a war. An ancient god looking down from the heavens like they used to in story books. And the universe feels like a model. Just a simulation. Akeelian warships are coming through the gates. And if that was all, we’d probably be fine. Harem Station is highly weaponized. But that’s not all.
Thousands of ships are pouring through the gates.
“They’re going to lose,” ALCOR says. “It has been written.” Then he looks at me. No. He glares at me. “But at least they fight. You just give up. Every time.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“You know what to do.”
And then—he’s gone.
Everything is gone.
And I’m back in the dining room with Alera.
She and I both are panting hard. Sweaty from the sex. Exhausted from the lust.
She wipes her hair away from her face. Her cheeks are bright pink now. The picture of health.
And she smiles at me.
Why? Why is this all so unfair?
“Wow,” she says. Still out of breath. “That was amazing.”
“Was it?”
She laughs. “We can do it again if you want.”
I don’t know what to do. So I just… hug her. Tight. Because I’m sad. And confused. And it’s all very fucking hopeless.
“Hey,” she says. Pushing me off her a little. “Hey, what’s going on? Are you OK?”
I shake my head. Because I’m not OK. “I went somewhere else while we were…”
“Where?”
“I don’t know. But I saw things, Alera. And it’s…” I force myself to look at her. Her eyes are sparkling like a glass of bubbly passion lime juice. “It’s over. It’s over. But the really fucked-up thing is—it’s just gonna happen again. At some unknown point in the future I will show up here again. We will do this again. And when I go back, it will all end. Again. It’s a loop. And we’re stuck inside it. You’re going to get pregnant, by the way.”
She looks down at her stomach. “What?”
“Yep.” I look away. I can’t meet her gaze. “It’s done. You’re going to have my baby, and it’s going to mess up your genetics for a thousand generations or whatever. And then, one day, a cryopod will come through that spin node and the silver princess inside will be pregnant with my other baby. And that one will restore your light. And then…” I sigh. “It just keeps going. There is no end… unless…” I look at her again. “Unless I use the girls to break the time loop and hope there’s something better for me on the other side. But there won’t be, Alera. Mass murderers don’t get rewarded with a better, sweeter life.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Her tone is sharp and pulls me out of my funk.
“It’s over,” I say. “There’s no way to fix this shit, Alera. It’s a fucking loop, OK? It’s fixed. Predetermined. Fucking… you can call it fate, or destiny, or just plain old back luck. But the point is… there’s no way to win.”
She leans back and makes a face at me. And I suddenly realize she’s naked, my cocks are both sticking out of my pants, and we still smell like sex. She points her finger at me. “Fuck you.”
“What?”
“You heard me. What are you? A fucking quitter?”
“I’m not a quitter! I show up!”
“Is that right? Well, congratulations on being not a total jerk. Let me pat you on the back.”
She actually reaches forward to do that, but I swat her hand away. “What in the sun-fucked stars is your problem?”
“My problem. Is this. You have the most amazing superpower in the entire universe and you’re just gonna… what? Give up? Throw the fight? Bow out?”
“I’m not bowing out! I just have a problem with blowing up a bunch of princesses that I happen to like. For the most part, anyway.”
“You don’t have to blow them up! Weren’t you listening?”
“Listening to what?”
“The universe, dummy! It gave you a plan.”
“It did not.”
“It so did. I fucking heard it.”
“When?”
“What do you mean, when? When we were fucking, you fool!”
We stare at each other. Neither of us dares to blink. “Alera,” I finally whisper. “I didn’t get the plan. I was… somewhere else. Talking to my… ALCOR. He was bitching me out for giving up.”
“And you deserve that! Because for fuck’s sake, this is a genius plan and you weren’t even paying attention!”
“I was paying attention. And if it’s my plan, how did you get it?”
“What is that? Jealousy? Are we in the nursery or something? Who cares?”
“Well, are you gonna tell me the fucking plan?”
“Of course I’m gonna tell