Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 130081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
“I can’t imagine how hard losing your mate must be,” Commander Sylvan said gently. “But the Multiverse is vast—even if I let you use the Far Box to try and find one of the universes where your Sonya is still alive—”
“Just one,” Davrik interrupted him. Making an effort to put away his grief, he sat up straighter and looked at the other male. “There’s only one universe where my Sonya is still alive. In every other universe I’ve seen—and I’ve spent the last five years looking through PORTAL—she died in the crash.”
PORTAL—short for Positronic Orbital Rotating Time/Space Allocating Locator—was a device invented by a human scientist who lived aboard the Mother Ship. It was made for viewing other universes in the Multiverse and it had been known to act as a transportation device for traveling to some of those universes as well.
However, there were limits on its travel capabilities—it seemed to choose at random whether to suck someone into another universe. Which was why Davrik desperately needed to use the Far Box—an ancient Kindred device which allowed a person to visit other universes at will.
“So…there’s just one possibility?” Commander Sylvan asked.
“Yes—only one universe where Sonya didn’t get killed in that shuttle crash.” Davrik squeezed large hands into fists in his lap. He was a Blood Kindred like Sylvan, but far back in his heritage he had some Giant Kindred DNA. The result was that he was eight feet tall instead of the usual seven and his fists were bigger than most.
He also has pearly gray skin and black hair, instead of the usual pale blond of the Blood Kindred but the double set of fangs which proved his heritage were there—though they had been blunted since his female had died. Unsurprising, since a Blood Kindred’s only use for his fangs was to heal or pleasure his mate. They sharpened when he first encountered the female who was right for him…and dulled if he lost her.
“I suppose if you were only going to one alternate universe, the risk to you would be much less,” Commander Sylvan said thoughtfully. “Tell me about this one universe—the only one where your wife survived. Why did she survive there? Is it the only universe where she didn’t board the shuttle that crashed?”
Davrik nodded.
“It is. And the reason she didn’t board is because that is the only universe where the Kindred didn’t save the Earth from the Scourge. So she couldn’t get on a shuttle from the Mother Ship headed for Earth because the Mother Ship wasn’t there at that time. Neither am I, for that matter—this is the only universe where I have no doppelganger. So I can go there without fear of running into myself and causing any kind of a paradox.”
“This is beginning to sound much more plausible.” Commander Sylvan leaned forward, his long fingers steepled on his desk. “Tell me more. Why aren’t you there? I mean—a version of you?”
Davrik shook his head.
“To be honest, I don’t know. I thought maybe the doppelganger of me had died in that universe, but I can’t find any trace of him. It’s the only universe where I never existed and Sonya is still alive.” He leaned forward, tension coursing through his body. “But she might not be if I don’t hurry and get to her.”
“Oh? What do you mean?” Sylvan asked.
“I’ve been watching her—I finally found her yesterday on the PORTAL,” Davrik explained. “But I saw her being sold—the Scourge have decimated the Earth in that universe and killed and enslaved many of the humans. They have no use for the women, since most of their warriors are sexless monstrosities grown in the Flesh Vats. So they sell the human females to slavers—I saw Sonya being sold and sent away on a Saurian slaver ship.” He gripped his fists so tight the knuckles turned white. “Commander, I have to get to her!”
“I can understand how upsetting seeing that must be,” Sylvan said gravely. “And I think I know a little about the universe you’re speaking of. If I’m correct, it’s the same universe that Commander Nox, the Dark Kindred, visited not long ago when he and the human female who is now his mate went to retrieve the second half of the Far Box.”
“You know about it? What do you know?” Davrik asked eagerly. “Any information I can find on it would be helpful!”
“Well, to start with, it is the only universe where the Kindred didn’t come in time to save the Earth from the Scourge, when they first came to threaten it,” Commander Sylvan said. “But Commander Nox called for the Kindred Mother Ship—which does exist in that universe as well—and from what I understand, they were going to wage war on the Scourge to free the Earth from their grip. Whether they have succeeded or not yet, I do not know.”