"We are standing before a window of opportunity," Kaelen said, her voice tight. She didn't look at Elias; she was too busy recalibrating the thrusters. "But windows don't just close. They shatter if you wait too long."
Should we explore what happens to the now that they've returned to an Earth they haven't seen in years ?
"No," Kaelen corrected, leaning back as the consoles flickered to life. "We took it." my_naxodimsya_pered_oknom_vozmoznostei_oni_pere...
She didn't wait for his hand on the lever. She slammed hers down.
The digital clock on the wall of the "Aetheris" station didn't tick; it hummed, a low-frequency vibration that Elias felt in his marrow. Outside the reinforced glass, the Great Nebula was folding in on itself—a celestial curtain closing on the only jump-gate that could lead them home. "We are standing before a window of opportunity,"
Elias exhaled, his hands shaking. He looked back at the space behind them. The nebula was gone. The window had vanished as if it had never existed. "We made it," he whispered.
The station groaned, a sound like a thousand violins snapping at once. The "window" didn't just open; it pulled them through. For a heartbeat, there was no ship, no Kaelen, no Elias—only the sensation of being stretched across the stars. They shatter if you wait too long
"If we jump now, we might tear the hull," Elias warned. "If we wait ten minutes for a full charge, the gate will be gone. We'll be ghosts in this sector."
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