No money. No connections. No identity. Jane had nothing to her name after she left the title of Jaguar behind in the Lion’s Den.
But she did have her physical strength, which landed her a position on a cargo spaceship headed for Sa Ren. She was eager for the work, for the exhaustion that sank so deeply into every muscle that she was out cold every night. With most of her time spent sleeping or working, she didn’t have much energy left to dwell on her thoughts. Her past. Her future.
After arriving on Sa Ren, she hung out in a coastal town for a few weeks. The planet was mostly water, its ocean only broken up by scattered islands and small landmasses. The weather was perfect. Most found it verging on uncomfortably hot in the summer months, but Jane couldn’t get enough of the sun, the warm seas, the clear skies tinged with green.
She was lounging on the upper balcony of a cafe one morning, scanning the crowds below for wealthy pickpocketing targets, when she saw him.
For a moment, she couldn’t believe it. It had to be someone who looked similar. A blue-skinned member of the Si Heran species wasn’t an unusual sight on Sa Ren, after all. But he was wearing the same clothing he’d worn that night, and she could never forget that face for as long as she lived.
Jane slid off the balcony railing and hurried downstairs, taking a detour through the kitchen to grab a knife. Then she was outside, slipping through the crowd, not taking her eyes off the back of Eriph’s head.
She followed him for five minutes before he entered an empty side street. As soon as they were out of view of people passing on the sidewalk, Jane grabbed him, clapped a hand over his mouth, and slammed him into the wall. With her free hand, she pressed the knife to his throat.
“Scream, and you’re dead.” She removed her hand from his mouth. “Remember me?”
Eriph stared, seemingly unbothered by the blade at his neck. “Am I supposed to?”
“I can jog your memory, if you’d like. This is actually the third time we’ve met,” she told him. “Earth. New York. 1964—about four and a half starcycles ago. Ring any bells?”
“Rings a lot of bells. I’m guessing you’re one of the kids I took to Starr?”
Jane swallowed her anger, resisting the urge to let the blade sink in. “Where’s Ybra?”
“Ybra?” Eriph’s brow furrowed. “I haven’t worked with her in a couple of starcycles. I came here to find her, actually. Starr has a growing interest in kids from the Ra System, and she’s the only one I know who’s been there.”
“How do you know she’s here?” Jane asked.
“I don’t, but a pair she usually works with came here to join a squad headed to Earth. I’m hoping she’s with them.”
“Where can I find them?”
“Okay, enough.” Eriph’s hand moved toward Jane’s wrist. She yanked it away and jammed the blade of the knife into his shoulder.
He gasped. Blood spurted from the wound. “You’re fast.”
Jane threw him to the ground. “And strong.”
“How—?”
Jane crouched. The blade went back to his neck. “How do I find them?”
“They’re meeting on Pier 23 at midnight. If you let me take you—”
Jane cut him off with a swipe of the blade.
She took his blaster, his dagger, and his pulse gun. The weapons waited hidden under a dumpster while she stole new clothes—mostly black, heavier material resembling the stuff Eriph and Ybra wore—and a bag from a shop. Her short, nearly chin-length hair was still a little uneven from her cuts in the Lion’s Den, but she smoothed it out as best she could.
Then, she collected the weapons and headed to the piers.
Pier 23 was under construction. Jane found a secluded spot on the walkway above the beach to watch from and waited for the suns to go down.
Tourists left the boardwalk. Lights from ships glimmered in the night, far from shore. As the twentieth hour of the Sa Renian day came to a close, figures arrived on the pier, ducking under the caution tape and stepping around construction equipment. Jane descended from her lookout spot and followed them.
“—and the underground warp has been redirected to Earth station three,” a man was saying as Jane approached.
“That’s far from our target. What happened to stations one and two?” a second voice asked.
“They were both destroyed. By some assholes calling themselves Earthguard,” the man replied. “Anyway, are we waiting on anyone else?”
Jane stepped out of the shadows, blaster drawn. “I’m looking for Ybra.”
Six more blasters turned on her in an instant. “Ybra?” the first man asked.
“I know her,” a woman said. “She’s not here. She’s taking a season or so off in Kronos.” Her eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”
“Name’s Clarke. I’m coming with you to Earth.”
Only one of the bounty hunters attempted to fire at Jane. She dodged. Instead of firing back, she lunged forward, ducked to avoid the man’s attempt to strike her, and landed a solid kick to his stomach. As he slammed into the pier, she braced herself for another attack. The others looked ready to strike, but none made a move.
“I don’t want to hurt any of you,” Jane lied. “Don’t make me.” As if they could stop her.
After a tense silence, a woman spoke. “You can come,” she said. When her fellow hunters gave her weird looks, she said, “What? She has skill, clearly. She could bring in some good money.”
The man Jane had struck climbed to his feet, gasping for breath. “She’d better.”
The woman explained that they would take a small boat to an unregulated offshore warp. The others told Jane their names, but she didn’t bother remembering them.
“Where’s this station three located?” Jane asked.
“Near a city called New York,” a different woman answered. “That’s not our target, though. Too many do-gooder vigilantes with superpowers these days. We’re heading west.”
Jane didn’t make conversation with the others, and she gave them vague answers to questions when they asked. For over an hour, she listened to them talk about past jobs. Share stories. Laugh.
Her hand tightened around the side of the boat. She needed to wait. She needed them to take her to Earth. Tighter. Hairline cracks appeared in the side of the boat. She forced herself to move her hand.
They docked on a tiny, rocky island. Tied the boat up. Walked to the dilapidated shack housing the warp. Jane didn’t like the idea of using a warp that hadn’t been approved by government inspectors. Even if it had been used safely before, there was no telling when it would break down.
The journey was rougher than Jane remembered her first warp being, but she was still in one piece at the end of it. The warp deposited her and the hunters in a room that opened into a sewer tunnel. Jane stayed at the back of the group as they walked, assessing the six hunters, running through her plan.
Go for the fastest, most agile first. Stay in the middle so they can’t fire without hitting each other. Don’t stop until they’re all down.
She drew her dagger.
Lunge. Stab, swipe, swipe again. One down. Jane ducked to avoid the blows coming her way. A strike to the legs, the foot, and two more were down. Elbow the head, leg to the stomach. Stab. Another one down—
Someone kicked Jane in the back, sending her staggering into the wall. Her head smacked against stone. The dagger slipped from her hand. She dove to the right. A blaster fired into the wall.
The woman took aim and fired again. Jane dropped to the ground, grabbed the dagger, and threw it into the woman’s chest.
The shot from the blaster grazed her arm, ripping a hole in her sleeve and burning her skin. She cried out but forced herself to stand and turn, searching for the last hunter.
The man pushed her into the wall and pressed his blaster to her head. “Why are you doing this?” he hissed.
“If you were an insect reborn as a cat, would you hunt down the bird that killed you?”
“What?”
The moment of confusion was enough. Jane dropped, pulling away from the blaster. His hand moved to aim it at her again. She shoved her foot into his stomach. Straightened up. Struck the side of his face, his stomach again, his neck. The blaster fell from his grasp. Jane snatched it from the air.
She aimed and fired.
Last one down.
Jane wandered the sewers in a haze for ten minutes—maybe longer—before finding the presence of mind to search for a way out. She emerged through a manhole cover in an alley, startling a boy throwing trash bags into a dumpster. Ignoring his surprised yelp and confused stare, she walked to the sidewalk.
Jane had picked up a limp at some point, her face was covered in grime, and there was undoubtedly blood splattered across her dark clothing. She checked her clock. August 28th. 1975. Roughly ten p.m. in the Eastern Time Zone.
It was surreal, staring up at the buildings, feeling that sense of familiarity she hadn’t known in years. Everything was different, new, bigger, louder, but underneath it all was a place she knew.
Her home was nearby.
Jane had the horrible thought that she might be dreaming as she walked. This couldn’t be real. Yes, she was home, but it was all wrong. There was a mismatch between her blood-covered clothes and aching limbs, and the streets she knew as a child.
Walking turned to jogging, which turned to running. Her apartment building emerged from behind taller buildings. Jane collided with the locked gate and realized she didn’t have a key.
She jumped and scrambled over the top of the gate. The door to the building was in terrible condition, with peeling paint and far more scrapes than Jane remembered. More lights were burned out inside. The carpet in the main hallway had been replaced with something even uglier.
Jane climbed the stairs. Raced through the second floor. Apartment number 208 waited. She found herself frozen in front of it, her anticipation and fear and uncertainty catching up with her. Deep breath. Knock.
The woman who answered was not Jane’s mother. She wasn’t anyone Jane recognized. The dim hallway and lack of light in the apartment’s entryway must have hidden Jane’s monstrous appearance, because the woman didn’t appear alarmed. “Can I help you?”
“I—” Jane double checked the number by the door. “Do you live here?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
The woman pushed the door a few inches back toward the frame, nervousness creeping onto her expression. “I’m sorry, are you looking for someone?”
“The Clarkes. Will and Nancy.”
“Oh. The couple that lived here before me.” The woman relaxed slightly but kept the door where it was. “They caught whatever was going around and their health got bad fast. Couldn’t work anymore so they had to move out. I think they’re both hospitalized right now.”
Oh god. Jane swallowed. “Which hospital?”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry, miss, I have to go.” The woman closed the door, leaving Jane to stand alone in shock.
Hospital. Which hospital would Mom and Dad be at? Not a nice one, that’s for sure. Maybe the place they went when Dad broke his arm?
Jane’s legs moved faster than her mind, racing to carry her back to the streets. She had no money for the subway, but if she kept her head down and didn’t draw any attention to herself, she’d be fine. Maybe.
The subway station closest to the Clarkes’ apartment had never been the nicest, but there was more trash littering the ground than Jane was used to. And the graffiti bordered on out of control. Everyone who looked her way seemed to be assessing whether she was a threat or a target. She avoided eye contact.
It was a ten-minute ride to what Jane hoped was the right stop. She tried to hide her shaking hands and heavy breathing, but people around her still shot concerned looks her way. As soon as the doors opened, she bolted out of the train. Out of the station. On the street, she shoved her way through the crowd and ignored honking cars as she sprinted through traffic. Into the hospital. Up to the front desk.
“Is there a William and Nancy Clarke here?” The question tumbled out of Jane’s mouth as she halted in front of the desk, nearly slamming into it.
The receptionist gave her a wild look. “Are you okay, miss?”
“I’m looking for the Clarkes. Are they here?”
“I can’t give you information about a patient unless you’re immediate family.”
“I’m their daughter!”
“Do you have identification?”
Jane’s jaw clenched. “No, but—”
“I’m sorry. I don’t think I can help you.” The receptionist looked Jane over with nervous eyes. “There’s a police precinct not far from here, if you need directions.”
Jane stormed into the waiting area and began pacing. She’d have to sneak past the receptionist and check rooms until she found her parents. Her gaze darted between the double doors leading to the rest of the hospital and the front desk. Back and forth.
A family entered and walked up to the receptionist, said something to her. She turned around and opened one of the filing cabinets behind her.
Jane hurried past the desk and through the doors, entered the first bathroom she found, and stopped in front of a sink. God. The mirror reflected back a disaster. She rinsed off her face as best as she could and smoothed out her hair.
Then, it was back to the search.
She passed through an intersection, searching the walls for a directory. Two nurses walked down the hall to her right, away from her. “—next delivery will be here in a few hours, last I heard,” one said. She sighed. “If people keep getting sick, we’re going to run out of room in this wing.”
Jane followed them. They passed through a set of double doors, and patient rooms appeared along the walls. Jane peered into windows as she passed. No, no, no—
There.
Jane froze and stared through the window at her parents’ hospital beds. Her hand hovered above the door handle. Eleven years. She shook off her hesitation. She’d waited long enough.
“Is that the nurse?” Dad asked weakly as she entered. His eyes didn’t open.
Mom looked up. “Hello?”
What was she supposed to say? “I’m sorry.” Jane pulled the door shut behind her. “It’s me. It’s Jane.”
Mom sat up, eyes wide. “What?” She gasped the word out, and it was accompanied by a deep cough that made Jane grimace.
“Who is it?” Dad’s eyes were still shut. His voice was barely audible.
Jane rushed to Mom’s side.
“How are you here?” Mom asked, voice hoarse. “What happened to you?”
“It’s a long story.” The words came out a whisper. Jane was choking on air.
“Is this real? Are you a ghost?”
“I’m real.” Jane’s heart sank as she took in the tubes and machines hooked up to her parents. “It took me too long to get back.”
Dad coughed. A lot. As the fit subsided, he said, “Nancy, I hear someone talking.”
“Is he okay?” Jane asked, eyes stinging. “What’s wrong with him? What’s wrong with you?”
Mom didn’t seem to hear the questions. She reached out to grab Jane’s hand. “Impossible,” she murmured.
“I’m real,” Jane repeated. “It was…god, I’m so stupid. The aliens got me. I went looking.”
Mom only stared at her for a long moment, wide-eyed. Then the tears rushed in. “Oh, Jane,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. I wanted to get you help—”
Dad coughed again. This time, somewhere in there, Jane heard her own name. She turned around, her hand still in Mom’s. Lucidity flashed in Dad’s eyes as he looked at her. “Jane.”
“Yeah, Dad.” Jane swallowed. “It’s me.”
“I always hoped you’d find your way home.”
One of the machines started beeping rapidly. Jane turned and squeezed Mom’s hand. “Mom. Mom. What’s wrong?”
No response. Mom’s eyes were closed. Tears made faint trails on her deathly pale skin.
There was technology out there that could heal them. What was the point of the Star System Alliance if people on Earth were left to live like this? Why didn’t they get the space warps and starships and medical advancements?
Then again, people on Kronos weren’t really better off. Not in the lower districts, anyway.
There was a commotion in the hallway. Voices. Footsteps. The door opened and a nurse entered. “Who are you?” she asked as she approached the bed. “No one’s supposed to be in here.”
“I’m their daughter!” Jane straightened up and frantically glanced between her parents. “Mom, tell them I’m—”
More people barged in. “Get her out of here,” the nurse said. She moved to the machines by Dad’s bed and frowned at the heart monitor. “He’s not going to make it much longer if we don’t—”
“Wait!” Jane yanked her arm free of the hand that grabbed her, but more took its place. A feeling deep in her chest swelled, tightening her fists, whispering that they couldn’t stop her. She was stronger. Faster. Throw them into the walls, the floor—
“No!” Jane shrieked. She pulled herself free again and knelt by Mom’s bed. “Mom—”
“She’s strong,” a man warned. More people were grabbing her now, more people were coming in. As she was pulled back, she tried to kick at someone, but it was half-hearted. Her feet lifted off the floor and she was carried into the hall.
“Please,” she sobbed.
They dragged her to another room, a small, empty one. “Stay here and we’ll sort this out once they’re stable,” a nurse said.
And then they were gone.
Jane’s body shuddered with each sob. The red, swollen part of her arm burned earlier by the blaster screamed in pain, and the rest of her body ached with it. She rose to her feet.
Fear stopped her halfway to the door. Fear of herself. The medical staff were only doing their job, and it would be so easy to hurt them. To fight her way to her parents. Her fingers twitched at the thought.
Maybe they’d let her see them after. Maybe this could all be sorted out.
Shouting carried into the hallway. Jane crept to the door as a doctor ran by. She wiped tears off her face and stepped into the hall. The door to her parents’ room was open. The shouting came from inside.
The silence that followed was worse.
How long before someone looked up the Clarkes’ daughter and found out she went missing a decade earlier? Would they call the police? What would they do with Jane? Her fingernails dug into the door frame.
Ybra was still out there, dragging kids into space. Starr was still paying for them. The Lion’s Den still forced their prisoners to fight to the death. Gangs still killed innocent people like Naomi.
Two nurses came out of the room and walked toward Jane, moving far too slow, the solemn looks on their faces undeniable. Who had died? Dad? Mom? Both?
Jane sank to her knees.
“Miss, we have an officer here who would like to speak with you.” The man the words came from was coming closer. Closer. Closer. Cold tile pressed against Jane’s palms. She sucked in a deep breath.
Two nurses more nurses emerged from her parents’ room and paused in the doorway, talking quietly. Jane’s mind latched onto their conversation, adjusting the volume automatically.
“—have the room cleaned in a few hours.”
“Miss?” A woman reached out to touch her arm. Another nurse. She was too close, too loud. When did she get here? Why were there so many people here?
Jane ripped her arm away. Staggered to her feet. Backed away.
“Please, if we could just have you sit down—” the nurse started.
Jane had nothing. Twenty-three and her only education was in weapons and violence. And she was getting older and her face was staying the same and the metal in her body wasn’t going away.
She ran.
She stopped next to the too-quiet hospital room and pushed the nurses aside. “I’m sorry,” she yelled into the room. Tears ran down her face in a river. “I love you. I’m going to go try to do something good.”
Maybe some part of them was still lingering, some part that would hear her goodbye. Hands reached for Jane. She broke away and kept running.
As she stumbled out of the hospital, Jane’s first thought was that she could warp back to Sa Ren and go from there, but she had no idea how to use the warps or even how to get back to them and only hunters knew the passcodes, anyway. Her next thought was that there was no point, right? Why go back to space? Back to the stars that had taken everything from her?
Summer wouldn’t last forever. New York would freeze, and then what? She couldn’t wander endlessly. If she went back to the Janus System, at least she could find Ybra and make her pay. Maybe even Starr. Everyone. All of them.
The night turned to dawn. Dawn became day after day after day. Jane lurked around the city. Stole food. Searched for a way out.
While Jane was gone, humans had gone to the Moon. They still had no warp technology. All they could do was traverse a distance that was nothing in the grand scheme of things. And if there were any humans that did have the kind of tech that could get to other systems, they weren’t advertising it.
Conspiracy theorist Dawn Teller put out a book claiming there was a secret organization with advanced technology training kids to fly into space. It was probably nonsense. But she had been right about aliens kidnapping people. Jane stole the book from a grocery store and read it.
Teller claimed the organization was recruiting gifted students from schools. Jane didn’t stand a chance of finding them that way. But Teller also said they picked up kids on the streets with powers.
That was something Jane could pull off.