1:4:10 Crait (Part 5)

There was a knock at the door. The first guard struggled as he tilted and turned the foldable bench through the doorway and out of the narrow corridor. “This should be big enough.” He groaned. “Inquisitors Loren and Undulia will be joining you shortly…” He shuddered at his own mentioning of their names. “They’re just… Getting themselves sorted out.”
Crait nodded but no-one said anything. The four of them silently moved to the walls of the room while the guard attempted to set the bench by himself. After a handful of failed attempts and one near miss with a joint and his fingers, he took a moment to think about his approach. Manoeuvring himself around the table section allowed him to split it from the benches themselves and, with the table assembled, it became a lot easier to set the seating up after. He checked his work had been done correctly before giving Crait another nod then tapping his wrist against the door frame to exit. The room’s remaining occupants took their spaces on the bench. Crait took the centre seat on their side with The First sitting opposite; Char and Charrlene flanked them. There was another knock before the second guard entered carrying the drinks tray. She set it down at the end of the bench before she started handing out the drinks. She placed the jug of water in the middle, between Crait and The First then distributed the glasses to Charrlene, Crait and the empty space to their left. She then took the tea and the tea ingredients and set them down in front of Char. The two glasses containing a cool, amber concoction were given to The First and the seat on Crait’s right. She ducked her head in a respectful bow then left. The First lifted their glass to smell the fluid; a slight smile crossed their eyes as it brought back memories from times long ago. It burnt their nostrils and singed the back of their throat before they had even tasted it. Without taking a sip, they put the glass back on the table and looked at Crait. Charrlene poured herself a glass of water.
“How long are you going to do this for?” Crait shook their head. “We should be on the same side, we want the same things.”
“No… I don’t think we do.” Charrlene glared at Crait. “I think we want rather different things.”
Crait scoffed. “Not if you think about it. We both saw The Omega Outcome, we both know what it means and we both want to survive it.”
“We stand a better chance if we stand with the other survivors and not atop them.” The First started. “With the technology of the Quatarrians, the might of the Soloss, the tactics of the Aetar, we could not only survive but thrive.”
“Before me, before my intervention, humanity was weak, we were nothing on the cosmic stage. I have ensured we are more than good enough to survive anything and once it’s over and done with, we will thrive.” There was a fire in Crait’s eyes.
“But what…” Char started to speak, only to be interrupted by The First.
“Your subjugation of the Soloss and the Aetar will only cause problems later on. Living together harmoniously is the only way forward. Our four peoples together would me more than enough.” The First gesticulated wildly with their hands. “Without Quatarr where would we be? Without the Aetar, we’d never have known about this whole mess. Without Soloss, humanity would have wiped itself out during the Faochite Incident. We would have destroyed ourselves multiple times over without their help.” They continued.
Char waited until there was a lull in The First’s rant before standing to talk. “But your methodology is flawed.” Char butted in. “You’re both wrong.” Everyone at the table stared at her. “You, Crait, you have made humanity into the greatest single power in the explored universe on the backs of any species you couldn’t ‘Simplify’ which is all well and good but you’re stretched too thin. When The Outcome occurs, you’ll have too much to defend, too much to lose. That’s not even talking about the multiple genocides you, yourself, are responsible for. Your quest for supremacy has claimed the lives of several major species from the old Quatarrian empire; extinguishing entire cultures from history. And you.” She turned to The First. “Don’t seem to care. You’re only really bothered about the Quatarrians because you think that as long as the four surviving species are around, you can save everyone. My Lore and I seem to be the only ones who have thought about this but we need to do whatever it takes to survive and neither of you are.” She paused to catch her breath. “You’re both only doing the bare minimum. Crait, you’re only focussed on improving humanity not the galaxy as a whole and you… First, are only worrying about saving one planet.” She shook her head. “You’re both as bad as each other.”

Everyone in the room was red; even Char and Charrlene had taken on a more molten hue in the heat of the discussion and the embarrassment that had followed it. They all considered what they had heard. Char made her tea then sat sipping on it as she watched Crait and The First intensely stare into one another’s eyes as they both seemingly tried to work out what the other was thinking. After a few minutes of that, they both broke the contact and slumped back in their chairs with a sigh.
“Don’t you miss it?” Crait spoke softer than Char had heard them before. “Us? Working together?”
The First looked at Charrlene then back to Crait; they paused before responding. “Those days were so long ago.” They picked up their drink again and swirled it around the glass. “I’ve lived nearly twenty-six lifetimes since then.”
“Do you ever look back?” Crait sat themselves up a little straighter.
The First quickly glanced at Charrlene. “Of course I do but those days are gone and over. Do I miss the simplicity of it all? Yes. Do I miss being blissfully unaware of the future? Yes. Do I miss you, knowing what you’ve become in my absence?” They brought the glass to their mouth, the ethanol rich vapours tickled their nostrils. “It’s hard to say.” Charrlene gripped their arm. “I wonder sometimes what would have happened if we had just stayed together; if I had explained myself properly to The Guild. I wonder if it would have made a difference, if your plans would have changed. I wonder about it all.”
Crait hadn’t realised that they had been slowly climbing their way across the table until The First stopped talking. They returned themselves back to their seat in as dignified a manner as they could manage. “A week after you left, I woke up with a box under my bunk. Twenty-five Info-stamps. That’s how I knew you weren’t coming back. I can’t even count how many years were in that box…” Crait’s voice gave in.
Just then, the door opened.
“Sorry we’re late… Oh…” Loren saw their future sat at the bench. He instinctively sat on Crait’s right; he couldn’t take his eyes off of The First. “Um…” He drained his glass in an instant.
Crait cleared their throat. “Shall we begin again?” They gestured to Char.
“Okay, Lore is missing… Rather, they’re stuck on Quatarr during The Three Year Month.” Char began.
“And?” Undulia poured herself a drink. “Why should we care?”
Crait turned to her. “Because, right now, they’re in the prime position to change the personal timelines of everyone in this room. Plus, it’s your fault they’re there.”
“And we made a promise they would never harm them…” Loren finished.
Undulia slammed her glass down, slightly harder than she had expected. “How’s it our fault?”
“That’s a good question.” Loren shook his head.
Crait took a drink. “When you two left Johned, you had an extra passenger.”
“Lore?” Loren narrowed his eyes.
Crait nodded. “Exactly. Luckily for you, their Breacher’s safety protocols miraculously activated, sending them to the safest place on their Breacher’s history.”
Char blinked in disbelief. “How is The Second Civil War the safest place?”
“It’s a moment of temporal stillness. Years of frozen time with a perfect shield to absorb any excess Tempora radiation, means no radiation poisoning and ergo, its deemed safe and trust me, emergency shifting out of someone else’s Breach generates more than enough radiation.” Crait removed their Breacher and displayed a hologram of Quatarr. “They’re somewhere here.” They manipulated the globe and poked the portion where the war took place. “To avoid them damaging time and themselves, we need to go back and get them.”
“But there’s a problem.” The First took over. “The same shield that saved Lore is preventing us from going and getting them. If we try and Breach back then, we’ll be redirected to an earlier or later date, by then, the damage could be done.”
“Or it kills us.” Charrlene smiled.
“So what do we do then?” Loren was beginning to tire of the vagueness they had taken to talking in.
“We pool our resources, retarget The Slingshot, and go get them. Once the war’s over and the shield’s down, we can safely bring them home.” The First finished.
Loren gestured for Undulia to pin Crait between them. He started to whisper in their ears. “We aren’t actually going to help them are we?”
“You’re partially right. You two are not going to help them, I am.” Crait’s statement stunned their comrades into silence. “You and Loren are going to make sure things go as planned. I’ll be going back with them to their ship.”

“Sir?” Undulia looked at them, concerned.
“Don’t question me. Just get it done.” Crait waved both her and Loren off. Reluctantly, they left. “Right then, I would say take me to your leader but I suppose, you’re already here. So, I guess, lead the way would be a better expression.”

It was an awkward arrival back on The Occam’s Razor. All eyes were on Crait and so were a fair few weapons.
“What the hel are they doing here?” Tree and Charraig stood ready with their weapons drawn. “Sir, I assume you’ve brought them here on purpose so, as head of security, might I ask one question more?”
The First nodded.
“Respectfully? Have you lost your damn mind?” Tree didn’t relent and started to hover their pistol between The First and Crait.
The First was not phased and spoke calmly. “Crait will be joining us to assist in a rescue mission and then, we’ll be back to business as usual.” Tree kept their pistol held high. “They’ve promised to be on their best behaviour so stand down.”
The group reconvened around a table. The other Lores and Chars in attendance stood around the circumference of the room, disapproving of the current situation. “The original plan was to take The Razor through The Slingshot then send a single ship through to the past.” One of the Lore’s tapped The First on their shoulder. They whispered in their ear. “Crait already knows the plan so there’s no point hiding it.”
“We’ll need a ship then.” Crait tried to bring them back to focus.
“The Destiny would be a good candidate.” Char proposed. “Her K.A.D.S. will be necessary to get us back in time.”
The First and Charrlene nodded. “That would be agreeable.” They continued. “It’ll also mean that we can make the return journey too.”
“It’s easier getting out than going in.” Crait confirmed. Then began an argument between them and The First over the various and possible ways they could transport The Destiny back to the needed time and location.
Char’s eyes became golden lighthouses, emitting a light bright enough to silence the room. “What if it could be easy both ways?”
“Sorry?” The First squinted.
“Darling, what’s going on with your eyes?” Charrlene tried to reach out to Char but found it difficult whilst blinded by the light.
“If we aim for the day after the war ended, we don’t have to worry about the Time loop. Lore can’t impact the timeline while they’re stuck in the loop so there isn’t really a point to trying to get them out as soon as possible.” Char closed her eyes, much to the relief of everyone present, and the light faded.
The table took a moment to consider the proposal. One by one, they nodded.
“Then, it’s decided. We aim The Slingshot for the day after The Three Year Month ended, load The Destiny, get Lore back then come home.” The First recapped as everyone else nodded along. “In that case, next stop: Quatarr”