Back outside, the aurora is gone, and morning light creeps over the wastes. I aim the weapon, but when I squeeze the trigger, nothing happens. I squeeze it a second time, a third.

I detach the small box Asher had slid into the rifle. One of the narrow sides is see-through. The edges of eight bullets wink in the strengthening sunlight.

I clip the box back in. Try again.

Nothing.

It won’t fire.

The aurora is gone, meaning we’re in the thick of a silent storm, and the Old World tech is useless. Just like Amory claimed.

I pull my lodestone from beneath my shirt and let it shiver to a standstill. The indentation points due north.

I wonder briefly if this is why my father disappeared to the south—if he thought the lodestone material could be used in other ways, perhaps to power weapons. Perhaps he was trying to beat the General all along, and his plan required leaving before he could return for a final fight.

I choose to believe this possibility. Like Amory and his Federation crew, I want to believe that my father didn’t abandon me without a reason.

Resting the mag-rifle on my shoulder, I go to wake the others.

I explain everything. Harlie grouses and moans as she stretches, but Reed jumps from bed like a drop of water on a hot skillet. “I need to show you something,” he says, dragging me back to the room where we watched Amory’s confession. He points at the table made of square toggles. “I was playing around with this last night. It has arrows, like the tiles Rune could carry. Tapping the arrows brought me to different information.”

He taps through until the screen fills with black Old World symbols set against crisp white. The Federation emblem—the winged bird I’ve seen in the General’s library and on Amory’s clothes—covers most of the background as well, faint enough to not demand attention, but obvious if you’re looking at it. Like a stain.

“I don’t know what any of this means,” I say.

“Wait.” Reed presses the arrows again, and a strange symbol appears. It looks a bit like a face in profile, with a rainbow turned vertical beside it.

Text to audio enabled, a voice announces.

Reed taps again, and the disembodied voice continues to read what I presume are the words on the window.

Solar Cycles of CIX: Understanding the Star’s Activity and How It Affects Planet CIX-b

Compiled by Dr. Iris Rae Tollis, Federation Department of Energy