0.9 AU — Earth-Return Transfer, Day 17
Contrapunctus drifted on photon autopilot, patched sails visibly war-stained but proud.The Sun, once a furnace at 0.18 AU, now shone a calm gold coin through galley windows.Nobody called red alert for almost three days, an expedition record that felt indecently luxurious.
1 Lin's Empty Cup
In sick-bay Lin sat cross-legged, cane abandoned, eyes closed.Maya knelt behind him, guiding a neural projector that pulsed glimmers of teal across his temples—"memory seeds," she called them.
"Tea-cup, tennis-ball…" Lin began.He hesitated; tarantula hovered beyond reach.Maya whispered the word; he repeated it, smiling tiredly.
Aiden appeared with two mugs."One barbarian brew, one water-that-barely-counts," he joked, but the coffee was milder, the hojicha hotter—each edging into the other's territory.
Lin sniffed both. "Your sabotage is improving.""And your memory?""Work-in-progress." He sipped coffee, grimaced. "Still awful. Keep it that way; anchors should taste distinctive."
Maya raised brows at Aiden; small victories.
2 Fixing the Cloak, Stitch by Stitch
In the sail bay Nephis painstakingly rewove his shredded cloak.Threads from ring-dust fibers shone pewter-blue against indigo.Cassie lent extra hands, using micro-solder to seal filament ends, every so often mis-aligning a stitch on purpose.
"Error margin," she said. "Imperfection or it'll strangle you next time."Nephis almost smiled. "Shadow thanks the lantern."
She rapped knuckles on his shoulder plate—soft. "You dove after Dawn-Core. That was stupid.""Stupid," he allowed."Brave," she added, quieter.He tied the final seam, offered her the needle. "Keep as reminder."
Cassie tucked the needle behind her ear like a hairpin.
3 Children at Play
Glitch and Chip zipped through corridor C, each hugging a squeeze-pouch of diluted cocoa, leaving blobs on bulkheads.
Solayna didn't scold; instead she echoed their prime-skip pattern, letting them notice 101 missing.Glitch frowned, tapped 103 inquisitively."Gaps make room," Solayna said. "Someday you'll choose how to fill them."
The children nodded, apparently satisfied, then resumed sticky tag.
4 Night-Watch Brother Talk
Late cycle. Stars drifted lazy.Aiden joined Nephis in the aft observation blister, both on watch rotation.
Silence held until Aiden sighed, "Still feel mirror dust in my lungs."Nephis's cloak whispered agreement. "Dust hides until story ends."
Aiden fingered Dawn-Core—steady but uneven without 101. "We bring gate fragments home. Earth isn't ready.""Earth wrote us," Nephis said. "It learns."
Below, the faint shine of Mars slide-past painted the sails rust-red for a moment, then was gone.
5 Seed-Letters to Tomorrow
Maya floated into mess and pinned a paper sheet to the wall—actual paper, smuggled from Titan labs.Title in messy marker: "How to Remember What the Universe Tries to Delete."
She left the last row blank for Glitch and Chip when they felt ready.
Lin drift-signed the sheet, grin small but sure.Earth might need the chart one day.
6 Transmission from Reykjavik
At 0.65 AU the backup dish caught a burst from the Iceland hub:
"Cadence Day preparations underway. Shared-dream clinics asking ETA of Guardians for keynote."
Cassie groaned. "Keynote?"Maya smirked. "We'll bring kettle chorus."Aiden feigned horror: "And socks exhibition."Lin toasted the idea with lukewarm coffee. Nephis promised cloak percussion. The children squealed.
7 Last Page Turns Itself
Diagnostics green, crew drifting to bunks, Aiden lingered on bridge.He zoomed a hull cam: no hint of mirror dust. Still, he logged a midnight note:
Possible stowaway fragments latent. Recommend periodic nonsense drills on approach to Earth.
As he keyed save, the console blinked a single mirrored glyph—gone before capture.Aiden leaned back. "Mystery: check," he whispered, lips crooked.
He tapped Dawn-Core. Beat 101 absent, but between 107 and 109 he heard an unfamiliar flutter—an unregistered prime whispering to be counted.
Not tonight. He powered screens down.
Lights dimmed; Contrapunctus glided sunward, carrying flawed heroes, missing beats, shadow seeds, and just enough suspense to promise the story wasn't quite done.