“Thank you,” Allie threw her arms around the Sage.
“You’ve certainly earned it.”
“So that’s it,” Gabriel said, feeling a thousand pounds lighter without the weight of murders dragging him down. Though he had not been absolved of all the wrongs he’d committed in his life, he was on the right path toward it, and knowing that for certain felt wonderful. “I’m free to go my own way now?”
“Yes. You’ve done everything I could ever have hoped for. Although, before
you go, I should explain how to use your new toy. You’ve met my children, Kari, Jonathan, and Michael. The nature of their inhuman existence allows them to
instinctually use shards of the Gate. For a human like yourself, things are not so easy.
Fortunately, you happen to have the most sophisticated supercomputer ever built in your left hand. I’ve loaded the software necessary to use the crystal into her, so she can take you anywhere you want to go.”
Looking to Allie, Gabriel nodded. Allie grinned at him and nodded back.
“Now Gabriel, I want you to have a few years of adventure. See the universe.
Then find yourself a nice, quiet world to live out the rest of your days.”
“Wait,” Gabriel protested. “No. I need to get back to Ethos. There’s still a battle to be fought, and Sam has to get back to the past to save my life and I think that I’m the one that sent her. I have to go back.”
The Sage spread his hands wide. “I’m not the one you should be telling that.”
Gabriel looked to Allie as he slipped the leather cord over his head so the crystal dangled against his chest. “Please, Allie. I need to get back to Sam. I don’t think I can live without her. Can you get us back to Ethos?”
“I sure can,” Allie grinned as she darted forward and clasped his hand in hers.
“Let us go. I want to see what happens when the balanced paradox hits.”
Purple light flashed and Gabriel stumbled a few steps into freezing cold. Looking around, he found himself in the courtyard of the Spires of Infinity next to the console that had opened the Gate back to the past for him. The hologram of Allie was still standing at the keyboard, and Sam was standing beside her with her arms folded beneath her breasts, looking supremely ticked off.
Gabriel’s brow furrowed as he looked up at the Spires. “Wait, what? Why is it still here?”
“Wait,” Sam stared at him. “Why are you back already? Did something go
wrong?”
Scratching at his stubble, Gabriel wondered what was happening. Hadn’t the
Apostle lowered the containment field? How could the Spires of Infinity still exist?
“Oh, right,” Gabriel laughed, “the life of a time traveler doesn’t always happen in the right order. The paradox can’t change this part of the timeline until we do what is required for me to survive my first meeting with the Apostle. How long has it been since I left?”
“What do you mean,” Sam asked. “You stepped through the Gate. The Gate
closed. Then you appeared right where it was like half a minute later!”
“Wow,” Gabriel said. “Good job, Allie. You were right on target.”
Materializing next to him, Allie grinned. “Thank you. My new software has
made calculating Gate Jumps much easier and more exact.”
Jumping back a step, Sam stared warily at Allie. “Wait a second. Why are you all solid and real-looking instead of see-through and flat like all the others?”
“Long story,” Allie said.
Noticing the blood on Gabriel’s clothing for the first time, Sam gasped and rushed to examine the cuts in his vest and shirt made by the Apostle’s blade.
“What happened to you? Are you hurt? Do you need bandages or something?”
Gabriel took her by the shoulders and pushed her back a bit, looking down into her strange metallic eyes. “I’m fine. Now that I’m back with you, I’m fine.”
“So, uh,” the hologram had drifted over to peer at Allie, “why are you so solid?”
Spinning around as if showing off a new piece of clothing, Allie giggled.
“Jealous? I got some new hardware upgrades. Here, I will upload my memory of everything that happened. Like the new me? And here I thought having diminished computing capacity was going to be a total bummer.”
The hologram gave a wry expression. “Why does the copy get to be so lucky?”
“Hey,” Allie said. “Sooner or later, I will be the only one left, remember?”
“Uh, girls,” Gabriel interrupted. “What did Sam say? The Apostle got through and then she followed?”
“Yes,” Allie nodded. “So I guess we wait.”
“Hey, wait,” Sam said, fingering the pistol at her hip. “You have two guns again.
Where did the other one come from.”
“It’s a long story,” Gabriel said, looking up. For the first time he noticed the bluish energy shield enclosing the Spires of Infinity. There were flashes of green light from atop the wall and concussions that made the ground tremble each time the cannons fired.
“You better tell me everything,” Sam said. “If you don’t, you’re getting the
mother of all nut shots.”
“Look,” Gabriel said, taking Sam aside. “I don’t know what’s about to happen, but the Apostle is going to get through and Gate Jump back to the past where I went.
When that happens I’m going to send you through after her. I need you to sneak up on her from behind and knock her out before she can kill me.”
“Really? But you were only gone for a few seconds!”
“Hard to explain,” Gabriel said. “All right, after you save me, you’re going to get captured. Try not to give anything away when they question you. Mittens.”
“That’s Mister Mittens,” the cat yawned, stretching on Sam’s shoulders.
“Whatever. The code to my cell is thirteen thirty-seven, and the code to Sam’s cell is twelve thirteen. Remember those numbers. Got it? It’s very important.”
The cat nodded.
“When Mittens—“
“Mister Mit—“
“—Breaks us free,” Gabriel kept talking. “I’m going to send you back here right after. Don’t argue. There’s nothing you can do to help me after that. Understand?”
“You mean I get to go back and help,” Sam asked excitedly, her ears perked
forward and wolflike tail beginning to wag. “Really? You’ll let me go to the past so I can see what the world used to be like? I get to help save everyone?”
“Yes,” Gabriel said. “When the time comes, I’ll send you back. Remember what I said about what you have to do back there.”
“Got it,” Sam winked. She was suddenly acting much more warmly toward him.
“Oh, and one more thing. I’m not going to remember any of this. For me it won’t have happened yet. I know it might be a little hard to understand, but you can’t tell me anything of what happens here. Don’t even let me know if I’m still alive. Got it?”
“Uh, did you hit your head again? Fine, sure, whatever. I promise.”
“Great,” Gabriel nodded. “You stick close to me until it’s time for you to go back.”
Sam grabbed onto his arm and snuggled against him. “Close enough?”
“I guess,” Gabriel laughed.
Life was really looking up for Gabriel Reeve. He’d just had one of the deepest wishes of his heart granted, he knew that everything was going to turn out all right eventually, and he was on the right path to redeeming himself after all of the bad things he’d done before coming to Ethos. He was literally and figuratively a whole new man.