"I don't understand," Aubrey said. "What is a time prison?"

Frederick turned away from the window and looked at his daughter. He felt an incredible heaviness of regret pulling inside of him. Regret for all the time that he had been away from her when she was younger. Regret for everything that he had missed and everything that Nana had been able to experience with her in his place. Regret for the pain, abandonment, and loneliness that she had felt because he and her mother hadn't been around for her, and then had simply left. At least that was how it must have seemed in her mind. Even though it wasn't true.

"You were in a time prison?" Aubrey asked.

"Yes," Frederick said. "That's why I look so much older. I got involved in the dealings of the Valdicians many years ago. Long before you were brought to us. Your mother and I devoted ourselves to it even more after we realized that we couldn't have a child, and by the time that you came along, we were too deep to stop. Trying to get out of it then would have been so much more dangerous. Several years ago, I was captured and put into a time prison."

"By the Valdicians?"

"No," Frederick said. "Even they aren't familiar with time travel. Those who control the time prisons are a small rogue group that operate in unclaimed galaxy territories. Many planetary governments know about them, but don't know the actual details of what they do. They aren't allies of the Valdicians. There has been only one real ally to the Valdicians. But they admire their pursuit of power and are happy to punish those they think are working against them."

"But if they want to help the Valdicians, why don't they tell them about time travel?"

"They would lose all of their leverage. The truth is that admiring someone is not the same as liking them or even wanting them to continue existing. This group would like the same level of power as the Valdicians want. They want to stake their claim on the Universe and take control, but they haven't come into full power. Fortunately, thanks to the help of your Jonah, their chances are far lower now."

He didn't go into any more detail, but he saw Aubrey's eyes move over and sweep across the long, jagged scar on Jonah's cheek. To her it seemed that they had only been apart for a matter of moments, but to him it had been years, and in those years, he had fought valiantly, faced indescribable danger with courage and strength, and proved himself far beyond anything that Frederick could have imagined at his young age.

"What happened there?" Aubrey asked.

"I met a man named Martin. He had been in the prison for some time. He knew about the Valdicians as well, but he knew even more than I did. We compared information and realized that together we might be able to make a difference. He knew a man named Vyker and had begun working with Aegeus and Casimir from Uoria. We came from different times and brought different knowledge. Without realizing it, putting us in that prison had actually helped our campaign against the Valdicians. We knew that the team was being chosen for a doomed mission to Uoria, a crew called Nyx 23."

Jonah stiffened.

"Martin," Aubrey said. She looked over at Jonah. "That's the name of the pilot that the book said was on the StarCity. The one you said wasn't there."

Jonah nodded.

"Yes. He infiltrated the University department so that he could be the pilot. He knew that the Valdicians were on Penthos and that they were behind the planned mission to Uoria."

"They planned Nyx 23?" Aubrey asked.

"No. Nyx 23 started as a legitimate mission to free the prisoners in the colony on Penthos. But somehow that was discovered by someone sympathetic with the Valdicians. They didn't want to see the species hurt and believed that they could help ensure that they could continue with their mission."

"But the Valdicians decided to take it a step further."

"Exactly. I said before that the Valdicians only had one ally. The Covra. They are the ancient species of Uoria and have held a deep-seated hatred for the Denynso and the Mikana for many generations. They aligned themselves with the Valdicians long ago during the first invasion of Uoria. The seeds of this uprising were planted then. When the Valdicians learned about the Nyx 23 mission, they knew that they could use it to their benefit. They would send the crew to Uoria where they could be captured and used by the Covra as slaves and then as incubators."

"But the crew attacked the Valdicians and caused extensive damage," Aubrey said. "They caused deaths. They ruined a considerable amount of the prison structure. Why would they welcome that?"

"That was the question," Frederick said. "Why did that happen? The Valdicians planned for the crew to make it to Penthos so that they could sabotage their ship and send them to Uoria, but they were taken by surprise. They got back in control and sent the crew away, but they had suffered damage. Then the ship didn't crash where it was supposed to. Something happened to change that all."

"Martin?"

"Martin never ended up on the ship. He was chosen to be the pilot and was announced as the pilot, but he never got on."

"That was Etan," Jonah said. "Etan was our pilot. We thought that he died during the crash, but Rain found out that he died before it."

Frederick nodded.

"Martin discovered that he had died and that many thought that he had killed himself, but the truth was that he was murdered. Something was on board. Something found out what he was doing and why he was there and was able to kill him before the ship crashed. But they didn't do it in time. He had already changed the course of the ship so that it would land somewhere else. He couldn't stop it from crashing. He couldn't prevent the crash all together because of the sabotage from the Valdicians, but he was able to get enough control that he could make it crash somewhere else. This gave the crew the opportunity to escape the grasp of the Covra long enough to create their settlement and build up their defenses."

"I don't understand. How did any of that happen? How did you know?"

"I was released from the time prison first. We had already planned to try to change what we could about Nyx 23 and continue our work. We meant to find out who had tipped the Valdicians off, but we couldn't. That's when I met Etan."

"Who was he?"

"He came from Earth," Frederick said. "He had traveled through the portals."

"The portals?" Aubrey asked.

Frederick took a breath. There was so much to tell her. So much to explain. He knew that he didn't have much time. He had told her that he was bringing them back before Ryan was born to protect Ilya and the baby that she was carrying. He hadn't told her yet why he had chosen the time that he had.

Aubrey walked over to the window and stared out at the night beyond. The horizon was getting faintly lighter and she realized that she had been listening to her father for hours. Throughout the night he had explained to her the complex and nearly overwhelming concept of the portals that linked the streams of existence throughout the Universe. It was so much. It sat heavily on her and she struggled to understand it, to grasp what it all could mean. Even as she did, though, she knew that she was living it. She was a part of it all. This was more than just her husband being from a time a century before her and coming back to Earth after his release from the captivity of the Covra. She had lived one minute in one time and then in the next she had been transported to another time. Though it was wholly unbelievable, she knew that she was now breathing air from a time before she was even born. A time before her grandmother was even born. And she would never be able to live in her time again.

As she stared out of the window, she thought about the reality that she was facing. She had left everything behind. In an instant, without even realizing what was happening, she had left her entire world behind. Her family was gone. Her friends were gone. All that she had ever known was a thing of her past, even if it was in reality all in the future. Her heart ached for Nana. She hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye. There was some comfort in knowing that years in the future Nana would be with her again. She still had that life to live. But she wouldn't be with her grandmother again. Her time with her was over and it left her feeling empty.

Finally, she turned away from the window to face her father again.

"What happened to Martin after you helped him escape the time prison?"

"He left. He knew that the rogue group was after him and later the Order discovered his involvement and sent elimination soldiers after him. He said that there were still missions that he needed to complete, but he didn't return in time for Nyx 23. We wondered if he had gone back to his time."

"Why would he abandon the mission?"

"He had a family at home," Frederick explained. "Much like me, he often had to be away from them to do his work. But when he was taken to be put in the time prison, they didn't know. We thought that maybe he had found a way to go back to them."

"He didn't?"

"No. We later found out that in his time, in your time, his death was faked so that his wife and child would think him dead and never question what might have happened to him."

"But who would have done that?"

"Ryan. He knew the threat that Martin and I posed to him. He hadn't yet figured out how we were doing it, but he knew that we were close to discovering his secrets. Martin had already ensured that so much was in place to protect Nyx 23, but it wasn't enough. He was supposed to be on that ship, but he didn't make it."

"So, Etan took his place."

"Yes," Frederick said. "He was one of the lost from the excavation that uncovered a piece of the Kintani temple in the desert."

"Like Angela," Jonah said.

"And Jacob," Aubrey said, suddenly realizing the connections, that she had known these things all along, but her mind had closed to them because they were too much to fully understand.

Frederick nodded.

"Yes. But they went to the same place when they fell through the portal. Etan was lost alone. He didn't know how to return. When he found us, we realized that he knew more than he understood. He volunteered to be the one to take Martin's place."

"Where did Martin get the journal?" Aubrey asked. "Jonah told me that Rain found a journal that Etan had kept and that it had the pages from the Valdician plans."

"That was how he knew where to crash the ship," Frederick said.

"Yes," Aubrey said, nodding. "How did he get that?"

"We don't know," Frederick admitted. "That's why I chose this time to come back to."

"What?" Aubrey asked. "What do you mean?"

"We are three weeks before the Nyx 23 mission is set to leave. This is the last time that we had control. This is the point when we knew that Martin wouldn't return on time. He had promised to be back three days ago but hasn't returned. This is when I left to come back for you and Jonah."

"But I don't understand," Aubrey said. "It's all already happened. If it's happened, why don't you know how? And doesn't that mean that it's going to happen anyway?"

"No," Frederick said. "That's the problem with time travel. There are some moments that are set in time. They are fixed. They have no ability to shift, because if they do, everything will be destroyed. But around those is flexibility. Just because something has happened once, doesn't mean that it will happen again when time is manipulated. If we don't get it right this time, all that has happened will never have happened.

"And if we do?"

"There's a chance for all to be saved. But we have to get it right. We have to find out what happened to Martin and how Etan got the information that he had."

"But can't we just stop it?" Aubrey asked. "Can't we just stop the StarCity from leaving at all?"

"If we do that, the prison on Penthos will never be liberated. Remember, the only reason that the prison was ever ended was because of the military that followed Nyx 23."

"But that is what brought the Valdicians and the humans together," Aubrey argued. "That is what started the experiments. If Nyx 23 never leaves, Ryan's great-grandfather won't be able to start the hybrid experiments. He'll never raise the army. The threat will be gone."

"No, Aubrey," Frederick said sharply. "You have to think about the consequences. Remember that the threat of the Valdicians didn't start with Penthos. They have been the scourge of the Universe for thousands of years. Something weakened them. Something kept them under control for this long. But it didn't stop them. And not sending one crew wouldn't stop them either. If Nyx 23 didn't go, the prison colony would continue and flourish. More would be imprisoned. The Valdicians would grow stronger. The Order would become more corrupt. The galaxy would fall."

"But it could fall anyway."

"Yes. It could. If we let it. And I don't intend on that happening. That's why we're here. I know you're angry with me, Aubrey. I know you still don't understand all that's happened and why I had to leave you. I wish that there was a way that I could explain it to you so that you would understand. I wish that I knew myself. But I'm here now. We are together. And I'm asking for your help. Please. This is bigger than your anger. This is bigger than your hurt. I have loved you every day of your life. That never changed. And I want the chance to continue that life in whatever way that we can. But I also have a responsibility. I have an obligation to all that have relied on me and will continue to rely on me. I need to you to stand beside me and help me get this finished. We only have this one chance. Everything is resting on us."

Aubrey stared into her father's eyes, struck by the familiar glimmer in them. It was the glimmer that she remembered from when she was a small child, but there was something more about it. Something that she couldn't quite put her finger on. She could see the desperation in them as well and she knew that she had no choice. Somehow, deep inside her, she knew that this was right. This was the way that it was supposed to be. All she could do now was hope that she would be able to do what she had been called to do.