting Hazel keep him for now.”

“That’s it, you’re just letting a sixteen-year-old girl in almost every manner of the word carry a soul-destroying sword around?”

“She’s killed a fallen angel on her own with Lucius, I think she’s earned that responsibility.”

“She is so young.”

“She is strong. So strong. Stronger than I was at her age.”

“Mom you did that, you. That is why you need to be around for Miko.”

“I know. Don’t you think I know that? She already knows I spend a lot of time away. She’s just over a year she’s already using multiple syllable words. How much am I going to miss in another month? Fact is, this needs to be done now, like I should have already left for Pluto station.”

“Why Pluto Station?”

“We’re refitting Apollo’s missile hardpoints to hold wormhole beacon launchers.”

“Why do you need to be there?”

“Because it is only going to take a couple of days and Maria needs help with the world pillar shard. Hazel, Mitena and Miko are coming.”

Eyre laughed.

“What?”

“You know that means that Miko will the be the youngest human to reach the edge of our Solar system.”

Enid laughed.

“She’s going to be trouble.”

“Of course, she is, she’s your daughter. We are nothing but trouble.”

Enid pushed herself up and pulled Eyre down for a hug.

“I will be careful. And I’ll bring more Lofufa Juice back.”

Eyre laughed.

“If I could still be mortal…I would get seriously drunk.”

Enid cleared her throat.

“So anyway, gonna go get the kids packed.”

Enid turned to leave.

“Wait mom.”

Enid spun around with an innocent smile.

“Yes hon?”

“Did you get drunk when you were with the dinosaur people?”

Enid winced and held up her fingers indicating a tiny bit.

“Oh my god.”

“Hey, we were all drinking. Lrrl had a shot of 100 proof Jamaican rum, so…I wasn’t alone.”

“What story did you tell them exactly?”

“Look, I’d love to discuss this but seriously, gotta run, lot to pack, pick up some alcohol for trading, you know, lots of important things. Maybe some jewelry so we can get some samples of the red metal, some of the green metal and the shadow metal, you know, good stuff.”

Enid backed out of the office slowly.

“This is not over mother. Don’t think we didn’t notice the part of the recording where you were talking to Lrrl and it skipped past your story to the farewell ceremony. That did not go unnoticed!”

Eyre shouted the last part as the doors to her office closed. Enid let out a slow breath of relief. She was really not looking forward to that conversation and she had at least two or three years before anyone figured out the depth of her screw up. And she still had several demons to kill, it could be centuries, at least for her. Enid made it a point to escape Aurelius HQ before she ran into anyone else of note.

*****

Enid leaned on the railing above the observation window. Pluto. Three months ago she would have been in awe of the distance they had travelled, today not so much, it was Hazel and Mitena’s turn. Mitena was holding Miko who was desperately trying to grab at her mother’s hair. Enid turned and took her and smiled at her and spun her around elating a giggle.

“Mama red!”

“That is right listen to your English.”

Enid pulled Miko close, and the baby started grabbing at her nose.

“You are getting so big.”

“Miko big.”

Enid smiled at her.

“Yes, Miko is getting big.”

Mitena took the moment of freedom to lean on the observation railing beside Hazel the pair were chatting while Enid snuggled with Miko. Maria’s hardened boots echoed in the metal passageway. Miko reached out towards her.

“Auntie, Esl, spook.”

Enid glanced towards her sister. She could not perceive the ghosts, but she knew they were there. As Miko’s vocabulary expanded rapidly it became abundantly clear she could clearly see the ghosts and would often giggle at the unseen girl in a yellow dress, and the hidden shadow of former angel of death. The baby seemed quite happy to see her ghostly visitors, it was why she seemed to prefer Maria’s company to most others besides her mother and Hazel.

“Hey sis, what’s up?”

“I was wondering if you could come…discuss the relic you found?”

“Sure.”

“Hazel? Could you?”

Hazel bounded over and started to tickle Miko’s belly the baby giggled again. Miko went back to her favorite pastime playing with one of Hazel’s long braids. Enid hurried to catch up to Maria who was already walking towards her lab.

“So, is this really about the world pillar fragment?”

“Mostly.”

Maria swept her wrist over a panel and the thick door opened. Maria had the fragment levitating in an antigrav field. Maria approached the fragment and Enid followed. Enid was surprised with how unremarkable it looked floating there. Like any other random piece of stone. Whenever she was near it, she could feel it pulling towards her. It shifted in its containment and tried to escape the fields that held it in place.

“Why is it doing that?”

“Near as I can tell, you’re its quantum partner?”

“What the…f… what does that mean?”

Maria smiled at her sister’s attempt to clean up her language.

“It wants to be together with you.”

“It’s a bit small, definitely rough around the edges, doesn’t look like its much of a conversationalist and its older than dirt. I’m not sure it’s my type.”

Maria quirked an eyebrow at her sister.

“Very funny, sis, the shard and you are in sync, at the quantum level.”

“I care about this why? Maria, pretend that my doctorate is in medical science. And my degrees are in biochemistry and computer science. And not stupid facts about rocks.”

“Technically you’d need to study quantum physics, probably some dimensional physics…”

“Maria, I love you, get to the point. Less technobabble more, my less intelligent sister thinks flowers are pretty level.”

Maria shook her head and laughed softly.

“Fine, I can use this rock to find you no matter where you are in time and space. I can also use it to get you to limbo.”

“That is where you should have started this conversation you silly necromancer turned mad scientist.”

“Mad scientist?”

“You developed antimatter weapons and a gateway to other dimensions, what else do I call your skill set? I mean a Death Star isn’t far off.”

Maria pondered Enid’s words and then shrugged and nodded.

“You know, you are right. Anyway, I’ve actually sent a probe to limbo, and it worked. So once you get back from the exploration trip you can resume your demon hunting with full access to limbo so you can target your kills better.”

Enid grabbed Maria and bearhugged her.

“Thank you! I was getting seriously tired of falling on my ass every time and having no idea where I’d end up.”

“It also means we can have set check in times. You can use it as an out.”

“As much as I like that idea…what if I’m like in some king’s throne room and boom a portal appears?”

“Once you leave here again you have no way home.”

“I know, we’ll figure something out.”

Maria motioned to the door Enid followed her out and the pair eventually arrived in Maria’s quarters. Maria opened two bottles of synth-o and handed one to Enid. Enid crawled up on top of the padding Maria had placed into her bay window. Maria joined her. Enid took a sip of the blood and leaned her head against the glass and the shipyard was in view and only three of the six dry docks were in use. The workers looked like a swarm of bees as they worked on the superstructures. Maria pointed to the biggest.

“That one is going to be the Cerberus. First of her class. Cloaking rapid response battle carrier variable hull, like Apollo’s skin, enough weapons it doesn’t need an escort. They’re starting to pour the liquid metal tomorrow. She’s going to have the same FTL drive as Apollo.”

“Already? I thought those were incompatible with human life.”

“Once you get past one hundred times the speed of light living things do not do so well. There will be limiters in place. Official specs say ten times the speed of light max speed.”

“What is she for?”

“War.”

“Ever think of just building something for science and exploration?”

Maria sighed and took a drink of her synth-o.

“There will be a time for it one day. We can pray.”

“Do you do that anymore?”

“All the time. Even after I got my memories back… she stuck with me. So innocent, so pure. I could not kill her. It is why I still go by Maria.”

Enid nodded. Maria looked at Enid.

“Do you ever think about Jesus?”

“Sometimes.”

“We saw him enter this world and we watched him leave. I am worried about you sis.”

“I’m fine. I’m just tired that’s all.”

“No, I worry… I worry, if God asked his son to suffer so much before he died… what will he ask of his daughter?”

“He already asked, and I gave my sacrifice.”

“No, he is not done with you, he knew you were not going to die there.”

The sister’s eyes met, and they touched the scars on their palms together.

“You know whatever the sacrifice is, it will save a lot of lives.”

“I know Enid. But I do not want to lose you again.”

Enid intertwined her fingers with Maria’s.

“We will always find each other. We are bound by blood and love. If you are right and the real sacrifice of love is to come, then I know I will make it willingly. If I die, and it means you and my children will live, then you can rest easy knowing I am at peace with it.”

Maria squeezed her sister’s hand gently.

“There are so many times I have been lost without you. How did you survive two thousand years?”

“I tried to avenge you.”

Maria pulled Enid closed and hugged her tightly. The pair’s faces were red with blood tears.