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Back A Fractured Infinity Save as PDF
Chapters (41)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. Acknowledgements
  41. About the Author

When I was halfway through my cappuccino, Yusuf joined me and Logan at the bar, smelling of salt with a storm-cloud of sweat down the front of his borrowed T-shirt.

“How did you guys get here from Earth?” he asked. We hadn’t found him a new pair of glasses yet. One of the lenses was still a spider web of cracks from the tussle back in Hassan’s world.

Every time Yusuf spoke, Logan’s eyes lingered on him. A heavy weight of a stare that if I’d been at the business end of it at a bar back home I’d tell the guy, ease up, man. I’m not a fucking cheeseburger. Logan sputtered through something about a spaceport nearby, where the ship from Earth had dropped them off. Then a shuttle van had whisked them from the port and rolled into a freight airlock in the basement that separated the dome from the barren lunar surface. I could see the pieces falling into place in Yusuf’s head.

“Sorry,” Logan said, blinking away some cobwebs in his eyes at the sight of Yusuf. “It’s just so weird. You look exactly like him.”

“Yeah.” Yusuf cleared his throat.

“Sorry you guys are in a fight,” I fumbled. “Or, something.”

Logan waved me off. “He’ll be back soon. Especially now you guys are here. He’ll definitely want to meet you.”

“You told him we’re here?” I asked.

“Yeah. He took one of the two-way radios with him. Sometimes he picks up and listens. Sometimes he doesn’t.”

“What’d you say?”

“I said two guys who look just like us dropped in through a machine in the middle of nowhere and that it means we’re getting outta here.” Behind us, the wolf pack wrapped up their yoga session and flooded the bar. Logan flitted away from us to play host, pouring mimosas into flutes. “I said, ‘Baby, come home.’”

I watched the muscles working at the sides of Yusuf’s jaw.

*   *   *

One week, moths invaded the Compound. They’d fluttered in the cones of light cast by the spotlights in the Theater. We’d all found their little brown, withered bodies in the cabinets of the kitchenette and in our rooms. They’d driven Kaori absolutely bonkers. How the hell did the things get into her supposedly airtight facility?