Eternity's Wheel (InterWorld 3)

“I have likely just given the order to evacuate InterWorld Prime entirely, which means the remaining Walkers on this ship will be coming to you any second now. I hope you have the port room ready.”

I ran to the com system on the nearest wall, jabbing my finger at the main broadcast link. “Jai, ready the port room, we have incoming Walkers!” I yelled.

“Two,” the Old Man was saying, holding up two fingers now. I stared up at the projection, skewed and larger than life now that I was standing beneath it. “Try to keep Hue with you at all times from now on. He’ll be more useful than you know.”

My stomach sank down to the floor as I listened. He was giving me advice like he wasn’t going to see me, to Walk over with the rest coming from InterWorld Prime. He wasn’t coming. . . . Why would he not come?

“Three.” He dropped his hand altogether, looking at me seriously. The barest hint of a smile ghosted across his face, just for a moment. “It is impossible,” he said. “Do it anyway. It’s worth it.” I had no idea what he was talking about, until he added, “She liked orange roses, when I knew her.”

With no further warning, the image blinked out.

“J/O,” I said, before he could say anything, “get to the port room and help Jai, now.”

He spared a single glance back to the wall where the projection had been, then darted off. I jammed my fingers against the com again. “Jai, J/O’s coming to help.”

“They’re here, sir,” Jai’s voice came back over the com. “They’re all here.”

“What about the Old Man? Is Captain Harker with them?”

“He stayed.” Another voice came over the com. After a moment I recognized Jaroux’s calm, smooth tones. “None of us knew he was going to, but he stayed. I think you know why.”

I let my arm fall to my side, gaze drifting to the wall where the projection had been. “Damn you,” I told it. “God damn you.”

“Sir?” Jai’s voice echoed through the speakers. “What now?”

After a moment, I lifted my hand to the speaker again. “Get everyone organized,” I said. “Make sure anyone who needs to eat or sleep can do that, and send any injured to the infirmary.”

“Yes, sir,” said Jai. “Should our recent arrivals expect your appearance at this juncture?”

“No,” I paused, double-checking myself, surprised by the calm certainty that had suddenly come over me. There was one thing I could do, and I had to do it. I knew I had to. “Jai, J/O, and Jo, you’re in charge. I’m stepping out for a moment. I’ll be back with the Old Man.”

There was a moment of silence over the com, and I shut it off before the flurry of protests could begin. The ship was up and running again, which meant we’d realigned with our own timestream, which meant we didn’t need Hue to Walk. InterWorld Beta had its own

formula now, which Joeb had been using for the past two days to Walk back and forth with new recruits. I didn’t have to travel through time to get where I needed to go. I could Walk, like I always did, sideways through the dimensions.

The other point was that the Old Man had stopped running to let everyone off. That meant the ship wasn’t moving anymore, wasn’t locked in a perpetual warp—which meant my old InterWorld Prime formula should work again.

The thing about the InterWorld address was that it always stayed the same, no matter where the ship was. It was static, constant, unchanging—but the ship had to actually be static for the address to work. It hadn’t been for the past few days. Now it was, and I could Walk there on my own.

I closed my eyes and drew in a breath, calling the old InterWorld formula to mind. It burned in my head like a beacon, like a North Star, like a lighthouse.

[{IW}:= O/8 ]

I saw the path open up before me, and I—

—found myself flat on my back as something hurtled into me, the texture of it like a combination between glossy tissue paper and a rubber band. I opened my eyes to find Hue hovering above me, flashing various colors of concerned.

“Hue . . . ! What are you doing?” The last time I’d seen him, he’d been sleeping (or what appeared to be sleeping, anyway) in my quarters, tired out from all the TimeWalking he’d been helping us do. Joeb had taken him out a few times to help with getting Walkers, and the poor thing had been exhausted. Not only that, but I think Josephine’s death had actually hit him pretty hard. They hadn’t interacted all that much, what with Josephine having shot at him once and all, but I was fairly certain he still understood death and missed her. It was sometimes hard to figure how much he did understand, but he tended to grasp most concepts and things I asked him to do, and seemed to have his own opinions on situations.

Like now, for example.

I sat up, trying to get to my feet. Hue floated around me, bobbing back and forth. “What’s wrong with you?” I asked. “Why did you stop me?”

He flickered a few different colors, then turned black, little red flashes flicking over his surface like lightning. I wasn’t sure exactly what he was trying to say, but it definitely looked foreboding.

“I have to go, Hue,” I tried. “I have to help the Old Man.”

His color faded from the top down, something that usually meant no.