“Here we go,” she said, shutting her eyes and opening the circuit between the machine and the axon diadem.

Her mind blanched supernova white as nearly eight-hundred exapids of data passed through it. Then it was over.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

“.different any feel don’t I .happened Nothing,” said Aptat, looking at their hands.

Nothing had happened. No portal had opened. No tunnel of stars had gone shooting by. There had been so sensation of movement, no change in orientation. Naecia knelt down to the machine and checked the readings to make sure there were no obvious malfunctions.

“.work didn’t this that now ,So,” said Izairis, “.have may we friends nun on money spending days our out Live .salvage the sell and somewhere get we suggest I”

“.creamery paste-blem own my run to wanted always have I,” said Oush.

Aptat seemed surprisingly sullen that it hadn’t worked. Naecia was at a loss. She’d done everything according to her priors, building on their work with better equipment and more advanced technology. There had just been a malfunction. She would fix it. A full dismantling of the drive and rebuild. “.down shut a for redundancies these remove to need I.” She gestured to the tool kit. “?grippers the me fetch you can – Izairis”

Izairis checked through the kit, found the tool, and tossed it over. Naecia plucked it from the air and bent over to loosen the bolts around the first power redundancy.

“!STOP ,on Hold,” shouted Aptat.

Naecia froze, “?it is What”

“.lefty a You’re”

“?so ,Yeah”

Aptat stomped a foot and made a drastic, open-handed Ta-dah! gesture to where Naecia was touching the machine. She followed their gaze down to where she was holding the grippers. With her right hand.

They exchanged a glance. “!shits Eleven,” said Aptat, spinning to the nav display.

“Wait,” Naecia asked, her heart pounding. “?work it Did”

Aptat threw out the hologram, showing them presently within a gilley of the Timelance’s estimated location. “.HyRope Naecia travel instantaneous invented You’ve” They sounded genuinely impressed.

“.it rediscovered only I,” she said truthfully.

“.different any feel don’t I,” said Oush.

“.same the feel I ,Yeah,” said Izairis.

Naecia consulted the data pad and then the hologram showing all the columns of data. She set it side by side with the original readings. “Look.”

Each bit of data had changed to its opposite. “.be should it what of opposite the that’s importance of anything about out find we before jump second our do to best Probably”

Oush very slowly pulled out the front band of his pants and peered inside.

“.two number Switch,” announced Naecia. “.goes Here”