New Lies by Nathan Hystad

Author:Nathan Hystad [Hystad, Nathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-04T00:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

“Can we run that again?” Magnus tapped on the containment field’s glass casing.

Jules hit the button, and the blue energy pulse coursed from the generator into the narrow tubes. “I think that does it.”

“Okay, looking pretty good to me. You kids… you two did a wonderful job.” Magnus looked proud as he watched the light spread on past the tubes and into the hull.

The two of them were alone in engineering, and Jules stifled a yawn. “Thanks, Magnus. Sorry for being so bossy earlier. I didn’t mean to overstep my bounds.”

Magnus laughed. It was a comforting, familiar sound, even if the man that used to make the noise was dead. “You’re the one who brought me with her across the dimension. I thank you every day in my prayers.”

“Really?”

“Sure. At first, I was upset. Angry, even. Not at you, but with life. You have to realize, I knew an entirely different reality from this. It was almost like my past had been erased. My Natalia, my Dean, my Patty. All gone. Replaced with imposters. But over here, I was the real imposter.” Magnus came and sat beside Jules at the central console. The bright glow of the drive cast its light over them.

Jules smiled at him. “You aren’t a pretender. You’re still Magnus.”

“I know that now, but I wasn’t in the best frame of mind. You looked at me and read my soul, and were positive I wouldn’t last long. So that’s why I thank the universe every night before sleep. You saved my life. And your father may have put me in charge of training a fleet of Alliance partners, but you…” He tapped her on the back of the hand. “You’re the future of this entire Alliance Fleet.”

She stared, unable to comment. The high praise filled her, and she sighed it out. “Will it always be this hard?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because people will never stop wanting what you have. Remember, the Wibox are no different than you or me. They have their own point of view. They’re the heroes of their tales. Malir is the same, and his father the Emperor looks to have agreed on a deal with the enemy. His story is important too. The lines of good versus evil are not ours to draw,” Magnus said.

“What about Lom of Pleva? He was vile,” she said, but remembered her vision of him as a child. Being beaten by his father. Burning up in his house when his dad wouldn’t let him escape. “And yet he was a product of his environment.”

Magnus clenched his jaw at this. “Lom caused me and those I love a lot of pain. He may be the exception to the rule. But the people that followed him… Suma, Sergo, Walo… they didn’t know better in my timeline. They were doing what they believed was best for themselves and their homes.”

“I guess that’s all any of us can do.” The communicator beeped, and Jules hit it.

“Guys, we located the footage. It appears Malir wasn’t lying. We have footage of him getting lost.

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