EPILOGUE

DAVE

I stared at the shiny bulkhead of the Exeter and Baren Reiser looked right back at me. Well, not really Reiser. It was me. The reflection showed my bald head covered in purplish-black tattoos, each one a number. One through nine, different sizes, spaced somewhat evenly. Nine opportunities to travel safely within the Ultra universe, getting from Pawn’s matter-bubble to the Exeter. The first passage had been via the matter antimatter suit, which was cumbersome and not terribly practical. I supposed if I used up all my numbers and I still had some life left in me, I could try the suit again.

That was it, though. By then, I might not be able to walk around very well. I already felt a great deal of aches and pains, even when I was just standing. Sometimes just sitting. How long would I have? How long could I zip through Ultra space with Parr until death took me? We could travel a long time on the Exeter until forced back to Pawn for resupply. I was already old, but I couldn’t rest now. I had Parr as a guide. He had all the knowledge of the Ultras and he had all the knowledge of Parr’s life and he had all the knowledge of my friend Alan Brindos’s life.

Now, in my own twilight years, I wanted space travel.

Dad was gone. Back to our universe, back to my old life, and he was welcome to it. For me, I wanted to do something of note. Get a glimpse of the end of the Ultras before my own came. I had nine free passes.

“You look just like him,” Parr said suddenly, interrupting my thoughts. “Reiser, my old boss. Older of course.”

I didn’t say anything. The full impact of my choice hadn’t hit me yet. I knew it would later. All I was leaving behind. The people, especially. Dorie. Forno. Jennifer. Plenko. And of course, my dad. It might not seem fair to most people that I’d spent so much time and effort to find him, then let him go; on the contrary, it wouldn’t have been fair to him if I’d denied him the opportunity to go back. Let the younger man live out his life in familiar—and at the same time unfamiliar—circumstances.

He’d figure it out. I’d found him. I got to say my goodbye, even though I’d had to travel a long way to do so. My other friends would go on with their lives, and they’d have each other. They wouldn’t be lonely. Not even Forno. Hulks didn’t get lonely.

And I had Vanderberg Parr. He was the closest I had to a real friend now.

“You look just like him,” I said, turning from my reflection.

“So you’ve said.”

“I’m going to ask something of you that’s important. Important to me.”

Parr stayed quiet, waiting for me to go on.

“Your name’s nifty and all, but I’m going to call you Brindos from here on out. I don’t know if I can call you Alan—I’ve rarely even called you Vanderberg—but I’d like to reunite with my friend.”

Parr waited some more, knowing I wasn’t finished.

“You’re him,” I said. “Enough so that I can still believe it, and enough so that I can take this time to get reacquainted with the Brindos part of you.”

“The Brindos.”

“Right. Will that work for you? Will that be okay?”

Parr seemed to mull this over. He didn’t even do his eye flick thing. He didn’t have to access Ultra databases to decide on this. He only had to check with the Brindos part of him.

“It would be okay,” Parr finally said. “I mean, if you feel like you have enough time to do that.”

I rubbed my hand over my tattoos. “My days are numbered, right?”

“Reiser used to say that.”

“It’s true for everyone.”

I wasn’t worried about it. I’d have the time I had, and that would be fine. I hadn’t forgotten what I’d decided after I’d left the Ultra universe the first time, when Parr had helped me escape. I’d thought he’d sacrificed his life to do it. I never said anything to officials at the NIO, or the Kenn, about Parr being Brindos because Brindos deserved to rest in peace.

That is, in our universe.

All bets were off here.

I clapped my hands loudly and rubbed them swiftly together. “So. Where to first?”

“We have options,” he said. “I’ve got the nine nearest habitable star systems plotted and on the console for you.”

Of course he did. I smiled at his decision, then pointed to my bald head. “Pick a number between one and nine, Brindos.”

LAWRENCE

When I entered the office of the Crowell and Forno agency in downtown Seattle, the Helk was already in there waiting for me. I’d taken some time to walk around the neighborhood, familiarizing myself with the area. It had surprised me how rundown and neglected it looked.

Forno sat in a huge chair that seemed cobbled together from mattresses and wood and metal pipes. He was wearing a large trench coat. Dave had said his partner hated our cold planet, but he kept coming back to it.

“You get a chance to look around?” Forno said, his voice gruff.

“Yeah. Shouldn’t you move that chair behind the desk? You’re the senior detective now, right?”

Forno shook his head. “Not the way the name reads on the business license.”

“I’m starting fresh.”

“But you’re going to have to remain at the top. It was your decision, remember, to work here and be Dave. Just be Crowell. You’ve got Dorie and Jennifer both working to that end so you can make your identity stick. I think I can get used to only calling you Crowell.”

“Like the Morganism. Just Morgan.”

“Like that.”

“Just don’t call me Lucky.”

Forno raised his hands. “I will not.”

I moved around the desk. After I’d sat down, I spread my hands over the empty desktop. “It’s going to take me a while to get comfortable with all this. I’m an Envoy, not a detective.”

“If the showdown on Ribon showed me anything, it proved your Envoy training could come in handy. Plus, you like using the electric handshake. I’ve already ordered you a portable charger.”

I smiled. “Nice.”

“I’ll help you rise to velocity.”

“What?”

“Get up to speed. Well, Helk snot, this is a nice change.”

“Right. Idioms.”

Forno stood and fished inside his trench coat pocket. He withdrew his hand and without warning threw something at me.

“What’s this?” I asked as I caught it.

“Dave’s Tudor watch. He’d want you to have it. Doesn’t fit me.”

“People still wear these things?”

“Not many. But Dave liked old things.”

I knew that from my last conversations with Dave on the Ultra side of reality. Before coming into his old office, I’d stood on the old Seattle pier with a flask of brandy Forno had given me—another old thing of Dave’s—and it reminded me of the blue poison from Temonus I tried once on a trip for the Envoys. I’d not finished it, as it was way too strong for me. Although the brandy was new to me, it was easier to get down the gullet, and I liked the burn of it.

Sometimes older was better.

Sometimes you had to teach an old dog new tricks, Dave said before I left.

“I’m trusting you to teach me everything I need to know,” I said to Forno.

“Sure. That mean you’re in?”

“I’m still getting used to being back in the matter universe and not worrying about being obliterated.”

“Hey, I’ve had to get used to the cold. I’m still working on that.”

I nodded. “Then I’m in. On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

I pointed behind Forno. “You help me take down that hideous plywood wall.”

Forno smiled. “It’s about damn time.”