transitory closure (an excerpt from THR33)

He knelt over the pool, his face slack with disbelief.



"What is it? What did you see?"

Light from the depths of the pond streamed lazily up through the unfathomable depths as if the moon was held below.

Shadows danced on the walls of the cave.

"What did you see!"

Her voice shocked him back into the world. He pushed up from all fours and sat back on his heels for a moment before standing. The flat surface of the water moved here and there as if by invisible fingers were tracing dreams upon the pool.

"How it happens...the truth. They don't know...they won't know. They won't see it coming."

"Who won't see what?"

She was confused. But he couldn't blame her. He could hardly believe it himself.

"We have to warn them," he said, his eyes scanning the cave around them," we need to move quickly before the rest of them find that we're gone."

She moved over to his side and looked up at him, an angry expression on her face.

"What did you see!?"

He looked away for a moment, shutting out the memories of the past months.

"How it ends. We...we have to warn them..."

"How what...wait, warn who?"

"Earth," his voice was tight with a weariness that aged his eyes tremendously," we have to warn Earth."

"Why?" she asked, her voice soft with fear and what seemed like disbelief.

No. He decided that the day she had not believed in him had passed. She knew he was telling the truth. The truth. He had seen, for a moment, as somewhere above them the last one died...he had seen how it was all going to happen. The first warning. That stranger. He had finally seen the face. It was his own.



In his heart he knew they would fail. But not to try...no, he had to try. He had to warn Earth. It was a question of getting there in time. It was question of whether or not they would believe him...



...Earth. It had been too long. He looked down at her, her grey eyes looking up at him...so tired, she had almost died. Standing for a moment longer over the calm, eerie pool, he let her voice wash over him.

"Why?"

He sighed and headed up into the tunnel, trying to remember where the holes were as he called back over his shoulder.

"Because they're looking in the wrong direction."