Arthur stands at the command console, wearing a bulky black tactical spacesuit.
His helmet rests in his hands.
“The labs are on the far side of the city.”
“I used my new clearance to get us maps of the compound,” he adds with a small smile.
“Make sure you take a look at them.”
“Are you sure there isn’t an easier way?” Anna asks, pacing.
Arthur buckles a strap on his suit.
“Not that I can tell.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know how else we get past a full troop regiment.”
Anna stops, meeting his eyes.
“Yeah. I can’t think of anything that doesn’t end with us captured and cuffed either.”
Arthur places a hand on her shoulder.
“The plan is crazy — but it’s going to work. You know what to do.”
Anna smiles.
“Don’t worry. I’ll catch you.
And if I don’t, that’s what the parachute is for, right?”
Arthur puts his helmet on. His voice comes through muffled.
“See you on the other side.”
Arthur thinks: She’ll catch me.
He sits at the control center and types in coordinates.
Anna boards one shuttle, setting its autopilot destination.
Then she climbs into the second and straps in.
Arthur traces his fingers along the console.
“One more battlefield, old girl.”
A faint smile. “I really wish we could’ve been friends longer.”
He strikes a key.
The docking bay opens. Two shuttles sit ready.
Anna taps a few commands. The unmanned shuttle lifts off.
“Lux Aeterna (Requiem for a Tower)” — string version — plays through its comm system.
It darts into the gate, blue fire swallowing it whole.
Then her ship rises and drifts forward, engines glowing softly.
The cargo bay doors close behind her.
Arthur hits the comm.
“Here we go. Give me a two-minute head start.”
The ANUBIS surges forward, vanishing into the humming blue glow of the gatechain —
followed one minute later by Anna in her shuttle.
The unmanned shuttle bursts from the gate above the Tribunal.
Music blaring.
Several military shuttles move to intercept it and, after a brief chase, knock out its engines.
—
Thomas and Sarah are strapped down.
Doctors and scientists surround them, adjusting instruments.
Across the room, the three members of the Tribunal sit —
a grotesque depiction of law and order.
“You will be remembered as the ones who brought eternity to humanity,” Lofeal Gres says.
The hoses of his life-support systems hum and pump as he speaks.
Kreger Dillont rises, circling the table.
His hand glides along the cold metal — from the edge, to Sarah’s foot, slowly up her leg, over her stomach, between her breasts — stopping at her chin.
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“You are… so beautiful.”
He leans in, whispering, “Perhaps when you’re finished here tonight, you could join me in my private quarters for a meal.”
Sarah turns her head away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Bhual Xyot asks gently, “Are you not proud of what we will accomplish here together?”
He smiles. “Your blood and sacrifice for the greater good.”
Thomas snarls.
“You three are disgusting. Shut the hell up and let the doctors get back to torturing us.”
—
The unmanned shuttle sits surrounded by several small security ships.
Remarks and jokes fly from the guards.
“It’s empty, sir.”
“Someone must have been really drunk.”
“It’s empty, command.”
“Everybody back to your posts.”
Then space folds — an electric pop.
Blue lightning skips across nothing.
Blackness melts red, then bursts blue as the ANUBIS rips from the gatechain in a burn.
The security ships scramble to turn and give chase —
but the unmanned shuttle explodes, destroying or crippling most of them in seconds.
In low orbit, the warship FULGORE turns its cannons —
massive, deliberate —
too slow.
Too late.
The ANUBIS is already on top of it.
Not stopping.
Not slowing.
—
Arthur sits at the command console, frozen until the last moment.
The same systems that allow autopilot also prevent collision.
He slams the emergency release.
The forward cargo bay door yawns open.
The screen flashes:
PROXIMITY ALERT — REENGAGE AUTOPILOT
Arthur grabs his pack and runs.
Whoooosh —
He’s ripped into the void, spinning.
He steadies just in time to see the FULGORE and the ANUBIS collide —
merging, imploding —
both ships dead, drifting toward the planet below.
Arthur fires his thruster pack, adjusting course.
“Anna… that ride you promised?
Now’s the time,” he whispers.
—
Anna’s shuttle darts through chaos, chased by a security ship.
“Little busy right now,” she replies.
She dives beneath falling debris — the pursuer crushed instantly.
She swings back, scanning.
“There’s too much interference! Sensors can’t find you!”
Arthur dodges a flaming hull fragment.
“Just get to the labs. I’ll meet you there.”
—
Arthur plunges toward the planet, rockets pushing him into atmosphere.
The suit ignites with reentry flame.
He spins like a drill.
Centrifugal forces slam him in and out of consciousness.
The suit stabilizes.
Arthur fights the descent.
The heat is unbearable.
Aero-brakes deploy from his boots.
He is a falling meteor —
chased by two dying gods.
At the last possible second, he deploys the parachute.
It catches —
and ignites.
Flames eat through the fabric until it tears apart.
Arthur slams into the ground three hundred feet from the main lab facility.
The impact drives the air from his lungs.
He lies still, groaning.
Arthur reaches into the White Void.
“This plan sucks,” he mutters. “How did I let you talk me into this, Anna?”
As if on cue, both Anna and Sarah reply:
“As if anyone could stop you.”
---
Arthur stands beneath the canopy.
Anna and Sarah appear beside him —
then Thomas.
They gather close, bound by family gravity.
“We’ll be there in a second.”
An explosion shakes the labs.
Even the Void trembles.
“What was that?” Sarah asks.
“You don’t want to know,” Anna replies.
Her expression answers anyway.
Thomas smiles.
“Can’t wait to find out.”
He pats Arthur’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
They vanish back to the real.
—
Anna’s shuttle lands hard beside Arthur, kicking up smoke and dust.
Arthur staggers upright, removes his helmet, drops it.
Anna tosses him a weapon.
He catches it cleanly.
They move as one — silent, lethal.
Soldiers sprint through the complex, shouting confused orders.
The chain of command is gone.
Another impact.
The building shudders.
Dust rains down.
—
They turn a corner — and freeze.
Fifteen soldiers stand ready.
The Tribunal behind them.
Time stretches.
Anna glances at Arthur.
He meets her eyes.
“You ready?” he whispers. “Keep it tight.”
“Right behind you.”
Then —
Arthur charges, firing.
Anna follows.
The corridor erupts in thunder and light.
Bullets spark.
Soldiers fall.
They close the distance.
Knives come out.
Steel flashes.
Breaths ragged.
Arthur stabs one —
but two grab his arms.
Another pair slam him down.
Anna fires to cover —
until a soldier grabs her from behind,
slams her into the wall,
rips her weapon away.
Everything stops.
Arthur strains — can’t break free.
Anna’s captor tightens his grip.
Air thins.
Sound dulls.
Time slows.
Arthur meets her eyes — an apology forming.
She looks back.
Bhual Xyot shouts,
“Bring them to me! Ten thousand credits to whoever puts them on their knees!”
Dread hangs.
Then —
Anna’s hand finds the soldier’s sidearm.
Gunshot.
One of Arthur’s captors collapses.
Another shot.
Anna twists free, grabs the fallen gun, fires again.
Time snaps back.
Arthur breaks loose, drives a knife home.
Anna drops the last soldier.
Silence.
Bodies line the hallway.
Only the Tribunal remain.
—
Arthur and Anna force them into the main lab.
“Move.”
Thomas and Sarah still lie strapped to the tables.
Lights flicker.
Dust drifts.
The doctors are gone.
Anna frees Thomas.
They fall into a long, desperate kiss.
Arthur watches the corridor.
“You wanna get me out of here?” Sarah asks, exasperated.
Anna grins and frees her.
Then she turns to the Tribunal.
“So… what do we do with them?”
“You release us immediately,” Kreger snaps,
“and climb into those cells.”
Thomas steps forward — calm.
He shoves each Tribunal member into the cell he once occupied.
Turns the dial halfway down.
Jams the button.
The sonic weapon activates.
They drop instantly.
Blood pours from noses and ears.
“One less thing to worry about,” Thomas mutters.
Sarah frowns.
“You said we have to live with what we do here.”
Thomas stares at the bodies.
No smile.
No hesitation.
“I can live with it.”
—
Another explosion.
The lab shudders violently.
They sprint for daylight.
“How the hell do we get out with a regiment guarding this place?” Thomas asks.
Arthur answers as they hit the doorway.
“It won’t be a problem.”
Smoke everywhere.
Two destroyed ships burn in the distance.
Shuttles flee.
The sky is alive with fire.
They reach Anna’s shuttle.
Climb in.
Arthur looks back once — shakes his head — seals the door.
Sarah takes the pilot’s seat.
The shuttle lifts.
Below, the Tribunal’s city burns.
The grand law library lies crushed beneath the fallen ANUBIS.
Thomas smirks at Arthur.
“Really?”
Arthur shrugs.
“How would you have saved me?”
“Snuck in at night. Killed a few guards. Left quietly.”
“Too risky,” Arthur says. “Random patrol.”
Thomas laughs.
“Thanks for coming to get us.”
Arthur exhales — relief, exhaustion, gratitude — as they climb.
They break orbit and vanish into blue fire.
—
The cabin hums.
Arthur finally relaxes.
Pulls Sarah close.
“Sorry it took so long,” he says. “Had to find my way out of the swamp.”
She laughs.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
They kiss.
“I should warn you… your music collection didn’t make it,” Arthur adds.
She smiles.
“I recorded them once. I can do it again.
It’s not like I don’t have the time.”
“Did anything survive?” Thomas asks.
Anna leans against him.
“We did. And that’s enough.”
Arthur takes Sarah’s hand.
“So — where to?” Anna asks.
Arthur smiles.
“Maybe a few months of vacation.”
Thomas nods.
“We haven’t been back there in years.”
“Why haven’t we?” Sarah asks softly, entering coordinates.
The stars blur.
The gate ignites.
And the Hammonds disappear into blue fire —
together again.
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