Chapter 21:

  —April 22, 2120, 21:31:43—

  The jump last week hadn't gone well.

  Maxine was alive. The Loom had performed its function, displacing her precisely twenty-four hours into the past. But the machine had a price, and it had extracted it from her body. For two days, she had been lost in a fog of confusion and pain, her thoughts scattered like static. Even now, a week later, a subtle haze clung to the edges of her perception. They didn’t know yet the extent, but they knew something was terribly off.

  She leaned back against him, her weight a comfort and a terror all at once. Silas sat propped up against a mountain of pillows, his arms wrapped around her, his chin resting on her shoulder. The silk of her pajamas was cool against his bare skin. He was wearing a t-shirt and boxers, but he felt naked, exposed to a fear so profound it was physically painful.

  "We have to stop," he said, his voice a low, strained whisper. "That has to be the last one."

  He held her tighter, as if his grip alone could anchor her to this reality, to this moment, and keep her from being shredded in the temporal stream again. "The ethics of it... the morality... we don't know what we're doing.”

  Maxine let out a breath and he could feel the pressure of her body weigh more heavily against him. “Nobody knows what to do, Silas. We can’t just do nothing.”

  “We're playing with forces we can't possibly comprehend." He buried his face in her hair, inhaling her scent. "I can't…” He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. “I can't watch you walk through that machine again."

  Maxine shifted, turning in his embrace to face him. Her eyes, still soft with the lingering fog, found his. They were clear, however, on one point. "If not us, then who?" she asked, her voice gentle but firm. "How could we ever justify asking someone else to make a sacrifice we aren’t willing to make ourselves?"

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  She took his face in her hands, her touch grounding him. "The goal is right, Silas. It's good. It’s the lifeboat for the entire world.” She tilted his face up so that his eyes met hers. “You know as much as I do. If the streams fail... everything ends. This work matters.”

  “Maxine, we’ve done our part.” He argued. “We have given everything. We’ve delayed our careers, given our youth. I’ve been asked to…” The mere thought hurt him. “...risk you.” His head dropped back down to the bed. To the space between them.

  She took a thin finger and pushed up on his chin, bringing his face back up to face her. “The world needs sacrifice. It needs men like you and women like me who understand the science and who are willing to put everything on the line."

  He shook his head, his throat tight. "You're braver than I am. I just... I don't have the courage to lose you."

  A sad, knowing smile touched her lips. She took one of his hands, guiding it to her chest, pressing his palm flat over her heart. "Do you feel that?" she whispered.

  He nodded, his throat too thick to speak.

  "I may not have much to offer the world," she said, her gaze locked with his. "But as long as that heart beats, I'm going to give everything inside of me to fight for this world. To fight for us."

  Her smile widened, and she gently moved his hand down, just a little lower, until it was cupping her breast over her thin blouse. The warmth of her skin, the soft weight of her, was a stark, beautiful contrast to the cold, abstract terror of the Loom.

  "And as long as my heart still beats," she said, her voice dropping to a husky murmur, "we are going to make the most of the life we have. We are going to live."

  It was a challenge and a promise. A reminder that their purpose wasn't just to prevent a future death, but to honor the life they had right now.

  She reached up, her fingers gently removing his glasses. His hand slid down her side, reflexively. The world blurred into soft shapes and shadows. Then her hand was on the back of his head, her fingers tangling in his hair, and she leaned in. The kiss was possessive, hungry, and absolute. It derailed his world, shattering his fear into countless insignificant pieces and replaced it with the one, undeniable truth that mattered: she was here. She was alive. And she wanted one thing. To be with him.