What if . . . what if . . . what if.
When we reach the Delta, we head straight to Home. Marc takes a sleeping Maya from my back and carries her to her room. Since Aven’s already out for the night, Sash and I decide to leave her at Home. We return to our habitat, clean off, and pass out from exhaustion.
Early the next morrow, we spend half an hour playing with Aven at Home before departing again with Maya. Just as he was the prior morrow, Larn is already waiting for us by the gate. Before we get our boots and canisters, Sash steps in front of Larn.
“I don’t want to sound rude,” she says, “but I don’t think you should come with us.”
“Why not?” Larn asks.
“You’ll slow us down. You know how fast my speed is, and Chase has surpassed yours. We need to cover a lot more ground than we did on the prior morrow.”
“It’s safer with three of us,” he argues.
“We aren’t there to fight. Our speed will keep us safe.”
Larn looks at me. “What was your count?”
“Three-eighty one,” I answer. “But I think I can go a little faster.”
“And Tela’s?” he asks.
“The same that I had.”
He thoughtfully nods his head. “I’ve noticed how fast you’ve both become. I’m sorry she isn’t here to hear me say this. I’m proud to have served as Mentor to both of you.”
“Thank you, Larn,” I say. “You can tell her in person when we bring her back.”
“I hope I have that opportunity.” He looks down at Maya. “Do you feel safe with just the two of them.”
“I think so,” Maya says. “Sash won’t let anything bad happen to me.”
Larn returns his attention to Sash. “Her safety is your top priority. Let me know as soon as you return.”
“I will,” she replies. “Thank you for understanding.”
Larn bows to us and then walks in the direction of Market. Considering all his help and how much concern he’s shown for Tela’s well being, I hope he doesn’t feel bad from what Sash said. But I’m fairly certain he recognizes the truth in her words.
“Now it’s your turn,” Sash says to me. “You need to go faster.”
“I think I’ve got a little more in me.”
“You need a lot more than a little. That’s why I asked Larn not to come. Do you believe you can go as fast as I can?”
“Of course not,” I answer. “You’re three times faster than anyone here.”
“Do you remember when I helped you go faster by traveling through you?”
“Is that what you want to do now?” I ask.
“No,” she answers. “I want you to travel at my speed on your own.”
“I don’t think that’s possible,” I say.
“It is possible,” she firmly replies. “When I shared my light with you at the Gateway, I had to leave some of it inside you. It was the only way to bring you back from the Expanse. Part of what I gave you is in your spectrum now. If you believe you can match my speed, you’ll find the same level of focus that I have and your body will follow your mind.”
“Why haven’t you told me this before?” I ask.
“You haven’t needed it until now,” she answers. “Free your mind of the boundaries you impose on yourself and you’ll keep pace with me. If you can’t do that, you should stay here.”
I shake my head. “I’m not staying here.”
“Then keep up with me,” she demands. “Until you prove you can go faster, Maya will ride with me.”
Once Maya is on Sash’s back, I follow them to the western Barrens. Soon after we hit the open space, Sash begins to pull away from me. I concentrate on staying right behind her, but she puts more and more distance between us. Tunneling my vision into a few distinct beams, I try to forget about everything else. No matter how hard I try, I can’t keep up with her.
When she’s almost out of my sight, she suddenly slows until she’s right by my side. She drifts towards me so that the tiny barbs of her body bristle against mine. As our molecules partially intermix, she gradually accelerates. I block out every other thought except keeping the feel of her inside me.
Buried somewhere in my body is a gear that I never knew existed. When my mind shifts into that gear, the force of the whiplash almost collapses my lungs. The bite of an arctic blizzard numbs every particle of my body, and I fight with all my might just to suck in one breath. I might as well have straddled a comet hurtling through outer space.
While torpedoing across the wasteland, it’s impossible for me to detect any real detail in the terrain. Nebulous shapes warp through my vision. The only sight I can make out for sure is the sparkling trail directly in front of me that I know is Sash. I stay right on her tail.
A blink must be ten miles, a heartbeat twenty, and a breath a hundred. It’s almost impossible to judge time at the speed we stream across the badlands. When Sash eventually begins to slow, I broaden my focus until I return to what would have been my normal traveling speed. We both slip from the light and coast to a stop on top of a hill. When I realize we’re already on the same hill that we made our last stop on the prior morrow, I look at Sash in amazement.
“That was incredible!”
Sash stabs her spear into the ground, catches her breath, and smiles at me. “We made it to this hill in a third of the time that it took us to get from here to the Delta with Larn.”
Rubbing the sting out of her cheeks, Maya pokes her face out from
