Domrik embraced Eleanor in front of the majestic church entrance.

“I’m glad you’re handling everything so well,” Domrik said as they separated.

She gave him a thoughtful smile. “Handling wouldn’t be the correct term. More like hanging on for dear life in a hurricane.”

“Careful,” Domrik said, looking out over the thin blue strip of ocean bordering the horizon. “Wouldn’t want to attract that for real.”

She followed his gaze. “The Nephrinist in me says we’ve already created one, we just don’t know it yet.”

“And if we don’t do anything about it, it will only get stronger,” Domrik said with a serious look.

The doors swung open automatically for Eleanor as she entered. “And how many people do you plan to tell about your righteous deed?”

“Only those who need to know,” he said, trailing her between the pews. The setting sun shone brightly through the church’s stained glass mural of Nephrinia. The stylized figure stood in white flowing robes, her dainty arms gesturing to the surrounding Blue Aetherite. She wore a crown with two white horns pointed back. Her regal face was crafted with exquisite beauty, with two blue, loving eyes gazing upon the viewers, inviting them to join in the magic.

Eleanor sat at the edge of the front left pew, and Domrik sat across from her on the right. Both gazed at the mural in silence for almost a minute, before Eleanor broke their contemplation. “They say her brilliance was so great, sinners could not bear to come near her. They would run away in a panic.”

“Do you think I would be one of them?” Domrik asked, still gazing at the glass. “They also say she forgave all, regardless if they could receive her light.”

“She did, but nothing she could do could stop the sinners from facing the consequences of their actions.”

“All actions have consequences.”

She gave him a stern look. “What will yours be, then, hm? It won’t be just you. Everyone you know will be affected.”

“If I reveal the truth.”

“When, the truth is revealed. You might not have a say in the matter. Did you consider how your friendships would be affected? You want to share your knowledge with the world, and that is a valiant goal, but how are people supposed to trust you once they find out what you’ve done? What kind of position have you put them in?”

His face got hot. Her words hit him hard, especially because he had already seen the evidence in Evan, and a bit in Kelly. He hoped Jase was still alive, but that friendship might stand on shaky ground from now on. He was also jarred by her undertone of judgement. She had always been so forgiving. Her earlier admission was true. She was struggling to handle it gracefully.

He swallowed before he answered. “I don’t know why, Eleanor, but it had to be done. I won’t explain myself, because I can’t. You have felt the Bow’s power before, yes? I’d say it’s more important than me or any of my friends. Yes, there will be consequences, and I accept whatever they bring.” He lowered his head. “At least, I will try to accept.”

Eleanor tilted her head. “How much has your dishonesty costed your polarity?”

He frowned, recapturing the previous few weeks in his mind. “A bit.”

“What does that say about your alignment with righteousness?”

“It indicates only my alignment with my true self.”

“And what else determines your actions?”

He looked away, stumped. How could he explain himself to her? His energetic fluctuations had been due to anxiety that the heist might not work, but the idea of the heist brought with it a sense of calm. He recalled those moments of paradox where he began to doubt the intuitive impulses from the Aetheric field. How could such an act be in the direction of least resistance? His mind had tried to find any justification to remain within the law, yet all the rationalization was based in fear. He was long since done trusting fear.

“I don’t need you to understand me,” he said, almost as an affirmation to himself.

She reached across the aisle and put a hand on his knee. “Trust me, Domrik, I understand. Part of me just wishes I didn’t.” She withdrew her hand, and gazed up at the mural, a sad twinkle in her eye. “Now I am plagued with a nostalgia for ignorance.”

He looked at her. “Whose words were those?”

“Gombex, one of Nephrinia’s first learned healers. He was distraught after learning the first secret of the Blue Aether. He would have left her if not for his desire to heal his wife and children.”

“Did he?”

“No,” she said with a poorly veiled smirk.

“You know what I mean.”

“He managed to stop the progression of their illness, but they took many months to overcome the fear. The true punch line is that he eventually discovered that the village water supply was toxic due to being downstream of sewer pipes. All illness resolved within days when he and his family moved to a clean village.”

He chuckled. “If only all solutions could be so simple.”

She continued to be transfixed by the colored glass. “I think she would say that in retrospect, they are. The challenge is to bring that clear vision to the present. It’s the negativity of the world that makes things seem complicated.”

Delicate footsteps sounded on the stone steps in front of the church. The doors opened outward to unveil a petite woman in a brown business suit. A wristpad glinted underneath her left sleeve. Domrik observed her slow, intentional walk with interest.

Yuka Brisham was the elected Senator for the state of Antiga. Her responsibilities would take several minutes to list, so he was humbled that she would take the time to meet them. He had seen her a few times on national broadcasts and debates, but her presence was much more apparent in-person. Her mannerisms carried the grace most public politicians flaunted. Her smooth olive skin caught the last rays of colored light beaming through the mural. Straight black hair fell just past her jawline. Thin eyebrows set above determined, marine eyes.

Her soft voice projected effortlessly when she spoke. “I do not have long to talk. I have another meeting with my advisors in an hour.”

Eleanor and Domrik stood as Yuka approached. Eleanor extended her hand. “It is gracious of you to meet with us, Yuka. You remember Domrik? He’s a long-time friend of mine.”

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They locked eyes as they shook hands. He noticed his palms were clammy. The piercing gaze matched the sense of her presence. Nothing he said or did was going to escape her attention. Fearlessness of another did not typically put him on-edge, but he felt an inner pull to withdraw from the meeting. Eleanor wouldn’t tell on Domrik, but Yuka was in office for a reason. She knew her way around debates and negotiations. She might have been grateful for his teaching her daughter Aetheric self-defense, but she was an objective woman. What information would she extract from him? He reminded himself that he had requested this meeting.

“Thank you for coming,” he said.

“The pleasure is mine,” she replied. “I trust you have important and urgent information. Let’s hear it.”

“The Antiga Nature Preserve. How much do you know about it?”

“Enough to know to keep my distance. Restrictions have only tightened over the past decade, for reasons still unclear to me. Conveniently, almost all members of my Legislatory understand the environmental scientists assigned to the Preserve, so my votes have been overruled in that area. Are you suggesting you have insight?”

“Yes,” he said, wishing he could tell her how literally correct she was. He opened up a projection from his wristpad. The image showed the topography of the Preserve, plus a few kilometers in all directions. “I believe there is more than meets the eye to the Preserve. See here. I have reason to believe there is a facility hidden below the ground. If you have assets that are able to scan the area, I highly suggest you use them.”

Yuka gazed intently at the map. “Why do you suspect this? I can’t go on your word alone, and I’d rather not waste valuable taxpayer money on a whimsical reconnaissance mission, especially not with a world war on the horizon.”

His eyebrows twitched upward at her statement. Sure, he knew war was likely, but hearing it from someone in the know was another level of reality. It was more difficult to consider his opinion just an opinion. “It’s difficult to explain, but… I saw it.”

“You saw it?” she said, smirking skeptically.

He shrugged, pointing to his temple. “Mentally.”

Yuka’s incredulous gaze migrated to Eleanor, who defensively nodded her head. “You trust me, Yuka? I trust him. If what he says turns out to be bunk, I owe you an Altan.”

“A red Sylgan from the twenty-seventh century,” Yuka demanded.

“On my word,” Eleanor insisted, laying a hand over her heart.

Yuka turned back to Domrik. “You have my ear, but unfortunately for you, I do not believe in that kind of psychic phenomena.”

He gestured back to the map. “You will if you have ground-penetrating scanning. You want to prevent a war? I think this may be a clue to who really was behind the attack on Ridgemire.”

“I would believe you,” she said, folding her arms, “if we didn’t already have abundant evidence of Sylga’s guilt.”

He tipped a finger toward her. “You know, that kind of thinking starts wars. Sylga has claimed ignorance of their stealth ship program, and we all know their reasons for attacking us make no sense. Something else must be at work. We might have a rogue entity on our hands.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Intuition.”

“I remind you of my earlier statement.”

“Then take me with you.”

Yuka blinked. “What?”

“If you decide to conduct reconnaissance, put me on the team. Let me work with them. If I am wrong, not only do you get your vintage wine, you get to charge me with whatever you deem that waste of time and money to be.”

Yuka thought for several moments. “You’re that certain?”

Domrik nodded, noticing Eleanor’s concerned look.

Yuka swayed back and forth, staring at her feet. “It would have been best to have the Guard Commander with us, but he is busy at the moment. I will talk with him tomorrow and get his opinion. He might have a recon team to spare, but I can’t guarantee it.”

Domrik smiled and put his palms together before his chest. “I cannot thank you enough.”

She nodded. “Consider it a return of your favor. Cosla has never looked more confident since your lessons.”

“I am glad for her. She was excellent.” He ended the wristpad’s projection. “That is all I can share. I can give you my contact if you need it.”

“I have it,” she said, scanning up and down with an inspecting flick of her eyes. “And for the record, if your abilities are real and prove to be useful, we might use you for more than a reconnaissance mission.”

Domrik’s jaw tightened. He did not foresee her drawing that conclusion. Yet again, retrospection was crystal clear. People like her were always in the habit of assessing usefulness. He wasn’t sure whether he felt complemented or insulted. Reducing people to assets was not his style. Even worse, he would be under their radar from now on, even if the recon mission somehow failed.

And now I am plagued with a nostalgia for her ignorance, he thought. He wasn’t so sure he wanted to go on the mission anymore, but he couldn’t back out now. That would look too suspicious. He would do his best to downplay his abilities, but it would be difficult. She already knew he was an expert Kenshlin artist. With Eredore hungry for retribution, they wouldn’t pass on an opportunity to deploy psychic soldiers. He sincerely hoped it wouldn’t come to that. I am not above hope either, Eleanor.

“I thought enlistment was voluntary,” he said.

“It is,” she said, leaning in. “But you forget. Laws are made by humans, and all human creations are flawed. Loopholes exist.” She leaned toward Eleanor and they hugged.

“I will just interpret that as a fact rather than a threat,” he said as he shook her hand.

“Wise man,” she said, turning to leave. “Perhaps beyond your years.”

A tingle coursed through his spine as he watched her head toward the church exit. “I intend to do whatever I can to prevent this war, not participate in it.”

“That’s the conundrum we all face,” she said, glancing back with compassion. “Sometimes those are one and the same.”

The taps of her shoes on the marble floor were the last they heard from her. Domrik and Eleanor sulked in the silence that followed. The church got darker by the minute as the last of the sunset transitioned to darkness.

“Goodnight, Eleanor,” he said as he made a start to leave.

She grabbed his arm without a word. He looked at her, questioning. She brought him around to face her. “I may be transitioning into my crone-years, but I still have my memory. When you called me, you said this was related to the heist. Based on what you revealed to Yuka, I don’t see how.”

“That’s true,” he admitted, pausing to form his words carefully. “Did you think I could have done that on my own?”

He waited several seconds for her response. She started, having realized the question wasn’t rhetorical. “No, I suppose not.”

“That’s how it’s related. I wasn’t alone, in more ways than one. I had help, but we encountered opposition from an unknown source. They came in a cloaked Guard Jet. One from my team snuck aboard the craft as it left.”

“And they didn’t notice?”

“Well…” He bit his lip. Another secret would have to slip. “They didn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because we were cloaked too.”

Eleanor’s gaze drifted as she pondered the implications. “So you can’t just pierce illusions, you’ve learned how to create them?”

“…Yes.”

“How many more secrets are weighing you down?”

“I can’t tell you,” he said, smirking. “It’s a secret.”

“And your asset, he gave you the coordinates somehow?”

He frowned. He didn’t want to think of Jase as an asset, but it had been extremely useful to have him stowaway on the Guard Jet. “I have had no communication with him. I viewed his location mentally.”

She nodded slowly. “With assistance.”

Another smile jumped to his lips. She was sharp as ever. “With assistance.”

She sighed, slumping onto the pew, gazing once again at the darkened mural. “I miss him dearly.”

Domrik’s heart sank as he sensed her energy plummet to grief. He knew Shawn was still out there somewhere, but it was impossible to ignore his physical absence. They had been each other’s shoulder. He wanted to tell her to reach across the veil and find Shawn’s loving hand waiting, but it didn’t feel right. Not when he’d done it only a handful of times himself. Giving advice he couldn’t follow always left a bad taste in his mouth.

He put a hand on her shoulder, sending her silent compassion. Her wrinkled fingers crept up to touch his. Her bottom lip trembled, and in the dim light, her cheeks glistened.

He left her to grieve in silence. When he reached the doors, she called out. “Wait.”

He looked back. She was standing, leaning on the backrest.

“About all I said earlier…” She waved her hand gently. “Forget it all. It was just me. You have far more on your shoulders than me. I shouldn’t have burdened you further.”

He nodded and smiled. “Good night.”

He cracked open the door, and she stopped him with more words. “For what it’s worth, Domrik. Your bravery. It’s inspirational.”

His spine lit up with tingles once more. He hardly remembered leaving. His eyes had become too wet.