“Y-Yes, Empress.”

  “Finally, we don’t want Esperanza to interfere. Therefore, you will send all remaining forces to that system. You will engage their fleet until the last of their herd has been culled. Then you will hunt down and capture the Shunta Hia, especially the entire Peron clan. Do you understand your orders, Admiral?”

  Horowitz took a deep breath.

  “Many fronts, Empress. Yet we will fight them all and win.”

  “In God’s name, Admiral.”

  PART TWO

  THE GATHERING STORM

  “I’m not a fan of gods, or anyone who claims to be. They seem more than a little pedantic and enjoy throwing around their considerable weight. Worse yet, I’ve never seen them in the flesh but continue to hope they’ll stop by the house for tea.”

  - Art Flink, humorist

  13

  The Origin

  12th century of training

  R OYAL LOVED PLAYING CATCH. Nothing better tested his understanding of the mechanics of time. Theo devised an endless variety of challenging courses, but they featured common elements. Pylons with launching pads rose from a few feet above the endless blue grid to several hundred meters. Thousands of translucent bumpers hovered like drones. Theo held a glowing ball the size of a grapefruit.

  Royal chose a pylon and launch pad. He studied the geometry of the other elements, which Theo altered every session. Theo did not tell him which direction he’d throw the ball but did reveal the opening velocity (time’s constant). The ball’s speed did not vary, regardless of trajectory or how many bumpers deflected its course. If uncaught, the ball might fly across the horizon for eternity.

  He faced a straightforward task: Study the initial ball flight, project its course, and intercept it at the subsequent bumper without catching it. From that point, using equations he learned in The Tragedy of Time, leap from bumper to bumper, achieving faster velocity than the ball, which now follows Royal’s lead. Only when he loses confidence in his ability to project the next bumper does he slow, turn, and catch the ball.

  In two centuries, Royal faced three million configurations and launched from twenty-five thousand different pads. On day one, he failed after two bumpers. Today, he anticipated five thousand, four hundred and seventy-seven bumpers. He caught the ball, but not because his predictive skills failed. Royal decided the course was too easy. He challenged Theo to up his game or move on to the next phase of training.

  “You’ve reached a point of equilibrium,” said Theo, whose green, feline eyes expressed wonderment. “Time is now elementary to you, like the sweetness of a rose or the heat of a star. Royal, do you think about the math anymore?”

  “Only when the ball leaves your hands. By the time it hits the first bumper? Game over.”

  “Perfect.”

  Theo invited Royal to lounge with him on the satin settee he created while observing the most recent game.

  “You used to ask me why the training takes centuries. Why can’t I simply infuse your physical being with my skillsets?”

  “Used to. I stopped asking because you never answered.”

  “True.” Theo crossed his legs and gazed out across the unchanging horizon. “You’re ready to know. It’s not complicated, but you’ll understand why I withheld it. And trust me, Moon has asked the same question of Pia.”

  Theo often spoke of Moon’s progress with the other Rider and hinted at an imminent reunion. Yet Royal stopped asking about the timetable, though he missed his old friend more than ever.

  “OK then. Tell me. Why does it take so damn long?”

  “Humans are limited. They cannot taste or smell time, as if it were a lifeform. They require mathematics and the laws of physics to guide their understanding. Even if a man lived long enough to master The Tragedy of Time, he would not have the capacity to play catch.”

  “I get it, Theo. He’d focus on geometry and predictive algorithms, like I did at first. Except he’d never be able to let go. What you’re really saying is, only immortals can be gods. And even for us, it’s a long learning curve.”

  Theo tossed his sienna hair from his face.

  “Having the genetics to live forever does not grant permission to evolve. The Creators became the first sentient species in the universe, but we could not walk at our birth. The arrogant name we gave ourselves arrived much later.”

  “How long did it take you to master time?”

  “We constructed the Origin nine million years after we stood on two legs.”

  Royal whistled. “Now that is a long road, my friend.”

  “Gods are not magical beings, contrary to what certain mortals believe. What we are is well-practiced and patient. We understand the universe is a goliath built with much scaffolding. We know its plumbing and wiring, how deep the foundation runs, and how strong its girders.”

  “Poetic, Theo.”

  “You feel it, too.”

  He shrugged. “As much as I can, stuck inside my own head.”

  “The Cartalingus is not exempt from time’s influence. Your body remains frozen inside a stasis tube, but your consciousness has aged without interruption.”

  “Huh. That’s why everything I learn in the projection will translate when I set my body free.”

  “Precisely, Royal. What do you say we celebrate this revelation?”

  “Sure. Whatcha got in mind?”

  Theo leaped from the settee and waved his hands high, as if summoning the heavens. Royal knew this move. One day, he’d be able to summon the entire Continuum as well.

  The panoramic scope of time filled the sky, from the First Light to the Final Beacon. All the stars that ever existed – from their births inside great maelstroms to their explosive deaths – lined up amid evolving galactic clusters and the markers which denoted sentient life. Racing between those markers, humans moved across the stars: First, in ancient colony ships; later, in faster-than-light vessels; finally, in ships burrowing through wormholes.

  Royal allowed the expanse of all Creation outside the Origin to consume him, much as he did twelve hundred years earlier in a cavern with crystalline mirrors. He saw how the pieces fit, how humans taxed the plumbing and shook the foundation.

  “It’s a damn beautiful sight, Theo. I want to learn it all.”

  “You will. At this stage of your development, you can complete a comprehensive study in less than a century. When you escape the Origin, you and Moon will have unlimited boundaries.”

  “Go anywhere we want?”

  “Defy time. Defy physics. Witness the arrival of the First Light. See my people before we evolved beyond hunter-gatherers. Visit the lab where you were engineered and watch your conception.”

  Royal thought the final stop worth the price of admission by itself.

  “Nice pitch, Theo. That’d be one hell of a holiday.”

  “You’d only be able to observe, of course. Anything prior to the moment you and Moon exited time is locked.”

  “Huh. Couldn’t change events if I wanted to.”

  “Correct.”

  “There’s some mighty sweet morsels I wouldn’t mind shaking up. Too bad. But anything after we exited …”

  “Is negotiable. In a few centuries, we will discuss options. None of it will matter until you win Prelude. For today, choose any place, any time. We can listen to the heartbeat and smell the aroma.”

  “So, this is a live view of the universes? Not a projection?”

  “Correct. Do you have a time and place in mind?”

  Where to begin …

  The curiosity that never left Royal since that day above Hokkaido made the choice a simple one.

  “I’d like to know what happened after I exited stage right.”

  “You wonder how they fared without you.”

  “I know it’s arrogant. They’re long dead now. Even their descendants. Hell, my own people might’ve shot their wad.”

  Theo waved his hand, scrolling across the breadth of time. The panorama revolved around them.

  “This view never ceases to fascinate me,” Theo said. “I am forever reminded how pathetic, even microscopic, the conflicts of mortal humans stand in relation to the entire fabric. It’s a song as beautiful as it is tragic. Their petty upheaval bears no more relevance than a whisper of stardust.”

  “You’re turning me on, Theo.”

  The Creator laughed. “Didn’t you once say I wasn’t your type?”

  “Yeah, no. I’m not big on gingers, but I can make an exception.”

  Theo grabbed a piece of the panorama and tugged it forward.

  “Reach inside there, Royal. Expand it. You’ll see the events directly after your exit.”

  The worlds of the Collectorate resembled a single solar system against the larger expanse. Royal listened carefully and dived into causality’s neverending drama. He saw billions of subsets pushing and shoving against each other. He found Hokkaido and zeroed in on the city where he grew up. He heard the dead and dying, saw the aftermath of tragedy and the fires doused. He heard grief then conviction; negotiation then celebration. He smelled a flurry of new ideas and an assemblage of industrial innovation.

  So many voices, hopeful yet terrified.

  And far away, across the divide, he saw a gathering storm of a different sort. He heard the edicts of God as expressed through a woman not unlike the one Royal killed. He listened to her message and stepped away from the cluster of space and time.

  Theo tossed the segment back into the panorama.

  “What did you discover, Royal?”

  He fell to one knee and gave in to laughter. Big, bold, gut-shredding laughs. Of all the moments in the history of the universes, he just had to pay that one a visit.

  Royal wiped away his tears and brought himself under control.

  “So much for doing the right thing.”

  “Explain, Royal.”

  “It’s crazy. I saved Moon’s family because I made a promise. Eight lives. Don’t know if they ever did anything worthwhile, and now they’ve been dead for who knows how many centuries? But here’s the deal, Theo. When I saved them, I killed one old cunt. The Empress. It felt good shoving a knife in her heart. I still remember seeing the life drain out of that woman.”

  “Ah.” Theo sat on one knee beside him. “Causality. You took such pleasure in killing her, you didn’t consider the consequences.”

  “I executed the most powerful human being in Beta universe. I was too thrilled with myself to worry about cause and effect.”

  “What followed, Royal?”

  “Another took the throne. Daughter. Granddaughter. I don’t know. Another woman with a scorpion on her chest. She couldn’t leave it alone, Theo. The new Empress wanted revenge. She decided to take it out on the entire Alpha universe.”

  “What was her plan?”

  “She wanted to burn every planet. I saved eight lives. She sentenced billions to die for it.”

  “Did she succeed?”

  He stared at Theo.

  “Don’t you know the answer already?”

  “Everything that occurred after you and Moon exited time is negotiable. You chose a moment near a crucial inflection point.”

  “Wait, what? Are you saying Moon and I will …?”

  “Paths merged following the inflection. That much is certain. What happens on the remainder of your journey will influence theirs. The survivors named the conflict. They called it the War of the Nine.”

  “For the nine universes?”

  “Yes. The conflict initiated by your reckless mentor, Amayas Knight, reached a conclusion. Its impact was incalculable. But, as in the wake of all momentous events, life continued. It endured for the centuries that have passed.”

  Royal felt relieved. His one choice didn’t incinerate humanity.

  “Will Moon and I have a say in the outcome?”

  “It’s much too early to know. Prelude is still centuries from your grasp, and you will never leave here if you lose that battle. Best we table the discussion for now.”

  “What? If it’s so uncertain, why did you allow me to choose a time and place?”

  “Because you earned the right. You mastered time. You breathe it. You taste it. You smell it. And because you control nothing outside the Origin.”

  “Asshole.”

  They returned to the settee. Theo waved away the panorama.

  “So, Royal. That tiny peek into the universe was just a starter gift for your success.”

  “Great. You gonna show me something else to piss me off?”

  “Not today, my friend. Turn around.”

  “Say what?”

  Theo winked.

  “Behind you.”

  Royal dared to hope. Was it possible?

  The blue grid was littered with random pieces of furniture Theo created on occasion but otherwise pristine.

  A single silhouette entered at the far horizon, approaching at a brisk pace. It differentiated into a man and woman, arm in arm. The man with the serpentine tattoo across his face raised a fist.

  “About time,” Royal said. “I knew he wouldn’t change a thing.”

  “Partner!” Moon shouted.

  “What took you so long, killer? I’ve been hanging out here for twelve hundred years.”

  Moon kissed Pia and ran toward Royal.

  “I thought you were supposed to come to my place.”

  “Lost the address!”

  Royal sprinted and met Moon halfway. They hugged for the first time since the moment they entered stasis. They settled their tattooed foreheads against one another like they did after victory in the corral.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” Moon said.

  “I haven’t gone a day without wishing we were together. I started to think our Riders were leading us on about a reunion.”

  “Me, too. Pia’s great. She’s an amazing guide and a better pump, but I never forgot what you taught me. Everydamnbody has an agenda. Know what it is before you trust them.”

  Royal liked hearing one of his mottos repeated verbatim. Yet that’s not what caught his attention.

  “Did I hear you right, partner? You’re pumping a Rider?”

  Moon chuckled. “Nice, huh?”

  “That’s not possible. For all the rings, Moon. I’d get it if we were still in Bessios. You drove your cock into any woman that smiled your way. But you got nothing to drive home in this place.”

  Moon dropped a fat wet kiss on Royal’s lips and whispered:

  “Not a real one.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We found a workaround. If you’d like to try it on your Rider, I can walk you through it.”

  “Walk me through …?” Royal hadn’t laughed so hard twice in a day. He buried his head in Moon’s chest. “You’re too much. Twelve centuries apart, and the first thing we talk about is sex.”

  “Just like old times.”

  “Yeah, no.” Royal pulled himself together. “We’re still the snake and the wolf, but a shitload’s changed. We’ve mastered time. Before long, we’ll be gods.”

  “No two like us in the universe. That’s what Pia says.”

  “Theo says the same. What do you think about that?”

  Moon’s eyes cast the same psychotic hunger Royal saw in the aftermath of the corral slaughter.

  “I was born for this, Royal. I know that now. It’s all I want. Well, besides you and a good woman to pump.”

  Royal did not forget the early days of his teachings, when Theo said Moon would surpass Royal’s skillset and become deadlier.

  “Has Pia told you how many more centuries we’ll train?”

  “Six. She says I’m ahead of schedule.”

  “Theo told me eight. Odd. He says I’m nearabout caught up with you. Apparently, you’re a whiz at this shit.”

  “Science and math were always my thing. Don’t worry about centuries. Pia says Theo plays it conservative.”

  Royal glanced over Moon’s shoulder toward the pylons.

  “How long ago did you master time?”

  “Thirty-four years.”

  “That’s all? Then I’m definitely catching up. The Tragedy of Time was a head-knocker.”

  Moon followed Royal’s eyes.

  “What do you have in mind, partner?”

  “Huh. What’s your record on the course?”

  “Seventy-five hundred bumpers. It was a nice even number. Could’ve gone another ten thousand, but I was bored. You?”

  “Little over fifty-four hundred. Same as you, though. Bored.”

  Moon draped his arm over Royal’s shoulders.

  “We need to spice it up. You and me, head to head.”

  “First to fifteen thousand?”

  Moon winced. “Whoa. You got that many bumpers in you?”

  “Worry about yourself, partner.”

  “There’s that Royal cockiness I missed. Let’s play.”

  They started toward the Riders, who indulged in a reunion of their own. Theo said he and Pia had not seen each other in this form for thousands of lifetimes.

  Royal felt reinvigorated with Moon at his side. They fell into the old dynamic right away, yet Royal knew they weren’t the same. As Theo predicted, Moon had pulled ahead. Royal thought it was a logical progression. After all, Moon spent most of their years in Bessios living in Royal’s shadow before reaching equality in skills and a hunger to kill.

  They found Theo and Pia on the settee holding hands.

  “The gang’s all here,” Moon said.

  “Until the end of time, if all goes well,” Theo replied. “Pia and I were speaking of design changes.”

  Pia winked. “We should make the grid more like home. I’m thinking beds with satin sheets.”

  Royal stifled a laugh. “We don’t sleep.”

  “True. But we indulge in other pleasures.” She twisted her grin toward Moon. “Did you tell him?”

  “About the workaround? Fuck yes. I told him if he and Theo …”

  “Yeah, no.” Royal shut down the conversation. “Save it for later. Moon and I want to hit the course together.”