But stopping it was the right thing to do. Aedre’s stepson, Maki, did the right thing. RRT caused too many headaches once information about it leaked to the public of planet Old Bilu. The Plan8 Alliance was on the brink of war because of shape-shifting madness and crime. Akachi, Aedre, and Foster had nearly died when aliens from across the borders abducted them because of the unravelling of space and time.
Xuxu’s high-pitched laugh brought him back to the present. He gulped his whiskey and noticed his wife flirting with another man across the way. What did it matter? Their marriage was a shambles. His agent-friend, Foster, nodded in his direction from a sofa opposite. She was a Jerjen, like him. Their ancestors originated from Mayleeda’s northern landmass, Maozong. Unlike him, though, she was brought up as a servant in an illegal concubine training camp, whereas his Jerjen parents had immersed him with their culture from childhood and into adult life. Foster sat beside the metallic android, Three. They beckoned for YuFu to sit with them.
After he lowered himself down into the old-fashioned cushions, Three’s flashlight-blue eyes blinked. He asked in his robotic voice, “What are you going to do now RRT’s shut?”
“Whatever Z’Das says I gotta do, I guess. How about you guys?”
Foster tucked some slick black hair behind her ear. “We’re going on a boot camp. If I do well, I’ve agreed to get cybernetic implants.”
“Wow. A cyborg?”
She nodded and laughed.
“I’m joining Foster in everything she does.” Three stroked her knee with a shiny metal finger.
YuFu’s breath hitched as he gave them a sidelong look. Were they an item? That would be weird; a human and robot. “You’re not gonna become a cyborg too, Three, are you?”
“Ha-ha.” Three’s laugh did not sound human, but YuFu smiled.
“Why would I want flesh? Then I couldn’t face the void of space in my naked body alone. No, thank you. RTT’s finished. No more imagination as a tool. Life’s about to get much harder.”
“So, what’re you doing?”
The robot’s blue eyes flashed from within his cuboid face again. “Join bootcamp, then follow Foster with whatever she does and wherever she wants to go.”
“I thought you were a good fighter.”
As Three discussed all the military skills which he was good at and all the martial arts which needed improvement, Foster slipped away. YuFu noticed her join Akachi and his wife, Aedre, at the bottom of the stairs. YuFu’s gaze followed them up as the robot continued.
***
Foster’s gaze clouded when she entered Maki’s bedroom with Aedre and Akachi. “What are we doing in your son’s room?”
Aedre shrugged. “It was the only place we could find to chat. The garden’s occupied, and I thought we’d better not leave the house while the party’s still on.”
“Chat about what?” Foster asked.
Akachi stretched an airSphere around them and set it on privacy. Then, he sat on the carpet in a cross-legged position. His redhead wife sat beside him, nodding for Foster to come.
Her knees creaked when she lowered herself to the floor. “So, what is it?”
“Since Maki rescued us from the space-wizards, have you noticed anything strange?”
“Like what?”
Akachi rolled up his T-shirt to expose his muscular, dark-brown chest. From the centre gleamed white light in the shape of a six-pointed star within a circle. “Do you have one of these?”
She scraped a hand through her bobbed-haircut and nodded.
“I do too,” Aedre said.
“Shit.” Foster cringed. “What does it mean? That they can track us?”
“We’re not sure, and we don’t want to find out.” Aedre stretched a coiled lock of red hair until it stretched down to her waist. She released, and it sprang back to join the other fiery curls. “We’ve agreed to never try RRT again. We don’t want to find out what the symbols means.”
“Neither do I.” Foster frowned, then stood and pointed out Maki’s window at the dome in their garden. “But, you’ve got an RTT dome still.” She twirled to offer Akachi a puzzled expression. “Why didn’t you knock it down?” The reason they had bought the house in the mountains, in the first place, was because it stood over a gorge which ran directly from an amethyst pyramid. Any rivers flowing from time portals offered access to RRT, providing it was raining, and you had an amethyst and an aurashield set on rain protection.
“That took time and effort to build,” Akachi said.
“But won’t it tempt you to try again? Especially with the stars in your chests.”
“Would it tempt you?” Akachi stood and waited beside her at the window.
“Not at all. I salvaged my girls from their masters, and you guys rescued my Yasmin from the Firesnake. I don’t need RRT. That’s why I’m going to bootcamp.”
“We won’t use the dome for anything other than chilling out,” Aedre said. “What if the space wizards found us again? It’s not worth the risk.”
“I fear that too. I promise never to try RRT if you promise.” Foster held out her hand.
Akachi gripped it in his large dark one, and Aedre’s stood and clasped their united hands with hers—pale on brown on yellow. They shook on it.
Foster pulled away. “But, what about your union practice?” Aedre was the most spiritual person she knew. The young woman had been going on shamanic journeying for decades. Because of her meditation, she had discovered time travel and RRT. Then, the secret service had got involved, and that was how she met her spy-husband, Akachi.
Aedre kissed Akachi’s cheek. “I’ve promised not to do any form of meditation from this property, because of the magic river and the star in my chest. We’ll only use the RRT dome as a sweat lodge.”
Foster nodded. “Will you only do the physical form of union? The postures and breathing?”
Aedre nodded.
“She meditates elsewhere. Nowhere near the river.”
