Cleanup is quick and easy. We escort the enemy officers to a holding cell in the sewer while Luna puts the Lurker’s body on display in Maxima Park. Dwight is keen on watching the news when word gets out, which showcases a lot of angry Necromancers demanding justice for their longest-running serial killer.

As soon as we’ve locked them away, a party of sorts is forming in the main area. I opt to wash all the blood off me in a shower before joining, but when I do, there’s a spot for me at the leaders’ table next to Holly and Sapphire.

With my arrival, Luna stands up, and using some sort of microphone, announces my presence. “The hero of the day has arrived, everyone. Please welcome Tes Simms.”

The room applauds, and I blush at the attention. Holly is smiling in full force now that the medics have cleared her of any residual damage from being nearly electrocuted.

I take a seat, but Luna continues to stand. “Many of you don’t know our two newest visitors from another universe, but like my own story, they’ve put the good of Carmsborough first and their own concerns second. Bringing down the Lurker is a task nobody thought possible until last night, and yet, two high schoolers managed the impossible.”

More applause comes as I chow away at the sandwich that Holly reserved for me. The last time I’d gotten this much attention was when the principal announced my mom had died during morning announcements.

“But Tes and Holly have done their part. Unlike myself, they have a place to go back to. A home in another universe. And they would like to go back. It’s why I had a steam generator set up for them. It will allow them to power their companion rabbit, who will send them back home.”

The generator. Holly and I look at each other with glowing eyes. We’ve done it again. And hopefully, this time, we will land on the other side of the portal back at the Hindenburg. Or, better yet, in California.

Luna continues talking, but none of it concerns us anymore. My goal is somewhere in a room in this sewer complex.

Great work, you two, Sapphire says, smiling. I’ll miss you.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

You too, Sapphire, Holly says.

Oh, and congrats, the Deaf woman says with a wink.

That was something we’ll have to address at some point, but for now, I finish my sandwich, content with the world.

“This is it,” Luna says, standing in the doorway of a noisy room. Inside, we find an already running steam generator, chugging out an unhealthy amount of black smog.

Aurora sat in Holly’s hand until this point, when she springs out and heads to the generator.

“And this will take us home?” Holly asks.

“It’s not a guarantee,” Luna admits. “The tech boys said they could try to constrain the requirements to give you better odds, but it’s not perfect. Seems there’s something missing in the whole transportation equation.”

My shoulders drop. So we aren’t going home.

“Any idea what we’re missing?”

“Something that goes right here,” Dwight says, approaching Aurora and pressing on her shoulder. A compartment opens, revealing an oval slot for something to fit in. “Something that must help confine and program the time, place, and universe you’re after. If you find that, you find home.”

A palm-sized oval that could be anywhere in any time, place, or universe. A sell I’m not comfortable with.

Still, progress is progress, I suppose.

Aurora begins to glow. Sapphire peeks her head in to witness it, a sight all three are captivated by.

“You’ll probably wanna stand back,” Holly says. “This thing tends to suck people in.”

They do as told, watching from the other side of the hallway. Holly and I grab hands, nod, and lean down to pet Aurora. The glow gets stronger, until that familiar blue tunnel takes over my vision, sending us hurtling towards incomprehension. I close my eyes this time, embracing the feeling, until I feel hard ground underneath my feet and a tinge of cool air.

I open my eyes and find a bush less than a foot away from me. The moon is high in the sky, and somewhere around half full. Stars dot the atmosphere, and as my hearing returns, it’s filled with a rustling in the bush and crickets everywhere else.

At least it’s Earth, but when or where or which is another story.

The rustling bush continues, and Holly and I carefully approach it, hands ready to strike. Maybe we shouldn’t. Maybe a week ago we wouldn’t. But nothing could have prepared us for the thing we see pop out of it.

“Sola?!” we both yell, as their head appears from the shrub.

The odds were incalculably low that this was the Sola we knew. The one we’d thought was left on Alpha Centauri. The one that knew us. I knew it when I said it. But there was a string of hope and curiosity that was immediately validated when they opened their mouth.

“Holly? Tes? Get down and keep quiet. You know he won’t like it if he finds out we’re up past curfew.”

“Who? What?” Holly asks, dropping her voice to a whisper.

“Come on, really? Amar? The cult leader? You’re not serious, right?”

Any satisfaction from the day melts down into a bubbling despair in my chest.

It’s always something.